Book Review: A Beast’s Belle
Katie 
I have to say that this is one of the worst books I have ever had the pleasure of reading. It is supposed to be an erotica romance novel based on Beauty and the Beast – which I have been all about lately since the live action movie has been released. Most of the book was filler and I am pretty sure that the only actual sex in the book was actually rape. It was a quick read but it is really not even worth your time. The book is very very loosely based on Beauty and the Beast – the main girl is named Isabel and she is the servant at a castle where they are whipped if they don’t follow the rules and then when the prince has a party they all have to be naked servants for the party. Just… trust me and don’t bother with this one.
I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review, I was not otherwise compensated.
About the Book
A Beast’s Belle is a fairy tale retold – echoing the ground-breaking BDSM Beauty books by Anne Rice.
The novel offers a twist on a classic story; Isabel is the daughter of a widowed inventor and tinkerer, but leaves home to join the indentured staff of a manor. Upon arriving, she explores the rigid structure of domestic servitude and discipline in the manor, and eventually grows fascinated with the Master of the house, a feral man with curious proclivities and voracious appetites. Isabel tries to find her way in a new life at the manor, but quickly finds herself bound up with the Master of the house and engrossed in the lifestyle and ritual the manor’s occupants share.
Sting Like a Bee is Muhammad Ali vs The USA. Ali retired at 39 years old and was sick for 35 years. From 1966-1971 he was discussed by pretty much everyone on the planet. Once the miltary draft came around, Ali’s refusal to serve led to a legal battle. Since Ali was now Muslim, that means that there was no war unless it was declared by Allah. Ali was a conscientious objector and there was FBI involvement after his refusal. The majority of the book talks about this aspect of Ali’s life, but there is some other stories about his life as well – like how he knocked out 2 of his mom’s teeth at 6 months old! There are also a lot of excerpts throughout from interviews and other legal documents. I thought this was an interesting read because it was a different story that what you usually hear about Muhammad Ali and one that I did not know much about.
This book is the companion to Rad America Women and while they usually write books about rad women this book is all about YOU! It is a journal and you can write in it front to back or pick random pages to complete as the mood strikes. If someone is RAD they are strong, independent and bold. There are various prompts throughout the journal – making a list of your favorite books, drawing covers for them, what you dreams are and how you want to make them come true, among many others. There are also quotes throughout the book from other rad women.
Women In Sports features 50 fearless athletes. The book talks about them chronologically, starting in 1893. I only recognized about 15 names, the more modern names like Biles and Ledecky. Women are often touted as the “Weaker sex” but these athletes show just what woman can do and they have become legends! There are really cool illustrations throughout the book and there are pages for each of the women which includes a small bio on that athlete. Pretty much every sport there is, is represented throughout this book and it was a really fun and interesting read!
Dinner with DiMaggio includes candid stories from those who knew him. The book revolves around his relationship with Dr. Rock Positano, a NYC foot specialist. The book goes into some of Joe’s rituals and quirks. I was surprised to find out that he grew up in New Haven! He was a very private person and had a life in New York, California and Florida and those lives never intersected. Everyone from each piece of his life only had some pieces of the puzzle, but Rock seemed to know about all of the aspects of his life. There are stories in the book about his relationship with Marilyn Monroe and other great stories from Rock who ended up becoming like an additional son to DiMaggio and spent a lot of time with him and has a lot of really great stories to tell. If you are a baseball fan you won’t want to miss the change to read this book.
Geek Girl Rising is all about females working in tech. It features Debbie Sterling who started GoldieBlox which is a product that I haven’t tried but absolutely LOVE the idea of – an engineering toy for girls – that I absolutely wish was around for me when I was younger! Also featured is Ipsy, the lead software developer of Pinterest, and a bunch of other kick ass women in tech. It talks a bit about sexism and overcoming to work in the field (this is a HUGE thing that unfortunately most women in this field have to put up with and overcome) and I love what they are doing! There definitely is room for females in the tech industry and a lot of really smart ones out there who are moving up the ranks as well as creating their own companies. There are a lot of great role models out there and this book focuses on a few of them.
I had always wanted to read the Wizard of Oz books, but never had gotten around to it. I have seen the movie so, so many times and as I kid I had read some of the other L Frank Baum books that I found at the library, but never the story that the movie was based on! Since this is a kids book, it was a pretty quick read for me – that and the movie is pretty fresh in my mind so I was able to easily picture most of what was happening in the story since it was so similar. The book is a bit more detailed than the movie, which makes sense, and of course the real difference is that the shoes are SILVER! Not Ruby Red!
Revenge of the Nerd is written by Curtis Armstrong who was one of the cast members of Revenge of the Nerds. I have never seen the movie but I knew a bunch of the cast was going to be at the Rhode Island Comic Con so I figured I’d check it out. (Fun fact: he ended up talking to my friends about the shirts I had made us. Of course, I was not with them at the time!) The book talks about Curtis’ life with more of a focus on the movie and how it helped bring nerds to more mainstream. Curtis says that not only does he play a nerd, he also is one in real life! He is a big Beatles nerd. His family really wanted him to attend college, but he decided that he wanted to be an actor instead. Also throughout the book are some of his diary/journal excerpts. He actually was going to turn down the role of Booger at first! I thought the book was an interesting read despite not knowing much about Curtis or the movie beforehand so I think this book would be enjoyable for fans and those who are just curious as well 🙂