Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris

This is one of those books that leaves you feeling WTF was that, in the best possible way. It is also one of those books that it is next to impossible to write a review of because SPOILERS. 

So here is a vague post all to tell you that YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK!!

It is kind of in the realm of Gone Girl or The Girl On The Train in that you don't know who is reliable and who isn't, who did what and who didn't, but this is BETTER. I thought I had figured it out a couple of times and once I came really close but I never quite figured it out and so the ending was fabulous because it was a surprise. 

It is a quick read both because it's under 300 pages and because you can't put it down because you just need to know what the hell is going on. I was so upset when I had to put it down yesterday and go to work and I was so close to done that I took it with me when I walked my dog so I could finish. 

(Finished July 8, 2019)

Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

This was my Owl Crate book for June. If you aren't familiar with Owl Crate you  need to be!! It is a monthly box that comes with a YA book and goodies. The book has a special cover that differs from the covers the book has in bookstores and the goodies are awesome, like the June box, there was a pin, a tote bag with a great quote and art on it, a pin, coffee, a gel pen shaped like a key (read the book to understand the importance of that), and a letter from the author.

Anyway, this book, Sorcery of Thorns is a fantasy/adventure about magical books in magical libraries cared for by a girl, Elizabeth, who grows up in this library. But when greed and evil and misused magic enter her realm she is called to be the hero.

Elizabeth was found on the doorstep of a library as an infant and was raised there. When she is 13 she becomes and apprentice and hopes to be a Warden some day. She has a love of the books and some of the books seem to know her heart and react kindly to her. Some books however seem to house dark material and need to be kept in differing levels of tight control. The worst thing that can happen is a book becoming a Malefict, this is taking on a monstrous form and going on a killing spree....There are demons and sorcerers and books that have eyes.....

While trying to find her way and her place in her world she finds friends and love where she least expected to realizing that sometimes the things we are told by those who are teaching us values isn't always right and fear and time without knowing those considered "other" can color how they are seen and maybe, just maybe we need to learn for ourselves the truth and make up our own minds. And sometimes doing the right thing comes at a cost but is still the right thing to do.


I truly loved this book about books and magic and LIBRARIES!!!

(Finished July 7, 2019)

Mrs. Everything (Barnes & Noble Book Club Edition) by Jennifer Weiner

I read this because t's the July bookclub book at work and while it isn't my month to lead the discussion I told the regular ladies I would come because they want to celebrate my birthday which happens to fall 2 days later. Funny aside, another lady who attends, we have the same birthday right down to the year...

I am so glad I read this book!! I had read Good in Bed and have seen the movie In Her Shoes so I'm not totally unfamiliar with Weiner's writing. But I was not prepared for this, for how much I would love this book, for how much it would infuriate me and bring me joy and make me so very sad....

This is the story of Jo and Bethie, Jewish sisters who grow up in Detroit and follows them from childhood in the 1950's through 2022....Along the way they live through  a difficult mother, religion, love, loss, marriage, divorce, women's lib, drugs, war, sex, same sex relationships, the birth of children, illness, and it is so powerful....


I want to go on and on about this book...about how brave and strong Bethie is even when she doesn't think she is, how Jo who seems brave and strong has moments where she is anything but and it changes her life and the lives of others so much, how all of their flaws come back to them in the form of Jo's daughters, how real love sometimes takes a REALLY long time to be noticed, how far women have come but how far there is still left to go....


Even if you aren't near a B&N or you're not sure you want to go to a booklcub, read this book!!!

(Finished July 3, 2019)

Trans Mission: My Quest to a Beard by Alex Bertie

I tried to read more about the experiences of the "T" in LGBTQ because it isn't an area I am super informed about and I wanted to learn more about what it was like for people willing to educate and share their journey. The best way to learn is to hear from first voice story tellers.

By the end of this book I felt a kind of love for Alex. He was so open and willing to tell his story with the hopes of being helpful to both the parents and loved ones of Transgender folks and to young people beginning the coming out process and who might be wondering what is ahead for them in the transition process. Alex doesn't just give facts, he is open about what he knows and doesn't and how to best deal with what ever "it" is for the reader, how much to share and with who when is just one example.


Alex writes as if he is having a conversation with the reader, and it makes it easy to empathize with him, the only thing missing is a steaming cup of amazing coffee and a plate of cookies.

I learned a lot and found this a great way to end pride month.

(Finished June 29, 2019)

Ship It by Britta Lundin

I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!

If you have been part of a fandom, if you have ever read and/or written fanfic, if you have ever shipped, if you have ever longed to see someone who looked like and/or was like you as a character in the the thing you love, if you know what it is to love a thing even when others don't get it or think you are nuts (midnight Harry Potter book release parties anyone?), this book is for and about you!!!!


