Month: February 2013

Danika reviews The Education of Queenie McBride by Lyndsey D’Arcangelo

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TheEducationofQueenieMcBride

When I finished the prequel to this book, The Trouble with Emily Dickinson, I said I was excited to read the sequel, because Queenie kind of steals the show in the first book and gets to be the star in this one. Predictably, I liked Queenie more as a main character than JJ. She is a bit infuriating (the back cover blurb describes her as “over-privileged and overconfident”), but that makes her journey all the more interesting. Queenie already has a bit of a character arc in the first novel, but in this one she is reeling at being in college and in a big city. She can no longer coast her way through life, and she’s directionless. When she stumbles (yes, literally) on a homeless gay girl in her city, she begins to become aware of her own privilege and finds new direction in trying to be there for Pudge.

I still have most of the same issues that I had with the writing of The Trouble with Emily Dickinson. There are a few typos, for instance, and some of the dialogue seems unbelievable (“you’re as emotional as a scorned 50-year-old menopausal woman”?). I also disliked [mild spoilers, highlight to read] that The Education of Queenie McBride got weirdly meta: JJ writes the first book and then talks about writing Queenie’s memoir. It seems even weirder because big sections of the first book are from other people’s perspectives… [end spoilers] 

I found the storyline much more compelling in this volume. For one thing, as I said, Queenie has to change and grow in a big way. And I did appreciate that this book addresses queer teen homelessness, though it is in a book about a rich girl, and as far as I know all the characters are white. Queenie has to grow up, and she struggles with caring about Pudge while Pudge is defensive and skittish. Queenie fights to take on major responsibility while everyone around her still thinks of her as the immature teenager she acted like only months ago. Pudge, of course, also struggles to deal with not only her immediate safety and hunger, but also her conflicted feelings about her parents.

The subplot that really brings some added depth to the story is that JJ is going through her own, subtler coming of age. [spoilers for tTwED] She is attempting to maintain a long-distance relationship with Kendal, and it’s interesting to see what happens after the happily-ever-after of the first book. [end spoilers] She is also trying to get used to life in a big city, and she is feeling completely lost at school: she is no longer the star of her writing classes. As Queenie goes through a sudden and dramatic attitude change, JJ figures out things about herself in a more subdued way. It was nice to this continuation of her story even if it wasn’t center stage. Oh, and have I mentioned how awesome it is to have three major lesbian characters in a book? And they’re not even paired off with each other!

I have to say that I have no idea about the realism of the way queer teen homelessness is presented in this book, because I don’t know anything about what it’s like in a big city in the United States, but I would love to hear people with more knowledge about respond to the book. I was a little confused about the minimization of money as a factor in homelessness. I understand that Izzy (a social worker at the shelter) wanted to impress on Queenie that she couldn’t give Pudge a $50 and think that she really helped anything, but Pudge refuses Queenie’s money for food–even though she begs for money–and Izzy insists that the only way Queenie can help is by volunteering. Queenie’s family is ridiculously wealthy, and although I know that money isn’t the only factor in homelessness, I can’t help but think that Queenie could have helped the shelter in some way with that privilege, and I can’t imagine that shelters do a lot of turning away of donors.

Although I did have some questions about the novel, I was definitely pulled into The Education of Queenie McBride and zipped through it pretty quickly. If you’re on a lesbian teen book kick (and I think most sapphic bibliophiles go through at least one) and have run out of material, try picking up these two. And let me know what you thought of them!

Carol reviews Tighter Tighter by Lynn Kear

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TighterTighter

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Book Description from Amazon.com

“Eighteen year old Kath Branch disappeared from St. James, Illinois in 1975.

That same night, local sandwich shop owner Billy Carlson was gunned down and dumped in the St. James River.

This cold case is personal for prosecutor Meredith Carlson. Billy was her husband’s father.

Convinced she’s solved the case, Meredith lures the now legendary rock star back to her hometown for the first time since she left thirty-five years ago.

