SoapZone Community Message Board

The In-Between Bookstore by Edward Underhill (A) A trans man goes back to his rural Illinois hometown and visits the local bookstore where he worked in high school and gets transported back to 2009 and his pre-transition self. He leaves the store and it’s 2020s again. He tries to help his pre-transition past self while figuring out his present.

Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller (A-): Ho boy, this is taken out of the headlines and timely. Lula Dean tries to get books banned at the library and sets up a Little Library of books that she deems appropriate—and someone replaces them with the banned books while keeping the book jackets.Chaos and controversy ensue.

Margo’s Got Money Problems by Rufi Thorpe (A-) A young college student finds herself pregnant with her professor’s child and starts an Only Fans to pay for it. AppleTV already is already turning this into a limited series with Nicole Kidman and Nick Offerman (I can see him potentially as three of the male characters, think Nicole will be the woman from Child Protection Services).

The B-List

Carrie by Stephen King (A re-read! B+) So since I’ve read all of King’s books, I’m now embarking on a re-read of most of them (no, not re-reading Cujo nor Pet Semetary :P I read both of those when I was ten or so…), one a month in publication order. His first is still great.

The Merriest Misters by Timothy Janovsky (B+) Christmas rom-com I had a hold on since the beginning of December but wasn’t returned into January, grr. It’s basically a rip off of The Santa Clause, but the Santa is gay and his partner is not happy about his new job. It’s stupid fun that would have been better in December.

In Tongues by Thomas Grattan (B+) A young Minnesota transplant to NYC finds himself as a dogwalker for an older (60s) gay couple and becomes intertwined with their snooty art world in 2001.

Alas, I went and re his first book The Recent East, was nowhere near as good, and I ended up skimming it to the end…had more promise, as it was about the fall of the Berlin Wall and East Germans coming to the US, but…was so slow and boring.

Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions by John Grisham and Jim McCloskey (B) I always begin the new year with the latest John Grisham book, this one co-authored and about real-life convictions of innocent people who were framed. Grisham’s parts were his usual stuff, but McCloskey’s parts were a chore to read.

The American by Henry James (B) I now can say I’ve read Henry James! Not his best, I’m sure but it was good.

Fine Just the Way It Is by Annie Proulx (B) A third collection of short stories about Wyoming. The first one was her best. I’m hoping to read all of Proulx’s works…still think The Shipping News is the best, which I read in the early 2000s.

The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks (Re-read) (B) I read this eighth grade, and I remembered liking it then, despite not being a genre I usually like, and then I read his Running with the Demon series in high school/college…and later found out they somehow are connected to Shannara now…been meaning to read the whole thing, so when I found them at a library used book sale for free, I took advantage! I don’t think I liked it as much as in eighth grade, but I did appreciate the metaphors far more this time. The plot is basically Lord of the Rings (which I have read and hated), but easier to read.

The C-List:

The Husbands by Holly Gramazio (C+). Great idea, poor execution and follow through. The main character comes home to find a husband she was unaware of having. She sends him to the attic, and a new, different husband comes down. She then changes through husbands and lives…and the story goes nowhere.

Get Shorty and Be Cool by Elmore Leonard (Both C). No idea why he’s so well-regarded, especially by Stephen King. The Get Shorty movie was better, but I thought I’d give Be Cool a try just in case…wasn’t a fan of that one either. But I know I’m not a fan of crime novels in general so…