JUNE: Perspectives Book Project

July 5, 2017

I committed to reading 43 books in 2017 as part of the Perspectives Book Project in an effort to “explore points of view to which I’m otherwise not sufficiently exposed.”

June was dedicated to LGBTQ Awareness Month:

THE LARAMIE PROJECT by: I really enjoyed reading the original play about the aftermath of the Matthew Shepard murder in Laramie, Wyoming on October 7, 1998 as well as the follow-up play that was written 10 years later. The subject matter was, of course, emotional and tragic and sad on so many levels. I was really impressed by the theater company’s efforts to listen to all sides of the story and present it objectively. I don’t usually read plays, but I’m so glad I read this one. It was easy to follow, interesting, eye-opening, and moving, and I look forward to seeing the plays in production one day.

THIS BOOK IS GAY: I read this book in a couple hours, mostly skimming it. It’s a guidebook for anyone who is interested in exploring different sexual preferences either for themselves or to learn about others including those they love. As the synopsis says, “Inside you’ll find the answers to all the questions you ever wanted to ask: from sex to politics, hooking up to stereotypes, coming out and more. This candid, funny, and uncensored exploration of sexuality and what it’s like to grow up LGBT also includes real stories from people across the gender and sexual spectrums, not to mention hilarious illustrations.” Really glad I read it.

BECOMING NICOLE: This book was my hands-down favorite of the group. It was inspirational, moving, informative, and important. I highly recommend this one!

I unintentionally also read two books for pleasure the first weekend of July (so I’ll count them for June) that had LGBTQ themes and I loved both of these books so much: THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO by Taylor Jenkins Reid and THE FOREVER SUMMER by Jamie Brenner.