Him by Sarina Bowen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
“Good thing he’s not a traffic cop, because he’s sending enough mixed signals to cause a ten-car pileup.”
Him is about two friends who meet at hockey camp and become friends. They made a bet on a shootout which caused one to cut the other off for years. Now a chance encounter at the Frozen Four brings them back into each other’s lives. They quickly become friends again and have six weeks to figure out what is going on between them. They are coaching teenagers to improve their hockey skills while navigating their own relationship. One is on his way to Toronto to play in the NHL and one is supposed to be headed for Detroit. This is a fun will they/won’t they book that keeps you enthralled from beginning to end.
I plowed through this book in a single day. I kept wanting to read more and more. There were plenty of hot scenes. It was well written, and this is the second gay romance I have read recently written by two female authors. I don’t know how they do it but they do an excellent job at describing things in a way that makes you feel like you are the one participating. One thing that I found myself doing throughout though, is trying to keep track of which name belonged to which character. I wrote it down but I still found myself flipping back to when the chapter started to remember if it was Wes or Jamie. Wes was the forward and Jamie was the goalie. Wes is gay and Jamie is straight. Wes has tattoos and breaks rules. Jamie has a huge family and loves coaching. The difference between each of their families is vast and it makes you feel for each of them. I loved how the book was written from both viewpoints, and it really helped to build the tension and see it from each perspective. The sex scenes were very sultry and provocative. I found myself frustrated at times with each of them and wanted them to just get over their hangups. I kept putting it down needing to move on to do something else but I found myself reaching for the book again and again so I can see what happens. I bet you could easily finish this in a single day. I cannot wait to read the next one.
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Category: Book Review
Murder Most Fowl And Hot Man Love
Cut & Run by Madeleine Urban
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
“Not everything needs to be planned…Not everything needs a why or how.”
Cut & Run is about 2 guys who were thrown together as partners to help find a serial killer. The police and FBI up until this point have failed to apprehend the suspect. Ty Grady and Zane Garrett are two agents with conflicting personalities and they start off at each other’s throats. One is rough and tumble, the other is clean cut and meticulous. They were put on this case because the last two agents that were assigned were murdered. It follows these two FBI agents while they try to track down this killer before more people are killed all while navigating trying to work together. How will they survive each other let alone survive the killer?
This was a very good and sexy read. There were plenty of funny and snippy comments. It was fun to read the back and forth between the two main characters. I chuckled and smirked and laughed out loud. Madeleine Urban and Abigail Roux are the authors. They did a good job writing as they created such tension between Ty and Zane. It was very hot. It was written in a way that helped us to see it from both sides. It added a good dynamic and layers to the story. Besides the connection between the main characters there was the actual investigation. I thought that part of the story was done well too. It was interesting and kept me on my toes. The whole MO of the killer was cool and unique. It was suspenseful. There were a couple things that bothered me though. One was there was a lot of growling that came from both characters. A character saying something in a growling manner or with a growl was pretty common throughout. I wish it was phrased differently to change it up. Also, there was a little too much toxic masculinity especially from Ty. It might have added to his gruff manner but it also rubbed me the wrong way at moments. I am not sure how I came across this book or how it ended up in my TBR pile but I am glad it did. This was such an enjoyable and alluring book. I would recommend that people pick it up.
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Lifting Your Life And Usefulness To The World
Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life by Arnold Schwarzenegger
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
“Failure is not fatal.”
“Busyness is bullshit.”
Be Useful is another book in the grand tradition of bettering oneself. However, this one is written by a former governor, former bodybuilding champion, and a great action/movie star. That’s right, Arnold Schwarzenegger has put together a book about his seven tools for living life. The book is broken down into these seven tools and then broken down and discussed in even greater detail. He throws in his personal experiences from throughout his entire life. He was born and grew up in Austria and then made it to the United States where he rose to the top of bodybuilding. He then became an action and movie star which then led to him becoming governor of one of the largest economies in the world. Arnold prides himself now on giving back in any way he possibly can.
