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The Printed Letter Bookshop
The Printed Letter Bookshop
10
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Amid literature and lattes, three women come together and find that sharing one’s journey with best friends makes life richer.



When attorney Madeline Carter inherits her aunt’s bookstore in a small town north of Chicago, she plans to sell it and add the proceeds to her nonexistent “investment portfolio.” But plans change when Madeline discovers the store isn’t making money and she gets passed over for promotion at her firm. She quits in protest, takes the train north, and decides to work at the store to prep it for sale. Madeline soon finds herself at odds with employees Jessica and Courtney; when she also finds herself attracted to an affianced man, it only confuses the entire situation. After blowing up her marriage two years earlier, Janet has found solace working at the bookstore and a kindred spirit within its owner, Maddie Cullen. But when Maddie dies and her niece, Madeline, barges in like a bulldozer, Janet pushes at the new owner in every way-until she trips over common ground. Soon the women are delving into online dating and fashion makeovers, and Janet feels the pull to rediscover her art, a love she thought long behind her. After a night of bad decisions leaves the store in peril, Claire arrives and tries to save the day. While she, too, found sanctuary in the little bookstore, she knows it’s under-insured, in the red, and will never survive. When she discovers her teenage daughter has played a part in vandalizing the store, Courtney taps into strength she didn’t know existed or had long forgotten. The quietest of the three, she steps up and finds a way to save her family, the store, and the precious friendships that have grown within it. The Printed Letter Bookshop is the story of friends who find each other-and themselves-in a place none of them ever expected.



This is a wonderful read. It's hard to put down once the reader begins the story. One shop, three women and their lives are connected through one woman, Aunt Maddie. In this story, we learn through three women how one magnificent woman helps each woman, Madeline, Janet, and Claire take a look into their lives through books that she has left them to read after her death.


I love bookstores, and this one is more than a bookstore; it's a place where friends come together for love, help, and healing. It's about friendships that can last through trials and tribulations. It's about one woman's legacy and how she looked at life. It's a story that one should not miss.


This is a story of finding one's calling in life, of love, forgiveness and true friendships that last through trials and tribulations, not just in the good times but in the worst of days. This was a wonderful book that teaches us that reading is beneficial, soothing and can always be a learning experience.


I loved the shop; I wish it were real if it were I would visit everyday!
  
Detransition, Baby
Detransition, Baby
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
A meandering but insightful look into the lives of an interconnected trio

Reese and Amy nearly had it all--a loving relationship, an apartment, and safety in each other: something extremely difficult for trans women to find. But that all changes when Amy decides to detransition and become Ames. Now Reese feels lost and alone, turning to her old patterns of sleeping with men who treat her poorly. And Ames isn't particularly happy either, though he's found a sort of comfort in his relationship with his boss, Katrina. But when Katrina discovers she's pregnant--with Ames' child--Ames is forced to confront a lot of his fears about masculinity and fatherhood. He also wonders if it's a chance for family. Reese has always longed for a baby; could he, Reese, and Katrina raise this child together?

"Somewhere, somehow, Amy did the impossible. She got herself a baby."

I love that this diverse book was my 300th read for Netgalley. I love love love that there is a story about trans women being celebrated and heralded on "must read" lists. I enjoyed so much about this book. Reese and Amy are detailed and realistic characters who--to me at least--did not seem stereotypical or one-dimensional. I felt like I learned so much reading their raw, emotional, and lovely story.

The tale of Ames becoming a parent--and wanting to involve Reese--was an interesting and dynamic one for me. I could completely understand Reese's longing for motherhood and how she felt on the outside looking in. This part of the book was original and fascinating. Pieces of the story were utterly hilarious, despite some of the serious subject matter. There is a chapter where Reese attends an essential oils party with Katrina and other straight/cis women that made me laugh out loud. Peters captures her voice so perfectly. There's a vulnerability and realness to Reese that makes her a captivating character from the start.

"Reese had already diagnosed her own problem. She didn't know how to be alone. She fled from her own company, from her own solitude."

The hardest part for me about this book had nothing to do with its subject matter (if that's a problem for you, you're the problem), but the fact that it veers between the past and the present, going on tangents about Reese and Amy's past. Sometimes it seemed like it just needed a strong edit, with someone willing to strike about half of those passages. Or perhaps I just wanted to get on with the present, the impending baby, and Reese, Katrina, and Ames' story. I'm not sure. But I was nearly compelled to skim some of these long passages. It was just a lot. And then, after all that, the book just sort of ended, to me, without much resolution, and I felt a bit betrayed.

Still, do not get me wrong. This is an excellent and important story, and more such stories like this need to be told. I definitely recommend it, and I bet any forthcoming books from Peters will only get better and better. 3.5
  
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Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Broken Horses in Books

Aug 12, 2021  
Broken Horses
Broken Horses
Brandi Carlile | 2021 | Biography, Gender Studies, Music & Dance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
A great memoir for music fans
BROKEN HORSES is Brandi Carlile's story. She grew up poor in Seattle, moving constantly as a child. Her family was musical, giving Brandi a love of music as a young child. She knew was gay since she was a teen--something that wasn't always appreciated in her rural town. She tells her story from childhood, where her love of music began, to coming out, to her marriage and life with her two children, to her musical successes.

