I think I liked King of the Screwups better than Fat Kid Rules the World – not because of the gay thing (which I definitely liked) but because of the ending. I didn’t like Fat Kid’s ending. I really liked KotS’s ending.
Nice story at what happens when you’re “Popular” and don’t really want to be.
King of the Screwups Read More »
A nice gentleman (gender assumption based on the name and email address attached to the comment) stopped by my post about The Little Stranger and decided to call me out on saying that I was going to boycott Waters’ book because I’d heard there were no lesbian characters.
That was apparently an example of literary bigotry or at the very least, in poor taste to say.
I replied to the gentleman (gender assumption based on the name and email address attached to the comment) that he could spin it that way if he liked and I’d cop to a bit of literary bigotry in this case.
Anyone who stops by here at all knows that I read a heck of a lot of books, most of which don’t have queer characters. I don’t choose a book specifically because it’s queer. I also don’t walk away from a book simply because it isn’t queer (look at what I’m reading now for goodness sakes – that’s as unqueer as they come let me tell you.)
I do however reserve the right to criticize, complain or boycott a writer who has previously gained my respect and my appreciation and my book buying dollars if she stops writing the types of stories I want her to write. Does she have to listen, of course not. Does it make me a bigot? I don’t think so.
But if you think so, I’ll own that. (Thanks to @SarahDopp for the nifty button. She rocks.)
Literary Bigotry, errr yep Read More »
I almost didn’t read The Little Stranger. I was going to boycott Sarah Waters’ latest book because I’d heard it didn’t have a lesbian theme or lesbian characters.
Hah.
It may not have had overt lesbian themes or characters but if Caroline wasn’t a lesbian… well, I think she probably was.
The Little Stranger was a good read, ten times better than Affinity. A good bit better than The Night Watch. It’s no Tipping the Velvet or Fingersmith but it’s pretty darn good.
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Chester’s Back was a bit of a disappointment. I just don’t get that kind of humor and I’m not sure picture age kids get it either. But then again, maybe they do and I’ve just forgotten?
The Savage was too much “book” and not enough “graphic novel”. I see now why Liz could not get into it – particularly after just finishing Rapunzel’s Revenge. Too many white pages full of text and no graphics – too “savage” of a story.
Skim was excellent and I’m glad Liz read two pages and put it down. It’s too old for her. I wish RJ would read graphic novels, I think she’d like the story quite a bit.
I think I need to take a break from the Cybil YA books, they’re all going to pale in comparison to Disreputable History etc… Take I Know It’s Over, for example.
Damn good YA relationship book. No pulled punches on the abortion issue and a fairly good job with the gay issue. But, I was bored and I think it’s because I kept thinking “it’s nowhere near as good as Disreputable History….” I bet if I head read it before Disreputable History… I’d be raving about how good this book was.
But I’m not.
So no more Cybils YA for me for awhile. Middle grade fiction and graphic novels, here I come!
Cycler is the weirdest YA book I’ve ever read. Weird and oddly compelling. I’m surprised at how much I’m interested in reading the sequel, particularly after the first chapter I wanted to throw the book across the room. I mean, please.
It’s a Dr Jekyl/Mrs Hyde – Teen Wolf sort of thing. Jack is seriously into the teen boy sex thing and there’s the whole bisexual issue. As Liz says it’s really trashy and it’s done just right – after you get past the first chapter and just let yourself go with it.
Kissing Kate was a nice little lesbian YA book. A little too “perfect” – how many teens find exactly the kind of friend they need to help them deal with a problem like “Kate”? Not too many. Actually, I’m not too sure many adults find the perfect friend to help them deal with a problem like “Kate”.
Ah well, it’s feel good YA rather than problem YA. So, it’s all good.
And now that I’ve noticed Lauren Myracle is one of the authors in “Let it Snow”, maybe I’ll go pick that up from the library tomorrow. John Green and Lauren Myracle… must be good?
Thank freaking goodness I am very, very familiar with the work of women like Judy Grahn, Audre Lourde, Adrienne Rich etc etc etc. If I was not familiar with their work, I would still be reading Chloe plus Olivia well into the new year.
800 pages of lesbian lit. Aye yi yi. Text book style lesbian lit. Oy.
This was one hell of a lesbian anthology and if I had it to do all over again, I’d have read an author a day or skipped around a bit based on what my preference of the day might have been. Trying to read it straight through was not a fun experience and reading lesbian lit SHOULD be a fun experience.
By page 500, I was sick of lesbians… sick of masking… sick of the romantic friendship… sick of the man trapped in the womans body… I did not even want to think about the dangerous flowers or the amazons at that point. I just wanted it done. lol
There are some great writers in this anthology, some I’ve never read and a few I’ve never heard of. Great anthology, really. Just don’t try to read it straight through.
Wicked Witch & Curse caused an awful lot of confusion. TW was confused because all she saw on the cover was “Wicked” and she couldn’t figure out why I was reading Wicked for my From the Stacks Challenge – surely I’d read that years ago… (and yes, I had – I was not reading THAT Wicked.)
Then, I got confused because it turns out Wicked Witch & Curse is actually two books, in one. I was only a little more than halfway through the book and hit the “Epilogue” – huh? After the “Epilogue”… the next book started. Aye yi yi.
What’s really confusing (and also troubling) is that the story didn’t end at the end of “Wicked Curse” – there’s got to be at least one more volume and now I’m left wondering if I care enough about the characters or stories to track it down… I’m not sure.
It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great either. And in the second “book”… the “familiar” incident was pretty troubling to me, which I find totally odd.
I might read more… but I probably won’t unless I just stumble upon another book.
Wicked Witch & Curse Read More »
I was nervous about Keesha’s House. It’s a tiny little book – poetry. Ugh. The Printz poetry selections have not been bad but they haven’t been great. This one… great. One of the best Printz Award books.
These are amazing stories and I’d love Frost to write a book featuring each one of them. An entire series about the kids in (and around) Keesha’s House. Or maybe Joe’s story, that would be good too.