Meredith has no idea she’s about to unearth shocking secrets about herself, her husband, and her family.”

Review
1 out of 5 stars

Right out of the box let me clearly state that this is just my own personal opinion and yes I have seen several reviews of this story where it was highly rated.  Unfortunately for me, I hated this story and it had very little to do with the actual writing.  There are a variety of characters with various subplots that all intersect with the major underlying mystery of who killed Billy Carlson.

The problem for me as a reader was that I hated the characters.  The majority of them are self-centered and self-absorbed.

Kath Branch is the stereotypical music personality who cheats on her partner and sleeps around while on the road.  Meredith Carlson wants her 15 minutes of fame by solving Billy’s murder even if that means steam rolling her husband’s wishes. Meredith is convinced the killer is Kathy Branch and will do whatever it takes to prove that.  Ellen Walker isn’t nearly as self-absorbed but she is also not a sympathetic character.  If the opportunity arises for a fling with Kathy, she’s taking it and has informed her husband that she’s going to do just that.  What the heck, he owes her a free pass since he’s cheated on her in the past.

I just hated them, all of them.  It got to the point where I couldn’t stand reading about them.  In fact, I abandoned this book several times.   The only thing that kept bringing me back to finish reading it was that I committed to reading the entire story, but it was hard.

Normally such a complex plot with all the inter-related storylines would keep me intrigued but by the time I hit the 50% mark I’d lost all interest in who actually killed Billy Carlson and never really got interested in the mystery again.  My only goal was to just finish the thing.    Finally there was a turning point in the story where I actually started to enjoy the writing, so much so that I made a note.  It was at the 93% complete mark.

I don’t really want to discourage people from reading this story, but it turned out to not be my cup of tea.  Maybe because if I knew of these people in real life I would not want anything to do with their drama and would be sorely tempted to smack them upside the head.

Having said all of this, despite hating this particular story, I would read something else written by Lynn Kear another try because the writing itself was ok, I just didn’t like the plot/characters of this particular one.

Anna M. reviews Photographs of Claudia by KG Macgregor

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Photographs Claudia
A few weeks ago, I jumped on a chance to download a free ebook of K.G. MacGregor’s romance Photographs of Claudia from Bella Books. I’d never read anything by MacGregor, and I’m always looking to expand my list of authors I enjoy. The book was published in 2010 and alternates between action in the late 80s and the present day.

When she first meets the attractive Claudia, Leonora (“Leo”) Westcott is a young photographer, still struggling to make the family studio profitable after her father’s death. She’s spent the past several years working almost constantly, accepting every client and taking school pictures. When their paths cross in 1986, Claudia Galloway is a student teacher and Leo is taking the student portraits. Their acquaintance grows into friendship and perhaps something more, despite the fact that Claudia is engaged and plans to move away when her internship is completed.

Leo’s photographer friend believes that she needs to take the next step, artistically, and suggests that she pursue a spot at an elite workshop. When Claudia volunteers to serve as Leo’s model for a series of intense portraits, their simmering emotions come to a boil. Claudia struggles to reconcile her growing attraction to Leo, her disenchantment with her workaholic husband-to-be, and her sudden urge to pose nude. Meanwhile, Leo is afraid to truly invest in a relationship with someone in turmoil, although she has already opened herself up to heartache by falling for Claudia.

MacGregor juxtaposes these fraught scenes from the past with those of a present-day wedding at which Leo is the last-minute substitute photographer. The question is not if, but when Claudia will show up at the wedding, and what her relationship will be to present-day Leo.

MacGregor takes her sweet time developing the pair’s relationship and revealing the details of the rift that has kept them apart for the last two decades. I, for one, would have liked to see more details of their reunion after all the backstory was out in the open (although I’m not complaining at all about the portrait-making scenes, which were decidedly steamy). Some of the barriers to their relationship did not feel as insurmountable to me as they were depicted. Still, who doesn’t enjoy a story of long-parted lovers reunited at last?

I stayed up late to finish Photographs of Claudia and would definitely read more by MacGregor, so well played, Bella Books.

