rainbowbrarian's reviews
1650 reviews

Becoming Ted by Matt Cain

3.75

Becoming Ted is the story of a middle class man in England learning to put himself first after a lifetime of dimming his shine for other people.  After his husband leaves him for another (younger) man he’s forced to reevaluate what he always thought was a happy relationship.  He’s been working for his family’s ice cream business his entire life and he doesn’t even like ice cream!  He decides to follow a dream he’s always kept locked in his heart, he decides to set out to become a drag queen.  He also meets Oskar, a Polish immigrant and aspiring designer who moved to England for a better life.  Maybe having his husband leave him could be a change for the better?

This story was sweet and perhaps a little bit too simple.  I liked Ted, and liked Oskar even more, but some of the conflict felt a little contrived, and then the resolutions came a little too easily.  Watching Oscar and Ted falling for each other was the best part of this story, I loved how caring they were with each other and how respectful they were with each other’s sore spots.  Loved the story line with Oskar’s father, but I was disappointed with a kind of forced third act breakup.  Also Ted’s ex husband got off WAY too easily, he was emotionally manipulative and when he came crawling back he was let off way too easily.  Also I don’t think someone that was that crappy during a 20 year marriage and subsequent affair is going to have such impressive emotional growth in that short a time. 

Favorite Parts - Ted and Oskar having a date on the beach, them sharing about their families

The Great British Bump-Off by John Allison

3.0

A murder mystery set in the tent of the Great British Bake Off.  That’s really all you need to know.  This was a fun little story with fantastic character designs and some hilarious send up of all your favorite tropes from GBBO.

Favorite Parts - I loved the extremely expressive faces of the characters and the way you could absolutely recognize various character types and past contestants in the characters in this comics.  The Prue and Paul characters were so fun and I loved the cat co-host too.

Read This If You - Want a fluffy little romp through baking and attempted murder. 

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo

5.0

 The marriage of Empress In-yo was a political one.  A way to keep the Northern territories under the emperor’s control, after her father and all her brothers had been killed.  But the Emperor doesn’t need to keep his new wife around once she’s provided him with an heir.  In-yo finds herself exiled to a remote province, kept in a state of constant summer by the empire’s mages.  Her young hand maiden, Rabbit, recalls that the Empress was perhaps not as helpless as everyone had hoped.

I had a little bit of a struggle when I started this book.  There are a number of fantasy creatures and terms that the reader is just given without any explanation.  I had to figure out, oh, that’s some kind of sentient talking bird... and this must be some kind of magic thing.  But the story is WELL worth it.  Don’t let that small amount of front loading put you off.  

A cleric of the Singing Hills Monastery is sent to catalog the exiled home of the late empress and record it’s contents for the archive.  Cleric Chih meets Rabbit there and as they discuss the contents of the house we learn the story of what really happened during In-yo’s brilliantly orchestrated rise to power.  It’s a wonderful tale of what happens when you try to crush powerful women.  

Charles Coe: New and Selected Works by Charles Coe

emotional reflective

4.5

Charles Coe's writing is evocative and approachable.  It welcomes you into spaces in time and space that have gone by and live on in the collective minds and spirits of those who shared in them.  By hearing their stories and engaging with their works, we are invited to consider a different perspective.  I am no expert at talking about poetry, but I truly enjoyed reading this volume of his work.  From poems exploring his childhood and fraught relationships with his parents to poems about moments captured in time from trips on the MBTA to love letters to Ella Fitzgerald, to quiet observations on racism they transported me.  

I had the pleasure of attending a workshop run by Charles Coe at the Boston Book Festival in October 2024.  He read some of his works for us and guided us through some poetry prompts.  The workshop was called Jumpstart your poetry and it was a genuinely wonderful experience.  I am very grateful to have had this opportunity to hear him teach and read his poetry to us in his own voice.  

It made me feel like I could write as well.  And I so appreciated the chance to engage with him.

The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer

4.0

 This book was the January pick for the Reading Rainbow Queer Book Club that I run at my library.  It’s a story set on a space ship on a long distance mission to one of the moons of Jupiter, Titan.  Ambrose and Kodiak are members of the only two countries left on earth and must work together to keep the ship running as they race towards Titan to rescue Ambrose’s sister, Minerva.

