Pitchers & catchers report to spring training in a month. Soon spring will start to bloom and with it the hope that yes, this will be our year. Yet my brain will kick me and say, "Come on, get real!" Then it goes into a "well, maybe..." I've always known that being a Cubs fan was something special. Something only the strongest can endure with hope intact (witness the bitterness of famed Cubs fan George Will). Today I found out that it is an illness as well.

WBEZ's Eight Forty-Eight had an interview with Cubs fan, Dan Gordon, who has edited a book of essays called, Your Brain on Cubs:

A group of today’s leading science writers and neuroscientists explore here the ways that our brain functions when we participate in sports as fans, athletes, and coaches, taking baseball as the quintessential sport for all three perspectives. The contributors tackle such questions as: How does a player hit a ninety-mile-per-hour fastball when he barely has time to visually register it? Why do fans remain devotedly loyal year after year? And what allows them to believe in superstitions, such as a curse? Other topics investigated in the book include how a ballplayer’s brain changes as he gains experience and expertise, why there are a higher percentage of left-handers in the major leagues compared to the general population, and the ethical implications of neurological performance enhancement.

See...it's all neurobiology people! It's in my neurons! In my wiring! I can't be helped!! Does this mean that someone out there might find a cure for this? I hope the hell not.

Technorati tags: Chicago Cubs, WBEZ, neurobiology, baseball, book

Labels: Books, sports

For those of you who haven't sent me a birthday wish (you're two days late and counting!):

From La Bloga:

Gente, take a look at at a description of this novel and you'll be hooked.

Words are murder.

Scribes have a gift. Whatever they write comes true. Misfortune. Theft. Even murder. Editors—covert specialists operating beyond the law—watch over them. Among the Editors, Io is the best, and the most ruthless. But on her way to her next assignment, something happens. Her phone rings—along with every other phone on the planet.

What would you do if you knew the world would end next week?

A single phone call to the world’s population asks this question. The same message appears on walls, TV screens, even flesh. Confusion erupt into chaos. Violence spreads like wildfire. Io discovers a Scribe named Nadie sent the message. But the message is only the beginning.

The final winter solstice.

In two weeks, on the day of the winter solstice, Nadie promises a final judgment. Battling a world spiraling into mass hysteria and her own dark past, Io must race to stop Nadie. But as the world is engulfed in a series of supernatural catastrophes, Io uncovers a shocking possibility: Is Nadie writing humanity’s extermination? And is Nadie linked to her past?

I can't even recall the last time I've lusted after a book written by a man. Hmm...maybe it was Star Wars book. I freely admit that I've been incredibly sexist when it comes to my reading the last 5-10 years. I just feel like I have so many women to catch up on! But for this book, I'll make some room for a dude, especially sci-fi written by a Latino! Now to find time to actually read it. That's the real trick.

Labels: Books, latina

I've decided that from now on my book reviews are moving to my other blog. If you come here because you like reading my book & magazine reviews, please comment or drop me a line. I'll give you the new address if you leave me your blog URL.

Thanks for the support in the past. I'm just trying to bring my writing up a notch in a new place.

~Roni

Labels: Books

Yes dear readers, I'm going to review this book in two parts. I don't want to write the world's longest post about this pretty good book.

What I found not so much surprising, but refreshing was the amount of feminist history & facts that made it into the book. It wasn't highlighted in feminist pink or under the label "feminist history page 5." Instead it is woven into many of the topics covered without much fanfare and perhaps quite stealthy, especially good considering that not every girl who will unwrap this book at Christmas/Hanukkah/Solstice/Kwanzaa has radical parents. I also think this book would be excellent for girls who might be put off with their radical parents. Yes, I'm fully anticipating the backlash.

Examples include:

• Page 10 - In the History of Writing, Buchanan & Peskowitz discuss how Vietnamese is a language that wasn't written until missionaries came to town and that is why the language uses Roman letters instead of "characters like the surrounding Asian countries do." Look Eurocentrism pointed out! Subtle, but just might get a curious grrl to be daring enough to ask questions.
  
• Five pages about princesses. But not story book princesses, real princesses are profiled, who do real work like Sheikha Maitha bint Muhammed al-Maktum who has gold medals in Tae Kwon Do. Wonder who'd win her or Fiona? Oh yeah, she also promotes the right to education for every child in this world.
  
• The first rule of softball is "never to apologize." Hell yeah.
  
• There are a series of biographies on "Queens of the Ancient World." My favorite was of Salome Alexander. "She commanded no stunning ships on the sea. She merely did her best to keep the peace at me and to keep stronger armies at bay."
  
• Building a campfire. Now, not quite the feminist victory at first glance, but if you know how to start a fire in the woods, you'll be pretty darn good at firing up the BBQ grill too. And seriously, after watching the guys spend 20 minutes just lighting the thing, it is awesome to strut over, restack the charcoal, and wa-la! Fire.
• I do advocate for the A-frame way of starting a fire and not the teepee way. Girl Scouts baby!
  
• Two pages on the letters of Abigail Adams. 'nuff said. Also a mention of Mary Wollstonecraft.
  
• How to Negotiate a Salary. Another one, 'nuff said.
  
• Public Speaking: A daring girl without the ability to speak in front of a crowd is a silent daring girl. Speak up girls! In class and outside. In Quick tips, "Biggest asset: Self-confidence. Act as though you have a right to be there - because you do."

And yes, there are some things in the book where a hard-core radical feminist will call foul with including that it is daring to wear high heels, but overall, I think this book can be quite empowering. It gives some great lessons without hitting girls over the head or talking to them in their language (Feminists are like, so cool!).

Daring or dangerous, this book is a must for the young girl in your life. Yes, they might roll their eyes at the make your own scooter section, but you might also find yourself monitoring her lemonade stand, helping her calculate her profit margin (p. 162) and then picking out stocks (p. 226) with that cash.

If you need more of this book, listen to an interview on the 14th. Call in too!

Disclaimer: I did receive this book for free in exchange for a review via MotherTalk.com.

Technorati tags: Daring Book for Girls, book review, feminism, daring, Mother Talk, Andrea J. Buchanan, Miriam+Peskowitz

Labels: Books, feminism

Yes dear readers, I'm going to review this book in two parts. I don't want to write the world's longest post about this pretty good book.

This book came out as a response to the "Dangerous Book for Boys" that came out earlier this year. I haven't read that book (see reasons here) but was excited to hear that Andi and Miriam were tagged to write a girls version of the book. I was disappointed, much less than others, to hear the title was daring instead of dangerous. But I figured that I would give it a chance.