Claire is an amazing young person. She is so many people I know from my own fandom experience and it was lovely on the page. She is a fanfic writer and her fandom of choice is a show called Demon Heart. She ships the two main characters Smokey (Forest) and Heart (Rico). She, like many fans of the show, ship the guys and that's what she writes in her stories. She lives in a small town in Idaho and is lonely. It's a very small town and she is the only one who is obsessed with this show and writes about. She has no friends other than one girl she talks to on the bus to and from school. She had a very bad experience with a young man from her school the year before our story (she wasn't raped but he was very disrespectful of her body and touched her in unwelcome ways). Oh, and Claire isn't sure if she is Queer, she is trying to figure it out because she meets a girl names Tess who she starts have all kinds of feels for.

When Claire goes to a local Comic-Con and overcomes her fear and asks a question about the upcoming Demon Heart finale and if the fans hope that their shipping of Smokey and Heart will become cannon Forest handles it in what becomes a PR nightmare. To fix the problem the shows fixer type person sets it up so Claire comes on the rest of their Con tour (Portland and Seattle) with them.

She gets to spend time with Tess, Forest, and Rico. She learns about herself and how to see past herself. She also gets an inside view of some of the nastiness of show business.

This book is a love letter to fans, fandoms, and those who even in these close knit groups still feel marginalized, it says you are seen, you have a voice and you should use it because you are worth seeing and hearing.

There is also a lesson/reminder about respecting others and apologizing, making amends, when you screw up and hurt someone, and making sure you are looking beyond your own nose. Oh and a very strong message that if you are a fangirl or boy, if you ship characters, write/read stories about them, plaster your room with posters, go to Cons, do Cosplay, don't do Cosplay, YOU ARE NOT A FREAK!! Well maybe you are but you are, we all are a little bit, but IT IS OK TO BE A FREAK!!! "Normal" is overrated and boring!! Imagine how drab and awful a world with out Harry, Ron, Hermione, Luna, Bilbo, Gandalf, Frodo, Samwise, Luke, Leia, Han, Jon, Arya, Sam, Dean, Castiel, (fill in your favorite) would be....



(Finished June 26, 2019)

The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives by Dashka Slater

This is a true story and let me start by saying I remember when this happened. I also have some vague memory of reading a followup story about how the person who was burned had shown or sent a message of forgiveness to the person who did the burning. Then I saw this book on a table at work and knew it had to go in my Pride reading bag.

Oakland

Sasha

Richard

The 57 Bus

A lighter

A skirt

Mothers

A father

Bystanders

Many lives changed


When this happened both Sasha and Richard were teenagers

Sasha identifies as agender but upon looking at them to Richard saw "a boy in a skirt" and he made a poor choice. He was with friends and they were laughing at Sasha who was asleep on the bus on their way home from school. Acting recklessly Richard set Sasha's skirt on fire. He said he didn't think it would burn so fully so instantly and that it would smolder and wake Sasha up. But what happened was that Sash'a legs were horribly burned. It would have been so much worse had a quick thinking passenger acted and got the fire out.

In the aftermath of the fire is a story of recovery, criminal justice, compassion, forgiveness, and the capacity of humans to change.


Slater does a brilliant job of telling the story in such a way that you can feel for both teenagers and see the trouble with punitive justice without any restorative piece, especially when it comes to juvenile offenders.

Nothing makes what Richard did ok, and he has owned that and even tried to tell Sasha and their family, though it took 14 months for the message to reach Sasha and their parents because Richard's lawyer held on to letters he wrote. But being 16 and having no history of being a violent kid should he have been tried as an adult? Some stupid statements he made to the police when he was arrested, using words he didn't fully grasp the meaning of, because he didn't have an adult with him during questioning, means the DA was able to try him under CA law as an adult and there wasn't much that could be done to stop it. The discussion I feel like Slater was trying to open was about not if a kid should get off because they are a kid but how they should be treated in the criminal justice system.

But the most powerful part of this whole story is the graceful forgiveness Sasha and their parents were able to show to Richard and his mom and how that helped Richard on the road to being truly rehabilitated and avoiding recidivism.

(Finished June 24, 2019)

Stonewall Riots: Coming Out in the Streets by Gayle E. Pitman

This is book is technically a kids book and it is a great introduction into the history of the Stonewall Riots and the movement for LGBTQ+ rights for kids. There is no explicit information that might make caregivers worry about age appropriate content but it still gives really important information.

The history given is done by taking the reader on a journey of 50 objects. Each object (a photograph, a button, a patch, a newspaper article etc) has historical significance and the story of the object and the people involved is taught.

But this isn't just for kids at all. It is a valuable and interestingly done primer for anyone interested in learning more about the people and events surrounding the 1969 Stonewall riots.


It is a super quick read, I read it in a little over an hour.

(Finished June 23, 2019)