Last night I finished reading Belmondo Style by Adam Berlin. I really enjoyed this book. It was a story of a pickpocket father and his gay son and their very close relationship. The story takes place in New York City. The story is told through the eyes of a 16 year old boy. It tells of the father’s restless search for women and pockets to pick. The son is a runner at school who realizes he’s gay. The story takes you on a roller coaster ride of emotions, crime, being on the run, sex, and love. There is one very disturbing violent scene that I didn’t enjoy but it was crucial to the story. Usually I don’t like the ending of the books I read but I have to say the ending of this book was pleasant. It tied up the loose ends and brought the story to a close. I would recommend this book. It’s not necessarily a gay book but because of the story line of the son realizing he’s gay and his first experience with love, it fits into my genre of gay novels. I think you’ll enjoy this book.
Next up is So Hard To Say by Alex Sanchez. I’ve read two books by this author so I’m sure I’ll enjoy this one. He writes mostly high school experiences with being gay and in love.
From Barnes and Noble.com:
Thirteen-year-old Xio, a Mexican American girl, and Frederick, who has just moved to California from Wisconsin, quickly become close friends, but when Xio starts thinking of Frederick as her boyfriend, he must confront his feelings of confusion and face the fear that he might be gay.
Most of the gay novels I read are full of white, middle class gay men so this might be a change. Of course I’ll write about it once I finish it…which shouldn’t be long. Shancez’s books tend to be easy reads and I think they are written with the high school teenager in mind.
On another book note, Magical Thinking by Augusten Burroughs was released today. I ordered it through my book club. I have been waiting a long time for his next book. I totally fell in love with him as an author when I read Running With Scissors and Dry last summer. Since that time I’ve been waiting for his next book. If this book is anything like his other two, I will fall in love again. Of course, another reason his books mean a lot to me is because HE and I were reading them at the same time last summer and had great conversations about the books. We both enjoyed them and admire Burroughs as an author. Reading this book will bring back memories but good memories. I wonder if HE knows about the release of Burroughs new book and if he will be reading it.