A book post that's quite 🙃
May. 4th, 2025 10:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
glitteryvRe-reads. HUH.
* Do What I Say": Ms. Behavior's Guide to Gay and Lesbian Etiquette by Meryl Cohn (nonfiction)- This is the second of the three books I got at the library sale back in late February. It's one I'd first bought at Borders shortly after it'd gotten published back in 1995. I lent it to someone who lost it while on a trip. 😒
ANYWAYS, this is a collection of writings abt everything from figuring out one's sexuality to coming out, the different "types" of gay men and lesbians, dating in the queer world, some sex stuff, breakups, etc.
OTOH, some of the advice still holds up. Such as there's no one single way of being queer, why building a community of queers is important, etc. HAVING SAID THAT, this book was written THIRTY YEARS AGO. Because of that, there are certain opinions abt gay and lesbian life that made me 🙄.
Starting with the fact that the book has a v. defined perspective in that there are only gay and lesbians. Everyone's assumed to be cisgender too. So, there are no mentions of transgeder, genderqueer/genderfluid or agender folks. No bisexuals, pansexuals or asexuals either. I found it to be odd AF.
With that in mind, as someone who was in her late teens when this book was published, a lot of that does track to the general cultural sentiment of those years. Like, bisexuality was a hip thing but, weirdly, seen more as an oddity (speaking abt mainstream media here). Transgender ppl were almost never discussed (same for any non-cisgender folk.) OBVIOUSLY, non-cisgender ppl as well as bi, pan, and ace ppl have always existed. It took a lot of effort and time for society, culture, and the media to catch up.
MOVING ON
The pop culture references were so dated too! The author had a v. particular and white analysis of queer life even then. So, there are mentions of many classic gay icons (Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, frex). Also, Jodie Foster kept coming up in the narrative as THE hot celeb according to (all?) lesbians. And this is pre-Jodie Foster coming out, btw. Unfortch for this author, she published this book a year before the huge 1990s of Lesbian Cinema wave (that included movies such as Foxfire, The Watermelon Woman, Fire, The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love, Bound, etc.) Oddly enough, she doesn't mention Go Fish (which had premiered in 1993). IDEK.
I'm landing on giving this a 2.2 out of 5. Again, some of the stuff she points out is still relevant. Also, it's a good window into what early-to-mid-90s USian gay and lesbian culture was like. In the end, I left it at my local little library.
* Screening Party by Dennis Hensley (nonfiction) - This is a collection of articles that Dennis wrote for the British edition of Premiere magazine. Three gay men (Dennis, Marcus, and Tony), two straight women (Lauren and Dr. Braverman), and a straight guy who is not a jackass (Ross) sit down and comment (occasionally bitch abt) all types of movies. Most of them are pretty well known: Jaws, The Sound of Music, and Basic Instinct. Occasionally, there will be some deep cuts: Cruising, Glitter, and For Ladies Only.
I did buy this book when it first dropped TWENTY-THREE years ago. It was abt $17 back then. Sadly for me, I got termites at the place I lived before now and this book got damaged. I hadn't reread it since I bought it, so I deffo snapped a well-loved copy (for $4!) at the infamous library sale.
On the good side, I really did cackled a few times. I also enjoyed a lot of what Dr. Braverman (Dennis' upstairs neighbor AND a psychologist) said. Her views on womanhood, marriage, misogyny, and sex work is stuff that has become part of what ppl are aware of nowadays. She was onto something. The chapter on Cruising made for an emotionally intense read. Which make sense because the movie does like to push viewer's buttons.
OTOH, however, this is a v. 2002 book. Conversely, a lot of the opinions are 😬. Including ppl using words that have since become rightfully slurs.
I don't regret rereading this, so I'm giving it a 3 out of 5. Didn't feel the need to keep it, so I donated it to the Little Library. :P
I DNF'd
* Empty Nests by Ada Maria Soto (M/M romance) - Book 1 in the 2015 (!) "Nested Hearts" duology. This is the story abt two guys: Gabe, a Mexican-American guy who co-owns a tech company, and James, a white single dad who is the head of the IT department at a local university. They meet when Gabe gives a presentation at the university James work at and start a friendship that leads to something more.
