Category: Read This Recs

Read This If–You Need Your Hallmark Christmases Queer and/or Spicy

~ Kiki Writes ~ Leave a comment

I’m not a big fan of Christmas movies and I’m definitely not interested in any of the Hallmark variety (unless they have an actor I adore, then I will make the sacrifice, even if they’re only in one scene; yes, this is based on a true story). But if there is any way to change my perspective on this mistletoe industry it’s to make it queer and/or spicy. Throw in some body positivity, and baby, I am sold. Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone have combined their powers to create the Christmas Notch series and it is everything my Grinchy heart could ask for.

A Merry Little Meet Cute— Bee Hobbs has made a name for herself (Bianca von Honey) as a plus sized adult film star. Her career path takes a turn to the straight and narrow thanks to her producer Teddy getting her cast in a Christmas movie for the very clean Hope Channel. Her onscreen partner is childhood crush and ex-boyband member Nolan Shaw, whose manager Stephanie is working hard to rehab his career, which proves to be a challenge when Nolan recognizes Bee from her other line of work (he’s a big fan) and the two give in to their overwhelming chemistry. However, there’s a lot riding on the two of them keeping their relationship –and Bee’s other career- under wraps.

The first book in the series, I almost didn’t read it because I just glanced at the synopsis and somehow missed that this book was written for me. Our protagonists, Bee and Nolan, are both bi. Bee is plus-sized and a sex worker and Nolan finds neither of these things a turn-off. And there’s the whole issue of keeping their relationship a secret vs. loving out loud that hits me right in the feels. Also, it’s fucking hot and I appreciate that.

Snow Place Like LA— Angel, son of producer Teddy, and Luca, Teddy’s #1 costume designer for both his adult and his Hope Channel flicks, connected on the set of Duke the Halls. However, their relationship ended when Angel took off for art school in Europe without a word, breaking Luca’s heart. Months later, Luca is confronted with the man who ghosted him, and finds himself in a world of hurt -literally and figuratively- as he tries to avoid reconnecting with Angel.

A novella ebook between books one and two, this one focuses on Luca, the fabulous costume designer with an undying love for figure skating, and artist Angel. Because it’s Luca and he is everything over the top, the way he and Angel are thrown back together is hilarious. It’s sweet, it’s sexy, and I read the whole thing on the plane coming home from South Carolina, so I hope anyone snooping over my shoulder enjoyed it.

A Holly Jolly Ever After– Kallum Lieberman, Nolan Shaw’s ex-INK bandmate, was always considered the funny one and his post music career has been pouring his heart and soul into his pizza chain Slice, Slice Baby. But after his sex tape with a bridesmaid goes viral, he achieves a sexy dad bod status that lands him a lead role in the Hope Channels first Hope-After-Dark Christmas movie. His co-star is Winnie Baker, a career good girl who had her reputation sidelined in part by a careless action of Kallum’s years before, but also due to her divorce from her childhood sweetheart and tabloid rumors about drug issues, but which is really an undisclosed narcolepsy diagnosis. She’s decided to embrace the new Winnie and is hoping that Kallum can help her.

The second book in the series and honestly, you had me at dad bod. But I love how both Kallum and Winnie are trying to establish themselves as something more than who they’ve been perceived or told to be and they end up establishing a pretty solid friendship while Kallum teaches Winnie how to have sex on camera because living the pure life got her exactly zero orgasms. It’s incredibly hot the way Winnie throws herself headlong into her studies with Kallum acting as such a good teacher. Even when it’s messy, their relationship has a patience and a kindness that’s really sweet and hopeful.

There is a third member of the fictional INK boy band and I know he bought a place near Christmas Notch, so I’m really hoping that there will be a third book. Maybe I’ll sit on Santa’s lap and ask him for it. Ho ho ho.

If you give this series a try, I hope it jingles your bells. If it doesn’t, well, don’t go putting coal in my stocking about it.

Read This If–You’re Looking for a New Recipe

~ Kiki Writes ~ Leave a comment

I do most of the cooking in my house which means I’m the one responsible for coming up with meals that these people will eat. It’s exhausting and I hate it. But! It does give me an excuse to look at cookbooks that I find interesting and sometimes I luck out and find few recipes that I like.

Here are a couple of cookbooks that are both interesting reads and have some tasty recipes inside.

Cook Real Hawai’i by Sheldon Simeon–I guess if you watch Top Chef, you’ll recognize Sheldon’s Simeon’s name. I don’t, so I didn’t. But! As someone who does a podcast about a show that was set and filmed in Hawai’i, I’m naturally curious about things I come across pertaining to the islands. I really like this cookbook because it shows all of the cultural influences on Hawaiian cuisine -Korean, Filipino, Japanese, and Portuguese- and how they come together to form a culture of its own. I haven’t tried too many dishes out of this cookbook, but my favorite is the kimchi dip. You really can put it on anything and I even tried it on Cool Ranch Doritos as suggested. Yep. It works.

I know most of the time you want to skip past the stories to get to the recipes, but Sheldon’s stories in this cook book are definitely worth reading.

Trejo’s Cantina by Danny Trejo–I think we all agree that Danny Trejo is great (if you don’t, you’re wrong) and this cookbook is fabulous. Not only will you find a variety of recipes to satisfy the vegans, vegetarians, and meat-eaters, as well as quench the thirst of the drinkers and teetotalers, but Danny even takes the time to explain what a cantina is all about and how to best stock yours, including your bar. I haven’t had the time to try as many of the recipes as I’ve wanted, but we did eat a lot of shrimp tostadas during the summer. As it turns out, my life is greatly improved by having access to chipotle lime creama.

