"Lettin' It All Hang Out" by RuPaul Charles

Oo, girl! You got Shemail!

I love RuPaul. I love Drag Race, I love Drag U, I love his music! He's great; he entertains me! So lately, I've been on a bit of a RuPaul binge--listening to the music, checking out RuPaul's coffee table book (RuPaul's Guide to Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Style!), and his autobiography "Lettin' It All Hang Out."

In this autobiography, RuPaul writes about his childhood, his start in the industry, his struggle with alcohol and drugs, and making a name for himself in the world of showbiz! I appreciated the brutal honesty of this book--I mean, it's one thing to be honest about your parents (we all have...brutally honest things to say about our parents), but it's another to truly let it all hang out about yourself.

Upsides: Obviously the tell-it-all style. It was really interesting to see RuPaul's beginnings and it was just another reminder that all famous people come from quite humble roots, have their own struggles--and while that's something I know in my heart, it's a good reminder that if you want to make something of yourself, you have to try hard, go through your own shit, and really struggle--and that's how you make a name for yourself! In the book, there were little notes off to the side about RuPaul's Tips for Drag Queens or her favorite songs to lipsynch to or her favorite books; I found most of that really interesting, though there were a few, I thought, where it was obvious they were running out of ideas (RuPaul's favorite cars? I mean, I love RuPaul, but not enough to care about what her favorite cars are. Then again, if you're a car fan, maybe that means something to you). There were a lot of lovely pictures of Ru, in and out of drag!

Downsides: This is always a hard section for me, as I so rarely read a book I didn't enjoy. There were a few moments in the book that weren't so much autobiographical, per say. The book, overall, is very down-to-earth, as if RuPaul is just speaking to you about his life--it's very conversational. I, personally, find this to be a good thing, but if you like the more traditional autobiography, a book that is less anecdotal/conversational and more about "the facts," then perhaps you wouldn't enjoy this.

Overall, I think this is a great book! I give it 5/5 stars! 5 Stars because I think RuPaul's autobiography is going to appeal to a very specific crowd and that means some people simply aren't going to like it--but I was not one of those people. If you like RuPaul or drag culture fascinates you or you simply like reading about people's lives this book will not fail to interest you!

And with that, I leave you all with my favorite Lip Synch for Your LIFE from RuPaul, season 3:

Raja and Carmen's Lip Synch from Season 3! What super sexy queens! They worked it out!

And can I just say, I'm SO excited for RuPaul's Drag Race ALL STARS!

Happy reading my friends!
AJ

PS. I'm over halfway through "A Feast for Crows," so you should be able to expect that up within the next week or so! Unemployment has its benefits!

TWP: "Ivanhoe" by Sir Walter Scott

Yeah, yeah, so it took me forever to read "Ivanhoe." I have to admit, it's one of those books where my brain actually has to be finely concentrated to comprehend everything I'm reading. But I'll get into that...

"Ivanhoe" tells the story of Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe, a young knight who, disobeying his father's wishes, goes to fight the Holy War alongside King Richard. Shrouded in mystery, Ivanhoe returns home to fight in Prince John's tourney, secretly. Supported behind the scenes by a Jewish man, his daughter, an outlaw, and another mysterious knight, Ivanhoe attempts to find favor with his father and return to England a celebrated knight. This novel has been hailed as the original historical novel, giving the reader a view of the conflict between the Normans and the Saxons--the Frenchman and the Englishman.

I enjoyed this novel a lot less than I thought I would. It's very dense and dry; it took me so long to get through because I had to be in a very concentrated mindset in order to keep from skimming through passages. Though I have to say, "Wishbone" skillfully condenses an old and complicated story into something extremely accessible, filled with mystery and intrigue. I did have a good time seeing the connections between "Ivanhoe" and the cast of "Robin Hood" (which I have read in the past). Seeing Friar Tuck and Allan-a-Dale. And it's mentioned that Gurth, one of Ivanhoe's servants, is the "son of Beowulph." Draw your own conclusions.

Upsides: I enjoyed trying to figure out who was who. There are several characters at the tourney such as the Black Knight and Locksley that I knew must be hiding their famous identities. But it wasn't until the end that they were revealed and that was fun to try and figure out. During the fast moments of serious plot point, I found "Ivanhoe" a page turner!

Downsides: I found this altogether too dry. I wanted to enjoy it so badly, but I almost put it back down after the first chapter of historical background to situate you in the story. I wanted to appreciate that too, but I had a really hard time getting into it. The action is very slow. And I had to remind myself that this book is very much a representation of the times with the way it presents Jewish people and Middle Eastern people. There were moments it was just painful to me how Isaac of York and his daughter were treated as Jews.

For the book being titled "Ivanhoe," you'd think that he'd be more present in the book. Almost for the entirety, Ivanhoe was overshadowed by a cast of strong vivid characters. Ivanhoe had about 4 major scenes in the book and he wasn't a strong character in any of them. To me, the book was more about the conflict between the Normans and the Saxons, the development of Isaac and Rebecca, and the events leading up to Richard's return to England. That part really disappointed me.  I was expecting the story to be more from Ivanhoe's perspective and about his story. For the majority of the novel, he's sick and injured and being cared for. The other characters were much more detailed and interesting than Ivanhoe himself.

Overall rating: 2/5. It was a disappointment to me that the story wasn't about Ivanhoe and only featured small cameos of the character the book is titled for. I enjoyed the small snippets of quick action in the book, but they were far and few between. If you like a good dry, dense read, then maybe this is your thing. I wasn't a huge fan, so I wouldn't necessarily recommend this book for your reading pleasure.



But where one thing disappoints, another impresses!

Sniffing the Gauntlet Part 1

Sniffing the Gauntlet Part 2

Sniffing the Gauntlet Part 3


Next up on my reading list, I'm planning to tackle some of the short stories that "Wishbone" covered so I can take on some novels outside of the Wishbone Project, specifically RuPaul's autobiography, "Lettin' it All Hang Out" and the fourth book in the "Game of Thrones" series. I don't expect any of those to take nearly as long as "Ivanhoe" took me, since none of them are as dense! I plan to be posting reviews and episode links of those short stories once a week or so, as I finish them. Thanks for bearing with me!

Happy reading (and watching!),
AJ