Link Round Up: January 29 – February 6

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The Difference Between You and Me by Madeline George   Sparks   StartingFromHere

ALA’s Rainbow Book List: GLBTQ Books for Children & Teens posted 2013 Rainbow List Announced.

Autostraddle posted More Than Words: Queer, Part 2 (Growing Pains).

Band of Thebes posted Stonewall Book Awards: Ellis Avery, Keith Boykin.

Elisa posted 2013 Rainbow Awards: Call for Judges.

Carapace   2   MissingMyth

Lambda Literary posted

queer book club posted diversifying your queer reads, part 1: a list of books published in 2012 featuring queer people of color.

Queer Books Please posted Episode 3.

UK Lesbian Fiction posted News Roundup.

Imbolc   KickedOut   youknowwhogirls

Sarah Diemer (aka Elora Bishop) posted Announcing: ONE IMBOLC GLOAMING, the Second Book in the Benevolence Tales! <3

Annameekee Hesik was interviewed (plus a giveaway!) at True Colorz.

Sassafras Lowrey posted February 17th – Roving Pack & Kicked Out reading.

Hilary Sloin was interviewed at Out In Print Book Review.

RosefromBayou   ASimpleRevolution   DragonTreeLegacy

A Simple Revolution by Judy Grahn was reviewed at Lambda Literary.

Step into the Wind by Bev Prescott was reviewed at The Rainbow Reader.

Casting Shadows by RJ Samuel was reviewed at Terry’s Lesfic Reviews.

The Dragon Tree Legacy by Ali Vali was reviewed at Lambda Literary.

Rose from the Bayou by Teryn Williams was reviewed at Sistahs On the Shelf.

As always, find more links at the Lesbrary’s twitter, tumblr, and Facebook page!

Danika reviews Charm School Book One: Magical Witch Girl Bunny by Elizabeth Watasin

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3

I’m very glad this book exists. It is adorable. It takes place in Little Salem, a magical place filled with monsters, faeries, and supernatural beings of all kinds. Bunny is a cute witch with a badass, butch, biker, vampire girlfriend, Dean. Their relationship is really sweet, and Dean is the quintessential swoonworthy bad boy butch. And they go to queer youth meetings with zombies, mummies, demons, and lots more people! Oh, and they attend Haunt High, where they learn about potions, magic, and other supernatural elements.

Unfortunately, Bunny’s problem is that she’s always had a thing for faerie girls, who are unattainable–closer to gods than mere mortals. When Fairer Than, a gorgeous faerie girl, takes a liking to Bunny, her relationship with Dean is in danger. But Fairer Than isn’t like other faeries (or, after all, she wouldn’t be slumming with witches). What’s her motivation?

I also appreciated that although Bunny and Fairer Than appear to be white, Dean is asian (or, at least, her birth name is “Yu Ying”) and Bunny’s best friend Blanchet is black. Unfortunately, Dean’s father kind of looks like a caricature of an asian man, and Blanchet is a “voodoo princess”. So I’m not sure how to think about Charm School’s depiction of race. Still, I’m used to Fantasy books using supernatural creatures as stand ins for minorities and not including any people of colour at all, so I’m guess my bar is pretty low.

Just having a supernatural world with a biker butch vampire and a cute lesbian witch was really fun for me. It sort of reminds me of Halloweentown, if that was a lesbian teen cartoon. I would love to read the next book if I can get my hands on it, and I think this would make a great, fun Halloween read.

Marcia reviews Stumptown Vol 1 by Greg Rucka, illustrated by Matthew Southworth

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Stumptown

Dex Parios may be a down-on-her-luck gambler who has put a few too many dollars on the house tab, but she is a talented investigator – and it’s those investigative skills that will get her out of debt, and, unfortunately, into trouble. The volume one of the graphic novel Stumptown, written by Greg Rucka (Gotham Central, Queen & Country) and illustrated by Matthew Southworth (Ares, Infinity, Inc.) is a modern noir taking place in familiar Portland, Oregon – but instead of the whimsical Portland we may be familiar with from IFC series Portlandia, this is a grimmer place filled with real people, not caricatures, more reminiscent of The Killing than “Put a Bird on It.”