Writing was OK. My issue is that there was NO CONFLICT. Both MC's whole 'dilemma" was abt finding a guy to hopefully fall in love with. The rest of the characters were there to ONLY talk abt the guys' love life. I was bored and bounced at the end of Chapter 5 (out of 14). I gave this a 1.8 out of 5.
* Whistle Blowing by Ada Maria Soto (M/M romance?) - Sebastian is an ex-Navy medic who takes home Darren after the latter has been attacked.
The meat of the book consisted of V. DETAILED chapters (yes, more than one) in which Sebastian is medically taking care of Darren. It felt like I was reading someone's report. ON TOP OF THAT, there's a secondary storyline abt Darren's PTSD from being attacked physically and sexually, the evil ppl he's hiding from, and some other messes. I wanted romance and got this instead. After reading 23k (out of 70k total), I realized there was no point in me wasting time on such a subpar novel. I gave this a 1.3 out of 5. Wow, Ada Maria Soto keeps striking out with me. :((((
Had an awesome time at first (but it all went downhill from there)
* Kink in the Road by Evie Mitchell (M/M/F novella) - Riley works as a mechanic in her father's garage. They live on an island called Kink Island that's located off the coast of Australia. Because the men-to-women ratio is so askew (it's something like 50 men for every one woman), the island managed to get polygamy legalized years ago.
In order to attract more women to the island, the mayor is holding a singles weekend. Riley ends up getting assigned to work with Finn and Aiden, the hot owners of a local pub. At first, Riley's eager cuz she's been crushing on both of them for the longest. However, Finn and Aiden are also in a committed relationship w/each other AND Riley has this idea that every guy only sees her as "one of the guys" due to her tomboy-ish nature.
Long story short, things get flirty between all three, etc, etc.
I did liked all three MCs. One cute (?) detail is that there are drawings throughout the novella--which include some of the steamier moments. That was pretty cool!
On the negative side, Riley has a freakout in the last third of the book that was pure nonsense. Mainly due to her life experiences (she's grown up seeing many legally wed triads!) not matching up with her OMG, WHAT WILL LIFE BE LIKE NOW? reaction. This was also abt 90-something pages long, so IDK. I liked it enough to eventually read the other two books by this author that are available on my library a try. I gave it a 2 out of 5.
* Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite (Sci-fi mystery) - Dorothy is a private investigator who, alongside a whole bunch of ppl, is on an interstellar trip to another planet. After waking up in the wrong body, she tries to figure out what happened. And then she comes across a murder...
There's been some buzz abt this novella. I happily snagged a library copy because I'd enjoyed this author's Feminine Pursuits F/F historical romance trilogy.
On the positive side, I liked some of the worldbuilding, the fact that there were several queer couples, Dorothy herself being a protag that's almost 60 years (sorta? It's explained in the story.) On the negative side, the book's emphasis on memories (to the point that there are memory bartenders?) felt v. silly. Also, I found the solution and reveal extremely weak and unsatisfying.
NGL, a big part of the reason why I finished this is cuz it's less than 100 pages long. At this time, I'm not sure if I'll read future books in the series either. I gave this one a 2 out of 5.
Had a good time
None. :(
Current fic tally
I'm doing pretty well here. To date, I've picked up 91 fics and have only DNF'd 39 of them.
So, yeah...It's been a v. ~interesting reading time. Like, I haven't hit a slump, but a lot of what I've ended up giving a chance has not been great, let alone good. LOLsob.
Up next...
