reading Currently Reading (non-GA)

[Former Member]

8 hours ago, Page Scrawler said:

The Remarkable Inventions of Walter Mortinson, by Quinn Sosna-Spear.

Are the whereabouts of Walter’s father a mystery? Is the family mortuary business something from his mother’s side of the family?
;–)
 

One of the more interesting bits of trivia I learned when I stayed at the rescue mission (when I was homeless) was that the building was previously a mortuary. The now-old chapel was used for funerals, explaining the extra wide doorways. The driveway is a very small arc for the hearse to unload its cargo. The room now used as a shower room in the dorm was once the embalming room. It was a small funeral home with no cemetery attached.

Edited May 12, 2019 by Former Member

[M1984]

On 12/3/2018 at 5:17 PM, Thorn Wilde said:

Guess I have to google it.

I recently finished Jack of Hearts, on Audible.com, if you've still to read it.

[M1984]

The most recent non-GA story I've finished was one called They Both Die At The End, by Adam Silvera. (LGBT fiction).

It left a weird impression on me. I can't really go into why without spoiling it. 

It was well written, and the plot was intriguing. But it lingered on my mind for a while afterward.

Made me think about what I'd do in the situation the characters found themselves in.

I would recommend it,  but expect to be provoked, if you do.

 

[Page Scrawler]

Hold My Hand, by Michael Barakiva.

Alek Khederian thinks about his life B.E. and A.E.: Before Ethan and After Ethan. Before Ethan, Alek was just an average Armenian-American kid with a mess of curly dark hair, grades not nearly good enough for his parents, and no idea of who he was or what he wanted. After he got together with Ethan, Alek was a new man. Stylish. Confident. (And even if he wasn’t quite marching in LGBTQ parades), Gay and Out and Proud.

With their six-month anniversary coming up, Alek and Ethan want to do something special to celebrate. Like, really special. Like, the most special thing two people in love can do with one another. But Alek’s not sure he’s ready for that. And then he learns something about Ethan that may not just change their relationship, but end it.

Alek can't bear the thought of finding out who he'd be P.E.: Post-Ethan. But he also can't forgive or forget what Ethan did. Luckily, his best friend Becky and madcap Armenian family are there to help him figure out whether it’s time to just let Ethan go, or reach out and hold his hand.

Hold My Hand is a funny, smart, relatable take on the joy and challenges of teenage love, the boundaries of forgiveness, and what it really means to be honest.

[Thorn Wilde]

4 hours ago, M1984 said:

I recently finished Jack of Hearts, on Audible.com, if you've still to read it.

Oh, I already did. The reading on Audible is awesome.

[M1984]

4 minutes ago, Thorn Wilde said:

Oh, I already did. The reading on Audible is awesome.

I thought the narration was excellent. The best part of it.

I liked the fact that the story itself didn't really follow the tradition of creating a romance, and just focused on his sticky situation instead. 🙂

[M1984]

Another recent read (listen) was an audiobook called Straight Boy. By Jay Bell

It's exactly what it sounds like, a gay boy with a crush on a straight boy.

But it's also much more than that too, as it takes on some serious issues.

Part romance & friendship, with some thriller going on in the background, which sees the main protagonists face some serious danger.

[Page Scrawler]

Alex in Wonderland, by Simon James Green

In the town of Newsands, painfully shy Alex is abandoned by his two best friends for the summer. But he unexpectedly lands a part-time job at Wonderland, a run-down amusement arcade on the seafront, where he gets to know the other teen misfits who work there. Alex starts to come out of his shell, and even starts to develop feelings for co-worker Ben... who, as Alex's bad luck would have it, has a girlfriend.

Then as debtors close in on Wonderland and mysterious, threatening notes start to appear, Alex and his new friends take it on themselves to save their declining employer. But, like everything in Wonderland, nothing is quite what it seems...

[M1984]

Almost finished listening to the audiobook 'The Quarterback', by Mackenzie Blair and narrated by Greg Boudreaux. 

 

Synopsis. 

