Tag: United States

Books

Book 851: One to Watch – Kate Stayman-London

Geoff W

Blazed through this wonderful debut novel after stumbling across it on a list of great beach reads. It took quite a while to get it from the library, but it was 100% worth the wait. I can easily see this being turned into a film or made-for-TV-movie, but it’s better than some of the young adult gay one’s I’ve read recently.

Bea is a plus sized fashion blogger who writes a scathing take down of a reality TV show that’s suspiciously similar to The Bachelor, and the next thing she knows she’s been convinced to be the next Main Squeeze on the show and of course chaos, hilarity, and romance ensues.

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Books

Book 846: The Lavender Menace – Tom Cardamone (Ed.)

Geoff W

UGH. I wanted to like this so much more than I did. I remember the excitement when I stumbled across it seven years ago at PAX East in the LGBT lounge. I guess I either forgot the premise or didn’t really read the full premise of the book so ended up slightly disappointed.

Don’t get me wrong there were definitely a few stories I very much enjoyed (more the redemptive ones) and there was some great writing throughout the novel, but there were some larger issues with the collection that may reflect when it was originally published (2013) and how far we’ve come as a society, and also the background of the editor (cis white gay man).

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ARC, Books

Book 844: An Unexpected Kind of Love – Hayden Stone

Geoff W

I grabbed a copy of this from NetGalley when I was looking for books to fill in between other upcoming deadlines.* It had a cute premise and reminded me a lot of Notting Hill so of course I was going to want to read it!

Aubrey has taken over his family’s bookstore and is struggling to keep it afloat after he was unceremoniously dumped by his first (and only long term) boyfriend for their mutual friend, when he meets Blake, an up-and-coming American movie star who’s filming a movie up the street and encourages the film to approach Aubrey about using his store as a set.

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Books

Book 841: The Sky Blues – Robbie Couch

Geoff W

After finishing Jay’s Gay Agenda, I stumbled across this one either on Amazon or Overdrive in a “similar books” list. The cover was adorable and then I read the blurb and immediately requested a copy of it.

The Sky Blues is a delightful debut novel that tugs at all the heart strings without causing too much angst to the reader, highlights the importance of found family and community, and gives all the young LGBT+/queer kids out there another wonderful book to read that’s full of hope, wonder, and joy.

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Books

Book 835: Legendborn (Legendborn Cycle #1) – Tracy Deonn

Geoff W

I was on hold at the library for months to get this one! I vaguely remember it being released, but didn’t realize it’s connection to UNC Chapel Hill (my undergrad) until I saw the cover and Deonn in one of the alumni newsletters and then of course immediately had to read it, but was stifled by the long hold times :’-(

I wasn’t only drawn to it because of the UNC connection, but also because of the modern retelling of Arthurian legends. I knew this was going to be a fascinating take on them with a Black protagonist, southern history, secret societies, and the first public university in the country, how couldn’t it be!

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