When Parios’ debt is called at the Wind Coast, head of operations Sue-Lynne hires Dex to find her missing granddaughter who appears to have left in a hurry, taking just about every important thing she owns but her car. While on Charlotte’s trail, Dex stumbles onto the dark crime underbelly of Portland, a mystery that may end up getting Dex herself killed in the crossfire.

Stumptown is drawn in blues and yellows, with realistic figures and pacing. Those familiar with Rucka’s writing know he is no stranger to the competent-yet-full-fleshed-and-flawed female lead. Parios is no exception. She also happens to be bisexual. There is no underestimating the importance, for me, to be placed on lesbian and bisexual characters in mainstream media. These are stories not necessarily marketed only to us, but giving our stories (as humans who lead full lives, a portion of which involve sexual and emotional attraction to those of our same gender and sex) to an audience that may have them before.

With the release of Stumptown’s second volume just around the corner, I considered this an apt time to recommend the first volume, and Rucka’s work in general. Greg Rucka is one of the few male authors I trust to write not only lesbian and bisexual characters but true feminist narratives. His previous gay-relevant awards are the 2004 Harvey Award for Gotham Central (in which Renee Montoya, Gotham Latina cop and lesbian is outed by a co-worker, and the 2010 GLAAD Media Award for Detective Comics introduction of Batwoman Kate Kane, veteran, Jew, and lesbian.

For those not familiar with the DC Comics universe, Stumptown – which features neither superheroes nor super powers – is a great introduction to graphic novels and to Rucka’s work. For those wanting a great way to ease into the world of Batman and capes, Gotham Central works much like a procedural that just happens to exist in a world where the weekly villains sometimes fly.

Lena reviews Lesbian Crushes and Bulimia by Natasha Holme

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LesbianCrushesandBulimia
“Lesbian Crushes and Bulimia” is a year’s worth of diary entries that chronicle with terrifying frankness the author, Natasha Holme’s, first lesbian crushes and her descent into disordered eating.  The stark candor of the account paints a fascinating portrait of a person and a specific time in recent history.

The book, set in 1989, begins with the Natasha’s summer experience in Germany.  While it’s not specified, it seems that she’s doing some kind of service work with a group of other internationals.  She gets along with the rest of her team, and especially Alex, the other British girl in the group.  The two bond over their shared experience of intense crushes on former teachers.  As the summer goes on the two develop a very close friendship built partially on sexual subtext.  They both return home and attempt to continue their close relationship while also trying to define their sexualities.
When Natasha returns to school she explores the gay community while also attempting to figure out her sexual preferences through trial and error.  At the same time, her bond with Alex reaches obsessive proportions and when the two start to grow apart, Natasha’s obsession turns to her body and physical appearance.

I flew through this book in almost one sitting, an experience I wouldn’t necessarily recommend, but at a certain point, it’s almost impossible to turn away.  There are entries almost every day and as things progress, the author’s obsessions become painfully apparent.  Her descriptions of interactions with others are usually characterized by interrogation-like questioning about sexuality, physical appearance and judgments of character.  They’re uncomfortable questions, the gathering of evidence and reassurance.  And as things got worse and worse, I read to find out if anyone in this person’s world would find a way to break through to her, if anyone would be able to help her.  It was almost as if I read to keep her alive.

In 2013, the age of internet journals and pop culture obsessions, and a radically different understanding of eating disorders, homosexuality and adolescence, this is a fascinating book to read.  The parallels between this private diary and blogs as confessionals were very apparent and very uncomfortable.  I found lots of it really frightening and difficult and for some it’s probably very triggering, but at the same time it’s an important story.  It’s a record, both for the author and the rest of us, of how far we’ve come and how far we still have to go in creating safe and accepting environments.