Book Review: "Somewhere Beyond the Sea" by TJ Klune

I never thought there would be a sequel to one of my most favorite books, The House in the Cerulean Sea. Having the opportunity to read the first few chapters thanks to Tor Books and NetGalley, I couldn’t wait for the whole book. And now, with happy tears running down my cheeks, I’m sad that the book is done.

When Arthur Parnassus was growing up, he was punished for being different. Yet instead of wallowing in his pain and sadness, he returned to Marsyas Island to create a new orphanage for magical children, where he once suffered. The six children he and his partner Linus are raising are each unique and have beautiful souls, and he hopes to officially adopt them.

One day, he is summoned by the government to tell the story of his trauma. Yet they aren’t interested in making amends; they want to keep all magical people separate and following “regular” rules, hiding what makes them special. And the government will stop at nothing to take one—or all—of the children away.

As much as Arthur and Linus should be afraid, they also know that they are raising their children to be brave, kind, loving, and more than a bit mischievous. And when a new young man comes to live with them, he teaches them a thing or two as well.

“This was hope; the children, love letters to a future that had yet to be decided. Yes, Arthur thought as Sal grinned shyly, hope was the thing with feathers, but it was also in the hearts and minds of those who believed all was not lost, no matter the odds.”

I felt like this book was particularly relevant at a time when some seek to divide us and tell the LGBTQIA+ community they need to be different than they are. Yet the answer isn’t necessarily violence; it’s meeting obstacles with conviction, courage, and love.

TJ Klune is one of my favorite authors and this book is another powerful example why. It’s a book about love, courage, overcoming trauma, the power of family and friends, and it is populated with some of the most incredible characters. This was a home run all the way.

Book Review: "Effie Olsen's Summer Special" by Rochelle Bilow

I’ve been reading a lot of thrillers and heavier books lately, so I was craving something a bit lighter. Boy, did this book fit the bill!

Effie grew up on a tiny Maine island and couldn’t wait to get out of there. She went to culinary school and then spent 16 years traveling all over the U.S. and the world, working in various restaurants. She finally got a gig as a head chef in San Francisco, but it turned out to be far less successful (and less enjoyable) than she had hoped.

In desperate need of money, she returns home to Alder Isle for the summer. Brown Butter, a Michelin-starred restaurant on the island, is in need of a sous chef. Effie plans to work there only for the summer, to get enough money to head to her next location, and she vows not to get attached to being back home.

Within a few hours of returning home, she runs into her childhood best friend, Ernie, whom she’s not seen since the night they graduated from high school. Ernie’s kindness and sense of humor makes Effie feel at home again, and it doesn’t hurt that Ernie has gotten seriously hot as he’s grown older. It turns out he’s working at Brown Butter, too.

She finds herself falling for Ernie but keeps pushing him away since she knows she’ll only be in Maine for the summer. As things at the restaurant become tougher, and a scandal is on the verge of blowing up, Effie wonders whether she’s found the place—and the person—she wants to stay with, or if she needs to leave again.

I love second-chance romances, and if you combine that with a story set in New England and at a restaurant, you bet I’m sold. I loved the banter between Effie and Ernie as well as all of the supporting characters, and I loved the way Rochelle Bilow combined romance, steam, humor, emotion, and heavier issues. So good!!

Book Review: "The Last Boyfriends Rules for Revenge" by Matthew Hubbard

I’ve said this before, but this book makes me want to say it again for anyone who hasn’t heard it: I wish that The Last Boyfriends Rules for Revenge existed when I was in high school. It would have given me courage, and the foresight to know that it was okay to be who I was.

Growing up in Harper Valley, Alabama is hard, especially if you’re queer. Ezra, Lucas, and Finley are best friends, trying to be comfortable with who they are. But navigating relationships, not to mention the superintendent’s “Watch What You Say” campaign, which cracks down on anything not deemed “family-friendly.”

When all three boys’ relationships end badly, a viewing of The First Wives Club inspires them to plot revenge on those who did them wrong. And when the anonymous TikTok account Ezra launched to record their revenge starts to go viral, it starts them on a collision course with the initiative that is essentially trying to censor queer students from being themselves.

