Showing posts with label Our Shared Shelf. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Our Shared Shelf. Show all posts
6/22/2016
Feminist Book Club Reads | June
It's been a little while since I last compiled the feminist book club pickings into a blog post, mainly because I've been dipping in and out of them. I feel like with book clubs you shouldn't feel obliged to read everything they put forward, unless of course that's your style. Today I have a few of the recent books I've read from feminist book clubs, as well as one I'm planning on reading very soon...
The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi-This book seems timely, given some of the recent news stories that have been developing in the world. Emma Watson set this book for June over on Our Shared Shelf. I'm not going to lie, because it was a graphic novel I decided to read it because I knew I'd be able to finish it easily. This autobiographical book follows Marjane's life growing up in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution. It also follows her to Vienna where she moves to complete high school away from the midsts of war and her return to the post-war country she left behind. I didn't know a lot about this war and I found reading about that+the cultural viewpoint really eye-opening. It really got me thinking and reinforces the idea that extremism is really just a very, very small, unfortunate part in the fabric of much larger cultures. This is well worth the read.
The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson-Another one from Emma's book club, this one was May's read. I've spoken about this already on my channel so I'll keep it brief. Maggie Nelson wrote an account of living with a gender-fluid person, her husband. She also explores ideas of relationships and sexuality throughout the book with extracts from other researchers and theorists. It's not really a structured book and doesn't follow an extremely chronological pattern as such. I quite liked that though because it read like an endless stream of thought.
You Can't Keep A Good Woman Down by Alice Walker-Now this is the one book I haven't read, yet. I am hoping to get to it very soon though. Alice Walker's name will be familiar to anyone who knows of The Color Purple, her well-loved novel. This book is a collection of short stories and judging from the reviews I read over on The Feminist Orchestra group it seems like people were a bit divided on this book. I have to admit I couldn't bring myself to finish The Color Purple. I found it distressing and couldn't quite get to grips with the writing style. Hopefully this read fares a bit better with me.
-Have you read any of these books before? What did you think of them?
5/16/2016
The Weekend Reads | May
Seeing as it's been a rather bookish and writing filled-few days I thought I'd kick this week off with a blog post about what I'm dubbing weekend reads. Simply put, books that are short enough for me to finish in a day or two and are thus being saved to read on the weekend. There's a mix of short stories, novels, even a loosely structured poetry book as well...
Paper Aeroplanes by Dawn O'Porter-After listening to Dawn O'Porter's podcast episode with Emma Gannon, I became quite fixated on reading every single thing she's written. Maybe not quite everything but her novels to begin with. Paper Aeroplanes is the story of two teenaged girls in England during the 1990's. They're both quite different personalities but unite over their somewhat dysfunctional family dynamics. Apparently this is loosely autobiographical, as Dawn took details and character traits from her diaries of the time. I'm looking forward to reading this during the upcoming weekend.
The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson-This is the latest pick for Emma Watson's Our Shared Shelf book club and given it was on the slimmer side I thought I had more of a chance of reading it this month. I've actually slipped behind in book club reads lately but this one took my fancy so I had to get a hold of it. It's a memoir that charts the relationship between the author and her gender-fluid partner Harry Dodge. From what I have read so far this seems like it's going to be quite poetic if that makes sense and very visual. I am intrigued.
My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout-This book was one of the Undone Book Club picks earlier in the year and after waiting on the extremely lengthy waitlist for it, I finally read it a couple of weekends ago. This tells the story of Lucy who is in hospital after an operation that is taking her a while to recover from. It also charts her reunion of sorts with her Mum who she hasn't seen for many years. It's very nostalgic and takes comfort in the refreshing sort of conversations we tend to have in isolated environments. It's very beautifully done and is the kind of story that would translate well to a play. Highly recommend+it was longlisted for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction which says positive things, I feel.
Grief Is The Thing With Feathers by Max Porter-Don't read this book if you're going through a bit of a rough period. It is not lighthearted and touches on the rather intense and many-faceted workings of grief and loss. That being said, as this is structured more like poetry, it is a quick read. I did enjoy this book but I didn't find myself loving it so I gave it 3/5 over on Goodreads.
-Have you read any of these books before? What did you think of them?
