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Book Review: Eleanor, by David Michaelis
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Bookworm Sez
“Eleanor” by David Michaelis
c.2020, Simon & Schuster
#35.00 / $47.00 Canada 698 pagesLife, as they say, is an open book.
When you’re born, someone else starts writing it for you, but it doesn’t take long for you to be your own author. Through the years, you’ll scribble ideas, compose thoughtfully, add chapters, and crumple pages. Your life’s book might be a series of quick notes, long essays, one-liners or, as in “Eleanor” by David Michaelis, you could build an epic story.
In today’s world, we might call Eleanor Roosevelt’s mother abusive: Anna Hall Roosevelt never had a kind word to say to her daughter, often mockingly calling little Eleanor “Granny.” It’s true that Eleanor wasn’t lithe and beautiful like her mother; she was awkward and stern, a Daddy’s girl for an often-absent, alcoholic father.
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Q Audiobooks: Charity and Sylvia, by Rachel Hope Cleves, Narrated by Kristin Kalbli
Charity and Sylvia
By: Rachel Hope Cleves
Narrated by: Kristin Kalbli
Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
Publisher: Audible StudiosConventional wisdom holds that same-sex marriage is a purely modern innovation, a concept born of an overtly modern lifestyle that was unheard of in 19th-century America. But as Rachel Hope Cleves demonstrates in this eye-opening book, same-sex marriage is hardly new. Born in 1777, Charity Bryant was raised in Massachusetts. A brilliant and strong-willed woman with a clear attraction for her own sex, Charity found herself banished from her family home at age 20. She spent the next decade of her life traveling throughout Massachusetts, working as a teacher, making intimate female friends, and becoming the subject of gossip wherever she lived.
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One Thing or Another: Are We There Yet?
By Mark McNease
It’s always One Thing or Another… a lighthearted look at aging, life, and the absurdities of it all.
This column was always intended to be lighthearted, even in its most serious moments. Sure, I look at aging, life, and the absurdities of it all. I even ponder death now and then, since it’s pretty much the end point for all of us. Where we go after that, if we go anywhere, is not something I spend much time thinking or worrying about. I have appropriate clothes for any destination, or none at all, in case it’s especially hot.
But 2020 was so difficult, so groundbreaking, like a sledgehammer outside my bedroom window, that it stands unique among the years of my life. And now, two weeks into a new year, it’s still here! The same election we would normally have moved beyond by now, accepting it as part of the political bargain we make for living in a country where people are allowed to vote, keeps hold of us as if to prevent our escape. The frustrations of lockdowns and limited interactions and one-way grocery store aisles and the politicization of absolutely everything has us frayed within an inch of insanity. And that’s just Tuesday!
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The Twist Podcast #149: Capitol Offenses, Crazytown USA, and This Week’s Twist Listicles
Join co-hosts Mark McNease and Rick Rose as we survey the wreckage of a failed coup, celebrate entertainment birthdays and anniversaries, troll the headlines, and offer some quotes for the apocalypse.
Enjoy The Twist on Libsyn, iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeart Radio, SoundCloud, Amazon Music, and TheTwistPodcast.com.
Copyright 2020 MadeMark Publishing
Join Mark’s email list for updates, podcasts, giveaways, and his monthly newsletter!
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Lee Lynch’s Amazon Trail: All Along the Watchtower
Photo by Sue Hardesty By Lee Lynch
The Amazon Trail: All Along the WatchtowerWhen it’s dangerous to represent the citizens who elected you—we need to pay attention. We need to acknowledge that anti-democratic power is quietly accruing and will lash out; will harm rather than protect this too-trusting nation.
Oh, hell, what can I say at a time like this? Did we think they’d simply go away?
When angry white criminals occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon back on January 2, 2016 and the seven miscreants were charged with federal conspiracy and weapons violations only to go scot free;
When, in the 1980s and 1990s angry white Christians organized to legalize discrimination against their scapegoats-of-the-day, gays, in order to build a vast political machine;
When a woman was killed by a white supremacist at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia;
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The Twist Podcast #148: Good Vibrations for 2021 (Enough is Enough)
Join co-hosts Mark McNease and Rick Rose for our first podcast of 2021. Positive vibes, positive outlook, dreams in the pipeline, and a look at the headlines.
