Book Blog – Page 4 – …on the B.L.

Time After Time by Lisa Grunwald

July 7, 2019July 5, 2019 RaeAnna

Worth A Read Yes
Length 416
Quick Review A love story conquering time and obstacles set in 1940’s Grand Central Station. A great light read for summer vacation.

Lisa Grunwald is a beloved author of six novels. She returns with her latest novel Time After Time. Grand Central Station is the setting for a fantastical love story beginning in the 1920’s and lasting through World War II and after.

Nora Lansing and Joe Reynolds meet under the gold clock in the main concourse of Grand Central Station on a crisp winter morning of 1937. They come from very different backgrounds but are drawn to each other anyways. Nora is an early 20s socialite in a dress that doesn’t quite befit her class. Joe is a leverman from a working class family in Queens. They don’t meet again until 1938, but Nora disappears suddenly. Joe is intrigued by the mysterious woman in the unusual dress. It’s not until two years later Nora reappears and they fall in love.

Lisa Grunwald narrates Time After Time in the third person told mostly from Joe’s perspective but Nora’s as well. In the beginning, the book jumps from their present to their pasts, but it is mostly chronological for the majority. The book consists of five parts.

I liked Nora as a character. She’s strong, vibrant, and determined during a time women were not allowed to be quite as free. Joe is a traditional man from Queens. I don’t like him much. He’s old fashioned and controlling. I can’t imagine a woman like Nora falling in love with a man like that under any other circumstances than set in the plot. She’s trapped and Joe is kind of the only option as far as relationships go.

The plot is slow but not boring. Time After Time is littered with clues, so I found the plot incredibly easy to guess. It’s not a bad book. Just a bit slow.

Memorable Quotes
“…Nora had come to understand the difference between infatuation and love. Infatuation was weather. Love was climate.”

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Title: Time After Time
Author: Lisa Grunwald
Publisher: Random House
Copyright: 2019
ISBN: 9780812993431

Books, NonFiction

Zero Sugar Cookbook by David Zinczenko

July 6, 2019July 5, 2019 RaeAnna

Worth a Read Meh
Length 272
Quick Review Sugar is really yummy, but cutting it out of your diet doesn’t have to mean you feel like you’re eating cardboard.

DSC_0491-01 — Zero Sugar Cookbook by David Zinczenko | Cast Iron Skillet | Paw Print Mug

When I was 25, I went through a few health ordeals, which made me completely change how I eat. Since then, I have had a very healthy diet. I’m always on the lookout for new recipes to change things up. Zero Sugar Cookbook by David Zinczenko is informative and inspirational.

I love cookbooks. I don’t actually follow recipes because I know what I like and what I don’t like. I love looking through cookbooks for inspiration. I take the recipes and add and adjust where I see fit.

Zinczenko gives a bunch of information about sugar and the health effects it has on the body and the mind in the beginning of the Zero Sugar Cookbook. Sugar is addictive. It is also added into so many foods. The book teaches how to read nutrition labels and ingredient lists. Food can be confusing, but it shouldn’t be. There are different kinds of sugars in food. Some sugars are added; some sugars are natural. There are good sugars and bad sugars. The book claims a person can lose up to a pound a day on the diet. I don’t know about that, but there are tons of great tips and information.

I love looking through recipes. There are some really good ones in Zero Sugar Cookbook ranging from appetizers to entrees to snacks to dessert. I’m kind of a child, so I love looking at the pictures in cookbooks. These pictures don’t disappoint. Being sugar free doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy food. I took a recipe on page 44 and tweaked it, but it still sticks to the sugar free diet. It was delicious.

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Title: Zero Sugar Cookbook
Author: David Zinczenko
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Copyright: 2019
ISBN: 9781984817334

Books, Fiction

Sabrina and Corina by Kali Fajardo-Anstine

July 2, 2019June 28, 2019 RaeAnna

Worth a Read Yes
Length 224
Quick Review A collection of stories centering around latina women of indigenious descent and their lives as women, mothers, sisters, friends, and as people in the American West.

Reading Sabrina & Corina in Galveston, Texas | Bikini Top | Bikini Bottom

Sabrina & Corina by Kali Fajardo-Anstine at the beach in Galveston, Texas.

