Expectation: An unflinching queer coming of age story.
Reality: Darker and more disturbing than I imagined but also oddly captivating.
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The Absolutist – John Boyne
Expectation: A story about the forbidden love between two soldiers in World War I.
Reality: Half of the novel is filler, but Boyne delivers some shocking revelations and a satisfying conclusion.
Godspeed – Nickolas Butler
Expectation: A race around the clock thriller that taps into shared anxieties about control and opportunity from different experiences on the class spectrum.
Reality: Often ridiculous but frequently entertaining, the good outweighed the bad thanks to strong character development.
All About Love: New Visions – bell hooks
bell hooks’ essays on love were exactly what I was expecting and not what I expected at all given the authors’ reputation. While delivering her famous explorations of intersectionality – in this case the internal and external factors that influence how we love ourselves and others – it was also deeply religious and more self-help in nature than expected.
The Fire Next Time – James Baldwin
Let’s just say there are very few people - whether white or Black, believer or agnostic - who would not find his words difficult to stomach. However, Baldwin’s testimony is as urgent and necessary today as it was in the 1960s.
The Sun and Her Flowers – Rupi Kaur
The brief “poems” and corresponding animation make this a quick read and it’s worth the time. I loved the way she used the title – always placed at the end – to emphasize the theme or key takeaway. In many ways this made the collection feel lyrical, in that you could easily add music and make it a song.
Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands – Kate Beaton
Beaton is a phenomenal storyteller, and I was captivated by this memoir and its images from the first page. While she covers heavy topics - gendered violence, rape, drug abuse and death - she also infuses warmth and humor into the pages, which help the reader understand how she survived the ordeal.
Boys Come First – Aaron Foley
Expectation: A story about three middle-aged friends heading on a vacation to reconnect and lick wounds from failed relationships.
Reality: There’s no vacation, but there is a lot of humor and heart in this lighter read about reconnecting, re-envisioning and reclaiming one's future.
A Man and His Cat, Volumes One - Six – Umi Sakurai
As a whole, I found the series sweet but slight. At times it was repetitive and boring – especially when the human characters were the focus instead of the cats – but Sakurai completely nails the understated joy and endorphin boost of sharing your life with a quirky cat.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle – Shirley Jackson
Expectation: An American gothic ghost story set in a small town with evil both real and imagined.
Reality: More mysterious than supernatural, the author keeps readers engaged but the payoff wasn’t there in the end.
The Town of Babylon – Alejandro Varela
Expectation: A dramedy about revisiting the people and places you left behind.
Reality: More politically focused than anticipated, there’s a sense of urgency and relatability in the text, especially for middle-aged queer men.
I’m Not Hungry But I Could Eat – Christopher Gonzalez
Expectation: A food-themed story collection.
Reality: Only a few stories missed the mark in this solid collection, introducing Christopher Gonzalez as a writer to watch.
We Contain Multitudes – Sarah Henstra
Expectation: A breezy graphic novel full of the typical young adult trappings.
Reality: Not a graphic novel and not breezy. The epistolary structure makes it a quick read, but there are multiple chaotic and disturbing plots (see trigger warnings).
Deaf Utopia: A Memoir - And a Love Letter to a Way of Life – Nyle DiMarco with Robert Siebert
DiMarco’s Hollywood experiences are secondary to the true intent of the book – the “love letter to a way of life” – which provide a fascinating entry point into learning about the intersectionality of Deafness and queerness, historical and ongoing biases and the resiliency and pride of this community.
Gender Queer – Maia Kobabe
I found Maia Kobabe’s exploration of gender, sexuality and pronouns to be informative and well done.
Time Is A Mother – Ocean Vuong
Maybe my expectations were too high, but “Mother” felt a bit too avant-garde for this casual reader of poetry and instead of being consumed by his words, I felt they created a wall.
56 Days – Catherine Ryan Howard
Expectation: A whodunnit cashing in on COVID-19.
Reality: A surprisingly clever, sometimes shocking and utterly enjoyable mystery thriller that used COVID-19 as a logical plot point.
Heartstopper: Volumes One – Six – Alice Oseman
A complete series review of Alice Oseman's “Heartstopper — Volumes One through Six.” Cozy, queer and consistently wise, with Volume Four as the emotional peak and Volume Six a worthy, honest finale. A series that has always believed love isn't about finding someone who completes you, but about becoming more fully yourself because of them.
The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho
Expectation: To be wowed by this modern classic.
Reality: Even at its slim length, I found it to be an exercise in repetition and tedium.
Another Country – James Baldwin
Expectation: A gorgeously written astute commentary of mid-century American life.
Reality: All of the above, but incredibly depressing and a tad too long.