As everything they do garners more views and more publicity, it further antagonizes the school district. But somewhere along the line, they realize that what they’re doing is so much more than getting revenge—it’s the start of a rebellion which demands equal treatment for everyone, and takes the boys out of the shadows and into the spotlight.

“People are gonna tell you what you can’t do in this life. But there is one thing they can’t ever stop you from doing, and that’s trying. The best revenge is believing in yourself. Don’t let them take that away from you.”

I loved this book for so many reasons. I loved it for the unapologetic way it allowed the characters to be who they are, for those who supported them, for the friendships and the sweet romance, but also for the message that you should never be afraid of being yourself and standing up for what you believe in. Congratulations, Matthew Hubbard, on an absolutely incredible debut.

Book Review: "Hi Honey, I'm Homo! Sitcoms, Specials, and the Queering of American Culture" by Matt Baume

While I watch very little television now, I was a television addict from the 1970s into the early 2000s. I still remember some episodes from my favorite sitcoms, and definitely had nights when we watched certain programs. (My Saturday nights growing up were ruled by The Love Boat and Fantasy Island.)

Although I didn’t fully come to terms with being gay until my late teens/early 20s, I definitely knew I was different earlier. (Case in point: constantly rewinding the swimming competitions in Battle of the Network Stars, which featured television actors in speedos.) But the way gay characters were portrayed on television (even when they weren’t explicitly labeled “gay”) fell into every bad stereotype there was. How could I be gay if I wasn’t like that?

Whether you’re a television savant like I am, a fan of reading about television and its impact on society, or just curious about how the portrayal of queer characters has changed over time, Matt Baume’s book is a fascinating and well-researched read. It looks at programs from All in the Family, Soap, The Golden Girls, and Ellen,” to Friends, Will & Grace, and Modern Family. It also briefly touches on celebrities like Paul Lynde, Charles Nelson Reilly, and Rip Taylor, their campiness and double entendres, which I absolutely did not understand back then.

Baume juxtaposes the changing tide of television relative to the portrayal of gay characters with the prevailing attitudes of society, as well as the movements toward and against equal rights. I learned some new things and some things definitely jogged my memory.

I don’t read a lot of nonfiction but this was a great read for Pride. Plus, I only caught one error, because I’m a savant!!

Book Review: "Some Girls Do" by Jennifer Dugan

Jennifer Dugan's latest YA romance, Some Girls Do (following Hot Dog Girl and Verona Comics), is sweet, heartfelt, and thought-provoking.

Morgan wasn’t planning to make a fresh start so late into her senior year. When her Catholic school disciplines her for being gay, she transfers to another nearby school and hopes she’ll be able to regain the college track scholarships she was offered before the problems with her school arose.

Ruby has been doing pageants since she can remember to fulfill her mother’s interrupted dreams. She’d rather be fixing cars than parading in gowns, but if people in her town talk about her already, what would they—and her mother—do if she revealed who she really is and what she really wants?

Morgan and Ruby’s first meetings are somewhat adversarial but the friction between them turns to friendship. Both definitely feel the pull for more than that, but while Morgan is out and proud of it, Ruby doesn’t feel she can live like that and doesn’t want it. She wants to be with Morgan more than anything, but how can she risk what people will say, what her mother will do?

What I loved about Some Girls Do is its exploration of how coming out is different for every person. Not everyone is willing or ready to bust down the closet doors in a public fashion and for some, the risks are too great. But everyone deserves support and understanding through their journey, however long it may take.

This is a sweet, emotional story, about how sometimes our family is there to support us and sometimes it’s our chosen family we need to turn to. There’s a lot to think about here and it’s a very well-written book.

Book Review: "The Passing Playbook" by Isaac Fitzsimons

Isaac Fitzsimons' debut YA novel, The Passing Playbook, is an emotional, hopeful story about finding your voice and being true to yourself.

Spencer is starting over. After a threat of violence against him put his old high school in lockdown, he’s about to start at a progressive private school, and a liberal one—the most liberal one in Ohio, in fact. But while he’s ready to tell his fellow students he is queer, he’s not ready to share the truth: that he’s transgender, because that's where the trouble arose at his last school.

