Month: August 2011

Maryam reviews Black Girl Love by Anondra Williams

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I started to review another book for this month, but I put that book down and picked up Black Girl Love instead, and I’m glad that I did. Black Girl Love is a series of fictional vignettes punctuated by the occasional poem. The poetry sets the tone for the author’s style, and the short stories are so vibrant in their imagery that I had to double-check for the ‘this is a work of fiction’ disclaimer. From running into the exgirlfriend at the club to having your wife twist your locs, from being the obsessed stalker to being the woman caught in an abusive relationship, Ms. Williams tells it all with poetic grace and a strong voice. Even the stories that may be triggering to read were still wonderfully rendered.

The version of Black Girl Love that I read still needed to be heavily re-edited. Had Ms. Williams been any less skilled as an author, I may have stopped reading due to the amount of spelling errors. However, I was so interested in the stories she wove that I read on and overlooked them. It does need some editing love, complete with a liberal sprinkling of commas – I saw another Lesbrarian recently lament the lack of the Oxford comma in one of her reviews, and I share in that lament – but after an editor goes over it with a fine-tooth comb, Black Girl Love will be a really powerful, wonderful piece of work. I look forward to seeing more from Anondra Williams in the future.

Kristi reviewed “Better With Age” by Beth Wylde

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Olivia just went to pick up a birthday cake for her daughter Felicity, not to revisit the past. Yet when she discovers the shop owner is none other than her first — and last — love, Aleesha, everything comes back. As a kiss has Olivia thinking about her own mother’s actions which resulted in their parting, she faces a situation at home that, while Felicity may find hard to believe, Olivia knows all about. Will Olivia do the right thing by both the people she loves?

Beth Wylde presents a short story (only 42 pages) that packs a sweet and sexy reunion of two women separated by circumstance and a mother/daughter story that comes full circle. Twenty years ago Olivia and Aleesha were young lovers torn apart by Olivia’s mom. As both continued on with their lives, including careers and children, a chance encounter brings the passion back.  The secondary storyline of Olivia’s daughter, Felicity, and their meeting at home echoes what happened between Olivia and her mother, [spoilers] but with better results. A fast and cheerful conclusion to all, but who doesn’t want a happy ending? [end spoilers]

Allysse reviews Becoming by Wendy Clark

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Becoming is the story of Alison and Marilyn. Told from the point of view of Alison, we follow her life from the moment Marilyn reappears in it while wandering into their common past at university.

The novel is divided into two parts. The first one, called “cocoon”, introduces us to the characters and their present. However the present is not as important as the past and only serves as an excuse to dive into Alison’s recollection of what happened during her time at university with Marilyn.
The writing is often slow and repetitive and as a result Alison appears quite dull to the reader. It wasn’t much fun to read this part but I was curious about the past and it is what kept me going. I didn’t care about the present because all that was happening seemed to always trigger the same reaction from Alison and so created the effect of repetition.

The name of that first part is quite adequate. Alison is in fact trapped in a cocoon, the cocoon of her everyday and repetitive life. In the second part however, the pace changes as we witness Alison breaking free from her safe (and boring) cocoon to emerge into life.

In the second part we remain in the present – most of the past having been explored before – and Alison is finally learning to break free from the very strict rules that had always dictated her life. She is learning to make her own choices and to question her past and the decision that have been made for her. The contrast with the first part is quite clear by the fact that we stay in the present and that we are moving instead of staying put. Marilyn and Alison embark in a road trip for Marilyn’s job which mark a the start of actual physical movement as well as psychological one.

The novel is build around the two main characters. They met at university, Alison being the shy girl from a very religious background while Marilyn is the adventurous, free and wild girl. At the contact of Marilyn, Alison learns to slowly break free from her rules. Their relationship is quite complicated. Alison is fascinated by Marilyn and her wildness. It attracts her, introduces her to a world she had been taught to think was evil but she discovers it is not as bad as she thought. She is a sort of experiment for Marilyn at the start but rapidly become her friend. Their relationship never appeared to me to be more than friendship, adoration, and idolatry which made me wonder why my library had shelved this book under the “Gay and Lesbian” fictions. Of course some moments of their relationship could be read as subtext for a lesbian love but it never felt quite right. I could only see a strange friendship in the author’s words.

