I really wanted to like this book more than I did. Overall, I'm glad it exists and I think it's a sweet piece of history to have around, but I had a few issues with it, which can be summarised here:
1. I didn't vibe with how conversational/personal the book fell on the spectrum of "memoir" to "total academic study." This may just be my own preference, but I think I was looking for more explicit history rather than "I went to a bunch of bars and this is what they were like."
2. Was this book for queers or straight people? I mean, I have to assume queers. But if so, why explain in grueling detail things that are very well-known to most of us...? Totally great to make a book more accessible, to be clear—but I'd rather that attention to detail have fallen elsewhere. 
3. Bit of a pattern of only describing people as Black and never white unless it was deemed relevant, which I'm never a huge fan of. The default in this book is very much the white experience. This is to be expected, but I would have loved more probing questions from the author about discrepancies in racial makeup between bars, conversations with owners of color, etc. Most of the focus was on the author's personal experience. It's definitely an issue, but are we seriously talking about the author getting weird looks for being femme more than the uphill battle of queers of color? Come on man. 
4. Way too many italics. Sorry. I just can't. 
5. No thoroughline or takeaway other than "Yay lesbian bars exist and should be recognized as historical lesbian spaces even if they welcome a broader audience now." I have to assume anyone reading this book already agrees with this. There was no deeper message to take away? 

in short: do not read this book if you are looking for an in-depth exploration of lesbian bars. Read this book if you like reading memoirs about travel and being queer and know what you're getting into