I See London Three Times (Book Thoughts: London Triptych, Jonathan Kemp)

"London Triptych," by Jonathan Kemp is my kind of book. It tells three subtly interwoven stories of male prostitutes from three generations: the 1890s, the 1950s, and the 1990s. These men are not shy about their sexual desires, and that could make for some fidgety reading from some circles. But it tells a certain kind of truth that may not exist anymore. These are from generations of men where there is still shame in what they desire, and nowadays in the age of marriage equality it may be good to look at where we came from, before we enjoy the freedom that we have today. These are quite compelling stories, based on historical facts - I couldn't stop reading once I started the book. I was happy to read about London (my favorite European city) as seen through the eyes of these men from three different moments in history. Lastly,  these are all stories of unrequited love - I am sure all of us will be able to relate to the ache, the euphoria, and the craziness which that entails. 

Sam's Hams (Book Thoughts: Ham- Slices Of Life, Sam Harris)

I liked Sam Harris voice enough to have all his CDs - even the rare ones fromhis Motown years. I have also seen him on Broadway in "Grease," and liked him especially in "The Life." So I was looking forward to reading his book "Ham - Slices Of A Life," which is not technically a memoir but more "essays and stories." They are numbered writings on some of his life experiences. Harris' first rise to fame was from being a Grand Champion on "Star Search" from the 80s, and I do remember him from that show, which was a precursor to this generation's "American Idol." These stories are unstructured but it doesn't matter - they are hilarious, touching, and you get a peek at his heart. I was hooked from the first page and spent a good part of my Saturday morning finishing the book. It's also juicy but not mean - you get a glimpse of his close friendship with Liza Minnelli, and his unfortunate brush with Aretha Franklin. I had hoped he would write about Liza, and he paints her in such a glowing light that's not fawning. He talks about some of his experience as a child in Oklahoma, and I could say I can relate to a lot of them: growing up gay and finding his place in the world. This is quite an enjoyable book, and has a lot of poignant moments. 

Fate Follows Facebook (Book Review: The Status Of All Things, Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke)

Summer's here, and the beach reads are pouring. "The Status Of All Things," by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke is a great one to pick up. It ponders that modern question - what if you can write various Facebook status and they all come true. This book is a variation on that age-old wish story, only this time via a social media platform. But the book is much more than that, of course. Kate, dumped by her husband-to-be the night before her wedding, gets a chance to rewrite history. But should she? We probably all know the answer to this question but Fenton and Steinke takes us on a wild and believable journey, and I was taken along by all the twists and turns - the book is far from predictable. I found myself rooting for people I didn't think I would, and then second guess myself. This is a light, enjoyable book but it also made me think. Summer just got a little more sunnier.

Conversations With Tommy (Book Thoughts: Footnotes, Tommy Tune)

Someone somewhere (I can't remember where now) recommended Tommy Tune's memoir "Footnotes,"  from 1997, saying it was juicy and when I looked on Amazon it was selling for a penny (!) so I ordered it. It took the longest time to arrive (I am guessing media mail) so I almost forgot about it when it did. Whoever it was that recommended it,  I thank you a million times - because I can't remember the last time something worth a penny brought me such joy. It's a poignant, joyous, and yes gossipy little book. It doesn't follow the structure of a normal memoir - it's as if the whole thing was written like a stream of consciousness. He would start to tell a story about something, then remember something so he would continue with that, and then go back to his original thought. It's immensely personal - imagine you are having dinner with him, and then he tells stories from his life, and you can continue as you clear the table, wash the dishes, and end up at his sofa as he wistfully reminisces loves of his life. This book is funny, emotional,. touching - and it gives you a glimpse behind one of the greatest minds ever to hit Broadway. Highly recommended

C'mon A My House (Book Thoughts: Open House, Elizabeth Berg)

I liked my first Elizabeth berg book so much I decided to go read a second one,  and I read what I thought was a popular choice: "Open House." It was an Oprah Book Club selection, and was a bestseller.  The first thing I noticed is that it is kind of dated: characters still watch movies via VHS tapes, and people still calculated long distance phone call costs. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but the book felt like a historical novel in that sense. I found this book very weird:  it seems like Berg couldn't decide on the tone of the book. It starts out sad and wistful, but she goes into comedic situations. But, it's very much readable and never boring.

Teach Me Tonight (Book Thoughts: The Price, Andrew Grey()

All you need to do is look at the cover of Andrew Grey's "The Price" and you can kind of discern what the book is all bout. Basically, it is set in Las Vegas and involves a male hustler who meets a teacher (also, incidentally, an old classmate of his from high school) and...well, you can predict the story. I don't really mind that, but this book attempts a little more, and it sort of succeeds. Grey has a good eye for character and dialogue, and I actually felt there's more there here. For my taste, it is still just a tad too pulp-y, but at this point thats a quibble.

