Book Bites: Cave Mountain

Cave Mountain: A Disappearance and a Reckoning in the Ozarks by Benjamin Hale
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Cave Mountain spins a true crime tale connecting the brief disappearance of a young girl in the Arkansas Ozarks and a murderous doomsday cult arrested nearby some 30 years prior. Hale's book began life as a piece for Harper's and often reads like a padded-out essay. The text attempts to interweave the 2001 disappearance of Hale's cousin Haley, a doomsday cult that in 1978 murdered a young child, Ozark religious extremism, and an atheists' questioning approach to Christianity; only the weft and warp never quite mesh. Cave Mountain works reasonably as a true crime book, but its nonlinear storytelling and wide thematic net make for a text that often feels jumbled.

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Book Bites: Spread Me

Spread Me by Sarah Gailey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Spread Me is a wry, winking spin on John Carpenter's "The Thing" centering on a desolate desert outpost, its virus-obsessed captain (is there a term for those sexually attracted to viruses?), her motley crew, and a strange new lifeform attempting to seduce its way into host bodies during a sandstorm. Our limited cast of characters are vibrantly drawn. The text is a hard R bordering on NC-17; Gailey excels at writing erotica that doesn't feel smutty. The sex is natural to the story and the science feels believable. The only downside here, especially given Spread Me's slim wordcount, are problems with pacing and tension. Middle chapters feel like a plateau rather than a ratcheting up. Those game for body horror and sex should tear through this in no time.

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Game Bites: Lovish

Developer: LABS Works
Publisher: DANGEN Entertainment

3 stars out of 5

Lovish is a delightful little throwback to action platformers of the 8-Bit era, reminiscent of NES classics like Fire n' Ice and the Adventures of Lolo.

The game has players aiding Sir Solomon as he fights through the various rooms of Devil Lord's castle to save his beloved Princess Tsuna. Except Solomon has fired the rest of his crew and maybe Princess Tsuna doesn't really want to be saved? 

Stages are short, usually taking only a minute or so to complete. Between stages, players are treated to a variety of cut-scenes and minigames. Players can collect coins to upgrade Sir Solomons jumps and attacks, opening even more of each room to explore. Its the usual mechanics of the genre and its all implemented very well. Controls are tight and acquiring upgrades is very satisfying.

Book Bites: All Boys Aren't Blue

All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Given how often "All Boys Aren't Blue" is challenged and removed from school and public libraries, George Johnson's coming of age memoir as a gay black young adult is surprisingly chaste, family-affirming and, dare I say...normal? Outside of a (very frank) chapter showing how conservative mis-teaching of sexuality and reproduction leads to predatory behaviors and fumbling sexual encounters--especially so among queer youth--Johnson's book mostly centers on the importance of family and how utterly affirming it is to be allowed the space and grace to grow and make mistakes and learn. It is ironically because of wine-moms (who, by the way, read just the dirtiest smut) and lifted-pickup-truck-dads (with toxic browser histories), who are constantly trying to silence Johnson's voice, that this touching and honest queer coming-of-age story is so important.

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