richardderus's eleventh 2024 thread

Yannis Tsarouchis Marine reading (1947)

Exists there a sight more beautiful than a man reading a book? No.

Reviews 001 through 008 are linked here.
Reviews 009 on thru 017 are linked here.
Reviews 018 to 026 are linked there.
Reviews 027 to 033 are linked there.
Reviews 034 through 040 are linked here.
Reviews 041 to 045 are linked here.
Reviews 046 unto 050 are linked here.
Reviews 051 to 059 are linked there.
Reviews 060 up to 064 are linked here.
Reviews 65 up to 78 are linked there.

THIS THREAD'S REVIEWS
079 In Tongues in post #27.
080 Oye: A Novel on post #44.
081 Cecilia (NVLA) in post #61.
082 Perfume & Pain in post #87.
083 Out at the Plate: The Dot Wilkinson Story in post #99.
084 Live It Out in post #149.
085 Welcome to Forever in post #192.
086 Canto Contigo in post #208.
087 If You Change Your Mind by Robby Weber in post #267.

All my threads in the 75ers linked somewhere here
My Last Thread of 2009 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.

My Last Thread of 2010 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2011 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2012 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2013 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2014 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2015 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2016 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2017 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2018 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2019 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2020 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2021 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2022 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2023 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.

All previous Burgoine reviews linked here.

THIS THREAD'S BURGOINE REVIEWS:

#021 Ocean's Godori in post #63.
#022 The Murderous Misses of Concord: A Concord Mystery in post #65.
#023 The Erstwhile Tyler Kyle in post #67.
#024 An Ocean Without A Shore: a novel in post #69.
#025 Tomorrowing in post #279.

All previous Pearl Rule reviews linked here.

THIS THREAD'S PEARL RULE REVIEWS:

#010 @ 47% Codename Nemo: The Hunt for a Nazi U-Boat and The Elusive Enigma Machine in post #72.
#011 @ 42% The Behavioral Code: The Hidden Ways the Law Makes Us Better...or Worse in post #74.
#013 @ 31% Hearts Ablaze: Parables for the Queer Soul in post #76.

Seriously...not a great venue for normies here.
My 2023 goals are here, for reference.
2024 GOALS
If I reviewed 222 books in 2023, why not go for at least 250 in 2024?

So I will.

All but 36 of 2023's reviews were from NetGalley and Edelweiss+, the DRC aggregators I use to get my biblioholism fixes. That's 16% of the total actually read and reviewed. In 2024, I think that percentage is just fine to maintain, so I'll settle on 41 reads not from those two sources as my soft goal...I don't much care if I hit it exactly, but I do need to leave room to read and review books I've been gifted over the years!

2023's #Booksgiving review blast resulted in my blog views for the month being 177% of November's total. So that worked. I only used Twitter for all of November, then for #Booksgiving, added Bluesky and Tumblr. That worked, too. The sadness of my #PrideMonth limp, flaccid performanceless unblast made me realize that, if I'm going to get a big project done, I need to break it down into steps. This is new for me, and a result of the actual limitations that the strokes have imposed on me. Like no longer being able to read handwriting or decode graphics like Wordle, this acquired dyslexia is a limitation I need to acknowledge. Not to say I won't keep pushing against it...but it's real, and planning needs to be based in reality.
***
End of Q1 thoughts on goals
I've had to drop Tumblr from my review-posting because the owner/president/head jerkoff posted transphobic maunderings, then the trans employees said "y'all CTFD he didn't mean it" which well totally relate to needing the gig, but no. THEN announced Tumblr would sell to AI scrapers everything users have posted there...so that, plus their porn ban, means they get axed from me creating anything there, posting or boosting things there. And they don't care, or notice, but I get to keep my own moral high ground.

I don't see, or feel, any reason to adjust any of my annual goals. I've posted 51 blog posts in 2024, or on track for 200 annual posts; but that does not account for the heavy months of June and #Booksgiving to come, and there are already eleven reviews banked for those two.

May 2024 anti-AI rant
I posted a status on Goodreads, a site I've used with great regularity for fourteen years, calling out a sudden increase in reanimated accounts abandoned at some past that are suddenly following me, wondering who else I know there who is also a high-output reviewer had noticed this troubling trend. I specfically said "some AI scraper's found a free way to train its LLM" and *poof* I lost my ability to post comments on Goodreads! Two weeks later, an open "help" ticket gets quick responses to my repeated requests for action, yay...but they ALL SAY THE SAME THING, no timetable for our developers to fix the issue.

Put better developers on it, then. Or just admit I hit a nerve and ban me.

See >5 richardderus: for 2023 achievements & 2024 goals.
My January 2024 summary is here.
My February 2024 summary is here.
My March 2024 summary is here.
My April 2024 summary is here.
My mid-May 2024 #PrideMonth launch notice is here.

MAY 2024 READING REPORT
Thirty-one reads done, reviews written and posted on my blog (including seven Burgoines and Pearl-Rules). This is an outstanding result. I'm slowly whittling down the DRCs I get so many of, and therefore feeling more like I'm "pulling my weight" in the reader-response reviewing world. That my blog's still going after eleven years, and still drawing between 100 and 200 views a day, makes me think I'm doing something right.

My favorite of the wodge of words I gulped this month was In Tongues by Thomas Grattan. Very sexy, even smexy, without edging (!) into one-handed reading territory. What made me think about it for days afterward was its really frank take on the power dynamic of relationships among men who fuck men. I do not think anyone inclined to huff and/or squirm about sex in their stories should read the book...why are you even reading my thread?...nor should those whose gut response to men in love with each other is even slightly tinged with discomfort. (Same question applies.)

I was damn near as impressed by my Dutch sapphic horrorish read My Darling Dreadful Thing, written in English by a Dutch lesbian...process that a minute...she WROTE A NOVEL in the nastiest, most complicated language to learn as an adult! That merits all the respect there is! The story is the story, you'll know if it's right for you from the blurb. I really can't get over how amazeballs it is to write a novel in a foreign language.

Disappointed by The Ministry of Time because its marketing push had me thinking it was more focused on the time-travel aspects. It was instead more about the MCs falling in luuuv. That story is only okay. The other one would've been much more my thing. Also disappointed in Codename Nemo for its academic dryness and turbidity of prose.

Really disliked the Stockholm Syndrome textbook Hearts Ablaze: Parables for the Queer Soul because YUCK. I feel the need to know what the enemy is saying about me, though, and who knows? I might someday run across a gay xian in crisis who could use this pile of stupid.

Okay, you are free to speak without fear of Consequences. (As long as you're polite.)

Happy new one, RD!

>8 katiekrug: Thank you most kindly, O Thread Queen!


ETA size

Happy new thread from me, too, RD!

*smooch*

Happy new thread, Richard!

I was really interested in HM the King's portrait generating so much conversation. I'm now more interested than ever in what the hell the Monarchy is for...lots of biiig surprises for me there...and what the devils of conservative social evil have done to it, how, why, and when.

But the social influencers of today have no tiniest appreciation for the subtlety of the Monarchy's generations-long development of this entire field of human endeavor. A good example is Queen Charlotte, consort of George III, and her different portraits. This one by Thomas Lawrence:

...was unpopular with the Queen, and to my eye is streets ahead of these:

Gainsborough, how frumpy and fussy it is!

Nathaniel Dance-Holland, how unflattering, how OTT everything but Queen Charlotte is!
...in aesthetic appeal. This YouTube video from The National Gallery delves a wee bit into why:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94mrS1tXBTs&ab_channel=TheNationalGallery

The Monarchy gets less credit than it deserves. The monarch, possibly deservedly so; but the institution...less. Maybe more capable hands will do better.

Another new thread, Richard? Wow!

>1 richardderus: Indeed :-)

Happy new thread, Richard dear!

Happy New Thread, Richard! Another thread so soon! wow!

>13 ArlieS: Greetings, Arlie! It goes by so fast...

>14 FAMeulstee: Thank you, Anita! *smooch*

>15 vancouverdeb: Greetings to you, Goody Deborah, and I echo your wow!

Happy new one, RD.

I am pleased to note, dear fellow, that this is the 3,000th post to your threads in 2024.

>1 richardderus: A woman.

>19 PaulCranswick: *ew* hard pass

Three thousand! My gawd, this has been a busy year!

Happy new one!

>21 figsfromthistle: Thank you, Anita!

Happy New Thread!

>23 SilverWolf28: Thank you most kindly, Silver!

HA! Happy to see you persevering and looking forward to falling to BB after BB from our Richard!

Boo! to Badreads. HOORAY FOR LT!

*smooch*

Happy new thread, Richard! You got me with a few BBs as I finished reading your old thread only to find that you'd move on to new digs.

79 In Tongues by Thomas Grattan

Rating: 4.5* of five

The Publisher Says: A young gay man upends the lives of a powerful art-world couple in this steamy novel of self-discovery.

It’s 2001, and twenty-four-year-old Gordon―handsome, sensitive, and eager for direction―takes a bus from Minnesota to New York City because it’s the only place for a young gay man to go. As he begins to settle into the city’s punishing rhythm, he gets a job walking rich Manhattanites’ dogs. But it isn’t until he stumbles into the West Village brownstone of two of his clients, the powerful gallery owners Phillip and Nicola, that Gordon learns how much the world has hidden from him―and what he’s capable of doing in order to get it for himself.

A lush, heart-quickening novel about family and art, sex and class, and the terror of self-discovery, Thomas Grattan’s In Tongues chronicles Gordon’s perilous pursuit of belonging from the Midwest to New York and, later, to Europe and Mexico City. As he floats further into Phillip and Nicola’s exclusive universe, and as lines blur between employee, muse, lover, and mentor, Gordon’s charm, manipulation, and growing ambition begin to escape his own control, in turn threatening to unravel the lives, and lies, of those around him.

Anchored by winsome lyricism, glinting intellect, and a main character whose yearnings and mistakes come to feel like our own, In Tongues crackles with fierce longing and pointed emotion, further confirming Grattan as a rare chronicler of young adulthood’s joys and devastations.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: I kept making dirty wordplay on this title as my review's first line. Trouble with that is nothing I can come (!) up (!) with is steamier or hornier than the book itself is.

This is NOT straight-people safe. This is not, in all honesty, a book to read at work, or on public transport, unless you're wearing very, very loosely pleated trousers. Or baiting your hook.

It's also not one-handed reading, I hasten to add. The story is very much the point of the sexual situations, not the other way around. Think of it as Ripley made for PornHub not Netflix, nor perish forbid that neutered but pretty-to-look-at theatrical film. That perhaps overplays the calculation and manipulation that Gordon commits to in achieving his goal of finding himself (between two powerful people's bodies), and discovering his true inner self(ish bastard). But make no mistake that Gordon is very much a Young Man from the Provinces who very clearly knows what he left behind he deliberately rejected. Now he needs to understand how to work his natural gifts while he's got youth and a complete absence of the will to say "no" on his side.

The reason I resonated so deep(!)ly to the story is Author Grattan's way of making it: Episodic, dreamlike, in the flow. That knocked off the meaner interpretations I leapt to about Gordon's thoughtlessness, his lack of a core concern for how his behavior might affect others. It is not yet in him (!) to be calculating. It is, in other words, a case of his being canny versus being savvy. Gordon instinctively responds to the way others see him and shows them that side. A savvy operator would, instead move to seduce those who have what he wants. Those people are often false-feeling and mistrusted, Gordon is too real in his desire to be desired to give off a warning signal, a fake vibe.

Absence of an organizing principle often gets mistaken for aimlessness. Author Grattan takes on a daunting task of presenting the story of Gordon, void of course, and needing thus to use authorial sleight of hand to keep his reader from feeling lost and unconnected the way Gordon is. That is a supremely difficult thing to do. For the most part I think his choice of sexual contexts serves admirably to ground and connect us to Gordon. There's so much pleasure in reading the elegant prose of the story, and so much about the emotional nature of those around Gordon to keep a lit-fic reader going. Particularly telling is Gordon's relations with the old guys in the story. He might not lust after them as they do him, but he desires...something, some meaningful intangible benefit to go with the tangible exchanges between them; does he get it? He doesn't know, because he doesn't know what he's looking for, The older men get what they want though likely not what they need, which is again intangible: connection. A future. Raising more than a flagging half-staff, shall we say.

This is consonant with my own life.

My half-star docked off dissatisfaction was Gordon's religious father begging for his son's withdrawn love. That's not so baldly expressed, of course, as I've done but it honestly does not ring true at all. Religious fathers with gay sons imght want to convert them to straightness but making themselves emotionally vulnerable? Nope. I don't, honestly, see that happening between most any father and son. And that joined a certain vague sense I could never coalesce around an actual idea, that Gordon was not really interested in himself enough to attract the caliber of men he does. That's as close as I can come to articulating a kind-of Forrest Gumpishness about him that did not jibe with narrative.

Lovely writing made the ending work. Lesser talent would've fumbled that one, and it was a close-run thing even so. A book I recommend to gay-male readers of literary prose.

All others, at your own risk.

Happy new thread, Richard!

>25 LizzieD: Boo to The Other Guys indeed. I don't much like this kind of sneakiness...the kind that allows, or pursues itself, profit from the unpaid labor of millions of volunteers to train a probably-unstoppable world-changing expansion of Orwellian thought control.

>26 Familyhistorian: Surprise! I'm in new premises but my armory of biblioguns came with. Glad you did too.

*smooch*

>28 bell7: Thank you most kindly, Mary! *smooch*

Checking in on the new thread and giving you tons of ((hugs)) and **smooches** before I head out-of-town tomorrow for a week at my mother's.

Take care of yourself, sir!

>32 alcottacre: Thank you, Stasia! I hope your Mom-time is fun. *smooch*

>33 richardderus: I am sure it will be. We always have a good time together. I love my mother very much.

*smooch*

Happy new one, Richard!!

>35 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks, Reba! *smooch*

Hiya, RDear! Happy Thursday.

>27 richardderus: Hmmm. Onto the wish list, too skint to actually buy it at this time.

*smooch*

>20 richardderus: Heh! What's wrong with women reading books, even in pictures?

As someone assigned to the female category at birth (*snicker*), I resemble that image.

(Ob translation: AFAB is modern left wing for "biologically female".)

>37 karenmarie: Betcha it'll come on KU one day soon. Wait for that, or a $2.99 sale. Not enough *oomph* for me to try to urge a full-price purchase on you.

Thursday orisons, Horrible me lurve.

>39 ArlieS: Far better to portray people reading, genitalia aside. But the AFAB person is not my own idea of beautiful. So, *ew*

Happy new thread.

