Lovely Books and Things - 6.19.22

Lovely Books and Things
My Weekly Books and Films Update

Linking up with:
Mailbox Monday (details)
Stacking the Shelves (details)
Sunday Post (details)
Sunday Salon (details)

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HAPPY THINGS:

1. Yerba Buena Gardens free outdoor summer Saturday shows (here)
2. Cello/vocal performance by Theresa Wong, artist-in-residence at the San Francisco Asian Art museum (here)
3. Stroll through Golden Gate Park's Japanese Tea Garden

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Library: audiobook

The Cruelest Month
by Louise Penny
Mystery, Canada | Published: 2007 | Goodreads

Mustique Island
by Sarah McCoy
Historical, 1970s, Women's Fiction | Published: 2022 | Goodreads

For Review:

In Our Blood
by Caitlin Billings
Memoir, Mental Health, LGBTQ | Published: 2022 | Goodreads

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Virtual Author event: hosted by Book Passage
See archive of this (here)

Just by Looking at Him
by Ryan O'Connell
Contemporary, Romance, LGBTQ | Published: 2022 | Goodreads
Virtual Author event: hosted by Green Apple Books
Check out their calendar for future free author events (here)
See archive of this (here)

Cult Classic
by Sloane Crosly
Mystery, Thriller, Magical Realism | Published: 2022 | Goodreads
Virtual Author event: hosted by A Wonderful World Book Club from The Human Impacts Institute
See archive of this (here)

Things You Can Do:
How to Fight Climate Change and Reduce Waste
by Eduardo García
illustrated by Sara Boccaccini Meadows
Nonfiction, Science, Environment | Published: 2022 | Goodreads

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AND watched: theatre

Brian and Charles (2022)
Director: Jim Archer
Writer: David Earl, Chris Hayward
Stars: David Earl, Chris Hayward, Louise Brealey
Comedy | imdb | my rating: 5
ahhh, the imagination
After a particularly harsh winter Brian goes into a deep depression; completely isolated and with no one to talk to, Brian does what any sane person would do when faced with such a melancholic situation. He builds a robot.

* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently

Thanks for stopping by :-)

Happy release: A Little Bit Country by Brian D. Kennedy

A Little Bit Country
by Brian D. Kennedy
YA, Romance, Music, LGBTQ | Published: June 2022 | Goodreads
Emmett Maguire wants to be country music’s biggest gay superstar – a far reach when you’re seventeen and living in Illinois. But for now, he’s happy to do the next best thing: Stay with his aunt in Jackson Hollow, Tennessee, for the summer and perform at the amusement park owned by his idol, country legend Wanda Jean Stubbs.

Luke Barnes hates country music. As the grandson of Verna Rose, the disgraced singer who had a famous falling out with Wanda Jean, Luke knows how much pain country music has brought his family. But when his mom’s medical bills start piling up, he takes a job at the last place he wants: a restaurant at Wanda World.

Neither boy is looking for romance, but sparks fly when they meet – and soon they’re inseparable. Until a long-lost secret about Verna and Wanda comes to light, threatening to unravel everything.

Will Emmett and Luke be able get past the truths they discover…or will their relationship go down in history as just another Sad Country Love Song?

First sentence(s):
Here’s the thing about writing a good country song: It’s really fricking hard. For starters, you can’t swear. Not if you want radio play. But I don’t give a “ship” about that. For me, the bigger challenge is coming up with something original to say. Anyone can put words to music, but how do you make those words sound new? I mean, the world’s only big enough for so many songs about long dirt roads, cheating spouses, and drinking enough six-packs of cheap beer to crash your pontoon.

Happy release: Out of the Blue by Jason June

Out of the Blue
by Jason June
Fantasy, Romance, LGBTQ | Published: May 2022 | Goodreads
Crest is not excited to be on their Journey: the monthlong sojourn on land all teen merfolk must undergo. The rules are simple: Help a human within one moon cycle and return to Pacifica to become an Elder--or fail and remain stuck on land forever. Crest is eager to get their Journey over and done with: after all, humans are disgusting. They've pollluted the planet so much that there's a floating island of trash that's literally the size of a country.

In Los Angeles with a human body and a new name, Crest meets Sean, a human lifeguard whose boyfriend has recently dumped him. Crest agrees to help Sean make his ex jealous and win him back. But as the two spend more time together and Crest's pespective on humans begins to change, they'll soon be torn between two worlds. And fake dating just might lead to real feelings...