In general, this book doesn’t say anything new. It is the same thing we have heard from multiple sources and for years. In the beginning, it starts where books usually start, with the clear vision suggestion. This is par for the course and one that has perpetually frustrated me whenever I read these types of books. This is a usual first stop with many self-help books but they never really go into how you get your vision. How does one figure out what their vision is? What kind of questions should they ask themselves? What exercises should they work on? Should you sit in a quiet room and just think or go out and just try everything until you find something? This is a major failing of so many books in this genre and one that the author continues in. It then continues with thinking big and don’t let failure deter you as well as other well-known suggestions. This book uses familiar ideas like pain being temporary and struggle is part of the game but there are several quotes (some attributed to others) that I liked. In relation to your goals and going for them, “if you’re going to do, do it.” Basically, the adage of shoot for the moon because even if you miss, you’ll be amongst the stars. “Your work to make a dream come true, you don’t whine it into existence” and “To do great things that last, sacrifices are necessary.” The one thing that I liked about this book and what sets it apart from others is the anecdotes and stories that Arnold is able to tell. He has a unique story and brings a lot of that to highlight and solidify his advice. He can tie real world examples in which help make it entertaining as well as believable. It draws you in more and creates a better narrative. It was a quick and easy read. Some things will stay with me but to me it wasn’t revolutionary. Let me leave you with this, “when it comes to achieving your vision, it isn’t failure you have to worry about, it’s giving up.”
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Ghostly Tea And Learning To Live A Deathly Life
Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
“If we worry about the little things all the time, we run the risk of missing the bigger things.”
Under the Whispering Door is about death, life, and relationships. We are introduced to Wallace, a self-important ass of a lawyer, at the start of the story and we quickly learn what he is all about. He then dies and this is where the story really starts. We follow his journey through all his anger, grief, and acceptance while learning about this group of people (living and dead) that inhabit his life. It mostly takes place in this tea shop in the middle of the woods that seems cozy and such a perfect place to hang out. There are plenty of characters to love and also a few to have other strong feelings about. I was unsure how it was going to finish but it ended up surprising me how well it was wrapped up.
I started out very wary about this book as I was not sure the direction it would take or how it was finally going to end. In the beginning I got a sense of the idea feeling similar to A Christmas Carol which in small ways it did, yes. We do have this curmudgeonly man who endures a journey not of his choosing and is given a chance to reflect. Wallace did grate on me and I found myself losing patience with him initially. The story could have been a copy and paste but TJ Klune did a good job of setting it apart and making it his own. First off, this is a queer story and I am here for it. You aren’t sure when the story starts off because of the mention of an ex-wife but then subtle hints are dropped like having the same taste in men. There are multiple points where it was mentioned and just outright queer love is completely transparent. A sign in the shop reads “Guys, Gals, & Our Nonbinary Pals.” We definitely need more of these stories. There was also this sitcom-like quality to a lot of the scenes. There was quippy responses and slapstick like occurrences and it felt like just pure fun. I did laugh out loud at several points, especially reading a scene where a séance unfolds. There was heart and soul to this novel as well. There were sad moments that were touching. There were heartwarming and uplifting parts too. In general, I do not like stories that involve ghosts but this one was an exception. It was a beautiful story and I do recommend people read it.
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Royal Reading Revelations And The Jubilation Of The Written Word
The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
“’You don’t put your life into your books. You find it there.’”
The Uncommon Reader is a fictitious story about Queen Elizabeth II and her discovery of her love of books and reading. She stumbles across a traveling library because of her dogs and meets a young gentleman, Norman. The Queen ends up taking a liking to this young man and invites him up from the kitchens as one of her aides. He starts off suggesting books for her to read and becomes a person that she discusses books with. Not everyone associated with the royal household is fond of her newfound love of reading. It ends up distracting her from her duties and diminishes the excitement she used to get from them. Now, she is found with a book in her hand always. We follow her through her journey and how her love of reading morphs due to her surroundings and external pressures. We learn a lot about books, reading, and how they can affect things.