>42 thornton37814: Thank ypu most kindly, Lori.

080 Oye: A Novel by Melissa Mogollon

Rating: 3.75* of five

The Publisher Says: A coming-of-age comedy. A telenovela-worthy drama. A moving family saga. All in a phone call you won’t want to hang up on…

A young woman reckons with her rowdy, unpredictable family and the revelation of their long-buried history in this wildly inventive debut.

“Yes, hi, Mari. It’s me. I’m over my tantrum and finally calling you back. But you have to promise that you won’t say anything to Mom or Abue about this, okay? They’ll set the house on fire if they find out…”

Luciana is the baby of her large Colombian American family. And despite usually being relegated to the sidelines, she now finds herself the voice of reason in the middle of their unexpected crisis. Her older sister, Mari, is away at college and reduced to a mere listening ear on the other end of their many phone calls, so when South Florida residents are ordered to evacuate before a hurricane, it’s up to Luciana to deal with her eccentric grandmother, Abue, who’s refusing to leave. But the storm isn’t the only danger. Abue, normally glamorous and full of life, is given a crushing medical diagnosis. While she’d prefer to ignore it and focus on upholding her reputation and her looks instead, the news sets Abue on her own personal journey, with Luciana reluctantly along for the ride.

When Abue moves into Luciana’s bedroom, their complicated bond only intensifies. Luciana would rather be skating or sneaking out to meet girls, but Abue’s wild demands and unpredictable antics are a welcome distraction from Luciana’s misguided mother, absent sister, and uncertain future. Forced to step into the role of caretaker, translator, and keeper of the devastating secrets that Abue begins to share, Luciana suddenly finds herself center stage, facing down adulthood—and rising to the occasion.

As Luciana chronicles the events of her upended senior year over the phone, Oye feels like the most entertaining conversation you’ve ever eavesdropped a rollicking, heartfelt, and utterly unique novel by an author as original as she is insightful.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: A funny, modern updating of the epistolary novel, with all its strengths and weaknesses intact. The biggest strength for me was Luciana's voice: Raw, unregulated, intensely immersed in a very difficult moment. I have heard criticism from readers about the "foul language" Luciana uses, to all of whom I say, "go read a religious tract if all you want is sweet, uplifting pablum." Luciana's in a car fleeing a bloody hurricane! She's trying to reach her sister! She's left her Abue (Grandma for the monoglots) behind...at the old lady's insistence!

If anyone has a reason to use Language, it's this girl; plus she's talking to her sister! Not an Authority figure. Which brings me to, who says you, the reader, get to be an authority entitled to pass judgment, anyway?

And here I am, passing judgment....

Well, hypocrisy thy name is me, I guess. I disagree with those pursey-lipped objections because I don't agree with them, anywhere, period. To me, this is a feature not a bug: Immediacy and authenticity enhancing the usual epistolary read's sense of becoming privy to another person's intimate communications to someone not you. That style is emotionally more intense, more immediate, than third-person or *shudder* the Satanic Second person narration. That becomes ever more relevant as the hurricane threat is survived and the aftermath begins.

What the story does is deeply unfamiliar and absolutely terrifying to me. It chronicles the emotional reality of a child's bearing the burdens of adulthood, of responsibility for interpreting...on every level that word has in English...the world for the nominal adults around her. I can think of nothing more frightening to read about than that imposition on someone who is also coming to terms with her sapphic love needs. The latter would be enough to stress a kid out, and it certainly has, but add on top the cultural and language interpretation demands...!

This is, to me at least, the very most unnerving of isolations. Luciana is left, by the sister she's leaving these voicemails for, to be in charge of some deeply stressful navigations of her world that I feel sad she has to be burdened with, things that by all rights a teenager should not have to be in charge of. That's conveyed very well by the updated use of the epistolary format.

There are the usual limitations, of course. The fact that this is not a conversation, a la that ur-telephone novel Nicholson Baker's Vox, means that the story is solely the one Luciana sees and feels. We get her character, but are asked to fill in the spaces where the other characters...reduced to names here...need to be. That is inherent in the format, so it does nothing wrong, just leaves more work for the reader. I found that a bit off-putting as time went by; why is Luciana pouring her heart out to Mari anyway, I kept wondering, when there's nothing coming back...and the realization of Luciana's actual, heart-rending isolation came crashing in again.

As an evocation of the absolute intensity of adolescent emotions, passions, and fears, it works. As a novel, it can feel overly dramatic and one-note. That is a risk that the epistolary format carries within itself. I liked the read, but was too overstimulated to love it, as I could never be anywhere but in medias res.

'Morning, RDear. Happy Friday to you.

>40 richardderus: And onto the wish list it goes. I am a sucker for epistolary novels.

*smooch*

Happy Friday, Richard. Happy New Thread. I like that topper. Storms are moving through later but I should be able to get to the park and set it up before it arrives. 🤞

These constant storms everywhere are getting pretty scary. What have WE DONE!!

>45 karenmarie: Morning, Horrible! Happy to see you here. I think Oye: A Novel will work well for you, possibly even worthy of a purchase if it's not on KU because it's so very...vigorously experiential. I liked that about the read, but I'm a bit less of a fan for the form at this point in my reading life. I hope your weekend's reads treat you well. *smooch*

>46 msf59: As art, I do too; as subject matter it's just so unusual compared to images of women reading that I'm all over it.

What we did was vote in Reagan and his henchrats. Worst presidential election result in history.

Friday felicitations, and happy new thread!

>49 Storeetllr: Thank you, Mary, and enjoy this gorgeous start to the weekend!

>41 richardderus: In fact, I'd prefer my pictures of people reading not to display any genitalia ;-) *snicker*

>51 ArlieS: In the Aughties, there was a scene on Will & Grace where Will was reading on his couch naked with the book on his lap when Grace and her BF walked in; the boyfriend said to will, "careful there, that's a nasty papercut waiting to happen". I still laugh my head off whenever I think about that.

I'm really excited that Ballantine offered me the DRC of the newest Flavia de Luce mystery,
#11: What Time the Sexton's Spade Doth Rust: A Flavia de Luce Novel by the venerable delight Alan Bradley. Needless to say I jumped on it! The book comes out in November.

>52 richardderus: Happy Friday.

And because Everything is everywhere on the internet, here is a full clip of Will and Grace that contains said papercut joke. Its around the 3:45 mark. There's a couple other naked reading jokes before that one. Cheesy but funny.

https://youtu.be/oXEyLpa64ZA?si=XUj8grtAncQSWT2E

Good morning, Richard. I do check in here regularly but often have nothing to say...thought I would just say "hi" to let you know I'm thinking about you.

>55 RebaRelishesReading: Reba! Glad you decloaked, you Book-Romulan you.

Read hearty this weekend. *smooch*

>54 mahsdad: LOL

That was fun! Thanks!

>53 richardderus: Richard, you just made my day with the news of the upcoming Flavia De Luce! Can’t wait. Might have to do a series reread?

Happy weekend, Richard!

Karen O

>58 klobrien2: Hi Karen O.! I know what you mean, especially since such a kerfuffle erupted around Author Bradley being so deep into dementia. I guess he got some help...?

I don't own the earlier books, I read them all from the library, but would probably benefit from a refresher trip through my reviews of them. So exciting to have it!

Happy new thread, Richard!

081 Cecilia (NVLA) by K-Ming Chang

Rating: 4.5* of five

The Publisher Says: A surreal novella about the intensity and eroticism of girlhood friendships, the ecstasy of desire and disgust, and matriarchal mythmaking.

Seven, who works as a cleaner at a chiropractor’s office, reencounters Cecilia, a woman who has obsessed her since their school days. As the two of them board the same bus—each dubiously claiming not to be following the other—their chance meeting spurs a series of intensely vivid and corporeal memories. In the defamiliarization that follows, the narrator begins to experience queerness itself as an alienation from normative time.

Smart, subversive, and gripping, Cecilia is a winding, misty road trip through bodily transformation, inextricable histories of desire and violence, diaspora, and obsessive love.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: This short read is much more affecting than most its length are. That is a funcrion of K-Ming Chang's bravura performance with English as a weapon:

When I reached up to touch my face, I felt no protrusions, no new bones inflecting my surface, and yet, when Cecilia and I looked at each other, we saw them: beaks mountaining out of our mouths, rooted to the shadows of our jawbones. Beaks shining like the perfect darkness preserved inside a belly.

You are on notice: Pay attention to the words chosen, pay attention to the images described, or this very slightly surreal...in its literal meaning, the meaning of the parts it's made of, "overreal, above real, on top of real"...narrative of two girls discovering love, passion, intense vibrant hypercolored Experience, will simply squash you, split the space where you are and move through it.

An intense experience will be had; your choice of framing for the act of being engaged with this story will determine its positive or negative perception for you. I am resolutely positive about the experience because anyone who can, and will, and does explore the sensation of Obsession to burnout is my idol.

That will trigger very strong and not always positive memories for some readers. Be aware of this fact particularly if you have been, or are being, stalked.

Readers who prefer direct action will not resonate to the Proustian aide-memoire of this novella. The story, as in plot, is spare to the point of threadbare: Old friends with a past connection of unrequited lust, requited love, and sensual obsession, meet at one's place of work, chat, then get on a bus to go home...not together. Just that isn't gonna drag the hoi polloi into this tent, there to be entertained. The story is of the rung-bell resonance of girls loving each other before womanhood imbues loving, intense intimacy with a bodily expression's inevitability. The immensely divisive choice of piss as a focus of fascination, desire, disgust, and connection is definitely going to upset some people. It is, I think, an example of how little female desire is examined in our literary landscape that this choice has occasioned such a response across the spectrum of readers. Women, even sapphically inclined ones, are still called on to present a particular strain of pure, clean, unsullied neutered bodiless Love and not filthy, sweaty, bodily based Lust...that's reserved for intimacy, things done and thought in private. Shame, in other words. In porn, these acts are Done To women as a form of punishment or humiliation. K-Ming Chang's Seven is not humiliated or punished. She's so obsessed that this is an urgently desired act of further possession and imtimacy. There's more than a whiff of body horror to the way bodily processes and even body parts are casually discussed, possessed, and even deployed throughout the read.

The author's choice of making her girls of Chinese descent, living in the US diaspora, is...to my surprise...not foregrounded. I expected it to be more of a focus because so much is made of the author's own ethnicity. It was something I didn't really notice until I'd read the story and was thinking about responses to the author's realier works (eg, Bestiary, Bone House, Gods of Want), where ethnicity is apparently made more of within those stories. Haven't read 'em, can't speak with an informed eye, but this story doesn't make a meal of it as I suspected it might.

I definitely don't think this read is for everyone, but the right reader will be unfazed by childbirth evocations and livers of others as property to be treasured. The right reader will immerse their awareness in the meaty world of loving someone so much that consuming them is desirable, not in the Hannibal Lecter sense I hasten to say. The right reader will give their readerly ears to the very idiosyncratic music of K-Ming Chang's creation.

It's me. I'm the right reader.

>60 atozgrl: Saturday orisons, Irene, and thank you!

BURGOINE #021 Ocean's Godori by Elaine U. Cho

Rating: 3.75* of five

The Publisher Says: Ocean Yoon has never felt like much of a Korean, even if she is descended from a long line of haenyeo, Jeju Island's beloved female divers. She's also persona non grata at the Alliance, Korea's solar system-dominating space agency, since a mission went awry and she earned a reputation for being a little too quick with her gun.
When her best friend, Teo, second son of the Anand Tech empire, is framed for murdering his family, Ocean and her misfit crewmates are pushed to the forefront of a high-stakes ideological conflict. But dodging bullets and winning space chases may be the easiest part of what comes next.

A thrilling adventure across the solar that delivers hyperkinetic action sequences and irresistible will-they-won't-they romance alongside its nuanced exploration of colonialism and capitalism, Ocean's Godori ultimately asks: What do we owe our past? How do we navigate our present while honoring the complicated facets of our identity? What can our future hold?

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: Well, what can I say. I love Firefly, I love Becky Chambers, I thoroughly liked the Ketty Jay. This story hits all those tales' beats, and does it from a new angle that centers Korean culture. The author, who lives in Seattle, is definitely working inside that frame. The strong anticolonial message is interesting, as the entire idea of human expansion is by definition colonialist....

Is the story anything groundbreaking? No. Do I want to read the next one, assuming there is one? Yes. The fun of being within this group of cooperative misfits led by a Korean lesbian far exceeds the investment in absorbing the different cultural background unfamiliar to most Western readers.

It is, to me, very much an enhancing feature of the read. Get out of your cultural rut within your genre preference.

Hiya, RDear! Happy Saturday to you.

Two BBs successfully dodged, but since you know me so well, that shouldn't surprise you.

*smooch* from your own Horrible

BURGOINE #022 The Murderous Misses of Concord: A Concord Mystery by Elizabeth Dunne

Rating: 3.25* of five

The Publisher Says: In Concord, Louisa May Alcott farms pigs after success with Little Women, but as New England’s freezing winter approaches, death isn’t far away.

Concord’s Misses, armed with wit and elegance, money, and secrets, are present when Miss Emily Collier dies at her forty-seconnd birthday party. Louisa is embroiled in the intrigue. They will lie to her, set traps and blackmail to avoid justice. And Louisa is now an outsider in what was once her home.

To test her mettle, local Justice of the Peace Captain Briers, a man compromised by lust for one of the Misses, enlists her to bring order to the twisted loyalties, land feuds and secrets fuelling a seditious desire for revenge not seen in Middlesex County since the witch trials.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: I have a mystery-loving sister who dislikes the use of historical figures as amateur sleuths. "That's not accurate, doesn't help suspend disbelief" is her reasoning. I think she's correct about this, but don't share her conclusion because it, to me, does add to my apprecieation of the book's historical background. Alcott, in this use, does increase my ability to immerse my imagination into the Concord of the era.

The story is fine...nothing new...but cozy mysteries, particularly hostorical cozy mysteries, don't need to be. I like the genre, I like this execution of the basic plot, it's a good and entertaining read.There's a Kindle edition though it's not available on Kindle unlimited.

>64 karenmarie: Saturday *smooch*, Horrible me lurve. I am, as you surmised, not reeling back clutching my pearls in shockhorror that you're not hustling your bustle to procure either of the first two titles on this thread. I don't think anything I'm reviewing today or tomorrow will make it to your rotation, and Monday's pretty iffy too.

