2023 Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: August
Hey friends! We're already a week into September, and I totally forgot until like two days ago to do a monthly wrap-up! August was a little chaotic reading wise for me. I had big ambitions to read most or all of my Greek myth retellings, but I think I overwhelmed myself. So, after getting into the first few chapters of too many books, I just scrapped what I was reading and essentially started over. This gave my mood reading self more freedom to pick up books I was excited about (which, I had thought would be Greek myth retellings, but turns out, I was wrong). Maybe another time I'll pick them up. But, in the end, this is what I read! I had two DNF's, and 13 books read total.
My Policeman by Bethan Roberts
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
Shelves: Historical Fiction, LGBTQIA+, Modern Literature
Review: I have complex feelings on this book that I feel like I'll be sorting through for a while. I liked the writing style. I enjoyed the setting and time period. But I always try to be mindful when reading M/M romances of where the author is coming from, if they're part of the community, and if they're not, paying close attention to the ways in which the relationships are portrayed. I understand that the LGBTQIA+ community has had a violent history, so much heartbreak, and still continues to have dark repercussions from a society that is still largely unaccepting. And I don't mind when authors from that community write about those struggles, because they belong to them. However, when someone else writes a book about it, and the story is mostly sad, negative, or just piles on the misery, it affects how I read and engage with the literature.
I think the overall story of My Policeman is a good one. It's a literary fiction love story about a closeted gay man as seen through the eyes of his wife and his lover, set in the late 1950s and 1990s. It's tragic at its core, with a gay character being blackmailed into suicide and another imprisoned for "gross indecency." The wife of the titled policeman is miserable, as is the policeman (Tom), in her marriage. No one really gets a happy ending.
Those elements of a story I don't mind, but I'm also not sure that I liked any of the characters? Patrick felt manipulative and deceitful, and there wasn't enough about Tom to make me understand what this infatuation-turned-love was even founded on other than that he was extremely tall and good-looking. Marion was fine, if unremarkable, and didn't really mention any redeemable qualities about Tom outside of those things (and that he had a light, joking way of speaking most of the time) either.
This may actually be an instance where I liked the movie better than the book. I felt like I got more emotion from the characters overall. I'm still glad I read it, but it didn't leave the impression I thought it would.
Us Against You by Fredrik Backman
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
Shelves: LGBTQIA+, Modern Literature, Sports
Review: I wanted to like this story as much as Beartown, but I had a lot of issues with this book that kind of surprised me. 1) I felt like it was so overwritten and could have been significantly pared down or that all of those words could have gone into giving us more from the characters we fell in love with in the first book. 2) Characters I was attached to in the first book felt left behind in a lot of ways in this sequel. Yes, Benji was the main focus, but even then, I still feel like I know little more about him than I did from the first book. We got to meet more characters from the town, but I still feel like, because of the strong character development Backman did in the first book, I know about the same amount. I wanted more about Amat, more from Maya, whose tragic story started all of this but has felt underdeveloped since the beginning, and more from Peter, who felt criminally shafted in this book. 3) I'm also aware that Backman has a very distinct writing style, with the short sentences meant to leave an impact, but I found I grew tired of the emotional manipulation. He hinted that a character was going to kill themselves at least twice this book, which is a lot of emotional turmoil to put your readers through, to have nothing happen. Twice. 4) I know he set out to write these books about a small town and the positives and negatives of hockey culture, but the toxic masculinity paired with the sexism and homophobia was almost too much for the majority of this book. I just felt those words could have been better used talking about literally anything else. And 5) I'm still baffled that he managed to write a book where, comparatively, so little happened and it still ended up being almost 450 pages long.
I will continue and finish the series, but this one wasn't as impactful as the first. Now onto the monstrosity that is The Winners...
For the Love of Men: A New Vision for Mindful Masculinity by Liz Plank
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Shelves: All Time Favorites, LGBTQIA+, Nonfiction, Psychology
Review: I thought this book was really good at explaining and showing why toxic masculinity and patriarchal societies are negative and stifling for all of those involved. The author articulated her points of view well and backed them up with scientific studies, peer-reviewed journals, and individual interviews with men from all walks of life. If you're raising boys, if you love men, or if you just want to live in a better world, I highly suggest picking this up. I think you'll find it engaging in either the physical or the audiobook format (the two forms that I read).