Alan Bennett is so clever and witty. This book was funny and very relatable. I laughed out loud especially when Kama Sutra was mentioned. I love reading so much and I found myself nodding along with the nuggets of wisdom that were sprinkled throughout this great piece of work. I love how nonchalantly gay authors and subject matter were just rolled into the conversations with Her Majesty. I do not remember stopping to look up as many words while reading a book as I did with this one. There were so many words that I loved too like Opsimath and Amanuensis. It was so well written and very intelligent. There were lots of mentions of writers and historical notes. The author did bring in some tension and not likeable characters which helped to drive the story and make me care more. I was just thinking let people be and enjoy what they enjoy without hurting others. I wish this in the real world too. Reading and books were talked about beautifully. It was a sort of love letter to the written word. A ton of things that were said I thoroughly enjoyed. “What she was finding also was how one book led to another, doors kept opening wherever she turned and the days weren’t long enough for the reading she wanted to do.” It really speaks to what reading can bring into a person’s life and how they can benefit from it. “Books are not about passing the time. They’re about other lives. Other worlds.” It brings you in contact with things and places and people you might not have otherwise been introduced to. This book took no time at all to read as it was short and perfectly delightful. I highly recommend people who love books and reading pick this up to have a lot of our thoughts about our love of reading reflected back on us in charming ways.
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Cirque Du So Slow And Stunning Magical Visuals
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
“This is not magic. This is the way the world is, only very few people take the time to stop and note it.”
The Night Circus, at its most basic level, is about a challenge that takes place within the confines of a circus. It starts with two gentlemen who make a wager and then train their two students in this game. They are very coy about the details and we are left to take the clues that are dropped throughout the book to deduce what we think it entails. They move to the periphery but are ever present. The story then focuses on the students and the circus. The two students (one male and one female) are bound to compete. They do this using their unique abilities. Overall, the book is about the magical and the love that develops between two formal rivals. A circus is built as the arena in which the competition materializes and people get to enjoy it all over the world as it travels from city to city. We get to learn about the many people involved and how they interact and contribute to the competition. It is a fantasy novel but realistic in nature.
I have heard good things about this book and it did sound like something that was up my alley. It sounded magical, beautiful, and enchanting. When I started reading it, I could see all of it. I was excited to continue as I was intrigued and pulled in right away. The premise was promising and I was roused to continue by how Erin Morgenstern captured my attention. Now, I normally do not like books that take a second person point of view but the author did it right from the very beginning. Let me clarify, the whole book is not second-person, but there are chapters sprinkled throughout that really draw you in and make you feel like you are actually there. I could vividly picture myself walking around and experiencing what was being described. It made me think of those choose-your-own-adventure novels or a fantasy video game which I loved. The visuals that were invoked in my mind were stunning. I wish something like this really existed. There were many characters that were introduced. Each character was unique, and it was pretty easy to know who was being referenced but it did take a few scenes to get there. I really did like a lot of the characters and what they brought to the novel. Despite all those good things, it did take me a little longer than normal to get through this one. It might not have been the right book at the right time for me but I did finish and found some delight in it. It was a very slow and methodically written novel. At first, I didn’t find it boring though as it sounded ethereal and I still had expectations left in me. I didn’t mind the slowness as it was still early in the book and things were building but then excitement or a driving plot never materialized. I was forcing myself to pick it back up to read just a little more to finally finish it. I was hoping for so much more. I wanted a stronger story and I felt let down.
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Locked Room Murder And Past Crimes That Haunt You
Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
“We spend our youth building sandcastles of ambition, then watch as life blows sands of doubt over our carefully crafted turrets of wishes and dreams.”