BURGOINE #023

The Erstwhile Tyler Kyle by Steve Hugh Westenra

Rating: 3.25* of five

The Publisher Says: Tyler Kyle doesn’t believe in monsters.

A washed-up thirty-year-old actor and reluctant cryptid investigator, Tyler is used to playing the Scully to his best friend Josh’s Mulder on their stupidly popular YouTube channel. But when Tyler receives previously unseen footage of the B movie bombshell mother who abandoned him eighteen years ago—footage linked to an isolated island in the Canadian wilderness—the mystery is one conspiracy he’s determined to investigate. The fact that following the scent gives Tyler an excuse to run away from the “straight” Josh, whom he drunkenly made out with, is just the cherry on the shit sundae.

But Echo Island isn’t what it seems. Its eerily scenic veneer hides a twisted secret buried in its roots as a gay conversion camp, and as Tyler retraces his mother’s footsteps, he discovers a supernatural connection between the residents and the island—one they seem to think Tyler and his mother share.

Even worse, the footage of Tyler’s mom came from someone on the island–a stalker whose obsessive fascination with both Tyler and Josh is about to make Tyler wish he hadn’t gone this one alone. Puppeteered by his stalker, searching for his mother, and debating whether it’s possible to queerbait yourself, Tyler comes to realize that it doesn’t matter so much whether you believe in monsters, if they believe in you.

THE ERSTWHILE TYLER KYLE is an adult horror comedy for fans of GHOST FILES, BUZZFEED UNSOLVED, and TWIN PEAKS.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: Self-published novels tend to share some general categories of flaws: depending on your personality, some (like solecismic grammar) are forgivable, or indeed invisisble; others (wittering on about stuff you've covered, showing off your research) are just joy-sucking offenses to the Muses. You'll never guess which camp I fall into.

I don't mean to put down this story by saying its comps are exactly and precisely correct, because they are. If ir were not for its bloat, this story would be a great addition to Hulu's adaptation slate. It's got a pleasantly funny vibe buried in the wordiness. Very amusing, queer-inclusive, sidewise glance at "reality" media's unrealest stretch of landscape (cryptids) made...real? or just maybe real...?

Consult the content warning list, and decide if you want to buy this $2.99 ebook.

Good afternoon, Richard. You know you got me with *Ocean*, but I'm pretty sure I've evaded the hit from the other two. You would have predicted that, I'm sure.

You have been busy! Stay cool and keep 'em coming! *smooch*

BURGOINE #024

An Ocean Without A Shore: a novel by Scott Spencer

Rating: 3.5* of five

The Publisher Says:A wildly entertaining and occasionally heartbreaking story of frustrated longing, and the lengths we will go for those we love—even if they don’t love us in return

An Ocean Without a Shore, from the bestselling, critically acclaimed author of Endless Love and Man in the Woods, is a beautifully rendered exploration of that most timeless of human dilemmas: the one in which your love is left unreturned.
Since their college days, Kip Woods has been infatuated with Thaddeus Kaufman, who, years later, is a married father of two children and desperately trying to revive a failing career. Kip’s devotion to Thaddeus has been life-defining and destiny-altering, but it has been one that Thaddeus has either failed to notice or refused to acknowledge. But over the course of this heated and mesmerizing novel, set against a background of privilege and affluence in Manhattan and the Hudson Valley, Kip will be forced to reckon with the prison of his own making and decide how much he is willing to sacrifice for a love that may never be shared.

Picking up where his most recent novel, River Under the Road, left off, but writing squarely in the vein of Endless Love, his classic novel of passion and obsession, Scott Spencer gives us an intimate, immersive, and unsettling portrait of the devastation we will wreak in the name of love, and the bitterness of a friendship ravaged by fathomless yearning.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: I read this not realizing it was a sequel. That could be part of my lack of enthusiasm. The strongest reason I didn't fall all over myself to praise this novel, though, is right here:

I have learned one of the lessons of loneliness, one of its shocking side effects: when you are in a state of longing, desire goes on and on, like an ocean without a shore.
–and–
Here's something else about us torchbearers. We are possessive of the one we love and we are determined to maintain our hold on the idea of them. Our idea of them is really all we have. When you think about someone more or less constantly, you begin to believe—though you would never say so, not even to yourself—that they belong to you.

Beautiful sentences, aren't they? But what a world they paint. That's my issue...I don't want to spend much time in Kip's world because it grates on my nerve to be asked to invest in unrequited longing. It feels to me like the relationship he maintains with savvy, manipulative Thaddeus is a shield against intimacy. That isn't my own personal jam of a read.

I expect fans of Andrew Sean Greer and Peter Cameron will disagree with me. Prioritize lovely language and fully limned characters over a story you're rooting for an exact outcome to end? This is your lucky review, here it is! I myownself just wanted it to end and wasn't invested enough to mind about how. To my saddened annoyance.

Ecco Press offers a trade paper edition for $15.99 or an ebook for $9.99. Either seems like a good buy for those intrigued.

>68 LizzieD: I sorta-kinda thought it might be a book for you, but I hadn't made it to your place to tout it. I'm glad you found it anyway! The prose will not WOW you, but the story's got the hooks to pull you along, I shall venture to assert.

It's #PrideMonth, and after last year's ABJECT failure to post the reviews I felt I wanted to, I'm making bloody sure I do it this year!

*smooch*

BURGOINE 024

Invisible No More: A Historical Novel by Scott Pitoniak and Rick Burton

Rating: 3 generous stars of five

The Publisher Says: Wilmeth Sidat-Singh is the greatest athlete you've never heard of--and so much more. A rocket-armed passer on the football field, an ankle-breaking playmaker on the basketball court, he was also a scholar, civil rights pioneer, patriot, and one other thing—forgotten.

In this historical novel based on Sidat-Singh's life, sportswriter Breanna Shelton stumbles upon the riveting story of the former Syracuse University star who was forced to hide his identity in order to take the field, leading to climactic moments when race and sports collided. As a young Black woman making her way in a profession not ready to fully accept her, Shelton immerses herself in the research, determined to resurrect an inspirational man who time left behind. Along the way, she finds courage and perseverance to transform herself and her career.

Post-civil rights era society still grapples with dispiriting obstacles that Sidat-Singh faced more than a half century earlier, when he was "passing" to play; serving as a Tuskegee Airman in World War II; and interacting with luminaries such as Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Grantland Rice, Sam Lacy, and Joe Louis.

This fictionalized account, as timely now as ever, honors an American hero whose life was cut short while serving a country that didn't recognize him as a full-fledged citizen because of the color of his skin. After you read it, Sidat-Singh will be invisible no more.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: Well, it's #PrideMonth adjacent because Wilmeth Sadat-Singh was in the "race" closet that the US of the 1930s enforced. He was Black, not the less-reviled South Asian ancestry his stepfather's surname allowed him to present to a horrifyingly prejudiced society...a dilemma of passing that queer people face to this day.

The man, and his bitter story, deserve our respect and attention. The recrudescence of the uglier expressions of racism make this tale urgent. This execution of it, to my disappointment, doesn't do the material justice because it's the research notes lightly stitched together with a framing device of modern discovery of historical materials...a lot like what Elizabeth Kostova did in her bestsellers (that I didn't like much either), the entire momentum resides in the past. The problem I have with that is that it never allows me a place to hook into the action because it's all in records of things done and dusted, and people who are largely just names to my 21st-century eyes.

It's self-published, so the $9.99 might be more than you want to spend on a Kindlebook. Get a sample, then decide.

PEARL RULE #010 (47%)

Codename Nemo: The Hunt for a Nazi U-Boat and The Elusive Enigma Machine by Charles Lachman PEARL RULED @ 47%

Rating: 3.25* of five

The Publisher Says: The white-knuckled war saga of the US Navy task force who achieved the impossible on June 4, 1944, capturing Nazi submarine U-505, its crew, technology, encryption codes, and an Enigma cipher machine—the first seizure of an enemy ship in battle since the War of 1812 and one that undoubtedly shortened the duration of the war.

On June 4, 1944—two days before D-Day—the course of World War II was forever changed. That day, a US Navy task force achieved the impossible—capturing a German U-Boat, its crew, all its technology, Nazi encryption codes, and an Enigma cipher machine. Led by a nine-man boarding party and the maverick Captain Daniel Gallery, US antisubmarine Task Group 22.3’s capture of U-505 in what was called Operation Nemo was the first seizure of an enemy ship in battle since the War of 1812, one of the greatest achievements of the US Navy, and a victory that shortened the duration of the war.

Charles Lachman’s white-knuckled war saga and thrilling cat-and-mouse game is told through the eyes of the men on both sides of Operation Nemo—German U-Boaters and American heroes like Lieutenant Albert David (“Mustang”), who led the boarding party that took control of U-505 and became the only sailor to be awarded the Medal of Honor in the Battle of the Atlantic; and Chief Motor Machinist Zenon Lukosius (“Zeke”), a Lithuanian immigrant’s son from Chicago who dropped out of high school to enlist in the Navy and whose quick thinking saved the day when he plugged a hole of gushing water that was threatening to sink U-505.

Three thousand American sailors participated in this extraordinary adventure; nine ordinary American men channeling extraordinary skill and bravery finished the job; and then—like everyone involved—breathed not a word of it until after the war was over. Nothing leaked out. In Berlin, the German Kriegsmarine assumed that U-505 had been blown to bits by depth charges, with all hands lost at sea. They were unaware that the U-Boat and its secrets, to be used in cracking Nazi coded messages, were in now American hands. They were also unaware that the 59 German sailors captured on the high seas were imprisoned in a POW camp in Ruston, Louisiana, until their release in 1946 when they were permitted to return home to family and friends who thought they had perished.

Following Operation Nemo step-by-step, author Charles Lachman has crafted a deeply researched, fast-paced World War II narrative for the ages.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: Step-by-step indeed. Ploddingly paced, full of the sort of detail and acronym-heavy information that professional historians batten on, and that do less for me than sci-fi infodumping does in the reading pleasure metrics. I had to bail just before the halfway point. It really shouldn't surprise me that I couldn't get deeply immersed in the read because submarine stories have to be very fast-paced for me not to fixate on the claustrophobia of their raison d'etre. Underwater! NO FRESH AIR! Lots of bodies all squished up with no personal space! *shudder*

As I mentioned, that needs a fast narrative pace with plenty of action for me to overcome. I didn't get that here. If you're an Erik Larson fan, that is not this writer's style. He's closer to Russell S. Bonds or Stephen Harrigan: Details accumulate, characters emerge in relief or simply can't be recreated, but nowhere is your pulse going to pound.

Diversion Books offers hardcovers for $29.99 from 4 June 2024, should you be deeply fascinated by details of the Battle of the Atlantic.

>53 richardderus: Oooh, that is exciting news!

PEARL RULE #011 (@ 42%)

The Behavioral Code: The Hidden Ways the Law Makes Us Better...or Worse by Benjamin van Rooij and Adam Fine

Rating: 3.5* of five

The Publisher Says: A 2022 PROSE Award finalist in Legal Studies and Criminology
A Behavioral Scientist's Notable Book of 2021
Freakonomics for the law—how applying behavioral science to the law can fundamentally change and explain misbehavior

Why do most Americans wear seatbelts but continue to speed even though speeding fines are higher? Why could park rangers reduce theft by removing "no stealing" signs? Why was a man who stole 3 golf clubs sentenced to 25 years in prison?

Some laws radically change behavior whereas others are consistently ignored and routinely broken. And yet we keep relying on harsh punishment against crime despite its continued failure.

Professors Benjamin van Rooij and Adam Fine draw on decades of research to uncover the behavioral code: the root causes and hidden forces that drive human behavior and our responses to society's laws. In doing so, they present the first accessible analysis of behavioral jurisprudence, which will fundamentally alter how we understand the connection between law and human behavior.

The Behavioral Code offers a necessary and different approach to battling crime and injustice that is based in understanding the science of human misconduct—rather than relying on our instinctual drive to punish as a way to shape behavior. The book reveals the behavioral code's hidden role through illustrative examples like:

The illusion of the US's beloved tax refund

German walls that "pee back" at public urinators

The $1,000 monthly "good behavior" reward that reduced gun violence

Uber's backdoor "Greyball" app that helped the company evade Seattle's taxi regulators

A $2.3 billion legal settlement against Pfizer that revealed how whistleblower protections fail to reduce corporate malfeasance

A toxic organizational culture playing a core role in Volkswagen's emissions cheating scandal

How Peter Thiel helped Hulk Hogan sue Gawker into oblvivion

Revelatory and counterintuitive, The Behavioral Code catalyzes the conversation about how the law can effectively improve human conduct and respond to some of our most pressing issues today, from police misconduct to corporate malfeasance.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: Why read for pleasure when you can eat your spinach, suffer, and learn? Why indeed...I had to quit reading at 42% because I am utterly outraged.

In the landscape of a crooked, lying rapist manipulating the system in advance by appointing political hacks to the courts high and low, and thus possibly evading...AGAIN...consequences for his vile actions, I just could not continue. The prose is redable, the arguments stand up to my poking around for other opinions, but I'm just not in the headspace to read this badly-needed work of popular social science.

Beacon Press hardcovers are $27.95, and I'll urge the purchase on you.

>73 Storeetllr: Ain't it?! I hope it's a harbinger of things to come, Mary.

*smooch*

PEARL RULE 013 (@ 31%)

Hearts Ablaze: Parables for the Queer Soul by Dr. Rolf Nolasco Jr.

Rating: 3* of five

The Publisher Says: Meditations addressing the spiritual needs of queer Christians. A new look at ten selected parables of Jesus, that expands the scope of interpretation of each story to highlight God's extravagant welcome of all people. The perspective in the reflections is deeply personal and written to be used by both individuals and groups. Queer affirming churches, seminaries, and retreat centers will benefit from this resource as they continue to champion the flourishing of their queer siblings in Christ.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: I am a Bad Person. I not only don't believe in Jesus as savior, I don't believe in Jesus as human being who was once alive. I don't believe in one—or any—gawd the father-mother-sister-brother. I don't accept the "moral" authority of this dreadful, hate-filled cult of judgmental dupes that calls itself christian.

I have numerous dear friends, and some family members, who do. I am positive that, one day, my shining example of right thinking and proper living will convert them from their benighted superstitions. The comfort of their souls will come from rational scientific answers to their questions, and where there are no answers yet, they will abide in faith that the scientific method will provide an answer or a Reason there can't be one.

That's the kind of world, flipped 180°, that this book inhabits. I ain't the intended audience, but I am always looking for ways to understand what I can't accept. What comfort and acceptance this flavor of christianity offers is unnecessary to me, but could easily save another person's life. I feel strongly that I need to know resources like this exist to proffer if and when they're needed.

