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The nurse who drew my blood....watches this infected blood flow for days on end, and despite her translucent gloves she passes right next to the source of this poison, she strips off her gloves with a snap to place the bandage on the wound with her bare fingers...
... she says, "Your perfume-it's Habit Rouge, isn't it? I recognized it right away....to catch a whiff of it on this gray morning, well, you know it's really a little treat for me."

I skipped this one when it came out, figuring since I‘d read And The Band Played On that I had the story. But that book is an epidemiologic/public health story of how HIV established in the US and this is the activist/patient side. These men were treated absolutely abominably (even Fauci doesn‘t look so good here) and really fought for treatments and basic care. The book is superb.

Really charming picture book illuminating the life of activist Clive Jensen and his plan for what would become the NAMES project and the AIDS Quilt. 5🌟(Also, he‘s still alive, living in San Francisco, and he contributed to this story!)

Verghese wrote two of my favorite works of fiction so I had to read his memoir about his time as an infectious disease specialist in Johnson City, TN during the early days of the AIDS crisis. His perspective as an immigrant was really unique I thought and the stories of his patients were very touching. This was another Verghese five star read for me.

Just realized the $3 copy of this paperback I got from Thrift Books is signed!

This was another well done children's book about LGBTQ+ history. It details the life and activism of Cleve Jones, who worked with Harvey Milk and came up with the concept of the AIDS Memorial Quilt. There is a really moving poem comparing stitching a quilt to building a community and a movement, which was threaded throughout the book nicely
#LGBTQ2024 @Kenyazero

"My sister, Greta, and I were having our portrait painted by our uncle Finn that afternoon because he knew he was dying."

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl