Good Reads & Views

The 2000s Made Me Gay: Essays on Pop Culture by Grace Perry
Nonfiction

What it is: This is a collection of essays about 2000s pop culture and how it helped shape the author’s sexual identity. The topics range from trashy MTV reality shows, Dumbledore, Mean Girls, Katy Perry’s I Kissed a Girl, the Banter Boy trope, Disney Channel Original Movies, Taylor Swift, and Glee, among many, many others. The author has thoroughly researched these topics, including citations, but also mixes in personal stories and anecdotes, making it an easy, enjoyable, and funny read. Since each essay can stand alone, I had no problem skipping certain topics I couldn’t relate to or reminisce over. For example, I glazed over the bits about Glee, The OC, and Dawson’s Creek because I never watched those shows. But me doing that didn’t take away from the collection as a whole.

Who it’s for: This is a great collection suitable for any millennial who wants to learn about queer culture and the impact of that culture during early adulthood. You do not have to be part of the LGBT+ community to enjoy these essays.

About the author: Grace Perry is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles. She mainly writes about pop culture, LGBT+ issues, food and drink, and health/wellness. This is her first published book, but she’s been featured in The Onion, The Takeout, Reductress, and Chicago magazine.

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It’s Not What You Thought It Would Be by Lizzy Stewart
Fiction

What it is: This is a collection of short graphic stories that form a longer narrative, but you don’t realize all of the stories are connected until you finish the book as a whole. Complicated? Yes. Worth the effort? Absolutely.

What it’s about: Two inseparable best friends, who eventually drift apart after high school, but get together occasionally just to chat about the past. Honest feelings come to a head at a mutual friend's wedding, as they finally talk honestly about what happened to their once tight friendship. My favorite chapter is, “A Quick Catch Up,” because it will rip your heart out and leave you weeping on the floor, wanting to call your oldest friend.

Reviewers say: “There’s a quiet but powerful immediacy to this that will appeal to lit fic fans who may not always pick up comics” (Publisher’s Weekly).

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Stone Fruit by Lee Lai
Fiction

What it’s about: Bron and Ray are a queer couple who take their roles as eccentric aunties to Ray’s niece, Nessie, very seriously. When they aren’t on grand, imaginative adventures, tension grows between their families, which causes them to isolate from each other. They separate to try to mend their relationships with their family. Ray with her sister, single-mother to Nessie; and Bron with her mother and overly religious little sister. There are interesting and heartbreaking conversations of gender identity, inclusion, and trans awareness, which make this graphic novel an essential read.

Why you might like it: There is a lot of focus on relationships in this novel. The way Bron and Ray interact as a queer couple. How Nessie develops a loving and inclusive relationship with her aunties. And how connections can become strained due to misunderstanding and intolerance. If you thrive on stories with strong relationships, this graphic novel is for you!

Reviewer’s say: “Lai’s cinematic juxtapositions and dreamlike fugues give visual structure to a breakup story that’s heavy on processing, sharpening its edges. Lai also skillfully captures the ways family dynamics and histories play out in romantic relationships, and how heavy those legacies can land. The result is a poignant and mature rumination on how people change, and change each other, proving Lai a talent well worth watching” (Publisher’s Weekly).

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The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
Fiction

What it’s about: Caroline is taking her 10 year anniversary trip to London alone after finding out her husband has been cheating on her. While out with a tour group in the River Thames, she discovers a glass vial, etched only with the likeness of a bear. After doing some digging at the library, she learns more about the vial and discovers even more about herself.

What sets it apart: This is not only the story of modern-day Caroline. There are 3 narratives happening simultaneously. Caroline, yes, but also Nella, an apothecary shop owner living in 18th-century London, who dispenses poisons to women, looking to harm the oppressive men in their lives. And also Eliza, a 12-year old girl, sent to retrieve poison from Nella. All three of their lives become tangled in this suspenseful tale of revenge.

You might also like: The Necklace by Claire McMillian or The Cottingley Secret by Hazel Gaynor.

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Queenie Malone’s Paradise Hotel by Ruth Hogan
Fiction

What it’s about: Tilly’s childhood was full of mystery, heartbreak, and mysticism. Her father died when she was a child. Her mother had an awful relationship with the bottle, and no one else seemed to be able to see her dog, Eli. Randomly, her mother uprooted their family to live and work with an old friend, Queenie, in her paradise hotel. Tilda, who is now an adult, has major resentment towards her now-dead mother. She finds a chest of her mother’s old diaries, and digs through them trying to figure out why she was suddenly torn from Queenie’s and sent away to boarding school. In the diaries, she learns some hard-truths and uncovers family secrets.

Why you might like it: Hogan’s books are written with dual-narrative. In her two previous books, the narratives are 2 different people whose stories come together by the end. But in “Queenie Malone” the narratives are by the same person, one as a little girl, Tilly, the other as an adult woman, Tilda.