There's a Kindle edition for $9.99, but best of luck finding the publisher's website, or any so-called christian source of books that carries it. Color me surprised. Not.

I can't resist posting this here, after the above:

"A painting reflecting the medieval belief that Godzilla attacked Jerusalem while Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount." via Tumblr's AI-generated absurdist blog, Ye Olde Godzilla

Well! I leave you for five minutes and you sneak away and start a new thread. Happy new one *grumble*

>1 richardderus: What's better than seeing a man reading? Seeing one's own child/ children reading (voluntarily).
(Granted, mine are both boys, but gender is irrelevant in this case.)

I note that you Pearl ruled a few books but still gave them a review and a decent rating.

>63 richardderus: Dutifully adding this to the evergrowing TBR list.

Can't say any of the others jumped out at me, but it's good to see your writing mojo back and lots of reviews coming. Happy long weekend *smooch*.

Hallo, RDear. Happy Sunday to you.

>67 richardderus: This book intrigues me, and I just downloaded the sample to my Kindle. We shall see.

>69 richardderus: Not intrigued enough.

>71 richardderus: I usually pass on historical novels based on a real person’s life and will also do so on this one. I just read enough on various websites to give me the sense of his life and sadness at how that life was cut short.

>72 richardderus: Underwater! NO FRESH AIR! Lots of bodies all squished up with no personal space! It definitely takes a very specific type of person to be a submariner. Not you, and not me, but my husband for sure.

>74 richardderus: I just bought a “Like New” copy on Amazon. I don’t think you’ve ever gotten me with a direct hit BB from a book you’ve Pearl Rule’d.

>76 richardderus: Pass. >77 richardderus: Love it.

*smooch* from your own Horrible

>78 humouress: I'm sneaky that way, Nina, I'll just go off and do stuff just because it needs doin'.

One's child reading for pleasure seems natural to me. But I am, as widely noted, weird.

Pearl-Ruling is about permission not to read, as I construct it. Sometimes I don't want to read X right now; put it down, pick it up when the mood is right, now that the right mood is obvious. Other times I just don't want to read this book; it's not BAD it's just not for me. I've always put books I don't like down, sometimes picking them up again, others not. The difference is now I Pearl-Rule 'em to say *why* they're goin' out the door.

Then there are the BAD books. *laughs evilly while caressing the flensing knife('s handle not being stupid)*

>81 richardderus: To clarify; my kids started out as readers but once they got their hands on electronics their interest dropped off drastically. Occasionally, I'll come across firelion reading a book (usually re-reading a Skulduggery Pleasant yet again, but I'll take what I can get) and superboy says he downloaded some GNs on his Kindle and requested some books when Kinokuniya had sales on, though goodness knows if he's actually read any of them.

Of course, I'm a reader myself so it seems natural to me to read. Other people 🤗

>79 bell7: I'm inspired, Mary, by the subject I'm covering this month. I failed to amplify my QUILTBAG siblings' work last year. This year I will do better. Glad you found one to like and explore! *smooch*

>80 karenmarie: Happy Sunday, Horrible! *smooch*

I'm delighted that >74 richardderus: has made its way home with you. I'm convinced this team's very much onto something important, and might just have ye olde choppes to publicize it. My Pearl-Ruling is situational, not content related; the world's woes are too much with me for me to get anything but angrier and angrier and angrier if I finished it.

...Billhoney as submariner...*boggle* With his knee issues?

I think >69 richardderus: wouldn't appeal to you, so I'm glad to hear it.

Glad you're feeling well enough to go about with the rabble around here. *chuckle*

Happy Monday! Hope the long weekend has been a good one!

>85 figsfromthistle: Thank you, Anita! It's been foggy so I feel for the local merchantry who aren't getting the beach crowds, while loving the peace and quiet for myself.

082 Perfume & Pain by Anna Dorn

Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: A controversial Los Angeles author attempts to revive her career and finally find true love in this hilarious nod to 1950s lesbian pulp fiction.

Having recently moved both herself and her formidable perfume bottle collection into a tiny bungalow in Los Angeles, mid-list author Astrid Dahl finds herself back in the Zoom writer’s group she cofounded, Sapphic Scribes, after an incident that leaves her and her career lightly canceled. But she temporarily forgets all that by throwing herself into a few sexy distractions—like Ivy, a grad student who smells like metallic orchids and is researching 1950s lesbian pulp, or her new neighbor, Penelope, who smells like patchouli.

Penelope, a painter living off Urban Outfitters settlement money, immediately ingratiates herself in Astrid’s life, bonding with her best friends and family, just as Astrid and Ivy begin to date in person. Astrid feels judged and threatened by Penelope, a responsible older vegan, but also finds her irresistibly sexy.

When Astrid receives an unexpected call from her agent with the news that actress and influencer Kat Gold wants to adapt her previous novel for TV, Astrid finally has a chance to resurrect her waning career. But the pressure causes Astrid’s worst vice to rear its head—the Patricia Highsmith, a blend of Adderall, alcohol, and cigarettes—and results in blackouts and a disturbing series of events.

Unapologetically feminine yet ribald, steamy yet hilarious, Anna Dorn has crafted an exquisite homage to the lesbian pulp of yore, reclaiming it for our internet- and celebrity-obsessed world.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: Have you read Highsmith's Carol (aka The Price of Salt)? This has that particular kind of "Questa o Quella?" Rigoletto-but-sapphic-romance aura. And, follow-up concept, are you aware that Highsmith was a cruel, nasty piece of work? This has that same mean-creative story aura.

Having now hooked a few, driven a few off, and confused most, let's talk about lesbians. I'm the gay brother of a spiky, difficult lesbian. (She said so before I did! But, to be scrupulously fair, our entire family is/was spiky and difficult.) Astrid's 'tude is nowhere near as unkind as the reviews led me to believe it would be, by my own family's standards. What she is, that seems to surprise and unnerve the people around her in the story, is what I think interesting people usually are: Opinionated. I note without pleasure that opinionated women get miles of stick from persons of all genders and orientations. Just ask Hillary Clinton if you doubt me. It shows also in the readers' reviews I've seen around and about. Lots of people, even the ones who liked the story fine, commented on how abrasive Astrid was. Well, yeah. She's smarter than a solid 95% of the people around her. She's in a highly stressed passage in her life. She's abrasive because she's rubbed raw by her life.

Her happy place is perfume. Think about what that means. She collects something that is designed to hide and to enhance a person's most intimate quality, their smell. She doesn't even collect the stuff itself! She collects the containers...the carefully designed vessels that seduce the eyes but in and of themselves provide nothing but a space to be filled! The capitalist/consumer seductions carefully designed to increase your (largely female, as these are perfume bottles) cultural anxiety about your fundamental attractor or repeller of intimacy, smell!

This Anna Dorn, she knows her onions. Show me, please, another author whose depth of character development includes these intense sociopolitical shades whose prose isn't clunking, juddering, jelly-like didacticism. Author Dorn's got little enough competition in the witty-banter segment. She's sui generis in the segment of the Venn diagram where that overlaps anti-capitalist/feminist discourse.

Happily so. I'm glad Simon & Schuster offered me this DRC because, old gay man that I am, I hadn't heard of Author Dorn before. Now it's me for Vagablonde.

I see a few raised eyebrows contemplating an expected fifth star, after that gush. I wanted to put a fifth star on, I promise! I couldn't because Astrid being wishy-washy about Ivy-vs-Penelope was overplayed. I think will-they-won't-they is an easy trope to allow to outstay its actual usefulness. My perception is that this is what happened here. I'm also a wee bit wary of things like cancel culture/getting canceled being enshrined in stories that say bigger, more trenchant things about inclusion and cultural norms. It feels more like an add-on to use Astrid's canceling for her unguarded comments than an actual feature of the entire conversation the rest of the story is having about the greater issues abovementioned.

So okay, I didn't find myself sitting slackjawed, wondering how this author faceted this sparkling thousand-carat diamond. (That experience is what I call six-stars-of-five storytelling.) But make no mistake, this wordsmith will be on my readar as I wait for her to do just that.

It seems very likely to happen.

Hiya, RDear, and happy Monday to you.

>84 richardderus: Bill did not have knee issues when he was in the Navy. He was 20 when he went to boot camp and 26 when he got out.

>87 richardderus: Excellent review of a book that I’m going to pass on. However, I just added Bad Lawyer to my wish list.

*smooch*

>88 karenmarie: Hey there, Horrible! I assumed you meant Bill-now not Bill-then would make a good submariner. Although, to be frank, I'd've been a horrible sailor no matter my age because I am insubordinate at the best of times. A submarine is, by definition, *never* the best of times to me.

Enjoy Bad Lawyer, and I'll completely ignore your book-bullet for it so I can dodge at least ONE....

*smooch*

ETA I just checked Twitter and Author Dorn liked my review! That always gives me a frisson.

#PrideMonth launches! Yes, in the US Pride Month is a June celebration, but lag times must be built into all holiday seasons. I'll be reviewing mostly stuff from, by, about those people somewhere on the QUILTBAG rainbow of identities from today. See my blog post here:
https://expendablemudge.blogspot.com/2024/05/pridemonth-launches.html

'Morning, RDear.

Not much to say, I'm low energy, need to find a good book.

*smooch*

>90 richardderus: I'm looking forward to reading these reviews.

Good morning at the 11th+ hour, Richard. I feel a nap descending since we got up early to walk. Good grief! Good day to you! *smooch*

>91 karenmarie: Morning, smoochling. It's Old Stuff's first drunk day since he fell (again) and, of course he's gone out in a foul mood. *sigh*

>92 ArlieS: Go to my blog post and get hundreds, or hang here and get months'-worth in just four weeks...I'm a multiple warhead missile here.

>93 LizzieD: Hey Peggy! I'm pretty sure napping is illegal when it's 70° and gorgeous, the way it is here. But I really want one....

Hey, Richard. Just checking in. Tomorrow will be the last day of school. I am looking forward to having more flexibility for the next 3 months. We are also gearing up for another camping trip on Thursday. This will include Jackson & Co, which should be a treat.

>97 msf59: Hey there, Birddude! I'm sure you'll enjoy that camping trip, it's been so long since the last one...refreshing to get out-of-doors once in a way, isn't it?

Bonus Jackson time! You AND Sue will be thrilled. Have a great one.

083 Out at the Plate: The Dot Wilkinson Story by Lynn Ames

Rating: 4.25* of five

The Publisher Says: “Dot Wilkinson is the greatest female catcher ever to play softball . A bold, pioneering athlete, she refused to let others define her and instead defined herself. Her story is an inspiration to people everywhere.” — Billie Jean King, Sports Icon and Champion for Equality

It’s not simply that Dot Wilkinson was one of the most decorated women’s softball players, bowlers, and athletes of all time and one of the original players from the three-time-world-champion PBSW Phoenix Ramblers softball team (1933–1965). Nor was it the length of her time here on Earth—over a century—although any of these things by itself would be impressive.

The magic of Dot’s story is in the details. It’s the tale of a childhood spent in poverty, an indomitable, unbreakable spirit, a determination to be the very best to play whatever sport she undertook, the independence to live her personal life on her own terms, and her tremendous success at all of it.

Over more than a decade of countless conversations and interviews, Dot shared all of it with her dear friend, author Lynn Ames. Dot held nothing back. Out at the Plate , told through the lens of Dot and Lynn’s friendship, is the story of a forgotten era in women’s history and sports, and one extraordinary woman’s place at the center of it all.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: I had a lesbian "grandma" of sorts, older than Dot Wilkinson, but with the same kind of unwillingness to submit to woman=weakness stereotyping. She saw what she wanted and went out of all ladylike bounds to get it. This included the love of her life, a widow with a son, and the family they made.

Dot Wilkinson is my kinda woman. (Or man, if I'm honest.) Reading about her life, its ups-downs-failures and unimaginably exciting successes, made me smile uncontrollably. QUILTBAG folk are fed a steady diet of disaster and crime with us as the victims, expecting that this will keep us quiet and invisible. This is the classic Linebarger tactic, used for generations now on "minorities" of all sorts. It is now modulated by stories of assimilation, of increased access to "The American Dream" of mortgaged house, kids who need college funds, etc etc. The Dot Wilkinsons who decide to do what the hell they want to do when they want to do it do not, oddly enough, get a lot of overcultural attention.

I can't think why this should be.

Dot Wilkinson deserves every bit of attention you have at your command because she actually was what we're told we love the most, should strive to be, here in the USA. She was strong by every metric, she was a maverick. She was routinely successful in her careers (plural). She lived with the love of her life for almost a half-century. Her example of grace and graciousness under pressure is one to emulate. She never turned it into any kind of doormat behavior. She was likable and well-liked at a time when her rejection of "normative womanhood" could easily have made her a pariah. Lynn Ames manages to convey all this without becoming cloying, though her fangirling over Dot is not at all veiled...or misplaced.

The one thing that leads to, on the "missing three-quarters-star" front, is the tendency to overexplain and repeat. By using many primary sources, Author Ames falls into the "it's really cool how much stuff there is" ditch and doesn't climb out. The sources very often concur, and maybe picking one quote then saying "this is one of the half-dozen angles on this story" could've been less wearing on the reader's nerve. My interest in softball, Dot's biggest claim to Fame and spotlights, is significantly less than hers....

Family issues weren't minimized. It was heartbreaking to learn of Dot's first love's early passing from the then-untreatable scourge of metastatic breast cancer. It was more heartbreaking still to read of Dot's mother's callous...let me be fair, surprisingly insensitive...response to Dot's deep grief at her loss. The fact is a sapphic love wouldn't register with most people as "real" in that day and time, so grief of that depth and duration would seem odd. Still, it's your child! Wouldn't that attune you to the reality of the feeling and thus summon up empathy not dismissiveness?

Apparently not. And honestly that bit upset me as much as the loss did. I was, as you can tell from that, fully invested in Dot Wilkinson's life, and was very, very happy I had this chance to learn about this older sister in queerness. I hope you will give it a chance to grab you, too.

Yeup.

Righto!

        

After a rather busy few days I know I'm late. Is it the done thing to wish happy new thread when you're almost half way to the next one?

I rather like this coffee related image.

>101 weird_O: It does indeed, O Weird One. It does indeed. Keeps its yap shut until the therapeutic blood level of caffeine is reached, too.

>102 Helenliz: I love that! Priceless. It's like that meme was made for me. Thank you, Helen.

First time visitors are grandfathered in on new-thread wishes.

