June 23, 2024
Low Hanging Fruit by Randy Rainbow
A collection of rants by comedian Randy Rainbow. Like all essay collections, some are better than others. There is an essay called "I Feel Bad About My Balls" that made me laugh until I cried. Even straight men would find it funny. Love the cover. Recommended for readers who enjoy essays and rants especially in the LGBTQ category.
June 22, 2024
The Passionate Tudor by Alison Weir
Mary I, aka Bloody Mary, was the oldest surviving child of Henry VIII and had a happy childhood until her tenth year, when her father became obsessed simultaneously with the need for a male heir and Anne Boleyn. Her life pretty much went downhill from there, as she was first named Henry's heir, then was declared illegitimate, then was reinstated after her brother, then was persecuted for her Catholic faith, finally becoming queen. She inherited her suspicious nature from her father, looking for conspiracies around her, suspecting the motives of her suitors, and even believing that her half-sister Elizabeth was not Henry's child. After she became queen, her two obsessions were restoring Catholicism as the state religion and her husband, Phillip of Spain. She wanted a child so desperately that she suffered two phantom pregnancies. Overall, she lived a sad and lonely life, dying at age 42.
Although Henry VIII was obsessed with the idea that he had to have a son to rule after him and to carry on his dynasty, his councillors didn't agree with him. They felt Mary was intelligent and well-educated, and also that she would undoubtedly marry and her husband would rule with her. Mary wasn't a great ruler or even a good ruler, but what made her memorable was the 300+ Protestants that she burned. Ironically, Mary's attempt to stamp out Protestantism by executing its followers only convinced many of her subjects that Protestantism was a faith worth dying for. Modern historians have tried to improve Mary's reputation and legacy, but there is not much that you can say about Mary that is positive and Weir's well-research book doesn't try to sugar coat Mary's actions. Recommended for readers of historical fiction and those interested in the Tudor period.
Mary I, aka Bloody Mary - she looks kind of like Gerald Ford
June 22, 2024
People Love Dead Jews by Dara Horn
Dara Horn has written several historical novels that feature Jewish characters in unexpected roles, such as Confederate spy. In this nonfiction work, she explores the inexplicable ways that Jews have been persecuted throughout history, up to and including the recent rash of attacks against synagogues and Jewish neighborhoods. Winner of the National Jewish Book Award. Recommended for anyone interested in exploring Jewish history.
June 18, 2024
Murder at the White Palace by Allison Montclair
It's December 1946, and The Right Sort marriage bureau is celebrating peace and its first holiday season with a New Year's Eve ball. They have a growing client list, and they are in the black financially. The only problem is, all of the venues that they contact are already booked. So they turn to Iris's gangster boyfriend Archie for help, since he always has just the place or a guy with the right connections. But during renovations of an old dance hall, a body is found in the wall of a basement storage area, thought at first to be someone trapped during the Blitz. The truth turns out to be far more complicated (just like the girls' personal lives).
Entertaining historical mystery, #6 in the series featuring former spy Iris Sparks and widowed socialite Gwen Bainbridge. A satisfying plot that includes plenty of snarky dialogue and interesting side characters. We are left with a cliffhanger regarding Iris and Archie's romance. At least Gwen doesn't cry as much in this one. Read the series in order from the beginning. Recommended for readers who enjoy historical mysteries, particularly those set after World War II.
Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.
New Year's Eve at a London ballroom circa 1940s
June 12, 2024
My Love Story by Tina Turner
The late Tina Turner's second memoir, which focuses on Tina's life and career after Ike. She notes early on that she lived without Ike twice as long as she was with him. In her second husband, Erwin Bach, Tina met the love of her life and became an international superstar.
A sweet heartfelt memoir about the second half of Tina's life. She is candid about her joys and tragedies, including her oldest son's suicide and her increasingly serious health issues in later life. Recommended for anyone who enjoys memoirs or the lives of musicians.
Tina Turner still shaking it in her 60s
June 16, 2024
Tangled Vines by John Glatt
The Murdaugh family of South Carolina were a celebrated dynasty often compared to the Kennedys. They ruled local politics, society, and the SC legal system for decades. But underneath their glossy exterior lay the truth: they engaged in illegal acts, deliberately bilked their legal clients out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in settlements, and even committed murder.
At the risk of sounding cold and callous, it's hard to feel sorry for any of the Murdaugh clan. They engaged in so many nefarious acts, cheated and stole from people who trusted them, and used their connections to avoid paying for their crimes, believing they were above the law. They reminded me of the Borgias. Alec was convicted of murdering his wife and son Paul, while older son Buster (what kind of a grown man goes by the name Buster?) was suspected of murdering a gay classmate that he had a liaison with, while Paul (yeah, the one Alec killed) crashed his boat while drunk, killing a friend on board. Paul may also have killed the family's housekeeper. And yet local law enforcement and prosecutors were hesitant to go after any of them. Recommended for fans of true crime and despicable families.
June 11, 2024
The Wedding People by Alison Espach
It's right after the COVID-19 pandemic, and Phoebe is checking into a grand hotel in Rhode Island. She always wanted to stay at the hotel with her husband, but unfortunately he found a younger woman and divorced Phoebe. Between the divorce, losing interest in her job as an English professor, and the isolation of the pandemic, Phoebe sank into depression and decided there is nothing left for her. So she makes a reservation to visit the hotel by herself and end her life there - with her cat's pain killers, which taste and smell like tuna. But when she arrives, Phoebe discovers that the whole place has been booked for a week-long wedding event and that she has essentially crashed the party.
