Most Ardently by Gabe Cole Novoa

June 30, 2024

Most Ardently by Gabe Cole Novoa

Oliver Bennet knows that he was assigned the wrong gender at birth. While the world calls him Elizabeth, he knows inside that he has always been a boy named Oliver. A few close friends and family members know his secret, but as he approaches the threshold of adulthood, wearing women's clothing becomes more and more onerous. Worse yet, his mother is determined to find him a suitable husband.

A transgendered remix of the classic novel Pride and Prejudice that the follows the original plot closely. Like the original, there is a lot of traipsing around to other people's houses for tea and gossip. Making Darcy a queer man who has no interest in women, rather than a hetero man who disdains women, was a smart move and explains his actions neatly. Until the middle of the 19th century, there were no official birth certificates, so if your family and your doctor testified in court that you were a male, that was good enough for the English legal system at the time.

If you are a super Jane Austen fan (which I'm not), you will probably not care for this. If you want to read a sweet trans-romance, this is for you. Charming cover art, too. 

Illustration of a molly house, the 19th century version of a gay bar

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

December 23, 2023

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

David is an American expatriate living in Paris in the 1950s. David's girlfriend Hella, another American, is in Spain trying to figure out what is going on in their relationship. David is strongly attracted to other men and is doing his best to fight/hide his inclinations, which are more acceptable in Paris than in America. When he becomes involved with a beautiful young Italian man named Giovanni, he begins a downward spiral that threatens to destroy both their lives.

I have been meaning to read this for a long time. I felt emotionally drained and sad at the end of the book. The two main characters struggle to come to terms with their identity, their masculinity, their sexuality. David knows on an intellectual level that he should fit into the expectations of society, his father, and his girlfriend, yet he is unable to resist Giovanni. His self-loathing prevents him from accepting Giovanni's love and seeking the life he secretly longs for, while Giovanni is willing to throw everything away for David. Daring for its time, still a classic today.

Paris in the 1950's

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

February 16, 2023

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Demon Copperhead (nee Damon Fields) is born to a single teen-aged mother in the mountains of Appalachia, with few assets other than the good looks and coppery hair that he inherited from his absent (possibly dead) father. Demon's mother has a weakness for drugs and alcohol, as well as poor judgment when it comes to men. After her fatal overdose, Demon finds himself first tossed into the foster care system, then as a runaway on his own, exposed to all of the dangers of an adolescent without an adult to look after them.

An adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel David Copperfield: orphan forced out into the world on his own, far too soon, with no one to care for him. There are references throughout the text to Dickens' novel, including the neighbors who look after him sporadically named the Peggots (as opposed to Peggotty in David Copperfield). While her novels have been hit or miss for me, I enjoyed several of Kingsolver's previous books, including The Poisonwood Bible and Animal Dreams, so I was very much looking forward to reading her latest book. At first I was interested in the characters but my interest starting waning after a couple hundred pages, and by the time Demon gets into opiods, it had become pretty depressing and I was over it and skimmed the last 250 pages. I also didn't like the stereotypes of Appalachia and rural people. Disappointing.

David Copperfield

Nightmare Alley by William Lindsay Gresham

December 30, 2021

Nightmare Alley by William Lindsay Gresham

Stan Carlisle is a young carnival worker, on his way up in the world. He hooks up with Zeena, another carnival worker who has a mind reading act, and learns how to fool an audience. He leaves the carnival with Molly, a girl who has an act with the circus freak show, and together they develop a mind-reading stage act that does reasonably well. When he realizes how much money people will pay to contact their loved ones in the next world, Stan morphs into the Reverend Stanton Carlisle, spiritualist and medium. His church contacts lead him to an unscrupulous psychologist named Lilith, who helps him gain access to wealthy and powerful men. But he takes his act one step too far and his life begins to spiral out of control, until it comes full circle and he returns to the carnival life where the story began.

Dark, disturbing, atmospheric, bleak, with great characters. The 2021 movie adaptation is well done.

Carnival sideshow

My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier

November 6, 2021

My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier

Philip Ashley was orphaned as a child and was raised by his cousin Ambrose. They share a quiet life at Ambrose's Cornwall estate. Ambrose suffers from a weak chest and routinely spends the winter in Italy, away from the damp English winters, and they write to each other regularly. Shortly before Philip's 25th birthday, Ambrose writes to Philip to tell him that he has met a widowed cousin of theirs named Rachel, that they have fallen in love and married. The newlyweds have no plans to return to England.

