#Books

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commented on The Black Gryphon (Valdemar: Mage Wars #1) by Mercedes Lackey (Mage Wars (1))

Mercedes Lackey, Larry Dixon: The Black Gryphon (Valdemar: Mage Wars #1) (Paperback, 1995, DAW) 4 stars

It is an age when Valdemar is yet unfounded, its organization of Heralds yet unformed, …

Getting awkward at times.

The book starts as if you started reading 1/4 in. There are some concepts explained well enough. But to this point, I am unsure if there is another species besides human and gryphon. Or if something is just an ethnicity of human? I'm confused. The prose is pretty thick.

Also some awkward sexual situations. And a gryphon breeding program. Which, like, the gryphons are sentient and vocal. So... I'm hoping that is revealed as a bad thing.

Still good gryphon stuff otherwise, and decent worlds building. I guess I'm at a net neutral right now. #Books #Bookstodon #Fantasy

reviewed Boys & Sex: Young Men on Hookups, Love, Porn, Consent, and Navigating the New Masculinity by Peggy Orenstein

Peggy Orenstein: Boys & Sex: Young Men on Hookups, Love, Porn, Consent, and Navigating the New Masculinity (2020, Harper) 4 stars

Peggy Orenstein reveals what she learn interviewing high school and college young men on their …

A look inside the mind of young men on these tricky subjects.

4 stars

This book has frank discussions of sex and masculinity. It fully acknowledges that teenagers have sex, but does not glorify nor damn it.

This was a really interesting book. As a guy, who was/is struggling with this subject. And as a guy who avoided all of this in his teens and 20s. Mostly because I was scared about how any of it could go bad. But reading this, I find out even the guys doing them regularly are not sure what they're doing. And are worried about it still. Some interesting insights with good journalistic work. #Books #Bookstodon #Gender #Masculinity

started reading All the Ways to Go by Jessie Janowitz

Jessie Janowitz: All the Ways to Go (2024, Sourcebooks, Incorporated) 4 stars

Milo Bloom, chess prodigy, has a secret: he doesn't want to play chess anymore. If …

This is very much meant for a kid audience, but it's not flimsy. If you can put yourself back to your 12yo self, and can adjust for technological inflation, I think this can be enjoyed. But these kids act like 12yo's. They get frustrated by things adults might not bat an eye at. It's still early chapters on it. But it's going ok. No #GoGame yet tho. #Bookstodon #Books #Baduk @Bookstodon@a.gup.pe

reviewed All That Heaven Allows by Mark Griffin

Mark Griffin: All That Heaven Allows (2020, HarperCollins Publishers) 4 stars

Career and life

4 stars

A pretty well told biography. This tells the life story from birth, childhood, before stardom, and the breadth of the career, and to the death, of Roc Hudson. I feel like it tries to be fair to the sources used. It doesnt seem to play favorites much.

It also talks about the many sig-Os Roc had. Both serious and hot and heavy. Rock liked to party, but he was also looking constatly for something steady.

It's a pretty good book. I feel like I know him well. And have some movies I should watch now. #Bookstodon #Books #RocHudson #LGBTQ #Queer #Gay #MLM

started reading Mattimeo by Brian Jacques (Redwall (3))

Brian Jacques: Mattimeo (Hardcover, 1989, Hutchinson) 4 stars

Slagar the fox hated Redwall Abbey - its peaceable creatures, its fearless mouse warrior Matthias. …

Listening on Everand. And It's Another Full Cast Performance!

Very ready for more #Redwall stories. Always fun yet serious. And this time, it's a generation after the first. So some of my fav chars are back (Yay, Constance the badger). Tho I am going to have to catch up on things. It's been a while since this era of Mossflower. #Fantasy #books @bookstodon@a.gup.pe

reviewed Divine Might by Natalie Haynes

Natalie Haynes: Divine Might (2023, Pan Macmillan) 4 stars

Excellent essays

4 stars

9.5 star Yet another great book by Natalie H. This one is a series of essays about goddesses Natalie has not gone in-depth about before. Except for her fav, Athene, who she goes further in-depth on.

But all is well told. As usual, she simultaneously rehabilitates them. AND shines a light on their damning qualities. She doesnt treat the transmogrifications and other odd punishments as "quirky things gods do sometimes". But as the cruel and unusual acts they are, that sometimes are beyond the wrong done.

However, the essays also acknowledge the cruel wrongs done to them. The effects that would have on a person. She also does an excellent job of bringing these stories not only in to context of where they came from, but somehow also into our modern context too. And again, she also excels at reading her own work for the audiobook.

CW: talk of rape, …

reviewed Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (Earthseed, #1)

Octavia E. Butler: Parable of the Sower (Paperback, 2000, Warner Books) 4 stars

In 2025, with the world descending into madness and anarchy, one woman begins a fateful …

Prophetic for its time

3 stars

Adapting & building community during social collapse. Prophetic for its time, remains unsettling. God as Change could be a genuinely useful belief system. Only half a book, with ending sudden & too convenient (there is a sequel).

Reading time 5 days, 62 pages/day

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