Matt Lancaster is the star quarterback at Bodine College, a small Southern Division II school with an ultra-conservative dean of athletics. Matt is also very much in the closet, and he thinks he’s kept his secret well hidden, until his best friends take him to a happy endings massage parlor and request a male masseuse for him.

In walks Trevor Kim, a gorgeous, pierced, tattooed fellow Bodine student who does massages - without happy endings - to pay for school after his family kicked him out for being gay. Trevor takes one look at Matt and breaks all his own rules about mixing business with pleasure.

Matt needs to keep his scholarship, win the National Championship, and survive his asshole father. Instead, he falls in love. Trevor needs to accept that the football god is meant to end up with him rather than a perky cheerleader. It’s time for a "happily ever after" for both of them.

 

While some can argue that there's nothing brand new to the plot, it has been a good listen.  I would recommend it.

 

[Page Scrawler]

Trust the Focus, by Megan Erickson

Spoiler

With his college graduation gown expertly pitched into the trash, Justin Akron is ready for the road trip he planned with his best friend Landry— and ready for one last summer of escape from his mother’s controlling grip. Climbing into the Winnebago his father left him, they set out across America in search of the sites his father had captured through the lens of his Nikon.

As an aspiring photographer, Justin can think of no better way to honor his father’s memory than to scatter his ashes at the sites he held sacred. And there’s no one Justin would rather share the experience with more than Landry.

But Justin knows he can’t escape forever. Eventually he’ll have to return home and join his mother’s Senate campaign. Nor can he escape the truth of who he is, and the fact that he’s in love with his out-and-proud travel companion.

Admitting what he wants could hurt his mother’s conservative political career. But with every click of his shutter and every sprinkle of ash, Justin can’t resist Landry’s pull. And when the truth comes into focus, neither is prepared for the secrets the other is hiding. 

I love books about road trips, and this is one of the best, in my opinion.   

[Former Member]

29 minutes ago, Page Scrawler said:

Trust the Focus, by Megan Erickson

Behind every conservative political campaign, there’s a hidden (or not so hidden) LGBTQ+ relative.
;–)

[Thorn Wilde]

I'm working my way through recordings of all the Tales of the City books at the moment. Just started on Further Tales of the City. They're good. 

[Former Member]

8 minutes ago, Thorn Wilde said:

I'm working my way through recordings of all the Tales of the City books at the moment. Just started on Further Tales of the City. They're good. 

I first encountered the stories when they were serialized in a San Francisco newspaper. I later found the books that had been edited from the newspaper columns. I watched the (first) three miniseries that were produced. I never got to see the musical though…
;–)

And I’ll be trying to locate the new Netflix series soon.
;–)

[Wesley8890]

I'm reading Stephen King's IT once again. I recently finished The Goonies

[Thorn Wilde]

32 minutes ago, droughtquake said:

I first encountered the stories when they were serialized in a San Francisco newspaper. I later found the books that had been edited from the newspaper columns. I watched the (first) three miniseries that were produced. I never got to see the musical though…
;–)

And I’ll be trying to locate the new Netflix series soon.
;–)

The new one is really good. I loved it. It's different, though, and they've changed the timeline a little bit, moved it forward in time.

[Former Member]

10 minutes ago, Thorn Wilde said:

The new one is really good. I loved it. It's different, though, and they've changed the timeline a little bit, moved it forward in time.

The series was written in real time. Each column was written just before it was published. That meant that real events could, and were, incorporated into the story while they were happening (as with the visit of QE II and Prince Phillip).
;–)

The difference with the Netflix series is that it’s not based on a book this time.
;–)

[Snowblind]

One series I've read which was incredible is Earth's Children by Jean M. Auel.  It starts with The Clan of the Cave Bear then continues onto
The Valley of Horses
The Mammoth Hunters
The Plains of Passage
The Shelters of Stone
The Land of Painted Caves

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth's_Children

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-earths-children-series-6-book-bundle-jean-m-auel/1114193026

[Headstall]

1 hour ago, Snowblind said:

One series I've read which was incredible is Earth's Children by Jean M. Auel.  It starts with The Clan of the Cave Bear then continues onto
The Valley of Horses
The Mammoth Hunters
The Plains of Passage
The Shelters of Stone
The Land of Painted Caves

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth's_Children

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-earths-children-series-6-book-bundle-jean-m-auel/1114193026

I love these books, and along with the Necroscope ones, by Brian Lumley, ranks as my favorite series. 

