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Book Review: Half Broke: A Memoir, by Ginger Gaffney
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Bookworm“Half Broke: A Memoir” by Ginger Gaffney
c.2020, Norton $25.95 / $34.95 Canada 272 pagesThe last time you went riding, the weather was perfect.
Did you notice that? Or were you thinking about something, some niggling issue, a thorny problem that needed to be solved from the back of a saddle? They say that the outside of a horse is good for the inside of a man. In “Half Broke” by Ginger Gaffney, the same goes for the inside of a woman.
She knew she wasn’t going to get paid for the job.
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Books for a Quarantine: Select Titles to Pass the Time
Following are a few suggestions in several categories to keep your mind occupied over the coming days and weeks. – Mark/Editor
By Terri Sclichenmeyer
The Bookworm SezHunker down.
That’s what you’ll be doing for the immediate future: trying to stay well or get well or just waiting. You’ve had enough TV and the pantry’s as clean as it’ll ever get, so maybe it’s time to find something to read. Why not try one of these great books…..
FICTION
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Book Review: Under the Rainbow, by Celia Laskey
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Bookworm Sez“Under the Rainbow” by Celia Laskey
c.2020, Riverhead Books
$27.00 / higher in Canada 288 pagesIt’s worth a try.
You never know what’s going to happen when a new endeavor begins. You only know what it’ll cost: time, money, effort, and a lot of patience for a great unknown. This experiment could end well, or it could end very badly but either way, as in the new novel “Under the Rainbow” by Celia Laskey, it’s worth a try.
It was a scientific fact: Big Burr, Kansas, was the most homophobic place in the U.S.
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Book Review: Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick, by Zora Neale Hurston
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Bookworm
c.2020, Amistad $25.99 / $31.99 Canada 304 pages
Everybody has that place.
You know, that place where everyone knows you, they know what you want, and they get it for you before your coat’s half off. It’s where you can catch up on gossip and good news, where you take shelter and get sympathy. In “Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick” by Zora Neale Hurston, you also get a front seat.
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Featured Book: Shortest Way Home: One Mayor’s Challenge and a Model for America’s Future, by Pete Buttigieg
Shortest Way Home: One Mayor’s Challenge and a Model for America’s Future
Pete Buttigieg
347 pages (hardcover edition)
$16.77 harcover, $14.87 Kindle
Publisher: LiverightI first noticed “Mayor Pete” a few years ago because he was the mayor of South Bend, Indiana. I grew up two cities over, in Elkhart, and my father had a music store for many years in South Bend. I knew the town well, and seeing them elect an out gay mayor was something I took great pleasure in (and no small surprise).
Now Pete Buttigieg is running for the Democratic presidential nomination and he’s turning a lot of heads: the man is smart, extremely well-informed, erudite (does anyone say that anymore?), a policy wonk who doesn’t sound like one, and a man with exceptionally wide appeal on the issues: just ask nervous Republicans.
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Featured Book: Shortest Way Home: One Mayor’s Challenge and a Model for America’s Future, by Pete Buttigieg
Shortest Way Home: One Mayor’s Challenge and a Model for America’s Future
Pete Buttigieg
347 pages (hardcover edition)
$16.77 harcover, $14.87 Kindle
Publisher: LiverightI first noticed “Mayor Pete” a few years ago because he was the mayor of South Bend, Indiana. I grew up two cities over, in Elkhart, and my father had a music store for many years in South Bend. I knew the town well, and seeing them elect an out gay mayor was something I took great pleasure in (and no small surprise).
Now Pete Buttigieg is running for the Democratic presidential nomination and he’s turning a lot of heads: the man is smart, extremely well-informed, erudite (does anyone say that anymore?), a policy wonk who doesn’t sound like one, and a man with exceptionally wide appeal on the issues: just ask nervous Republicans.
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Book Review: When Brooklyn Was Queer, by Hugh Ryan
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Bookworm Sez“When Brooklyn Was Queer” by Hugh Ryan
c.2019, St. Martin’s Press
$29.99 / $38.99 Canada 308 pagesYour city sure has changed.