‘Morning, RDear. Happiest of Wednesdays to you.

>94 richardderus: I was just thinking of you and OS earlier this morning and hoping that you had a better relationship with him – I remember him even saying Thank You one time! – but alas. Old Stuff is Foul Stuff.

>99 richardderus: Excellent review, as always. I got confused for a bit – I have a book about Lottie Dod – but after a bit more coffee realized my mistake.

>100 richardderus: Yup. >101 weird_O: Also yup.

>102 Helenliz: Helen, you nailed it.

*smooch*

>108 karenmarie: Morning, Horrible! The only changes are going to on my part. Addicts don't change because, if they could, they wouldn't be addicts. My attitude is the only part of this situation I can always control. I get through his self-absorption once in a while, which honestly is always a surprise. Not someone I'd ever choose to interact with still less get involved with enough to know how loud he snores.

Life is never perfect, is it?

What's lottiedod?

Caffeinate well, smoochling.

Hi, Richard! Hope you’re enjoying todays spring-like weather as much as me. It won’t last, but I’m loving it while it does.

>110 Storeetllr: Mary! How lovely to see you! Indeed, this is almost the perfect weather I loved the day I got off the plane decades ago. I'm sure tomorrow's storms will be "fun" but taking it one day at a time is a surer bet for happy days.

*happy sigh*

>1 richardderus: Happy new thread!

>112 ocgreg34: Thank you, Greg, glad you visited!

Hi Richard dear friend, a belated Happy New Thread.

>114 johnsimpson: Greetings, John, happy to see you here!

How did this *new thread* get so long? Happy not-new-anymore thread!

>116 jessibud2: I wonder this with great regularity. But it's new to you, so new-thread wishes welcomed, Shelley! *smooch*

Happy Thursday, Richard dear!

Love the coffee memes, Frank just served my after lunch cup of coffee :-)

>118 FAMeulstee: Thursday orisons, Anita! It's a coffee-drinking kind of a day here...we were supposed to get rain, instead that came last night and now it's glorious. 19C, breezy, perfect!

*smooch*

084 I Make Envy on Your Disco by Eric Schnall

Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: It’s the new millennium and the anxiety of midlife is creeping up on Sam Singer, a thirty-seven-year-old art advisor. Fed up with his partner and his life in New York, Sam flies to Berlin to attend a gallery opening. There he finds a once-divided city facing an identity crisis of its own. In Berlin the past is everywhere: the graffiti-stained streets, the candlelit cafés and techno clubs, the astonishing mash-up of architecture, monuments, and memorials.

A trip that begins in isolation evolves into one of deep connection and possibility. In an intensely concentrated series of days, Sam finds himself awash in the city, stretched in limbo between his own past and future—in nightclubs with Jeremy, a lonely wannabe DJ; navigating a flirtation with Kaspar, an East Berlin artist he meets at a café; and engaged in a budding relationship with Magda, the enigmatic and icy manager of Sam’s hotel, whom Sam finds himself drawn to, and determined to thaw. I Make Envy on Your Disco is at once a tribute to Berlin, a novel of longing and connection, and a coming-of-middle-age story about confronting the person you were and becoming the person you want to be.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: Sam's got a problem. He doesn't like his life much, right now at least, in no small part because his husband's got an itchy zipper, his career's reached the same-ol' same-ol' stage, and he's nudging forty...gay man's death. What better idea could a man in these dire straits have than to run away from home?

"Home" in New York City; he runs to Berlin on the rather flimsy pretext of an art opening...has this yutz heard of climate change and carbon footprints?!...in search of a path to the future. This reminded me of a very common trope in fiction, middlescence I call it in tribute to my old friend Juanice. She took the old-fashioned view that her husband was going to stray because he was reliving his adolescent horniness stage one last time, this time knowing what he was doing. Sam's a classic example of that middlescent man.

So was Less in the eponymous novel. I really disliked that novel.

The idea that one should run away from problems that absolutely won't fix themselves is an evergreen for novelists because it makes the narrative structure obvious and the stakes unambiguous. Your fish is out of water, your side characters write themselves. And the metaphorical journey/quest will never run out of steam. Okay, then there's the debut novel bit: Wise novelists spring from the acorns of the successful tropes past topiaried to order for their garden of prose.

This iteration of all the above uses the material to do what we hope for when we buy a relationship novel. It convinces the reader to invest in the characters, it affords us room to look at the ways and means Sam uses to escape as markers of solution, resolution, completion. Interestingly to me, this novel eschews the easy answers and instead makes us live in a real-life space of ambiguity.

Things end. Sometimes cleanly, without edges that could be kintsugi'd together. Mostly not, though. Mostly the Sam Singers and Lesses of the world do not get clean, fresh starts because that is exceedingly rare in life. There's a lot of charm in the kind of ending that spawns new beginnings. This book's stuffed full of those...though in my experience the new beginnings learned from travel are, of themselves, ephemeral. Their main value in my life has been to prove to me that new beginnings are possible. The intensity of Sam's connections to Jeremy the straight poet and Magda the stuck concierge bid fair to be short-lived; Kaspar the love interest, though, might be different. Might be.

The irony of seeking one's way forward in Berlin, that city resolutely planted in its pasts, isn't commented on in some arch or knowing way. That facet of the story's quietly acknowledged by Sam's attendance at the art opening that has as its topic what Germans now call "Östalgie", or nostalgia for the dear, dead days of two Berlins, two Germanys. The switch to capitalism was not smooth, and is not smoother now it seems. Culturally anyway that all collides hardest in the place that was defined by The Wall. My one and only trip to Berlin was pre-Wall fall, so I actually kind of get it. Nostalgia for how things were definitely communicates itself to those who were NOT there. Humans are weird and define "coolness" in very exlusionary ways. Sam, whose career is in the arts, gets this in his bones, since it's part and parcel of that world to exclude all but the wealthiest and most sophisticated. Those are overlapping but not identical groups; they are each quite exclusive, in every sense of the word, though not of each other.

So that's why I don't give the book five stars. I enjoyed the read. I like the characters. I really like the ambiguous ending. I don't care for the run-away-from-home trope. I ended up, mostly, not resonating with the way Sam drifted through Berlin "Östalgie" with what felt to me like very little curiosity. When an adult travels, but doesn't question the place and its history, I don't see why the author set the travel destination where they did. Author Schnall gave me a decent day's reading. That's great.

I would've liked to have been given an awakening of curiosity about Berlin, akin to the effect of The Sheltering Sky or even Death in Venice. Not, I hasten to assure you, a fault of craft on Schnall's part. More a lacuna between my expectation of a novel about a traveler to a place and what I got about the place.

I hope you'll try this debut novel out.

Thursday *smooches* as I driveby the threads real quick

>99 richardderus: This does sound like my kind of read, though I don't really know softball as well as some other sports. Dot sounds like an interesting person, and I enjoy a good bio/memoir about fascinating figures.

>121 bell7: Hi Mary! I think you'll enjoy >99 richardderus: enough to encourage the read on you. Hoping your Thursday's a good kind of busy. *smooch*

Sweet Thursday, Richard. Looks like a beautiful day in the Midwest. We shove off around noon. We are going to a small campground, just north of Racine WI. A relatively short trip. Bree and Sean have their boat docked at the marina in Racine. Yah, for extra Jackson time.

>124 msf59: Very pretty part of Wisconsin, that. Enjoy the trip! I already know how much you'll love the Jackson time.

Hiya, RDear. Happy Thursday to you.

You’re right about addicts. I’m just sorry you have OS.

Lottie Dod. My review of the ER book I received: Lottie Dod

I caffeinated well yesterday, and have just poured my second cup.

>120 richardderus: “itchy zipper” = LOL. Wise novelists spring from the acorns of the successful tropes past topiaried to order for their garden of prose. Love this. Added to my wish list.

*smooch*

Good morning, Richard. My respect that you haven't done OS physical harm, ever.

I wish you a lovely day. We are cooler today and expecting this milder, less humid weather through the weekend, I think. Hope you're getting this effect too. *smooch*

>129 karenmarie: Hi Horrible! I'm sorry I ever had to know he existed. I'm reasonably lucky, though, as there are MUCH worse human beings here. And, let's face it, I'd've ended up with some sort of addict living where I do.

I'm so pleased that you liked my neologisms. Enjoy the read, but don't spend full price on it! *smooch*

>130 LizzieD: I can't claim moral superiority, Peggy. I'm just not willing to die in prison for someone I dislike but can't be arsed to hate.

It's gorgeous here. I love this edge of summer! I think were going to get some weirdness here fairly soon. But it's not the worst it's been. *smooch*

>109 richardderus: Every time you mention your roommate I wonder how you stand it!! I'm guessing there truly is no way for you to get another room or roommate or you would have gone that path already. You seem to deal with it amazing well though and I hope for you that something will change soon.

>133 RebaRelishesReading: Got no options, Reba. I'm going to be one tough old bastard when I'm done with this life. Makes me hope reincarnation is a fact not a fancy....

Thanks for the kind support. It really does help me maintain, to know that others see it with me.

I keep having this weird idea that I don't read and review many QUILTBAG stories. This nagging certainty got thoroughly smacked down when I got the post I link in >90 richardderus: ready and had to go back and tag the hundreds and hundreds of posts I've made touting my spectrum-siblings' efforts. Nothing like having to do work to teach you how much you've already done!

Hello Ricardo! Sorry Old Stuff is acting out again STILL. You may think you are a curmudgeon, but actually you are kinda a saint. : ) Smooches to you.

Oh! Did I mention—this just breaking—that NYC's favorite real estate "magnate" has been convicted by the jury on all counts. Didn't take those citizens long, did it.

🥂🍾🎉

Happy Conviction Day!

What a GREAT DAY!

Just stopping by to say hello dear fellow.

Waving! ;-)

>139 richardderus: : )

>139 richardderus: Nice!

Impressive amount of reviews, Richard, and you got me with a BB for Ocean's Godori which my library has on order.

>136 Berly: Saintly people don't vibrate with contemptuous loathing. I, OTOH, do. But thanks!

>141 PaulCranswick: Greetings, PC. Such a dull, ordinary day you chose, too.

>143 Berly:, >144 Familyhistorian:, >137 weird_O:, >138 Storeetllr:, >140 LizzieD:, >141 PaulCranswick:, >142 SuziQoregon:

Yeup. Now we got trouble. The campaign donation page crashed after the verdict was announced from all the attempts to donate. How fast can those Russian troll farms act, though!

>144 Familyhistorian: Glad I could wing you with one, Meg. *smooch*

084 Live It Out by Jenn Alexander

Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: Spencer Adams was never expected to be anything more than a high school dropout. She’d been a troubled teen, spending more time at the skate park than in school, at least until her music teacher introduced her to the guitar and music class became her lifeline. Ten years later, she is the guitarist in a band that has become a breakout success, and she wants to use that success to help other teens who have had the same rough start as her. She takes on a volunteer project with local youth as a way of honoring her past, not knowing that it will force her to revisit the one part of her past that she’d hoped to forget.

Faith Siebert has always had high expectations to live up to, and she has tried her best to fulfill those expectations, to be a good daughter, a good student, and a good friend. When she fell for Spencer in high school, she knew her family and friends would never approve. Scared of their reactions, Faith ended things with Spencer, following the path her parents wanted for her, even at the immense personal cost. Of course, it had only been a high school romance, destined for brevity anyway. At least, that’s what she told herself. But when Spencer shows up in her life once again, partnered with Faith on a youth music project, her world is rocked and she is forced to re-examine everything she knows about relationships and herself.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: Not much for rock-star romances, me, but I am a vulturous carrion-seeker for the corpses of heartbreaks past on second-chance narratives. Give me a high-school/college breakup undone decades later and I am on it like a Jane Austen bonnet. Add in the fact that the parties are a same-sex couple denied a natural ending by homophobia (internal or external, makes me no never-mind) and stand back while I run to get it. Didn't hurt your foot, did I?

I got what I was expecting in this read. I loved Spencer's complete willingness to use her skills to help kids in the same bad situation she came from to cope, on many levels, with their sense of powerlessness and absence of agency. True, they won't become rock stars but they will learn how to play a musical intrument...a thing that by itself increases one's satisfaction with one's life.

Faith, the One That Got Away for Spencer, believes it will and is surprised when it's Spencer who shows up to do the teaching. Her career as a social worker is so in-character for the girl she was all the way back in high school, it felt on the nose. I like social workers, and deeply admire their sense of purpose. I'm all in for a redemption arc here, as well, because Spencer's going back to her roots as a shelter-raised kid to extend her hand in helpful practicality.

Do I need to say that these women find their way into a relationship? It's a category romance. Of course they do.

In forming that long-delayed, much-desired romantic reconnection, each of them has to come to terms with her own part in their long estrangement, what it cost them both, and how best to use the rubble of the past to build a good solid foundation. Here is where I felt both the happiest, because the women are truly honest with themselves and each other; and here is also where I felt the length of the book worked against it the most clearly. There wasn't room to go into the families, or the people they were leaving behind. That was less of an issue, though, than the way the women were ready for that hard, hard, hard task of being vulnerable and honest within their strengthening bond. I can't say it's unlikely...the author's a therapist by trade, she knows better than I do...but I can say that even fifty more pages with some conversations outside their bond would've helped me invest in the resolution.

That said, I give the book as it is a recommendation, tinged with a litte note of caution for the ewww-ick homophobes because there is some steam in here. (I just turned the pages faster.) The story builds its couple's bond well, believably if very quickly, and tells hard emotional truths with honest, sensitive truthfulness.

I'm really glad that Jenn Alexander has more work for me to get acquainted with.

Hiya, RDear. Happy Day After Conviction.

>139 richardderus: Good ones.

>149 richardderus: I’ve read several of this trope in the MM version and love ‘em. For some reason FF romances just don’t work for me. Excellent review.

*smooch*

>149 richardderus: Richard, check your Touchstone. You will absolutely HATE where it leads you!!!

I was going to spare you this, but having seen that Touchstone, I have to say in response to your >145 richardderus:, one big problem among many I have with evangelicals is their willingness to embrace contemptuous loathing for those outside their fold as an attribute of saintliness. You know how I could go on and on, but I won't.

*smooch*

>150 karenmarie: Thanks, Horrible! I suspect FF romances don't work for you because you lack desire for women, even in the abstract. Just a theory.

I'm very happy that a jury saw through the standard tactics and found 45 guilty. Now, of course, the aftermath...we haven't seen the last of the Russian/Chinese troll farms. I predict this will be used to try to make the election so close it will have to be decided by the scum in the House.