SPOILERS I finally understood in the last scene of the book the shelve choice of my library, when both Alison and Marilyn finally share their burdening secrets, breaking free of those burdens and getting ready for a new life. Though what I didn’t understand was the love scene itself. For me the relationship between the two women had never been related to love in that sense. I could picture Alison wanting Marilyn because that was made quite clear but for me she was more fascinated with that woman who opened up her world than really loving her. However I really couldn’t picture Marilyn loving Alison in that way. This is probably due to the fact that we never have her point of view and always see her through Alison but still the last scene felt entirely wrong and unnecessary, like it was ruining their relationship. END OF SPOILERS

In spite of my comments, I still enjoyed reading the book as a whole (when I ignore the last scene). The first part was excruciatingly slow sometimes and it probably could have been shorter but it made sense in the end with the second part and the liberation of Alison. However the last scene was unecessary and didn’t quite fit with the rest. For me the book is about two broken women, two women who had suffered some kind of sexual trauma and have tried to live with it as best they could, and finally breaking free of their cocoons with the help, presence, and support of each other.
I wouldn’t particularly recommend this book, but if you’re interested in a story with characters trying to break free from a very strict religious background and trying to live with the burden of a kind of sexual trauma to finally come of age and accept oneself, then the book might interest you.

Giant Link Round Up

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Well, you may have noticed that the Lesbrary has been a little quieter than usual. I was moving and changing jobs and then promptly got sick, so it’s been a little hectic lately. I do have a huge amount of links to share with you, though, so here they are!

About.com Lesbian Life posted Books for Children with LGBT Parents.

AfterEllen posted a review of the BBC2 adaptation of The Night Watch by Sarah Waters and Across the Page: Summer Reads.

The Book Dyke posted A bad couple of weeks for girl smut.

Bosom Friends: Lesbian Historical Fiction posted Bosom Friends’ Books On Kindle and Lesbian Historical Fiction on Kindle.

Elisa posted

Gay YA posted

GLBT Promo Blog posted an excerpt from Forbidden Desires by Kelly Yeakle and A Foray into F/F by Em Petrova.

GLBT Reading posted August Reviews.

Good Lesbian Books posted Historical Fiction with Lesbian Characters.

 I’m Here. I’m Queer. What the Hell Do I Read? posted Do It Yourself Inspiration: Let’s Make A Scholarship for GLBTQ & Allied Teens and A New Law (The FAIR Education Act) In California Requires Schools To Teach LGBT History!

Kissed By Venus posted the newest Venus Magazine.

Lambda Literary posted

Lesbilicious posted

Literally Lesbian Book Review posted Lesbian Summer Reading List, Part One.

Loving Venus-Loving Mars posted Bisexuals, Bodice Rippers and lesbian fiction– Oh My! and a promotions post.

Over the Rainbow Books posted Hot July Nominations from Over the Rainbow Committee-LGBT Books for Adult Readers.

QLit posted The OutWrite LGBT Book Festival Opens August 6th (DC Center).

Queer Authors 50 Book Challenge posted a free-for-all recommendations post for queer books.

QueerType posted July Publishing Notes and August Publishing Notes.

Readings in Lesbian and Bisexual Women’s Fiction posted

Women and Words posted an excerpt from a work in progress by Andi Marquette.

More links, authors news, and book reviews are under the cut!

Continue Reading →

Anna reviews Rulebreaker by Cathy Pegau

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Rulebreaker by Cathy Pegau, is set on a mining colony on a planet somewhere far away from Earth and some time after the year 2100. Liv Braxton is a small-time criminal who is convinced by her ex-husband, Tonio, to perpetrate one last con. This job will give her the money she needs to leave the business once and for all and retire to a vacation planet, far away from the threat of dying in the prison mines. Liv and Tonio have been hired by a pair of rather sinister brothers who intend to blackmail the Exeter mining company over their use of an unpublicized air filtration system for miners. In order to do so, they need someone on the inside, but as head of Research & Development R.J. “Zia” Talbot’s assistant, Liv finds herself becoming more attached to her employer than Felon’s Rule Number One: Don’t Get Emotionally Involved would seem to allow. Complications, including the arrival of Liv’s con artist mother on the scene and the continuous threat of exposure by either the authorities or the Exeter company, keep cropping up. Liv has been instructed to do whatever it takes to earn her mark’s trust and get the hard evidence the gang needs, but what happens when she becomes too willing to get close to Zia?