"I was a mean, scrappy little trailer girl with the wrong clothes and a very sensitive soul that I was hiding behind a bravado that I had developed performing onstage."

I adore Brandi Carlile and have for a long time. Having such a talented out singer in our community makes us all feel proud. "See her, she's one of us!!" Having followed Brandi's career from the beginning, I know a decent amount about her. Hence my problem with a number of celebrity memoirs I read: if I read a memoir about someone I really love and already know a lot about them, if they write a fairly superficial memoir, I only learn so much.

Don't get me wrong, Carlile has written a good and interesting book. She's a fascinating person, and I enjoyed learning about her rather wild journey. I didn't know much about her childhood, so I found those pieces to be the most intriguing. She was a wild and tough kid, who was so musically talented from the beginning. Imagine being one of the people who heard her perform in a pageant or talent show when she was a young kid or teen!

After going through her coming out story, Carlile talks about her musical career, and it's all really amazing, but sometimes feels fast and glossed over. I always love knowing the history of songs, but would have liked knowing more details about things. We skip over full albums, time periods, and more. And, as many celebrity memoirs do, it often feels a bit preachy and overly me-oriented at times (something she'll laughingly and freely admit to). When we get to her meeting her wife, it's a fun story, but also really quick. Still, it's so nice to see a queer woman's story so normalized, and to have someone talk about gay motherhood so matter of factly.

Overall, I'm so glad Carlile decided to share her thoughts on her life. She's such an amazing individual who has lived such an intense and fascinating life so far. I wish she had gone more in-depth with her stories at times, but this is still a great book and certainly worth your time. At some point, I hope to get the audio version, as she sings versions of the songs she discusses in each chapter.

I read this book as part of my new reading project--choosing books off my shelves based on their Goodreads rankings. This is my second book of the project, forcing me out of my comfort zone and to try books in genres I don't usually read!
  
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Darren (1599 KP) rated Wings (1927) in Movies

Dec 8, 2019  
Wings (1927)
Wings (1927)
1927 | Drama, Romance, War
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Verdict: Beautiful Portray of Love & War

Story: Wings starts as two young men Jack Powell (Rogers) and David Armstrong (Arlen) both sign up to become fighter pilots in the First World War, they are from different backgrounds, with Jack working with his hands, which has seen him get the attention of Mary Preston (Bow) and David being rich, with the pair both seeking the attention of Sylvia Lewis (Ralston).
What starts out in rivalry soon becomes friendship between the two men as through their training, they learn they need to be on the same side and want the same thing from their time in the service. They are followed by Mary who has taken up a job where she delivers medical supplies to troops, all while her love for Jack continues to grow.

Thoughts on Wings

Characters – Mary Preston has worked with Jack Powell for years, they work on cars and her love for Jack is clear, she doesn’t get the attention she desires of him though, with the men at war, she uses her driving skills to deliver medical supplies, hoping to find Jack too, which sees her needing to find a way to act more lady like for the era. Jack Powell is from the working class bracket of people, he has always been great with cars and mechanics, which sees him sign up for the air force during world war 1, he will do what he can get impress the rich Sylvia to whom he loves and after years of rivalry with David, they will become friends. David Armstrong has come from a rich family, he is set to be marrying Sylvia one day if the families have their say, he sees Jack as a rival, until they fight side by side in the skies. Sylvia is the woman that both men are fighting for the attention of, they both see her as the perfect woman and will go to lengths to impress her.
Performances – This being a silent movie, all the work from the actors in the film comes from face expressions and movements, which they are all fantastic with, Clara Bow shows the pain of being in love with somebody who doesn’t want you, while Charles Rogers and Richard Arlen show the rivalry men can have when it comes to women.
Story – The story here follows two men from different backgrounds, one rich one working class, that are both fighting for the same woman, who join the air force to impress, where they become friends and learn the horrors of war. This is a story that is one that shows that love can be something people will always do crazy things for, it shows how the war bought enemies together and for a movie made in 1927, showed us a strong female character willing to go into war, unlike many films for years to come. Being a silent movie, we do get the expression and action doing a lot of the storytelling around the dialogue which is interesting because it keeps away a lot of unnecessary dialogue certain war films turn too.
Romance/War – The romance in this film shows how people will do strange things for love, you might not always see it right under your nose either, with the war being the main location that our characters all go to impress, the dog fight scenes are brilliant to watch, with the use of music making a big impact on the quality too.
Settings – The film uses the settings you would expect to see the war fought at, while we see the ground shots, it is when we are in the sky watching the dog fights that we get to feel the peril the characters are going through.

