Queer

Breathing Underwater

2008, Books in Bed, Fiction, Queer, Women /

Where did Breathing Underwater come from? I know I saw it on a blog and was pleasantly surprised that my library had it. (Another example of oddness – they have this obscure lesbian stuff but not Lauren Willig’s books.)

Anyway, it was a very fast read and more than a little odd. The drowning thing – crazy. But then again, the whole town is crazy so I guess it only makes sense. I liked Lily, bless her heart. I liked that they brought in the black lesbian to help her sort herself out. I’m glad she figured out that she and Rae didn’t want the same things.

I think I liked the book. But I didn’t love it.

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Libraries today, tsk tsk

1 Comment / 2008, Feminism, Fiction, Queer, Women /

We ran over to the library one day last week to pick up an ILL that was waiting and while I stood in line at the desk, TW popped over to the “New Arrivals” shelves. She popped right back over when it was my turn in line and dropped a book on the desk for check out.

Lois Lenz: Lesbian Secretary

Ha. Our library may not have any of the Willig books and we might have to ILL stuff like The Edge Chronicles but they sure do have lesbian pulp fiction.

And it was amusing in the way all lesbian pulp fiction is amusing. When poor Lois realizes the girls in her boarding house aren’t communists or white slavers and they’re “just Lesbian Career Girls”… well, that’s the sort of thing everyone should read a few times in their lives.

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Hard Love

1 Comment / 2008, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, Printz Award Challenge, Queer, Young Adult /

More YA! Is this one on the Printz list? Is that why I read it? Or is it some leftover reserve from a GLBT YA group of books I reserved? I’m not sure but I read it and it was pretty amusing. I’m not a huge ‘zine fan but I understand the drive people feel to create them and to read them. Not being a ‘zine person or a teen, I’m not qualified to say Hard Love was an accurate representation of the ‘zine scene but it feels like it.

The book itself, pretty interesting. Nerdy but cute boy from dysfunctional broken gets hooked on ‘zines, writing and reading them, and falls for a lesbian ‘zine writer. She sort of falls for him too but, guess what – she’s still a lesbian! Awesome. Heart break all around but also some growing up and some resolutions to the dysfunction (at least on his part) begin to happen.

Not a fun book, by any means, but not one of those really really depressing YA situation novels either.

(oh! It was a Printz Award Honor Book, cool.)

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Bleeding Out

1 Comment / 2008, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, From the Stacks Challenge, Mystery, Queer /

TW picked up Bleeding Out during a quick trip we made to Wild Iris, in search of a couple of laptop stickers for Michelle and Prince J for Christmas. We didn’t really find the stickers we wanted but we did find books. As usual. Heh.

TW picked up Bleeding Out and never put it down. That doesn’t always mean it’s a great book but she has probably said “that was really good” a dozen times since she finished it. And after a really slow start, I would have to agree. It was a really good lesbian cop novel.

I’m not sure I like having a character named “Lawless” and Frank felt a little too Kate Delafield for me at times – but overall, I was happy with it and I liked the characters. Let’s see if we can find the next one in the series and let’s see if it is just as good.

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Hero

2007, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Favorites, Fiction, Queer, Sci Fi and Fantasy, Young Adult /

It’s all YA all the time for me. It seems like every book on my TBR pile is YA. Weird, but I like it except that it makes me want to do a year long YA challenge or something. Anyway, the YA I’m blogging about right now is QUEER YA! Hero was pretty darn amusing and that’s high praise because I don’t really love comic book heroes and that’s what this story is about.

A boy, who happens to be gay also happens to have super powers. He struggles with a dad who doesn’t have super powers but used to be a super hero and who doesn’t want his son to be gay. He struggles with a mom who left him when he was young and, well… I won’t give away more of the plot line.

There’s a very happy ending though not everyone lives happily ever after – which is as it should be in the world of comic book super heroes and families, right?

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The Off Season

1 Comment / 2007, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, Queer, Young Adult /

I was a little wary of The Off Season. I liked Dairy Queen pretty well but I was worried about the sequel. There were a lot of “issues” brought up in Dairy Queen and I just wasn’t sure the sequel would handle them the way I wanted it to. If anything, The Off Season was better than Dairy Queen.

I was particularly pleased with the relationship between DJ and Brian and how that entire thing played out. I was even more impressed with the handling of Amber & Dale’s relationship and how DJ adjusted to that. (Very very amused by the end, when the women were cleaning up Thanksgiving dinner to a cd by “Melissa something”. Ha. Excellent.)

I’d love to say “I can’t wait for the next book” but I’m worried. The curse of the third book might strike here. I’m thinking Murdock should quit while she’s ahead with DJ and family.

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Kissing the Witch

3 Comments / 2007, Books in Bed, Favorites, Feminism, Fiction, Queer, Sci Fi and Fantasy, Women /

Awhile back, Sassymonkey was trying to come up with books for a fairy tales challenge of some sort. I gave her some ideas but generally speaking, she came up with her list on her own. As I was searching, I realized I had never read Kissing the Witch: Old Tales in New Skins. Crazy, we read a lot of fairy tales around here. So, I reserved it.

And it was terrific. I really liked the way one fairy tale moved into the next. All of the connections between the women. Really excellent idea and one that should have been done before – or maybe it has and I’ve been missing it?

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Deliver Us from Evie

2007, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, Queer, Young Adult /

I saw Lee’s review of Deliver Us from Evie and started to think I had never read it. So I reserved it at the library, a little M.E. Kerr every now and then is good for all of us, right? Turns out I have read it. But it was still fun to read it again. M.E. Kerr always does a good job of giving us characters who could easily be real. They don’t behave oddly, they feel exactly like the people in your family or in your school or your church or your neighborhood. They’re real.

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Duh, of course he’s gay

3 Comments / Books in Bed, Harry Potter, Queer /

Anyone with a lick of gaydar already knew it was Dumbledore who was gay. Nice to hear Rowling say it out loud, though.

She was asked by one young fan whether Dumbledore finds “true love.”

“Dumbledore is gay,” the author responded to gasps and applause.

She then explained that Dumbledore was smitten with rival Gellert Grindelwald, whom he defeated long ago in a battle between good and bad wizards. “Falling in love can blind us to an extent,” Rowling said of Dumbledore’s feelings, adding that Dumbledore was “horribly, terribly let down.”

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