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Books... Books... and more BOOKS!
Jan. 26th, 2006 11:00 pmIt seems that I have updated a lot this week lol. But this post is all about books I've been reading/read in the past two weeks.
Book #1: Hawke's Harbor by: S.E. Hinton (writer of The Outsiders)
Summary: Jamie Sommers, an orphan at the age of 8, has had an eventful life. Barely in his 20s, Jamie has already sailed around the world several times with his partner in crime, Kellen Quinn -- living the life of a modern-day pirate, smuggling everything from jewels to guns to drugs. After years of living hard and fast, Jamie decides to find a quiet coastal town where he can settle down. Fate lands him in the quiet community of Hawkes Harbor on the Delaware coast, an "uncanny" town brimming with legends of hidden pirate treasure, haunted houses, and undead spirits. While searching for treasure in one of the many caves on Hawkes Island, Jamie stumbles across an old coffin secured shut with heavy chains. Thinking the casket contains gold trinkets, Jamie removes the chains -- and comes face to face with a creature that will drive him to the brink of insanity.
Reaction: I threw this book across the room. Not because I didn't like it... NO! FAR FROM IT! I just didn't want it to end! The ending was so perfect! One of the best books I've read since The Outsiders.
Rating: 5 stars.
Book #2: Latter Days by: C. Jay Cox (screenwriter for Sweet Home Alabama)
Summary: Combine a hunky, repressed Mormon missionary and an L.A. party boy, sensual sex and knowing humor, and the result is a sure-fire crowd-pleaser. Christian is a handsome, young man who flits from guy to guy without much of a thought in his pretty little head. So when his roommate Julie discovers that the gorgeous group of young men who moved in next door are Mormon missionaries, they bet on whether Christian can bed one of them. Christian quickly moves in for the kill, identifying Elder Aaron Davis as a repressed homo-and quite a sexy one at that. Their initial encounters have a charged sexual tension, but fear of the devil keeps Aaron's libido at bay. When the two are alone together, Aaron's Mormon missionary roommates interrupt, spot their brother as gay and send him back in shame to his Idaho hometown and embarrassed parents. But in a heartfelt conclusion that brought festival audiences to their feet, love wins out over fear.
Reaction: Awwwwww! This book made me so happy. I wanted to cry for joy at the end. It gave me a quote to add to my quotes list, "How come if God talks to Joseph Smith, Smith gets to be a prophet, but if God talks to me, I’m schizophrenic?" (For those of you who don't know, Joseph Smith is the prophet of the Mormon faith.)
Rating: 4 stars
Book #3: Last Days of Summer by: Steve Kluger (writer of Almost Like Being in Love, also another good book!)
Summary: May 15, 1940
Charlie Banks
New York Giants
Polo Grounds, New York
Dear Mr. Banks:
I am a 12-year-old boy and I am dying from malaria. Please hit a home run for me because I don't think I will be around much longer.
Your friend,
Joey Margolis
Dear Kid:
Last week it was the plague. Now it's malaria. What do I look - stupid to you? Your lucky I don't send somebody over there to tap you on the conk. I am inclosing 1 last picture. Do not write to me again.
Chase. Banks
3d Base
Dear Charlie:
Nobody asked for your damn picture. I never even heard of you before. And you can forget about the home run too. The only reason I needed one was because the bullies who keep beating me up somehow thought you were my best friend and the homer was supposed to keep them from slugging me anymore. Thanks for nothing.
Can I go on a road trip with you?
Your arch enemy,
Joey Nargolis
Dear Joey:
"Somehow" they thought I was your best friend? Where did they hear that from? A Nazi spy? J. Herbert Hoover? Franklin Delano Biscuithead? And didn't I tell you not to write to me anymore? Go bug DiMaggio.
Charlie
P.S. And just because there's a spot open for a bat boy this summer doesn't mean your going to get it. Even if we ARE chips off the same block. May 15, 1940
Reaction: This book is kinda slow in the beginning but then it gets better. Stever Kluger uses witty humor and dialogue to move his story along. I totally cried at the ending. Four tears... but still I rarely cry during books, movies or whatever.
