Month: January 2012

Maryam reviews Sugar & Spice edited by Mira Paul

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Winter break is over and it is back to school for me! And what better to distract me from the winter cold and an endlessly busy schedule than some BDSM fiction? Well, it beats dong homework(no pun intended).

Sugar & Spice is an S&M anthology edited by Mira Paul. I took Danika’s advice and saved the first story, Elizabeth Thorne’s ‘Nothing Like the Sun’, for last. I’m glad I did; it is clearly the most well-written vignette in the whole book. The other stories are entertaining, but don’t hold up to the caliber of ‘Nothing Like the Sun’; my other favorite was ‘Für Elise’ by Maggie Morton, about a first-time sub – there was the great dichotomy of being the top throughout other aspects of the relationship but subbing to a femme girlfriend, and the characters were very tender and real. There were some stories where I could just not suspend my disbelief – San Francisco Sex University?!?! – and while I loved the D.E.B.S-esque ‘Enforcement’ by Dorla Moorehouse, I caught a continuity error(You can’t spank a satin-covered ass when you JUST explained she got her THONG pushed out of the way, come on!) Not the greatest set of stories, but an entertaining read for sure, especially if you have a weird sense of humor like I do and can’t help laughing at dialogue like “Would you kindly prep the anal beads?”

Allysse reviewed Super by Mari Sroud

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Super
by Mari SroudSuper is the story of (humans) super-heros who wander the streets at night to make cities safe. The book follows the life of Ophelia. She is not the narrator per se but very well could be. We live the adventure through her eyes.

Ophelia is a rich heiress by day and a super-hero by night with her girlfriend. Everything is going perfectly well in her world until other super-heros starts acting strangely, attacking each other. Soon Ophelia finds herself caught up in what is happening and has no choice but to go to the bottom of the mystery if she wants to live. She is helped by her girlfriend, her ex-boyfriend Marcus, and a couple of other super-heros.

The intrigue is fairly simple as a whole but well thought and well developed. I have never been really surprised by anything but it is really fun to read and well-written. The story is always moving forward, no scene is unnecessary and brings new information. I appreciated how the moments of actions are mixed with the more emotional ones. It is always well paced and the moments of calm and intimacy give reality and personality to the characters, making them feel three dimensional.

I also really enjoy the interactions between the characters. I could feel they all share a common past and histories. Enough is revealed to make us understand who they are to each other but never the entire explanations. Blanks are left and they made me very curious about the characters and their pasts. I’m hoping to get to know them better in the rest of the series.

The book is highly entertaining and I devoured it very quickly, enjoying plunging into this world of super-heros. After reading the book I found out it is the start of a series and I’m really happy about that because it means I’ll get to read more adventures with those characters.

While the book will probably never make it to my list of favourites, it is very well written and it makes for a light, easy and entertaining read. I’ll definitely read the second book and I hope it’ll be just as good or even better than the first. In any case, the first book promise a good second one.

Nichole reviews Players by Robbi Sommers

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Players by Robbi Sommers is the story of Ruby and Markie and their many other love interests. The book itself plays out quite a bit like that hit TV show we all watched and swooned over. The characters are truly relatable and Sommers is unafraid to air all their dirty laundry out for us to gawk at. Truly an enjoyable erotica novel, Ruby and Markie are a couple you root for and hate at the same time. The story follows their past together and their present as seperate entities, which can become a little confusing, but overall Sommers does a pretty decent job of guiding you through the back and forth of their thoughts, particualrly Ruby’s as she is the main character. Ruby, although no wholly inexperienced, is along for a rough ride with Markie, who prides herself on being a ladies’ woman. Ruby has her trists with other women as well, especially Valerie, a wealthy and sensual woman Ruby meets in passing.

