Summer Reading with queereads

An update from the best LGBT bookclub in SLC, queereads.
Here we go...

This month, on 6/17/09 at 6:30pm in the basement of this fine bookselling establishment, we'll be discussing Luna by Julie Anne Peters. Luna is a young-adult novel (which makes it cheap! $7.99 before the 20%off!!!) about Regan and her transgender brother, Liam who is becoming Luna.

In July we'll be straying from the norm, breaking free of barriers, and reading a novel that isn't specifically LGBT. Geek Love by Katherine Dunn, with its poetic prose, is a wild, often horrifying, novel about freaks, geeks and other aberrancies of the human condition who travel together (a whole family of them) as a circus. It's a solipsistic funhouse world that makes "normal" people seem bland and pitiful. 7/15/09 6:30pm.

And in August, our favorite lesbian cartoonist, Alison Bechdel with Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, a graphic memoir (think Persepolis) about Bechdel's coming of age as a young woman and a lesbian in a meticulously restored gothic revival house, filled with gilt and lace, with her closeted father who was an English teacher and proprietor of the local funeral parlor. 8/19/09 6:30pm.

Extreme Makeover: Book Club Edition

I've decided that queereads needs a makeover. As it stands, queereads focusses on lgbt specific literature. I'd like to expand our horizons. The word "queer" can mean so many things and I want to branch out into some literature that isn't specifically lgbt. I see it as a new exiting evolution of the club and I hope you will too.

Join us for our next discussion on Wednesday, May 20th at 6:30pm where we will be talking about Audre Lorde's classic "Zami: A New Spelling of My Name".

April Showers Bring "Deflowered"

The queereads chosen tome of April is "Deflowered: My Life in Pansy Division" by the band's founding member, Jon Ginoli. Pansy Division was the first out and proud queercore punk rock band to hit the semi-big time. The memoir follows the journey from their inception in San Francisco, to their search for a music label and a permanent drummer, to their current status as indie rock icons. They toured with Green Day and faced homophobic fans during their search for acceptance in the music world. This memoir is an impassioned account of staying true to the artistic vision of queer rock'n'roll.

But wait! There's more!
On May 1st Jon Ginoli will be in the store to sign books and talk music and answer any questions you might have from "Deflowered"!

Here's your checklist:
1. Buy "Deflowered: My Life in Pansy Division" by Jon Ginoli for 20% off at Sam Weller's
2. Read it, cover to cover
3. Come to Sam Weller's at 6:30pm on April 15th to discuss the book with queereads
4. Come back to Sam Weller's on May 1st to meet the author and have him sign your book!

It's that easy! Everyone is invited! Do you like punk rock music? Do you often enjoy reading? Well this is the perfect month to join queereads! See you there!

So many options for queereads!

Guess what! Queereads is now on Twitter! But since there's a limited number of words to be used, most of the info will still be on the Facebook group and the blog as soon as I can update it (I'm afraid it's quite out of date, sorry). If any of you want to get a head start on our next meeting, which will be Wed. March 18th, we will be discussing Kevin Sessums' "Mississippi Sissy". The books are available at Sam Weller's for 20% off! I hope to see many faces there, will yours be one of them?

A Juggling Act

Thanks to an upcoming event, two book clubs, and my own want to read something fun, I am currently trying to read four books. Usually it's a feat for me to finish just one book in a reasonable amount of time, but four? What have I gotten myself into?

First, the event. David Sedaris is coming to Abravanel Hall on October 20th for his newest book, "When You are Engulfed in Flames".

I am part of the little crew from our store working the event, so I am trying to finish that book by then. I'm not complaining, by any means. The man's a comic genius, the book is great.

Next, book club one of two. The newest book club meeting at Sam Wellers is queereads, a book club focusing on LGBT literature. Created and moderated by Adam Streeter, the first book is Sarah Schulman's "Rat Bohemia" to be discussed on Wed. Oct. 22nd.
Adam and I read this together in one night. It's a quick read and a great one. Even though this book was written thirteen years ago, I found myself relating to a character I didn't expect to, and reading about situations I've recently experienced. It was almost startling how familiar some of the emotions were. This book is a true gem written in beautifully simplistic, yet sometimes poetic prose. I'm really looking forward to discussing this at queereads.

Now for book club two of two. Zach's book club, the Hardboiled Book Club, is reading Ryo Murakami's "In the Miso Soup" to be discussed on Tuesday Oct. 28th.

I've only gotten about twenty or so pages into this one as of now, but so far, I like it.

And because I like to torment myself, I'm reading an advanced reading copy of "Fool" the newest novel by Christopher Moore, due out in February of 2009. It's Moore's take on Shakespeare's "King Lear". I'm a little more than halfway through this and all I want to do is lock myself in a room with no distractions and finish it. I'm loving it. I was unable to find a picture of the cover. I'll post a review with a picture closer to the book's release.

So right now, my reading schedule is like a juggling act, or perhaps something a little more scattered and inconsistent, say a really old intoxicated clown's version of a juggling act.