Anyplace I Hang My Hat Is Home (Book Thoughts: Home Safe, Elizabeth Berg)

Could it be possible that I have never read any of Elizabeth Berg's books? She seems like my kind of author. But here it is, I just finished reading my first Berg book - Home Safe. And I feel like I want to grab as much of her books now, because this book really touched me, and I couldn't put it down (Strangely enough, this has a lot of negative reviews on Goodreads) I found myself identifying with the protagonist, Helen, who is recently widowed and is on a crossroad as to what to do next in her life. After her husband dies, she gets a revelation that changes the course of her life. This is a heartfelt novel, one that embraces both change and staying put. I am still haunted by it.

Top Heavy (Book Review: Guys On Top, Darien Cox)

Love stories - they all are basically one and the same, aren't they? The joy in reading about them is how one gets to a point and overcome obstacles.  Darien Cox gives little details that make "Guys On Top" more enjoyable than your run-of-the-mill MM romance,he sets up the Boston suburb pretty vividly,  but I am still a little turned off by the gratuitous sex scenes - this is just me, by the by, because I know most people enjoy that. More emotions and less physicality for me, please!

Joan's Daughter (Book Thoughts: The Book Of Joan, Melissa Rivers)

Who is Melissa Rivers? Is she just Joan's daughter? I thought by reading her memoir "The Book Of Joan: Tales Of Mirth, Mischief, and Manipulation" we would get a glimpse. Except for two short pages that bookend the book, Rivers never really gets "personal," and what we get is nothing different from past press releases or interview points as she promotes this book. What we do get are essays that evoke Joan's humor. It feels like Melissa went to rummage through Joan's filing cabinet of jokes and collated them. What more, the tone is confusing - we go from an essay of Joan's stand-up routine to Melissa talking about Joan resentign Jay Leno upholding Carson's ban to not have Joan guest on "The Tonight Show," and I frankly can't tell if the latter is a joke or true. Maybe I was looking for something more thoughtful from Melissa, and in that manner this (very thin) book just did not deliver.

To Dream The Impossible Dream (Fans Of The Impossible Life, Kate Scelsa)

This book, "Fans Of The Impossible Life," by Kate Scelsa just got to me good. In the middle of reading it, I suddenly realized that I care immensely for the three characters in the book - Sebby, Mira, and Jeremy - and felt protective about them, and I just craved for all of them to have a happy ending. These are three young seemingly-broken souls finding a way to be happy when you are young, unafraid, and insecure. These are people who do not think they deserve to be happy. These are characters who feel like they are trapped in a life with no way out - and didn't we all feel that way at some point when we were young? Scelsa has a good feel for these characters as they are written very real. (I particularly didn't thinks she needed the 'gimmick' of having every character written in a different person)  This book is one of my favorites so far for 2015.

Touched For The Very First Time (Book Review: Better Than Okay, Jacinta Howard)

When I first read the synopsis for Jacinta Howard's "Better Than Okay,"  I thought it would be a light-hearted story about two friends who turn into lovers. Wrong. The story, in its core, is of the friends-to-lovers variety but it is much darker. Destiny and Michael play the two friends who turn into lovers, but their path is much more convulated, and it is an emotional roller coaster. I must admit that I was kind of side-swiped by it. But Howard has a great ear for dialogue - they both sound so authentic and likeable characters that you are instantly hooked in their journey. And I didn't even realize that these characters were African-American until maybe a fifth into the book: they just are people that live and breathe and love.

Starting Over Again (Book Thoughts: Cure For The Common Breakup)

Minutes into the book, Flight Attendant Summer Benson has gone through two devastating things: surviving a plane crash and getting dumped by her pilot boyfriend. So where does she go? Black Dog Bay, a town in Maryland where all broken hearted people go (She read about it in the inflight magazine)  Immediately, she begins her life anew, and, of course, falls in love with the town's mayor (after running over his rose bushes) Kendrick has a light hand in her writing - the book is always funt o read, and the town's characters are quirky and interesting. Cliches abound, though, and Summer's character is never really consistent - one minute is is smart, the next she is dumb and gullible. But, this is perfect beach read, and is guaranteed to  put a smile on your face.

Bad History (Book Thoughts: The History Of Us, Leah Stewart)

Life gets in the way of my reading sometimes, and then I get stuck with a book so slow that it takes me a while to "move on." Leah Stewart's "The History Of Us" was so slow and unengaging that I read it for two weeks, and I got in a rut.  I liked the premise enough - a 28 year old woman, Eloise gets stuck taking care of her three nephews and nieces after their parents die in a car accident. But the book does not focus on that. Rather, it fast forwards to years after, when the kids are all adults. And there's not one likeable kid in the bunch: all selfish, manipulative self-centered pricks. I wouldn't want to spend any time with these fools, never mind  read a book about them. 