Many other women come in and out of Ruby and Markie’s lives, but Sommers is hardly shy about the true affection Ruby has for Markie. Ruby is the kind of charcter you hate to relate to. She is flawed and hung up on an old fling – something all of us have dealt with once in a while. Within the first few pages I found myself already connected to her, but as she cleans out her closet and digs through her clothes indecively she comes across a letter she had written to Markie in anger and then I wished I hadn’t seen as much of her in myself as I had. Truly she is more relatable than any character I’d come across in quite a while.

Ruby calls Markie, “the only woman who had ever gotten in close enough to tear my heart to shreds” and that alone explains most of their relationship. Markie is a business executive with an attitude to match her job. She’s highly sexual and not shy about it in the least – the kind of woman some wish they were. She’s wealthy and is certainly the main “player” of the group, but as Ruby comes in and out of her life we begin to see that she is more than a player – although little more. She considers herself a “lover extraordinaire” and it certainly seems she was. Markie is set on playing Ruby because she recognizes Ruby herself as a player. Ruby knows that she’s in trouble as soon as she feels herself falling for Markie, but through lovers like Valerie, who spoils her senseless, Loren, Jean and Susan, we see different aspect of Ruby and even in Markie’s other love interests, Lara and Sandra, Markie takes a different tone.

Sommer’s juggles the lives of these women and their love interests with daring and heartfelt emotional text and with erotica that keeps your heart racing. I’ll leave the rest for you to find out. It’s definitely worth the read and Sommers makes sure you can’t put the book down. It will be by my nightside table for quite a while.

Kristi reviews Best Lesbian Romance 2012 edited by Radclyffe

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Best Lesbian Romance 2012
edited by Radclyffe

I was excited to be able to get hold of a copy of this through The Lesbrary, as I have not picked up the last couple of years’ worth of editions. Radclyffe does well once again with seventeen stories meant to warm the heart – and libido.

A theme of self-discovery runs throughout the stories, as women turn to best friends ( Geneva King’s Note To Self) and strangers (Rachel Kramer Bussel’s French Fried) looking for love and romance. None of these women are questioning their sexuality, but their abilities to love, to be loved, and to take that last step into a relationship. Whether a story covers a few hours or a few months, the passionate, playful, heartfelt connections tie together each plot and create women that you can connect to every time. I really enjoyed every story that made it into this collection, but personal favorites were the first and last. Anna Meadows’ Vanilla, Sugar, Butter, Salt evoked my passion for baking, but I also appreciated the underlying theme of changing your perspective of the world to accept another’s into it. In Evan Mora’s A Love Story, sharing the tale, tall or true, of that first meeting unwraps the emotional memories of falling in love from the blankets of time.

A wonderful collection of hot, sexy, and sweet love stories, there is sure to be at least one in Best Lesbian Romance 2012 to please every reader.

Link Round Up

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About.com Lesbian Life is hosting the Lesbian Life Readers’ Choice Awards 2012. Vote for your favourite lesbian novel or memoir of 2012 here!

Autostraddle posted 8 Queerish Short Story Books and Who Runs the Literary World? These Girls!

Babbling About Books, and More, during her Lesbian Fiction Appreciation Event, posted

Elisa posted On January 30, Goodreads will no longer display book information that comes from Amazon and Event: Lit!, An Evening to Celebrate Authors Ellis Avery, Cris Beam, Sarah Schulman, and Laurie Week.

Gay League posted GLAAD 2011 Comic Book Media Award Nominees.

    

Good Lesbian Books posted

Kissed By Venus posted KBV Short Story Competition Winners!

Kool Queer Lit posted Upcoming Guest Blog Ops.

Lambda Literary posted a mini link round up.

Over the Rainbow posted 2012 Over the Rainbow List–74 LGBT Books for Adult Readers!

Readings In Lesbian and Bisexual Women’s Fiction posted

Women and Words posted Cover up: yes, perhaps you do judge a book by its cover.

          

Jeanne Cordova was interviewed at Out In Print Queer Book Review.

Malinda Lo posted The Lesbian Question.

Catherine Lundoff posted

      

The Other Mrs Champion by Brenda Adcock was reviewed at Terry’s Lesfic Reviews.