If you're more conservative-leaning, or you're thinking about gifting this to one of your relatives who is, I will say that the author does do some gratuitous low-blowing at Trump. Some of the time, it's to make points. Most of the time, it feels like snark. For those of us who don't care for or despised him, it won't be an issue. But I always try to think about books like this from the other side: how would someone I'm trying to convince about this topic think about this book? And I feel like those irrelevant-at-times comments detract from bringing someone over to agree with the argument. It might be minor or insignificant in the overall scheme of things, but just something I tend to look at.
But, regardless, I will be thinking about this book for a long time and I will recommend it whole-heartedly to anyone I happen to have a conversation on masculinity with!
Stone Blind: Medusa's Story by Natalie Haynes
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Shelves: Fantasy, Modern Literature
Review: I love the way Natalie Haynes writes Greek myth retellings. She has such a talent for stringing together multiple stories and weaving them into a beautifully crafted story that engages readers, and puts smaller Greek myths into bigger stories. Stone Blind is no exception, and I overall really enjoyed this story. I felt the rage and the anger and the sadness in these women and I didn't want it to end.
With that being said, I was a little bit let down that Medusa didn't have a bigger role in her own story. I understand the motivation of including all of these other women and their stories, but I had also hoped that Medusa would have had more of a leading role given the title (and subtitle) of the book.
What was unexpected in a good way was Natalie Haynes narrating her own audiobook and it being so much more engaging and entertaining than I expected. I highly recommend reading in that format as she brings each of her characters to life with very unique voices and personalities. I liked this immensely more than The Shadow of Perseus, which I read as an ARC earlier this year. It kept those magical, terrible, and playful qualities that we know and love (and hate, lol) and expect from Greek myths. If you can listen to any of Natalie Haynes' books on audio, read by her, I highly suggest it!
Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Shelves: Fantasy, Favorites, Romance, Young Adult
Review: I don't normally get on book/reading trends right away but I have KU for the next couple of months and this book is available there! Overall, I would say this is worth the chatter going on about it. Divine Rivals is beautifully written with likeable/lovable characters, amazing and intricate subplots, and an interesting story premise. I didn't feel like this was an enemies-to-lovers situation, but rather a (believable) competitive almost academic co-workers-to-loves romance situation.
This is set in like a fantasy version of Great Britain and the war happening between gods has elements that feel like WWI and WWII combined (the overall setting/time period feels very WWII but the war tactics is very WWI). Our main characters are 18 and 19 so emotions are running even higher than in a war situation with adult main characters. I appreciated and understood Iris, but Roman left me wanting. He made some really poor, and sometimes selfish choices (which I did NOT find romantic) that put characters' lives in danger or just came off as really clingy (or, at times, both) and I can't get down with that. Doing something she never asked you to do and then being disappointed that she didn't react the way you wanted her to? Annoyed. He also didn't really give Iris the space she needed at one point in the book to feel her feelings, which was a big red flag for me. Pursuing someone who just got big news and not giving them the space to sit with those feelings isn't romantic. It's overwhelming for Iris as a character and controlling AF on Roman's part.
I still really enjoyed this. Other minor critiques included little details like time not feeling very consistent or things happening too conveniently. I understand why this is a five-star read for a lot of people. And I think this is a great introduction to fantasy because it feels very much rooted in a world we know with just hints of magical elements from where we are in the story so far. I think the gods aspect of this will play a much bigger role in the sequel.
Open Throat by Henry Hoke
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Shelves: LGBTQIA+, Modern Literature
Review: This was a quick read with interesting prose and an interesting main character.
We follow a puma living on the outskirts of Los Angeles, and we get to observe things from its perspective. I've seen a lot of people say it feels like a fever dream, but when I read it through the eyes of this creature, everything made sense and felt logical to me. Not having words for certain things (although, at times, I felt like the words it did have didn't feel genuine), or thinking certain objects went by certain names based on what it heard humans calling them.
I thought this short story/novella was interesting, and I think some people will read into this to try to get deeper meanings from it. After hearing the author speak at the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. this past weekend though, it didn't seem like he meant for there to be anything incredibly profound in this book. And I read it from that point of view. Could you pull commentary on climate change and the lifestyles of people from L.A.? Sure. But that doesn't require any deeper thinking, in my opinion, as those things feel pretty spelled out.
I don't know. I went in expecting something different than what I got, which is fine. I'm glad I read it, but for being a book that I was really anticipating, it didn't really live up to what I had hoped it would be.
