Why Gay Guys Are a Girl’s Best Friend

by Jeff Fessler, Karen Rauch

This is a thin 100-page illustration of fifty reasons why gay guy are truly a girl’s best friends.

“A gay guy sends flowers just because you are you.
A straight guy sends flowers when he has screwed up big-time.

A gay guy hugs you to show he cares.
A straight guy hugs you to determine if your bra is front- or back-opening.

A gay guy’s reaction when you have PMS? Plenty of sympahty and an endless supply of Ben & Jerry’s.
A straight guy’s reaction to your PMS: Call me when you snap out of it.”

A laugh-out-loud quick read that I enjoyed sharing with my husband (who now declared Ben & Jerry’s to be ice cream for gays and chicks.) I don’t have any gay buddies to attest to the truth of these pearls of wisdom but at least the straight guy parts are spot on.

Books Gone Wild in Kansas City

A lot of BookCrossers love leaving books in the wild, but for a shy person like me, I usually prefer the comfort, safety and laziness of online swapping or leaving my books at OBCZs. Moreover, I figure, why risk a book going into the garbage when I could give it to someone who’s interested.

Thus, it was with some curiosity, excitement, and nervous anticipation that I did my first big wild releasing, as a reverse scavenger hunt at the BookCrossing UnConvention in Kansas City. It was totally fun reading the map and preparing books to release, a combination of creativity, knowledge, map reading, and walking/running exercise. Totally addictive fun that kept me recounting the details to anybody who chanced to ask how my vacation was. ABout 20 of us turned out en masse to the Country Club Plaza at Kansas City, and leaving book here and there, all over the place.

My first release was at the JC Nicholas Fountain for the fountain theme, using the book Hole in the Water. Well, a fountain is technically speaking, a hole of water, sort of… (*all book titles contain BC journal link)

Hole in the Water released at the JC Nicholas Fountain

For the statue theme, I found that the stone horse statue at PF Chang bears remarkably resemblance to the unicorn on the cover of The Camelot Caper, so I left the book at the horse’s foot:

The Camelot Caper

Next I left the book Flower (a great book by the way) in a flower pot. Okay, rather unimaginative, but hey it is themed.

Flower book left with some flowers.

For the numbers theme, I wasn’t quite sure where to release my book until I came across this sign. Funny thing is, originally I had planned to use the book The Four Agreements, which would have been PERFECT at this address. But that book was such an old BC book I couldn’t bear just wild releasing it and end up using Three Junes instead.

Three Junes released at 444

I found a White House/Black Market store, a perfect spot for Blackbeard’s Ghost as a Colors themed release.

Blackbeard's Ghost showing up at Black Market!

Now on to hot and cold. First is The Grilling Season at The Capital Grille. Spot the book? It’s at the paw of the left lion.

The Grilling Season at The Capital Grille

Then, at my favorite ice cream shop, Coldstone Creamery, a copy of Cold Company. If it weren’t so cold (for me) and if I had more time, I’d definitely have gone in for a pumpkin ice cream.

Cold Company at Coldstone Creamery

There are lots of fountains everywhere, so at this Mermaid fountain I released my water book, Beneath the Surface, though the book remained stubbornly afloat. Should have put some stone in the bag…

Beneath The Surface stays afloat in the Mermaid Fountain

I had quite a few dog books. This one, Why We Love The Dogs We Do, awaited a dog + book lover at the Three Dog Bakery.

Why We Love The Dogs We Do at the Three Dogs Bakery

I didn’t plan to release this book here, but Benji spotted this fire hydrant and simply refused to leave…

Benji loves this fire hydrant

Morning, Noon & Night was left next to a string of lights for the lights release.

Lights Release: Morning, Noon & Night

Again, a book that I planned to take home but released instead. This one is for KC Connection, as the author of For the Beary Best Mom lives in Kansas City. Left this on the Kansas City Star newspaper box.

Released for KC Connection

I also did a bunch of themed releases.

You’ve got Nickel ad Dimed at the bank!

You've Got Nickel and Dimed at the Bank!

Some Uncommon Grounds (a coffee house mystery) showed up at Latteland (book on front table).

Latteland has some Uncommon Grounds!

Kind of wish I still had Cold Company, as the eagle would work great over here too. Anyway, a chocolate themed book, Like Water For Chocolate, at the Panache Chocolatier.

My Toy Voyager toys bravely left a book in the eagle's nest.

Love and Other Recreational Sports looked right at home at the Diebel’s Sportsman Gallery.

Love is a recreational sport!

This is one of my favorite releases. Why Me? Guess!

Why Me? Guess!

I had looked for a while to find this perfect chair for Three for the Chair. I believe this is at Brio Tuscan Grille.

Chair book on chair

You have to admit that Bead on Trouble into looks right at home in the Brighton Collectibles store, though I doubt the shop assistant would agree.

Beads release

It’s Zero Hour at the Clock Tower of Fogo de Chao. This is the only catch I got so far from this Scavenger Hunt. Plus the very photogenic tower makes this one of my favorite releases.