>151 LizzieD: OH MY FUCKING GOD thank you thank you x1000000000000 for telling me!!!!

Contemptuous loathing is, in and of itself, a PROBLEM. In me, as well, of course, and in all those who use it as a judgment modality. I'm self-aware enough and old enough now that I can stop my worst excesses of Pronouncing Anathema On THEM. But good gravy is it tempting to ascribe to evil actions better ascribed to stupidity and/or mental illness.

Billionaires and fascists are mentally ill: Hoarders and abusers.

Hi Richard! Just waving *hello*

If you're looking for more QUILTBAG reads, StoryBundle is releasing their Pride bundle. I've posted the details on the Great Book/ Ebook Sale thread.

>154 humouress: *flees screaming at the idea of MORE CHOICE*

waitaminnit waitaminnit this is MY thread

*resumes screaming flight*

erm ... okay *bye* (waves cheerily)

‘Morning, RD! Happy Saturday to you.

>152 richardderus: You’re right about not desiring women, even in the abstract. When I was in 19-20 and trying to figure things out, I met a woman at Pepperdine, Connie, who had a gorgeous dog named Violet. Connie was a lesbian. She may have wanted a relationship with me, but I honestly don’t remember knowing before I met Connie that there were people who were attracted to their own sex. She opened a wider world to me when we cruised gay/lesbian bars in WeHo, but she never actually came on to me. My personal test of who I was attracted to was and is envisioning a gorgeous man and a gorgeous woman walking towards me. Who I wanted to go home with quickly let me figure out that I was heterosexual, not bisexual, not gay. Figures that I have a lesbian daughter. *smile*

>154 humouress: I signed up, thanks Helen.

*smooch*

Good morning, Richard! Hope it leads into an equally good day. Take care of yourself.....

>157 karenmarie: I've certainly had crushes on other women, fascinated by their minds, personalities, even beauty. Sexual desire? Not even a glimmer. Men, on the other hand, oh yeah!
Doesn't diversity make the world endlessly interesting?

*smooch*

Also posted in >6 richardderus: above; there are links to previous 2024 reports there, too.

MAY 2024 READING REPORT
Thirty-one reads done, reviews written and posted on my blog (including seven Burgoines and Pearl-Rules). This is an outstanding result. I'm slowly whittling down the DRCs I get so many of, and therefore feeling more like I'm "pulling my weight" in the reader-response reviewing world. That my blog's still going after eleven years, and still drawing between 100 and 200 views a day, makes me think I'm doing something right.

My favorite of the wodge of words I gulped this month was In Tongues by Thomas Grattan. Very sexy, even smexy, without edging (!) into one-handed reading territory. What made me think about it for days afterward was its really frank take on the power dynamic of relationships among men who fuck men. I do not think anyone inclined to huff and/or squirm about sex in their stories should read the book...why are you even reading my thread?...nor should those whose gut response to men in love with each other is even slightly tinged with discomfort. (Same question applies.)

I was damn near as impressed by my Dutch sapphic horrorish read My Darling Dreadful Thing, written in English by a Dutch lesbian...process that a minute...she WROTE A NOVEL in the nastiest, most complicated language to learn as an adult! That merits all the respect there is! The story is the story, you'll know if it's right for you from the blurb. I really can't get over how amazeballs it is to write a novel in a foreign language.

Disappointed by The Ministry of Time because its marketing push had me thinking it was more focused on the time-travel aspects. It was instead more about the MCs falling in luuuv. That story is only okay. The other one would've been much more my thing. Also disappointed in Codename Nemo for its academic dryness and turbidity of prose.

Really disliked the Stockholm Syndrome textbook Hearts Ablaze: Parables for the Queer Soul because YUCK. I feel the need to know what the enemy is saying about me, though, and who knows? I might someday run across a gay xian in crisis who could use this pile of stupid.

>157 karenmarie: We are all as Heaven made us, Peggy, and the truth is Heaven does amazing work. Desire ≠ love ≠ respect ≠ compatibility...I could go on. I genuinely do not Get the need so many seem to have for others to be like them. Should everyone be an atheist god-hater? Of course! It is self-evidently The Best Way To Be, or I wouldn't have chosen it.

That is just about as dumb a sentence as I can bring myself to write. And yet everywhere I look I see that attitude paraded like it's perfectly okay instead of a prompt to get into therapy to deal with that narcissism.

*smooch* with happy contentment that we're friends

>156 humouress: *blows a smooch after La Overkill*

>156 humouress: Morning, Horrible. I'm glad the spectrum was visible to you, despite your indoctrination; to many it wouldn't have been.

Jenna being a sapphist fails to shock or even surprise me. She inherited Certainty; she learned testing, adjusting, and thinking; she came to her own conclusion and lived/lives it. She is, in other words, you. Only she likes ladies not laddies.

*smooch*

Happy Saturday, or at least what's left of it. : ) Smooches.

I am looking very forward to the new Flavia de Luce book, Richard! I didn't know he was going to add to the series. What Time the Sexton's Spade Doth Rust: A Flavia de Luce Novel goes straight onto my wishlist!

Happy Sunday morning Rdear. I hope you have a great June ahead. *smooch*

>163 Berly: Hiya Berly-boo! Glad to see you out and about. Enjoy the rest of the weekend. *smooch*

>164 vancouverdeb: Amazing, isn't it? His dementia announcement a while back must've been premature, or someone finished an existing MS for him, or something. Anyway, more Flavia is not a bad thing no matter how we get her.

>165 Ameise1: Hi Barbara! Happy June's joys to you as well. I am hoping for more good reading to report on.

*smooch*

Hiya, RD! Happy Sunday to you.

>158 LizzieD: I would agree with that, Peggy. Crushes but no sexual desire.

>162 richardderus: One of the best compliments you have ever paid me.

*smooch*

For the many who privately wonder why #PrideMonth is A Thing, read the meme and understand this is the reality of all QUILTBAG people. Your vote can literally change the way I am *allowed* to live my life.

Vote against 45, and all the GOP right-wingnuts.

>169 karenmarie: Sunday orisons, Horrible! I'm glad you see my recognition of your success parenting a girlchild into a woman of consequence a compliment. I meant it as one.

*smooch*

>162 richardderus: Well-said, of course, and I agree completely, of course!

>160 richardderus: Again, I totally agree. And not only that, but *smooch* with happy contentment that we're friends right back to you!

>172 LizzieD: Sunday *smooch*

Sunday *smooch* and hope you've been able to read some good books this weekend

>174 bell7: Thanks, Mary! I was disappointed again. Oh well, read all about it tomorrow.

>1 richardderus: Art of men reading is much rarer than women reading, I wonder why RD.

085 The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye by Briony Cameron

Rating: 3.75* of five

The Publisher Says: This epic, dazzling tale based on true events illuminates a woman of color’s rise to power as one of the few purported female pirate captains to sail the Caribbean, and the forbidden love story that will shape the course of history.

In the tumultuous town of Yáquimo, Santo Domingo, Jacquotte Delahaye is an unknown but up-and-coming shipwright. Her dreams are bold but her ambitions are bound by the confines of her life with her self-seeking French father. When her way of life and the delicate balance of power in the town are threatened, she is forced to flee her home and become a woman on the run along with a motley crew of refugees, including a mysterious young woman named Teresa.

Jacquotte and her band become indentured servants to the infamous Blackhand, a ruthless pirate captain who rules his ship with an iron fist. As they struggle to survive his brutality, Jacquotte finds herself unable to resist Teresa despite their differences. When Blackhand hatches a dangerous scheme to steal a Portuguese shipment of jewels, Jacquotte must rely on her wits, resourcefulness, and friends to survive. But she discovers there is a grander, darker scheme of treachery at play, and she ultimately must decide what price she is willing to pay to secure a better future for them all.

An unforgettable tale told in three parts, The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye is a thrilling, buccaneering escapade filled with siege and battle, and is also a tender exploration of friendship, love, and the search for freedom and home.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: I think this is a story of two halves: the first half, a survival story rooted firmly in its time and place; the second more of a fantasy fulfillment that didn't follow the rules of the first half.

The delights, so to speak, of feeling transported to the slave economy of Santo Domingo, there to meet Jacquotte and see the milieu she was destined to live in...many. The characters, the situations, the atmosphere of the town, were all set up sufficiently clearly that I invested in them. That's most of the battle in my reading world. So I was rockin' along, expecting a five, or at worst high-four, star read.

Then came the twenty-first century.

Jacquotte and company all start having very modern conversations about rights and feelings and equality. I suspect this is not realistic not because we haven't seen it before...the cultural conversation has been dominated by the white oppressors for millennia, how would it get reported?...but because this woman and her cohorts have, until now, behaved and spoken more or less like the period demands. The shift was the jarring part, not what was shifted to.

There's action, there's love, there's a lot to like. When we go off into the second half's fantasia, it's still a good read with swashes being buckled and derring being done. It just wasn't congruent with the first half. They're both enjoyable, make no mistake. I'm glad I read the story. I'm glad to get to know Jacquotte.

Be better prepared to suspend disbelief than I was and get even more out of the story.

>176 Caroline_McElwee: Same reason, when I say "nude", it means a woman. You must say "male nude" or people simply expect you mean a woman. I believe we call that "institutionalized sexism". Possibly, though more tenuously, "patriarchy."

‘Morning, RDear. Happy Monday to you.

>177 richardderus: Loved this review, hate that the language got anachronistic. That is one of my major criticisms of historical fiction.

This review reminded me of another historical novel based on a real female pirate. Kingston by Moonlight by Christopher John Farley was my book for my RL book club in 2006. It is the fictionalized story of Anne Bonny/Bonney, possibly Irish, definitely a pirate.

*smooch*

>179 karenmarie: Morning, Horr9ble! You've already winged me with Kingston by Starlight or I'd be muttering sulphrously about being book-bulleted in my own thread...a bibliocrime you've committed before.

I'm glad you liked the review...I wanted to 5-star that book so badly...just couldn't even get to fout because I was so annoyed by the tonal shift.

Morning, Richard. Thanks for keeping the homefires burning over on my thread, while I was bopping around the Badger State. I am looking forward to a quieter June. I liked your May reading report. I liked Ministry of Time more than you but I agree she could have done so much more with this engaging premise.

>181 msf59: Happy Monday, Birddude. I'm still irked by so many things that could a been because today's book was the same experience. Oh well...pobody's nerfect.

A calmer June? What a novel idea! Betcha this isn't gonna last because the birbs won't cooperate.

>170 richardderus: - I approve this message. Smooch

>183 jessibud2: Thank you, Shelley. I hope more do as well but just don't comment on it. Whatever, I more want people not to vote my life out of safety than to comment on a post.

“Fandom...was not always accepted. There’s always some sort of element of society that wants to control it in some way, or tamp it down, or put it in boundaries. So we can be enthusiastic, but not too enthusiastic.” Much like being queer, then.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/fandom-names

>139 richardderus: my boss actually whooped in celebration that the man was found guilty!

>170 richardderus: if I were religious, I would amen that :) So I guess I'll just secularly amen it. *aaamen*

>186 LovingLit: Cause for celebration indeed, Megan. The hard part starts now, after the conviction, when he threatens to unleash his flying monkeys to make holding him truly accountable that much harder.

Heh...I use "awomen" in that case because "amen" is not in any way tied to English or its nouns. Plus it drives pedants and religious nuts crazy. I get corrected, and then break the etymology from Hebrew through Greek, then blithely go on using it.

>170 richardderus: I will happily vote against 45 for you, if for no other reason, RD. ((Hugs)) and **smooches**

I skipped a ton, but felt like I needed to respond to that one. I do not understand a lot of what homosexuals, transgender, all of those QUILTBAG categories (I am not even sure what they all stand for TBH) go through, but I am trying. What I do know is that they are all human beings and deserve as much respect as the next person.

>188 alcottacre: Perzackly! I'm not sure what the issue with that is...

>189 richardderus: My guess is that because 'those people' are different. Evidently people do not get along with people who are 'different' whether they be black, Jewish, handicapped, queer, or purple with pink polka dots. . .

Personally, I do not get it. Granted, I probably have a unique perspective having grown up with one of the most bigoted people I have ever met in the person of my father.

>190 alcottacre: Good guess. I'd hate to live that small an existence, no?

085 Welcome to Forever by Nathan Tavares

Rating: 4.5* of five

The Publisher Says: A sweeping, psychedelic romance of two men caught in a looping world of artificial realities, edited memories, secretive cabals and conspiracies to push humanity to the next step in its evolution.

For fans of Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, Ubik, The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Evangelion.

Fox is a memory editor—one of the best—gifted with the skill to create real life in the digital world. When he wakes up in Field of Reeds Center for Memory Reconstruction with no idea how he got there, the therapists tell him he was a victim in a terrorist bombing by Khadija Banks, the pioneer of memory editing technology turned revolutionary. A bombing which shredded the memory archives of all its victims, including his husband Gabe.

Thrust into reconstructions of his memories exploded from the fragments that survived the blast, Fox tries to rebuild his life, his marriage and himself. But he quickly realises his world is changing, unreliable, and echoing around itself over and over.

As he unearths endless cycles of meeting Gabe, falling in love and breaking up, Fox digs deep into his past, his time in the refugee nation of Aaru, and the exact nature of his relationship with Khadija. Because, in a world tearing itself apart to forget all its sadness, saving the man he loves might be the key to saving us all.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind only gay it up. I loved that film, and this book, for the same reasons: They show us how extremely integral to our sense of self and buying in to the social construct of reality memory is. If someone doesn't share your memory of something, is your memory wrong? If you can't find a memory in your mind, is it gone? Where'd it go?

After the strokes I had in 2023, these questions are more important than ever to me. They were never unimportant to me but have gained urgency as a result of that crisis. Reading this book with its structural similarity to my own experience of needing others...the kindness of others is literally everything, y'all, practice giving it as well as receiving it....to help me find my sense of myself in the world was satisfyingly resonant.

Questioning one's identity is a thing we're told magically stops for queer people when we come out. (Spoiler alert: It does not.) All the jostles to one's sense of self that a long-term intimate relationship brings are wildly out-of-proportion shocks to many of us. Fox meeting Gabe, meeting him again and again, and still coming up against that shocking wall of The Other as a complete and entire being not knowable to yourself, makes this a wonderful piece of relationship fiction. It's very much also a SFF exploration of overweening tech hubris. It's also a sly jab at the savior complex of the people who look at humanity as a set of problems to be solved. All of these facets are inherent in the story's conflicts, in the quest that Fox sets out on to rediscover and reintegrate himself after trauma.