The Last Nude by Ellis Avery was reviewed at Unabridged Chick.

Unchained Memories by Karen D Badge was reviewed at Terry’s Lesfic Reviews.

Looking For Julie by Jackie Calhoun was reviewed at Terry’s Lesfic Reviews.

Entangled by Maria V Ciletti was reviewed at Terry’s Lesfic Reviews.

After the Night by Rachel Dax was reviewed at The Rainbow Reader.

The Gunfighter and The Gear-head by Cassandra Duffy was reviewed at Good Lesbian Books.

Sleeping Bones by Katherine V. Forrest was reviewed at Good Lesbian Books.

Emma Goldman: Revolution as a Way of Life by Vivian Gornick was reviewed at Lambda Literary.

Love Another Day by Regina Hanel was reviewed at Terry’s Lesfic Reviews.

Storms by Gerri Hill was reviewed at Terry’s Lesfic Reviews.

The Princess Novels by Jim C. Hines was reviewed at Good Lesbian Books.

      

Different Dress by Lori L Lake was reviewed at Terry’s Lesfic Reviews.

The House on Sandstone by KG MacGregor was reviewed at C-Spot Reviews.

Dust by Ann McMan was reviewed at C-Spot Reviews.

Far From Xanadu by Julie Anne Peters was reviewed at The Literary Omnivore.

Firestorm by Radclyffe was reviewed at Terry’s Lesfic Reviews.

Unfinished Lives: Reviving the Memories of LGBTQ Hate Crimes Victims by Dr. Stephen V. Sprinkle was reviewed at Shelly’s LGBT Book Review Blog.

Love At Last by Kate Sweeney was reviewed at Terry’s Lesfic Reviews.

A Near Myth Murder by Kate Sweeney was reviewed at Terry’s Lesfic Reviews.

Affinity by Sarah Waters was discussed at The Written World and Historical Tapesty (same post on both).

Gourd Girls by Priscilla Wilson was reviewed at Shelly’s LGBT Book Review Blog.

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson was reviewed at the Irish Feminist Network.

Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson was reviewed at Independent.

The Lesbrary is on Goodreads!

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I (Danika) have been using Librarything for years, and I have all my books listed there, but Goodreads seems to have a more active social component, so I’ve listed all the les/bi/etc books I own there, and I’ll try to eventually list all my wishlist books there, too. But I’ve got at least 1000 books on that list, so it’ll take a little longer.

Check out my profile at Goodreads!

The Lesbrary is also on twitter, though it’s not very active.

The Lesbrary is also on tumblr!  It’s very active (at least 2 posts a day), and I put quotes, covers, links, and other random scraps on there, as well as tons of reblogs of les/bi/etc books.

I’m also on Google+ and hope to create a Facebook page for the Lesbrary at some point as well. Whew!

Is there any other platform you think would be helpful to have the Lesbrary post? Any tips on keeping parallel twitter, tumblr, wordpress, facebook, goodreads, etc accounts?

Danika reviewed Jukebox by Gina Noelle Daggett

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I was a bit conflicted about this book while reading it. It’s been reviewed here twice before, and they didn’t inspire a lot of enthusiasm. I ended up liking it, but I feel like it could have been a lot better.

I really got off on the wrong foot with Jukebox in the prologue. It has a scene each from Harper and Grace’s lives near to the end of the book. The beginning scene seemed overdramatic, with flowery writing (one of my pet peeves). It also included quite a few sentence fragments and unclear sentences. The next scene was much more intriguing, with Grace’s struggle against the stipulations for her trust fund. In fact, the idea of the dead, prejudiced patriarch who controlled the family’s future generations later was the most interesting part of the book for me, and I was disappointed when it was only a minor part of the book.

Then, the book leaps backward into Grace and Harper’s childhood. After the prologue, I had expected the book to take place entirely in their adult years, so this felt like slogging through back story, even though I did find it interesting after a while. I feel like the whole book would have been more enjoyable without the prologue.