An American Sunrise: Poems by Joy Harjo
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Shelves: Poetry
Review: The imagery in these poems was beautiful, and I loved her reflections on family and legacy and stories. But I had a really hard time staying focused while reading. My mind wandered easily, and I found myself re-reading sentences multiple times before realizing I was doing it.
Probably not my best introduction to Joy Harjo, but I'm still glad I read a collection of her work.
The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Shelves: Favorites, Fantasy, LGBTQIA+, Young Adult
Review: I really loved the concept of this story and the reframing of a story similar to the Hunger Games within Mesoamerican mythology. The story felt rich and vibrant and alive. I could picture this beautifully-woven world and I just overall really enjoyed my time within it. I thought the main characters felt fully realized, and I loved the community they built with each other. I really enjoyed the friendship/chemistry between Teo and Aurelio. I think, especially for queer kids, this will be a warm hug of a book for anyone who is wanting to see themselves represented in literature.
What kept this from being a perfect book for me were just preferential things. This book felt over-written a lot of the time, with a lot of sentences feeling weighed down with too much detail where we didn't always need it. In some instances, it was perfect for picturing this fantastic world we were in. But most of the time, especially when it came to character expressions, it was too much. And then, I listened to the audiobook of this, and the narrator wasn't my favorite. He wasn't bad by any means, but the cadence of his narration on top of making some sentences sound profound or dramatic when they weren't didn't appeal to me. (I also understand we're dealing with teenagers, but some of those sentences were like . . . was that? Actually a big deal?? lol) I enjoyed this as an audiobook though, and I'm glad I read it that way.
I can't wait for the second book, and to see how this story wraps itself up!
The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.25
Shelves: Historical Fiction, LGBTQIA+, Romance
Review: I'm still working on my feelings about this book, so my rating could change in the coming days. But, as it stands right now, I thought this book was fine. I think my listening to the audiobook gave my mind opportunity to wander more than it would have had I read the physical book. So, I wasn't as engaged with the plot as I had hoped (which was thick with drama and multiple stories all converging into one in the end). I was also thrown off by the audiobook narrator, who sounded much older than our characters, who were in their mid-20s. While I did really like the different accents that were given to the characters, his southern/Georgia accent for one was not great. Lol.
This book was much more smutty than I anticipated, and so that paired with my feelings on the audiobook narrator left me feeling uncomfortable. For those who are used to steamy regency novels, this will probably be nothing for you! But, as I was listening as a general enjoyer of M/M romances, I had to ask myself if this felt like too much or fetishy given that it's written by a cis-married woman. In her bio, it says that she primarily writes M/M romances, and given the conversations I've had with gay creators specifically, the consensus is that more space should be given for stories like this from gay writers. This review may not be the space to have that discussion, but it was a topic that I thought about while reading.
I thought this book was perfectly fine! The chemistry between our two main characters was sweet, but I never felt fully immersed in this story and so, that and all the other things I discussed, are reasons it didn't rate higher for me.
This is Paradise: Stories by Kristiana Kahakauwila
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Shelves: All-Time Favorites, LGBTQIA+, Modern Literature, Short Stories
Review: As someone who struggles to get into short story collections, I found This is Paradise to be easily engaging and digestible. Each story grapples with facets of life on Hawai'i for those who live there or are from there, and I thought they were each brilliantly done. The way the author wrestled with conversations on community and identity, and interwove the hardships and beauties of life felt masterful. I feel like most short stories aim to shock or surprise you, and write with an emotionally manipulative agenda (that's compressed because . . . short stories), but these stories didn't feel that way. Yes, there are bits of sadness in each of them, but they're balanced with gorgeous writing and moments that feel true to being a human in this world and finding bits of loveliness in the everyday as well. I think this is a book a Native or Indigenous Hawaiian will read and relate to immediately, but even as someone who is white and from the mainland, I found things I could relate to: dysfunctional family dynamics, relationship squabbles, dad-daughter relationships, etc.
I really enjoy stories about identity, so "Road to Hana" was one of those stories that will stick with me for a while. It follows a couple, the man a white person whose family is from Minnesota but who he himself grew up in Hawaii and the woman a Native Hawaiian who grew up in Las Vegas. They bicker over the rescuing of a stray dog, and the way they both handle the same situation was nuanced and so fascinating. And I found that the question of how someone defines themselves and their identity really ran throughout the book in each story.
