Feminism

Normal Gets You Nowhere

2011, Books in Bed, Feminism, Non-Fiction, Women /

Michelle-belle is a big Kelly Cutrone fan. I can take her or leave her. I mean, she’s ok –  smart, strong, talented. I like that. I just find her a little… much. I’m a fan of “freaks” and normal can be so boring – unless you’re part of a family full of freaks which means normal IS freaky. Heh.

The most interesting thing about Normal Gets You Nowhere is that it caused me to think of some really weird things like… how come there are no male supermodels? (patriarchy, duh) And just how do you define “supermodel”?  (I spent a lot of time reading about supermodels last night just because of of Kelly Cutrone.)  Also, might I suggest Kelly Cutrone check out Scarleteen for future reference or when a waiter’s daughter asks her how to give a handjob.

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Rereading Women

2011, Books in Bed, Feminism, Non-Fiction, Women /

I picked up Rereading Women because I thought Michelle might find it interesting. She did but she didn’t read every essay and now that I’ve been reading it for a couple of days, I see way. Feminist theory – oy. Interesting stuff but it can be pretty dry. The first and last essays in the book were the best or maybe I was just more enthusiastic about the specific topics covered in those two? (Collaboration and becoming feminists and mother rites.)

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Bitter Bitch

2011, Books in Bed, Favorites, Feminism, Fiction, Women /

Who could pass up a book titled Bitter Bitch? Not me, that’s for sure – maybe because I am one? And I have good reason to be – so do you. So does the main character – a Swedish woman who rants about the patriarchy more than anyone I’ve ever read.

The book doesn’t always read like a novel – it reads more like a feminist rant that you might find on… well a blog. Or in a women’s studies class. It’s got just enough of novel in it that it doesn’t read like a textbook and that makes it just about perfect for anyone who feels like a good bitter bitch session about the patriarchy.

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Madame Tussaud

2011, Books in Bed, Feminism, Fiction, Women /

It took me WEEKS to finish Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution and it really shouldn’t have. Not with all of the discussions we’ve had this year about this particular era. Or maybe that was part of the problem? I kept hearing Elly talking about Marat and Charlotte Corday and “Let them eat cake” and all of that nonsense, so I was too distracted to read Moran’s version of the events? Nah, that’s not it. That should have made it more fun. I think it was just timing. Timing can be everything with a book like this and I’ve finally come to terms with the fact that I cannot read just prior, during, or immediately following a BlogHer conference. I’m going to just stop trying.

So – Madame Tussaud, kind of loved it. I think I’d like a sequel. Or I think I’d have liked to have had the book stop with the hanging of Robespierre and begin the sequel there. That would have been excellent. Unfortunately that didn’t happen and after the reign of terror, we’re just kind of dumped into the ending. Marie survives reign of terror. Marries asshole. Has three children. Leaves asshole. Goes to England. Does stuff. The end. All in one quick ending.

Poof. After all of that… I wanted more story and less wrapping up.  (Oh. I just looked at some reviews of Moran’s books and this is her pattern – and some people who aren’t me also find this troubling. Good, I thought it was just me.)

Otherwise – pretty darn good book, particularly if you have an interest in the Reign of Terror or Madame Tussauds.

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The Little Women Letters

2011, Books in Bed, Chick Lit, Feminism, Fiction, Women /

Sigh.

I didn’t hate it. Really, I didn’t.

The problem is that I didn’t love it. And I really, really wanted to love it.

The Little Women Letters had so many things going for it – I should have loved it. A feminist mom who does a good bit of patriarchy blaming. Interesting sisters. The “March girls’” letters.  I could go on, you get the point.

So many things I should have loved but I just didn’t.

Yes, I did chuckle in places – which TW took as a good sign.

I did smile on numerous occasions. And I did even sigh at the end, cheesy as it was.

But no, I did not love it. Something was missing. I don’t know what it was but something. Something important.

Have you read it? Did you love it or did it let you down?

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The Summer Without Men

2011, Books in Bed, Favorites, Feminism, Fiction, Women /

Earlier in the week, I was looking for something to read that was either short, funny, or a quick read because nothing on the library stack was really screaming “Read ME Next!”. The Summer Without Men looked like it might work. Short book, interesting title, interesting cover, interesting paper, and the author has an interesting name.

Two pages later I realized that while this book is short, it’s not really funny or a quick read. It was downright serious and, gasp, literary! So a book I thought would take me a day – took a week. Now that’s not a bad thing, it just wasn’t what I was interested in at that moment. With no significant time to read and fried brain cells when I did have time to read, this book would have been better read on the weekend because it wouldn’t have taken me nearly as long.

50 something woman (who happens to be a poet and a Colombia professor) has a bit of a breakdown after her husband tells her he’s having an affair (with a younger woman, obviously.) She spends the summer in a small town, teaching a poetry class to pre-teen girls (with all of the mean girl madness that goes with something like that), in the house next door is a young mom of two whose husband is an ass, and her mom is in a retirement facility nearby where we also meet some wonderfully interesting “swans”.

The book is just plain brilliant. I think it’s miss-titled but I can overlook that.  I’d like to own it. In fact, I think I’ll put it on my “this is what I want for my birthday list”.

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The Dry Grass of August

2011, Books in Bed, Favorites, Feminism, Fiction, Women /

TW read The Dry Grass of August last week and said it was excellent… I don’t always listen to her when she says these things but for some reason… I had a good feeling about this book. I’m damn glad I read it – excellent book. Southern family … with a black maid… in the 50’s. You know horrible things are going to happen, and they do, but most of the characters are pretty darn likeable and real.

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Sister Outsider

2011, Books in Bed, Dewey's Readathon, Favorites, Feminism, From the Stacks Challenge, Non-Fiction, Women /

I decided to re-read Sister Outsider during the #Readathon and as part of my From the Stacks (by color) challenge for this year… there’s nobody better than Audre Lorde to get me riled up and pointing out the patriarchy at every turn. There’s also nobody better to read when you’re also reading Joan Walsh and Angry Black Lady… in fact, I’d recommend Joan Walsh spend some time reading Sister Outsider before she opens her mouth or puts her fingers to her keyboard again.

Hell. Maybe if we all read a Lorde essay every day for the rest of our lives, we might just be able to have these discussions and figure out how to work together.

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Some Sing, Some Cry

2011, Books in Bed, Favorites, Feminism, Fiction, Women /

Another book that it took me a very long time to read, Some Sing, Some Cry. Chalk it up to a really rough work week, while I was sick – and it’s not the easiest book to read. It’s excellent but time moves swiftly in the book and I had a hard time letting go of one generation and giving myself up to the next. I also was a wee bit “homesick” when the storyline left Charleston – but that’s my own problem, I’m homesick all the time anyway.

I loved the characters. Loved the plot. Loved the music and the stories. Shange and Bayeza wrote it all beautifully.

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