When the book showed up in my mailbox I immediately turned to the table of contents. What does a daring girl need to know? Well before I could even make it there, I ran into the "DISCLAIMER" on the copyright page. We know we're raising our kids in a different time when a book that encourages anything that might end with a slight bump to have a disclaimer. Anywho, back to what a daring girl needs to know. Rules of basketball, tag, pirates, explorers, building a campfire...ok, all things a daring girl should know. But the one thing that really made me go "WTF" was Robert's Rules. Robert's fucking rules? What's so daring about that?

I flipped to the section and spot the basics of Robert's Rules. OMG, do I dread being in meetings where they follow RR to a T. Then it hits me...shit, they're right! Without knowledge of RR, there's no way to properly question a motion, propose an idea, or add on an amendment (friendly or one meant to kill a motion). A girl who knows RR is kick ass and would be daring enough to propose an awesome motion. It's not tight-rope walking, but I've been in far too meetings where I spent too much time figuring out the RR pattern and less on the actual motion.
Overall the book spends a lot of time looking back at the childhood of GenXers as Judith Warner points out. But by sprinkling in things from the "I wish I had known" list, Buchanan & Peskowitz is really trying to pull today's girls out from their text messages and giving them some useful knowledge for their future. I agree with Warner as she lists her favorites, "There’s “How to Negotiate A Salary,” “Every Girl’s Toolbox,” “Public Speaking” and “Finance: Interest, Stocks and Bonds” (favorites of mine)."

I almost even tried, one more time, to do a back walk-over (p. 60-61) because the directions seemed to simple. I kept thinking, why didn't ever figure it out before? Especially the hint to use a wall at first. Damn! Why didn't I think of that? There were even hints of climbing ropes. Another failure in my gym career.

I did try whistling with my fingers...failure...again. I did finally figure out the trick to putting my hair up with a pencil/pen/chopstick. Just in time for me to cut my hair.

It is overly cheesy in many aspects, but I wouldn't say that it is as dumb as the NY Times thinks it is. Ella's only 4, so not quite ready for reading about being daring, she's too busy being daring on her own. But I suspect when she finds this book on our bookshelf, she'll have some fun with it.

Disclaimer: I did receive this book for free in exchange for a review via MotherTalk.com.

Technorati tags: Daring Book for Girls, book review, feminism, daring, Mother Talk, Andrea J. Buchanan, Miriam+Peskowitz

Labels: Books, feminism

WOW...the hubby & Ms. are the same age! Well on Friday anyway. *wink*

This anniversary issue is definitely one to pick up. If only for the Wonder Woman cover. It's one of those big pictures made up of smaller pictures. I forget what the term is actually called, but it's nifty & I love it.

What else is 35 this year? Title IX. Yeah, baby. It's really sad that so many people associate Title IX with just sports or even worse with angry pouting wrestlers who want to dismantle Title IX. It is far more than just that and even the most uncoordinated woman can learn to love women's sports. Believe me, I have to be one of the most uncoordinated semi-jocks you'll ever meet. I have no idea how I ever thought I could be a gymnast.

The six-page spread on Title IX covers its history, the gains we have made, and really highlights the way it was essential to increasing women's presence in science & engineering fields. How successful is Title IX? When my dentist saw me reading the article, as I was way high on anesthesia, he started in on 'reverse discrimination'. Yes, I went into my wisdom tooth extraction debating whether or not there is a lack of men in colleges & universities.

There is also a six-page spread on "What have feminism & Ms. magazine meant to you?" Sure we have the expected characters chiming in, Gloria, Whoopi, Alice Walker, and such. We love reading their thoughts, but what I loved best were the quotes from women in organizations that I hadn't heard of before or we don't usually hear from - the second tier feminist celebs. It was also awesome to see organizational comments as well and not just the "leader" speaking.

"Police Beat" is a fabu article on how the women's community came together in Pittsburgh to protest officers who were promoted DESPITE having domestic violence acts in their past. Of course, I know the fabu feminist who wrote the piece, so I'm a bit biased...but it's still a great story, that is still continuing, of women fighting back.

The piece on feminist media was pretty good. Seeing that I'm pretty familiar with the reasons why we need feminist media, it didn't hit me hard. BUT if you're not familiar with the scene, you must read it. Just because we see more and more women on TV reading us the news, doesn't mean we're getting feminist news. Elle magazine also has a piece currently on women in media & beauty standards. Nothing too new, but still a good read.

Martha Burk's column this issue is on women giving to candidates. It makes a lot of sense to think that if we just give more to candidates & PACs, women might have more political power. I just can't totally buy into it. Yes, I think EMILY's List kicks ass, but I'm still pissed about the whole Christine Cegelis snub. I rarely give to candidates, so when I do, it means a lot. Should I give my $50 to a candidate instead of to a non-profit? Not so sure. Should I give $50 to a candidate instead of that nice white dress shirt I bought yesterday? Maybe. But if you saw the state of my other white shirts, you'd buy ME another white shirt. But good food for thought.

There's a great review for what I expect to be a mind-blowing book, "Women Behind Bars: The Crisis of Women in the U.S. Prison System." WBB will dive into our society's obsession with incarcerating people, especially women & women of color. It touches on how racism collides behind bars, the devaluing of women who were involved in sex work, and how expected gender roles are reinforced. I know enough people to get the basic image of what is at play, but I think this book will allow me to learn what I should really know in order to advocate for women, all women, being treated as human beings.

And topping off my review of the magazine is one of my favorite medical providers - Dr. Susan Love. Gotta love a doctor named Love! Along with Sue Rochman, they provide in a short op-ed asking us to question why we, individually & collectively, run to grasp new detection devices for breast cancer instead of focusing on prevention.

The website doesn't have the cover image yet, so I assume that since I subscribe, I have an early copy. So watch your magazine racks and grab it when you spot it.

Technorati tags: feminism, Ms. magazine, Title IX, women in prison

Labels: Books, feminism, magazines

Flashcards and drills are not a part of our parenting style. As two fairly intelligent people, we assume that our daughter will inherit our smarts. As she grew from baby into her 4-year-old self, it is clear that she's whip smart. No flashcards please! As a child who has always loved books and being read to, we don't want drills to damper that spirit.

Bob Books fulfill both those two requirements AND teach her how to read. These cute and super short books introduce children to letter sounds with ease and repetition. We've only gotten thru the first 4 books (12 total) but Ella loves them. After about 4 go throughs she could read on her own. Admittedly she merely memorized the story, but with careful prompts and encouragement she did learn the words. Less than a dozen times thru & I can honestly say she is reading.

She's a pretty silly child who can't sit still, but the books held her for the 5 minutes it takes to read them. Ella's always looked forward to story time but now she loves reading to us too!

