LGBTQ+

Book Review – Nightmares & Daydreams by Dominic J. Anton

books, reviews

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Earlier this year, I was given the opportunity to read a copy of this book before it was published. Not only was I really honoured to get the chance to do it but I was excited to read it. The premise just sounded so good. I’d also read Dominic J. Anton’s poetry collection Intuition before, so I was excited to read his prose. The book was released in October and I was lucky enough to be sent a copy of the finished work. I couldn’t wait to get back in and read the final edition. So, I started reading it as soon as possible.

READ MORE

Book Review – Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown

books, reviews

Rating: 3 out of 5.

This book was picked as our book club’s choice for Pride. Thanks to several scheduling problems, we ended up having to move the meeting back, so I didn’t actually start reading it until July. In fact, I didn’t start reading it until a few days before the meeting. I barely finished it in time. Although, I was better off than a few other members who had read it for June and couldn’t remember it. It made for a slightly awkward meeting. Next month will be better.

Continue reading →

Book Review – Heartstopper Volume 3 and 4 by Alice Oseman

books, reviews

Rating: 4 out of 5.

After reading the first two volumes of this series back in June, I knew that I had to finish it as soon as possible. So, at the end of August, I got copies of volumes 3 and 4 to finish before the end of the month. I’ve read Solitaire, so already knew that things were going to get a lot less fun for Charlie and Nick. I just hoped that it wouldn’t get too bad. All I could do was find out for myself.

Continue reading →

Book Review – Heartstopper Volume 1 and 2 by Alice Oseman

books, reviews

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Every year I set aside a bunch of LGBTQ+ books and authors to put on my Pride TBR. Inevitably, I never actually read them and I end up feeling guilty about it. So I decided that 2022 was going to be the year I did Pride right and finish my unread books. I’m pleased to announce that I’ve already finished 2 Pride books. Although, neither of them was on my TBR. Instead, I bought the first 2 volumes in this series. It’s everywhere right now that I had to do it.

Continue reading →

Tuesday Review – Everybody’s Talking About Jamie (2021)

films, reviews

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

I like to think that I’m a musical theatre geek but, the truth is, I don’t actually watch a lot of musical theatre. I’m not just talking about during the Pandemic but in general. I know the classics but there are so many modern examples that I know very little about. Aside from Hamilton, I’ve not kept up with contemporary musicals. Add that to the fact that I’d not watched the BBC3 documentary Jamie: Drag Queen at 16 and you can see that I wasn’t really rushing to watch the film adaptation of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. But, I also think it should be celebrated for putting drag culture further into the public domain and, you know, Richard E Grant is everything. So, I settled down this weekend to watch it.

Continue reading →

TBT Review – Ideal Home (2018)

films, reviews, TBT

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

I know that people complain that Hollywood has run out of fresh ideas and is only interested in sequels, prequels and reboots. Of course, this isn’t true. There are plenty of great films that don’t fit into this criteria. Although, not all of them are worth praising. I mean, if I have the choice between another Marvel sequel or a film starring Paul Rudd and Steve Coogan as gay parents, I know what I’d rather watch. That’s not to say that the concept of a film about gay parents is flawed but the decision to cast Paul Rudd and Steve Coogan in it. As we’ve seen from James Corden’s performance in The Prom, Hollywood hasn’t exactly caught up to our contemporary view of gay people. Coogan is a great actor but, let’s be honest, he’s not known for being subtle. Despite my absolute certainty that it would be a car crash, I decided to watch this film to see for myself. It was short and I couldn’t skip another post.

Continue reading →

Book Review – You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour & David Levithan

books, reviews

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

One of the best things about my Spell the Month reading challenge is that I’m reading way more books that I’d never have known about. Having to search out certain letters is opening my eyes to titles I’d have never have thought about picking up. This is one of those books. I’m not a real YA fan anyway but a YA romance? Definitely not my usual kind of book. I thought I’d take the chance to step out of my comfort zone while also finding an easy read for the letter Y. Whatever the actual story was like, I could at least be confident that it wouldn’t take a long time to read.

Continue reading →

Book Review – The Mystery of Love by Andrew Meehan

books, reviews

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I’d started reading The Mystery of Love in February for LGBTQ+ history month. Although, I didn’t really get very far. I just wasn’t in the mood for it and I had plenty of other books to finish first. So, I decided that Pride month was the perfect time to finish it. I ended up listening to the audiobook on my lunchbreaks so it took a few days to actually get to the end but I managed it just in time for the end of June. I actually think getting the audiobook made a big difference to how easy this was to read. Whether it was the narrator, the book or both, The Mystery of Love was the perfect thing to listen to.

Continue reading →

Bookish Post – June Reading Wrap-Up

books, wrap-up
Teacup on top of vintage books.

Number of books read: 10
Number of rereads: 1
Number of physical books: 5
Number of ebooks: 1
Number of audiobooks: 1

5* reviews: 2
4.5* reviews: 0
4* reviews: 5

So, another month is over and I feel like as I’m actually in a good place with my reading. Back up to 10 books but, admittedly, some of those barely had any words. Still, it was good to actually achieve my goals for this month. I read a number of Pride books including 2 that I was desperate to get around to. Hopefully it starts me off on a high before heading into July. Another short month in terms of letters but they’re tricky letters. I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it though.

Continue reading →

Book Review – Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender

books, reviews

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I wasn’t entirely sure whether I would finish this in time or not. I’d had a slow end to the week and had let my reading go. Thankfully, it was a pretty quick read and I got the majority of it done on Sunday. I forget that YA novels don’t take as long to read as the books I usually read. Mostly because it doesn’t have that literary fiction desire to complicate things. It did take a bit longer because I was so careful not to ruin the gorgeous stencilled edges of this book. It’s such a beautiful thing and I need it to say as pristine as possible.

Continue reading →