It’s not long before Spencer’s athletic prowess lands him a spot on the soccer team. Despite his parents’ concerns, he’s happy to be part of a team, to have friends, and the possibility of even more with one of his teammates.

When the soccer league enforces a discriminatory rule, Spencer finds himself on the bench. He realizes he has two choices—he can keep silent and let discrimination win, or he can reveal the truth about himself and fight for his rights and the rights of other transgender students. But what price will he and his family pay for the truth?

I really enjoyed The Passing Playbook. I have to give Fitzsimons so much credit—there were so many times when I expected the book to go a certain way, to follow the “typical” plot lines—and nearly every time, he did something else. I loved these characters, from Spencer and his brother Theo to the coach and Spencer’s friends and teammates.

Living your truth isn’t easy, especially when you face the possibility of ostracism, violence, and rejection. Thanks to Fitzsimons for a book that focused more on the joy that comes from being who you are rather than the pain.

Book Review: "Shipped" by Angie Hockman

Angie Hockman's newest book, Shipped, is a fun, emotional, enemies-to-lovers rom-com which tackled some serious issues along the way.

Rom-com fans, what’s your favorite trope? I’m partial to enemies-to-lovers when there’s a real reason one doesn’t like the other, and I also love friends-to-lovers and fake dating.

Henley (yes, like the shirt) Evans is a list-maker, a goal-setter. She has to be in order to pursue her MBA and succeed in her marketing job for a cruise line. The constant thorn in her side is the company’s social media specialist, Graeme Crawford-Collins, who works remotely but never fails to anger her. They’re constantly battling over email over him getting to the things she asks of him, not to mention the smarmy way he sucks up to their boss.

When Henley finds out she’s being considered for a major promotion, she’s thrilled—and then she finds out her competition is Graeme. They each have to put together a proposal on how to increase bookings for the company's Galapagos cruises—and in order to do that, they both have to go on one of the cruises. Together.

Henley desperately wants this promotion and doesn’t want to lose to Graeme. But the more time she spends with him, she realizes she might have been wrong about him, and he’s never understood why she hates him. Is she working for something that really will make her happy, at the expense of someone who could? Does she even want this job?

Well, you know what’s going to happen. But along the way there’s humor, romance, family issues, steam, and even some exploration of dealing with grief and workplace discrimination. It all adds up to a terrific book, plus I must add the Galapagos to my bucket list of places to visit!!

Shipped is definitely a great rom-com to add to your list!!

Book Review: "Such a Fun Age" by Kiley Reid

This was a thought-provoking novel I didn’t want to put down.

Emira is nearly 26, that crucial age when she’ll be dropped from her parents’ health insurance. While most of her friends have started making their own paths career-wise and life-wise, she works as a babysitter for the wealthy (and white) Chamberlain family. She knows she needs a better, more stable job but she really enjoys taking care of their young daughter, Briar.

Late one night Emira gets a call from Mrs. Chamberlain. They had an incident at their house and she asked Emira if she could take Briar to the gourmet grocery store down the street until the hubbub dies down. Emira was at a party so she’s dressed a bit provocatively and she may have had a drink or two, but she agrees to help the Chamberlains.

While at the grocery store, she is questioned by security who think she kidnapped Briar, since they're not of the same race. The incident escalates until she has to call the Chamberlains to verify she is, indeed, the babysitter. While someone videotaped the whole incident, Emira doesn’t want any part of the trouble that releasing the video could cause, even if she might benefit because she was clearly the victim of discrimination.

After the incident, Alix Chamberlain becomes a little obsessed with making sure Emira feels comfortable in her job. Alix tries to build a sort of friendship with her babysitter, giving her gifts, offering her more hours, trying to serve as a combination mentor/big sister/best friend. Emira, who has begun dating a new man, wants to find a better job, but doesn’t want to leave Briar. And when a strange connection between Emira and Alix is discovered, it sets an odd chain of events in motion which will cause ripples in everyone's lives.

Such a Fun Age is a fascinating look at issues of class, race, privilege, motherhood, struggling to find your own way, and relationships. These characters aren’t always likable, but I really enjoyed this book. I think it would be a great pick for book clubs (and I saw this morning that Reese Witherspoon just chose it as her latest book club pick) because it really would be a great source of discussion and conversation.

