reading Currently Reading (non-GA)

[Former Member]

Maybe you should read this book if you’re going to be bouncing around in time!  ;–)

[Former Member]

@Page Scrawler, I was reading a story on AwesomeDude and I immediately thought of you when I got to one key word! As soon as you see that word you’ll know what triggered my thinking of you. And, no, it has nothing to do with the weather.  ;–)

[W_L]

On 12/3/2018 at 4:08 AM, Page Scrawler said:

What kind of stories are you reading beyond the web pages of Gay Authors? Tell us the title, author, a summary, and any other information you might want to add. Up-and-coming titles that have yet to be released are welcome, too!

 

Right now, I am reading The Burning World by Isaac Marion

 

If you have read, Warm Bodies, or seen the movie, it's basically a very interesting philosophical novel series involving zombies and human beings.

 

It's a very good philosophical series about the concepts of existentialism, humanism, and the issues of "meaning". Who are we as individuals? Where are we going as a civilization? We're not that different from zombies of fiction: focus on brains for knowledge without intelligence, herd mentalities with directions given to us by people of authority, and in the end, we're all searching for a "reason without a cause".

 

In the newest novel, the protagonists from the other two books have reformed human society on a small scale, but they are confronted with new truths and realize there's more in the world than their small circle of it. It's an epic road trip that is a great social commentary on United States of today and humanity's potential doom.

 

After this book, I'll be reading the next sequel: The Living, which completes the series of 4 books

[Page Scrawler]

Freshwater Boys, by Adam Schiutema. Eleven short stories about boys---some pre-teens, some not-yet men, some full grown---and their lives around the Great Lakes.

[Page Scrawler]

Bloom, written by Kevin Panetta and illustrated by Savanna Ganucheau. It's a graphic novel, about 350 pages long.

Aristotle Kykos has finally finished high school. He used to love working at his family's bakery, but now the business is struggling, and he's eager to get out from under its yoke. Ari hopes to join his band-mates in Baltimore, but life has other plans for him.

Hector Galeai has left home to sell off his late grandmother's estate, and things are hard to deal with after breaking up with his boyfriend. His one source of comfort: recreating his grandma's recipes in the kitchen.

One day, Ari puts out an ad for replacement help, and Hector answers it. Then, something more than bread dough starts blooming between them...if Ari doesn't screw it up.

Edited March 7, 2019 by Page Scrawler

[Former Member]

30 minutes ago, Page Scrawler said:

It's a graphic novel

I’ve only read three graphic novels in my life. Maus I & II and A Game of Thrones. The Maus books were especially difficult to read because of the subject matter. A Game of Thrones was different from both the A Song of Ice and Fire novels as well as the HBO TV series.

[Page Scrawler]

2 hours ago, droughtquake said:

I’ve only read three graphic novels in my life.

Well, you should make this the fourth!   

 

https://thefandom.net/book-review-bloom-by-kevin-panetta-and-illustrated-by-savanna-ganucheau/

[Former Member]

7 minutes ago, Page Scrawler said:

Well, you should make this the fourth!   

Because of the Sourdough?  ;–)

[Page Scrawler]

44 minutes ago, droughtquake said:

Because of the Sourdough?  ;–)

Well, there's a very good sourdough bread recipe included at the back of the book, but that's not why. It's just a cute bit of fluff, that's all.   

[Thorn Wilde]

9 hours ago, Page Scrawler said:

Bloom, written by Kevin Panetta and illustrated by Savanna Ganucheau. It's a graphic novel, about 350 pages long.

Aristotle Kykos has finally finished high school. He used to love working at his family's bakery, but now the business is struggling, and he's eager to get out from under its yoke. Ari hopes to join his band-mates in Baltimore, Massachusetts, but life has other plans for him.

Hector Galeai has left home to sell off his late grandmother's estate, and things are hard to deal with after breaking up with his boyfriend. His one source of comfort: recreating his grandma's recipes in the kitchen.

One day, Ari puts out an ad for replacement help, and Hector answers it. Then, something more than bread dough starts blooming between them...if Ari doesn't screw it up.

I love graphic novels. One of my favourites is actually a webcomic that's free to read. The Less Than Epic Adventures of TJ and Amal by E.K. Weaver.

 

In the span of a single day, Amal calls off his arranged marriage, comes out to his conservative parents, promptly gets disowned, goes on a bender... and wakes up the next morning to find TJ, a lanky, dreadlocked vagrant, frying eggs and singing Paul Simon in his kitchen. 

TJ claims that the two have made a drunken pact to drive all the way from Berkeley to Providence. As it happens, Amal promised his sister he'd be there for her graduation from Brown University. And TJ, well... TJ has his own reasons. 

The agreement is simple: Amal does the driving; TJ pays the way - but a 3500 mile journey leaves plenty of time for things to get complicated.

 

I have read this thing, like, 6 times.

Edited March 2, 2019 by Thorn Wilde

[Ron]

2 hours ago, Thorn Wilde said:

I have read this thing, like, 6 times.

I read it once online and then again when I bought the graphic novels—to support the artist/author, plus as a thanks for putting it online for everyone to read. Maybe it’s time for me to revisit the boys.

[Page Scrawler]

4 hours ago, Thorn Wilde said:

I love graphic novels. One of my favourites is actually a webcomic that's free to read. The Less Than Epic Adventures of TJ and Amal by E.K. Weaver

I've heard of it, but I haven't checked it out yet.   

[Thorn Wilde]

3 hours ago, Ron said:

I read it once online and then again when I bought the graphic novels—to support the artist/author, plus as a thanks for putting it online for everyone to read. Maybe it’s time for me to revisit the boys.

