User Profile

Mr. Acton

Mracton@sfba.club

Joined 4 months ago

I read primarily queer books. I love everything from basic mlm romances to classic literature to contemporary fiction. I’m slowly trying to add more non-fiction and challenging subject matter, but I don’t need any additional dystopia in my life. My spice tolerance fluctuates, so sometimes I want all the spice and sometimes I can skim over it.

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Mr. Acton's books

2025 Reading Goal

84% complete! Mr. Acton has read 44 of 52 books.

Matt Cain: Secret Life of Albert Entwistle (2022, Kensington Publishing Corporation)

Every day, Albert Entwistle makes his way through the streets of his small English town, …

A Sweet Story of an Isolated Queer Elder Finding Community

While this book starts off really sad (why was I reading it in public?) it comes around to being a narrative about how being true to yourself will lead to finding yourself and community. Like with Heartstopper on Netflix, your worst fears are never manifested. We really did need a queer elder Heartstopper that celebrates surviving through times when being gay would lead to job loss, prison, or worse. Whether they had to live in the closet or were willing and able to take on the challenges of being out at the time, they survived when many people didn’t. If you are looking for a challenging queer narrative or one focusing on the issues queer people face today, you might be disappointed. If you want a fuzzy and easy book (after crying for the first 50 pages) you might fall in love with Albert and Nichole. I forgot to mention …

Steven Rowley: The Dogs of Venice (Hardcover, 2025, G.P. Putnam Sons)

After months of planning a romantic holiday getaway in Venice, Paul is blindsided when his …

Lonely Man Finds Dog in Venice

A short novella about a sweetly neurotic New Yorker divorcé named Paul traveling to Venice for a no-longer romantic Christmas trip. He sees a street dog projecting a level of confidence he has never felt and wishes to study its ways.

As usual, Rowley delivers a witty, silly, and heartfelt story. Paul’s heartbreak and feelings of failure and rejection are palpable. He feels like he can’t even do though most basic things, but he pushes himself more and more. It would be easy to make Paul into a ridiculously pathetic person, but Rowley lets us see that he’s a relatably “pathetic” person instead. Paul carries so much fear of rejection and lonelinesss and I felt it viscerally.

It’s a definite recommend for fans of Steven Rowley and those who love stories about sweet gay men who need to find their spark again.

reviewed The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch (Royals and Romance, #1)

Sara Raasch: The Nightmare Before Kissmas (2024, Doherty Associates, LLC, Tom)

Red, White & Royal Blue meets The Nightmare Before Christmas in a sexy, quirky romcom …

It’s fine. A little sluggish.

I was hoping for a zippy little romcom, but it dragged in the middle for me. I loved th concept and it did go into a few interesting narrative places, but I probably won’t read the next book in the series unless I hear something amazing about it. The leads were good, but not exceptional. The theme of looking for joy authentically as you deal with your troubles instead as a facade of perfection spoke to me.

Rosie Talbot: Sixteen Souls (2023, Scholastic, Incorporated)

A Fun Spooky YA Adventure Romance

Charles now uses prosthetic legs after losing his legs and nearly his life from illness as a child. He also can now see ghosts. So can Sam, a ~~cute~~ frustrating boy who tries to get close to him, looking for help finding missing ghosts.

This is a fun adventure. It telegraphs most of its twists, so there were few surprises, outside of some details. It’s a wonderful book for teens (and adults) who love spooky stories with cute boys solving mysteries. I’m looking forward to continuing the series after a fluffy romcom to cleanse the palate.

CW: Death, murder, violence, self-harm, minor transphobia, mental health, medical, supernatural. Some graphic descriptions of deaths prior to and during the narrative.

Andrew Holleran: Dancer from the Dance (Paperback, 2023, Harper Perennial)

Andrew Holleran’s landmark novel of a young man's search for love and companionship in New …

Wiser people than me have described it better

Written in a time before HIV smashed the gay world, Dancer from the Dance reflects on the freedom, community, narcissism, and dangers of the NYC nightlife as people try to find love and themselves. Is it a conveyer belt that spits people out as husks of themselves? Is it worse than a life of a closeted man trapped in someone else’s American dream? This book doesn’t give an answer, but it also doesn’t flinch from the grittiness of giving yourself to dance, sex, and drugs.

The book is a challenging read as the unnamed narrator(s?) gossips about Malone and Sutherland in luxurious detail. Like spilling the tea with friends, details return and get slightly twisted. Pedestals are built, smashed, and then the pieces are put on display as talismans of those who once stood on them.

I enjoyed it, both as a snapshot of a moment in time as well …

finished reading Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse (Between Earth and Sky, #1)

Rebecca Roanhorse: Black Sun (Paperback, 2021, Gallery / Saga Press)

A god will return When the earth and sky converge Under the black sun

In …

Using the Mesoamerican and Polynesian cultures and mythos to build the story is wonderfully unique. The POV characters are all intriguing. It definitely felt like a first of three books. If you like palace intrigue based fantasy novels, this is a definite recommend.