Rating: 4 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Anthology
From travel bingo to Windows 10, socks and Snopes, marches and rallies and refusing to be anything other than she is, this collection of Fay Jacobs’ writing is filled with humor, observation, and pride. She’s marched on Washington four times, helped give voice and support to her fellow LGBTQ+, and served in Pride Parades. Outspoken, unrepentant, and a little sly, Jacobs is a natural story teller and comes with quite a collection of stories to share.
This is the sixth book in the Tales from Rehoboth Beach series, which are collected essays from Jacobs’ column, and they wander from topic to topic with a cheerful disregard. Collected from the years 2017 to 2023, each essay is well written, conversational, and quick, lasting just long enough to entertain, but never lingering either on the unpleasant topics — such as Covid, anti-LGBTQ+ laws, aging, and loss. Jacobs clearly cares a great deal about people, gay or straight or in between, and her compassion and empathy are evident in every story she tells.
It’s the sort of book, I think, best taken in small bites — a couple of entries here, a couple there — rather than sitting down to binge. And it’s nice, sometimes, to have a book to linger over for those days you don’t have the time or energy to just settle down and read for hours. If you’re in the mood for a chuckle or two with some light and feel-good reading, or looking for some new essays, I think you’ll enjoy Fay Jacobs’ stories.
