Monday minis…

I put the puppies down for a nap in their crates and have a rare, blissful moment of silence lol
I got a lot of reading in before they arrived but I don’t have time to blog now. Here’s a quick rundown of the books I read pre-puppy blizzard.



All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson ~ Goodreads

Gorgeous memoir. Johnson's essays (although it never really feels like a series of essay's) on living in the US as a queer, Black man is honest, raw, informative, funny, bittersweet, heartbreaking, loving and inspiring.

“Navigating in a space that questions your humanity isn’t really living at all. It’s existing. We all deserve more than just the ability to exist.”

This is a must read for readers of all ages and backgrounds but especially queer and Black boys. There's a lot of pain and trauma in his life but also a wonderful, large supportive family and fraternity that's rarely portrayed in this way. 

CW: All content warnings are given at the beginning of the book but include: sexual assault (described on page), death, cancer, physical assault, use of homophobic/racial slurs as it relates to the authors lived experiences.


Me by Elton John ~ Goodreads

I was a little disappointed that Elton John wasn’t narrating the audiobook at first (he does the foreword and afterword) but Taron Egerton (who played John in the movie Rocketman) was fantastic. Very conversational and animated.

Me covers his early career with a veritable who’s who of rock royalty, his childhood all the way to adulthood, coming out as gay, marriage and children.

There’s a lot of pain and loss in his life and it’s remarkable that he was able to come out the other side while so many of his friends have not. He was refreshingly honest about his wild days and mistakes while not being salacious or tarnishing others.

He does seem to still posses a bit of a narcissist streak with tantrum tendencies so he’s probably still a work in progress. Aren’t we all - but this was really interesting. (Thanks to A Book A Week for the rec)


Clap When you Land by Elizabeth Acevedo ~ Goodreads

The only thing bad about an Elizabeth Acevedo book is that it has to end and I have to wait a year for the next one. 

Clap When You Land is told in the alternating pov’s (& in novel –verse) of two young women – Yahira in NYC and Camino in the Dominican Republic – unknowingly tied together by one mans death.

Acevedo touches on so many subjects in her books and writes such powerful girls. They are knocked down by life but never out. Family is also a theme. And in this case family comes with major flaws but was written so beautifully and with nuance.

She doesn't give away too much in the blurb so I'll leave it at that.

Read Clap When You Land – read all her books! And on audio if you can!!! Acevedo's narration is perfection. Although there are two narrators for this one.



Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer ~ Goodreads 

This was a clear off my TBR cart and buddy read with Lindsi from Do You Dog Ear read (her review here) 

This was my first book by Kemmerer and it wasn’t quite what I was hoping but overall I did like it. Juliet leaves letters to her dead mother at her grave while Declan, on probation mowing the cemetery’s lawn, finds one of the letters and responds after feeling connected to the words of loss and grief.

 
They begin writing to each other and pouring their hearts out. In the meantime – they unknowingly interact at school and really dislike each other.

There is so much that is left unsaid and a lot of miscommunication between these two so while they are supportive in letters – they (especially Juliet) could be really judgmental in person. It could be irritating to watch but I liked how their letters sort of transferred over to real life and made them both consider their actions and do better over the course of the book. Declan with his temper and starting to believe in himself and her with her actions towards her dad and panic attacks.

Juliet’s relationship with her father is strained as she idolized her jet setting, war photographer mother but I liked how it played out. I didn't love how convoluted the story got to get to that point. Kemmerer kind of detoured into a mystery about the cause of the moms death that felt unnecessary.

Declan’s situation was abusive and I hated how it was resolved. His mother was negligent, at best, and his step father was cruel and it was sort of played off in the end as oooh we were just worried about you and things are better now that we had this chat. I felt it was so bad that if I were to encounter them in real life, I would have called child protective services or help him get emancipated.

This didn’t 100% connect with me but would recommend it to readers who like messy, complicated characters and books that explore grief.

And I really want to read book #2 about Declan's best friend, Rev.