Lightning Reviews is back and we have an awesome trio of books this week, especially considering they all earned rather high grades! We have a crafting book with a focus on feminism, a romantic suspense with two sexy heroes, and Alan Cumming’s memoir which features lots of cute dog pictures.
Crafting with Feminism
author: Bonnie Burton
Crafting With Feminism: 25 Girl-Powered Projects to Smash the Patriarchy includes the directions for completing twenty-five crafting projects that are aimed squarely at my level of crafting competence, which is zero. Some projects require a small amount of hand sewing, but none of them require a sewing machine. You don’t have to know how to knit or crochet – you just need access to fabric and maybe glue and some glitter. These projects are silly and funny and cool and will make your feminist soul reach for the sequins!
While many of these projects are quite lovely (I’m fond of the Queen Ring Bling), most of them are also funny. How could I not want to make my own Male Chauvinist Tears Coffee Mug? Or a Feminist Killjoy Sash to wear proudly to my next convention, along with a Nope Necklace? And how have I lived for so long without a Girl Band Cassette Business Card Holder?
As befits a feminist book, there are several projects involving reproductive organs. You can make a little Monster Week Tampon/Pad Case, or Tampon Buddies. If you want a break from working with fabric you can make Vagina Tree Ornaments out of homemade salt dough. The only project that looks difficult is the Huggable Uterus Pillow. I’m pleased to report that the pillow comes with a heating pad pocket, as well as instructions for a lavender-scented heating pad to put in the pocket.
Bonnie Burton has been crafting in books and online for ages but this is my first exposure to her work, and I found it delightful. It includes craft party ideas, playlists, and recommendations for books and movies, as well as some great feminist quotes. Best of all, there’s a section on why crafting is feminist, and how to use these crafts for the greater good. To the Mod Podge, my sisters!
– Carrie S
Crafting, Nonfiction
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The Talented Mr. Rivers
author: HelenKay Dimon
The Talented Mr. Rivers by HelenKay Dimon is the second book in her m/m romantic suspense series End of the Line. The series uses a powerful criminal enterprise, The Pentasus Organization, and the family who runs it, the Riverses, as its focal point. This book opens up after the events of Mr and Mr Smith ( A | BN | K | G | AB | WorldCat ) when the Rivers family has suffered serious set backs and is on the run.
The scion to this criminal empire, and potentially only surviving family member, is Will Rivers. He is the youngest sibling in the family, and unlike his half-brother and sister, wants nothing to do with the family business. He’s tough because he has to be–his father killed his mother, his sister tried to kill him, and he lives in a world of deadly shifting alliances–but he’s not a bad person.
When the book opens Will is on the run and had been tracked down by his former bodyguard (and secret CIA/BND agent) Hunter Cain. Hunter was sent to infiltrate the Rivers family, and he and Will have some serious UST going on. Hunter needs to protect Will in order to keep his in with Pentasus, but of course, they fall in love too. The problem is Will doesn’t know that Hunter is playing him.
This series is about shifting alliances, double agents and falling for a person you don’t know if you can trust. All of that is 100% Elyse catnip. Plus there are some incredibly hot sex scenes and it’s more action movie romantic suspense than serial killer romantic suspense, all things I love.
It’s also got some great lines:
“The undercover agent and the criminal dynasty heir. Quite the romance.”
“Well, it sounds ridiculous when you say it like that.”
I would suggest that this series be read in order. By itself The Talented Mr. Rivers would lack the context and world-building that Mr. and Mr. Smith provides and might feel under developed.
This book is also a quick, action-packed read–so if you’re looking for something fast, fun and sexy, I’d highly recommend it.
– Elyse
Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, Romantic Suspense, Romance
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You Gotta Get Bigger Dreams
author: Alan Cumming
This is a memoir by actor, singer, dancer, all around awesome hedonist Alan Cumming (I fell for him in SpyKids, though you may remember him from Broadway’s Cabaret, or The Good Wife, or “This is Masterpiece Mystery”). It is mostly just vignettes of his life, from a cross-country trip with his dog to how he entertained Elizabeth Taylor at Carrie Fisher’s birthday party, augmented with pictures he’s taken.
He’s led an interesting life, working on many different projects, and he has a clever, charming voice as he tells these stories. Some of them are just “here is the story of this picture” while some are moving tributes, and others are “my ridiculous life, let me show it to you.”
It’s a beautiful book, and well-produced. I saw him speak in Cambridge in September (I got the copy signed for a friend who couldn’t make it, and he asked my name was and I have no chill at all). He was delightful, funny, and very kind, and the book is the same. Also there are many doggie pictures!
Memoir, Nonfiction
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Lucky you, meeting Alan Cumming. I saw him play Mack the Knife in the revival of The Threepenny Opera on Broadway, and he was great. The whole cast was great.
RHG, I am much jealous of you. I’ve seen him in different movies, but I had the first awww’s for him in X2 of all places where his Nightcrawler was the most adorable thing with puppy dog eyes I had seen in quite some time. So yeah, for every “Sean bloody Walsh” he’s played, I can never forget Kurt Wagner and his delightfully stilted accent. Seriously Kurt, please be less adorable.