Welcome to Litsy!

A well very written book. A very difficult subject. I would find this hard to recommend. If suicide has touched your life you probably won‘t want to read. It was hard.

Albert has spent his whole life hiding who he is til his upcoming forced retirement (& a significant loss) prompt him to make some changes. Soon he's connecting w his coworkers, dressing better, & searching for a lost love. He makes a connection w 19 year old single mom Nicole who is grappling w a difficult situation with her boyfriend & they help each other in ways both practical & emotional. A couple quibbles (spoiler comment) but it's a pick.

This is a highly banned book and I‘m happy to say I‘ve finally read it. It is a sex ed guide for YA but it misses the mark. It doesn‘t discuss intersex or trans folx in detail the way it does gay and bi. NB aren‘t mentioned at all. Some of the language is transphobic and harmful. If you are advocating for trans folx, you should not ever use language that mirrors that of transphobic voices. Ever. Maybe the new edition is better? This is a ⬇️

April #ReadingBracket2024 nonfiction update
Of the two I read this month, my favorite was Leg. But Better Living Through Birding is beating everyone for the whole quarter still 🐦

I‘ve read some truly phenomenal books this year. The tagged by Sabrina Imbler & Ann Patchett‘s Tom Lake are April‘s winners. 🪼🌸🍒

For those (like me) who sometimes struggle to see:

Jan: Turtle Diary
Feb: The Book of Speculation
March: Greta & Valdin
April: How Far the Light Reaches

Bonus 1: Tom Lake
Bonus 2: The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion (Volume 6)

#ReadingBracket2024 #2024ReadingBracket

And now, readerly joy! I loved this YA romance about a trio of queer teenage actors navigating their way through K-drama roles and Seoul adventures and the perils of existing in a society where most of the older generation is actively homophobic. Lyla Lee strikes a good balance between the delight they all take in one another and the very real threats to their careers and their relationships with their parents. #gaymay

#StorySettings #Cafe
@@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

I completely forgot that this is the penultimate rather than final volume, but it certainly has enough big moments for a mistaken finale! Glad to be back with these characters, and the way Oseman moves through discussions of identity, sexuality, body issues, intimacy, mental health and other topics important to teens, like figuring out what the future after high school could look like. And Nick and Charlie are so sweet! 🥰

April #bookspin wrap up: read 9 books for the month. 3 were audiobooks, 3 fiction books, & 3 were NF. I achieved one bingo for the month. 3 books off my physical TBR & 1 off my kindle backlog

How heartbreaking. Albert is giving me all the feels.🥺