Messing With Perfection (Book Thoughts: Better Than Perfect, Melissa Kantor)

In Melissa Kantor's book, "Better Than Perfect," Juliet Newman thought she had a perfect life. She is a senior in High School, with a handsome boyfriend, and is on her way to Harvard - until her world starts to fall apart: her parents divorce, which affects her mom's mental health, and she gets tangled with Declan, who is much less perfect than her boyfriend. This is a young adult book, and it is a pretty engrossing one. I couldn't sleep last night, and these characters kept me company. I can't remember the last time I was up with a book. At times, teh plot seems by-the-numbers but Juliet is an interesting enough character that the book is not as tiresome as it could have been. 

Belongings (Book Thoughts: Where He Belongs, Trina Solet)

When I started reading this book, I hated the two main characters. jack is a bore, and Gus is one of those busybody gay guys I can't stand (Who flirts with their boss on the first meeting?) But Gus's son, Josh is adorable and steals whatever scene he is in. Honestly, he is the only reason this book was bearable. And why must we really endure pages and pages of these sex scenes? I sound like a prude, I know, but they just seem excessive, and ruin the mood for me, so to speak.

I WIsh I Knew (Book Thoughts: The Thing I Didn't Know I Didn't Know, Brent Hartinger)

I didn't even realize that the characters in Brent Hartinger's "The Thing I Didn't Know I Didn't Know" were the same characters in "Geography Club" until I finished the book and went to its Goodreads page. I have only read the first book in the young adult series so I am sure I missed a lot of the back story references here. But as a stand alone, this isn't too confusing.The most interesting thing for me is that this book kind of gave me an insight in to how millennials think - and found a commonality in that no matter what generation you are, we all have the same fears and desires at a certain age. I know that I wasn't able to appreciate the book because there are holes to be filled for me to appreciate it more, but what I read was enjoyable enough.

Over The Hills And Everywhere (Book Review: I Left It On The Mountain, Kevin Sessums)

Sometime a book just speaks. Kevin Sessums' "I Left It On The Mountain' speaks. It speaks like poetry, it gives too much information, it's tales are self-indulgent. But damn if it isn't a book that speaks not just from the heart but from the soul. Sessums writes about his life, starting from when he first moved to New York City in the 70s, to working with Andy Warhol at The Factory and for Interview Magazine, segeuing to his days in Vanity Fair, and then his downward spiral to meth addiction. (The last part can be an exasperating read, but imagine living it ) In between those years, he writes about climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and walking the Camino trail to Santiago de Compostela. I must admit that sometimes the writing can be a bit much. Like a rich dessert, I sometimes needed a break from it to fully appreciate it. It took me two weeks to finish this book - no light reading here. But as I finished it, I found myself weeping - there is such profoundness here that even as I read every word, I know I have only began to scratch the surface. One day I know I will re read it and it will make more sense. I have lived a full-ish life at my age now, but I know I have not lives a life yet. Once I do, this book will make more perfect sense.

Home And Children (Book Thoughts: If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home By Now, Claire Lazebnik)

I confess I started reading this book because I liked the title: "If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home By Now." Plus, I liked a previous novel of Claire Lazebnik. This is a story of a young mother raising her child while also living at her parent's house. And...there really is nothing else happening. i must confess I found the book very slow and once things started to happen, the book was already ending. But, Lazebnik is good at giving her characters very distinct voices, and even if the main character, Rickie can be a trying one, I felt myself connecting and empathizing with her, making this book marginally enjoyable.

A Child Is Born (Book Thoughts: The Secrets Of Midwives, Sally Hepworth)

I don't know what possessed me to start reading "The Secrets Of Midwives" by Sally Hepworth because I had the mistaken notion that it would be a lot about child-bearing, a topic I really am not attuned to, nor will I ever be. But Hepworth is much more than that, it's more about three generations of midwives and their own individual stories. Some stories are more interesting than others, and the earlier ones can be a bit too soap-opera like, but this is an entertaining enough read. The first half is slower than the second, which felt a bit rushed (I suspect that it's an editing issue) so it took me a bit more time to read the book, but when the action picked up, all became well.

She Ain't Heavy (Book Review: Paperweight, Meg Haston)

If you just saw the cover of Meg Haston's "Paperweight" you would think it's a fluffy YA novel - and I thought it was - but it really is a serious book tackling a very serious subject: eating disorder. When the book begins, Stevie has just entered a treatment facility in New Mexico, and by a series of flashbacks, we get to find out what led her there. While I thought the book was compelling, it depressed me. It was sad to see that these situations, which I know are real situations that happen to real people, exist n the world, and the caretaker in me wanted to smother and rock these characters to comfort. I feel like I want to look at cute puppy pictures after.