Ambrose's letters to Philip become increasingly erratic and Philip decides to journey to Italy to check on Ambrose himself. He arrives in Florence only to find that Ambrose is dead and his new bride has left their villa. Unable to locate her, Philip returns to England, where his guardian Nick informs him that he received a letter from Rachel's man of business, stating two things: Ambrose did not have time to change his will, and Philip is still heir to his estate; and Rachel is on her way to England. She arrives at the estate and Philip falls increasingly under her spell. As his cousin's widow, he transfers the estate over to her. Philip falls ill almost immediately and it takes several weeks for him to recover. He suspects that Rachel poisoned him, but he has no proof. But he is certain that she is trying to kill him and sets a trap for her.

My Cousin Rachel is du Maurier's third most popular book. Like her other books, it has a mystery/romance theme with gothic overtones. A good choice for a gloomy fall evening.

Cornwall estate

Demelza by Winston Graham

January 31, 2021

Demelza by Winston Graham

To the shock of both their families, Ross Poldark marries his servant Demelza Carne. Although she and Ross are genuinely in love, the shadow of Elizabeth, Ross' first love now married to his jerk cousin Francis, continues to hang over their marriage. While Ross struggles to secure mining rights for the local communities, Demelza tries to adapt to life among the gentry. Their first child Julia is born, to their great joy.

Demelza is a wonderful character, caring, selfless, and thoughtful, even to those who look down on her (i.e., Elizabeth and Francis), working to nurse others back to health when smallpox hits the community. She also aids Ross' cousin Verity who has fallen in love with a man that her brother (Francis the jerk) doesn't approve of. Demelza works to help them get together and in the end is proven right. (I don't like Francis - can you tell?)

This is the second book in the Poldark series. It's full of history, romance, joy and tragedy, and I think it will be my favorite book in the series.

Ross Poldark by Winston Graham

January 4, 2021

Ross Poldark by Winston Graham

After serving in the war, Ross Poldark returns to Cornwall to find his whole world turned upside down. His fiancee is married to another man, his father has died, and his family home is overrun with livestock and drunken servants. In spite of everything, he decides to stay and start over.

Ross is your standard brooding hero, an angry young man. As he reconnects with the local residents, he begins making some non-traditional decisions about how he is going to live and work.

This is the first book in the Poldark family saga. It was written in the mid-20th century but has recently been re-issued since PBS is producing it for Masterpiece Theater. There are at least eight more books in the series.

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

March 22, 2020

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

Flora Poste grew up believing that her family was wealthy, but when her parents died, she discovered that they were deeply in debt and that she had only a small annual income to live on.  Flora decides to contact her relatives and get one of them to take her in.  After receiving a mysterious response from her mother's cousin, she opts to go stay with her Starkadder relatives at Cold Comfort Farm in rural Sussex.  When she arrives, Flora identifies several "projects" that need her attention and she settles in happily to fix things.

Such a fun read - slightly futuristic for the time since it refers to another world war even though it was published in the 1930's, and also a device the author calls a video-phone.  Lot of quirky characters and a happy ending.  This was the third book in my "read 12 classics this year" New Year's resolution.  It was a good choice for reading during the current health crisis.

My family and I are all well during the COVID-19 pandemic, although I am still dealing with my back pain.  I hope any readers are also safe and healthy.  I have been reading a 750 page historical novel and just finished it today.  Review to follow shortly.

Illinois has a shelter-in-place order originally until April 7, extended today until the end of April.  The library remained open until March 21, and Chicago's mayor tried to get the library (and also the city parks) exempted from the "stay at home" order, insisting that the library should be classified as an essential service.  She was actually encouraging the homeless and senior citizens to go to the library, and telling parents to drop their children off at the library while they went to work.  They even had a plan worked out where the reference and clerical staff would have to continue working but the non-essential staff like the administration and departments like cataloging would be allowed to stay home.  Fortunately, Illinois' governor included the library in the shelter-in-place order.  I am the first person to say that libraries are important to their communities but it's not a vital or essential service.

The 39 Steps by John Buchan

March 9, 2020

The 39 Steps by John Buchan

Richard Hannay has just returned from working in South Africa and is finding London life dull and boring.  He encounters Scudder, his American neighbor, outside his flat, who invites himself in and tells Hannay a wild tale of an assassination plot and how he faked his own death.  He implores Hannay to let him stay in his apartment until he can get away from London.  The deception works well for a few days, until Hannay comes home from a dinner engagement to find Scudder murdered in his smoking room.  Hannay feels obligated to take over Scudder’s mission, and there begins his adventure of espionage and narrow escapes.  Be careful what you wish for.