Daisy Darker is about a very dysfunctional family and the secrets they have kept hidden. It takes place in a seaside house that becomes an island at high tide. This is a locked room mystery in the vein of And Then There Were None. It is told from the point of view of Daisy who is the youngest child of the main family. The story has flashbacks to when the girls were young. There is a storm outside with rain and wind lashing at the house which helps create an atmosphere. It follows the night of the matriarchs 80th birthday where she is found dead then one by one things devolve. Who is a suspect and will it be solved before the tide goes out?
This was the first novel I have read by Alice Feeney and I started out liking how each character was introduced. It seemed like they were walking onto a stage as they were brought in one by one. I did like when the author talked about books and how important they were to several characters. I do love books and reading. Writing was also a key component and I liked how it was interwoven through the family and plot. I had high hopes as I love locked-room mysteries and stories that take place in one location like Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and several books by Agatha Christie. This particular story was fine albeit a little contrived. Alice Feeney had some home runs with the writing but then also some strikeouts. Not sure why I resorted to baseball metaphors just now but there were several quotes and ways that Alice phrased things that I did truly love like “Some people drink to drown their sorrows; others drink so they can swim in them.” There were some great life lessons and ways of thinking of things. However, there were times where I think the author went overboard. There were too many platitudes and cliches though and some were forced in which made it sound pretentious for its own sake. I also found only 1 semi-likeable character in the entire book. The family was despicable and had very few redeeming qualities. For most of the book, I was wanting to find out what happened but when I did, I was fully disappointed. There is a twist but it does not pay out. It left a bad taste in my mouth. I had to reflect on the whole story to think about what I missed and things just didn’t add up. I know that it is fiction but this to was just too out there. I felt blindsided and not in a good way. I don’t want to ruin anything but I will say that I don’t like the type of story that it turned out to be. “Doesn’t everyone wonder who they might have been if they weren’t who they were?”
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The Devastation Of Nature And The Hubris Of Man
Isaac’s Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History by Erik Larson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
“This is the story of Isaac and his time in America, the last turning of the centuries, when the hubris of men led them to believe they could disregard even nature itself.”
Isaac’s Storm is about the deadly hurricane that hit Galveston, Texas in 1900. It recounts the days leading up to it and the aftermath. It adds in a bunch of accounts from people but focuses on Isaac Cline, who was the resident meteorologist in the city. The storm hit without warning and devastated the area. Thousands of people died and very few buildings were left standing. There are some chapters dealing with the science behind it as well. The author did a lot of research and it shows. The failure of people in charge is evident.
I could tell that this was one of Erik Larson’s first books as it was not as polished as his others. I found this story to be more bogged down in the minutiae of unimportant details which affected his ability to create an exciting story that really moves. He also spent a lot of time trying to explain the science behind weather including clouds, winds, and pressure. It numbed my mind a little and did not contribute to the overall book. His other books utilized historical information and events to create a compelling narrative. Now, I am not saying that this was unreadable and like it was trying to hike through molasses. I am merely stating that I felt I could tell that he shows growth in his writing ability in his later novels which I enjoyed. I also did not feel as much emotion when reading this as I thought I might have, especially with the loss of life and the struggles that people had to go through. I think it came across more straightforward information than people focused. This story was fascinating to me because I love storms. I grew up watching Twister and when I was younger, I wanted to be a storm chaser. I know this took place over 120 years ago, but I wish more detailed information existed to fully understand what happened. There were so many frustrating things that occurred that contributed to the overall devastation of the disaster. Men were playing politics and thought themselves infallible which had them do a lot of guessing or just plain lying. “No cyclone ever can move from Florida to Galveston.” It just shows the destructive power of nature and how it could be made worse by mans sense of infallibility. This book was decent and I liked it overall. A couple quotes that I enjoyed are “Time lost can never be recovered…and this should be written in flaming letters everywhere” and “If I owned Texas and hell…I’d rent out Texas and live in hell.”
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Deny Women At Your Peril And Heartening Succor
The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies by Alison Goodman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
“We shall be useful. But just as importantly we shall be defiant, occasionally ill-mannered, and completely indomitable.”