Had to renew the Courtney Milan book, the latest book by Sarah Kendzior, and a couple of other stuff. Despite my cynical personality, I'm also an optimist at heart (it doesn't make much sense, I know), so I'm 🤞🏾 that the rest of the reading year starts getting better. ;__;
* Do What I Say": Ms. Behavior's Guide to Gay and Lesbian Etiquette by Meryl Cohn (nonfiction)- This is the second of the three books I got at the library sale back in late February. It's one I'd first bought at Borders shortly after it'd gotten published back in 1995. I lent it to someone who lost it while on a trip. 😒
ANYWAYS, this is a collection of writings abt everything from figuring out one's sexuality to coming out, the different "types" of gay men and lesbians, dating in the queer world, some sex stuff, breakups, etc.
OTOH, some of the advice still holds up. Such as there's no one single way of being queer, why building a community of queers is important, etc. HAVING SAID THAT, this book was written THIRTY YEARS AGO. Because of that, there are certain opinions abt gay and lesbian life that made me 🙄.
Starting with the fact that the book has a v. defined perspective in that there are only gay and lesbians. Everyone's assumed to be cisgender too. So, there are no mentions of transgeder, genderqueer/genderfluid or agender folks. No bisexuals, pansexuals or asexuals either. I found it to be odd AF.
With that in mind, as someone who was in her late teens when this book was published, a lot of that does track to the general cultural sentiment of those years. Like, bisexuality was a hip thing but, weirdly, seen more as an oddity (speaking abt mainstream media here). Transgender ppl were almost never discussed (same for any non-cisgender folk.) OBVIOUSLY, non-cisgender ppl as well as bi, pan, and ace ppl have always existed. It took a lot of effort and time for society, culture, and the media to catch up.
MOVING ON
The pop culture references were so dated too! The author had a v. particular and white analysis of queer life even then. So, there are mentions of many classic gay icons (Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, frex). Also, Jodie Foster kept coming up in the narrative as THE hot celeb according to (all?) lesbians. And this is pre-Jodie Foster coming out, btw. Unfortch for this author, she published this book a year before the huge 1990s of Lesbian Cinema wave (that included movies such as Foxfire, The Watermelon Woman, Fire, The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love, Bound, etc.) Oddly enough, she doesn't mention Go Fish (which had premiered in 1993). IDEK.
I'm landing on giving this a 2.2 out of 5. Again, some of the stuff she points out is still relevant. Also, it's a good window into what early-to-mid-90s USian gay and lesbian culture was like. In the end, I left it at my local little library.
* Screening Party by Dennis Hensley (nonfiction) - This is a collection of articles that Dennis wrote for the British edition of Premiere magazine. Three gay men (Dennis, Marcus, and Tony), two straight women (Lauren and Dr. Braverman), and a straight guy who is not a jackass (Ross) sit down and comment (occasionally bitch abt) all types of movies. Most of them are pretty well known: Jaws, The Sound of Music, and Basic Instinct. Occasionally, there will be some deep cuts: Cruising, Glitter, and For Ladies Only.
I did buy this book when it first dropped TWENTY-THREE years ago. It was abt $17 back then. Sadly for me, I got termites at the place I lived before now and this book got damaged. I hadn't reread it since I bought it, so I deffo snapped a well-loved copy (for $4!) at the infamous library sale.
On the good side, I really did cackled a few times. I also enjoyed a lot of what Dr. Braverman (Dennis' upstairs neighbor AND a psychologist) said. Her views on womanhood, marriage, misogyny, and sex work is stuff that has become part of what ppl are aware of nowadays. She was onto something. The chapter on Cruising made for an emotionally intense read. Which make sense because the movie does like to push viewer's buttons.
OTOH, however, this is a v. 2002 book. Conversely, a lot of the opinions are 😬. Including ppl using words that have since become rightfully slurs.
I don't regret rereading this, so I'm giving it a 3 out of 5. Didn't feel the need to keep it, so I donated it to the Little Library. :P
I DNF'd
* Empty Nests by Ada Maria Soto (M/M romance) - Book 1 in the 2015 (!) "Nested Hearts" duology. This is the story abt two guys: Gabe, a Mexican-American guy who co-owns a tech company, and James, a white single dad who is the head of the IT department at a local university. They meet when Gabe gives a presentation at the university James work at and start a friendship that leads to something more.