Oh, yes, we love our Bob books! Especially the funky characters.

Disclaimer: I did receive these books free in exchange for a review via MotherTalk.com.

Technorati tags: Bob Books, MotherTalk, book review, children, reading

Labels: Books

You all know that I crush on Dewey, but she's gone mad!

24 Hour Readathon
SATURDAY OCTOBER 20TH, starting at 2pm GMT

People who sign up to be readers are committing to reading books, posting updates in their blogs, and if they need breaks, visiting the blogs of other readers and encouraging them. The most hardcore among us will stay up the entire 24 hours and do nothing but read and update, even going so far as to skip showering and eat meals while reading. However, not all of us are that hardcore, and it’s ok for you to customize this readathon to meet your needs. Personally, I have a chronic illness, and while I’m planning to try to stay up 24 hours, I take medication that makes me drowsy and I’m not sure I’ll make it. Other readers may have small children, or previous commitments, etc. that may take up some of their 24 hours. All I ask is that you be honest in your updates, and that’s about the only rule for readers.I can barely read more than a few hours at a time lately, much less for 24 hours. Dear Goddess the woman has lost it! hehe...but if you're woman enough, go sign up. I might sign up for a cheerleader role. That's what I'm best at!

I just finished book #14 for the 20 Book Summer challenge and looking at the calendar, I doubt I'll get to the finish line. *sigh* Yes, I'm hanging my head down low as I know that I very well could have finished. Instead I watched stupid TV, slept, ate without reading, blogged, watched my Cubbies, and oh yeah, spent time with the family. hehe...Seriously, I'm pretty sad that I didn't make it, but I'm still pretty amazed that I got as far as I did. I mentioned it to a friend last night and she was amazed. "I barely read 2 pages a day!"

With the end of the 20 book challenge, is my new personal challenge. I'm going to register to take the GRE sometime this fall and well, instead of losing myself in a Sandra Cisneros novel, I will punish myself with a GRE review book. Maybe I'll post some of the vocab words up here to reinforce my limited vocab skills. Seriously people...I have a limited vocab. Don't flatter me. I know you're just bullshitting. There will be weekly updates on my studying and if you see me in person without my book or flash cards, smack me upside the head.

BTW - Coming in second isn't as bad as it seems sometimes. More on that later.

Technorati tags: madness, books, reading

Labels: Books, phd

I'm not a historian at all, much less one of books, so...I ask this question in total honesty and hope that someone out there who is much smarter than I will comment and answer.

This summer I've read Female Chauvinist Pigs, Sisterhood Interrupted, and now Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters. Throughout my women's studies academic career I've read many an "academic-lite" book. But I fail to recall other books from my women's studies courses that had so much personal anecdotes in them. Sure, there were stats on top of stats and then some threading of someone's personal story. But that story came from focus groups not the author's diary or especially not an email.

At book club when we were feverishly discussing FCP, a good number of people wanted the book to delve deeper than it was doing, to not make so many generalizations (I'm not a short skirt wearing woman with low self-esteem, I just like to dress slutty!), and less talk from the author about the author.

There's a passage at the beginning of PC, SD, where Martin states flatly that she doesn't know how else to write about the topic at hand/societal trend without using generalizations.

So on this fine Labor Day I find myself reading a review of Julia Alvarez's new book on quinceaneras and they flatly state that Alvarez blends in her personal observations.

My questions are:

• Are the women at book club asking for too much from trade books?
• Is there an increase in personal observations in pseudo-academic* books?

I really have no idea. Perhaps I need to go back thru my old syllabi or throw this to my former professors.

* I call them that because they are pretty well researched, but written in in a way that you don't have to have a Ph.D. to read it, BUT are being marketed to professors to include in classrooms.

Labels: Books, feminism

So...

I said that I added "Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters" to my reading list. I just finished chapter 1 and I think I may stop.

Not that it's a bad book, but because it is too real, too truthful, and frankly, in some ways it's making me feel worse about myself.

Martin creates this timeline of a typical woman's day and all the time she would spend thinking about food & weight. And frankly, that's me. I sat on the couch tonight reading and thinking "I really could read this while on the elliptical...I could use a piece of the German chocolate cake I made for the hubby before it gets bad in this summer heat...no, I can't eat that!...I should go work out."

Yes, my dear readers, it's totally triggering every single bad thing I think about myself.

Yet, it's a freakin' good book. Martin isn't a psychologist or nutritionist. She's merely observing what she sees in her friends & her daily life. And it's good. So good.

Maybe after some cake, the Cubs game, and some Ana Castillo, I can return to this book.

Labels: Books, health

My current book selections include Courtney E. Martin's "Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters: The Frightening New Normalcy of Hating Your Body" I want to mention that because I'm going to do something vastly different with this reading.

My latest blog crush, Dewey, is also reading the book (as is fellow book babe, Rachel), but Dewey is blogging after each chapter. While I won't even attempt to duplicate the genius that is Dewey, I will be reading my chapters and then reading Dewey's commentary.

I rarely read book reviews as it is, so to read a commentary WHILE I'm reading the book will be quite an experience. Now on to the show...

x-posted at Babes and Books

Labels: Books, feminism, health

I've seen the weather maps of the USA in the past few weeks and we're in the dog days of summer. Thus, I bring you...a great summer book. Read it at the beach, in the AC curled up on your couch, or even at the pool. Don't worry about dropping this book to run after your kid, your lover, or even your dog. This book is pure fun.

Sure, it tries to tackle some gritty topics, but really, it's just a lot of fun. Alisa Kwitney creates a cute lil NY town for a rough & tumble city gal ends up as she sacrifices one year of her life so her daughter can attend a fabu school that will address her learning disability. But you know the thing about life long NYers, right? Most of them don't know how to drive. Now you get why it's "Flirting in Cars" because a lot of the book takes place in a car.

Zoe, our protagonist, is a feminist, single mom, Jewish, hetero, and life long NYer. Thru out the book we see her deal with finding just the right guy. On page 6 she sums up her search:

The only thing she missed now was the sex, which had been surprisingly good. No telling when good sex might reenter the picture, either, since Zoe was now intent on holding out for a man who understood the distinction between being politically savvy and being politically correct.

After moving to her new town Zoe quickly meets Mack, mechanic/driving instructor/EMT/Iraq War vet and we get this delish description on page 52:

The owner of that wry, laconic voice was a good-looking young man in faded jeans and a plaid flannel shirt worn over a black tee. He had the kind of straight-back posture that suggested some time in the armed forces, and shaggy blond hair that said he wasn't intending to head back there in a hurry. I remember when all the guys my age looked like this, thought Zoe, before they went bald and their bodies began to resemble papayas.

