LGBTQIA+

Audiobook: Gwen & Art Are Not in Love

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by Lex Croucher
Read by: Alex Singh & Sarah Ovens
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Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is swearing, including multiple f-bombs, and talking about an older teenager getting drunk. It’s in the Teen section (grades 9+) of the bookstore.

Gwen is a princess in Camelot (not that Gwen, though), and the only thing she does NOT want to do is marry her betrothed, Arthur. She’d much rather spend her days in her routine, and pine after Lady Bridget Leclair, the first lady knight. It’s a good thing she discovers that Arthur feels much the same about their marriage as she does, primarily because he likes boys, and is developing a crush on Gwen’s brother Gabriel. 

There are other plot points in this book – like the threat of unrest by the “cultist” (the people who think that there really used to be magic back in Arthurian times), and some personal growth on the part of both Gwen and Arthur, but mostly it’s just four queer teens romping about in medieval England. 

And you know what? That was a ton of fun. It’s kind of like a queer A Knight’s Tale – not especially historically accurate, but a lot of fun anyway. I loved the narrators and the changing perspectives, and it was just a lot of fun to listen to. Plus: it is a spin on the Arthurian tale, which I’m always here for. 

Highly recommended. 

Audiobook: Bookshops & Bonedust

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by Travis Baldree
Read by the author
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Or listen at Libro.fm
Others in the series: Legends & Lattes
Content: There is swearing, including many f-bombs, and some violence. It’s in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

In this prequel to Legends & Lattes, Viv finds herself injured and unexpectedly laid up due to an injury in the seaside town of Murk. She’s accustomed to being active, so having to convalesce is not something she wants to do. In her wandering around the down, she discovers a run-down bookshop whose owner, Fern, struggles to make ends meet. Viv discovers the benefit of knowing a good bookseller (!) and falls into a friendship with Fern. She also has a sweet summer romance with a baker in town. And, on top of everything, there’s a mysterious man in gray who leaves behind (well – he dies, so kinda) a bag full of bones that turns out to be a homunculus named Satchel.

Like the first one, not much happens in this book. (Granted, more happens in this than in the first one.) But, it’s still sweet, charming, super cozy, and enjoyable. The characters are fun, and the world Baldree has created is clever. I have really come to enjoy his narration as well; it’s incredibly engaging. So, no, there’s not a lot of plot in these, but they are so much fun to listen to. 

Audiobook: Legends & Lattes

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by Travis Baldree
Read by the author
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is some violence. It’s in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

Viv, an orc barbarian, is tired of being a hired thief-assassin, and so hangs up her sword (somewhat literally) and opens a coffee shop in the town of Thune. She’s starting from scratch: no one in the town has heard of the gnomish drink, and so she and the group of friends she collects once this project starts set out to create a spot. There are problems including a mafia boss to win over and a former companion who is convinced Viv has something extremely valuable. But, mostly, it’s a book about starting over, making friends, finding love, and a good cup of coffee with an excellent pastry.

The subtitle of this book is “A Novel of High Fantasy and Low Stakes” and that pretty much sums it up. Not much happens. Even the problems don’t amount to much. But, it was delightful to listen to. Baldree did an excellent job narrating his book, and I was delighted to listen as they invented iced drinks, cinnamon rolls, biscotti, and chocolate croissants. So, no, nothing happened. But it was incredibly enjoyable anyway.

Gender Queer

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by Maia Kobabe
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Content: There are frank discussions of bodies, of sexuality, and of sex. It’s in the Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.

It was Banned Books Week last week, and I figured why not see what all the buzz is about, and read the most banned book in America.

It’s Kobabe’s memoir of the evolution of eir gender. (Eir prefers the Spivak pronouns; I’m not entirely sure how to use them, so forgive me for any mistakes.) Kobabe recounts the dissonance eir felt between what society saw and what eir felt on the inside, and the process of making those two match up. It’s only one person’s story, which means it’s not representative of the journey of all non-binary people, but that doesn’t mean it’s not fascinating or worthwhile to read Kobabe’s story.

I get why people would be made uncomfortable by Kobabe’s book: eir are very open about not wanting to fit into the gender norms that society has decreed, and open about wanting a body that is different from the one eir was born with. But that said, just because it makes a reader uncomfortable, doesn’t mean it’s bad. It’s good to be challenged, to read the stories of people who have vastly different experiences than you, whether that be a different race, religion, or gender expression. I enjoyed learning about Kobabe’s journey to eir current gender expression, and I hope eir writes more. I will definitely read it!