The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies is about a mature woman and the adventures she gets herself into. Lady Augusta is not your typical affluent, Regency lady of a certain age as she steps up to butts heads with society and her brother. Her sister, Lady Julia, joins along with her sister’s plans which involve doing good deeds. Another main character is brought in to mix things up as well. There are 3 main capers as you will with another mission that is intertwined throughout. This novel has romance, family, and cultural commentary. It is full of surprises and keeps you on your toes. It takes place in England and mostly around London in the Regency era. This era is not remembered for treating women well and this book addresses that head on. Women rule is this wonderful novel.
This book was an exuberant riot of fun! The sisters are adventurous, witty, and clever. And they do all this in a society that treats women as property without any sort of intelligence or agency of their own. The repartee that occurs frequently reminded me a lot of The Importance of Being Earnest which was another book I loved. The Benevolent Society was a nonstop joyride of escapades. I had a smile on my face while I was reading through many parts. I was rooting so hard for Augusta and Julia. Alison Goodman is a very good author. She writes an engaging book with excellent word use. She harkens back to a different time with her choices of locutions and makes it sound interesting instead of it having a feeling of being bogged down by unknown terms. It also highlights the differences that society at that time decided existed between men and women. I found it fascinating and it angered me all the same. The brother was an ass that needed to be slapped. He was a good antagonist. It represented the times well though which added realism. Alison did something in this book that I love when it occurs in books. It adds in queer or allusions to queer elements in a time where it was not talked about let alone accepted. Characters are introduced that are cool with it and don’t make a big deal out of it which makes my heart glow. In relation to that a character says, “my brother’s narrow idea of Christianity seems to bring more suffering into the world than relief.” This is an amazing way of phrasing it and it applies in this modern world just as much. There were some slight scenes involving low spirits and heartache, but it added to the ups and downs throughout. The dedication in the book sets the tone right off the bat. “This book is dedicated to all the women out there who no longer have the patience or desire to put up with any nonsense.”
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Contested Reading And Yearning For A Better Life
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
“Butterflies too are few and so are flowers and most things that are beautiful.”
The House on Mango Street is a book containing several stories with multiple different characters and their lives. It focuses on the perspective of a young girl named Esperanza and growing up in Chicago. It is almost auto biographical but the author states that introduction that she wove in many different facets of the lives of people around her. It isn’t just one story but many. Sandra Cisneros writes in very short chapters and in everyday language. There is a lot of jumping between narratives and there is not one singular storyline. This is a short and quick read. It was written many decades ago and received both high praise and challenges for its content. It is a frequently challenged book which means everyone all the more reason to read and distribute it. Anytime someone tries to forbid you from reading something one should run as fast as possible towards it.
Sandra’s writing paints a very vivid account of life in the Latino section of Chicago. Her descriptions are detailed and transport us to what it must have been like living there. There were a couple funny moments but overall, it seemed very serious and subtle in the approach. The writing felt childlike with strong hints of stream of consciousness. I could picture a young girl thinking this when I was reading. It was her struggle of not wanting what she was seeing where she lived. Esperanza is very strong-willed and dreams of a better life. She has “decided not to grow up tame like the others” and as she says, “I have begun my own quiet war.” She rebels and in one instance she “is tired of looking at what we can’t have.” She wants more. One issue I had was it was very hard to keep all the names and stories straight. I was not fully in step with all the friendships and familial relationships throughout the telling. A lot of people were introduced in the book. There were descriptions of what was happening to them and some importance got lost with the sheer volume. You didn’t get to know other characters well as you jumped right into the next chapter. This is why I loved reading. You get to learn about things you might not have been exposed to and can see things from different perspectives. This is why everyone should read. Empathy can more easily develop through reading. I might have understood everything, and I cannot relate to growing up like she did but I gained a little something from reading this story. I can see why this book generates a lot of conversation, especially by showing what a different world looks like. It has a theme of recognizing where you come from and what helps shape you but wanting something better. “Like it or not you are Mango Street.”
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