I found the story was best when dealing with Zoe's fish out of water situation. Trying to find decent take-out (she learns to cook, kinda), decent bagels, and of course, other liberals. While the book is funny, one of the rare times I really laughed out loud was when she meets the town liquor store owners:

Zoe felt like doing a jog. Lesbians! She had found a pair of lesbians! If the town was hospitable to wine-savvy same-sex couples, there was hope for other unexpected delights -- Indian take-out, for example, or an internet cafe.

I felt the next scene should had been her marking off "lesbian" on her small town Bingo card.

Zoe does wear on you as she spends most of the book whining about her situation and focused on 'fixing' her daughter in order to get back to NYC. It's not until she goes back home and spends a non-ideal weekend with her BFF, her twins, and her absent husband, that Zoe realizes that isolation can happen in a town of 2,000 or a metropolis of millions. The love story between Zoe and Mack didn't hit me as too dashing. Hmm...maybe I need to read more romance. It was believable, but it wasn't as steamy as the hubby thought it was when he peeked a glance at a page.

I wish there had been more development of Zoe's daughter, Maya. She was the whole reason for the move and yet, I feel like I didn't get to know her despite all the pivotal moments that revolved around Maya.

All that said, it was a good read. I recommend it as a vacation book where you don't want to use much of your brain. Judith Butler this is not. But small town politics, romance, mother-daughter relationships (Zoe is estranged from her parents), and absent (physically & emotionally) fathers give you just enough to chew on to work the noggin. In the end, the big question is "What are you willing to sacrifice or change about yourself for the sake of your child(ren)?"

And isn't that always the $10 billion question?


Meaning that I get an Amazon.com giftcard for posting this review. We do not have to post positive reviews in order to be paid. I'm as honest as I get with this book.

Labels: Books

I wrote a lengthy critique of Ariel Levy's Female Chauvinist Pigs over at Babes & Books, but I have more to say and don't want to eat up all that space.

1. I think the funniest thing that was in Jennifer Baumgardner's critique of FCP was the cover:

Levy writes: "If the whole point is change and redefinition, then I wonder why the Cake imagery is so utterly of a piece with every other bimbo pictorial I've seen in my life." Levy uses the same imagery on her cover -- without any ironic flourish -- which leads me to believe that she may suffer from the same conflicts she is so troubled by in others.

I seriously laughed out loud when I read that because that is precisely MY biggest critique with Jessica Valenti's book. I don't agree with all of Baumgardner's critique, but right on the nose with the book cover. I won't buy Valenti's book because of the book cover and the only reason I bought Levy's was for book club. Plus a stupid trucker flap girl is very different than the disembodied belly of a skinny white chick.

2. Levy spends a good amount of time discussing that girls nowadays are dressing to impress each other NOT boys. I've heard this from many a mom. Anyone else hear this theory? I kinda see it already with Ella and I guess I did the same thing in high school. Once I got out of my "I-need-to-wear-a-different-color-of-every-piece-of-clothing-I'm-wearing" phase (yes, pink socks, blue shoes, white shirt, rainbow colored skirt...) I did try to dress to impress my girlfriends.

3. I do not believe that Levy is anti-sex, as I said in my B&B post. Rather I subscribe to her call for an expansion of of definition of sexy. It can't be just thongs and stripper poles. And I'm not saying it just because you so don't want to see me in a thong. Levy touches on something when she says we need something more than lust and fake lust at that, when we think of sex. If it's puritanical to say that sex should mean something, then it is. I do think that we can have healthy alternative sex lives that mean something and isn't just about the show or fake boobs.

4. The Girls Gone Wild mentality will lead to harm. Levy recounts an evening out with the film crew where woman after woman is essentially bullied into showing her boobs for a trucker hat. Sometimes for some guy to get a trucker hat. Crowds gather around, chanting "Show them! Show them!" and once she does, camera phones go clicking and she gets the trucker hat. It's not just mob mentality, but I believe an issue of safety for the woman involved.

Essentially, I think you should pick this up and see for yourself.

Labels: Books, feminism

If we set up a reading showdown, who'd win? Rachel or Dewey? Me thinks that the world would implode if we ever got these two book eaters in the same room. I bow to their reading superiority.

Labels: Books

I finished "The Girls Who Went Away" over the weekend and I'll blog about it over at Babes and Books, but if you heard my scream a few minutes ago it was because I found a new blog carnival:

BOOKWORM CARNIVAL

How F'ing kewl is that?!?!?

Labels: blogging, Books

• Breakfast
  
• Get Ella out the door with my sister (12pm)
  
• Go to post office, pick up mystery package for Ella...It was a present from our aunt in Seattle. Don't know what it is still since Ella's not home to open it.
  
• Go to bank deposit checks
  
• Come home, get lunch
• Finish blog post I've been working on for a week
• Head over to Chicago Force game (hope for no rain)...No rain except the rain of TDs! I left early to come home and get ready for dinner, but the Force clobbered Detroit.
  
• Back home, clean up a little
• Read for 20 Book Summer (hopefully finish Borderlands)
• Blog about 20 Book Summer (it's not too late to join us!)
• Figure out if I'm headed to dinner with family or I get to hang with friends...I ended up doing both. Looonnnnggg story, don't ask unless you're bearing chocolate or beer.
  
• Figure out what to wear for party tomorrow...sun dress to church and then something comfy to the party.
  

Labels: Books, misc, sports

I feel like I'm starting to neglect this blog. No, no, I'm not going to shut down, but just know that I'm blogging elsewhere (email me/comment and I'll let you know) so that's taking up a lot of time. Especially when both are start-ups. One I feel like I'm the ONLY non-professional writer in the group. At first I didn't notice it, but the owners set up a yahoo group and when people starting introducing themselves, I kept reading professional editor/author/writer/you get the picture in everyone else's bios. ACK!

I'm also doing some research for what I hope will be a pretty hefty blog post about recent Chicago events as well as a mini-book review of a book I'm trying hard to get thru right now. It's a great book (the big pink on on the right), but finding time to read is ACK!

Speaking of which, Amy's set up a new blog for her 20 books summer challenge. She wants to read 20 books this summer and has asked for anyone (that means you!) to join her on this insane challenge. Of course I signed up! I'm crazy, have little time for reading, and well, I'm me. I'm doomed thou. I know I won't "win" this challenge as Rachel is in. She goes thru books like I go thru Twizzlers! OK, now I know that Amy will say, this is a personal challenge. Ha! Right. She's just as competitive as me. ACK!

I also just spent almost an hour downloading photos from our new camera. The monster takes UBERsized photos and the hubby is in love with the camera. Which means he racks up some major MBs quickly. He took 600+ at Ella's dance recital. Yes, the new cam has that function where you just hold down the button and zapzapzap photos are taken. Which is why no one has really seen the dance recital photos. ACK!