Writing was OK. My issue is that there was NO CONFLICT. Both MC's whole 'dilemma" was abt finding a guy to hopefully fall in love with. The rest of the characters were there to ONLY talk abt the guys' love life. I was bored and bounced at the end of Chapter 5 (out of 14). I gave this a 1.8 out of 5.
* Whistle Blowing by Ada Maria Soto (M/M romance?) - Sebastian is an ex-Navy medic who takes home Darren after the latter has been attacked.
The meat of the book consisted of V. DETAILED chapters (yes, more than one) in which Sebastian is medically taking care of Darren. It felt like I was reading someone's report. ON TOP OF THAT, there's a secondary storyline abt Darren's PTSD from being attacked physically and sexually, the evil ppl he's hiding from, and some other messes. I wanted romance and got this instead. After reading 23k (out of 70k total), I realized there was no point in me wasting time on such a subpar novel. I gave this a 1.3 out of 5. Wow, Ada Maria Soto keeps striking out with me. :((((
Had an awesome time at first (but it all went downhill from there)
* Kink in the Road by Evie Mitchell (M/M/F novella) - Riley works as a mechanic in her father's garage. They live on an island called Kink Island that's located off the coast of Australia. Because the men-to-women ratio is so askew (it's something like 50 men for every one woman), the island managed to get polygamy legalized years ago.
In order to attract more women to the island, the mayor is holding a singles weekend. Riley ends up getting assigned to work with Finn and Aiden, the hot owners of a local pub. At first, Riley's eager cuz she's been crushing on both of them for the longest. However, Finn and Aiden are also in a committed relationship w/each other AND Riley has this idea that every guy only sees her as "one of the guys" due to her tomboy-ish nature.
Long story short, things get flirty between all three, etc, etc.
I did liked all three MCs. One cute (?) detail is that there are drawings throughout the novella--which include some of the steamier moments. That was pretty cool!
On the negative side, Riley has a freakout in the last third of the book that was pure nonsense. Mainly due to her life experiences (she's grown up seeing many legally wed triads!) not matching up with her OMG, WHAT WILL LIFE BE LIKE NOW? reaction. This was also abt 90-something pages long, so IDK. I liked it enough to eventually read the other two books by this author that are available on my library a try. I gave it a 2 out of 5.
* Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite (Sci-fi mystery) - Dorothy is a private investigator who, alongside a whole bunch of ppl, is on an interstellar trip to another planet. After waking up in the wrong body, she tries to figure out what happened. And then she comes across a murder...
There's been some buzz abt this novella. I happily snagged a library copy because I'd enjoyed this author's Feminine Pursuits F/F historical romance trilogy.
On the positive side, I liked some of the worldbuilding, the fact that there were several queer couples, Dorothy herself being a protag that's almost 60 years (sorta? It's explained in the story.) On the negative side, the book's emphasis on memories (to the point that there are memory bartenders?) felt v. silly. Also, I found the solution and reveal extremely weak and unsatisfying.
NGL, a big part of the reason why I finished this is cuz it's less than 100 pages long. At this time, I'm not sure if I'll read future books in the series either. I gave this one a 2 out of 5.
Had a good time
None. :(
Current fic tally
I'm doing pretty well here. To date, I've picked up 91 fics and have only DNF'd 39 of them.
So, yeah...It's been a v. ~interesting reading time. Like, I haven't hit a slump, but a lot of what I've ended up giving a chance has not been great, let alone good. LOLsob.
Up next...
Had to renew the Courtney Milan book, the latest book by Sarah Kendzior, and a couple of other stuff. Despite my cynical personality, I'm also an optimist at heart (it doesn't make much sense, I know), so I'm 🤞🏾 that the rest of the reading year starts getting better. ;__;