First sentence(s):
There are a surprising number of similarities between being a lifeguard and being a movie director. Both sit in a labeled chair to watch everything in their surroundings, their eyes squint just as hard thanks to glaring sun or glaring studio lights, and yelling “CUT THAT OUT!” to kids splashing day-drinking moms isn’t all that different from yelling “CUT!” to actors.

Books and Bag: A Bit of Color

Books and Bag
doing some dreaming
a designer bag and books to fill it

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Rainbow Rainbow
by Lydia Conklin
Short Stories, LGBTQ | Published: 2022 | Goodreads

A fearless collection of stories that celebrate the humor, darkness, and depth of emotion of the queer and trans experience that's not typically represented: liminal or uncertain identities, queer conception, and queer joy.

In this delightful debut collection of prize-winning stories, queer, gender-nonconforming, and trans characters struggle to find love and forgiveness, despite their sometimes comic, sometimes tragic mistakes.

In one story, a young lesbian tries to have a baby with her lover using an unprofessional sperm donor and a high-powered, rainbow-colored cocktail. In another, a fifth-grader explores gender identity by dressing as an ox—instead of a matriarch—for a class Oregon Trail reenactment. Meanwhile a nonbinary person on the eve of top surgery dangerously experiments with an open relationship during the height of the COVID crisis.

With insight and compassion, debut author Lydia Conklin takes their readers to a meeting of a queer feminist book club and to a convention for trans teenagers, revealing both the dark and lovable sides of their characters. The stories in Rainbow Rainbow will make you laugh and wince, sometimes at the same time.

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* image source: bag -Christian Dior, Dior Vibe Bowling Bags

Lovely Books and Things - 6.11.22

Lovely Books and Things
My Weekly Books and Films Update

Linking up with:
Mailbox Monday (details)
Stacking the Shelves (details)
Sunday Post (details)
Sunday Salon (details)

~*~

HAPPY THINGS:

1. Egg and cheese on a Buttermilk Malt Biscuit from Bazaar Cafe - Brews. Bundts. Biscuits. (and banjos …) (here)
2. Gifted an Inspector Gamache themed coffee from Brome Lake Books, Knowlton, Quebec, Canada (here) one of the towns that inspired Three Pines in Louise Penny's Gamache series. My reading buddy for this series happened to be in that area while traveling.
3. Finished fun puzzle image - Sugar Daddy by Pezel Puzzles (photo by Tori Annesley)

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Bought:

The Brutal Telling
by Louise Penny
Mystery, Canada | Published: 2009 | Goodreads

Library: audiobook

Bones of Hilo
by Eric Redman
Mystery, Hawaii | Published: 2021 | Goodreads
Library:

Violets
by Kyung-sook Shin
translated by Anton Hur
LGBTQ, Historical, Korea | Published: 2022 | Goodreads
For Review:

Out of the Blue
by Jason June
Fantasy, Romance, LGBTQ | Published: May 2022 | Goodreads
courtesy of publisher -Thanks!
yes, that's a merman ;-)
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In-store Author event: hosted by Books Inc., Opera Plaza

Happy-Go-Lucky
by David Sedaris
Memoir, Essays, Humor | Published: 2022 | Goodreads

Mother Noise
by Cindy House
Memoir, Essays | Published: 2022 | Goodreads
Virtual Author event: Upcoming Fall/Winter books hosted by Buzz Books (here) | see panel archive

Nubia: The Awakening
by Omar Epps, Clarence A. Haynes
Fantasy, YA | Published: November 2022 | Goodreads

Anne of Greenville
by Mariko Tamaki
YA, Retelling, LGBTQ | Published: October 2022 | Goodreads

Queen Among the Dead
by Lesley Livingston
Fantasy, YA | Published: January 2023 | Goodreads

The Davenports
by Krystal Marquis
Historical, YA | Published: January 2023 | Goodreads
note: not a final cover, but i liked it so much i wanted to show this version
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AND watched: theatre

Montana Story (2021)
Director/Writer: Scott McGehee, David Siegel
Writer: Mike Spreter
Stars: Haley Lu Richardson, Owen Teague
Drama | imdb | my rating: 4
western vibe, beautiful, sad, hopeful
Two estranged siblings return home to the sprawling ranch they once knew and loved, confronting a deep and bitter family legacy against a mythic American backdrop.


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* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently

Thanks for stopping by :-)