Top August Reads

Here are my five star reads for August.

Troy – Stephen Fry

I had been looking forward to this one since I finished Heroes. This installment in Stephen Fry’s mythology series was as engaging and enjoyable as the first two. Fry has a distinctive voice and makes the mythology accessible and easy to understand. It has made me want to reread the Iliad (although when I’ll have the time for that, I don’t know), and I’m really looking forward to the next installment about the Odyssey.

No. 6 volumes 3-9 – Asano Atsuko

I finished off the No. 6 manga this month. Oh my word, I love this series so much. I adore the anime, so it was about time I got round to reading it, and I wish I had read it sooner! In the dystopian city of No. 6, Rat and Shion work to take down the system. This series is angsty and romantic and exciting and sad and I’m so glad I finally finished it.

The Crystal Kingdom – The McElroys

Another book I’ve been waiting for, this is the latest installment in the Adventure Zone graphic novels. In this volume, Taako, Magnus and Merle head to Lucas Miller’s laboratory to reclaim another relic. The lab has been overtaken by weird pink crystals and danger and hijinks ensue. We’re introduced to my favourite character in this volume and it’s just as fun as the previous volumes, with fabulous art.

Appley Dapply’s Nursery Rhymes and The Tailor of Gloucester – Beatrix Potter

This month I decided to read the last few Beatrix Potter books that I hadn’t got to as a child. These were my two favourites. Appley Dapply’s nursery rhymes features this poem, which is why it got 5 stars:

'There once was an amiable guinea pig, who brushed back his hair like a periwig. He wore a sweet tie, as blue as the sky, and his whiskers and buttons were very big.'

What more could you want in a book than that? With his little top hat and cane!

The Tailor of Gloucester threw me right back into childhood, because there was a Beatrix Potter movie I used to watch at my grandma’s house which featured this story. It was wonderful reliving that by reading the book. Plus, Beatrix Potter’s illustrations are delightful as always.

Glitterland, Waiting for the Flood, For Real, and Pansies – Alexis Hall

A while back I asked for recommendations for queer romance books with happy endings, but a lot of angst on the journey. I now have a goodreads shelf entitled ‘recs to make me feel something’. The Spires series by Alexis Hall was one of those recommendations, and this month I got round to reading them. And oh boy, did they fit my specifications exactly!

Each novel follows a different couple, and the books can be read as standalone, although I did enjoy spotting the few cameos! It’s hard to choose my favourite out of the four.

Glitterland deals with mental health, as one of the mcs has bipolar, and it definitely does not shy away from the dark and painful reality of mental health problems. Ash is a hard character to like at first, although as someone who has dealt with my own mental health issues I felt like I definitely understood where he was coming from. Darian is a glitterball of sunshine and just an absolute delight of a character.

Waiting for the Flood features Edwin, a reclusive book binder, and Adam, a civil engineer working on the flooding in the area. This is a shorter story, and less steamy than the other books in the series, but it is wonderfully sweet, and I loved every single word.

For Real is about Laurie, a jaded sub, and Toby, a young dom brand new to the BDSM scene. I wasn’t sure going in how much I was going to like this one, but it surprised me. Laurie and Toby have a lot of things to work through, and I really loved joining them as they figured out their lives and their relationship.

Pansies is set predominantly in South Shields, which is just the other side of the river to me, and I always love reading books set in or near my home city. It’s bullies to lovers, which is a trope I’ve never really considered, but in Pansies I really enjoyed it. Alfie and Fen are another couple that are going to live rent free in my head for a long time!

The House of Hades – Rick Riordan

I’ve enjoyed the entirety of this series, but this was one was my favourite. I think what made it stand out was the journey through Tartarus, and also learning more about Nico, who is my favourite character in the entire Percy Jackson universe. I’m looking forward to reading more of Rick Riordan’s books, although I’m now unsure which series to read next.

Unicorn: The Memoir of a Muslim Drag Queen – Amrou Al-Kadhi

Oh boy, this book made me cry. This is a beautiful, poignant memoir that I think everyone should read. Whilst our situations are vastly different (I am from a white christian background), the way that Al-Kadhi talked about religious trauma really resonated with me. This is not an easy read, but it is definitely an essential one.