Enjoy The Twist on Libsyn, iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeart Radio, SoundCloud, Amazon Music, and TheTwistPodcast.com.
Copyright 2020 MadeMark Publishing
Join Mark’s email list for updates, podcasts, giveaways, and his monthly newsletter!
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Q Audiobooks: Hero: David Bowie, Narrated by Lesley-Ann Jones and Gina Murray
Hero
David Bowie
By: Lesley-Ann Jones
Narrated by: Gina Murray, Lesley-Ann Jones
Length: 12 hrs and 36 mins
Release date: 09-22-16
Publisher: Hodder & StoughtonHis music thrilled the generation it was written for and has entertained and inspired every generation since.
Hero: David Bowie is an exploration of the man behind the myths and the makeup told from the very beginning. Respected music journalist and biographer Lesley-Ann Jones knew David Jones from the days before fame, when he was a young musician starting out, frustrated by an industry that wouldn’t give him a break and determined to succeed at whatever cost.
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Last Humble Brag of 2020
I never post reviews (it’s such a humble brag – no offense to my author friends! I do it in plenty of other ways), but after this crap year I needed this. From a reader on Goodreads for the new book, Reservation for Murder: A Kyle Callahan Mystery:
“It’s been too, too long of a wait. Five years! I read “Kill Switch” back in 2016 and have been hoping for a 6th book in this amazing and thrilling series.
I love the characters of Kyle and Danny. It’s refreshing to read a LGBTQA+ book with main characters of my generation. And to make them a well rounded, 3-dimensional, realist gay couple. I was pleasantly surprised and refreshing thrilled that even though they were a loving and affectionate couple I did not end up knowing their penis size, what their favorite type of lubricant was and who pitched and who catched. Mark McNease has a wonderful way of slowly building suspense and character development. He sucks you into the story and doesn’t let go. Highly recommend this series and I hope and pry Mr. McNease writes many more books in this series.”
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The Twist Podcast #147: So Long 2020! The Best and the Worst
Join co-hosts Mark McNease and Rick Rose for our look back at the year that felt like forever. This week we talk the best and worst of 2020, words and phrases to retire, food trends, and yes, some gratitude as we prepare to turn the calendar.
Enjoy The Twist on Libsyn, iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeart Radio, SoundCloud, Amazon Music, and TheTwistPodcast.com.
Copyright 2020 MadeMark Publishing
Join Mark’s email list for updates, podcasts, giveaways, and his monthly newsletter!
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Merry Best Seller List Christmas!
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‘Reservation for Murder: A Kyle Callahan Mystery’ Hits #1 in LGBT Mystery!
Merry Christmas! Finally, something good to end this year on. My newest, Reservation for Murder: A Kyle Callahan Mystery, hit #1 in LGBT Mystery on Amazon’s Kindle list today.
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Q Audiobooks: Marshall Thornton’s Femme, Narrated by Joel Leslie
Femme
By: Marshall Thornton
Narrated by: Joel Leslie
Series: Femme, Book 1Length: 6 hrs and 23 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 06-20-17
Language: English
Publisher: Marshall ThorntonMarshall Thornton’s Femme translates perfectly to audiobook. A starred Publishers Weekly recommendation, Femme tells the story of Lionel and Dog, a literary pair as unlikely as they are illuminating.
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The Twist Podcast #146: Our Annual Christmas Gaytacular, This Week’s Listicles, and Our Very Own Naughty and Nice
Join co-hosts Mark McNease and Rick Rose for our annual Christmas Gaytacular! This week we celebrate stocking stuffers, talk about our must-lists, admit to some naughty and nice, and scroll the week in headlines. We’ll be back in two weeks for our Year End show with the best, worst, and indifferent of 2020.
Enjoy The Twist on Libsyn, iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeart Radio, SoundCloud, Amazon Music, and TheTwistPodcast.com.
Copyright 2020 MadeMark Publishing
Join Mark’s email list for updates, podcasts, giveaways, and his monthly newsletter!