Scene of the Movie – Any of the dog fights.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – It does play into stereotypes of other nationalities.
Final Thoughts – This is a genius war movie that rightly deserved to win the first Oscar, it brings us a story that shows how much people would have risked for war and just how far they would go for love.

Overall: Brilliant.
  
Deadpool (2016)
Deadpool (2016)
2016 | Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi
This film broke history with being one of the first superhero movies marketed to adults only. The marketing campaign was one of the best I had ever seen for a movie, it truly made me want to go to the theaters. I was not disappointed once I did! (0 more)
The merc with a mouth!
Deadpool AKA Wade Wilson is one of the best-written antiheroes there is. He is not only comedic, harsh, crude, and suffers from a case of should I do the right thing, but he is also one of those characters you cannot help to love in a dysfunctional manner. The storyline follows pretty close with his original story from the comics. There are plenty of fight scenes, love scenes, and plenty of scenes of Deadpool being his crass, foul mouth self.

Overall the film is great for anyone looking to find a superhero film that is not like any other out there.
  
The Book of Joan
The Book of Joan
Lidia Yuknavitch | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry, Gender Studies, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
I really wanted to love this. The storyline is right up my street: fantasy, dystopian, science fiction. It ticks all my favourite genre boxes. I liked it, but I didn't love it. As the story went on, I found that the time jumps just seemed to confuse me. How could the biological changes happen so quickly? Surely they would have had to have happened at least in utero, if not over generations? But it all seemed pretty 'immediate'. This is fiction, I know, and an author should be allowed to manipulate a timeline however they want to. I just felt a little lost! I loved the characters Joan and Christine: particularly Joan's 'superpowers' and connection to the Earth. The prose was beautiful to read in places and really descriptive. Also the poem at the end makes me curious to see if Yuknavitch will write more poetry, or indeed, whether she already has. I'd read it!
  
Building Empires(MidKnight Blue #1)
Building Empires(MidKnight Blue #1)
Sherryl D. Hancock | 2017 | Crime, Romance
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
A Law Enforcement Thrill Ride
This book is a spin off of another series that Sherryl D. Hancock writes but slightly different in that the primary characters are not lesbians. That said you will see some of those characters in this book because all is intertwined in the world Hancock creates.

This is the in depth introduction to Midnight Chevalier. As always Hancock does a fantatstic job creating characters and Midnight does not disappoint as the tough, no nonsense female protagonist. There is more violence in this book but that is indicitive of the life Midnight lives. It is also what you would expect from this character and her motley crew of unlikely heros.

I love everything Hancock writes because she focuses on allowing the character drive the story and her characters are amazingly developed. I have already recommended the MidKnight Blue series to friends who love crime stories and romance and action andjust good writing. Pretty much anyone who likes to read.
  
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Stephen Chbosky | 2013 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.2 (101 Ratings)
Book Rating
Plot (3 more)
Characters
The ending
Descriptive language
Character introduction (0 more)
Immersive and powerful
This book has been sat on my shelves since September, just waiting for the right moment to be read.
An increasingly powerful book that focuses on the life of outcast high school students that are relatable but not overshadowed by popular teenagers.
Grappling with love; loss and life, a teenager writes letters to a stranger (possibly considered to be the reader) explaining his life and his struggles with starting high school and all the aspects that can come along with it - falling in love, making friends, experimenting with drugs/alcohol/sexuality- as well as a multitude of family issues.
The end of the book is revealing and intense and leaves the reader considering the moral behind the book.

My personal opinion is that I would have loves the story to be longer, as I finished it within an evening and for character introductions to be more stable or descriptive.
  
AT
After the End (After the End, #1)
Amy Plum | 2014 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
[After The End] by [Amy Plum] has a deceptive tile because it leads you to think it is an dystopian novel. Although I love those books this was a welcomed surprise. It turned into more of an action/adventure with a little coming of age thrown in for good measure.

[Plum] did an excellent job of developing a creative, fearless, intelligent character in Juneau. Although she is naive do to lack of exposure she know how to survive. Her loyalty to family even though they hurt her is endearing.

Miles, on the other hand, is a spoiled rotten brat who has had the easy life. He starts out for his own gain but what he really gains is a new insight about life and love.

This story has some supernatural aspects but over all is more of an exciting journey of discovery for two young people who have a lot to learn from each other.
  
A witness with amnesia Can she trust this Gold Country Cowboy with her life? Tracy Wilson witnessed a murder—but after a head injury, she can’t remember what she saw. Now someone plans to silence her for good, and only cowboy Keegan Thorn believes her. With a killer after her at Christmas, Tracy is running out of time to remember…and falling dangerously hard for the cowboy who could break her heart.





My Thoughts: In this book, we find the Thorn family preparing for the double wedding of Jack and Owen. The storyline centers around the fourth son Keegan. Keegan learns the value of a close family and learning how to let his heart truly love, as he lets go of past hurts.


Dana Mentink has written another gripping story of suspense, with a mix of romance. Readers will truly enjoy this novel. This book will is a great novel for the Christmas season.


A great novel of love and forgiveness.


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