Kiley Reid is tremendously talented, and this book feels really self-assured for a debut novel. Not a bad book to start 2020 with!!

Book Review: "The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza" by Shaun David Hutchinson

Shaun David Hutchinson's The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza may be one of the craziest, most thought-provoking books I've read in some time, if not ever. It's wild, poignant, forces you to suspend your disbelief, and some may even think it's sacrilegious or blasphemous, but it definitely cements Hutchinson as one of the best YA authors out there right now, one who combines science, emotion, and life's daily struggles to tremendous effect.

"The apocalypse began at Starbucks. Where else did you expect the end of the world to start?"

Elena Mendoza is used to being an outcast. She is the product of a virgin birth (seriously)—but she wasn't born in a barn or at the beach at sunrise. Her mother was a teenager, banished by her parents because they believed she was lying about getting pregnant. But the truth is, Elena was the product of parthenogenesis, a process where an offspring is born from an unfertilized egg. It was more common in the insect world, but she was the first child created this way.

No one has taken the time to find out the truth, though; instead, they ridicule her, calling her "Mary" (which technically isn't even correct), and treating her like a freak. She doesn't have a lot of friends—in fact, she spends most of her time either working at Starbucks or with her best friend, Fadil—but she doesn't really care.

Elena also has a wicked crush on Winifred "Freddie" Petrine, even though she is part of the crowd that makes fun of her. When Freddie comes into Elena's Starbucks one day, she can't stop staring, until even the siren on the Starbucks cups tells her to say something to Freddie. But when Elena goes to approach Freddie, a boy from their high school pulls out a gun and shoots Freddie, and the next thing you know, Elena is healing her gunshot wound, seconds before the shooter disappears into a beam of light in the clouds.

So now Elena can heal people. But with that power comes a downside—well, many of them—in that every time Elena heals someone, more people disappear for no reason. The voices keep telling her she can save the world, but is that true, or is she actually condemning innocent people to disappear, affecting their families and friends, for no reason except to help someone else? And when Freddie tells her she wishes she didn't save her, what does that mean?

"It also hadn't stopped me from wondering if I might actually be special or from dreaming that my miraculous birth meant I had a destiny that would one day be revealed. I longed to fit in, to discover whether I was playing a lead role in the grand cosmic drama or merely a bit part with no lines. My miraculous birth and the voices had, for years, fueled my convictions that I had a purpose—that I would lead a significant life—and all I'd wanted was for someone to notice me."

As the voices continue to pressure her, Elena struggles with her abilities and whether she should do anything. But she also struggles with love, friendship, family, responsibility, and trying to figure out why the boy would shoot Freddie in the first place. This is a book built on a crazy concept, but it's one with tremendous heart, and it makes you think about what you would do in a similar situation. Who are we to decide who lives and who dies? But can we be content if we do nothing at all?

Hutchinson is an amazing writer. His characters are tremendously vivid and complex, and not just the main characters, either. Some of the supporting characters are fascinating as well, and although I'm glad they didn't distract from the main story, it would have been great to get to know some of them better. While this book didn't leave me as emotionally wrecked as his amazing We Are the Ants (see my review) or last year's At the Edge of the Universe (see my review), it has a beauty and a power all its own.

Clearly, this isn't a book for everyone. But don't discount it as simply folly, because it's so much more than that. This is a book that tackles depression, bullying, family dysfunction, discrimination, friendship, jealousy, love, sexuality—yet it never hits you over the head. I'd love to sit down at a table with Hutchinson and learn what makes him tick, because his mind is a fascinating thing.

Seriously?

If you've ever waited tables before, you know what it's like to have horribly rude customers from time to time. But the other night, Dayna Morales, a waitress at Gallo Asian Restaurant in Bridgewater, NJ, had customers who redefined the word.

Morales, a former Marine, should have known something was up when she seated the family and they commented on her short haircut. "Oh," one of the customers said. "I thought you were going to say your name was Dan. You sure surprised us!"

But the final straw came when the family left Morales no tip on a $93.55 bill, but instead wrote this comment on the check: "I'm sorry but I cannot tip because I don't agree with your lifestyle & how you live your life."