Kali Fajardo-Anstine writes a beautiful and haunting collection of stories in her debut book Sabrina & Corina. Each story is a snapshot into the life of latina-indigenious women in the American West.

The stories are complicated and deeply laced with heartache and perseverance. There is strength in the women Fajardo-Anstine creates, and a fearlessness in the stories she tells. The women live in different times and under different circumstances, but they are all a testament to the scars of their homeland and the truth of being a woman and a minority in an inhospitable land.

I truly love the way the stories ebb and flow in Sabrina & Corina. Fajardo-Anstine brings voices to a population often left out of the narrative. The world is in dire need of stories about latina-indigenous women.

Sabrina & Corina is absolutely enveloping. I read it in a day because I couldn’t put it down. There are so many things about the stories I can relate to as a woman, and so many things I can’t relate to because I do not share the characters ethnic background. Nonetheless, it is impossible to not feel deeply while reading the stories.

Memorable Quotes
“I was ashamed of myself that I still wanted her close to me, even after everything she had done.”
“”Dead people,” he said, “are like white people. They can’t dance.””

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Title: Sabrina & Corina
Author: Kali Fajardo-Anstine
Publisher: One World
Copyright: 2019
ISBN: 9780525511298

Books, NonFiction

The Stonewall Reader

June 28, 2019June 25, 2019 RaeAnna

Worth A Read Definitely
Length 336
Quick Review A moving and brilliant collection of stories from before, during, and after Stonewall.

201906173013443396901779197 — The Stonewall Reader | White Jumpsuit | Striped Tote | Nude Heels | Pearl Bracelet | Sunglasses

I didn’t know much about the Stonewall riots before this month, but I have done some reading and researching to learn more about this event and others in American history. Today is the fiftieth anniversary of this monumental event. I love a good anthology, and The Stonewall Reader edited by The New York Public Library is inspiring.

The Stonewall Inn was a gay nightclub in Greenwich Village in New York City. It was owned by the Mafia and was home to some of the most marginalized among the LGBTQIA community. It was a popular haunt for drag queens, transgender people, lesbians, gays, and everything in between. The Stonewall Riot started in the early morning on June 28, 1969 and lasted until July 1. It was not the first incident nor was it the last. Stonewall was a turning point in American history for LGBTQIA’s fight for rights. The Stonewall Reader strives to capture the spirit and emotions of the times and people leading up to, during, and following the Stonewall Riots.

It’s hard to write reviews of anthologies because there are so many different writers, voices, opinions, and things to say. Looking at The Stonewall Reader in its entirety, it is wonderful. The book is a tapestry of opinions, feelings, insights, and vantage points. I absolutely loved reading it, and would highly suggest it to anyone wanting to know more about the Stonewall Riots, gay rights, or just American history.

Memorable Quotes
“Lesbians were probably the only Black and white women in New York City in the fifties who were making any real attempt to communicate with each other…” Audre Lorde Zami: A New Spelling of My Name
“The money which I got in exchange for sex was a token indication of one-way desire: that I was wanted enough to be paid for, on my own terms.” John Rechy City of Night

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Title: The Stonewall Reader
Edited: The New York Public Library
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Copyright: 2019
ISBN: 9780143133513

Books, Fiction

Paul Takes the Form of A Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor

June 27, 2019June 24, 2019 RaeAnna

Worth A Read Meh
Length 352
Quick Review Paul is young and queer in the 90s on a journey and shapeshifting along the way.

201906178809712209818142496 — Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor | Asos Romper | Straw Purse | Bow | Pearl Barrette | Belt | Sandals | Pearl Bracelets

Andrea Lawlor’s debut novel Paul Takes the Form of A Mortal Girl is quite the book. I’ve never read anything quite like it. It’s not my typical read. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t dislike it. It just made me uncomfortable. Not because of the queer coming of age story. It’s the sex. Not queer sex, I don’t care about that. I just don’t read books with sex in them because reading and watching sex makes me uncomfortable. This book has a lot of sex. The New Yorker calls it “Smut,” and I don’t disagree. The sex has a point to it.

Paul is queer in 90s Iowa City working and going to school as a Women’s Studies major. Paul has a dyke best friend, bartends, and dates around. Paul is a shapeshifter and can be anything he wants on demand. Paul changes his body by shortening his hair to becoming a party girl and everything in between. The young man travels from Iowa to San Francisco encountering struggles and pleasures along the way.