4/10/2016
Feminist Book Club Reads: April
As we've established, I'm on a quest to read all the things and at the moment it is books about feminism, written by women and just all-round inspiring texts. It's not too much to ask really. Today I am sharing what I'm reading for the feminist online book clubs this month and also another book which I'm reading just because...
Everyday Sexism by Laura Bates-This wasn't a book club read for the month per se, but it has cropped up in the forums of a number of book clubs and on YouTube etc. Although it was actually Emma who convinced me to read it. Everyday Sexism started as a project on Twitter+a website where women anonymously shared stories or incidents of sexist behaviour they'd witnessed or experienced themselves. It fast turned into a movement and the book was born as a result of those discussions. Each chapter addresses a topic such as young girls or women in politics, looks at the statistics-both for the UK and the world and contains statements from people about sexism relating to those categories. I'm still reading this one but it's really eye-opening and at times sad+frustrating that some of the ideas discussed seem to be inherent to our society. It's a fantastic read, and is making me all the more excited to read the follow-up book, Girl Up.
How To Be A Woman by Caitlin Moran-I've moved from one Caitlin Moran book to another. This is the third/fourth (I can't keep up) book for Emma Watson's online book club. I really, really enjoyed Moranifesto. It's going to be in my monthly favourites post though so I'll save the rambling on that for now. How To Be A Woman was one of Caitlin's first books and was a bestseller+award winner. I have extremely high hopes for more of what I loved from Moranifesto, but about women, feminism and of course hilarity from Caitlin's own life. Do not disappoint me, book.
A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf-This is the second book from Jean's Feminist Orchestra book club. I ended up buying a copy of this because it was proving to be a bit frustrating to track down from the local library. I've only just started this but from what I can tell it isn't a novel, but I think it is adapted from a speech Virginia gave. It's late and I'm like yeah no to research... It's been interesting so far but I'll put a review up on my Goodreads page when I am finished.
3/10/2016
Feminist Book Club Reads: March
As well as my March Reading List, I'm also reading books for the two feminist book clubs I'm in on Goodreads this month. Pro tip: If you find out what the books are early enough, track down a copy from the library or find a cheap, second hand/new one online. That's how I nabbed both the books in this post. So this month we have a novel, and a book of short essays+quotes. Let's get down to literary business...
I Call Myself A Feminist-This was the first booked assigned by Jean for The Feminist Orchestra book club and it did not disappoint. It features a multitude of essays on all aspects of feminism. There isn't many a topic that isn't covered in this book. In between each essay there's some quotes or two from literature as well as recognisable men+women. Each essay is quite brief but this book is really the perfect introduction for anyone wanting to dip into feminist literature. There were some eye opening pieces of writing in here, like one on acid violence. I didn't know that was something that went on but it really upsets me it's even a thing. If you're passionate about gender equality and women's rights, you're going to like this one. I highly recommend you give this a read whether you're new to feminism or not. It's fab. Btw, next month's book is A Room of One's Own if you want to join in.
The Color Purple by Alice Walker-This was the second book chosen for Emma Watson's book club. I really enjoyed the first book she selected so I was looking forward to starting this. I'm not going to try to embellish it, this book is quite upsetting. In fact, I've taken to reading it in small doses for that reason. It tells the story of Celie, a teenaged, African-American girl who is abused by her father. She details this in letters as well as the abuse she experiences growing up at the hands of her husband. It is sad, there's no other way of putting it. The plot summary makes it sound like the eventual outcome is a good one though so I will keep reading this. I'm a bit behind with the Shared Shelf book club which I don't mind because I prefer to just read the books Emma recommends at my own pace. At the moment they're reading All About Love by Bell Hooks.
-Have you read either of these books? What did you think of them?
*It's been aaaages since I did a life update here! How are you all? I hope you've all had an amazing week. I have been busy with university, admittedly a lot busier than I expected. I submitted my first assignment on Wednesday and I don't have any due for a week or so, when a whole bunch of them are due at once. Fun times, but it's okay! I'm really enjoying it all so far. If anyone wants to know how I find studying from home versus going to university every day, sing out. I've blanked on what else I wanted to write here....Have an amazing weekend and I'll see you all next week with some more posts! x
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