Rating: 4 stars
Book #4: Outfield Menace by: Mark A. Roeder (I just finished this one about an hour ago)
Summary: Outfield Menace is the tale of Kurt, a fifteen-year-old baseball player, living in a small, 1950s, Indiana town. During a confrontation with Angel, the resident bad boy of Blackford High School, Kurt attacks Angel, earning the wrath of the most dangerous gang in town. When Angel finally corners Kurt, however, something happens that Kurt wouldn't have imagined in his wildest dreams. As the murder of a local boy is uncovered, suspicion is cast upon Angel, but Kurt has learned there's more to Angel than his bad boy image. Angel has a secret, however, that could get both Kurt and himself killed. Outfield Menace is a story of friendship, love, adventure, and perilous danger.
Reaction: OMG! This book is sooooooooooo good! I just finished it and I didn't want it to be over. It really covers what closet gays go through. There is a sense of mystery through the whole book and I just couldn't put it down for fear of missing something. I read this in two days. I had never read a book by this author before but he is quickly climbing to the top of my list! I think it's his talent and emotion that he pours into his writing but also the consideration he gives for those he writes about. Everytime I went to open this book I had to stop and read the dedication first, "This book is dedicated to all the non-gays who ignore the lies of the prjudiced and treat others with the kindness and respect that all, gay and non-gay alike, deserve." Another thing I really like is that most authors are very secretive about getting in contact with them but not this one! He gives you his email right on the back of the book. I am writing him tomorrow.
Rating: 5 stars
And now... next on my list...
To start tomorrow: A Better Place by: Mark A. Roeder
Summary:
What do the poorest boy in town and the captain of the football team have in common? More than you might think. Casper has nothing, but a trio of bullies who hound him, a distant father and an older brother who makes his life a living hell. Brendan has it all; muscles, money, fame and popularity. The boys come from different worlds, but both share a constant desire.
A Better Place is the story of an unlikely pair, who struggle through friendship and betrayal, hardships and heartbreaks, to find the desire of their hearts, to find a better place.
If these books seemed interesting to you I have a whole list you should try.
Rainbow Boys, High & Road - Alex Sanchez
Almost Like Being In Love - Stever Kluger
Boy Meets Boy - David Levithan
Desert Sons & Into this World We're Thrown - Mark Kendrick
All of these books are very good and as you can see I recommend each and every one. I get asked a lot of questions as to why I read books about gays. #1 the stories are good, #2 I have no baises whatsoever against books, #3 if you are gay more power to you! What you do on your own time is your business not mine. As long as you are happy I am happy, unless you are my friend and you get hurt then I'm kicking major ass.
And what are you reading?
Book #1: Hawke's Harbor by: S.E. Hinton (writer of The Outsiders)
Summary: Jamie Sommers, an orphan at the age of 8, has had an eventful life. Barely in his 20s, Jamie has already sailed around the world several times with his partner in crime, Kellen Quinn -- living the life of a modern-day pirate, smuggling everything from jewels to guns to drugs. After years of living hard and fast, Jamie decides to find a quiet coastal town where he can settle down. Fate lands him in the quiet community of Hawkes Harbor on the Delaware coast, an "uncanny" town brimming with legends of hidden pirate treasure, haunted houses, and undead spirits. While searching for treasure in one of the many caves on Hawkes Island, Jamie stumbles across an old coffin secured shut with heavy chains. Thinking the casket contains gold trinkets, Jamie removes the chains -- and comes face to face with a creature that will drive him to the brink of insanity.
Reaction: I threw this book across the room. Not because I didn't like it... NO! FAR FROM IT! I just didn't want it to end! The ending was so perfect! One of the best books I've read since The Outsiders.
Rating: 5 stars.
Book #2: Latter Days by: C. Jay Cox (screenwriter for Sweet Home Alabama)
Summary: Combine a hunky, repressed Mormon missionary and an L.A. party boy, sensual sex and knowing humor, and the result is a sure-fire crowd-pleaser. Christian is a handsome, young man who flits from guy to guy without much of a thought in his pretty little head. So when his roommate Julie discovers that the gorgeous group of young men who moved in next door are Mormon missionaries, they bet on whether Christian can bed one of them. Christian quickly moves in for the kill, identifying Elder Aaron Davis as a repressed homo-and quite a sexy one at that. Their initial encounters have a charged sexual tension, but fear of the devil keeps Aaron's libido at bay. When the two are alone together, Aaron's Mormon missionary roommates interrupt, spot their brother as gay and send him back in shame to his Idaho hometown and embarrassed parents. But in a heartfelt conclusion that brought festival audiences to their feet, love wins out over fear.
