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Rena Reads
A place to express how the books I've read have influenced, disturbed or enhanced my life. Literature with a little lesbian love sprinkled here and there. Pronounced /ree-nay/
1-900-A-N-Y-T-I-M-E
I'd wanted to read 1-900-A-N-Y-T-I-M-E for a while because Tracy Price-Thompson is the author of one my favorite books, Chocolate Sangria, as well as A Woman's Worth, and she knows how to tell a rich story. Then comes 1-900-A-N-Y-T-I-M-E, which is quite an ambitious tale in itself. However, it didn't quite live up to my expectations.
Bertha, a severely disfigured woman with a traumatic past, uses her seclusion to her advantage by running a sex line as "Bliss" to fulfill her sexual needs. Her clients are mostly delusional men living out their secret fantasies through her. Bertha truly believes she knows what these men want. When they all figure out (at the exact same time no less!) whom she really is, it dawns on her that phone sex can't compare to the human connection - and that people are willing to pay a lot keep their hidden desires just that.
While the novel is multi-layered and character driven, the plot didn't gel as well I'd hoped. It was almost unbelievable in some parts. Like one of her clients, a rapper named La-Rule (get it?) was a closethead who imagined making love with Bliss's boyfriend. He was so worried about the public discovering his secret that he stalks Bliss to retrieve her credit card records tying him to her sex line; yet, he fully disclosed himself and his career to her in the beginning, even sending her CDs and promotional items in the mail. Huh?
Yes, there were other things that made me go hmm, but I will say it was fast paced and kept me hanging on.
Rated 3.5Aryn Kyle writes a great collection of short stories centering on women and their life choices. While I tend to agree with some reviewers that Boys and Girls Like You and Me has a depressing tone, there are a few gems, especially "Company of Strangers" and title story. I laughed, grimaced, and mostly cringed at the characters' actions, but always hoped they’d find their way.
Indulge
What can I say about this book (which should be properly titled as "Dilemma", btw)? Implausible and annoying characters. Gratuitous bed-hopping. Bad portrayal of GLBT lifestyles. I could take this story at face value and say it was meant as an "interesting" tale that flies by, but the plot wasn't up to snuff. It got me through a rainy Saturday, though.
With Pretty Little Liars, I was wavering between 3 and 4 stars.Yes, the girls' behavior in the book is deplorable and nothing you would want your daughters doing. However, some of it is true to what some (not all) teens do. Some kids drink. Some kids do drugs. A lot of kids have sex.
If I were to judge Liars on the actions of Hanna, Emily, Aria and Spencer, the novel would rate poorly. But I'm rating the plot and the writing, which I have to say is good. Full of suspense and snark. My kind of book.
I'm not sure yet if I'll read any of the other books, though. Maybe.
Lexie was crazy as hell, and Jinx was even crazier to entertain her. Overall, a decent read, but it took far too long to get to the climax.I enjoyed the 1960s all-girls boarding school setting, and the incorporation of current events during this time. It was supposedly a simpler time, which I believe made the plot simplistic also. How can Jinx not realize she was being manipulated by a cunning, disturbed, hypersexualized rich girl, used to having everything and everyone she desired?
I guess being 18 and naive will make you overlook details like that.
Absolutely lovely. Funny, heartwrenching, and full of affection. Makes you think about the first time you fell in love.
 - Skyy)
This was the most madcap, sad, sweet, hilarious and insightful teen book I've read this year. Loved it.See my full review at http://renareads.tumblr.com
I began The Girl Who Fell From the Sky like most people, I think, wanting to know the story of a biracial girl with light skin and blue eyes who is the only survivor of a horrific family tragedy, the details of which are laid out with each page. I was enamored with Rachel's voice and her life after the accident, and more intrigued with what came before. Durrow's writing is superb, how it tied the details. By the novel's end, however, I somehow felt some details were left undone. Like what happens between Rachel and Brick. What about the grandmother?Most importantly: What will become of Rachel's future? I felt so invested in her, that I felt like this couldn't be the end.
