Once again, I missed a week, so this recap covers two weeks. Why do I read so much, you ask? Well, first of all, I like reading. Underneath that, I’ll cop to being a compulsive reader - faced with free time in which I cannot, for whatever reason, pick up another activity, I pick up a book. I read while the TV’s on. It’s just what I do.
Admin note: I’m skipping inserting links this time because, frankly, these posts are getting little traffic and no feedback; links are more work for no return. If anyone’s reading and wants the links, let me know and I’ll come back to edit accordingly.
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Week ending July 16, 2026:
1-2. [re-reads] my own FFM novel ‘Undertow’ and MM novella ‘Come to Me.’
3. ‘I Could Write a Book’ by Andie Elliott, MM contemporary using the holiday house swap scenario. Quite funny, quite accurate in depicting the life of an actual writer, sweet slow-burn romance between the house sharers (developing over weeks of emails, then texts, then phone calls). I liked this a lot.
4. [re-read] my MM novel ‘Into You’ and related trans F/bi M novelette ‘Star of Wonder.’
watched ‘Leatherheads’ which was OK, ‘Project Hail Mary’ which I thought was fantastic, and re-watched ‘Dance With Me’ for the Nth time, also re-watched ‘City Slickers’ which is a surprisingly durable mid-life-crisis comedy.
5. ‘Finders Keepers’ by N.R. Walker, short & sweet (but with some sexy sex) MM contemporary set in tropical Australia and featuring MCs brought together by a lost dog. A soothing low-conflict read for those looking for such things, as I most definitely was.
6. ‘That’s What Friends Are For’ by Wade Rouse. Gay fiction. If anyone watched the short-lived sitcom ‘Midcentury Modern,’ this book is basically that but with a lot more family drama, conflict, and potential for disaster. All four Palm Springs ‘Golden Gays’ get to the end in better shape than they started, which was a relief because they were all downward spiraling at the beginning.
7. ‘Borderlands and the Mexican American Story’ by David Dorado Romo. Nonfiction in the Race to the Truth series, the most infuriating to date. History from prehistory to 2024, well documented, frankly should be assigned reading for all Americans.
8. ‘Project Hail Mary’ by Andy Weir, which I’d bought on sale yonks ago because I loved ‘The Martian’ but hadn’t read because I wasn’t feeling smart enough for sciencey science fiction for a while. Loved it.
9. ‘Our Own Light’ by Logan Sage Adams (she/they). A gay romance category finalist for the Lambda Literary Awards in 2025, featuring an unusual setting (early 1900s West Virginia mining town) and characterizations. MC1 is a coal miner in a lavender marriage (much-loved BFF wife & her daughter), MC2 is a rich young man, scion of an Ohio railroad family, who’s getting away from unmeetable expectations of unloving family. Consistent and well-developed characters free of anachronistic psychobabble (which was a feat considering the issues the modern reader can identify in both men) though there are a few anachronisms in the narrative language elsewhere. Writing a bit flat but did deliver some deep feels. Plus, there’s no villain except hard times. The conclusion was satisfactory. I would recommend this book for those who are tired of the same old jump-on-the-bandwagon MM contemporary and/or weakly historical romance and would like to try something very different.
Week ending July 9, 2026:
1. ’25 Days in Athens’ by Jack Strange, which I started, then stopped, then started again. MM contemporary. Both MCs are introduced in very off-putting (to me) ways. They get better, quickly, and the character development through the book is quite good (recognize issues; articulate feelings; perceive the need for personal growth; take actual steps for same). It’s kind of a farcical plot though.
2. ‘Entitlement’ by Branden Blinn. This MM contemporary was trying to do way too much and ended up incoherent. I did read all of it, while asking myself why.
3-5. [re-read] my FM novella ‘Lift;’ MM novel ‘Take Everything;’ MM novel ‘Unmasked.’
6. ‘Ballsy’ by Sean Ashcroft. MM contemporary, not one of this author’s strongest. A lot of repetitive rumination around the fast-moving second-chance story which included graphic sex scenes that felt gratuitous only because there was so little else happening.
7. [re-read] my MM novella ‘Triple X.’
8. ‘Still Foolin’ ‘Em’ by Billy Crystal. An excellent & entertaining memoir; his voice comes through loud and clear.
9. ‘Defying the Crown’ by C.G. Macington. MM contemporary, commoner/prince, regretfully cannot recommend. There’s some good stuff in here about mental health and how treatment for one crisis doesn’t mean you’re ready for, or armored against, the next. But the MCs are hugely unequal, and the one with the fewest resources ends up having to emotionally rescue the other one, after being really seriously and disastrously deceived, and … a strong editorial hand was needed.
On the screen: Enola Holmes 3, which we enjoyed.