Reaction: Awwwwww! This book made me so happy. I wanted to cry for joy at the end. It gave me a quote to add to my quotes list, "How come if God talks to Joseph Smith, Smith gets to be a prophet, but if God talks to me, I’m schizophrenic?" (For those of you who don't know, Joseph Smith is the prophet of the Mormon faith.)
Rating: 4 stars
Book #3: Last Days of Summer by: Steve Kluger (writer of Almost Like Being in Love, also another good book!)
Summary: May 15, 1940
Charlie Banks
New York Giants
Polo Grounds, New York
Dear Mr. Banks:
I am a 12-year-old boy and I am dying from malaria. Please hit a home run for me because I don't think I will be around much longer.
Your friend,
Joey Margolis
Dear Kid:
Last week it was the plague. Now it's malaria. What do I look - stupid to you? Your lucky I don't send somebody over there to tap you on the conk. I am inclosing 1 last picture. Do not write to me again.
Chase. Banks
3d Base
Dear Charlie:
Nobody asked for your damn picture. I never even heard of you before. And you can forget about the home run too. The only reason I needed one was because the bullies who keep beating me up somehow thought you were my best friend and the homer was supposed to keep them from slugging me anymore. Thanks for nothing.
Can I go on a road trip with you?
Your arch enemy,
Joey Nargolis
Dear Joey:
"Somehow" they thought I was your best friend? Where did they hear that from? A Nazi spy? J. Herbert Hoover? Franklin Delano Biscuithead? And didn't I tell you not to write to me anymore? Go bug DiMaggio.
Charlie
P.S. And just because there's a spot open for a bat boy this summer doesn't mean your going to get it. Even if we ARE chips off the same block. May 15, 1940
Reaction: This book is kinda slow in the beginning but then it gets better. Stever Kluger uses witty humor and dialogue to move his story along. I totally cried at the ending. Four tears... but still I rarely cry during books, movies or whatever.
Rating: 4 stars
Book #4: Outfield Menace by: Mark A. Roeder (I just finished this one about an hour ago)
Summary: Outfield Menace is the tale of Kurt, a fifteen-year-old baseball player, living in a small, 1950s, Indiana town. During a confrontation with Angel, the resident bad boy of Blackford High School, Kurt attacks Angel, earning the wrath of the most dangerous gang in town. When Angel finally corners Kurt, however, something happens that Kurt wouldn't have imagined in his wildest dreams. As the murder of a local boy is uncovered, suspicion is cast upon Angel, but Kurt has learned there's more to Angel than his bad boy image. Angel has a secret, however, that could get both Kurt and himself killed. Outfield Menace is a story of friendship, love, adventure, and perilous danger.
Reaction: OMG! This book is sooooooooooo good! I just finished it and I didn't want it to be over. It really covers what closet gays go through. There is a sense of mystery through the whole book and I just couldn't put it down for fear of missing something. I read this in two days. I had never read a book by this author before but he is quickly climbing to the top of my list! I think it's his talent and emotion that he pours into his writing but also the consideration he gives for those he writes about. Everytime I went to open this book I had to stop and read the dedication first, "This book is dedicated to all the non-gays who ignore the lies of the prjudiced and treat others with the kindness and respect that all, gay and non-gay alike, deserve." Another thing I really like is that most authors are very secretive about getting in contact with them but not this one! He gives you his email right on the back of the book. I am writing him tomorrow.
Rating: 5 stars
And now... next on my list...
To start tomorrow: A Better Place by: Mark A. Roeder
Summary:
What do the poorest boy in town and the captain of the football team have in common? More than you might think. Casper has nothing, but a trio of bullies who hound him, a distant father and an older brother who makes his life a living hell. Brendan has it all; muscles, money, fame and popularity. The boys come from different worlds, but both share a constant desire.
A Better Place is the story of an unlikely pair, who struggle through friendship and betrayal, hardships and heartbreaks, to find the desire of their hearts, to find a better place.
If these books seemed interesting to you I have a whole list you should try.
Rainbow Boys, High & Road - Alex Sanchez
Almost Like Being In Love - Stever Kluger
Boy Meets Boy - David Levithan
Desert Sons & Into this World We're Thrown - Mark Kendrick
All of these books are very good and as you can see I recommend each and every one. I get asked a lot of questions as to why I read books about gays. #1 the stories are good, #2 I have no baises whatsoever against books, #3 if you are gay more power to you! What you do on your own time is your business not mine. As long as you are happy I am happy, unless you are my friend and you get hurt then I'm kicking major ass.
And what are you reading?
