Songs for the New Depression Kergan Edwards-Stout

This book had me hooked from the first page. The writing quality was so strong that I had to look again to remind myself that this is a debut novel.

The writing is more than excellent; it's in places laugh-out-loud funny. It's my view that if one is going to write about serious and often heart-breaking subject, the relief of humor is essential. Otherwise, people will put down your book and go watch Modern Family.

I wasn't at first sure that the reverse-chronology storytelling method worked. Only towards the end of the book did I recognize this as a brilliant strategy for unraveling the psyche of a challenging protagonist.

Gabriel, like many people I've known, isn't easy to love. My friends in this category could be immensely entertaining, they often cooked well, and they made ideal partners on a dance floor. Like Gabriel, they failed Intimacy 101.

Through going back in time, the reader can understand what makes Gabriel who he is. With the defining moment of his high-school years, the author makes the powerful point that bullying and other forms of targeted oppression can mould damaged individuals whose defense against the world that always threatens to do it again is a faŤade that seems impermeable, a mask that shuts out both hatred and love.

The author handles this theme with considerable deftness, and I hope that he is currently working on something new. I look forward to reading it.

In One Person John Irving

I am always in awe of the characters he manages to conjure up. From the transvestite grandfather to the mysterious Miss Frost, he sets loose a gang of "sexual suspects." I love this term because I believe a primary message of this novel is that anyone who deviates from the mean-spirited standards of sexual conservatism falls into this category. This is true at the beginning of the life of Billy, the main character and narrator, and is true today, when right-wing politicos continue to wield the weapons of hate. As I write this, it wasn't so long ago that a North Carolina preacher recommended concentration camps for gays and lesbians. I'm certain this gentleman could have found room for bisexuals and other "deviants."

That's why this book is important. Irving wants those who read this book to recognize that, regardless of our sexual interests or gender preferences, we share a common humanity.

In reflecting on In One Person, I am reminded of these lines from W. B. Yeats' "The Second Coming." "The best lack all conviction, while the worst / Are full of passionate intensity." In many ways, these words are as true now as when they were composed. In writing this novel, Irving has demonstrated that the best can write with both conviction and passionate intensity. I applaud him for it.

Shero Jack Wallan

No dodging into phone booths for this supershero, who makes Spiderman and Superman look downright dowdy. Shero is always well-dressed and prepared for any crisis. This girl knows who she is and is prepared to kick ass to prove it.

Only the most mean-spirited (and Shero knows who they are) could fail to fall in love with this feisty character with killer nail polish. Long may she strut her stuff.

Something Different S.A. Reid

Something Different is Perfectly Named

Michael is a bored and frustrated heterosexual married father. James is a beautiful and cynical rent boy. A sexual encounter becomes a romance.

If written by a less talented author, this story could have been as cliched as a daytime soap opera, but S. A. Reid has created real and very likable characters. Their individual growth and evolution is as authentic as the development of their relationship. The result is a book that is nothing short of beautiful in its honesty and tenderness.

If you're tired of sentimental romances whose story lines are totally predictable, try Something Different.