Finally, reviews are back! Let me tell you about what I’ve been reading… Last post I said I didn’t do much reading which is mostly true, it’s been a rough month. But I did get a little bit of reading done, especially thanks to the Fabulosa Book Club which keeps me reading literature regularly and often introduces me to books I may not normally read.
Reminder, here are some upcoming events:
Saturday, March 5th: POWERPUFF POETRY CLUB @ 5PM at Sour Cherry Comics 3187 16th St
Sunday, March 6th: Writer’s Workshop at Silver Sprocket 1018 Valencia St
Saturday, March 12th: Art Show from 7-9pm
Schedule note: Next Wednesday I will be closing the store at 6:45pm.
The Promise – Damon Galgut
Honestly this book kinda annoyed me. And possibly not for the obvious reasons. I didn’t mind the lack of quotation marks or the extremely long chapters (the book is divided only into four – each marking one character) – but instead, the lack of depth in the female characters, the obvious self-insert character (Anton) and the lackluster ending as well as the obnoxiousness of the family it revolved around just really got to me. By the end I was glad it was over. Let’s just say that was a lively book club discussion and leave it like that.
Last Night At The Telegraph Club
Read this one VERY quickly, I just loved it so much. Malinda Lo used the book Wide Open Town: A History of Queer San Francisco in her research, which I had recently read and so felt very pleased when I recognized all the bar names and historical references. This was truly a wonderful book and while there were some frustrating points (not to do with the writing or narrative simply the reality of being gay at that time), I loved it so much. I almost wish I could erase it from my mind so that I can re-read it for the first time again.
Cheer Up!
Very cute, very gay story about a trans girl cheerleader and her friend who joins the team. This is a super cute friends-to-girlfriends rom-com story and I highly recommend for a light read!
I Am Not Starfire
Another very cute very gay story – told from the POV of Starfire’s daughter, Mandy. As a young lesbian who grew up loving Teen Titans, this book was sooo validating and beautiful in so many ways. It was adorable and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Another cute and light-hearted rom-com.
InSEXts
Hooooboy, this one sure is something. It is one of those historical drama pieces that I don’t typically go for but I’m a simp for the cover. And let me just tell you.. in terms of lesbian content, it does NOT disappoint. It gets quite spicy – this is definitely an 18+ graphic novel for mature readers. The narrative is interesting – it runs the horror / mystery line. If you wish Bridgerton was a lesbian pulp horror story then maybe this is the book for you.
Charlie Forever and Ever
I found this book by attending a reading by Flowersong Press at Medicine for Nightmares and just loved the portion that the author read so of course had to pick up the book. This is such a raw and vulnerable telling of a woman in a deeply toxic, abusive relationship. I would say it’s almost difficult to read at some points but Natalie Sierra has such an elegant and intriguing prose style that it’s wrapped in the most delicate of flowerings – thorns included. I have been so enamored by her writing that I am looking forward to having her in the store in April to read and host an 18+ erotic writing workshops for us. And of course I ordered some copies of Charlie Forever and Ever for the store..!
The Nib: Nature
When it comes to climate change, we are generally reminded that the future is pretty bleak. The artists at the Nib certainly don’t sugarcoat the reality of climate change in the panels/features that it’s brought up, but there is a conscious and concerted effort to get the reader to understand that we can’t bootstrap our way out of the inevitable. There are also a lot of really nice non-climate change related panels and comics which address nature, Mother Earth and the creatures we share the planet with. I came away from this book with a deeper passion for nature and the environment, a heavier understanding of the injustice of climate change but not completely hopeless – it gave me complicated feelings and lots of pieces of information to chew on and think over. I thoroughly enjoyed this issue, and I look forward to reading through the rest of the Nib catalog.
That’s it for reviews for now! Look forward to all the fun stuff happening in the store the next few weeks (refer to last post for details) and I’ll be back mid-month with some reflections and a whole bunch of new reviews! Thanks as always for reading and supporting this space.