I loved this collection. I thought it was insightful and beautiful, and I really enjoyed the time I spent with it.
Wild Spaces by SL Coney
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Shelves: ARCs, Favorites, Horror-Thriller, Short Stories
Review: Wild Spaces is a perfect end-of-summer horror novella, and unlike any horror that I've read before (I'm not widely read in this genre, as a preface). If I hadn't known the genre, it starts out very lyrical in its writing. I loved the setting. I loved the discussions of nature, and the family dynamics prior to the boy's grandfather showing up. And even after, the tension that builds from his unwanted presence was just so good. There was an underlying building of tension and unease that worked so well.
Emotionally, I was wrecked by the end. I had ugly cried, felt anger and disgust, and wanted to immediately go back and listen to it again. For those who don't like body horror, you may want to skip this one. However, if you're looking for something quick and also beautifully written and a wild ride, check this one out!
Thank you to Libro.fm for the advanced listener copy. I enjoyed the audiobook version of this! This title published August 1, 2023.
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.25
Shelves: Beach Reads, Chick Lit, LGBTQIA+, Romance
Review: This was a re-read after watching the movie that premiered on Prime Video. The following review is mostly the same as my original one from January of this year, but there have been minor edits to include notes from my re-read.
This is another Tiktok/BookTok-viral book that I don't really feel I need to add my commentary on. I thought this was a perfectly fine, fun romance. I liked the wit and humor in the beginning, but somewhere after the first hook-up, it sort of notched down for me. Most of the "spice" is fade-to-black and not overly detailed, but I was just a little surprised at how often sexual content happened. I understand this is a romance, but sometimes, in other cartoon cover romances that I've read (as someone who is not very well versed in romances to begin with), there are usually one or two pivotal scenes. That was not the case here, and that's fine, but I do think that kind of took away from the story a bit for me. *I realized, in my re-read, that the sex took away from the character development of Henry for me the majority of the time. Since this book was from Alex's POV, we don't get to know Henry's inner thoughts as much, and that's what was really lacking. If the author would have spent more time building up Henry's character and less time on sex or scandal, I think it would have been a stronger story for me.*
There are great discussions in this. I liked the overall family dynamics and how they were explored. I liked the side characters. I liked how politics and community were talked about. I enjoyed even the Star Wars references (but, if you're someone who doesn't like pop culture references, there are quite a few in this book). I can see especially why so many people gravitated toward this after the dark political years of 2016-2020.
It felt a bit long and like there were two books that could have been written from the material in this (mostly because of the multiple scandals, which could have been compiled into one), BUT I think this is a great "beachy" read. Alex and Henry are adorable. Some of the characters and concepts could have been developed a bit more (looking at you Philip and Zahra, and the poorly-written Latinos in this story; as well as the whole foundation of the Crown and why it was against Henry being gay. That could have had a much stronger foundation). A good, happy-ending romance. *In my re-read, I got to read the Henry bonus chapter, and it was cute to see them from his POV in the future. I enjoyed it.*
Books I DNF'd
The Stench of Honolulu: A Tropical Adventure by Jack Handey
Review: DNF at ~21%.
Just too pointless for me. The writing was too over-the-top ridiculous, the characters were unlikeable, and the writing felt like every sentence was trying too hard to be funny. If you locked me in a room with middle school-aged boys, the jokes would have been better. Plus, there was misogyny and transphobia used as comedy and the alternate version of Hawaii was just awful.
A Ship of Bones & Teeth by Karina Halle
Shelves: Book Club, Did Not Finish, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Romance, Dark Romance
Review: DNF at 39%.
Brooo, this book. I was hate reading after, like, 32% and even though this was a book club pick, I'm not going to make myself read this through to the end. I thought the dialogue was clunky, too modern for the time it was set in, and incredibly cheesy. I thought the characters didn't fit the time period as well, and I didn't sympathize for or care about any of them. Was my man Ramsay Scottish or what? Couldn't tell by the way his accent was written or from his last name. It felt so cliché and lacking any sort of depth. And Jesus god, the sex scene I did read was not it. After having to read about cock twitching and the captain not figuring out girlie was mermaid, I had to stop myself from reading. I might skip to the last couple of chapters just to have something to contribute to our discussion, lol, but I can't love myself and make myself read the rest of this book.