Book Review: The Anxiety Book For Trans People by Freiya Benson

The Anxiety Book for Trans People is a self help guide written by a trans person for trans people. The author has her own experiences with anxiety, giving this book a very authentic tone. The advice is good, but the thing I took most from this book was simply the validation of another trans person speaking candidly about anxiety.

The book is written in a friendly, down to earth way, and the explanations of anxiety are engaging and easy to understand. The book includes sections where different trans people, including nonbinary people, talk about their own experiences with anxiety. I think reading this will definitely help trans people to feel less alone. Sometimes it can feel like you’re the only person who is anxious about certain things, and that everyone around you has their life together, but this book shows that we’re all dealing with this together.

It’s really nice to see advice for anxiety specifically targeting trans people because so often our experiences are ignored in more general advice. As Benson writes, being trans can add another layer to the more general anxieties that most people experience. It can be hard to pull apart what is just anxiety and what are genuine fears due to being trans in a transphobic world. This book is a starting point for dealing with that, and includes some practical ideas of how to deal with anxiety.

This is a good book that I think any trans person who experiences anxiety will find validating and helpful.

I received this book from Netgalley for free in return for an honest review.

Book Review: Sage and King by Molly Ringle

First things first, I absolutely love Molly Ringle’s books! I was so excited to get a chance to read this one early. Sage and King was loosely inspired by King Arthur and Merlin, which, if I hadn’t already been desperate to read it, would have convinced me to pick it up. The story is set in a magical world, in the country of Lushrain. I really love the way Molly Ringle creates new worlds. I loved Eidolonia in Lava Red Feather Blue, and I love Lushrain.

In Lushrain, magic is forbidden, but the crowning of a new king means that there’s the chance to change the rules. We meet Zaya, the irresponsible young prince who is unexpectedly crowned king, Col, his tutor, a young sage with strong magical powers, and Orzei, the villain of the story, a character who is both mysterious and interesting. Zaya and Col need to work together to navigate politics, magic, and the threat of Orzei, but secrets and lies threaten to get in the way of their budding relationship.

Something I love about Molly Ringle’s books is that queer people get to just exist. The main characters are queer, but there are also side characters that are queer as well, and it’s done so casually. These characters get to exist and live and love and as a queer person that’s something that’s just really nice to see.

I adore Zaya and Col. I really like the ‘I don’t know if I like you yet but damn you’re attractive’ trope. (Is that a trope? I don’t know but I like it). I really enjoyed seeing them get to know each other, and the slow growth of understanding and acceptance between them. Also the flirting. The flirting!! This is definitely a pairing that will be living in my mind for a long time, I can tell. But as well as the romance, I also really liked the friendships, especially the one between Col and Trivin.

And then there’s Heartwood, home of the sages. Oh my goodness. This place is magical. The descriptions are so vivid. Also, I want to visit the Heartwood library because it sounds wonderful. I really love the system of magic as well. The way that it works through plants is so unique, and really clever.

I adored this book. It’s definitely going on my reread list. When everything goes down, oh my heart. I was on tenterhooks because I cared so much about the characters. I admit, I cried a little, and I don’t usually get that emotional over books.

Please read this book when it comes out, I need people to talk to about it!

I received this book from Netgalley for free in return for an honest review.

Book Review: Between Perfect And Real by Ray Stoeve

Dean Foster is a trans guy, but everyone, including his girlfriend Zoe, thinks he’s a lesbian. Then he’s cast as an ‘untraditional’ Romeo in the school play, and he can’t keep things to himself any longer.

TW for dysphoria, misgendering, forced outing, transphobia, physical bullying.

I really, really loved this book! I was excited to read a book by a nonbinary author, as a trans person myself, and this book did not disappoint. Between Perfect and Real is a story about coming of age, self realisation, and gender exploration. It captures the emotional rollercoaster of coming out during high school perfectly. It’s really emotional. Dean goes through so much in this book, my heart hurts for him. But also, it’s so wonderfully positive and hopeful. This book brought tears to my eyes. It’s the coming out story that I needed as a teen but didn’t have, and it makes me so happy that teenagers now have a story like this to read. Dean’s journey to his identity feels similar in some ways to mine, and I love that. There are so many different ways to be trans, and I found Dean’s story particularly relatable for me. I hope that young people reading this will feel the same as I did.