Landmarks were destroyed, the skyline is different, and streets are shifted in a way that feels same-not-same. It’s like having dinner with a relative you met once, when you were nine: as in “When Brooklyn Was Queer” by Hugh Ryan, everything and nothing is familiar.
Once upon a time, Brooklyn was little more than farms and fields.
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New Book ‘Gay & Bisexual Men Living with Prostate Cancer’ Explores Issue from Diagnosis to Recovery
VIA PRESS RELEASE
(New York, NY) June 12, 2018 – On June 19, LGBTQ scholarly publisher Harrington Park Press will release their latest book, “Gay & Bisexual Men Living with Prostate Cancer (from Diagnosis to Recovery).”
Like previous titles from the imprint, such as “Transgender Sex Work and Society” and “LGBTQ Hospice and Palliative Care,” the book is not only the first of its kind, but also necessary and timely.
Medical science has conspicuously–and shamefully–been complicit in valuing straight white men above all others. Women, racial minorities, and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning/queer (LGBTQ) communities are underrepresented in clinical trials, which limits our ability to identify their needs and to respond to them thoughtfully.
The LGBTQ community has been described as experiencing an “ignored epidemic” and characterized as a “growing and medically underserved population” in the area of cancer care.
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‘Murder at the Paisley Parrot’ Receives Stellar Review at The Novel Approach
Mark McNease did a terrific job writing Marshall James’s story. The murder mystery was intriguing and suspenseful and made this a page-turner for me. – Maryann
I knew it was coming, but I didn’t know if it would be negative, positive, or mixed. Imagine my delight at getting a stellar review, calling ‘Murder at the Paisley Parrot’ a page turner. Just the shot in the arm a writer needs now and then. And listen for the audiobook arriving any day now, narrated by the fabulous Fred Wolinsky.
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Book Review: Would You Rather? A Memoir of Growing Up and Coming Out, by Katie Heaney
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Bookworm Sez“Would You Rather? A Memoir of Growing Up and Coming Out” by Katie Heaney
c.2018, Ballantine Books
$16.00 / $22.00 Canada 256 pagesSometimes funny, sometimes self-depreciatingly cringe-worthy, “Would You Rather?” is a refreshing change over the I’ve-known-since-I-was-a-child LGBTQ memoirs. Readers may also notice that it’s a bit overboard.
You’re late!
Oops, you overslept, got caught in traffic, the elevator was slow. Phone lines were down, email was down. You forgot, and you’re late, sorry. Or, as in the new book “Would You Rather?” by Katie Heaney, your understanding was just a bit delayed.
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Book Review: Tomorrow Will Be Different, by Sarah McBride
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Bookworm Sez“Tomorrow Will Be Different” by Sarah McBride
c.2018, Crown Archetype $26.00 / $35.00 Canada
288 pagesThings are never as bad as they seem.
There’s always a brighter spot if you just look for it, always something to be thankful for, a way of making yourself feel better because things aren’t as they seem. As in the new book “Tomorrow Will Be Different” by Sarah McBride, there’s always a chance to make a change.
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Book Review: The Toronto Book of the Dead, by Adam Bunch
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Bookworm“The Toronto Book of the Dead” by Adam Bunch
c.2017, Dundurn $16.99
U.S. and Canada 423 pagesWatch your step!
Be careful where you tread; you don’t want to disturb anything important beneath the soil. Watch your feet; be mindful of where you put them. As you’ll see in “The Toronto Book of the Dead” by Adam Bunch, you’re not the first to walk on hallowed grounds.
![](<em><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-29949" src="https://markmcnease.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/head-shot-11-06-laying-2-2-199x300.jpg" alt="" width="128" height="193" />The Bookworm is Terri Schlichenmeyer. Terri has been reading since she was 3 years old and she never goes anywhere without a book. She lives on a hill in Wisconsin with two dogs and 13,000 books.</em>)