It's Zero Hour at Fogo de Chao

As I am not inclined to hang myself under a cliff, this little book Over Sea, Under Stone has to be contend with under a little stone ledge.

Not quite over the sea, but definitely under the stone.

Sorry, dear shop assistant, I knew photography was not allowed in the store. But hey when I have a book called Shades of Earl Grey and you have some boxes of earl grey, what do you expect me to do??

Earl Grey!!

There is a bonus for finding a pay phone, and I have the perfect book for a themed release. Except that I couldn’t find a darn payphone!! Well, I never did pay attention but just presume them to be everywhere, but never did I imagine that even hotels don’t have payphones anymore!!

Anyway, it wasn’t until we got to the Hallmark City Center that we spotted one. Here you go, Superman Returns. Maybe not. Guess he has to use the men’s room and hopefully not get arrested.

Superman Returns

Also, about twenty steps away from the payphone, we found this book lying on the bench. I was like, no way, that was the book I released two hours ago! It couldn’t be showing up here! Turns out it was another copy from the same BookCrosser… I guess this is my second wild catch of my BC life!!

A weird moment of deja vu indeed!

Pretty Birds

by Scott Simon

I picked up this book because I recognize Scott Simon from NPR. Simon is a NPR Weekend Edition host, and a journalist who has won many award including the Emmy and the Peabody. This is a novel based on his experience covering the war in Sarajevo and his interview with one of the teenage girl snipers.

During the conflict, both sides employed teenage girls to act as snipers. This free up men to battle in the front, and also for the fact that teenage girls have the cool, discipline and patience less common in boys of the same age. This story is not a biography but rather an active imagination based on his interviews.

Irena is a 17 year old with a Serbian father and Muslim mother. This fact doesn’t much concern her – what she is interested in, are her basketball team, her Air Jordan, her coach, and the little African Grey parrot she keeps, Pretty Bird. However, all that is changed when the Bosnian Serbs begin their campaign of ethnic cleansing, and Irena and her parents are brutalized and driven from their home on the mostly Serb side of town. They fled to her grandmother’s apartment, only to find her slain on the staircase. Irena begins working at a brewery, which is actually a front for a team of snipers. An assistant principal from her former high school spots the talent in Irena, and she becomes very good at her job.

This is a powerful story of human survivial in adversity. Time and again we are reminded of the humanness of all characters involved – ordinary people trying their best to survive, hoping for the best for their loved ones. Irena especially is a vibrant character, but others have their shining moments too, including the nurse at the hospital, the vet, and the other members at the brewery.

The story is made more impactful by the sense of humor throughout. When the driver is kidnapped and later moved by how much ransom his group is willing to pay, he is told that they are paying for his truck. When young Irena has a chance to talk to her Christian friend Amela over radio, they screams over the divorce of Prince Charles and Diana. A character tells a joke “What is the difference between here and Auschwitz?” “They have gas, we don’t”.

Admittedly, this story only tells one side of the story, and as a fiction rather than an unbiased news report, it does take side. However, one walks away from the book with a strong sense that war is brutal. It reduces people to live in unhuman condition, in divides friends into enemy.

The Year of the Goat: 40,000 Miles and the Quest for the Perfect Cheese

by Margaret Hathaway

I got interested in cheese, so when I saw this title on Amazon I immediately wanted to read it.

The truth is, the subtitle is misleading. The book is about goat alright, but cheese doesn’t feature much in the book at all. They did taste a few cheeses, but any mention barely last more than a few lines and the taste comment doesn’t go much beyond a couple of words. Definitely not what I expect from a quest for cheese.

The author and her boyfriend have a sudden “goat fever”, and decided to take a year off on a tour around the country, embarked on a goat odyssey and in general satisfying their love for goat (which includes goat in all forms: from the bleating little kid to the warm cashmere socks to the goat stew). They went to a goat auction, attended a goat convention, watched goat chariot race, spoke to chefs and cheesemakers, visited farms big and small, learned to milk a goat, went on a goat-packing hike and finally had a goat-themed wedding. Most of the time they spent their nights at campsites or bundled up in a sleeping bag inside their cars. For a happy ending, at the end of the year they know what they want. They decided they could no longer go back to their Manhattan urban life. They wanted to be farmers, they wanted their children growing up on a farm.

Theirs is a personal awakening humbly told. They are surprised by how friendly and open these people living in rural area are, and are gradually disarmed and then won over from their urban lifestyle. They had nice jobs in New York, but they yearn for a simpler lifestyle with little want. In this day and age, they are certainly not alone, many people just couldn’t find satisfaction in their high paying and materialistic job. But rare indeed is someone who have their courage to really uproot and follow their dreams.

Mary Roach at Books & Books

Author Mary Roach was at Books and Books, Coral Gables, last night to promote her new book Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex.

I just started on Stiff so I decided to go there to get my book autographed.

Roach was a really entertaining speaker, as can be imagined from her humorous writing.

I got her to sign on my copy of Stiff, which naturally is a BookCrossing copy.

Some Useless Stats

Okay, I released 20 books, plus 11 books for swaps.

Picked up 19 books home, plus 8 swap books.

So, I went home with four fewer books. What an achievement!!