I also thought that the jukebox theme was a little thin. Yes, one of the characters enjoys picking songs out of the jukebox when they go out to drink, but this was a minor point until near to the end of the book, so it seemed odd to have songs be the framework of the novel. If one of them had been a musician or connected to music in a major way, it would make more sense.

Other than that, the writing seems less distracting the further into the book we get, and I did enjoy the romance for the most part, though their denial gets to be almost unbelievable after a certain point.

I think my problem with Jukebox was that I kept getting expectations that weren’t met. The jukebox theme didn’t seem justified. The scenes in the beginning weren’t that significant, and they happen much later. The trust fund plotline is more minor than I thought. I don’t mean to be completely negative, because I really did end up liking it for the flawed romance.

Link Round Up

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AfterEllen posted about Batwoman #5.

Autostraddle posted #1 must have Brings Photographic Queer Realness to a Zine Near You.

Babbling About Books‘s Lesbian Fiction Appreciation Event is going strong! The posts so far are

Bella Books posted Delicious Books for January Reading.

Bold Strokes Books posted Kathleen Knowles is Getting Published!

Gay League posted Gay Previews 3/12.

          

Good Lesbian Books posted

I’m Here. I’m Queer. What the Hell Do I Read? posted Publishing LGBTQ Characters, Themes and Stories in Kid Lit – A Discussion at #NY12SCBWI.

Lambda Literary posted

lesbian meets book nyc posted Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal: Shit Straight Girls Say to Lesbians.

Loving Venus – Loving Mars posted Lesbian Appreciation Week/ New Review sites.

Readings In Lesbian and Bisexual Women’s Fiction posted Readings welcomes Kate McLachlan and No Mystery Why We Love “B.J. Fletcher: Private Eye”.

Women and Words posted Trapeze.

            

Ivan Coyote posted her new article ‘They’ is me.

Sarah Diemer posted On RAGGED and Miss Independent: Why I Self Published my Gay YA (The First in the Self Publishing Sparkle Series).

Malinda Lo posted Being conscious about gender.

            

Mental Silhouette by Renair Amin was reviewed at Sistahs on the Shelf.

The Last Nude by Ellis Avery was reviewed at The Seattle Times and C-Spot Reviews.

96 Hours by Georgia Beers was reviewed at Lambda Literary.

Cresswell Falls by Kerry Belchambers was reviewed at Piercing Fiction.

Keesha & Her Two Moms Go Swimming by Monica Bey-Clarke and Cheril N. Clarke was reviewed at Sistahs on the Shelf.

the bull-jean stories by Sharon Bridgforth was reviewed at Sistahs on the Shelf.

“Blazing Star” by Marie Carlson was reviewed at Good Lesbian Books.

Bingo Barge Murder by Jessie Chandler was reviewed at Piercing Fiction.

Radical Love: An Introduction to Queer Theology by Patrick S. Cheng was reviewed at Shelly’s LGBT Book Review Blog.

         

Accept the Unexpected by L. Cherelle was reviewed at Sistahs on the Shelf.

The Beautiful People: New Orleans by Cheril N. Clarke was reviewed at Sistahs on the Shelf.

Landing by Emma Donoghue was reviewed at Shelly’s LGBT Book Review Blog.

The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue was reviewed at BookTalk.

The Last Best Tip (Grift-Girls) by Cassandra Duffy was reviewed at Loving Venus – Loving Mars.

Lesbian and Gay Parents and Their Children: Research on the Family Life Cycle by Abbie E. Goldberg was reviewed at Shelly’s LGBT Book Review Blog.

Sister Mischief by Laura Goode was reviewed at Lambda Literary.

The Salt Roads by Nalo Hopkinson was reviewed by Baxter Clare.

Dream Team by Jaden Kelley was reviewed at Sistahs on the Shelf.

Awake Unto Me by Kathleen Knowles was reviewed at Out in Print Queer Book Review.

Faithful Service, Silent Hearts by Lynette Mae was reviewed at Piercing Fiction and The Rainbow Reader.

