Queer

Lone Wolf

2012, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, Queer /

Surprise! Lone Wolf was one of my favorite Jodi Picoult novels. Big surprise! I did not expect this. It’s been a long time since one of her novels surprised me and this one did.

She went light on the catastrophes and heavy on the super-interesting.  Like, when we found out that Luke’s son (and Cara’s brother) was gay… we know something else must have happened because that wasn’t enough to send him away (not to mention it seemed like not something his father would have reacted THAT strongly about) so we knew there was SOMETHING else. And knowing Picoult, it had to be something really HORRIBLE, because that is what she does.

But, when we found out what it was – not horrible. Perfectly normal (hahaha) and reasonable. And not so horrifyingly catastrophic that you’re lefting saying – no, too much. Impossible.

Except, we also KNOW something else happened in that car crash – something Cara doesn’t want to talk about. So, we brace ourself for the HUGE, CATASTROPHIC badness that you know Picoult is going to throw at you. And when it comes, it’s a heartbreaker but NOT THAT BAD.

Shock.

And I liked it. The catastrophe can sometimes take away from the story and the characters. It was very nice to NOT have that happen with what was really an interesting story. Maybe she didn’t blow out the bad because Luke was weird enough that the story didn’t need any more crazy?

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The Unruly Passions of Eugenie R.

2012, Books in Bed, Feminism, Fiction, Queer, Women /

The Unruly Passions of Eugenie R. was good. It could have been excellent had the editor (errr author) had a better editor. When beautiful writing bogs down the narrative, you’re in trouble. When your scattering of French phrases becomes a distraction, you’re in trouble.

Other than that – well done.

France in the mid to late 1800s wasn’t a cake walk for women, in case you didn’t know that.  #patriarchy. 😉

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When She Woke

2012, Books in Bed, Favorites, Feminism, Fiction, Queer, Women /

I am a fan of The Scarlet Letter and tend to be a little hard on books that attempt to recreate that story – but When She Woke was EXCELLENT.  Abortion is murder and convicts of all kinds have their skin color changed (color based on level of crime) and sent back into the community. As you can imagine, “Reds” have a pretty tough time since those are the ones who’ve been convicted of murder.  Feminists run an underground railroad helping women who’ve been convicted for having abortions.

I really liked Hannah, and while I didn’t love the choice she made there at the end – it was the one that made the most sense for her and it made for a solid ending.

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Huntress

2012, Books in Bed, Favorites, Queer, Sci Fi and Fantasy, Young Adult /

I really liked Huntress. The only problem was that I kept wondering what the heck Ash was about. I mean I remembered that it had lesbians in it. And that it was a Cinderella story. But other than that – I couldn’t remember a darn thing. TW kept saying, “just forget it’s a prequel” and I tried but it wasn’t easy.

And when I got to the end of Huntress, I looked up Ash and remembered it all. I should have looked up Ash before I started Huntress and saved myself the annoyance. Because this book was better than Ash. Much better.  A whole lot happened at the end and that’s really the only thing I might have changed – I mean a visit to a unicorn really deserves its own book, or certainly more than just a few pages.

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Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy

2012, Books in Bed, Fiction, Queer, Young Adult /

Elly says Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy is a weird book. I think she’s a 13 year old girl who does not understand gay high school boys who like makeup.  I really enjoyed the book, even if it seemed like Carlos was really, really well-adjusted while his sister (who is straight) was not.  How many poor, Hispanic, gay, high school students in NYC are THAT well-adjusted ? He seemed almost too good to be true. His life too Cinderella perfect. (Except he doesn’t get the boy. Oops, spoiler.)

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The Fall of the Kings

2012, Books in Bed, Queer, Sci Fi and Fantasy /

I finally finished The Fall of the Kings. I had about 150 pages left on the morning that the #readathon started and I didn’t want to kick off my day finishing that book – I knew it would take too long. This is not a fast read, none of Kushners books are. They are, however, well worth the time it takes to read them. The only thing that I wish is that the books in the series covered territory a little closer together than they do. The problem was probably of my own making though, since chronologically, Privilege of the Sword comes in between Swordspoint and The Fall of the Kings.

Anyway – fabulous series. Someday maybe I’ll start over and read them in the proper order…

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#readation book #5 – October Obsession

2012, Books in Bed, Fiction, From the Stacks Challenge, Queer /

182 pages – another lesbian paranormal fiction from Naiad – October Obsession even weirder than the last one.  Ghost sex – I just don’t get it. I’m going to have to be more choosey about my lesbian fiction from now on. I don’t think I can deal with another one of those. However, great sex scenes… just sayin’.

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Swordspoint

2012, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, Queer /

Ages ago, we read a book that I only barely remember – a gender bending story about swordsplay called The Privilege of the Sword. It was good, even though I can only barely remember what it was about. Then, a couple of weeks ago I saw that book on the library shelves. It made me wonder if the author had written any other books… she has and I read Swordspoint this week.

Not a gender bender but gay swordsman and gay Lords and it was good. Very good. The problem is – I’ve read the darn things out of order now. It looks like The Privilege of the Sword came much later… Alec is young in this story and old in Privilege of the Sword. Darn it. I hate reading books out of order and now I need to read the second book in the series and quite possibly re-read The Privilege of the Sword after that.

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Born Wicked

1 Comment / 2012, Books in Bed, Favorites, Queer, Sci Fi and Fantasy, Women, Young Adult /

I’ve decided I hate series’. They always end just where I don’t want them to end. Born Wicked, for example – gah! Next book! Need next book NOW. What happens to poor Maura. Are the Cahill sisters really the sisters from the prophecy or does Sachi have another sister/half-sister…? See that, see the problem. While I really enjoyed the story and am dying for the next book, I’m also looking for some unexpected twist because right now, it’s a little too easy.

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