May 19. Welcome to my new Book Reviews blog.
I will be reviewing books of all kinds–some gay, some not, a lot of historical, some nonfiction–anything that strikes my fancy. Some of them won’t even be brand-new books, though hopefully they will still be in print and available on Amazon or elsewhere.
I don’t write negative reviews. Not every book is going to appeal to every person, but every author has poured time (sometimes many years) into that book and this reviewer will not rain on his or her parade. If I don’t like it, or didn’t enjoy it for some reason, than I’ll just pass on reviewing it. Every review is ONE PERSON’S OPINION, nothing else. Just because I didn’t care to review a particular title doesn’t mean the next reviewer won’t be ecstatic!
I’ll try to remember to put the genre/type of book in the title for your convenience. This is all new to me and I’m learning as I go.
I’m going to start out with reviews I’ve already posted elsewhere in order to have something here now, and will add to it when I can. Comments are more than welcome.
This will be an eclectic list, so I hope you can find something you enjoy or learn about a book you were unaware of.
And in case you didn’t know, here’s some blatant self-promotion:
www.ruthsims.com
Novel: The Phoenix (ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year HM)
video for The Phoenix: http://youtube.com/user/badcock24
now available on Amazon & fine bookstores
and in April issue of Forbidden Fruit e-zine http://www.forbiddenfruitzine.com/
Short story, “Mariel” — Blithe House Quarterly http://www.blithe.com/
Short story “Mr. Newby’s Revenge” to be in Fall issue of MystericalE at www.mystericale.com
ruthsims
February 25, 2009 at 9:47 am |
To: Ruth Sims
I am a British author who has just published a gay novel, Kuta Bubbles, in the USA, and I wondered if you would be interested in receiving a review copy. I realise that newspapers usually prefer galleys prior to publication, but I am based in Europe and have not been in a position to supervise this.
The novel is the second part of a trilogy based in Indonesia, where I lived for six years. The first, Jakarta Shadows, (not on a gay theme), was published in the UK, but earned a Starred Review in Booklist.
If you would like to see a copy of Kuta Bubbles, please send me the address to which you want it sent.
Please find below a copy of my Press Release.
Many thanks.
GAY GUYS GET OLD TOO
Not that you’d know it from watching movies, where they’re generally young and handsome, and have respectable, middle-class jobs.
But not Jack – he puts on a wig and becomes Dusty Springfield. A relic from the Gay Lib generation, now leading what seems a charmed life on the paradise island of Bali: one of a trio of westerners who trot out their tired old drag act. Jack has gone from 70s activist to Millennium cynic, bedding the local boys who throng to Kuta in the hope of finding a foreigner to whisk them out of poverty.
Then George, a tourist, turns up in town. George has never cracked a camp joke in his life, all of which has been spent firmly in a self-made closet. One of the local rent boys goes missing, and perhaps George is implicated. But Ringo doesn’t want to believe it. He’s in love with George, and the Indonesian boy has dreams of his own.
Moving deftly between comedy and menace, Kuta Bubbles explores the uneasy relationship when east meets west, and poor boy meets rich man. So, all those years on, what happened to Gay Liberation? Is there a global gay community, or has the meat market simply got bigger?
About the Author:
Alan Brayne was born in the UK, but has lived in several countries, and is currently based in Malta. Kuta Bubbles is his second novel, part of a trilogy he is writing which draws on his six years spent in Indonesia. The first book in the trilogy, Jakarta Shadows, earned a Starred Review from Booklist.
Publication: Kuta Bubbles
Author: Alan Brayne
Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-60594-198-1
Pages: 220
Price: $14.95
Size: 6 x 9
Available from Llumina Press, Ingram, and Baker & Taylor.
Toll Free Orders Line: 1-866-229-9244
Or visit us on the web at http://www.llumina.com/store/kutabubbles.htm
orders@llumina.com