Honestly, as a friend said in response to an incident earlier this week, the crazy is starting to run loose in this world.

Now sure, this is a fairly isolated incident, but it comes on the heels of similar circumstances a few weeks ago, when a gay waiter at a Carrabba's Italian Grill in Overland Park, Kansas, received this note on his check instead of a tip: "We hope you will see the tip your fag choices made you lose out on, and plan accordingly."

Every time a legislator says that human rights should be decided by vote or that not every person is entitled to equality, and when the Speaker of the House of Representatives says that there is no need for legislation protecting employment discrimination against LGBT people when they can be fired for being gay in 29 states, we foster this type of attitude.

I don't know who these people think they are, but I hope they are forced to answer for their behavior someday, but whatever God they think entitles them to treat people in this way.

Movie Review: "Lee Daniels' The Butler"

Lee Daniels' The Butler, the latest movie from the Oscar-nominated director of Precious and The Paperboy, is a thoughtful meditation on the history of race relations in the United States, told through the eyes of a longtime White House butler, Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker). We first meet Cecil as a young boy in 1920s Georgia, where he and his family work in the cotton fields of the Westfall family. Cecil is taught by the family matriarch (Vanessa Redgrave, in the small dowager-type roles she occupies so well) to be the perfect servant, so that "the room should feel empty when you're in it."

Cecil winds up working in an exclusive Washington, D.C. hotel, so perfectly embodying the subservient role of meeting guests' whims without their taking notice that he catches the eye of a White House aide, who hires him as a butler. His experience follows the pattern you'd expect, first awestruck then perfectly fitting in, and his service spans from the Eisenhowers through the Reagans.

But while Cecil is perfectly placid at work, his home life is far more tempestuous. Devoted to his work in order to give his family a much better life than he could ever imagine, his wife Gloria (a strong if underused Oprah Winfrey) resents his hours away from home and his refusal to share any secrets of the families he serves. His oldest son, Lewis (a terrific David Oyelowo), wants his father to take a stand against the growing racial disharmony in the country instead of being willing to blend into the background and take orders from white people. Lewis, much to Cecil's chagrin, becomes an outspoken advocate for civil rights, joining the Freedom Riders movement and many other protests in the south.

The film depicts our country's shameful racist behaviors with an unflinching eye, and it is sobering to see. (Even more sobering, of course, to realize that these instances, whether racially or homophobically motivated, still happen in our country in 2013.) But while the film's Forrest Gump-ian journey through civil rights history hits all of the highlights (the Woolworth's lunch counter sit-ins, Martin Luther King's assassination, etc.), it gives these incidents only cursory glances in an attempt to juxtapose Cecil's work with the battles going on in the world around him and his refusal to get involved.

While the oh-look-who-it-is parade of celebrities playing the occupants of the White House (Robin Williams as Eisenhower, James Marsden as JFK, Liev Schreiber as LBJ, John Cusack as Richard Nixon, and Alan Rickman and Jane Fonda as Ronald and Nancy Reagan) is interesting, none of their performances are particularly memorable or authentic. Only Cusack's Nixon comes reasonably close. And I wish that Lenny Kravitz and Cuba Gooding Jr. had more to do with their roles as Cecil's fellow butlers. (The less said about Terrence Howard's throwaway role as the Gaines' lecherous next door neighbor, the better.)

At its heart, Lee Daniels' The Butler is as much about relationships than anything else, and that is where the actors truly shine. When given more to do than glower, smoke, and complain, Winfrey's performance hints at some of the bravado of Sofia in The Color Purple with a little more emotional vulnerability, but I felt she wasn't used to her fullest potential. Oyelowo hits all the right notes as the son determined to make the world a better place for his people, even if that means sacrificing his family, and I felt an undercurrent of barely simmering conflicting emotions throughout his performance which truly worked.

But the movie, as you'd imagine from the title, belongs to Whitaker. His is a performance of quiet strength and emotion. But he so perfectly embodies the golden rule of servitude, of being seen and not heard, that the movie seems to be more about his observances of situations than participating in them. I still wouldn't be surprised to see him and Winfrey (and hopefully Oyelowo) among the list of Oscar nominees later this year.