Despite the science fiction setting, the novel is more concerned with human elements, such as the interplay between Liv and Tonio, Liv and her mother, and–of course–Liv and Zia. The plot was believable, the setting was well-conceived and consistent, and there weren’t any threads left untied at the conclusion. Pegau showed herself willing to make difficult authorial decisions in order to lend weight to her narrative, and both Liv and Zia were portrayed as sympathetic, if flawed, people. My main quibble was the author’s resistance to using the Oxford comma, which could have made a sentence like “The guard, an elderly couple, Calvin and I lay on our bellies, hands on the backs of our heads and cheeks to the rough wood” more straightforward. . . but that is my own pet peeve, and I can’t really hold it against the book. I’ll just hold it against the book’s editor.

I knew I liked Rulebreaker when I kept thinking of other books and fanfiction to compare it to. Despite my strong dislike for the current trend of employer-employee romances in Harlequin romances, I do have a few I like in terms of lesbian fiction. For another good “boss romance,” try Too Close to Touch by Georgia Beers. I also highly recommend Telanu’s Andy/Miranda fanfiction from the world of The Devil Wears Prada, which can be found at her site, The Rag and Bone Shop. For a great lesbian “con” book, see Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. For another story of corporate greed and corruption and spreadsheets + romance, try Karin Kallmaker’s Car Pool.

Laura Mandanas reviews Fearless by Erin O’Reilly

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Fearless by Erin O’Reilly is a work of historical fiction about the brave members of the Auxiliary Transport Authority who ferried planes during World War II. Delivering aircraft from the factories to Royal Air Force stations throughout the United Kingdom, ATA pilots flew in the face of danger on a daily basis. This book follows pilots of the first all women’s ferry pool at Hatfield.

Now, let me tell you: I wanted to like this book. I really did. Who doesn’t love a tale of scrappy lesbian underdogs? And badass, evil-fighting pilots, at that? Alas, it was not to be.

There were too many characters. Waaaaay too many characters. They were “strong” characters, from a variety of social, economic, and cultural backgrounds, but still. Unnecessary. Most cross center stage just once for their introduction, then fade into the background. After 100 pages of this, you just want to skip past it all.

Worse, perhaps, than the glut of characters was when they actually opened their mouths to speak. To call it “stilted” would be a grievous understatement; the writing quality read like highbrow fanfiction. The characterization had potential, but you could tell the work lacked serious editing. Grammatical errors and typos littered the pages, especially towards the end.

The one thing O’Reilly got right was the research — there were great historical details worked in, however awkwardly — but it wasn’t enough to redeem the rest. For me, the preface was more interesting than the actual plot. So if you’re interested, do yourself a favor on this one: skip the story and go straight to the source material.

You’re welcome.

Mfred reviews Skin Beneath by Nairne Holtz

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I cannot adequately explain the joy, the incredible sense of pleasure, I derived from reading this book. Even as the book’s plot unraveled a bit at the end, I enjoyed every moment of reading Nairne Holtz’s Skin Beneath. The first paragraph:

Sam unlocks the mailbox in the lobby of her building, takes out a single envelope, opens the back flap to discover a postcard inside. She reads the words on the postcard: “Your sister died while investigating a political conspiracy. Coincidence? How often do women kill themselves with a gun? Think about it.”

What an opening, right? First, the sentence is not a fluke– the entire novel occurs in third person, present tense. Which is just… amazing. In a lesser writer’s hands, it could have come across as gimmicky, or even intrusive. It was a little mesmerizing, instead, to experience the events of a book at the same time as the protagonist. And secondly, the subject matter! A dead sister! A conspiracy! Holtz not only writes well, she also imagines a great plot.

Interestingly, this is a difficult book to sum up because it’s only a mystery on the surface. Five years after her sister’s death by overdose, Sam receives a post card claiming Chloe’s death was not an accident at all, but murder. Still struggling with grief and guilt, Sam decides to trace the mystery of her sister’s last months by moving to Montreal and trying to figure out who Chloe knew, where she worked, what she did, etc., before dying in the Chelsea Hotel in New York. In Montreal, she becomes entangled with Omar and Romey, Chloe’s ex-boyfriend and ex-roommate– both of whom appear to have secrets of their own.

The mystery of Chole’s death is the impetus for Sam to change her life — as she finds out more and more about the secrets of her sister’s life, she also has to deal with her own secrets, her own hidden truths. She also falls hard for Romey, even as she doesn’t quite trust her new girlfriend, or Romey’s relationship to Omar. It’s an incredible journey to follow, and I love the way new clues about Chloe reveal new sides to Sam and Romey. However, Holtz doesn’t maintain the momentum, and the end felt anti-climatic. It all kind of collapses in on itself, as some of the conspiracy revelations get a bit extraordinary in the last half of the book.

All in all, this was a great read that I highly recommend and I will definitely be picking up more books by Holtz.