AND someone whom I've had very little interaction with in my many moons at work has decided to nominate me for an award. AND since we don't know each other well, I had to supply her with a few names of people who could give her the info she needs to submit the nomination. ACK ACK ACK!!! Of course, I have someone else I want to nominate, so I'll work on that all the while knowing my lil nomination will go no where.

Lastly...the hubby's off this weekend for a training. Ella & I are single gals Friday and most of Saturday. My youngest sis is in town this weekend and will whisk Ella off somewhere on Saturday afternoon. Yes people I may some time ALONE at home! OMG, what will I do?!? Then the baby nephew turns one on Monday so his party is Sunday. That also means my dad will be in town and that means that him & my younger sister are kidnapping Ella from Sunday to Wednesday. OMFG, what will we ever do without her for FOUR DAYS!?!

whew! I'm just tired thinking about all of this. Off to blog on Amy's book blog.

Labels: blogging, Books, Ella, misc, writing

I really hate the Monday back from traveling because I have a ton of email and RSS feeds to read. In lieu of real content, I give you a list of thoughts:

• "The Daring Book for Girls" will come out in time for winter gift giving. Hopefully there are some science experiments and activism pointers in there as well.
  
• The first Carnival for Radical Action at Sylvia’s place
• Help some awesome WOC bloggers get to the Allied Media Conference! Since I can't go, I'm sending money.
• Atlanta appears to be a nice city. I wouldn't know since I stayed in my conference the entire time. Good news: Sweet tea at every meal. Bad news: Not one peach.
  
• I got an invitation to apply to a PhD program with a woman that I worship. In Atlanta. Yeah, not gonna happen.
• The testosterone spewing from Wrigley Field is making me sick. I forgot that part of the rulebook that says to get a team to play like professionals one must treat an official like a scumbag. I'm all for ripping an ump a new one...When they screw up the call!
• Why do I feel that my summer is already over when it hasn't begun?
  
• Had brunch with a friend from DC yesterday. She ditched the morning session at Sister Song. Awesome company. Awesome conversation.
  
• Are you registered for the NOW Conference yet? I am. I also have a room available. Let me know.

OK, that's it. Lunch time over.

Labels: Books, feminism, misc, phd

"Well you can't lock her in her room until she's thirty!" A common phrase parents use when debating how to handle teenagers. But one father did just that. For 19 years Jimmy and Dorothea lived in a compound in New Mexico with a father who feared everything. Jimmy, a talented artist, wasn't allowed real paints (toxic fumes!) and Dorothea is never allowed to learn to cook (knives are sharp!). The kids had no TV, no computer, no radio, no telephone - Nothing but their dad and paternal grandmother. Jimmy was six when life as he knew it ended, young enough to submit, yet old enough to remember 'just enough'. That 'just enough' wedged suspicion into his heart and compels Jimmy to leave home and head out into the real world at age 24. When Dorothea is forced to leave the only home she's known to find Jimmy, she embarks on an adventure that will not only bring her into the 21st century, but reveal more about life and her father than any of her ancient encyclopedias ever could.

"Once Upon a Day" is a mystery wrapped around a tragic love story. Why is the father so fearful and controlling? Can the kids adjust to life in modern day America? Will they ever find their mother's family despite their father's stonewalling? I don't normally read mystery novels, so I am unfamiliar with the genre. What I can say is that by the beginning of part two, what appears to be the main mystery is solved - Only to be replaced with a larger mystery. One reason I don't read mysteries is that I'm impatient. "Once Upon a Day" kept me reading because it hooked me early, I had to know why things happened and if the father was worthy of forgiveness. The butler didn't do it, but woo boy, did the father ever!

The novel moves back and forth between three different narrators including a doctor-turned-cab driver who befriends Dorothea. He has his own "Once Upon a Day" story that he wrestles with the entire novel. With all these characters and back stories, I'm happy to say that it is never confusing and amazingly spends enough time on each of them for you to fall in love with them. I believe that part of that is because you *want* them to be happy. Then again you wouldn't give two figs if the character development wasn't that good.

The questions we are forced to ask ourselves include how powerful is love? Can it keep you loving someone who destroys your life? Can it help you forgive that person? And if so, is then forgiveness the most powerful? There is also that obvious, elephant in the room, realization that as much crap life throws at you, someone else also had one hell of a day in their lifetime. Don't all of our lives hinge on that one day when it all changed?

I highly recommend this book as a great summer book. It's not entirely light and fluffy, but it's also not a difficult read. I also think it would be a great book club selection with all the ethical and moral questions that are raised.

Labels: Books

Parenting Beyond Belief has its own blog and I was reading thru is last night. I ran across a post about death. Death seems to be on the BIG questions that comes up when you talk about raising kids without religion. How do you explain it? But this post focused more on the phenomena that once someone is dead, they are immediately canonized. The hubby likes to joke that just once, just once that he'd like to see a report on TV about some guy who died in a tragic manner that a neighbor complains, "He was the biggest @$$. Never helped anyone without it benefiting himself."

My first experience of the weird immunity we grant to the recently dead was at my dad’s funeral. I was thirteen and he was forty-five, my age next year. I loved my dad. He was a good guy.

Still, the eulogies offered by Dad’s friends and colleagues struck me as…weird.

I remember one colleague of his saying, “Dave didn’t have an enemy in the world.” “He was always thinking of others, never a thought for himself,” said another. “Everyone loved him.” “He loved his family more than any man I’ve ever known.”

Okay. I guess.

Like I said, he was a good guy. But this was my first experience of the genuine canonization of the dead that is socially mandated. Although my dad was funny and smart and hardworking and endlessly curious, he also lost his temper frequently and even sprained his thumb once. Oh, while beating me, I left that part out. I had been a shit to my younger brother, again, and Dad had come off a 60-hour week, and he couldn’t find it in himself to not sprain his thumb on me.

I'm often struck with this subject when I'm at wits end about my mom. I hate to say that sometimes the way I get myself out of my rut is to remember the crappy things like when she told me that I'd just flunk out of college, so why get my hopes up about applying. She did later apologize during another fight that she just said it because she didn't want me to go. That's my mother's love for ya.

Reading Amy's post about her dad's funeral cemented the idea that we need religion or whatever we call it to make it thru the bad days. I've met only a handful of people who seem to thank their deity for the good days. But I think we all fall to our knees when we need help. And honestly, that's not such a bad thing. And just like religion, we need to remember the good things about people when they die. Hopefully those at the things that help us thru our loss. And maybe even make us laugh when our hearts are torn to shreds.