Maybe it's not. I would definitely like to know what happens to adult Rachel. I feel like she has more to tell.
Personally, I'm not fond of the "all a lesbian needs is a man" message in this urban tale, but the plot is page-turning. That is all.
Imagine you’re married to your college sweetheart, four or five years removed from college life, and your best friends are scattered across the country, leaving you with no local bestie to call for Sunday brunch or a mani-pedi gabfest on the fly. Your husband is wonderful, but he’s not the one you talk to when you need someone to indulge your insecurities or would know whether this blouse works with this skirt.So what do you do? You launch a one-year pursuit to find a BFF by having 52 girl-dates. Then write about it. And have it published like Rachel Bertsche, author of MWF Seeking BFF: My Yearlong Search for a New Best Friend.
From the beginning of one Chicago winter to the next, Bertsche puts herself out there to find the perfect girl-friend whom she can laugh, confide in, and be her goofy self around, a relationship on the same level with her long-time best friends. At first, it’s painful to watch Bertsche attempt to make friends, but as she breaks out of her comfort zone and tries activities she normally wouldn’t – speed-friending, Improv classes, friend matchmaking, anyone – her befriending becomes relaxed and old-hat.
More than that, Bertsche’s journey is well-written, deftly researched and, most of all, entertaining. Her never-ending girl-dates, observations, and anecdotes are what really make the book lively.
But what about all these dates? Did they really yield her a BFF? I won’t give it away. But what is does give her is a life that’s much richer afterward.
Dreaming in Color
The pangs of high school come to life in Dreaming in Color, the young adult novel from Fiona Lewis (aka Fiona Zedde of Bliss). Carlene "Cee-Cee" is a newly-transplanted Jamaican attempting to adjust to American ways, finding a way to fit in and standing out for all the wrong reasons. She is antagoized by the "in crowd," mostly because of her accent and Afro. No one seems to get her - until she befriends Greg, a husky boy who hails from her homeland. They share a bond that brightens Cee-Cee's life in ways she didn't think possible. If only her school life followed suit. A great story, one that teens can definitely relate to.
More like 2.5...Where do I begin? I just...
This book was all over the place for me. I like my erotica to have some semblance of a plot, but Forbidden Heat just wasn't compelling enough for me.
Basically, there's this woman, Danielle, who always had an attraction to her college classmates, Jake and Trey -- yet they were in a relationship with each other. When Danielle is reunited with the pair at a mutual friend's wedding, she finally sees her chance to have them both in her bed. Jake and Trey, both bisexual, have no problem with this one-night arrangement. After all, they were enamored with her back then, as well.
Long story short, they all end up in a three-way sexual relationship. And while at first extremely pleasurable for all, problems inevitably surface. Danielle is confused about whom she's falling for, and still believes the men are still in love with each other. Trey and Jake think they're in love with Danielle. *sigh*
Bottom line: Forbidden Heat is only moderately entertaining. The story behind the sex is tedious and predictable, and the sex is one-note. There are also some issues that were raised for me surrounding the believability of the characters.
This is the first Opal Carew book I’ve read. Would I read another? Maybe her earlier works, which seem to be better rated.
War, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing, if You Know When the Men are Gone is any indication. These mostly somber, seldom sweet stories about soldiers and their wives and families at Fort Hood are well-crafted, but hella depressing. Siobhan Fallon, an Army wife herself, deftly captures the emotions of these broken people with detail and candor that can only come from living this lonely life. A commander's wife who waits for her cancer test while her children become missing. The officer on mid-tour leave who inconspicuously hides in his own basement to discern whether his wife is cheating on him. And all these characters connected in one way or another. Some of these stories did end a bit abruptly, but the sentiments and descriptions are still as powerful. And by reading this book, it's further proof that our country needs to bring our men home.
The one word that came to mind when reading glr2grl by Julie Anne Peters is longing. Her collection of short stories featuring young lesbians is about longings for love and acceptance. Mostly the book is a bit sad, but there is some light at the end. Great book for young people and anyone who wants to step into the shoes of gay youths.
