Tag: lgbtq

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books and reading

Under the Whispering Door

Title: Under the Whispering Door

Author: TJ Klune

Genre: Fantasy

Thank you NetGalley for this book.

Oh wow does TJ Klune knock it out of the park again! I loved The House in the Cerulean Sea and wasn’t sure what to expect this time around. Granted, this book isn’t in any way related to Cerulean, but a second effort might not be as rewarding. But this book is just wonderful. Full of heart and love and kindness and all that is good in the world.

From Goodreads: When a reaper comes to collect Wallace Price from his own funeral, Wallace suspects he really might be dead.

Instead of leading him directly to the afterlife, the reaper takes him to a small village. On the outskirts, off the path through the woods, tucked between mountains, is a particular tea shop, run by a man named Hugo. Hugo is the tea shop’s owner to locals and the ferryman to souls who need to cross over.

But Wallace isn’t ready to abandon the life he barely lived. With Hugo’s help he finally starts to learn about all the things he missed in life.

At first, you really hate Wallace. He’s a terrible person, but to really appreciate how he evolves, he has to start out rough. You love Hugo and the others in the tea shop (no spoilers), and watching certain people move in and out of their lives is interesting. But the kindness that Hugo shows from day one is so wonderful. Klune, in my book, has written another lovely book. I will gladly recommend him to anyone and look forward to his next publication.

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books and reading

How We Fight For Our Lives

Title: How We Fight For Our Lives

Author: Saeed Jones

Genre: memoir

I’ve been following Jones on Twitter for quite some time. He’s quite entertaining, but I just now starting reading his writing. I read his book of poetry, Prelude to Bruise, and it’s just gorgeous. I’m not a big poetry reader, so I didn’t review it. I’m not sure how to even comment on it. But his words are very powerful. I definitely recommend it. After reading that book, I knew I wanted to delve into his memoir. And I was not disappointed. His style of writing is moving. I was captivated.

From Goodreads: Haunted and haunting, Jones’s memoir tells the story of a young, black, gay man from the South as he fights to carve out a place for himself, within his family, within his country, within his own hopes, desires, and fears. Through a series of vignettes that chart a course across the American landscape, Jones draws readers into his boyhood and adolescence—into tumultuous relationships with his mother and grandmother, into passing flings with lovers, friends and strangers. Each piece builds into a larger examination of race and queerness, power and vulnerability, love and grief: a portrait of what we all do for one another—and to one another—as we fight to become ourselves.

Blending poetry and prose, Jones has developed a style that is equal parts sensual, beautiful, and powerful—a voice that’s by turns a river, a blues, and a nightscape set ablaze. How We Fight for Our Lives is a one of a kind memoir and a book that cements Saeed Jones as an essential writer for our time.

Being gay in America is challenging. Being Black in America is extraordinarily challenging. Being a Black gay man, well, every single card is stacked against you. Jones grew up just north of Dallas, an area I’m abundantly familiar with, and his recollection of the prejudice isn’t at all shocking. The child of a single mother, he struggled on every front. A lot of this book deals with his struggles with being gay, but not just that. He deals with loss, power, abuse, and struggle. The language is just gorgeous. Jones was a born writer. I read this in one sitting. It’s really a must-read for anyone. I absolutely loved it.

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books and reading

A Tale of Two Daddies

My friend, Jennifer, has this amazing book review site called Raise Them Righteous, and I have to honor of being a guest reviewer for her. Her site focuses on LGBTQ literature, but “beyond LGBTQ kid lit, I review socially relevant children’s, middle-grade, and young adult literature that deals with race, class, gender, sexuality, immigration, and a variety of other issues that children need tools to think and talk about critically.” Please take a look at her site and follow for information about some amazing books.

A Tale of Two Daddies, written by Vanita Oelschlager and illustrated by Kristin Blackwood and Mike Blanc, tells the story of a young girl and what life is like with her Daddy and Poppa. A friend asks her a set of questions about which dad has which role in her life, ie which makes breakfast, which coaches soccer, etc. She answers with either Daddy, Poppa, both, or neither. The questions and following answers are all told in rhyme, which is catchy for kids.

I have two boys and a husband, and it’s certainly true that we each have our “roles” in our children’s lives. There is no such thing as a typical family, but in any family, things have to get done. Laundry, shopping, chores, as well as taking care of illnesses, baths, and giving snuggles. This book clearly illustrates that it really doesn’t matter that she has two dads because she is clearly loved and taken care of in every way.

The only disappointing thing about this book was that you never really get to see her interacting with her dads in the pictures. You can see their legs or maybe an arm in a few of the illustrations, but most of them are of the girl and her friend or simple images like of a sun and a moon. I would much rather have readers see the two loving dads tending to their daughter’s needs, especially since this is a book aimed at younger readers, and pictures are a huge focus for them. Overall, a quick, easy book, but the impact is meaningful.