Elevate Difference

Reviews by Tina Vasquez

Tina Vasquez

Tina Vasquez is a freelance writer and editor from the Los Angeles area. She is passionate about women’s rights and gay rights and is obsessed with an odd array of random things like dive bars, thrift store cardigans, perfume, farmers markets, composition books, and the fall season. She is a regular contributor to The Glass Hammer, Bound Magazine, and the official sustainability blogger at Home Anatomy, an interior design site set to launch in the fall of 2010. When not writing/editing all night and into the morning, she enjoys cooking from scratch, fishing with her boyfriend, reading in bed, and drinking margaritas and attending cultural outings with The Queer Chocolatiers, a bizarre social club she co-founded with her best friend/gay husband.

The Widow of the South

Though it’s based in reality, Robert Hicks’ work of historical fiction The Widow of the South is an incredibly long, often meandering novel that failed to rouse me in any real way. And that’s something I’m truly sorry to report. A few years ago, I became interested in all things Southern.

Clit Fest (8/7/2009)

Clit Fest Los Angeles: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. I didn’t know what to expect leading up to the event, which featured bands and documentaries on day one and workshops and more bands on days two and three. I obsessed about it for weeks: what if the ladies present thought I wore too much makeup and perfume; what if they were feminists that looked down upon that kind of thing? How would they treat the male friend accompanying me? Would he feel unwelcome?

The Heyday of the Insensitive Bastards

We’ve all heard it a million times: Never judge a book by its cover. And I usually don’t, but when I received Robert Boswell’s The Heyday of the Insensitive Bastards, I judged. The package wasn’t very compelling. It’s as if the author, publisher, or whoever the hell in charge of such things said, “Let’s completely cater to the teenage demographic by naming the book after the only short story in it to include a curse word.

The Cheese Chronicles: A Journey through the Making and Selling of Cheese in America, from Field to Farm to Table

Upon receiving Liz Thorpe’s The Cheese Chronicles, I had to ask myself: Do you really love cheese enough to get through 366 pages of it? The answer, apparently, is yes. Now, I detest the term foodie. My boyfriend teasingly calls me a foodie in his WASP-iest voice. It seems so pretentious, so elitist, so... stupid. I can’t deny, though, my great love and interest in all things food. I love to cook. I read recipe books like novels while curled up in bed.

A Ways Away

I think I’m genetically predisposed to rock; it’s in my blood or something. I want things to be loud, sometimes fast, and always frantic. I like it when a bass line’s so fat you can feel it in your crotch. I like it when guitars rip through your eardrums. I especially like it when a drum beat is so loud you can mistake it for your own pulse.

El Reflejo

Long Beach is unlike any other city in Southern California; it is a place where both million dollar homes and low-income housing co-exist within mere miles of each other, it is suburban and urban, it’s an oppressive, concrete jungle that happens to be surrounded by picturesque beaches, but most compelling, perhaps, is the eclectic mix of people that call the city home.

Houston, We Have a Problema

It’s never a good sign when you have to begin a book review with, “I really wanted to like…” Gwendolyn Zepeda’s completely uninspired first novel Houston, We Have a Problema is disturbingly typical—which is perhaps the worst thing you can be as a writer. I really wanted to like her Latina protagonist Jessica Luna. I was hoping she’d be fiercely smart, funny, and unexpected. Sadly, she stopped being promising about four pages in.

Arts and Crafts Market (8/30/2008)

These are tough times we’re living in, and it seems as if it has become increasingly rare for people to act out of the kindness of their hearts and the courage of their convictions. The economy is failing, the country is on the cusp of one of the most important presidential elections in American history, an ongoing war is costing the country trillions of dollars and many of us have to choose between paying the electricity bill and putting food on the table. So, what can we do in these times of great hardship?

F Yeah Fest (8/30 - 8/31/2008)

When Allen Ginsberg referenced “angel headed hipsters” in his lovely and infamous poem “Howl,” I swear he was magically looking into the future and describing attendees of the fifth annual F Yeah Fest. As a native Angeleno I grew up listening to punk rock and going to shows, but as an adult I’m finding it increasingly hard to brave the hordes of fashionably dressed, snarky music fans that attend the kinds of events I am unfortunately drawn to.
Connect With Us At
Goodreads
Our Comment Policy

Critiques of Elevate Difference and the content of any review on this site are welcome; however, we will not tolerate flaming, attacks, or any form of abuse. We appreciate constructive criticism and respectful feedback. Please read our full comment policy for details.

Make a Donation




Elevate Difference is a volunteer-run publication. If it inspires you to read a novel, see a film, or download an album, we hope you will donate to show your support.

Syndicate content