[Former Member]

1 hour ago, Snowblind said:

One series I've read which was incredible is Earth's Children by Jean M. Auel.  It starts with The Clan of the Cave Bear then continues onto
The Valley of Horses
The Mammoth Hunters
The Plains of Passage
The Shelters of Stone
The Land of Painted Caves

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth's_Children

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-earths-children-series-6-book-bundle-jean-m-auel/1114193026

Unfortunately, I was not as impressed by the series. I read the first few books and stopped reading them…

[Page Scrawler]

Rereading Gives Light, by Rose Christo. For the umpteenth time. This story is so heartfelt, so pure in its emotion. And Skylar is a sweetheart.   

"Sixteen-year-old Skylar is witty, empathetic, sensitive--and mute. Skylar hasn't uttered a single word since his mother died eleven years ago, a senseless tragedy he's grateful he doesn't have to talk about.

When Skylar's father mysteriously vanishes one summer afternoon, Skylar is placed in the temporary custody of his only remaining relative, an estranged grandmother living on an Indian reservation in the middle of arid Arizona.

Adapting to a brand new culture is the least of Skylar's qualms. Because Skylar's mother did not die a peaceful death. Skylar's mother was murdered eleven years ago on the Nettlebush Reserve. And her murderer left behind a son.

And he is like nothing Skylar has ever known."

[Page Scrawler]

The Rise of Kyoshi, by F. C. Yee, with Michael Dante DiMartino. Brought it with me for reading on vacation. I had no idea it existed until I popped into Horizon Books a few days before departure. It follows the early life of Avatar Kyoshi, a formidable woman who was merciless in her pursuit of justice and peace amid an era of turmoil 430 years before the events of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Forced to flee after the "false Avatar" dies at the hands of his treacherous mentor, Kyoshi seeks aid in a group of daofei, brutal gangsters who adhere to a strict code of honor and blood. Together with her best friend and bodyguard, a Firebender named Rangi, can this humble household servant who can barely lift a pebble bring order and stability to the Earth Kingdom? Perhaps, but first she'll need someone to teach her how to bend the Four Elements.

[Wesley8890]

1 hour ago, Page Scrawler said:

The Rise of Kyoshi, by F. C. Yee, with Michael Dante DiMartino. Brought it with me for reading on vacation. I had no idea it existed until I popped into Horizon Books a few days before departure. It follows the early life of Avatar Kyoshi, a formidable woman who was merciless in her pursuit of justice and peace amid an era of turmoil 430 years before the events of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Forced to flee after the "false Avatar" dies at the hands of his treacherous mentor, Kyoshi seeks aid in a group of daofei, brutal gangsters who adhere to a strict code of honor and blood. Together with her best friend and bodyguard, a Firebender named Rangi, can this humble household servant who can barely lift a pebble bring order and stability to the Earth Kingdom? Perhaps, but first she'll need someone to teach her how to bend the Four Elements.

She was my favorite past avatar!! That's on my list now!!

[Wesley8890]

Still reading IT by Stephen king. Forgot how long it was!!

[Page Scrawler]

3 hours ago, Wesley8890 said:

She was my favorite past avatar!! That's on my list now!!

It was an excellent book. According to Goodreads, it's planned as a two-part story. The sequel will be available next year. 

And OMG! I totally agree! She was my favorite Avatar, probably even more than Aang!   

[Fae Briona]

I'm currently reading The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu; he refers to it as 'silkpunk" (or steampunk set in an Oriental setting instead of Occidental). It's the first book in his Dandelion Dynasty trilogy

Also reading A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson -- queer African fiction/fantasy. Very interesting so far; only about a 1/3rd of the way through it.

Edited September 23, 2019 by Fae Briona
Typo