So, I know that Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters is, like, the lesbian book. But I’ve got to be honest with you: I really wasn’t all that into it. Terrible, I know! But hear me out. Background: Tipping the Velvet is set in Victorian England in the 1890s. It’s a coming of ageRead More
Laura Mandanas Reviews A Fucking Brief History of Fucking by Janet Mason
Dedicated to the author’s “wide ranging tribe of friends, accomplices, and cuntpatriots,” A Fucking Brief History of Fucking is a chapbook of poetry by Philadelphia-based writer Janet Mason. And it is so, so lesbian. In one poem, a former dancer gives another woman a musculo-skeletal overview of how pasties are twirled; in another, two womenRead More
Laura Mandanas reviews Drift by Rachel Maddow
As the first out lesbian primetime anchor, Rachel Maddow has always been a pleasure to watch. She’s also a pleasure to read. Engaging and full of personality, the voice and tone of her recent release, Drift, will sound very familiar to fans of The Rachel Maddow Show. (Literally. As in, I could hear the author’sRead More
Laura Mandanas reviews The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
So… before we get started, there are a few things I want to make perfectly clear: The main character in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is a cis male. The author of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is a cis male. The original Swedish title of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is Men Who Hate Women. Does The Girl WithRead More
Laura Mandanas reviews 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.Read More
Laura Mandanas reviews “Gigglepuss” by Giselle Renarde
I have to say: I was a bit concerned when, four paragraphs in, the main love interest was characterized as a “Japanese anime schoolgirl.” (Like, really people. Can we just stop with the racist Asian exotification and extraordinarily sleazy fetishization of teenage girls? That would be great.) Normally I would have stopped reading there, butRead More
Laura Mandanas reviews Fearless by Erin O’Reilly
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 pilotsRead More
Laura Mandanas reviews Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
A darker tale than one might expect, Sarah Waters’ Fingersmith is a story of deception, double-dealing, and dysfunction. Opening in 1862 in a dilapidated London slum known as the Borough, we meet heroine #1: 17-year-old Susan Trinder. Orphaned at a young age, Sue has been raised as a fingersmith (pickpocket) by Mrs. Sucksby, a crookedRead More
Laura Mandanas reviews Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg
A few weeks ago, I decided to bring a book into the tub for a relaxing bubble bath. When the temperature was right, I gingerly picked up the paperback and eased my way into the frothy suds, cautiously avoiding the slightest splash. I took careful pains to hold the book a deliberate 6-8 inches outRead More
Laura Mandanas and Nichole review Sleeping with the Frenemy by KT Grant
Nichole: I absolutely loved this book. Deborah is possibly one of the most relatable characters I’ve come across in a long time and still she is raw and sweet and a bit of a bitch. She’s been through hell and manages to come out on top and I know I spent the entire book rootingRead More