This is the second of the twelve classics that I am planning to read this year.  I intended to do one per month, but February got away from me due to doctor appointments and medical tests.  I do love books set or written in the early decades of the 20^th century!  This is a classic old-fashioned spy thriller about an innocent man being hunted, like a precursor to Ian Fleming and John Le Carre.  International intrigue, proper British gentlemen, disguises, Scotland, exciting train journeys, shady German villains, wild coincidences, unbelievable escapes – this very short novel is fast-paced and reflects the POV of the wealthy British gentleman of the early 20^th century – at various points, I found myself wanting to have a cigarette and a whiskey (I don’t smoke or drink).  Some of the attitudes and stereotypes are outdated, but this book was written in 1915 and reflects the attitudes of the time.

One of the best quotations in the book is in the first chapter:  “You can always get a body in London if you know where to go for it.”

Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis

January 21, 2020

Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis

For Elmer Gantry, religion is strictly a racket.  During his college years studying law (and barely passing his classes), he realizes that his voice is his most powerful tool (or weapon).  After raising hell in college, getting kicked out of the seminary, and working as a successful traveling salesman, Elmer meets up with a charismatic woman evangelist, Sister Sharon Falconer, and becomes an insincere, hypocritical, yet very effective evangelist, treating it like just another scam he can use to fool the rubes.

In stark contrast to Elmer is his seminary classmate Frank Shallard.  Not only does Frank strive to live a godly life, he has doubts about his faith, his calling, and the existence of God almost from his seminary days.  He contemplates a different calling for himself, wanting to explore aspects of current thought such as evolution.  Frank is scandalized by Elmer’s actions, especially his inflammatory preaching.

One of my New Year’s resolutions was to read a classic every month.  I started with Lewis’ Elmer Gantry because it happened to be available through the library.  Sinclair Lewis’ novel satirizes religion, evangelism, and small town attitudes long before the days and downfall of televangelists like Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker (couldn’t you just see Elmer as a televangelist?).  Elmer Gantry isn’t technically historical fiction since it is a story set in the 1920’s and written in the 1920’s.  The novel differs significantly from the film version of the story.

Overall, Elmer is the definition of smarmy, a bull-shitter of the first magnitude.  He is desperately ambitious to BE someone, to be envied and revered, looked up to, a man of wealth and substance, but he doesn’t want to work for it.  The fire scene in the revival tent is a physical embodiment of Elmer’s morals:  he actually climbs over the fallen to get out of the burning tent, not caring that he is stepping on others.  He mistreats his wife and children, looks down on everyone else, lies and cheats.  He is often hurtful to others, even when he thinks he is being funny.  As a pastor, he advocates for a crackdown on vice, while being careful to hide his own adulterous activities.  Elmer Gantry is like a train wreck – he’s awful, but you just can’t look away.

The Best of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan Poe

October 15, 2019

The Best of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan Poe

‘Tis the season for scary stories.  When you say the name “Edgar Allan Poe,” it immediately conjures thoughts of horror, darkness, and death.  Most people are familiar with a few of his works from middle or high school (The Raven, Annabel Lee, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Cask of Amontillado).  This collection includes some of his best known tales and also some lesser known stories.  Poe’s characters are motivated by the same passions and emotions that have moved people throughout history:  jealousy, revenge, unrequited love, greed, hate, fear, obsession, guilt.  I wouldn't classify these stories as horror compared with the horror fiction being written today (look up splatterpunk in your library's catalog for the really gory stuff).  Poe’s terrors tend to be psychological fears and phobias:  buried alive, darkness, rats, imprisonment or being trapped, madness.  Eleven of Poe’s short stories are included in this collection – like any collection, some are better than others.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

July 19, 2019

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

Roger Ackroyd was a well-liked philanthropic businessman who lived in the village of King’s Abbott.  After dining with friends and family including his secretary and the local doctor, Ackroyd is found stabbed to death in his locked study.  Servants and household members overheard conversations held in the study throughout the evening, including someone asking for money and Ackroyd's refusal.  Ackroyd’s adopted son Ralph is suspected of the murder, until Hercule Poirot is enlisted to investigate.

Along with And Then There Were None, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is considered to be Christie’s best mystery, with an intricate plot and unexpected twist at the end.