So while the practice of bending over backwards for the recently dead is strange and sometimes unfaithful to who that person is, I excuse at least those closest to the dead for it. It's all apart of the healing process.

That said, when I go (at a very old age and in my sleep) please put on one hell of a dance party. And if my death does make the news, say something about my bad grammar if you want to say something bad about me. *wink*

Labels: Books, goddess, writing

Last week, MotherTalk hosted a blog tour for a book about parenting and religion. The book, Parenting Beyond Belief: On Raising Caring, Ethical Kids Without Religion, takes the side of those parents who want to raise their children in a secular vein, without religion. We think the publication of this book gives us a chance to blog about religion and our families and the ways we parent, from a variety of angles.

This Friday, May 25th, we thought we'd invite everyone to blog about religion: what we do; what we don't; what our kids like, or don't; what we argue about; what we feel great about, or guilty of... the list goes on and on and the sky's the limit, bonanzas are all about conversation.

I'm in a mixed marriage. I'm a tree-loving, goddess-worshiping pagan. The hubby is a true Catholic. He likes to label himself that because as far as he's concerned he pretty much lives by what the Bible says, what Jesus would REALLY do, and not so much what TPTB rant about. I'm also a recovering Catholic, so you might really categorize me as a pagan Catholic. I identify a lot with the ethnic part of Catholicism; the way native Mexicans merged their pagan religion with Catholicism.

What we do is celebrate Christmas & Solstice and Easter & Ostara, althou I have to admit to being a lazy pagan and not really getting my butt in gear to do a ritual on any holiday. I personally celebrate Halloween and Samhain. I do believe that this year I will bring Ella into my celebration and get in gear with a real ritual for Samhain. (Yes, long-time readers more angst about my late mother!) I wear a goddess around my neck, the hubby wears a cross. The hubby prays each morning and evening and crosses Ella before we leave her somewhere. He's even teaching her how to cross herself. I rub my goddess when I need a little more strength or peace.

Tonight Ella went on and on about how if I die, she'd have to get a new mommy. Oy...Just what I need. I did talk about heaven. I do believe in a heaven/summerland, where we all go, except the most evil, when we die. (If the Catholics are right, save me a place in Hell, k?) But I phrased it as, "Most people believe..." Hopefully as she grows and keeps hearing that phrase, she'll understand that we want her to find her own path.

We don't go to church. The last time either of us went to a church without a wedding or funeral happening was me. Shocked, eh? Being a pagan can be lonely. So I tried out a UU church nearby. It was nice, but I dunno...Maybe later. And honestly I'm too busy to find a coven to really get involved with. Yeah, I know...Don't ask. I'm just confusing like that.

The only thing I feel guilty about is that Ella doesn't have official godparents. Having those seemed to be comforting to me as a kid. Maybe when she's a tad older and can understand what it means, we'll figure out some type of ceremony we can do in the backyard or at a UU church. The two couples who would be her godparents already know who they are. We told them as much around Ella's birth. (Reminder...get that damn will done!)

I hope that this this and that way of infusing religion into Ella's life keeps going as well as it has been. She's just shy of 4, so we have a long way to go. I do wonder what it'll be like when her friends start asking about it. Then again her best friends are one Jewish boy and one half-Jewish, half-some type of Christian girl (the dad doesn't talk about it). So being half-pagan and half-Catholic won't be too weird. Being my daughter will be tough enough!

All that said, I do fear how I'll be able to teach Ella to respect religion when fundamentalism runs rampant in this world. From fundie Christians in this country telling us who we can love and when I can reproduce to fundie Muslims in Iraq stoning girls to death just for falling in love with someone outside her faith. I guess we'll just borrow from the Catholics and hate the follower, love the faith. Or something like that.

Which brings me to our only big argument about religion - Catholic school. Living in Chicago, it's tough to find a good public school and with all this BS-"School Choice" it's almost impossible. Which forces us to look at private, independent, and *gulp* religious schools. Catholic schools are out. Period. No discussion. OK, maybe a little. But the hubby has to do the research and present the case. I can't give money to an institution that continues to lie and cover up about child rape and then call me out for being pro-choice. And that's just the beginning.

I think the best thing for her is to be exposed to as many different faiths as possible so she can choose or build her own path.

Labels: blogging, Books, Ella, family, feminism, goddess, writing

As my faithful readers have noticed, I've picked up quite a bit of work reviewing books over the past year. It started out with me posting my own reviews of books that I read, loved, and needed to tell my sliver of the world. I'd dare say that 90% of the books I read are not on the NY Times best seller list, heck make that 99%. That same percentage are women authors and at the same time feminist works of literature as well. I feel it is my duty as a feminist book reader to tell you all to go pick up that book and read it as well.

One bit of advice I keep getting over the years as I attempt to hone my craft as an activist/advocate is to write, write, write...and read. What better way for me to sharpen my writing than to blog about what I just read? As a kid I hated writing book reports because they seemed so lame - even as I chugged them out 2-3 times a week. I read a lot of short books. Hey, the teacher valued quantity as well as quality.

Thanks to Get Them Blogging and MotherTalk, I'm just about up to my ears in books to read & review. Three years ago if you had told me that 1) I'd get free books in the mail just for blogging about them and 2) I'd have time to read them all, I would told you to get outta here. This experience has been fabUlous. It has forced to pay closer attention to the writing of the books I read instead of just getting lost in the story. My book club kinda did that, but there's something about putting words out into the blogosphere that makes me take that job a bit more seriously.

You can imagine the fury that went thru my mind when I read on Echidne of the Snakes that a book reviewer, Richard Schickel, is a tad pissy that us bloggers are taking his work:

Let me put this bluntly, in language even a busy blogger can understand: Criticism — and its humble cousin, reviewing — is not a democratic activity. It is, or should be, an elite enterprise, ideally undertaken by individuals who bring something to the party beyond their hasty, instinctive opinions of a book (or any other cultural object). It is work that requires disciplined taste, historical and theoretical knowledge and a fairly deep sense of the author's (or filmmaker's or painter's) entire body of work, among other qualities.

I'll admit that I'm not trained to write reviews, but I guess that's why I get paid in books. One of his main arguments is that my opinion doesn't mean poop:

Opinion — thumbs up, thumbs down — is the least important aspect of reviewing. Very often, in the best reviews, opinion is conveyed without a judgmental word being spoken, because the review's highest business is to initiate intelligent dialogue about the work in question, beginning a discussion that, in some cases, will persist down the years, even down the centuries.

Looking back at my archives and the number of comments I get on book review posts, I'd have to say that I'm not adding much to "intelligent dialogue about" the book (see what happens when you don't comment!). That said, most days I have at least one visitor who comes here because they were looking for a review of a book I have read.