I'll say that, after the success that was my read of A Fractured Infinity, I went into this sophmore effort hoping for no slump and wishing for an out-of-the-park homer. I got neither. I got the top-quality expansion on the strengths of the first novel, its relationships, and that is way more than enough to get an extra half-star from my stingy self. A full star didn't happen because the first book's film-editing style didn't thrill me this time, either. I honestly expected scene numbers and location directions. I suspect Author Tavares uses shot lists to organize the stories he tells...hoping for his sake this makes the film industry take him up and film both his stories.

This story should be of extra deep interest to readers over 35 because that group has, as a rule, experiences like Fox's and Gabe's to bring to the table. It is straight-people safe, no NSFW smexytimes to shock and/or affront you. The love story, the trajectory of a man constructing and reconstructing his life after a horrible, external trauma, ought to draw in all identities...or so I hope in this polarized world.

Very much a recommended #PrideMonth read for us and for allies all.

Morning to all. Some news to share: Nasty foot issue developing...I've got a plan coming together to deal with it. It's possible I'll need a significant hospital stay to fix it, but there's nothing sure until more specialist consultations are had. *sigh* So, should I suddenly vanish, that'll be why. I don't expect there to be a crisis. I've been wrong before about this, so I'm letting y'all know before the issue could arise.

>193 richardderus: Oh, Richard, I hope the correction of your foot issue is not difficult or painful! Continue to keep us in the loop, please.

Ongoing smooches and good thoughts,

Karen O

>193 richardderus: - Oh no. What Karen said!!

>193 richardderus: That fear is a sort of constant in the back of my mind when I think of you, Richard. I hope that you're getting effective help in time to avoid a crisis. The plan doesn't sound easy. *SMOOCH*

>192 richardderus: Sounds like a good one - duly adding it to The List.

>193 richardderus: I'm sorry to hear about the foot issue, and do hope that you won't need a significant hospital stay to fix it. Crossing all the crossables for you as you see specialists.

>193 richardderus: So sorry to hear that, Richard!! It sounds serious and awful. Seriously hope one of the specialists finds a relatively easy way to fix it both for your sake and ours.

>194 klobrien2:, >195 jessibud2:, >196 LizzieD:, >197 bell7:, >198 RebaRelishesReading: Thank you all for the sympathy. I'm getting advice on rheumatologists in the county, which has lots of them, with an eye towards hospital affiliations. The current issue is pain, but there's wound care scheduled to visit so there'll be independent infection monitoring to keep it from getting uglier than necessary. In the meantime I'm pretty much immobile, so I'm getting some reading and writing done. Might maybe be not the best work I've ever made but done is good.

Best of luck with your foot issues Richard. Sounds nasty!

Hi RD.

I'm so sorry about the foot issue and potential hospital stay. I'm glad you have good medical consultation.

Hugs and kisses and smooches.

>200 SandDune:, >201 karenmarie: Thanks, y'all!

I'm not positive about the hospital stay coming to pass, it's one idea...based on a sensible caution on my doc's part...but consulting with a specialist could bring other ideas to the table. I'll let y'all know, unless some kind of infection shows up in which case directly to the hospital for me.

I really hurt, though, and that's very frustrating. *sigh*

>193 richardderus: Sorry to hear about your foot. Hopefully the specialist can find a solution that involves minimal/no hospitalization.

((hugs))

>203 figsfromthistle: Thanks, Anita! *smooch*

Well, POOH on the bad foot. I hope it responds quickly to whatever the medical plan turns out to be, and that you will at least be able to say "So long, see ya later" if you need to be whisked away for a while.

Oh dear about your foot, Richard! Sorry about the pain. I hope it does not mean a hospital stay for you, but thanks for keeping us in the loop. I am off to the tooth grinder tomorrow, two small fillings, so I thought things were bad, but your foot trumps that any day. * smooch*

>170 richardderus: Happy Thursday, Richard dear!
I will vote today for the European Parliament. Politics are different here, but extreme right is also on the rise:-(

>193 richardderus: Sorry about your foot trouble,sending healing vibes.
*smooch*

086 Canto Contigo by Jonny Garza Villa

Rating: 4.25* of five

The Publisher Says: When a Mariachi star transfers schools, he expects to be handed his new group's lead vocalist spot—what he gets instead is a tenacious current lead with a very familiar, very kissable face.

In a twenty-four-hour span, Rafael Alvarez led North Amistad High School’s Mariachi Alma de la Frontera to their eleventh consecutive first-place win in the Mariachi Extravaganza de Nacional; and met, made out with, and almost hooked up with one of the cutest guys he’s ever met.

Now eight months later, Rafie’s ready for one final win. What he didn’t plan for is his family moving to San Antonio before his senior year, forcing him to leave behind his group while dealing with the loss of the most important person in his life—his beloved abuelo. Another hitch in his plan: The Selena Quintanilla-Perez Academy’s Mariachi Todos Colores already has a lead vocalist, Rey Chavez—the boy Rafie made out with—who now stands between him winning and being the great Mariachi Rafie's abuelo always believed him to be. Despite their newfound rivalry for center stage, Rafie can’t squash his feelings for Rey. Now he must decide between the people he’s known his entire life or the one just starting to get to know the real him.

Canto Contigo is a love letter to Mexican culture, family and legacy, the people who shape us, and allowing ourselves to forge our own path. At its heart, this is one of the most glorious rivals-to-lovers romance about finding the one who challenges you in the most extraordinary ways.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: People are complicated, messy creatures, amalgamated from every speck of the spectrum of existence. No one who thinks babyqueers, that is your adolescent persons of all genders and preferences, should be kept in the dark about this, has any moral authority. They're arguing for repressions that they screech loudly about perceiving against them, but it being okay to do to others because they're Other.

The centrality of "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you" is obviously lost on these idiots.

Now that's out of the way, Canto Contigo (that title rips my sentimental heart out) is the 180° opposite of the book-banner/oppressor mentality's comfort zone. There's an out trans person in a gay relationship! That ought to send some fur flying among the deeply homophobic Latine folks, the religious nuts, and the fascist identity police. Good job, Author Garza Villa. Keep swingin' for their kneecaps. That goes also for Rafie's overweening Man-itude. The sheer arrogance of all adolescents I have ever met too often gets left out of the mirror of YA fiction. There is not a male person alive in the world today who could not benefit from seeing how his Man-itude looks from the outside. Start early instilling awareness and perspective in your boys, gay or otherwise. It will help him, and all who love him, in the long run.

The grieving that Rafie does for his Abuelo is very well-handled, and makes Rafie's dickheadedness a lot more forgiveable. It's a big refreshing change to see boys being credited with the ability to process deep emotions, albeit not smoothly. Too often the resolution of the grieving is both too smooth and too fast. Rafie's grieving isn't complete by the end of the story but it's underway...much more honest, IMO. I'll alsi let Anglophone readers know that there's a goodly amount of Spanish used in the dialogue. As that's normal for Mexican-American boys, I didn't actually notice it much until I was asked to translate something. So, be aware if speaking Spanish is not on your list of accomplishments.

The vibrancy of these boys rushing into their lives, hurtling past the idiocy of phobes and their control fetishes, their smallness of spirit, and the rules they insist must be obeyed, was delightful. The music lessons are fascinating. The fact that the boys are rivals for a very important and prestigious position in their school's mariachi contest is a great way to keep the emotional loud pedal down without it feeling as though the author's manufacturing crises. It's baked in when the situation is set up this way. Going for the same role in a public-facing event is going to make competitors out of any two boys, then add to the mix that Rey's got the added pressure of representing for all of transmasc-dom.... They're believably entwined, they're completely besotted, and they each want to win.

Great way to tell a story. It's told well. I'm glad I got to know the entire bunch. Yes, even the jerks...need jerks to make a love story about us-v-them really work. This one's got that covered. I might think twice about handing the book to anyone fourteen or under without really carefully considering where that kid's social development was. Fifteen on up I'd be completely comfortable handing it over.

Get one for yourself, too, grandparent, and have a book club.

I hope the issue(s) with your foot can be resolved without a hospital stay. Fingers crossed...

Sweet Thursday, Richard. I am sorry to hear about the current foot issue. WTH? You can't catch a break my friend. I hope you are finding comfort with those books.

On a lighter note, Jackson spent the night, so we have been enjoying him. The kid keeps everyone hopping.

>209 katiekrug: Thank you, Katie! I'm hopeful. I'll let everyone know.

>210 msf59: Oh cool! I'm really glad you got to enjoy your Jackson time. I'm dealing, I'm dealing...*sigh*

Good morning, Richard. I know you're dealing. While I wish you didn't have to, I'm very happy that you can!

*smooch*

Hiya, RDear. Happy Thursday to you.

>208 richardderus: Beautifully written review, as always, and I'll pass.

*smooch*

>213 LizzieD: Hey there! I'm coping and, since that's been my life for decades now, it's going well enough.

Be well and happy, dear lady.

>214 karenmarie: Good morning, Horrible me lurve. I'm not even a little bit surprised you're avoiding >208 richardderus:, and probably all to the good that you do. Unless your Spanish has improved exponentially, that is. Thanks for saying kind words about that poor, misshapen thing. *smooch*

Hablo poco español, Ricardo, a pesar de estudiar para siete años en escuela Y vivir en Los Angeles.

I got most of that on my own, except for the 'a pesar de' bit. *smile*

Positive energy and vibes re your poor misshapen foot.

*smooch*

>217 karenmarie: I feel so sorry for that poor old foot. He's served me well within his limitations.

>202 richardderus: Here's hoping this can be solved with minimal additional pain and stress. Growing old is not for the faint of heart.

>219 ArlieS: Thanks, Arlie...no it is most decidedly NOT! I'm unpleased that things can't run in reverse when the laws of physics quite clearly allow it. Fie on this pox-ridden timeline! I want to go back to the GOOD one where bigots were shamed into silence and mental illness was not held up as virtue.

I'm setting Normporn aside because, best intentions apart, I'm not much in the mood to criticize someone for making wild leaps of logic even when I agree with their conclusion. Digging up a nice, short novel to power through instead. Luckily I have a DRC for every mood and crotchet.

Then I chose The Caravaggio Syndrome: A Novel by Alessandro Giardino and translated by Joyce Myerson; abandoned it, too. Looks like a Saturday review instead of a Friday one this week.

I am so sorry to hear about the foot issues, Richard, and I hope that they are resolved quickly!

Gentle ((hugs)) and **smooches**

>222 alcottacre: Thank you, Stasia. It's just another frustrating limitation. *sigh*

>223 richardderus: I understand all too well about frustrating limitations. I really wish I never had to sleep :)

((Hugs)) and **smooches** Have a fantastic Friday!

>224 alcottacre: Happy Friday, sweetiedarling.

'Morning, RDear! Happy Friday to you.

I hope you find the perfect DRC soon.

*smooch*

>226 karenmarie: Morning, Smoochling. I'm giving myself today to get some kind of inspiration or, if nothing happens, I'm back to Normporn for a Sunday Burgoine at least. It's weird. I think it's the allergies and I have a new pollen combat spray that might help that I'm trying out.

Thanks for the good wishes, and I'll coddiwomple thitherward soon to see what's new with you.

Good morning, Richard. wild leaps of logic drive me absolutely wild. I want to fling things (usually not the book itself except in the cases of George Meredith and Nicholas Mosley, and then not for logic; why I thought I could read the first or ever wanted to read the second, I'll never know) and slap several people silly. I guess it's a good thing I never studied formal logic, or I would be crazy.

I hope that you find something perfectly suited to divert attention from your poor foot. Take care!

*smooch*

Sending you healing vibes. Pain sucks so hard.

>170 richardderus: This.

>228 LizzieD: Nicholas Mosely and George Meredith. Peggy me lurve, your brain was clearly having some sort of undiagnosed seizure disorder because neither of those men should get space in there for any reason.

I might be insane. I bought G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century by Beverly Gage for $1.99 on Kindle because I want to read it now. ...??...

>229 Storeetllr: Thank you, Mary! I appreciate your empathy, fellow sufferer (albeit not for much longer, we hope). *smooch*

Isn't >170 richardderus: just the simplest statement of what should be common sense?

>230 richardderus:
It's because you want mental pain as well as physical pain. :-) J. Edgar will definitely do that or you. I do believe that we, as readers, should be informed about our history, I question wanting to know more about Despicable Me. AKA J. Edgar. Mayhap, you can imagine that it is he who is causing your physical pain and consign both pains to the dustbin.

Wouldn't it be better to read that new biography of HHH. True Believer: Hubert Humphrey's Quest for a More Just America t Humphrey's by James Traub?

>232 benitastrnad: Probaly would be...but it wasn't $1.99 on Kindle.

I bailed on it though and moved on to The Onion Girl, a Newford fantasyverse story. No merry little bagatelle but but nauseating like that scum Hoover was.

Eww! Foot issues. Get it sorted pronto ;0)

I hope it's over soon and painlessly.

>225 richardderus: Oo, 'sweetdarling.' I like it, lol.

>230 richardderus: You voluntarily bought a book on J. Edgar Hoover? The world must be coming to an end or something. . . Your blood pressure is probably going to go through the roof.

((Hugs)) and **kisses** and hopes for a pain-free weekend, RD.

Happy Saturday, Richard. I hope you have found the "right" book and I hope the pain levels are much more mangeable this weekend. 🤞

Saturday orisons, laddies and gentlewomen.

>234 humouress: There's got to be something worse than foot pain, but I can't think of anything except kidney pain. I hope it just doesn't get worse.

>235 alcottacre: It's so much worse than you think, Stasia....

I'm glad you enjoy being "sweetiedarling"! *smooch*

>238 richardderus: In my personal experience, any pain is the worst at the point in time that you have it.

>236 msf59: I'm not sure if a couple days of difficulty settling into a book counts as a slump. If it does, I'm in one. *grumble* Saturday orisons, Mark.

>240 humouress: You're doubtless correct about that.

HI RD! Happy Saturday.

Sorry you’re in a reading drought, pain, and otherwise icky time of it right now.

>237 richardderus: Only friendly ones, I hope? I would think the voodoo dolls do enough otherwise.

*smooch* from your own Horrible

>237 richardderus: Creepy… I like it!

>243 karenmarie: Hi Horrible! Honestly, I'm unsure what the devil is wrong with me right now...not being able to settle in on a read. I used a giftie to procure for myself The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake. I mean, this is like it's aimed at my sweet spot.