I think my favourite scene in the book is where Dean and Ronnie try out pronouns in the cafe. It was such a wonderful, lighthearted moment, so realistic to the trans experience, and so sweet and nice to read.

This book tells a really lovely, really important story and I’m so glad that I got to read it.

I received this book from Netgalley for free in return for an honest review.

Book Review: Living And Loving In The Age Of AIDS by Derek Frost

Living and Loving in the Age of AIDS is Frost’s memoir of his life before, during and after the AIDS epidemic. It is a beautiful, powerful, tragic, and yet ultimately hopeful love story. It is a personal history of the epidemic that affected so many queer people, about love at a time when the popular opinion was that queer love was nothing more than lust.

Frost describes an almost idyllic sounding life prior to crisis. Both he and his husband have privileges that many other people don’t, like the ability to travel, interesting careers, and financial security most of the time. I’ve noticed some reviews saying that readers gave up in this part, but really it’s worth pushing through, because the comparison between the first part where they have everything, and the onset of the AIDS crisis that takes so much from them, is really powerful. Before AIDS, queer people, or at least certain demographics of them, were feeling more freedom, like the world was progressing, life was getting better, and then AIDS set everything back. This book masterfully expresses the pain and shock of going from liberation, love and freedom, to AIDS, death, stigma and judgement. There are so many names and personal stories that really bring home the horror of the crisis and emphasise how we geniunely lost almost an entire generation of queer men. There is a lot of anger and sadness in this book, but also a lot of love between Frost and his husband, between them and their friends and family. There Frost’s own spiritual journey, J’s medical journey, and the hope they both held on to.

Learning about the founding of AidsArk, the charity the two of them set up, is interesting. I remember in early noughties as a child learning about AIDS charities in Africa through my church but didn’t have much of an understanding of it then. I feel like this book really deepened my understanding of exactly why, even after the development of life saving drugs, the crisis continued in many countries.

Ultimately, this book is a story about love, hope, and survival. It is an important telling of queer history that the next generation of queer people needs to learn about.

I received this book from Netgalley for free in return for an honest review.

Book Review: The Inverts by Crystal Jeans

In The Inverts, we see the lives of Bart and Bettina, two childhood friends who enter into a Lavender marriage and live a decadent lifestyle full of drink, drugs and affairs.

This is an absolute train wreck in slow motion, and I have to say that I am completely here for that. We know that something bad is going to happen because we’re told at the beginning of the book, and then after that the whole story is building up to that moment. I’m keeping it vague to avoid spoilers, but there was definite tension as I waited to see how things were going to go down, which I really liked.

About the characters. Well, everyone in this book is absolutely awful. There were pretty much no characters that I liked, and it felt a bit like watching soaps or reality TV. I did feel for the main characters at times, but most of the time I just really didn’t like them, and felt they were kind of getting what they deserved. Or, at times when things seemed to be going alright, that they were getting more than they deserved.

The book has a great sense of atmosphere, and the place and time came across really well. However, the plot dragged a little at times, and then ended rather abruptly. I did enjoy the book, although I did need to read something with nicer characters afterwards!

3.5 stars.

I received this book from Netgalley for free in return for an honest review.

Book Review: Something Borrowed by Yolande Kleinn

Trevor is dateless for his ex’s wedding. Sebastian is his friend and former boss, and he asks him to accompany him on impulse. There’s just one problem: Trevor has been in love with Sebastian for years.

Ok, even just the premise was everything I wanted. I love the fake dating trope, and this was set up in a way that was believable. There is plenty of romantic and sexual tension right from the get go. I really liked Trevor straight away, and Sebastian was slightly mysterious and I wanted to know more about him. Also, the tension! I don’t want to spoil anything but I really liked the way Sebastian’s motivations and reasons were written.

In fact, my only complaint about this book is that it was very short, and I wanted to spend more time with Trevor and Sebastian! Even though it was short, I still had time to get to know the characters and really care about them. And the ending was perfect.

Basically, this story is really sweet and cute, and I loved it.

I received this book from Netgalley for free in return for an honest review.

