The fourth in the Gossip Girl meets the Vampire Diaries series Blue Bloods is more romance than vampire. It's as absorbing as its predecessors but is somewhat thin--like its three vampire/model narrators.
The first non paranormal fiction novel I've read finished in ages--and it's magic realism! Daughters of the Stone, by a Puerto Rican YA librarian from the Bronx (That's hot!), tells of five generations of gifted women.
I don't review every zine I read on here, but I do try to get a few lines out about my favorites. Her Blues is one of those zines that like good poetry, art, etc. captures an experience in such a way that it resonates completely with something that you thought was yours only, and reading it you feel less like a freak, less alone.
Yup, it's back to vampires for me. I let a dozen books go by since the last one I read, unless you count the zombie book. Life Sucks is a graphic novel about a reluctant vampire, a vegetarian convenience store clerk named Dave, who is competing with a trust-fund surfer vamp for the affections of a hot mortal goth girl. I wasn't especially taken with the story or the art, I'm sorry to say, which is especially grating considering the anticipation with which I waited for it to be released from NYPL's nearly three week long "in transit" status. I think the problem is that the book really should have been about the girl, Rosa, with her traditional Mexican mother who wants her to get married and procreate, and her own identity struggle, including her desire to be a vampire.
Carla Olivares spends a year in Mexico City trying to engage with the Chicano side of her heritage. At first she spends time only with fellow expats, starting with her trustafarian (her description) ex-boyfriend with whom she lives with for the first few months. She knows very little Spanish in the beginning of the story, but as she works at immersing herself in Mexican culture, she also learns the language.
As regular readers of my zine know, Celia Perez is one of my best friends and favorite zine writers. Therefore it shouldn't surprise you that hers is one of the rare zines I'm including in my reading log. Since I read so many zines for work, it's just not practical for me to review all of them here, so I just write up my very favorites, and I don't even get around to them half the time.
Anyway, this issue of I Dreamed I Was Assertive is one of those zines that make me wish I was a better writer. I'm kind of ashamed that my messy old zines were next to Celia's on our table at the NYC Zine Fest! Oops, I'm making this about me, so I'll get back to IDIWA…
The table of contents reveals some favorites from the past: Julia Alvarez, James McBride, Lisa See, and Danzy Senna.