What I am reading

Since my good friends Amanda and Chrisitna deserted me in E-ville (blah, blah, something about moving on with their life, chasing their dreams, being in a happy place), I joined a club for Newcomers to the Evansville Area. I have lived here already for 2 years (minor detail). I have yet to meet the ladies in this organization but am reading their book of the month for the book club.

"A Son Called Gabriel" is about a young boy growing up in Ireland. This is a review of the book:

Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
An Ulster adolescent struggles to come to terms with his homosexuality in the 1960s and '70s in McNicholl's fine, compassionate coming-of-age story. Gabriel Harkin, the eldest child in a working-class family, is a sensitive boy: he gets picked on at school, and he'd rather play with girls than kiss them. When a predatory older boy introduces him to sex ("I'll be the doctor and examine you, then you do the same to me"), Gabriel's desires cause terrible guilt; such acts, according to the Church, are "abominations." Though eventually Gabriel overcomes the intimidation of his classmates, figuring out his sexual identity proves more difficult, as he bounces back and forth between dates with girls and clandestine trysts with boys. There are secrets, too, surrounding Gabriel's Uncle Brendan, a priest who left Ireland for Kenya after a family scandal. McNicholl paints a rich picture of Gabriel's life and all its conflicted messages about sex: while his mother is so prudishly Catholic she can't bear to watch a TV kiss, one of the priests at Gabriel's church sexually abuses him. Gabriel wants to be like the other boys, but when he gets himself a serious girlfriend, matters explode. Awkward, sometimes tender sex scenes—with both genders—recall all the clumsy uncertainties of adolescence. McNicholl is a graceful writer, and his is a worthy debut.
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It's a good read so far. Very easy to read (which is important since I am squeezing it in between the required MBA readings).

I am really excited to attend the book club meeting which is this coming Thursday. I wouldn't have expected a group from Evansville to pick such a book (We are in the Bible Belt).

I have about 60 pages or so left but do recommend this book.