thirdandabooknerd

[thirdandabooknerd]

i have been thinking about jane and august a lot lately and i've realized i hadn't drawn my girls in a while😭

[thirdandabooknerd]

there's no greater betrayal than finally starting to read a book you've had sitting for months on your shelf or your desk or your nightstand and then finding out it's bad. like. i gave you a fucking home.

[thirdandabooknerd]

The Holy Ghost Speakeasy and Revival

Author: Terry Roberts

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 321

Release Date: 2018

Rating: 4.5/5

First off, I know this isn't a "Booktok" book, or a popular one that gets noted on this site. However, I encourage you to reach out beyond what is popular to find a hidden gem like this book. I could not put this book down!

Jedidiah Robbins is a preacher traveling along the Appalachian region of Western North Carolina during the prohibition era. His mission is to spread the good word in various cities and towns in an exhilarating outdoor revival. In addition to this, he is a con-man (debatable) bootlegger. With his team of ex-carnival workers turned speakeasy, Jedidiah, his daughter Bridget, and his new love interest, Cassandra, travel by train to make sure the country folk repent their sins of drinking alcohol that was sold to them the night before.

It is so difficult to review this book without reciting the whole thing. These characters are complex and multi-surfaced. Jedidiah comes across as a con man but then really begins to wholeheartedly believe what he is preaching. He is a man of God, who just so happens to behave in a way that is human as well. He drinks, he helps to commit adultery, and he has contributed to the death of a few characters. It is interesting to see Jedidiah go back and forth between his almost alter egos.

Though this book mentions religion, it is not preachy. This point of this book is not to convert you to Christianity (I am still not). I believe the point of this book is to tackle human desires - alcohol, money, sex, all while managing your own moral complex and need to survive. This book is also about the deep-rooted culture in Appalachia. There are experiences with the KKK, racism, out-of-wedlock children, the old railroad, deadly floods, and just country folk who live a different life than most.

I am biased, as I picked up this book not realizing that I was born and raised where the setting was. That is what initially got me hooked into this book. Then, meeting characters such as Boss Strong, Bridget and Gabe, and Fingers swept me away into 1920's Appalachia.

My Pros and Cons:

+ Accurate representation of culture

+ Jedidiah is not seen as, "Holy than thou". He is a "sinner", or at least, a man who could make improvements in his moral decisions.

+This book can make you laugh and cry within the same paragraph.

+ Language is written in a relevant way that is similar to how us Appalachian people speak.

Cons:

-- We read chapters about Jedidiah visiting Festus and what is presumed to be God. This is not negative, as these are metaphorical dreams for Jedidiah. However, I originally did not initially grasp that these were supernatural dreams. This may have been a reader error, and I did enjoy unpacking these chapters with Festus following Jedidiah or "God" working in a barn.

Overall, I beg you to read this book. It had me reflecting a lot about my beliefs, how I was raised, and who I will continue to be. This is NOT a book that is a "Christian" book. Christianity is a theme, but not the genre. This book also does have a couple vivid sex scenes. This is just a warning to anyone who thinks this book is propaganda. This book is a journey.

[thirdandabooknerd]

A Talent for Murder: a novel by Peter Swanson

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 255

Published: 2024

My Rating: 3/5

Martha's husband has the most niche job I have ever heard of - he is a travel salesman at teacher conventions where he sells punny teacher memorabilia. Apparently, this is enough for Martha's husband, Alan, to make a living on. (I say this so sarcastically). Due to the nature of a punny teacher t-shirt salesman, Alan is not home often. He travels across the country for these conventions while Martha is at home.

Martha's really not too upset by being home alone. Really, she enjoys it. We know she thinks Alan is a good guy, yet she feels pretty neutral regarding romance. She figures with her age and her "love curse", that she should just go ahead and settle with Alan. She does just that, before she really knows him. Could there be something about him that she does not know?

Martha gathers clues to make a case against her husband. She believes he is a serial killer, as each convention he attends results in the death of a woman. His odd facial expressions and the blood stain on the white shirt does not add up for Martha, so she calls her longtime college friend, Lily.

So I've learned that this book is in a series. It can be read independently without any background knowledge of the characters. However, Lily and her friend Henry are a dynamic duo in other Swanson books. Which is odd because I found their characters to be a bit dull.

Anyways, Martha is murdered by her college boyfriend, Ethan, who was framing Alan the entire time. I was introduced to Ethan near the start of the book, and he is assumed to be the killer. I wish he was introduced a bit later in the story to keep the suspense going. There is a bit more, but I will leave it at that!

[thirdandabooknerd]

Just a few of burrow baby's favorite Pride board books! We Are The Rainbow Bye Bye, Binary Pink is for Boys

[thirdandabooknerd]

[thirdandabooknerd]

Love & Other Disasters (And suckling on toes?) By Anita Kelly.

Author: Anita Kelly

Genre: Romance, LGBTQ+ Literature

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Year of Publishing: 2022

Special Qualities: Nonbinary/Queer relationships. Cooking Show drama and romance. Strained Family Relationships. Spicy Scenes.

Book Review:

Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly is a queer romance novel with nonbinary representation. That, itself, was enough to have me pick up this book and read it through. There are so few quality books with this type of representation, especially with our nonbinary character being our LEAD and romantic interest.

Dahlia Woodson's life is falling apart. She is recently divorced from her husband, an assumed disappointment to her mother, and has quit her job to compete for 100,000 dollars on a hit cooking bake-off show Chef's Special in LA. Think of your traditional Iron Chef episode, where contestants are given a task for the episode shooting, and must present their completed meal to a panel of three judges.

The meals seems to be the last thing on the audience's mind. They see through the screen that Dahlia Woodson has fallen in love with London Parker - our nonbinary, romantic interest. London almost experiences a love at first sight with Dahlia, while Dahlia is clumsily making her way through the first on set shoot.

As the show progresses, these two reality chefs experience both on and off screen moments together. Whether breaking into a wedding reception, milking cows, or a romantic kiss on the beach, the two seem drawn to each other.

Now, this book is called Love & Other Disasters (same as the 2006 romantic comedy). But what disasters do these two experience? Well, London's father has never used their pronouns. They do not feel validated by their father, AND they are out on national television. Talk about stress!

Speaking of television, this reality show eliminates people each week. In the final few contestants, Dahlia is eventually kicked off the show for her blackbean pumpkin soup. Apparently, this is not a pretty looking meal. She rushes out of the set, distressed, and ready to go. She loves London Parker, but now she has to leave. She lives nowhere close to London in Nashville. She assumes it to be over - back to her "disappointing" life she was able to forget as LA Dahlia.

As predicted, she ends up going to London's finale on the show (which they win). They reunite, in love, and happy. This section of the book felt a little long for me, but Dahlia does move in with London in Nashville after the finale.

Here are my positives:

+ Queer / Nonbinary Relationship

+ Fun cooking show setting

+ Great discussion of LGBTQ+ issues and societal pressures

+ London and Dahlia's romance feels light and free

Here are a few critiques:

-- There are some steamy moments in this book. Most of them, I enjoyed reading. However, there is this one scene where Dahlia describes London as "meaty" and London soon after sucks on her toes. A little out there for me, and was not able to come back from that one for awhile.

-- The cooking aspect of the book has so much potential. Yet, I did not care what contestants went home. I had not mentioned the other characters in the summary above, because I just didn't care about them. Many of the characters felt flat and dull.

-- This title is not too fitting. This is not a problem for me, but I do believe it is generic and does not fully relate to the book

This was a book that, overall, I am glad I spent my time reading. A good plot can leave readers wishing to understand the characters more, so I give the book credit for this.

What do you think?