Danny’s also got stories and bits of wisdom in this cookbook. Read every word. It’ll make your day.

If you decide to try these cookbooks, I hope you find some recipes you enjoy. And if you end up with food poisoning, I never gave you the shopping list.

Read This If–You Dig Haunted Houses

~ Kiki Writes ~ 2 Comments

It’s October and I love Halloween. It was only natural that I’d pick a couple of horror reads for this month, but the first two books I thought of were both about haunted house novels. Ding ding ding! No more calls. We have a winner. Haunted house horror it is.

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix–Louise reluctantly leaves her daughter with her ex and travels across the country to help bury her parents, both dead in a tragic car accident. As if losing her parents wasn’t bad enough, she’s faced with the task of cleaning out her childhood home with her younger brother Mark, who is something of a failure in life -at least to Louise- and her biggest antagonist. The biggest hitch, though, is that the house doesn’t want to be sold.

This book caught me off guard. We’re going along like what you might expect from a haunted house tale and then…hard left into holy shit. It is a ride. But like many haunted house stories, it’s the family secrets that are more haunting than anything.

Tell Me I’m Worthless by Alison Rumfitt–Once upon a time, Alice, Hannah, and Ila went to a haunted house…and only Alice and Ila came out. Alice’s life has been less than great since that night. Haunted by the events, she goes to parties she doesn’t want to be at, drinks herself to sleep, and sells pics of herself online to support herself. Worse, she and Ila are so far estranged that they’re enemies. But when Ila asks her to go back to the house, Alice knows she has to go.

This is a brutal read because it’s not just the house that’s haunted, but the people, too. Alice is trans and after the events in the house, Ila has gone full TERF. Neither of them are living their best lives. The narrative doesn’t pull its punches. And once they go back into the house…hoo boy. Buckle up. This is house is haunted haunted.

I actually ended up reading these two back-to-back. While they might both be haunted house novels, the hauntings are very different, but both are terrifying in their own ways.

Read if you dare.

Read This If–You’re Into Other People’s Lives

~ Kiki Writes ~ Leave a comment

As promised (threatened?), here is the first in what I hope to be a successful blog series of book recs for those inclined to be swayed. And I thought memoirs would be safe way to kick things off. So, here are three I think you should read if you’re nosy like me and want to know how other people live.

Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood— I put this one out on my Father’s Day display every year even before I read it because with a title like that, how could I not? Writer and poet Patricia Lockwood weaves a humorous yet deep narrative between her religious upbringing with a father who received special permission to become a priest after he was a married father and the eight months she and her husband had to live with her parents after a decade of living on their own. To say that her father is a character would be putting it so mildly that it might as well be beige. You have to read it to believe it.

Dirtbag, Massachusetts: A Confessional by Isaac Fitzgerald— This memoir-in-essays kicks off with Isaac Fitzgerald announcing that when he was born his parents were married -to other people. And it just takes off from there. Recounting a childhood of poverty and homelessness, going from altar boy and fat kid to bartender and biker, Fitzgerald struggled to make peace with his life while finding his place in the world, which led him as far as Burma and back. It’s a wild ride to read about.

Brace for Impact by Gabe Montesanti— Can roller derby save your life? For Gabe Montesanti, it kind of did. After growing up queer in a conservative Midwestern town, throwing herself into competitive swimming and allowing perfectionism to rule her world, Montesanti decided to make a fresh start when she moved to St. Louis for grad school. She found a home in Arch Rival, a top ranked roller derby league, but when she suffered a devastating injury, she was forced to reckon with the baggage and trauma she thought she left behind. As a queer kid from a Midwestern town with perfectionism issues, I found it highly relatable, but also totally honest and inspiring.

Let me know if you end up reading any of these and if you don’t like them, don’t tell me.

Read This If–Book Recs You Never Asked For

~ Kiki Writes ~ 1 Comment

We have this thing at the library called Reader’s Advisory. Basically, it means that one of our solemnly sworn duties as library workers is to recommend books, movies, TV shows, whatever to patrons based on what they’re looking for.

I’ve worked really hard at getting better at this because what most people ask for -like mysteries, thrillers, or “something like James Patterson” (ugh)- I don’t read much of. And may the library gods spare me from anyone asking for young adult recs because YA is still my weakest link goodbye. But I have made significant progress in getting more comfortable and adept at recommending books for patrons.

I did this not only because I like to be somewhat competent at my job, but also because my tastes are so random that it’s very rare that someone is going to ask for a rec that’s in my wheelhouse. In fact, I think the patron asking for something morbid the other night is the first time I was confidently able to say, “I got this.”

So as a means to satisfy my own ego and maybe put some books into the awareness of someone who might be looking for just the thing, I’m going to attempt a new blog series called “Read This If…” and it will feature two or three (maybe four; why limit myself?) books that fit a kind of theme. Hopefully, I’ll be able to do this once a month and maybe you’ll find something unexpected to fill your eyeballs with.

These recs will be coming from a place of pure enjoyment. I liked this, maybe you will, too. I make no claim that I know what’s “good”. I’m not doing full on reviews or book reports. Hell, giving stars on Goodreads gets me uptight half the time. This is just going to be loose and informal. A chat amongst friends.

So, let’s have fun with it.

I know. You didn’t ask for this.

You don’t have to thank me.