The Alexandrian Society, caretakers of lost knowledge from the greatest civilizations of antiquity, are the foremost secret society of magical academicians in the world. Those who earn a place among the Alexandrians will secure a life of wealth, power, and prestige beyond their wildest dreams, and each decade, only the six most uniquely talented magicians are selected to be considered for initiation.

Enter the latest round of six: Libby Rhodes and Nico de Varona, unwilling halves of an unfathomable whole, who exert uncanny control over every element of physicality. Reina Mori, a naturalist, who can intuit the language of life itself. Parisa Kamali, a telepath who can traverse the depths of the subconscious, navigating worlds inside the human mind. Callum Nova, an empath easily mistaken for a manipulative illusionist, who can influence the intimate workings of a person’s inner self. Finally, there is Tristan Caine, who can see through illusions to a new structure of reality—an ability so rare that neither he nor his peers can fully grasp its implications.

When the candidates are recruited by the mysterious Atlas Blakely, they are told they will have one year to qualify for initiation, during which time they will be permitted preliminary access to the Society’s archives and judged based on their contributions to various subjects of impossibility: time and space, luck and thought, life and death. Five, they are told, will be initiated. One will be eliminated. The six potential initiates will fight to survive the next year of their lives, and if they can prove themselves to be the best among their rivals, most of them will.

Most of them.

>244 drneutron:, >243 karenmarie: I make no representations as to the ultimate behaviors of the spirits I launch on an evil terrible world.

Good night, Richard! I am eager to see whether the Atlas Six goes down well with you. You certainly have me intrigued.

Peace for your night. *smooch*

>247 LizzieD: Night, Peggy me lurve. I'm pretty sure Philo Farnsworth's shade is fizzing and popping on the bonfire of my loathing for his satanic bastard child the babblebox. Smooches galore, dear lady.

It's been a bit since I made it over here for a visit. I'm very sorry to hear that you are having so much pain. I hope that the doctors come up with a good plan of treatment, and that your pain will soon be much less. I also hope that you can find that good read soon. I hate to see you so unsettled. Sending all positive vibes for a quick improvement!

Sorry to hear that your foot issues have gotten worse, Richard. I hope whatever the plan is, it fixes those issues for good.

I'm sorry to hear that your foot is giving you so much pain, Richard. I hope that can soon be resolved. I hope your new book, The Atlas Six grabs you. A book funk is not good.

>249 atozgrl: Good Sunday vibes, Irene! Glad to have you visit. Thanks for the whammys, I'll hope that the goddesses heed you. *smooch*

>250 Familyhistorian: Morning, Meg, and welcome. I'm pretty sure the foot will always present problems because, as of yet, gout is incurable. I'd just like them not to be quite so infection-prone.

Sunday orisons!

>251 vancouverdeb: I found a new book to make my little hairs stand up: Tomorrowing by the late SF monadnock Terry Bisson.

For twenty years, Terry Bisson published a regular “This Month in History” column in the science fiction magazine Locus. Tomorrowing collects these two decades of memorable events---four per month---each set in a totally different imaginary yet possible, inevitable yet avoidable future. From the first AI president to the first dog on Mars to the funeral of Earth’s last glacier, these stories are speculative SF at its most (and least) serious. Collected as a series for the first time, Tomorrowing will amuse, alarm, intrigue, entertain, and like all good science fiction, make readers think. Bisson’s short stories have won every major award in science fiction, including the Hugo and the Nebula, but never, ever anything for this series.

I found it in The Guardian's book reviews and, despite having purchased it less that three hours ago, I'm almost halfway through. *smooch*

>254 richardderus: Ho ho! Instant gratification! 

>255 weird_O: My version of your trips to the book sales, Bill...such a rare treat and one I've savored and treasured. Glad to see you!

Hi RD!

I'm glad you're (finally) finding some good books to entice you.

I just finished a BDSM stunner, Truth By His Hand by Casey Cameron. 4.5*. I've also started a series mentioned on the NPR interview yesterday, Deviations series by Chris Owen and Jodi Payne.

>257 karenmarie: You...you...you...meanie! Dreadful, terrible woman! Book-bulleting me here in my very own target-shooting range! Why do I even speak to you, it's a complete mystery.

Drop your knitting, y'all. Rush over to Ammy and get yourselves a Kindlecopy of Project Hail Mary for $1.99! RYAN GOSLING is gonna be Ryland Grace in the upcoming movie! Go! They'll notice it's a great deal and stop it before you can get one!
https://www.amazon.com/Project-Hail-Mary-Andy-Weir-ebook/dp/B08FHBV4ZX/

It's afternoon, Richard, so I suppose you're eating whatever they give you on Sunday. I hope it's better than usual! Meanwhile, you should know that at $1.99, The Atlas Six was not to be ignored. It's on my Kindle. So is Project Hail Mary, and I haven't read it yet. I.Am.So.Slow. Before LT I thought I was a decently fast reader. Age has nothing to do with it.

Hope you get some self time to enjoy your latest finds! *smooch* and *smooch* and *smooch*!

>260 LizzieD: Fish today...so I got double soup and a wodge of rice, per arrangement. (I splash the rice with my own olive oil and onion powder, then fish the veggies out of the soup to make a deconstructed pilaf. Satisfying and tasty.) *smoochiesmoochsmooch*

Now, see, >257 karenmarie:?! *PEGGY*, my new BFF, knows exactly how to butter me up behave in my own absolute monarchy tiny little haven from the world's cruelties.

Enjoy the book-bullets...and, really...who's worrying about how fast one reads? I ask myself this every time I check in on my "progress" towards achieving my reading goals. Why am I bothering? Who cares?

As long as my answer boils down to "I do, no one else gets a vote or a voice" I keep going. Not sure I wouldn't press on if I felt pressured, but the goals would change.

There was a very nice book review yesterday on NPR. It was really a genre review about ice hockey and the popularity of the ice hockey romance novel. The interesting part was that the excerpt that was read on air was from a queer romance titled Heated Rivalry. Yes! They actually read an excerpt on air! It was minus the curse words, but not the romance.

>262 benitastrnad: Isn't that amazing? I'm really delighted it can happen. We're unwise to ignore the risk of the fascists getting the gains back under their control, but for today, the Weimar Thaw continues.

>245 richardderus: Chin up dear fellow, I have periodic moments like that and you will get through it soon for sure and indeed I can see it coming.
Maybe a few lines of poetry or a chapter or three of Chuckles will get you enjoying reading SOMETHING ELSE.

>264 PaulCranswick: HERESY!! CALUMNY & VITUPERATION UPON YOU AND ALL YOURS UNTO THE SEVENTH GENERATION for that heinous utterance of dread and drear reading!!

(ACtually, Terry Bisson did the trick. Now I've got a review up for Monday!)

>265 richardderus: :D

087 If You Change Your Mind by Robby Weber

Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: In this hilarious and heartfelt debut novel, an aspiring screenwriter learns sometimes love has its own script.

Harry wants nothing more than to write Hollywood screenplays. He knows the first step toward achieving that goal is winning a screenwriting competition that will seal his admission into the college of his dreams, so he’s determined to spend his summer free of distractions—also known as boys—and finish his script. After last year, Harry is certain love only exists in the movies anyway.

But then the cause of his first heartbreak, Grant, returns with a secret that could change everything—not to mention, there’s a new boy in town, Logan, who is so charming and sweet, he’s making Harry question everything he knows about romance. As he tries to keep his emotions in check and stick to his perfect plan for the future, Harry's about to learn that life doesn't always follow a script.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: Debut YA/NA novels don't get much easier to devour than this. The genre tends rowards the the digestible, after all; its intended consumers aren't yet very experienced readers. Nuances? Not many. Lessons? Indeed, by the carload. I suspect that having Harry, our MC, aspire to be a screenwriter evolved out of a need to distance the Lessons from the story...they slid down fairly painlessly.

The Lessons that Robby Weber taught are, thank goodness, very much ones I support and can attest are urgent for young gay guys to learn: Be present; be mindful of others' presence and feelings; be flexible to get ahead of your failures, which are inevitable; embarrassment is not fatal; secrets are only toxic while you keep them. Respecting his audience by making the Lessons part of the stakes of the book was a good idea.

The most deeply affecting parts of the read are, as expected, the moments we're with Harry. The structure of the chapter/script excerpt/chapter again is not greatly to my taste. It works well enough, I just found it less than smooth because it was repeated so often.

That, however, is a rising-seventy-year-old speaking. It will, I expect, feel very different to one decades younger and a trillion trees farther behind in pages consumed. The point of my reading a book like this is, for my own sake, one of celebration. The fact that this queer-boy romantic comedy exists, and came from a major publishing house (albeit from a now-shuttered imprint), and that it's very clearly meant to make a positive self-image impact on its readers, is a joy.

This is what the book-banners and reactionaries can not allow. The way to see yourself in any kind of a future is for that to be available in your cultural orbit. Libraries and bookstores, in that they serve the public, will always have to have battles about books like this one. The idea that someone they dislike is being nurtured and supported for being their honest, authentic self is intolerable to these kinds of hatebags. So, of course, being deeply intolerant of intolerance aimed at people like me, I say: go forth and buy copies of this and similar books to donate to your local library.

And, not coincidentally, support a young gay author as he starts his writing career. Your consumer dollars can never be better spent.

Morning, Richard. Thanks for your help and support on the continuing LT issues. It has been frustrating and it takes me nearly twice the time to navigate around the threads. Lots of refreshing.

I am doing Trail Watch today, after taking off a few weeks. Our weather has been lovely.

>268 msf59: Does the word "Cloudflare" occur on any screen you're shown? I've had issues related to that software interacting with my browser before...maybe it's your turn?

I hope it gets solved soonest.

‘Morning, RD. Happy Monday to you.

>58 klobrien2: You're maligning me. BBs are everywhere, dodging them is always difficult. I won’t apologize for GIVING YOU things I know you will like. Harrumph.

>261 richardderus: Wow, harsh. So I’m not your LTBFF anymore? Sob.

>262 benitastrnad: That’s the interview I mentioned in >257 karenmarie:. I don’t like sports romances at all, except for mentions of gyms. Scott Simon seemed a bit nonplussed over the whole thing, IMO.

>269 richardderus: Huh. Cloudflare. Hain’t heard of it.

*smooch*

>270 karenmarie: Cloudflare's an internet security firm. Their settings can get tetchy apparently. I admit I couldn't possibly care less and would cheerfully forget they exist if not for the fact that sometimes I set off their defenses.

Harrumph away, Vile Temptress. Your wallet-flattening field's deleterious effect on my finances goes all the way back to the internet's version of the Cretaceous.

Poor Scott Simon. He was utterly unprepared for what hit him. He was clearly hoping to have a nice bit of condescending fun at her expense and ended up with a real story...and no idea what to do with it or interest in pursuing it. Cry me a river, dude. It's #PrideMonth! Man up!

*smooch*

>254 richardderus: Nice! I hope that the book continues to help keep your mind off your foot (if that is even possible. . .)

>267 richardderus: Adding that one to the BlackHole. I am all for supporting up-and-coming authors, gay or otherwise.

((Hugs)) and **smooches** and hope that the foot pain is at least easing!

>272 alcottacre: Hi Stasia! I'm pretty good at backgrounding pain. I'll be happy of the wound remains uninfected.

Enjoy >267 richardderus: when its turn comes. I liked >254 richardderus: but, TBH, columns don't read well in a gulp. They get samey. But the idea of "This Day In History" but in the future is a fun conceit. Stay well! *smooch*

>271 richardderus:
Cloudflare is the company that LT hired to help them stop the ransomware attacks that were happening. I agree that it gets tetchy sometimes. However, I think something else was going on Friday because I don't recall that word or name appearing in the message that would flash up. I think that as security tightens up, speeds will slow down. And sometimes grind to a halt.

>274 benitastrnad: I get the same feeling about the end of this road, Benita. "robot.txt" is going to have similar effects as it blocks AI crawlers from battening on one's data. Oh well, such are the costs of doing business in a scum-ridden world.

>170 richardderus: Good post!

And in honor of Pride Month, I'm reading as many LGBTQIA+ books/authors as I can. Four read so far...

>276 ocgreg34: Hi Greg! Thanks for stopping by...I'll stop by your thread to see what the authors are, and which of the books you read.

‘Morning, RDear. Happy Tuesday to you. Ah. Cloudflare. Well, we use other security that’s so far met our needs across all devices.

Yes, we’ve both been hit financially by each other. I seem to remember that my first BB from you was Rara Avis, which I STILL haven’t read, acquired in 11/2007, the very next month after I joined LT.

Yup, poor Scott Simon. I don’t know about the condescending part of it but yield to your opinion.

*smooch*

BURGOINE #025

Tomorrowing by Terry Bisson

Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: For twenty years, Terry Bisson published a regular “This Month in History” column in the science fiction magazine Locus. Tomorrowing collects these two decades of memorable events—four per month—each set in a totally different imaginary yet possible, inevitable yet avoidable future. From the first AI president to the first dog on Mars to the funeral of Earth’s last glacier, these stories are speculative SF at its most (and least) serious. Collected as a series for the first time, Tomorrowing will amuse, alarm, intrigue, entertain, and like all good science fiction, make readers think. Bisson’s short stories have won every major award in science fiction, including the Hugo and the Nebula, but never, ever anything for this series.

My Review: You like alternate history? You like browsable books? You like to be left with thoughts and ideas to chew over as you slip into wherever it is we go when we fall asleep?

Here's you a book. Author Bisson, who died in January at 81, worked for decades in the SF field. Known for planting little seeds of progressiveness in a field dominated by the idiot libertarian/reactionary goofballs who...well, that's a screed for a different day. Bisson turned a hand at every type of writing, these columns show how much there was to do in the genre. Twenty years of tilling the field and he never repeated himself.

>278 karenmarie: Rara Avis! I'd forgotten I read that. What a beautiful looking little book it was. I liked it, as I recall, for its off-kilter perspective on family.

...if you'd just see sense and start reading terrible books or ones I'VE ALREADY READ, we wouldn't have this issue...

*smooch*

Hi Richard! Happy newish week! They move along so quickly.

>281 The_Hibernator: Hi Rachel! Happy June!

New thread alert!
https://www.librarything.com/topic/361362

>280 richardderus: Yes. Because we all want to read terrible books.

And I am returning from your next thread, like the ghost of Christmas past (or is it future?) to remind you of your post >5 richardderus: (In other words, you asked for it.)

>284 humouress: Well, if you *don't* want to read terrible books, at least hate the good ones you read! *harrumph*