Schickel wraps up with the flawed logic that because writing a print review is permanent, that blogging a review is somehow temporary:

The act of writing for print, with its implication of permanence, concentrates the mind most wonderfully. It imposes on writer and reader a sense of responsibility that mere yammering does not. It is the difference between cocktail-party chat and logically reasoned discourse that sits still on a page, inviting serious engagement.

Tell that one to anyone who has ever posted something stupid on their blog and had that show up high on their Google name list. In what seems to be a hastily written blog post criticizing bloggers who are criticizing Jessica Valenti's book, Jill wrote some iffy statements. She then comes back to apologize for those statements. Tell Jill that her blog post isn't permanent.

I emailed a few other book reviewer bloggers (are we bobloggers? borebloggers? ha!) and learned that this is NOT Schickel's first pooping onto us bloggers. Am I feeding into what must be his HUGE desire to be heard on this topic? Yeah, but blame Echinde for that. I get as many readers a day as she gets in about 10 minutes. *wink* Schickel threw this blog-bomb out there way back in March at a writing conference:

And then suddenly, he veered off course and said that blogging is for idiots. That no one reads a blog except your mother and maybe your cousin, and that it’s stupid to write without getting paid for it. If I heard him correctly, he described blogs as the “near beer” of the writing world.

The irony of this is that the SAME day he said this, his daughter's book was part of a "blog tour" over at MotherTalk. Hmmm...I wonder what the next family dinner was like...Bread anyone?

The thing is that we've all been here before and will continue to have to defend our blogging honor. "Real" journalists still debate whether bloggers should have media credentials, "real" videographers will argue whether or not CNN asking for video has ruined media, and now we have a "real" reviewer wondering if my itty bitty blog with barely 40 visitors a day is hurting his career. My, what a fragile ego we have.

What I have seen in my short time in blogging for books is that it is a community event. I go to other blogs to read what others have to say. It's half-review and half-book club. Just as I don't really care what Rich R. has to say about movies, but love to read Steve's reviews on Gapers Block. It's not just that I adore the owner of GB or that it's online, but I know Steve is far geekier than I am and so if something makes him laugh, I can pretty much guess correctly if it will do the same for me. IOW, I can relate to Steve. Just as I hope that those reading my reviews can relate to me. I can't relate to RR nor do I relate to most mainstream book reviewers. Plus, I rarely read mainstream stuff (I'll return to that next week).

Will I stop reviewing books? Not as long as they keep coming free to my mailbox from the PUBLISHERS. Will my writing get better? I hope so.

Labels: blogging, Books, writing

I have one book review and one pseudo-review/response. The book review includes a drawing for a free book. Sure I love Rachel & Amy, but I was hoping some of you lurkers might want it and show yourselves. The deadline for the drawing will be Tuesday, May 22nd at 5 pm Chicago time. So get to it!

Another book review will be up next week. Yup, I'm a book reviewing machine! This one will be the toughest one yet due to the content of the book and that it's fiction. Not science fiction, but pure fiction. Maybe even a chick lit book. Since I don't read many of those books, it's hard for me to think about this book. No hints on how I like it!

I included this cartoon that a friend emailed me last week. Now doesn't that just make your Monday?

Labels: Books, writing

MotherTalk poses this question:

Dangerous Boys by brothers Conn and Hal Iggulden, reminds us of the days before our culture banished the jungle gyms, and stopped kids from playing in treehouses, running go-carts, and whittling wood with a Swiss Army knife to make a bow and arrow. After a single-page introduction lamenting over the ways we keep our kids from experiencing risk and adventure, The Dangerous Book for Boys mixes recipes of outdoor fun with small-chapter information ranging from great battles, the seven wonders of the ancient world, parts of speech, and how to tap Morse Code.

• Have we made childhood too safe? Are we too afraid for our children, too scared to let them wander, ride bikes around the block, take risks? What are the real risks, which are imagined, and how do we navigate these, as their moms?

I haven't read this book and I don't plan on it. Why? Because the basic premise is that only boys can be dangerous. For a better blog post about the gender issues, see ginmar's post. Yes dear readers, I'd rather focus on the dangerous aspect of this prompt than to tackle the gender issue.

Still with me? Good.

Spend a few minutes with Miss Ella and you'll know that I'm mothering a pretty dangerous woman-child. She loves to jump, jump off of things, climb, jump off, run, and all the great things I remember doing as a kid. I had deep pride in the fact that by 5th grade I knew how to run and flip myself over a fence without ripping my clothes or skin on the top of it. I'd ride my bike up and down the street and then do pop-a-wheelies off a homemade ramp. I made it with a piece of plywood and a brick. Yeah, real safe, eh? I'd spend hours in my tree, reading or just watching the world go by. There was one summer where I'd sneak up to the roof and jump off. Don't be too amazed, we lived in a small one-floor house.

Have we made childhood too safe?

Yes and no. A few weeks ago Miss Ella was rollerskating with a neighbor. The neighbor girl, K, didn't have knee pads, wrist guards, or a helmet on. Heck, she barely had her skates on right! I sat there watching them thinking about when I was a kid skating. Who wore protection then? Seeing yesterday and today skating together made me think that maybe we are too safe today. Then Ella fell and laughed. That's when I knew that her pads were not just keeping her safe, but also making it more fun. She likes falling down and without kneepads, there wouldn't be much laughing. I know that too well.

We didn't have much money growing up, so bikes had to last a long time - even if the brakes were dying. I was racing home one night and took a corner too fast. I wiped out...BIG TIME. I cried the last 2 houses home. I was mad. Mostly at the fact that we were so poor that I was riding a bike without brakes.

On the flip side, there are so many times when the hubby & I butt heads about Ella being too dangerous. Is climbing up on the stoop too dangerous? Is it more so because of the 50 lb flower pot sharing the stoop? Is jumping off the jungle gym really that bad? Especially now that most playgrounds are softer than a gymnastics floor. Ok, maybe it is. But still...a girl's gotta have some fun, right?

In other ways, childhood is safer for great reasons: seat belts, car seats, no riding in the back of the pick-up, on and on. But play shouldn't be just about safety. There needs to be some danger. Why? So that we can push ourselves. If we never take those risks to jump just a little farther than we should, we might not take that large leap move out of our parent's home at 18. And what a bore we'd grow up to be.

Technorati tags: MotherTalk, Fearless Friday

Labels: blogging, Books, writing

Freshman year of high school. That is when I peaked.

