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How to have Pride without Pridefest

June 14, 2020

So like everything else in the world, literally, the annual Nashville Pride Festival will not be happening this weekend. Luckily, it’s just been postponed and not immediately cancelled, so maybe if we can get this virus thing tamed by fall, there’s still a chance to party. In the meantime, I’ve got a couple of books full of pride that can hopefully keep you entertained until the world returns to whatever is left of normal.

 

Preppy Alex is the son of the first woman President of the United States. He’s also half Hispanic and not sure if he likes boys or girls, or both. All he knows is that he only has eyes for one particular royal — the spare to the throne of England — Prince Henry. Henry has known he is gay for a long time, but no one else in his family does. It’s simply not done in the British royal family.

When I started reading this book, it didn’t seem like anything different. Alex was the heartthrob being chased by all kinds of girls. But after a small international incident and the death of a $75,000 wedding cake (ouch), I started to see where we were going. Think The Princess Diaries meets Will and Grace. Super fun read and honestly both of these boys are too hot for their own good.

Ok this one takes some explaining, but let me start by saying that if you haven’t read Rainbow Rowell — you need to. All her books are great. Quirky, but you fall in love with the characters. So this one is the sequel to a fan fictionesque book that is a spin off of my favorite of her works.

What?

Let me explain. In 2013, Rowell released Fangirl, about Cath who writes Simon Snow fanfic (Simon Snow is a fictionalized stand-in for Harry Potter). Fangirl is a great book, in and of itself, but the Simon Snow portions were so popular that in 2015, Rowell released Carry On: The Rise and Fall of Simon Snow. In it, Simon (aka Harry) and his vampire roommate Baz (aka Draco Malfoy) fall in love.

Recently, Rowell released Wayward Son, which gives us a glimpse of what happens after The Chosen One saves the day. He can’t get off the couch. So Baz and their friend Penny (aka Hermione) convince him that a road trip across America is just what they need.

I loved reading all three of these books. I would recommend starting with Fangirl, or at least Carry On, or you may be a bit lost, but all of them are worth the time. 

Ok friends. One of these days life is going to return to some level of normal. Until then, enjoy your library card for all it's worth. 

Happy reading…

:) Amanda

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Amanda

Amanda is a classically-trained pianist who loves to read. Like any good librarian, she also has two cats named after Italian cities. Amanda spends her free time sitting in Nashville traffic, baking, and running the Interlibrary Loan office at the Nashville Public Library.

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