The irony wasn't at all lost on me that I was watching this movie on the weekend during which the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington was being observed. Undoubtedly, our country has come a long, long way in 50 years, although there is still progress to be made. Lee Daniels' The Butler, although a little heavy-handed in its messaging from time to time, is a good reflection on this history, with some nuanced performances worth watching.

People are cretins...

Don't know if you saw this story in the news earlier in the week, but I've been to busy to post this before.

Apparently the grandmother of Max, a 13-year-old boy with autism, received an anonymous letter at her home in Newcastle, Ontario, Canada. The letter, signed by "One pissed off mother," refers to Max as a neighborhood "nuisance," "retarded," and a "dreadful" noise polluter.

But worse than that, the letter says, "Personally, they should take whatever non retarded [sic] body parts he possesses and donate it to science. What the hell else good is he to anyone!!! Do the right thing and move or euthanize him!! Either way we are ALL better off!!!"

See for yourself:

There are no words for someone like this. If the author of this letter is actually a parent, I fear for this person's children. Canadian police are investigating.

Sometimes people just baffle me.

It's not okay...

I've debated quite a bit whether to write a post about the ridiculous government-sanctioned homophobia occurring in Russia since the enactment of anti-gay propaganda laws that make it a crime to spread "homosexual propaganda" to minors. These laws, which have already led to arrests of Dutch tourists promoting equality, are causing many to urge the United States to boycott the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, and has led gay activists to call for a boycott of Russian-made Stolichnaya vodka.

The U.S. Olympic Committee—and NBC, which has broadcast rights to the 2014 games—have tried to have their cake and eat it, too, saying they'd monitor the situation to ensure the safety of U.S. athletes, particularly LGBT athletes, as well as decide how to report on these human rights violations. But today, Russia upped the ante a bit.

Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko warned today that athletes and visitors will not be given any special exemptions around the anti-gay laws. Mutko's statement comes a day after the U.S. Olympic Committee released a letter recalling the Olympic Charter's prohibition on discrimination of any kind. The letter also promised that the U.S. Olympic Committee would work closely with the IOC and U.S. State Department to ensure the safety of "every American in Sochi." Additionally, Russian politician Vitaly Milonov said that openly gay athletes and supporters at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games may face arrest under these laws.

The IOC previously secured assurances from "the highest level" of Russian government that LGBT athletes and vistors would be able to attend the Sochi games unmolested, but they've yet to comment on Mutko's statement, which said:

"The law talks not about banning a non-traditional orientation but about other things, about propaganda and implicating minors...

"No one is banning a sportsman with a non-traditional sexual orientation from going to Sochi. But if he goes out onto the street and starts to make propaganda, then of course he will be brought to responsibility.

"As a sportsman, he should respect the law of a country. Come (to Sochi), but don't get young people involved, don't make propaganda. This is what we are talking about."

Competing in the Olympics is a dream for most athletes, and knowing that you'll finally have the chance to represent your country and compete against the world's finest athletes must be one of the most incredible achievements. Some out athletes, including figure skater Johnny Weir and New Zealand speed skater Blake Skjellerup have said a boycott of the games is not the answer.

Skjellerup commented, "I think visibility is the best possible solution, as opposed to hiding away and not attending." He went on to explain, "For me it’s less about taking a stand and more about just being myself...I have no interest in going back into the closet in Sochi...This is not about defiance. This is me standing up for what I believe in." Skjellerup has said that he plans to wear a rainbow pin during the Sochi games which, under Russia's laws, could get him arrested.

It's time for the U.S. to take a stand. We're all too quick to condemn people like Bradley Manning or Edward Snowden as treasonous traitors, yet is our country willing to turn a blind eye to the potential mistreatment of LGBT athletes and others? Where is the outrage of the U.S. in this instance?

I don't know whether boycotting the Olympic games will actually accomplish anything. I do know that we, as well as the IOC, need to serve as a barrier to discrimination and mistreatment, or the Olympic spirit means nothing. But more importantly, I echo the words of openly gay Danish actor Christian Vincent, who recently recorded a video called, "Dear Russia: It's Not Okay."

It's not okay.