Review: "Just by Looking at Him" by Ryan O'Connell, 2022

Just by Looking at Him by Ryan O'Connell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"Just by Looking at Him" by Ryan O'Connell, 2022

The book is darkly comic and an unflinching story following a gay TV writer with cerebral palsy. He fights addiction, searches for acceptance,  and navigates through love in an overwhelmingly ableist world.

The book oozes wit and dark humor perfectly balanced with a commentary on gay life- specifically gay life in Los Angeles and in the entertainment industry (television show writing). Several times, I had to stop, laugh out loud, and think to myself, "yep, I know what he means about that place and in that situation."    I don't know how much truth from experience the author put into the novel, but almost everything mentioned felt authentic based on my own experiences.

For a book I randomly picked up at Powell's in Portland and an author I've never heard of, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the maybe fictional accounts of "gay living" in my hometown of Los Angeles. So much so I got the audiobook and listened to the author himself narrated. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 chuckles.

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Review: The Hole: A Novel, by Pyun Hye-young, 2017 (translated by Sora Kim-Russel)

The Hole by Hye-Young Pyun
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Hole: A Novel, by Pyun Hye-young, 2017 (translated by Sora Kim-Russel)

A bestseller in Korea, The Hole tells the tale of the horrors of isolation and neglect. Some comparisons are made to this novel with Stephen King's novel Misery.

The Hole is a character-driven novel but has the suspense of a thriller. Oghi becomes paralyzed after a car accident that killed his wife. Without any of his own family to care for him, his mother-in-law becomes his caregiver. With Oghi as the driver of the car crash, he questions his mother-in-law's motives and does not trust her.

With only the ability to blink as his form of communication, Oghi struggles and panics through everyday banalities. With the only view out of his window being his mother-in-law digging a huge hole, Oghi searches for a way to escape.

I rate this book 3.75 stars our of 5.

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Review: "My Name Is Lucy Barton" by Elizabeth Strout, 2016

My Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"My Name Is Lucy Barton" by Elizabeth Strout, 2016

"My Name Is Lucy Barton" was published in 2016 and quickly landed at the top of the Times best-seller list and adapted into a one-woman play starring Laura Linney. A compact novel meditating on family bonds over the years and the tacitly tragic ways they stretch and break.

The novel's narrator, Lucy, is implied to be a person searching in the dark of her childhood poverty and neglect for the sources of her adult resilience and vulnerabilities. The pellucid voice of the narrator did not have every detail sharply drawn, but a canvas with enough lines and intelligence that readers can inhabit the character.

It might be worth noting that I read "Oh William!" right before reading this novel. "Oh William!" is a sequel, and so I think my experience with this book might be slightly different from someone who has read the books in the correct order.

I rate this book 3 out of 5 stars.

#ElizabethStrout #MyNameIsLucyBarton #AmgashSeries

From Wikipedia:

Growing up in a dysfunctional household, Lucy Barton had a difficult childhood. Her father was abusive and while her mother loved Lucy, she was unable to protect her or her siblings from their father's mercurial mood swings and violent nature. As a result Lucy would frequently take solace in reading, which led her to realize that she wanted to become a writer. When she came of age, Lucy quickly fled the family home. Years later Lucy is hospitalized after she develops an infection following an operation. During her stay, her mother comes to visit and the two reconnect after years of not speaking to one another.

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Review: "Oh William!" by Elizabeth Strout, 2021

Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"Oh William!" by Elizabeth Strout, 2021

The compact novel packs mesmerizing prose and a richly layered narrative of marriage and divorce, grief and sadness, and strength and fragility borne of the human condition. Strout's constant weaving of new threads alongside the story's main fabric was so elegant and natural that it was easy to follow. 

"Oh William!" is a quiet, character-driven novel. Ultimately the story is a reflection on the very nature of our existence and the subtle forces that hold us together.

Initially thinking I might find the story unrelatable, I was surprised to learn there are some parallels. I'm happy I gave this book a chance, and I look forward to reading other works by Pulitzer Prize winner Strout.

I rate this book 4.5 stars out of 5 stars.

Plot (Non-Spoilery)

In Oh William! Lucy, now 64, is mourning the death of her beloved second husband, a cellist named David Abramson. She finds some welcome distraction in revisiting her relationship with her first husband, William Gerhardt, the philandering father of her two grown daughters.

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Review: Light From Uncommon Stars, by Ryka Aoki, 2021

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Light From Uncommon Stars, by Ryka Aoki, 2021

This novel ticks a lot of boxes for me; diverse LGBTQIA+ characters, science-fiction, a Faustian deal with the devil, Asian culture and characters, a touch of fantasy, Star Trek and Stargate references, purple aliens, chosen family, immigrant culture, violins, and multiple cities in Los Angeles' San Gabriel Valley (referencing Monterey Park, Temple City, El Sereno, etc.). 

The story centers around Katrina, a runaway transgender youth who ends up in the care of Shizuka in the San Gabrel Valley area of Los Angeles. Shizuka mentors Katrina's prodigal talents with the violin while helping her navigate growing up transgender. Then there's a starship masquerading as a donut shop captained by Lan Tran and her crew, which includes a hologram who eventually gets a "mobile emitter"  (Star Trek reference).

