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She’s Such a Geek

1 Comment / 2007, Books in Bed, Favorites, Feminism, Non-Fiction, Women /

I’m not a geek, not really. Certainly not the type of geek found in She’s Such a Geek. My lack of geekness doesn’t prevent me from enjoying geeks or books about geeks or stories written by geeks. Thank goodness for that or else I’d have totally missed out on the pleasure derived from reading the stories of people like Analee, Violet Blue, Wendy and all of the other geek girls who shared their stories in this fabulous little book.


Being a BlogHer, I obviously enjoyed Wendy’s story about BlogHerCon vs DefCon. Loved it and am extra sorry that I missed the very first BlogHer Con and am extra grateful not to have missed BlogHerCon 6 and 7! If you’re a BlogHer and you’ve seen that little book ad on the left nav for She’s Such a Geek and wondered if it was worth reading – it totally is. If you have daughters, you should buy it and put it on their bookshelves – even if they aren’t geek girls. It’s not just a “geek positive” books, it’s a “woman positive” book. Read it and share it with everyone. You won’t be sorry.


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The Bestiary

2007, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, Religion /

Yet another favorite to add to this year’s list of great reads. Who would have guessed The Bestiary would be that good? Not me. I flipped through Nicholas Christopher’s other novels and don’t think I’ve ever read any. Oh wait, did I read Veronica? I know it was on my list to read at some point but from the description, I’m guessing I never got around to it… anyway, who knew the guy could write a great story with pretty terrific characters?

Toward the end, I was worried I was going to begin to hate it. I began to dislike the story just a tiny bit when Xeno, Bruno and Lena re-connected. I’m still not sure I like the Lena portion, though I suppose I knew it was coming all along. I loved the ending completely. It couldn’t have been better and I was able to overlook “Lena” and still check this one off as a favorite.

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Deer Hunting with Jesus

1 Comment / 2007, Books in Bed, Daily Dose, Favorites, Health and Wellness, Money Talks, News and Politics, Non-Fiction, Religion /

And to think I almost skipped reading Deer Hunting with Jesus, that would have been a shame particularly since I’ve invoked the “C word” quite a bit over the last few months.

Liberals, (politicians and their supporters), should do themselves (and the country) a favor and read Deer Hunting with Jesus. Then, spend some time figuring out how to talk to the working class poor because the status quo is simply not cutting it. Millions of people in this country are under-educated, over-worked and under-paid and they do not have time, interest or knowledge to sort out the rhetoric and propaganda. They can’t relate to wealthy politicians of any political persuasion but they can relate to the conservative BS that scares them or inspires them and doesn’t make it necessary for them to do any thinking – all they have to do is believe in God, Country and Family … and they do. A little healthy fear of people who aren’t like them gets tossed in for good measure and the republican vote is all locked up.

As an aside, it was a pleasant surprise to skim through the Acknowledgments for the book and see one of my favorite blogs listed: Peacebang… Joe Bageant has great taste in religious bloggers.

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Throw Like a Girl: Stories

2007, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, short stories, Women /

I don’t usually like short stories very much. And a book of short stories is just too much of a not so great thing. Throw Like a Girl might be the first book of short stories that I’ve ever really loved. OK maybe the Atwood book that Sassy sent me, I really liked that one too. Other than that, can’t think of any others that I’ve liked this much – enough to drop into the “favorites” category.


Once again, I can’t remember who recommended this or which blog I saw it reviewed on – but thanks, whoever you are.

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Dexter, OMG this is the most awesome thing EVER

2 Comments / Books in Bed, Favorites, Movies & Television /

You know I love Dexter, the book and the Dexter Showtime version. It’s almost time for Dexter to start again and that’s cool but there’s something even more fascinating.

You can send a personalized video to your friends that indicates the Ice Truck Killer’s next victim is the person you sent the message to. I’m serious. Try it. This is the most amazing thing EVER.

The Ice Truck Killer is going to get YOU next… don’t believe me, go look and watch all the way through… or else…

Thanks to TV Squad – y’all are awesome.

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RE is a nut

2 Comments / Books in Bed, Family Funk, Favorites, Friends & Family /

And I mean that in the nicest way.

I just walked out to check the mail while the tablet was rebooting. The box was full because there was a small USPS box in there. Hmm, I couldn’t remember ordering anything so I assumed TW had. Nope, addressed to me. I look closely at the return address and at first I thought it was Em. But no, it’s from RE. What the heck?

So I opened it. A book. The Pact? What the F……. why would RE send me The Pact. Surely she knows I already own it. And then it hit me. This was the surprise I wasn’t supposed to know about (I do not like surprises) – I opened the cover and sure enough – it’s signed.

Which is nice.

But RE is still crazy.

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The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative

2007, Books in Bed, Favorites, Non-Fiction /

The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative is a book that wound up on my library reserve list but I’m not sure how it got there. It feels like it was recommended on a blog but maybe not. I’m tempted to say TW reserved it from something that she read but it’s very much a “Denise” type of book so – who knows. However it got there, (feel free to jump in and take credit if you’ve blogged about it at some point in the last 2 months), I’m glad.

It is a very “Denise” book – I collect creation stories and there are some creation stories here. There are also some very excellent stories of other types, all about “Indians” or “Native Americans” or just “Natives” if you prefer. I love the way King starts every chapter in exactly the same way and ends each chapter in almost exactly the same way. Brilliant – particularly for a book about stories – and a book about truth.

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The Descendants

2007, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction /

I’m not sure how it happened but now that I’ve finished The Descendants I’m feeling like this is one of my favorites for 2007. It was slow going, particularly slow going since I read a dozen or so pages in Charleston at the end of June and picked it up again on the trip home from BlogHer Con and was just as confused as when I started reading it the first time.

After reading the first dozen pages and feeling like maybe I should just give up because I couldn’t figure out whose voice was speaking or the relationship between the characters, I closed it – read the jacket and started over one more time and then it all clicked.

What a great dysfunctional family. Matt’s frequent mention of blogs as a primary resource for parenting advice was one of the most amusing things I’ve read in ages.

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The Deathly Hallows

1 Comment / 2007, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, Harry Potter, Queer /

I did finally finish Harry Potter: The Deathly Hallows. Finally. I cannot believe it took me more than a week. Well yes I can since I had one of the craziest weeks of my life.

I liked it, the book not the crazy life – well I guess I liked that too. There are some parts that I was disappointed in, the “19 years later” part is probably the biggest disappointment. She should have just left it alone.

Rather than ramble on and on, and include some spoilers that piss people off, I’ll just link you over to Mombian and her post about Rowling and lesbian literature. That won’t piss anyone off, will it?

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Nickie’s Nook: Sharing the Journey

1 Comment / 2007, Books in Bed, Favorites, Non-Fiction, Women /

I’ve blogged about Nickie before – several times, actually. I first discovered her blog when writing a post for BlogHer about Guide Dogs. I’ve been reading her work ever since and learning something new with just about every single post that she makes.


When she announced she had written a “blook“, I bought it: Nickie’s Nook: Sharing the Journey. Not the digital download, I bought the real thing and I was thrilled when it arrived. I spent my spare time today reading it and while some of it reads like a “blook” most of it reads like a “book” – a real live, honest to goodness book. Many of the essays and entries in it, I’ve read before on her blog. But many of them were new to me – either published on her blog before I was reading it or published when I was swamped and just skimmed. Or maybe they didn’t come from her blog at all, I’m not sure. It doesn’t matter – what does matter is that once again, Nickie taught me stuff – and she got me thinking about things I probably would never have thought about. Nickie is very, very good at that.

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