Book Review: "The Imagined Life" by Andrew Porter

Thanks so much to Knopf and NetGalley for the advance copy of this book! What a powerful and emotional read this was.

In 2008, I stumbled on a story collection called The Theory of Light and Matter by Andrew Porter and I was totally blown away. Porter is such a fantastic writer, and I’ve read everything that he’s written.

In 1984, Steven’s father disappeared. He was a college professor—smart, popular, handsome, and enigmatic. But that summer, his father was awaiting a decision on tenure while he was slowly sabotaging his life. Steven watched the events of that summer through the eyes of a child, and he was insulated by his mother’s need to protect him.

“I’d never held him on a pedestal, never believed him to be a great man. I knew that he was flawed, knew that he had made a lot of mistakes in his life, and besides, I had grown up amidst the collapse of his career, the spurious allegations that ensued, the rumors and hearsay.”

Steven’s life has been defined by feelings of anger, betrayal, and abandonment. In an effort to find some closure, he embarks on a trip all over California, meeting with family members, as well as friends and former colleagues of his father. While he never gets all of the answers he seeks, he gets a fuller picture of the passionate, troubled man his father was.

I really thought this was poignant and thought-provoking. Do we ever really know our parents and understand what made them tick? How different are childhood memories from what we understand as an adult? In Porter’s hands, this is a beautifully told story.

The book will publish 4/15/2025.

Book Review: "The Z Word" by Lindsay King-Miller

The first Pride was a riot. The last Pride is a bloodbath.

This was so wild and crazy and I was totally there for it! If you watched The Walking Dead and thought, “What if there were more LGBTQ+ characters?”, this one is for you.

Getting over your ex is often difficult, but when your ex is hooking up with your friends, that can be torture. That’s the issue for Wendy. She’s trying to find her way in a new place, but jealousy isn’t a good look on her.

And then the people around them start turning into zombies. Blood-thirsty zombies. Luckily, Wendy isn’t the only one who notices. Her new friends—a mixed bag of queer people, including her ex, Leah—have to band together to figure out what’s causing the outbreak. But perhaps more importantly, they have to save themselves and save Pride.

Horror is definitely not a genre I read very often, but this book definitely was more than I expected. Sure, there’s gore and violence, but there’s also humor, emotion, and lots of steam. I enjoyed how Lindsay King-Miller turned some typical stereotypes on their head and gave queer characters the power to kick some ass.

Thanks so much to Quirk Books for the complimentary copy; sorry it took me so long to read the book!

Book Review: "And There He Kept Her" by Joshua Moehling

I’ve had this book on my list for a while and now I’m kicking myself for waiting so long to read it! This was an excellent start to the series, and I will definitely be diving back into books 2 and 3 soon.

After a personal tragedy, Ben takes a job as a sheriff’s deputy in Sandy Lake, Minnesota, where his family once had a summer cabin. Working and living in a small town is a little unsettling for Ben, as everyone has an opinion about his life, but he’s determined to do right by the town.

When two teenagers disappear late one night, Ben is determined to find them, especially given his connection to one of them. What is puzzling and disturbing is that both teens have left their phones behind, which either means they weren’t expecting to go missing or they didn’t want to be tracked. He’s not entirely surprised to learn that one of the teens was dealing drugs in his high school, but the more he investigates, the more tangled the web becomes.

Meanwhile, Emmett is an old man in failing health, but it doesn’t keep him from viciously defending his property. His house may be falling apart, but his basement has seen many horrors through the years, and he’s not sure if his latest captive is worth the trouble.

As Ben and his colleagues dig further into the disappearance of the teenagers, he’s reminded of an unsolved mystery in his own life. He also realizes that no matter how small the town is, there are lots of secrets hidden within it. Can they solve the mystery before more tragedy strikes?

I thought this was a terrific book. I was hooked on the story and loved the emotional depth that came along with it. Ben is such a fascinating, complex character, and I really hope the next two books in the series continue the exploration into his own issues and emotions.

Book Review: "A Forty Year Kiss" by Nickolas Butler

Poignant and emotional, Nickolas Butler’s newest book is about second chances. It’s also about the ways we never stop learning about ourselves and seeking to find our place in the world.

Charlie and Vivian were married for four years. They were young and definitely infatuated with each other, but they faced an uphill battle. Charlie left and Vivian eventually built a new life for herself.

Now, 40 years later, Charlie has returned to their small Wisconsin town and is excited to find that Vivian is still there. He reaches out and they feel both nostalgia and the remnants of a love that ended too soon. They tentatively take steps toward one another again, unsure of where things might go.

After 40 years apart, there are a lot of things that have gone unsaid, hurts that haven’t quite healed, and fears that arise again. But if they are to have any chance at starting over, they have to accept each other for whom they are—and are not—and address some of the issues that caused problems all those years ago. It also means that there are secrets which will need to be brought out into the open.

The characters are definitely flawed, but I found myself rooting for them all the same. It’s natural to think about the one that got away or the one you lost, but the range of emotions both Charlie and Vivian felt were raw and powerful.

I’ve been a huge fan of Butler’s since I read his debut, Shotgun Lovesongs, a number of years ago. His storytelling is so self-assured; there were a few places where the plot could have veered into melodrama in the hands of a less-talented writer. His books leave me thinking about them long after I’ve finished, and this will be no exception.