At first, I wasn't sure how a Faustian deal with a demon on Earth would work in a science-fiction setting with aliens embroiled in some galactic battle. Still, the author made all these seemingly disparate components work together and flow into a beautifully knitted fabric.

The book is just lovely and terrific all around, and I rate it 4.93 stars out of 5.00 stars.

From Wikipedia:

Shizuka Satomi is the world's best violin teacher, known for coaching virtuosos who meet tragic ends. Years ago, she struck a deal with a demon that she would deliver seven souls to hell. To do this, she coaches ambitious violin students, then offers them fame and renown in exchange for their souls. Satomi has delivered six souls already, and with a year left on her contract, she needs one more student. She finds that student in Katrina Nguyen, a young transgender prodigy with little formal training.

As Satomi teaches Nguyen, she also meets Lan Tran, a starship captain and refugee disguised as a doughnut shop owner, who has brought her family to Earth to escape war and a deadly plague. The two strike up a tenuous flirtation, but their budding romance is imperiled by Satomi's deal with the demon and Tran's tumultuous galactic past.

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Review: The Employees: A workplace novel of the 22nd century by Olga Ravn, 2020

The Employees: A workplace novel of the 22nd century by Olga Ravn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"The Employees" by Olga Ravn, 2020

Shortlisted for the International Booker prize, "The Employee" is a Danish science-fiction satire. The book, written as a series of statements in place of chapters, is made by the crew of a starship-- some of which are human, some artificial, and some somewhere in-between. As the starship heads to investigate the effects of some strange objects on some planet, the crew starts to manifest certain behaviors that question what is to be human.

Equally strange as it is fascinating, this novel is undoubtedly brilliant and unusual. Getting through the material was relatively quick, and though the gaps between the "statements" were not too far that a reader cannot bridge events, in its entirety, the story leaves more questions than answers.

I think if you enjoyed the 2022 AppleTV+ series "Severance," this book might be for you.

I rate this book 4.5 out of 5 stars.

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Review: The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer, by Janelle Monáe, 2022

The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer by Janelle Monáe
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer, by Janelle Monáe, 2022

I'm such a Janelle Monáe fan that I really wanted to love this book and would have even settled for liking it if it was just meh. Unfortunately, I couldn't persevere anymore after getting to the eighty-two (82) percent mark and had to put the book down and put it in my "did-not-finish" #DNF pile.  

Sixty-two books so far this year (Sept 2022), and this is the first #DNF. Bummer.

I sadly rate this book 1 out 5 stars.  <-- sorry Ms. Monáe

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Review: Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh, 2022

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Lapvona, by Ottessa Moshfegh, 2022

Lapvona is a dystopic dramedy (can I call it that?) novel set in the Middle Ages--sprinkled with a bit of magic and a lot of gross absurdities. Lapvona is a minor fiefdom somewhere in medieval Europe ruled by a spoiled and petulant schemer Lord Villiam. Marek is a boy "disfigured by birth" and adopted by Lord Villiam to replace his recently murdered son Jacob (murdered by Marek). Ina is an ancient and somewhat magical blind woman who, for many years, acted as the town's supernatural nanny, suckling generations of Lapvonians. 

What a delightfully dark novel, full of a devilish cast of characters and depraved predicaments. Once you've made peace with the absurdity, you will find the events and actions of the characters to be humorous. There are no redeemable or likable characters in this book, but they are all entertaining.

The author's voice/style has been described as laconic and flip, with an edge of cruelty, yet, it is entertaining. Lapvona may be grotesque and full of all kinds of human degradation, but it's amusing because it's played for laughs.

If you watch "The Great" on Hulu and enjoy it very much, then Lapvona is should fit right in your eyeholes.  Huzzah! You will love it.

I rate this book 5 Huzzahs out 5 Huzzahs!

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Review: The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle, 2021

The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle by Matt Cain
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle, by Matt Cain 2021

The book is an endearing novel about an elderly postman's "coming out story" at such a late age in life set in today's times. Albert is about to retire from the postal service and realizes he hasn't lived much of a life at all. He decides to come out and search for an old flame from nearly 50 years ago to rekindle the fire.

There are plenty of books covering "coming out stories." What sets this one apart is the age of the main character. Albert is in his mid-sixties, never had a boyfriend, and spent almost all his life toiling at work-- his life was his work. When he receives news of his upcoming retirement, he realizes he hasn't done much outside of work and goes through a life crisis. So he embarks on a journey to find his long lost "almost-boyfriend" from almost half a century ago to rekindle the flame- to have a chance to have a life with love.

Though some parts and characters are a bit unrealistic, the story is endearing, told from an interesting point of view, and generally uplifting. My only complaint is that some parts were unnecessarily too long, and with some edits targeting for concision, the book could be a third shorter than its current length and may flow better.

I rate this book 3.85 out of 5 stars.

#LGBTQIA #MattCain #AlbertEntwhistle #ComingOut #Pride

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