I may have been uncomfortable through the book, but it is very well written. Lawlor fills Paul Takes the Form of A Mortal Girl with insightful and quippy one liners from the first page. Paul may be a young man trying to find himself and his place in the world as a queer person, but I think most everyone can identify with Paul in one way or another. People of all ages, genders, and sexualities are on continual journey to find themselves.

Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor | Romper | Purse | Belt | Barrette | Bow | Pearl Bracelets | Shoes

I also love that the book is partially set in Iowa City. Unknown fact, Iowa City is a UNESCO City of Literature. The city is home to the University of Iowa, and their internationally renowned MFA Writers’ Workshop. I grew up in Iowa and spent a lot of time in Iowa City during college.

If you’re looking for an intellectually stimulating book which is also fun for the summer, I would highly suggest Paul Takes the Form of A Mortal Girl. It is not for the faint of heart because it is quite the emotional roller coaster.

Memorable Quotes
“Paul was flattered Jane thought he could understand what she was saying, did understand some percentage of what she was saying, and was bored by having to think that hard.”

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Title: Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl
Author: Andrea Lawlor
Publisher: Vintage
Copyright: 2017
ISBN: 9780525566182

Books, NonFiction

Transgender History by Susan Stryker

June 23, 2019June 23, 2019 RaeAnna

Worth a Read Yes
Length 320
Quick Review An overview of the transgender people’s history in the United States from about WWII to present day.

201906161373761393911192186 — Transgender History by Susan Stryker | Red Dress Dress | Straw Purse | Bracelets | Bow | Belt

I’m always hesitant about nonfiction books written by people who don’t personally understand what they are writing about, which is why I picked up Transgender History so enthusiastically. Susan Stryker is a scholar and a transsexual woman. The book is full of insight and history and emotional depth. At the root of this often politically charged topic are people. So often that fact is forgotten. Transgender PEOPLE live lives as full and complicated and emotional as anyone else.

It would be almost impossible to discuss trans* history and rights without having an understanding of key terms and phrases. Stryker takes 45 pages to define many important terms. This sounds super boring, but it was actually very interesting. Some terms are well known but many are not.

Transgender History by Susan Stryker | Red Dress Dress | Belt | Purse | Bow | Bracelets

There is so much information packed into 320 pages. Some of the highlights are the discussions about riots throughout American history and their impact on society and culture. Notably Cooper D-Nuts, Dewey’s, and Compton’s were huge points when several factors came together to create change on some level. The inclusion of excerpts from articles, letters, testimonies, research, and books helps to capture the spirit of the time, provide information from other experts, and give personal stories.

I had always wondered why I heard more about trans women than trans men. Transgender History gave me the answer. Trans men could often disappear into society living as they wanted to. Known as passing. Trans women did not share the same abilities and have been at a higher risk of violence. I also wondered where the unfortunate idea trans people are rapists came from. Sadly, that idea originated at a feminist convention with the trans woman Beth Elliott. As a feminist, this saddens me greatly. I still don’t understand why there are types of feminism which are exclusionary. (Mine is not.)

Transgender History by Susan Stryker | Dress | Purse | Belt | Bracelets | Bow

Fun facts I didn’t know but should have:

Ames was one of a handful of American cities and counties with trans anti-discrimination protections in 2016. Ames is my home town; so proud!
The DSM didn’t depathologize transgender people until the DSM V in 2013
HIV is common in poverty stricken trans communities because of sharing hormone needles.

So many notable trans people are mentioned throughout the pages. Sarah McBride, author of Tomorrow Will Be Different, is mentioned as the first trans person to speak at a televised national convention. Reed Erickson, a transgender male, did so much to further research and science for trans people.

Transgender History is misunderstood if it’s understood at all. There is so much I didn’t know and still don’t know. Stryker does an amazing job educating the reader without making them feel guilty or uneducated. If you are interested in learning about a deeply oppressed community, I highly suggest reading this book.

Memorable Quotes
“When people struggling against an injustice have no hope that anything will ever change, they use their strength to survive; when they think that their actions matter, that same strength becomes a force for positive change.”

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Title: Transgender History: The Roots of Today’s Revolution
Author: Susan Stryker
Publisher: Seal Press (Hachette Book Group)
Copyright: 2017
ISBN: 9781580056908