I bought the PDF. The side comics, too. Wanted to buy it in physical format, but the site that sells them wants $70 to ship to Norway. For a comic book that costs $30. I kid you not. That was the cheapest shipping option. They don't do standard shipping, only first class.

[Page Scrawler]

All of Me, by Chris Baron. Scheduled for publication on June 11th, 2019.

 

Ari has body-image issues. After a move across the country, his parents work selling and promoting his mother's paintings and sculptures. Ari's bohemian mother needs space to create, and his father is gone for long stretches of time on "sales" trips.

Meanwhile, Ari makes new friends: Pick, the gamer; the artsy Jorge, and the troubled Lisa. He is also relentlessly bullied because he's overweight, but he can't tell his parents—they're simply not around enough to listen.

After an upsetting incident, Ari's mom suggests he go on a diet, and she gives him a book to help. But the book—and the diet—can’t fix everything. As Ari faces the demise of his parents' marriage, he also feels himself changing, both emotionally and physically. Here is a much-needed story about accepting the imperfect in oneself and in life.

[Former Member]

34 minutes ago, Page Scrawler said:

All of Me, by Chris Baron. Scheduled for publication on June 11th, 2019.

You should change your slogan to ‘GA’s Time-Travel Guy’!  ;–)

[Page Scrawler]

15 minutes ago, droughtquake said:

You should change your slogan to ‘GA’s Time-Travel Guy’!  ;–)

The "Listopia" tab on Goodreads' search engine lets people look for books that aren't published yet, sometimes even several years into the future. 

[Page Scrawler]

This is Kind of an Epic Love Story, by Kheryn Callender. Finally finished it...after four months of stalling. All I can say is, I'm glad it's only a library book, and that I didn't spend money on it. "This is Kind of an Epic Disappointment" would be a better way to describe it.

[Page Scrawler]

Oh, but aside from that, I just started reading Totally Joe, by James Howe.

"Meet Joe Bunch. Loveable misfit and celebrity wannabe from Paintbrush Falls, New York. Like his longtime best friends Addie, Skeezie, and Bobby, Joe's been called names all his life. So when he's given the assignment to write his autobiography--the story of his life from A to Z--Joe has his doubts. This whole thing could be serious ammunition for bullying if it fell into the wrong hands. But Joe discovers there's more to the assignment--and his life--than meets the eye. Especially when he gets to the letter C, which stands for Colin Briggs, the coolest guy in the seventh grade (seriously)--and Joe's secret boyfriend. By the time Joe gets to the letter Z, he's pretty much bared his soul about everything. And Joe's okay with that because he likes who he is. He's Totally Joe, and that's the best thing for him to be."

[Former Member]

4 minutes ago, Page Scrawler said:

A to Z

Hopefully for Joe, it’s nothing like Parker Owens’ A to Z!

;–)

[Page Scrawler]

7 hours ago, droughtquake said:

Hopefully for Joe, it’s nothing like Parker Owens’ A to Z!

;–)

I wouldn't know. I've never read that one. 

[Former Member]

3 minutes ago, Page Scrawler said:

I wouldn't know. I've never read that one. 

It’s very well-written, but it’s a difficult story to read because the protagonist has an extremely hard life at the beginning of the story, being abused and bullied. I do recommend reading it.

[Page Scrawler]

The Lighthouse Between Worlds, by Melanie Crowder.

Griffin and his father tend to their lighthouse on the coast of Oregon each day, carrying out the same diligent routine. It's so isolated, there are no visitors, but that's how they like it. Until one day, when a group of oddly-dressed strangers appears. Griffin learns that the lighthouse holds many secrets: a portal to multiple dimensions, the hostile entities that lurk beyond, and a Society of Lighthouse Keepers tasked to keep these enemies at bay. Then his father disappears into the portal, and no-one will give Griffin the answers he wants. So, he'll have to find his own answers, armed with a book of cryptic notes and drawings his parents left behind. Griffin is determined to find his father at all costs, but the realm beyond the portal is far more dangerous than he could have imagined...

[Former Member]

I can see it now. A typical day in the life of @Page Scrawler. Wake up to an Oscar Stembridge song. Eat breakfast. Listen to a random song on YouTube with a young male singer. Work. Come home for dinner. Read a new LGBTQ YA novel from cover to cover. Cuddle with hubby. Listen to another Oscar Stembridge song as he falls asleep.
;–)

[Page Scrawler]

19 minutes ago, droughtquake said:

I can see it now. A typical day in the life of @Page Scrawler. Wake up to an Oscar Stembridge song. Eat breakfast. Listen to a random song on YouTube with a young male singer. Work. Come home for dinner. Read a new LGBTQ YA novel from cover to cover. Cuddle with hubby. Listen to another Oscar Stembridge song as he falls asleep.
;–)

Actually, I prefer to listen to Ronan Parke while I fall asleep, but you're not too far off the mark.  ;~)

[Page Scrawler]

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

In the humdrum town of Moormouth, Walter Mortinson’s unusual inventions cause nothing but trouble. After one of his contraptions throws the town into chaos, Walter’s mother demands he cut the nonsense and join the family mortuary business.

Far off on Flaster Isle, famed inventor Horace Flasterborn plans to take Walter under his wing, just as he did Walter’s genius father decades ago. When a letter arrives by unusual means offering Walter an apprenticeship, it isn’t long before Walter decides to flee Moormouth to achieve his destiny.

Walter runs away in the family hearse along with Cordelia, the moody girl next door with one eye and plenty of secrets. Together they journey through a strange landscape of fish-people, giantess miners, and hypnotized honeybees in an adventure that will not only reveal the truth about Walter’s past, but direct his future.