Godkiller

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by Hannah Kaner
First sentence: “Her father fell in love with a god of the sea.”
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Content: There is a lot of violence, a lot of swearing (including f-bombs), and some off-screen sex. It’s in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

Kissen has spent the past 15 years, since her family was sacrificed to the fire god Hestra and she alone survived, learning how, and actually killing gods. It helps that the king of the country she lives in has banned all worship of gods; it makes her business as a veiga is lucrative. And then one day, a 12-year-old girl, Inara, finds Kissen, asking her to help find a way to split her from the god (of white lies) that she is bonded to. Which means a journey to Blendaren, the home of the Gods. Along the way, they meet a baker-knight, who is on his own quest, and the three of them will face the city of the gods together.

Except this book is a lot more than “a godkiller, a girl, and an errant knight” go on a quest. There’s an exploration of trauma, of duty, of loyalty and honor. But there is also some bad-ass demon kicking and god fighting. I adored the characters, I loved the way they interacted, and the world Kaner built. We’re just beginning to explore the mythology of all the gods and the politics of the world, and I am here for it.

Absolutely worth the hype.

Audiobook: Stars in Your Eyes

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by Kacen Callender
Read by a full cast
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Or listen at Libro.fm
Release date: October 10, 2023
Content: There is a lot of swearing, drinking, and some off-screen drug use. There is also a couple of on-page sex scenes. The book also deals frankly with sexual abuse and trauma. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Mattie Cole is Hollywood’s Golden Boy, an up-and-coming actor who can’t do any wrong. Logan Gray is a pariah in Hollywood, a child actor with a reputation for being difficult, and a playboy. It’s one thing that they’re cast as romantic leads in a new rom-com, but it becomes more complicated when the are told to pretend to be in a relationship for publicity’s sake.

It sounds like a delightful romance, yes? Except this is Kacen Callender we’re talking about. They don’t write fluff. No, Callender has taken the grumpy/sunshine fake-dating tropes and layered on individuals dealing with their own trauma, which makes things so much more complicated. There are issues of sexual abuse, neglect, shame, accepting one’s true self, consent… and the list goes on.

What you will get in this book is a gut-punch of emotions, and characters you genuinely care about. I also ended up thinking a lot about the way society treats celebrities, and the things that are expected from them to “satisfy” their “fans”. it’s a complex, profound book, that is only masquerading as a romance.

And I loved it so much.

The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle

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by Matt Cain
First sentence: “Albert Entwistle was a postman.”
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Content: There is bullying of a gay man, blatant homophobia, and violence by the police towards gay men. It’s in the fiction section of the bookstore.

Albert Entwistle has been a postman since he was 16 years old. It’s basically been his whole life, especially since his (overbearing and critical) mother died 18 years ago. Now that he’s almost 65, the Royal Mail has decided that it’s time for Albert to retire. This sends Albert into a bit a of a tailspin: what is he supposed to do with his life without the routine of carrying the mail?

The answer comes when he finds an old picture: he’s going to go looking for the boy he fell in love with when he was sixteen. On the way, he opens up to his coworkers, makes several friends, and learns to accept and be open about his sexuality.

I think I picked this up becuase a bookseller (at a different bookstore) told me it was very heart-warming and affirming, and I have to agree. It’s a sweet story about the importance of belonging and the way being open to other people can your enrich your life. It’s charming and sweet, and very English. It’s very cis, though it does talk about drag culture some, and there’s no on-page sex (it’s all implied). Perhaps it’s one of those gay books for non-gay people, but I liked it for the emphasis on friendships and community. It’s charming and sweet and a feel-good read. And I enjoyed it a lot.

Hazel Hill is Gonna Win This One

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by Maggie Horne
First sentence: “I’ve been told that it’s impossible to know everything, but I think I’ve found a loophole.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: This talks about sexual harassment and bullying, and has adults who don’t listen to/believe children. That might be triggering for some. It’s in the Middle-Grade section (grades 3-5) of the bookstore but might be more appropriate for the older end.

The only thing Hazel Hill has looked forward to the whole of her seventh-grade year was the speech competition. She lost out in sixth grade to Ella Quinn, but this year Hazel knows she will win. However, she is thrown off her objective one day when Tyler – a dude in her homeroom class – tells her that Ella Quinn, whom he has just broken up with (again), told him that she had a crush on Hazel. Which sends Hazel into a panic: she hasn’t told anyone she was gay! Is this real? What’s going on with Ella?