Some of the descriptions may lead you to believe this is a rom-com, but it's not. This is a delightful feel-good read, one of the best books that I've read this year, written with warmth and humor and a wonderful writing style. The storyline focuses on the connection that we all long to make with others, and that most of us are lonely inside, even when surrounded by other people. The characters are all likable, and you want them all to have a happy ending, even the self-centered bride and Phoebe's ex-husband. The dialogue has a genuine ring to it. And it's so much like a real wedding: all the weird family members, the friends that you suspect may actually be frenemies, the kids sneaking alcohol under the adults' noses, things going wrong, no matter how carefully you plan. Strongly recommended to anyone who enjoys a good story with great characters. A major studio has already picked up the film rights.
Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.
A Rhode Island wedding
June 8, 2024
Tits Up by Sarah Thornton
After the author had a double mastectomy and breast reconstruction, she began to think about what having breasts meant. Her interviews included sex workers, plastic surgeons, and bra designers. Some of her findings were surprising, including the eroticization of breasts as a Western phenomenon, and since the majority of plastic surgeons are men, they tend to give a patient D cup size implants, no matter what size the patient requested, like some hold-over from the Playboy era in the 1960s. The author also discovered that her own implants were incorrectly positioned.
The expression "tits up" is believed to have originated among drag queens and means roughly the same thing as "break a leg" in the theater, although the expression is also used to mean that something is a disaster, as in "it's all gone tits up." Recommended for readers who enjoy micro-histories about unusual subjects.
Classic drag queen Lady Bunny
June 4, 2024
Miss del Rio by Barbara Mujica
Dolores del Rio was one of the first Latina movie stars. Beautiful and elegant, she was a star in both Hollywood and Mexico. This fictional biography follows her life from her childhood in Durango, Mexico, through her rapid rise in Hollywood as a silent film star, told from the viewpoint of her childhood friend and hair stylist Mara. She made the successful transition to sound films and along with Marlene Dietrich and Rita Hayworth, epitomized the Hollywood standard of beauty in the 1930s. Her popularity in Hollywood began to decline in the early 1940s, and she returned to Mexico where she was a star in Mexican cinema.
Overall a very enjoyable read. Dolores led a fascinating if tumultuous life, but by the third section, the story lost some of its momentum. The narrator Mara is a fictional character, and the third part of the novel focuses on Mara's search for her family in Mexico. An editor could have cut 50-75 pages out of this section and tightened up the story. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was excellent. Will appeal to readers who enjoy the novels of Marie Benedict and Fiona Davis, and anyone interested in the golden age of Hollywood.
Dolores del Rio
June 3, 2024
Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle
After 20 years of struggling, writing mostly B-level horror films, Misha has been nominated for an Oscar for one of his short films and has finally landed a gig as a screenwriter on a successful television show. He has a boyfriend that he is crazy about and friends who care about him. But as soon as two gay characters fall in love, the studio heads instruct Misha to kill them off since they think it will improve the show's arc. Misha is pissed about this and refuses to kill off the characters, which may cost him his job. But that's not the worst of it -- characters from Misha's horror films (The Smoker, Mrs. Why, Black Lamb, The Bride) are stalking him and his friends.
This was one of my selections for Pride Month 2024. I'm not a huge horror fan (although I do seem to read more horror than I think I do) but this was pretty entertaining. BTW, the Bury Your Gays trope is a literary trope where a gay character dies tragically, usually right before or right after declaring their love for another gay character. The really screwed up part is that the surviving gay character "realizes" that they're not really gay at all, and they console themselves by falling in love with a straight character. Horror fans will enjoy the dark humor as well as the creepy characters.
Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.
Movie studio
May 28, 2024
Angel of Vengeance by Douglas Preston and Lee Child
The continuation of the previous Agent Pendergast book, The Cabinet of Dr. Leng. Quick synopsis: Constance Greene, Pendergast's ward (and possible love interest), has time-traveled and crossed into a parallel universe in the year 1880, to save her brother and sister from the clutches of evil Dr. Leng. Unbeknownst to Constance, Pendergast and New York homicide detective Vincent D'Agosta followed her; unbeknownst to all of them, Pendergast's brother Diogenes has also time-traveled back to 1880 (even though he supposedly is dead). Diogenes was following a man named Gaspard Ferenc, time travel scientist, who was planning on buying 20 $1.00 gold coins, then returning to the 21st century and selling the rare coins for a fotune. But even if they are able to rescue Constance's siblings, the time machine has been destroyed, and if Pendergast's associate Proctor can't fix it, they may all be trapped in 1881.
Well, Preston and Child, it took you long enough. I waited over a year for the conclusion to the previous Pendergast novel. Fortunately it does not disappoint. We still don't know for sure if Pendergast and Constance are an item, but there are signs that they are getting it on. Highly recommended, but read the previous book first. Really, start and the beginning and read the whole series.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.
Longacre, now known as Times Square, where much of the action in the novel takes place