I won honorable mention in a local writing contest and I earned a spot in our journalism class aka the school newspaper. I also earned a spot on the color guard which practiced during 5th period which meant I needed to move driver's ed - to 8th period. End of my journalism career. Looking back, that decision somehow meant that I wasn't a serious (good) writer. For Goddess sake, I chose to wear a silver sequin headband while making simple geometric shapes on a football field while twirling a flag over beginning my op-ed career (which is still beginning). Yes, my mom was pretty disappointed I chose flags over a red pen.

Almost 20 (!) years later I'm taking back my pen and finally listening to my muse*. This time she often wears pigtails and calls me "Mama."

"Writing Motherhood" is just the book this novice writer and mama needed. Lisa Garrignes begins out uber-cheesy but ends up having that perfect nurturing and supportive touch. I have to admit that both the harsh self-critic and anti-self-help book reader in me went into the book wanting to not like it. Sure some book some woman wrote targeted at mommies is going to help me write. Um...yeah, she did.

First, suspend your attitude. The fact that Garrignes calls our notebook a "Mothers Notebook" and the pages within "Mothers Pages" made me gag. But I got over it. Garrignes parallels and fuses both my desires to write and figure out this crazy thing called parenthood. This is best showcased in the chapter entitled, "Good Enough." By this point she's already gotten me buy a "Mothers Notebook" (not that its a hard task. I'm addicted to blank books.) so we're deep into this book. She recounts a moment of super-perfectionism and a "Bad Parent" moment and then brings it back to writing. "Just practice telling yourself over and over, as a mother and a writer, that good is good enough, and in time you will begin to believe it." I told ya there was some cheese. But you know what? It's just the right amount.

Instead of homework or exercises there are writing invitations. I tried the first few and was comfortable with them. They quickly turn into real assignments that due to my deadline I couldn't attempt them all. This book is really not one to read all at once and put away. It is a working book. This one needs you to work along with it and I do plan to go back and work on my "Mothers Notebook." Hey, it's in my bag, that's the first step!

I would recommend this book to someone else who is afraid of writing or afraid of sharing your writing and is a mom. The whole book is about mothers who write and while all the suggestions should be applicable to anyone, I think non-moms would get tired of the play date stories quickly. I really try not to work from an essentialist point of view, but I gotta admit, Garrignes is right. Being a mom is chock full of stories - ours & our kids' stories.

Other reviews at Mother-Talk. Get the book from Women & Children First.

Due to my inability to give someone my zip code, I have two copies of this book. Whoever emails me or comments on this post will be in a drawing for that book. Deadline is Monday, May 21, 2007. If you comment and don't want the book, I'll just keep drawing names until I get to someone who does want it. So don't let that be your excuse to lurk!

* I have to admit that I did keep a journal off and on from about junior year in high school until Ella was born. I've also kept a spotty journal for Ella since she was born. But it's 90% safe thoughts in case someone finds it. I've had that happen and it wasn't pretty. Not one itty bit. Fear of many things has kept my pen in my pocket all these years.

Labels: Books, writing

MotherTalk posed this prompt to its readers in light of the paperback release of Arianna Huffington's "Becoming Fearless:" let's all blog about overcoming fear—at home, in relationships, at school, of our bodies, in parenting, at work, and in leadership.

So what have I done to overcome fear? When I seriously consider this question what quickly comes to mind are all the things I am still afraid to talk about, do, or consider. I use to be much more fearless before the hubby. His more grounded & cautious nature has pulled me out of the clouds - some days - and helped give up some of my more reckless/fearless habits. That said, as I grow up and I guess mature, I've become more fearless in many ways. One particular way was when I took my current job.

My job is a dream job and when you are asked to do what you've been working so hard to do, you freeze. You question your ability to write a simple sentence, add single digits, and speak a coherent thought. I mulled over my decision with everyone I knew and I think that old guy in Lincoln Square who feeds the pigeons. I believe I was searching for that one person who would tell me, "No,Roni, you are not ready. Wait." Luckily I didn't run into that person.

I did however run into people who questioned my ability to do other things like, um, be president of a board because of my new job. Not that said person's ability to run said board was deterred when said person took a new job two years prior. Oh, no. And because of the overwhelming support from family & friends, I was able to see thru that person's bull. I didn't get that gig, but a huge veil of BS was lifted and I was outta there. Now that was fearless. Leaving a community that I had grown to love and I thought loved me back. It had become part of my identity, but loved ones were able to show me that I could still be Roni without being Roni from BS-ville.

That brings me to my final and conclusive thought. Being fearless is addictive and much like a snowball. It grows with each new day, with each new issue tackled, and with each new decision made. And you can never get enough of it. It makes you frustrated when you "need" to be fearful for whatever reason, rational or not. It's brought me to the brink of recklessness again...but with a much more mature heart.

Labels: blogging, Books, writing

The description for Octavia E. Butler's last novel is:

Fledgling, Octavia Butler’s first new novel in seven years, is the story of an apparently young, amnesiac girl whose alarmingly un-human needs and abilities lead her to a startling conclusion: she is in fact a genetically modified, 53-year-old vampire. Forced to discover what she can about her stolen former life, she must at the same time learn who wanted—and still wants—to destroy her and those she cares for, and how she can save herself. Fledgling is a captivating novel that tests the limits of “otherness” and questions what it means to be truly human.

I hesitated to read this as I knew that she meant for this to be the start of a new series. A trilogy perhaps? I can't recall. But I know she meant to tell us more of Shori and this new world of vampires. I didn't think it could stand on its own so I avoided "Fledgling." Then I emailed with someone about it and they said, "No, read it."

I tell you now, "Go. Read it." BUT...be warned. While this novel does stand on its own to discuss race, free will, addiction, and humanity AND redefines vampire lore in an amazing way, YOU WILL WANT MORE.

At one point, I did hit myself with the book in frustration. Frustration at the Goddess taking Butler from us before she could finish this series. Before she could really delve into Shori and her journey to regain her memory and/or ability to be a vampire.

I cried to myself when I finished the book (which I read in about 4 days) because it was just so good. Would I have felt that way if I knew another one was on its way? I dunno. But as a fan of vampires & all the mythology that surrounds them, I was skeptical that anyone could do something so different with them that it floored me. Butler did that. She gives us ethical vampires - that's all I will say without ruining the journey for you. Can vampires really be ethical? I'm not sure.

I loved this book and part of me wishes that she kept notes on where she wanted these characters to go and her publisher to pull a V.C. Andrews. Then again, even if she did, could anyone really write the way Butler did?

Labels: Books

As we begin a new year many people take this time to rediscover their spiritual paths. "The Book of Goddesses" is an excellent addition to your bookshelf whether or not you are committee to the Goddess path. Not at all. Kris Waldherr not only wrote this book but also beauti