The answer is that Tyler has been sexually harassing Ella, and she’s trying to deal with it. As Hazel becomes friends with Ella (and her best friend Riley), she decides that Something Needs to Be Done about Tyler. The problem is that no adults are listening to or believing them.

It’s a bit more complex than that, and it has more to do with Hazel learning to have friends again, but that’s the gist. A boy is making girls’ lives difficult and adults don’t believe the girls, because they’re “just kids.”

I really loved this one. I’m always here for books about fierce girls, and this one is a good one. I liked the tone that the book took, and the focus on Hazel learning to be a friend helps ease the hardness of the subject matter. I loved Hazel’s relationship with her parents, as well as her acceptance of her own sexuality (even if she’s not ready to be out, yet). There are funny bits and happy bits, and it’s just an affirming book. Such a good read.

Audiobook: All In

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by Billie Jean King, Johnette Howard, and Maryanne Vollers
Read by Billie Jean King
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Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: King talks about difficult subjects including sexism, discrimination, her affair, and eating disorders. It’s in the Sports section of the bookstore.

In this memoir, King writes of how she got into tennis, her struggles for equal treatment in the sport for women, her winning championships and being number one in the world, as well as her winning the infamous “Battle of the Sexes”. She talks about coming to terms with her sexuality as well as broadening her activism. It covers her life up to the present, including her marriage to her long-time partner Ilana Kloss.

I picked this one up not because I had any real affection for King, but because I was looking for something different to listen to and was in the mood for a sports book. I found it interesting – it’s not just a history of King’s life, it’s a history of women in professional sports, of the evolution of tennis in America, of the history of Women’s, Civil, and LGBTQ+ Rights. If I can say anything, it’s this: King has been around for a long time (she was born in 1943) and has seen and done and been involved in a lot. She wasn’t particularly fantastic as a narrator; I sped it up so she’d read at a speed that I could tolerate, but I did appreciate hearing the emotion in her voice when she talked about certain subjects. She was very frank about her life, her mistakes, her evolution, and her path to a very fulfilling life. I did like hearing about the other players on the tennis tour, especially when she got to ones I recognized (say around the 1980s), and I did enjoy hearing her view on her personal and professional battles.

It’s not my usual read, but I liked it well enough.

The Fragile Threads of Power

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by V. E. Schwab
First sentence: “It came in handy, being small.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: A Darker Shade of Magic, A Gathering of Shadows, A Conjuring of Light
Release date: September 26, 2023
Review copy provided by the publisher. 
Content: There is a lot of violence (as with any Schwab book, really), and some swearing (including a few f-bombs). It will be in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

A lot is going on in this book. Let’s see if I can sum it up properly. It’s seven years after the events in A Conjuring of Light. Kell is still without magic (sorry: spoilers). Rhy is the king of Arnes, but there is growing unrest in London and the whisperings of a group – The Hand – that wants to overthrow the kingdom. Lila and Kell are on a boat, being pirates (excuse me: privateers). And then there’s the new characters: Kosika, who is the child Antari queen of White London, and who has the ghost of Holland to guide her as she slowly (and somewhat fanatically) tries to wake White London back up. And Tess (my favorite!), who, much like Alucard, can see magic, except she has the unique talent of being able to fix the broken threads. She is on the run, in hiding from a father who wants to abuse her power, and she unwittingly (and somewhat unwillingly) gets caught up in The Hand’s scheme. 

Whew. It’s a lot of book. 

I tried reading it without revisiting the first series, and honestly? It didn’t take. There are a lot of flashbacks in this book – perhaps too many; sometimes it felt like Schwab was just giving fan service – and I wasn’t enjoying it. But, then I went back and re-read the other three, and then came back to this book. It sat much better, and I enjoyed it a lot more. I do wish Schwab would have spent less time on the flashbacks (or maybe did a series of short stories? a novella, perhaps?) and more time on the actual plot – the Hand and their machinations. I didn’t get enough of Tess until nearly the end. And there’s a twist that I’m not entirely sure I like. 

That said, Schwab is a gifted storyteller, and it’s quite lovely to be back in this rich world. For all my complaints, there’s a lot of good in the book. And yes, I will most likely read the next one.