How Y'all Doing?

"How yall doing?"

We can all hear that in Leslie Jordan's voice, right?

This catchphrase of his caught on during the height of the Coronavirus Pandemic. Leslie began posting short videos to his Instagram where he told quirky stories about his life. It honestly kept me laughing throughout the entire pandemic.

Leslie Jordan feels like he's been around forever. I recognized him from a couple things, like Will & Grace, American Horror Story, and The Help. I love that in all of these roles, his personality still shines through.

I've always kind of been obsessed with reading authors from the South, so when I got to the chapter titled The Mississippi Delta I knew I was in for a treat. He talks about how every time he goes somewhere new, he immerses himself in literature written about and set in that area. He got stuck with Mississippi, while I got stuck with Alabama. But I loved learning that lil tidbit about him and being able to relate to such a trivial thing.

Leslie Jordan has such a recognizable voice. It made How Y'all Doing? that much easier to read. Just under 200 pages of hilarious stories, lays a Leslie that I think he really wanted us to see and relate to. Somehow, someway, Covid is what brought us all together.

Night World Series

I've been putting off reading this series for the last....10 years or so.

L.J. Smith wrote my beloved Vampire Diaries, so I wasn't sure if I was prepared to commit to another one of her series. But man, I'm so glad I did.

Night World focuses on literally every aspect of who lives in the shadows; vampires, werewolves, witches, angels, shapeshifters, you name it. But the one recurring topic was the Soul Mate Theory. Now this theory is problematic for a number of reasons, but mostly because Night People cannot fall in love with humans. It's simply not allowed. A human who knows about Night World pretty much has a death sentence coming their way. But with this theory comes the idea that maybe the Old Powers are waking back up. Maybe humans and Night People can begin forming soulmate connections again.

Each story builds up to a number of things such as soulmates, blood ties, unharnessed powers, a new circle of witches, and the inevitable end of the world.

 

I need you guys to understand how genius the end of the world plot is. These books were written in the nineties, at the height of Y2K. The idea was at the turn of the millennia, the Night World would take over the Human World and create mass hysteria. That's honestly brilliant and probably one of my favorite parts of this book series.

There were some books in this 9 book series that I absolutely loved (Soulmate and Huntress) and some that I absolutely hated (The Chosen and Witchlight). A lot of the books in this series felt similar and honestly, that's because they are. But that doesn't mean it isn't an absolutely amazing series.

Now, this is actually supposed to be a 10 book series. But I'm thinking since we've been waiting on Strange Fate for over 20 years now.....we're probably not going to get it.

Looking for individual reviews for the Night World Series?

Night World

Daughters of Darkness

Spellbinder

Dark Angel

 The Chosen

Soulmate

Huntress

Black Dawn

Witchlight

What Would The Spice Girls Do?

This book was so refreshing to read.

The nostalgia was literally dripping off the pages.

I was an actual infant at the height of the Spicemania. I was legitimately 2 years old. But I do remember singing along to Wannabe while I played the Spice World video game on my Playstation. That being said, I definitely had a different relationship with the Spice Girls than author, Lauren Bravo had.

Regardless of what you know about the Spice Girls, you know the mass hysteria surrounding them was something that was going to be remember. What Would The Spice Girls Do? focuses on how 5 young girls from London ushered in a new wave of Girl Power. Scary, Sporty, Baby, Ginger, and Posh were teaching young girls that being a girl meant whatever you wanted it to be. It taught girls how to own their decisions, how to find their personalities, and how to be a bad ass female while doing it.

The rush of nostalgia transported me back to my childhood bedroom. It had lime green walls cover with posters from teen magazines, inflatable furniture, a soccer ball in the corner, and my very own phone line. Reading this made me feel like a little kid again. It made me realize how amazing it is felt to create my own persona. It made me realize how far we've come as a society and how willing we are to accept people for who they truly are. It's amazing and beautiful and a lot of it is thanks to groups like the Spice Girls who truly paved the way for the next generation of Girl Power.

The 2000s Made Me Gay

I'm a 90s baby.

I grew up in such a weird time because a lot of my experiences are the same as Millennials. But my sister, also a 90s baby, is Gen-Z; so I have a lot of those experiences too. But overall, we thrived in the 2000s.

 

When I saw the title of this book, I instantly pre-ordered.

We're currently living in the gayest decade of all time.

90% of my friends are a part of the gay community.

I'm an ally.

I was once described as being "too straight to watch Glee" which is still one of the funniest things I've ever heard. That being said, there's a lot in this book that I relate to and find absolutely hilarious. So instead of recapping the entire book, I'm going to hit on my favorite essays.

"Disney Channel Presents: Sappic Overtones"

This essay killed me because the day I read it also happened to be the day my coworkers and I were talking about old DCOMs and which ones were our favorite. I immediately mentioned all of the one's that happen to be talked about in this chapter. I mentioned Motocrossed, the movie where cheerleader Andi chops off all her hair in an attempt to compete in place of her motocross star brother. Then obviously I brought up Double Teamed, the movie that follows twin basketball stars who actually look nothing alike. We jumped to High School Musical, which stars one of Disney's most notorious closeted characters, Ryan Evans. 

 

But the one that really got me......Cadet Kelly. I actually watched this a few months ago and had all the same revelations as Grace Perry did. This movie takes place in a military academy for middle schoolers and holy shit. The sexual tension is RIPE with queer undertones. Anyway, I'm obsessed with this movie.

"Taylor Swift Made Me A U-Haul Dyke"

I'm not gonna lie, I'm a die hard Swiftie. So when I saw this essay, I quickly knew where it was going to end up. Grace Perry mentions finding T. Swift's album Fearless as a freshman in college. As she was still semi-closeted, she saw this album for what it really was, a story that never actually happened. Taylor Swift has notoriously written songs all about her love life, looking at you Joe Jonas. But in the last few years, the gay community as embraced Taylor Swift and speculated that she may be a wee bit gayer than she thinks. I've fallen down this rabbit hole too many times, and honestly I'm not, not convinced. But the hilarity behind Grace Perry finding Taylor Swift is that the angsty teen romance is exactly what Grace is looking for in relationships. The energy that comes with starting a new relationship is something that she thrives off of and it's all thanks to 16 year old Taylor Swift who sang about kissing in the rain.

"The Glee Bubble"

Now, I have watched my fair share of Glee because my sister was a theater kid, loved singing, and was overall just obsessed with the show. Like Grace Perry said all throughout the book, she didn't see many LGBTQ+ kids on TV or in books when she was growing up and figuring herself out. But Glee fixed that for the next generation. For those of you who have never seen Glee, it follows a group of theater kids, cheerleaders, and jocks all throughout their high school experience. It featured literally everyone, from LGBTQ+ students to disabled students to students of color. It gave them all a voice on mainstream television and we can thank the amazing Ryan Murphy for that.

I think the best part of this book is that Grace Perry created a masterpiece based on an entire generation of kids who had to figure it all out without the inclusivity we have today. Gen-Z as a whole has such an open mind and open heart. They have the freedom to explore their sexuality. Social media has created a space where teens today can be their truest self. They have access to so many resources that they never need to feel truly alone. I think it's a beautiful thing.