Try this next: The Keeper of Lost Things or The Wisdom of Sally Red Shoes, both by Ruth Hogan, available on Hoopla and in-print at the library.

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And Now I Spill the Family Secrets: An Illustrated Memoir by Margaret Kimball
Nonfiction

What it is: Years of research went into this book, as Margaret Kimball dives into her family history of mental illness by scrounging through old diaries, family videos, and personal notes and photographs. She explores the reasons why families keep secrets, what drives them apart, and what it takes to keep them together.

What sets it apart: Unlike a typical graphic nonfiction book, Kimball illustrates the setting versus the characters. Each page is filled with black-and-white line drawings of entire houses, significant rooms, photographs, stills from home movies, pages of her diary, scrap notes, or maps. It was a really compelling read because we got to know the members of her family without getting a direct representation of them, only their surroundings.

Reviewers say: “An empathetic, uncommonly nuanced, and thoroughly brilliant family saga presented with real daring and true artistry” (Library Journal).

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Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld
Fiction

What it’s about: What if Hillary Rodham didn’t marry Bill Clinton? How would her life have been different? This is a fascinating what-if piece of fiction. It is split into two parts: leading up to and the courtship with Bill Clinton and the aftermath, which includes her rise in the political ranks, almost-infidelity, and Donald Trump.

Why you might like it: You might be put off by this novel for any number of reasons. I do not have a special interest or fascination with politics, but I loved this book. The main focus is on Hilary’s interpersonal relationships with everyone on her team and herself. If you put your own political affiliation aside, this is a story about a woman keeping true to herself to become something really great.

Reviewers say: “Successfully interspersing fact with fiction, Sittenfeld imagines Rodham's personal and professional life without marriage in aching detail in this captivating novel” (Library Journal).

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The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis
Fiction

What it’s about: Beth is a child prodigy when it comes to chess. She learns the game from the orphanage janitor, and quickly becomes obsessed. With the aid of little green pills, she is able to mentally play out chess games and memorize openings, midgames, and endgames. When she is lucky enough to get adopted, her and her adoptive mother, Mrs. Wheatley, start to develop Beth’s skills as a player. Those thirty-two game pieces end up bringing her all around the world in this exciting underdog story.

Warning: A working knowledge of chess is key to enjoying this book. It’s helpful to know the names of the pieces, directions on the board, and other chess terms and attacks. If you’re unfamiliar with chess terms, you’re still able to enjoy the story. I give you permission to zone out while the narrator chatters-on about opening the file or gloss over the page while reading about castling queen side.

What’s next? Watch the surprisingly accurate-to-the-book Netflix original series by the same name starring Anya Taylor-Joy.

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Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson
J Fiction

What it’s about: ZJ’s dad is a hero to everyone... except ZJ. You see, ZJ’s dad is an NFL player, a very good one, and everyone looks up to him. But to ZJ, he’s just dad. After a few too many hits, his dad starts to act strangely. He forgets things, has pounding headaches, and becomes irrationally angry. He has to stop playing professionally, and ZJ doesn’t understand why. 

Why you might like it: Jacqueline Woodson is a lyrical mastermind. Her free verse novels flow and stop at the perfect moments. Even though this book is shelved in youth services, adults (especially parents) will feel empathy for ZJ and his family as it is revealed that ZJ’s dad has CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), which is a very recently discovered degenerative brain disease caused by too many head injuries. It’s interesting to see this diagnosis through the eyes of a young child, how it affects him and his relationships with his friends. It’s almost gut-wrenching. 

Reviewers say: “Eloquent prose poetry creates a moving narrative that reveals the grief of a child trying to understand why his father has changed and why nothing can be done. An ardent account of the multitudes of losses experienced by those who suffer from chronic traumatic encephalopathy and its effects on their families, ZJ's doleful tale unveils the intense nostalgia and hope one can feel despite realizing that sometimes what is lost can never be regained” (Publishers Weekly).

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The Impending Blindness of Billie Scott by Zoe Thorogood
Nonfiction

What it is: This is one of the best graphic novels I’ve ever read. Billie Scott lives alone in a one bedroom apartment, and spends her days painting. At long last, she gets accepted into a prestigious art gallery, and must produce 10 original works. She’s ecstatic and celebrates by leaving her apartment. While out, she gets in an altercation with some seedy individuals. Three days later, she goes to the doctor and learns that she will be blind in 2 weeks. That leaves Billie Scott with 2 weeks to produce 10 of the best watercolor portraits she has ever created. So she boards a train heading right into the heart of London with 100 quid, her art supplies, and nary a plan.

What’s inside: Stunning illustrations, a captivating story, and an increasingly interesting cast of characters. Throughout Billie Scott’s journey she takes notes and sketches the people she’s met, their quirky characteristics, and her decline in sight. You’re with her every step of the way as she accepts her prognosis and finishes her portraits.

Reviewers say: “This expansive story of an artist’s journey embraces both the power of art and human connection and showcases a new comics talent” (Publisher’s Weekly, starred review).

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