Book Review: Vita and Virginia: Love Letters

I was really excited to read this book of letters and diary entries by Vita Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf. Wonderfully sapphic, painfully bittersweet, and just a really lovely read, with an introduction by Alison Bechdel who explains much more succintly than I ever could why this collection is so important.

Reading real letters and diary entries is the best way to really get inside someone’s head. They are from a different time, and yet so much of what is expressed is still relatable all of these years later. This is an incredibly intimate read, at times even feeling voyeuristic, but always humanising. Through their letters, Sackville-West and Woolf feel so wonderfully human, rather than just names in the literary canon. This book shows a picture of their relationship, and all of the flirtation, longing, desire, friendship and jealousy that it contained.

I also found the parts where the two of them discussed their writing very interesting. I enjoyed getting to see some of the thoughts behind the literature, and I found the background to Woolf’s book Orlando particularly interesting to read.

I received this book from Netgalley for free in return for an honest review.

Book Review: As Far As You’ll Take Me by Phil Stamper

As Far As You’ll Take Me is a YA contemporary novel by Phil Stamper, about seventeen year old Marty, a gay teenager brought up in a strict religious household. He leaves Kentucky for London, to live with his cousin and play music. He is finally free to be himself and fully come out of the closet. But things are never that easy, and leaving everything behind is harder than he expected.

I wanted to read this because I absolutely adored The Gravity of Us, and with this novel Phil Stamper has done it again, writing something really moving and poignent and real. The book deals with the trauma of a religious upbringing, of being gay and straddling the line between being closeted and out, and coping with a family that loves you (and you love them) and yet wouldn’t accept such a large part of you. Stamper explores unhealthy friendships and relationships, personal growth, finding your real friends, learning from mistakes and building new bridges all through the eyes of a sensitive, vulnerable teenager trying to make his own way in the world. There are realistic portrayals of mental health problems, including anxiety and panic attacks, and disordered eating, issues that are highly prevelant amongst LGBTQ+ youth. The plot of the novel is angsty, but also heartfelt, and I was rooting for Marty the whole way through.

I do feel that a book aimed at teenagers and featuring such difficult themes should have had a content warning in the description somewhere. Or even just a hint at what was to come. Any book that deals with disordered eating or eating disorders, especially when aimed at teenagers, needs to tread carefully. Forewarned is fore-armed, and even just a mention in the description would have been better than nothing. There is a list of phone numbers at the end, but in my opinion this isn’t good enough, because the damage has already been done.

I also didn’t really appreciate Welsh being referred to as ‘straight up gibberish’! Maybe a minor quibble, but still, given the history of the Welsh language, it bothered me.

I received this book from Netgalley for free in return for an honest review.

Book Review: Death’s Prelude by David S Pederson

The year is 1937 and Heath Barrington is 22 years old and sailing across the Atlantic on the Queen Mary. Onboard, he meets the mysterious Lord Simon Quimby, who invites Heath and his aunt to his estate. Heath falls for Simon, but the Quimby family is marred by tragedy and Simon is hiding dark secrets.

This book is a prequel to the Detective Heath Barrington mystery series, which I haven’t actually read. In the series, Heath is a detective, and this book shows his first foray into investigating and the beginnings of what will become his career. I enjoyed the book, and it has made me want to read the rest of the series. I can see this being particularly enjoyable if you already know and love Heath, though.

The poised, mysterious Simon and the naive commoner Heath make for a compelling pairing. At first, I felt like Simon was just a bit of a dick, but he did grow on me as the book progressed. He’s a complicated man, and I enjoyed finding out more about his history. The Quimby curse makes for a really good mystery plot. Heath on the other hand feels so young! It makes me remember that I’m no longer in my early twenties… His dramatic, first infatuation with an older man makes for fun reading, although at times I felt like yelling ‘just back off and forget about Simon!’ I also really liked the side characters, especially the banter between Verbina and Myrtle.

What fell short for me was the amount of exposition given through dialogue, especially near the beginning of the book. I just wanted the story to hurry up and start! The amount of background historical detail did really flesh out the setting, but I felt a bit overloaded with it all at times. The story does move faster once Heath arrives at Heatherwick, though, and there is a satisfying conclusion to the puzzle, as well as the delightfully bittersweet feeling of a first love.

I received this book from Netgalley for free in return for an honest review.