Book Review – Big Plans by Bob Shea
I found this on a sale table at Garden Ridge. I couldn’t resist the huge Big Plans on the cover, along with great art by Lane Smith. I like the idea of a kid having big plans, ready to assert himself into the world. It’s exactly the message I want to be sharing with my kids. We never learn what the big plans are, which I found somewhat disappointing, but perhaps that’s the charm of the story – Simply knowing you want to do something big, even if you aren’t quite sure what it is yet.
Book Review: Fairy Tales – Traditional Stories Retold for Gay Men by Peter Cashorali
Fairy Tales is a collection of Traditional Stories Retold for Gay Men. This book ended up being rather charming. It was nice to re-read these tales, but from a sometimes more modern, but always less gender stereotypical fashion. Out of the 17 different stories, only one or two were clunkers. The rest were cute little reads that made many of the lessons found in each tale more liberal and gay-friendly and suited more to the modern world. I wasn’t expecting much from this book, but was pleasantly surprised to find it great bedtime reading that left me feeling validated and happy at the end of the day.
Book Review: Conversations and Cosmopolitans by Robert Rave and Jane Rave
Conversations and Cosmopolitans is a touching book between mother and son. Robert Rave writes a chapter of various aspects of his life – coming out, friends, trips, and so forth, and his mother, Jane Rave, gives her take on the events afterwards in the Mama Says section. It’s great seeing two perspectives on various events. It makes for a revealing look at how two people view the experiences they share. This book makes for a great example of how a mother and son can open up and really get close to one another, no matter the trials and tribulations they go through.
Book Review: Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
A “clever” novel that basically consists of many short stories, where each one morphs into the other by following a different character from story to story. The problem with this is that it is often hard to keep track of the characters and the various paths they take. That seems to be part of Jennifer Egan’s point, however. The gaps and missing pieces in a person’s life can be significant, rather than focusing on fixed points and times.
Egan creates several interesting characters, but they don’t get to be developed enough, and left me wanting to know more. The gaps and jumps were frustrating. But her tale is still interesting in that she shows a believable glimpse of what the world might be in a decade or two, and the perils that might arise due to technology and our increasing connectedness, or disconnectedness, depending on how you look at it.
Book Review – The Lance Armstrong Performance Program by Lance Armstrong and Chris Carmichael
This is a good introductory book to cycling for those looking to get into race shape. The information is generally quite basic and can be repetitive, but Chris Carmichael does a good job of giving a large overview of cycling. Lance Armstrong’s input seems limited to small sidebars, but they are interesting nonetheless.
The best part of this book are the training plans, of course. Carmichael delivers a wide variety of workouts that will help riders with speed, endurance, climbing and sprinting. There are good tips about how to not overtrain, yet still cycle on an almost daily basis.
Overall, while this book is already dated, the training plans are still great and useful. This gives a nice overview of cycling for the rider looking to take the next step from beginning riding
Book Review – No Way to Treat a First Lady by Christopher Buckley
Christopher Buckley writes another nice read about politics and the judiciary in his satiric fashion. Following the trial of First Lady Elizabeth Tyler MacMann and witty lawyer (and former fiance) Boyce Baylor, who is charged to lead her defense, provides a great story. Clever satire drives the entire book and it’s hard to find a stopping point as the court case of the Millennium twists and turns. Buckley’s characters are varied and interesting, working with and against one another in hilarious fashion. At the end of it all, we are shown how truth doesn’t matter in our justice system, just perception. Buckley hits the nail on the head with that message, and conveys it with full mocking scorn and contempt, wrapped up in his smart humor.
Book Review: The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett
If there was ever a book I could not see myself enjoying, it would be one about cats and rats. However, insert Terry Pratchett into the equation, and what results is a great book about Maurice (the cat) and his educated rodents. Talking cats and rats invade a town to scam them, along with a piper, but instead end up taking on a couple of crooks who have been conning the town and creating monster rats. It’s a crazy scenario, but in true Pratchett fashion, mocks our own modern world, pointing out in his own subversive manner, lessons about getting along and doing what’s right. I don’t think Pratchett is capable of writing a bad, or even average, novel. Every one is well worth reading. Immediately and without delay.
Book Review: Full Court Pressure by Lynn Galli
A surprisingly great book about an ex-female basketball pro player, turned men’s college basketball coach. Lynn Galli’s characters and experiences are completely believable and she addresses the challenges a woman might face when coaching a group of college-aged boys. This book touches on coming out as a gay woman, a woman trying to be taken seriously in the world of male sports, and even race and class relations. Galli creates characters that defy typical stereotypes and instead have an intelligent and thoughtful outlook on life and the issues they face. The story moves well and completely engaged me as I finished it over the course of 3 hours or so. Full Court Pressure is a wonderful book that takes “lesbian fiction” to a deeper level of engagement.
Book Review – Best American Comics 2009
I always enjoy the Best American Comics series, but 2009 was a bit of a disappointment. I suppose I’m just not of the same mindset as Charles Burns, the series editor. He seems to go for more dark, male-oriented, “dumb” jokes type of comics. There are some good choices that I enjoyed, such as Skim by Jillian and Mariko Tamaki, Freaks by Laura Park, and the comics by Dash Shaw and Ben Katchor. The rest, however, seemed fairly mundane and didn’t grab me on an intellectual level. But, I think the point of the series is to highlight a variety of comics. You will gravitate towards some and quickly forget others. I wish I liked a few more in this series, but it was a fun read nonetheless.
Book Review – The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall
The Lonely Polygamist is the story of a man, his four wives, and 28 children. Brady Udall manages to convincingly get inside the head of all his main characters and tell a story that is touching, funny, and relatable. Udall seems to have researched his material well, as the details and emotions each person feels come across as authentic and varied, whether male, female, young or old. If there is one complain, perhaps the ending is a bit weak. For all the intricateness of the story, Udall seems to tie things up in a nice, simple package. Nevertheless, the strength of this book is the varied thoughts and emotions from all his many characters, showing a huge range of humanity, without being overly judgmental. The Lonely Polygamist is certainly worth a read.