Trick of the Dark by Val McDermid was reviewed at Lambda Literary.

Chaos by Sherry Michelle was reviewed at Sistahs on the Shelf.

If You Love Me, Come by Claudia Moss was reviewed at Sistahs on the Shelf.

L.A. Metro by RJ Nolan was reviewed at Piercing Fiction.

Clara’s Story by Doreen Perrine was reviewed at The Rainbow Reader.

          

It’s Our Prom (So Deal With It) by Julie Anne Peters was reviewed at QueerYA.

Faith, Politics, and Sexual Diversity in Canada and the United States edited by David Rayside and Clyde Wilcox was reviewed at Lambda Literary.

Deviations: A Gayle Rubin Reader by Gayle Rubin was reviewed at the feminist librarian.

The Purple Golf Cart: Stories of an Unconventional Grandma by Ronnie Sanlo edited by Shelly’s LGBT Book Review Blog.

Suite 69: Black Lesbian Erotica Volume II by Billie Simone was reviewed at Sistahs on the Shelf.

Crossroads by Skyy was reviewed at Sistahs on the Shelf.

Unknown Futures by Jessica E. Subject was reviewed at Loving Venus – Loving Mars.

Hellebore & Rue edited by Joselle Vanderhooft and Catherine Lundoff was reviewed at ASIF.

black girl love by Anondra “Kat” Williams was reviewed at Sistahs on the Shelf.

Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson was reviewed at Velvet Park, Little Words Review, and Pink News.

Indie Lit Awards Short List!

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The short lists for the 2011 Indie Lit Awards have been posted! I’m a judge in the GLBTQ category again this year, and here is the list!

  • Well With My Soul by Gregory Allen
  • Swimming to Chicago by David Matthew Barnes
  • Songs for the New Depression by Kergan Edwards-Stout
  • Nina Here Nor There: My Journey Beyond Gender by Nick Krieger
  • Huntress by Melinda Lo

Laura Mandanas reviews Ash by Malinda Lo

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Ash by Malinda Lo

The first chapter of Ash by Malinda Lo stopped me in my tracks. Lo’s writing here is not the type that should be read hurriedly — speed reading here would be like sprinting through the Taj Mahal, blindfolded, and calling it sightseeing. Such a waste! No, readers will do best to advance slowly. Pause. Ponder. Resume wandering, slowly. Bask in each word of the luminous and evocative prose. This book is one worth lingering over.

Placed in a vaguely medieval secondary fantasy world, this “Cinderella” retelling follows young Aisling (“Ash”) as she comes to terms with personal tragedy and struggles to work out her place in the world. Curious, independent, and full of longing for her lost mother and the fairy world, Ash reminds me heavily of the character Saaski from The Moorchild. Like Saaski, Ash has to make a choice between two very different worlds. Unlike Saaski, Ash has no human boy companion to help her. Prince Charming does no rescuing; indeed, Ash shows very little interest in him whatsoever. But this does not mean that she is alone.

Though Ash never declares a label for her sexuality, her burgeoning relationships indicate bisexuality. (Note that as a young adult novel, there’s no explicit sex of any kind in the book.) In this world, same sex relationships are as commonplace and unremarkable as opposite sex relationships. Lo explains on her website, “In Ash’s world, there is no homosexuality or heterosexuality; there is only love. The story is about her falling in love. It’s not about her being gay.”

My favorite thing about this book is the depth and realism that Lo depicts in her inter-character relationships. Heartwarmingly full of that familiar first time awkwardness, Ash’s relationship with the King’s Huntress, Kaisa, is a pleasure to watch unfold. Conversely, her incisive relationship with the dangerous and seductive fairy Sidhean is bone-chilling… but mesmerising. Even the complicated sisterly bond Ash has with her two stepsisters — absolutely beautifully rendered.

I won’t ruin the ending for you, but I will warn you that it comes without fanfare, tacked on almost as an afterthought. It wasn’t terrible, but the big, book-long buildup had me expecting more. Luckily, there’s a prequel?