2009

Fight Like a Girl

2009, Books in Bed, Feminism, Non-Fiction /

I probably would never have made time to read Fight Like a Girl if it hadn’t been assigned for Michelle’s Intro to Women’s Studies class.

I’ve picked it up several times, in various women’s book stores, but always put it back down in favor of buying something else. Always thought “I should reserve this at the library.” and then never did it.

It’s that kind of book.

It’s also not the best book for someone who spends a lot of time knee deep in feminist issues (whether they are second wave, third wave or fourth wave issues) because it’s a little slow.

It is an excellent book if you’re looking for a what was feminism, what wasn’t it… what is it now, what can it be, what do you want it to be – or not be… type of book.

It’s also an excellent book if you’re looking for more resources and basic ideas for doing feminism or activism of any type. The “how tos” in the back were brilliant, not because they included anything new or unusual but because they were included at all.

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Yay Killer Unicorns!

1 Comment / 2009, Books in Bed, Favorites, Sci Fi and Fantasy /

I was terribly nervous to read Rampant. What if it wasn’t good. What if it was really really bad. What if it was just plain disappointing. What if, what if, what if…

But it was terrific! I loved it. I love the evil unicorns. I love all of the unicorn hunters. I loved Astrid. I hated her mother, with a passion that I cannot even begin to explain. I still hate her. I will hate her forever.

Need more killer unicorns, immediately.

But… also… because I complained about Sassymonkey avoiding the virginity issue, I’m going to mention it.

I wasn’t bothered by the fact that the hunters need to be virgins. I get it. Completely. I was bothered by the number of times these hunters, girls from all over the world, griped about boys – and all boys want… and how they constantly have to deal with what boys want. Never once mentioning that girls sometimes, really would like to have sex as well. And that girls also think about having sex. It made me ill.

I blame the patriarchy for a lot of things but this was something else, this was blaming boys and men. And it was a wee bit over the top for me. OK A lot over the top for me.

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Wake

1 Comment / 2009, Books in Bed, Cybil Challenge, Fiction, Young Adult /

Oops, almost forgot another Cybil Challenge book. Wake.

TW and RJ read it ages ago and both were surprised to see it appear from the library, apparently RJ owns it. Who knew? Oh, I think I did – I just forgot. It’s hard to keep track of all of the books RJ owns. She does not avail herself of the library nearly enough.

So, about Wake. That would be my nightmare. To find yourself inside of someone else’s dreams? Ugh. No thanks. Interesting book, though. I’ll read the sequel.

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A couple more Cybils

2 Comments / 2009, Books in Bed, Cybil Challenge, Fiction, Young Adult /

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. My Cybils Challenge is almost complete! I wish I could say that the last two books from the challenge were great ones. They weren’t. They were good, but not great.

Ten Cents a Dance was probably only interesting because of the Chicago backdrop. I found it just a wee bit boring.

I think I might enjoy the story of what happens to Ruby when she leaves Chicago more than I enjoyed the story of her in the Taxi Dancing business.

And then there’s The Explosionist, a book I’d really been looking forward to reading. Slow. Slow. Slow. It was only at the end that I began to really get into it and enjoy the plot. I expect the sequel will be better because we’ve gotten a ton of backstory out of the way. Surely there will be a sequel. We will find out what happens to Sophie and more about Nobel and his brain in a jar. Won’t we?

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The Forest of Hands and Teeth

2009, Books in Bed, Fiction, Sci Fi and Fantasy, Young Adult /

I wonder if I found The Forest of Hands and Teeth through the BlogHer Book Club Group or was it a book that TW saw reviewed and then asked me to reserve at the library. I hate it when I can’t remember. Quick search of the Book Club group doesn’t pull up results so I’m guessing it was TW. Or maybe it was you, some random book blogger out there?

Whatever. We listened to it on audio and boy was it long. Not really but it sure felt long. The author writes the way we picture RJ would write if she was writing post apocalyptic fiction about teens and The Unconsecrated (aka Zombies.) Yes Zombies.

The story was interesting. The characters never quite became interesting. I liked the Sisters the best and we didn’t learn nearly enough about them due to the Unconsecrated attack on the village.

I definitely liked the book more than TW did. She was frustrated by the teen girl who never seemed to learn anything. I think she did learn from her experiences, she learned the way teens do. Slowly and painfully and never quite making as much progress as you’d like.

Feels like a sequel might be in the works and I wouldn’t mind reading it if it appears.

*Update: Of course I had to go and look to see if there is a sequel in the works, should have done that before I wrote this… there’s a prequel due to be published in March 2010. Fascinating.

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Catching Fire

1 Comment / 2009, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Favorites, Young Adult /

TW read Catching Fire first. When she got to the end she said “this ended in a really bad place.” That was an understatement.

I expected some of what happened. I did not expect most of what happened. And no, I didn’t expect it to end quite that way.

I think, besides being #TeamKatniss, I’m also #TeamPeeta.

Now how long do we have to wait until the third book is out? Because I really need to know what happens NEXT.

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Woman at Point Zero

2009, Books in Bed, Non-Fiction, Women /

Michelle’s financial aid and scholarship money was slow to come through and she needed her text books (Michelle is obsessive in her need to pre-read her textbooks prior to the first day of class. It’s a little weird) so I ordered them for her.

When I saw the two non textbooky books required for her woman’s studies class, I thought I had read Woman at Point Zero. In fact I was sure I had read it. But after reading the synopsis, and the reviews. I decided I had only heard about it or read about it – so I reserved a copy for myself at the library.

Nope, I hadn’t read it. No, I don’t think it’s quite as compelling as some of the Amazon reviews indicate it is. Yes, it’s a terrific book for an woman’s studies intro class. (I think Michelle will like the other assigned book better than this one… but I could be wrong. We’ll find out…)

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Wicked Plants

2009, Books in Bed, Favorites, Non-Fiction /

I reserved Wicked Plants after seeing it in some bookstore or another. TW mentioned it because she saw it on some list or another. It was also on my Amazon wish list for awhile. And it’s terrific!

A great book to skim or pick up for a few minutes while you’re taking the dogs out to use the bathroom or waiting for the hold music to disappear prior to a conference call. It would also be a terrific book to just have on the shelf – particularly if you’re a gardener or an outdoorsy person or a trivia nut.

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King George: What was his problem?

1 Comment / 2009, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Cybil Challenge, Favorites, Non-Fiction /

I stayed up til midnight last night to finish King George: What was his problem?. Please do not take this to mean it is the best book ever. It’s simply a piece of my childhood rearing its ugly head and I could not help it. Blame my father.

This is what the first history textbooks should look like. Too many kids hate history because it’s boring. History is not boring. Should not be boring. If you can’t make it un-boring with the textbooks you have, then ditch them and use a book like this instead. Or call my dad.

He’ll drive you around to every battleground in the United States and force you to listen to everything he knows about THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR (it’s bolded for a reason) and you will hate it and you will be bored but not nearly as bored as trying to read a stupid dry text book. And when you’re an adult who no longer has to think about Ft Ticonderoga or who was to blame for the whole Benedict Arnold fiasco (Gates, I’m looking at you) you will find yourself happily devouring a fun book about THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR and it will be your father’s fault.

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