It’s hard to talk about this one without BIG spoilers, but I am going to try.  This was really good.  I could never have imagined the turns this story was going to take.  I loved the romance between Ambrose and Kodiak and the way they changed as the story went on.  

Favorite Parts - The line about how love is two boys huddling together at the bottom of a water tank.  That really hit me.  

Read This If You - love a forced proximity, last two people alive, rivals to lovers story with epic stakes and a slow burn. 

Damned If You Do by Alex Brown

4.0

This was advertised as a queer Filipino Buffy the Vampire Slayer and it lived up to that description!

Cordy made a deal with a demon ten years ago to keep her abusive alcoholic father from killing her.  It’s been eating away at her ever since then.  Suddenly, on the eve of a big theater production that Cordy is stage managing, the demon shows up and says her bill is due.  But instead of taking her soul, he wants her to help him get revenge on a rival demon.  Cordy only has a few days to figure out how to do this, and on top of that, she’s trying to figure out how to confess her feelings to Veronica her childhood BFF, and how to deal with the rich asshole kid whose family basically runs the town.

This was a fun read, I loved seeing the relationship between Cordy and Fred as it grew and changed.  It was really cool seeing how Alex wove Filipino culture and monsters into this story.  It had a great plot and I was really hooked and wanted to see how the story was going to turn out.

My only real critique is that I think Cordy beat herself up WAY too much about sending her father to hell.  He was an abusive asshole who LITERALLY was trying to kill her.  I felt like her constant self hate over that was too much.  

Favorite Parts - The Maleficent precious moments figurine!  And I loved that a lot of action took place literally on the theater stage.

Read This If You - Were a theater kid in school, loved BTVS, like monsters from other cultures and want a fantastic queer monster fighting story 

The Bell in the Fog by Lev AC Rosen

5.0

 I really liked this sequel.  It’s a classic noir PI tale but it’s about queer people and queer found families in the 50s.  CW - on page violence, murder, blackmail, sex work

Andy is struggling to figure out where he fits outside of the navy and outside of the police.  He’s also struggling with making peace with his past in the police and the fact that he took part in being in an organization that destroys queer lives.  He’s not bringing in business as a PI because the queer community doesn’t trust a former cop, and he knows he’s costing The Ruby money.  

When an old flame shows up with a case of blackmail Andy knows that he needs to take the case, but with it comes a stirring of old feelings and discoveries of things in his past that might not be what they seem.

I enjoyed this story even more than the first book, which is rare, sequels are hard.  I highly recommend it!

Favorite Parts - Investigating with Lee, Andy talking with Gene at the bar, Gene ‘experimenting’ with new drinks and giving them to Andy.

Read This If You - Love queer historical mysteries, like Noir PI stories, want to see a queer story from the past that isn’t just straight up misery 

You Gotta Eat: Real-Life Strategies for Feeding Yourself When Cooking Feels Impossible by Margaret Eby

funny inspiring fast-paced

5.0

 I was hooked by this title:  “You Gotta Eat: Real-Life Strategies for Feeding Yourself When Cooking Feels Impossible”.  When I get depressed, stressed out, and hopeless about the state of the world, I struggle HARD with feeding myself something other than take out and junk food.  Margaret Eby has helpfully divided her book into these awesome categories: If you can open a package, If you can assemble a plate, If you can press a button, If you can wield a knife.  

It’s simple, compassionate, and honest.  Sometimes the only thing I can manage is opening a bag or a can.  She’s got instructions on how to make a soup with just canned tomato sauce, she’ll show you how to dump a bag of frozen veggies onto a sheet pan to make something delicious and that has actual nutrition.  What I loved the most was not the recipes (although they were GREAT and I immediately bought ingredients for the Greek-ish bean salad) but it was the sense of compassion extended to those of us who are struggling with things that the world tells us that should be easy.  

Remember that the illusion of ‘having it all together’ is based in an outdated ideal of a two parent household where only one has to work and the other can stay home and deal with things like food and cleaning.  I don’t think I know any one my age or younger (and I’m 40 something) who has that.  So be sure to extend yourself some compassion when you’re struggling because you are definitely not alone! 

A Tale of Two Knights: Tristan and Lancelot by James Persichetti

3.5

The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0