all books all the time

A Little Too Much Is Enough - Kathleen Tyau. ( Read more... )

Ten Things I Hate about Me - Randa Abdel-Fattah. ( Read more... )

The Conversations of Cow - Suniti Namjoshi. ( Read more... )

Men of the Otherworld - Kelley Armstrong. ( Read more... )

Magic to the Bone - Devon Monk. ( Read more... )

Please Do Feed the Cat - Marian Babson. ( Read more... )

The Little Guide to Beating Procrastination, Perfectionism, and Blocks: A Manual for Artists, Activists, Entrepreneurs, Academics and Other Ambitious Dreamers - Hillary Rettig. ( Read more... )

Terrorists or Freedom Fighters? Reflections on the Liberation of Animals - Edited by Steven Best, Ph.D and Anthony J. Nocella II. ( Read more... )

Kitty and the Silver Bullet - Carrie Vaughn. ( Read more... )

GenXpat: The Young Professional's Guide to Making a Successful Life Abroad - Margaret Malewski. ( Read more... )

Smoky Mountain Tracks - Donna Ball. ( Read more... )

Grave Surprise - Charlaine Harris. ( Read more... )

Real Murders - Charlaine Harris. ( Read more... )

Fourth Comings - Megan McCafferty. ( Read more... )

An Ice Cold Grave - Charlaine Harris. ( Read more... )

On the Prowl - Patricia Briggs, Eileen Wilks, Karen Chance, & Sunny. ( Read more... )

Smoke and Mirrors - Tanya Huff. ( Read more... )

Living Among Meat Eaters - Carol J. Adams. Re-read, in preparation for a stressful upcoming family weekend. I found Adams' pieces of advice as pithy as the first time I read them; I only wish I could remember them better when I needed them (must practice, ha).

She says that, in dealing w/meat eaters, we should act as if they are all blocked vegetarians; this will make dealing w/them a lot less stressful & conflict-ridden. I think this is good advice; like she says, even if someone ISN'T blocked, acting as though they were will make things less confrontational. And I believe, anyway, that an awful lot of meat-eaters are, actually, blocked vegetarians--I can see that happening when I hear the stories of folks who have gone veg*n, & I can see that in some of the more unpleasant reactions I've had in my life w/meat-eaters. There are probably some folks who aren't blocked vegetarians--like I can totally see George W. Bush gleefully meeting the eyes of a cow, w/full knowledge & awareness, & then holding a pistol to its head & shooting it point blank. And then anointing himself w/the gore, or something. But again, it makes sense to act like this is not true. Otherwise being around meat-eaters can get pretty stressful.

I also liked the recipes in the back of the book; I've tried some of them before & enjoyed them, & there are a few more that caught my eye this time.

Graceful Simplicity: The Philosophy and Politics of the Alternative American Dream - Jerome M. Segal. The premise of this book is interesting: that too many books on simple living focus on the individual--what you can do to reduce consumption in your own life--w/o taking into account the need for a political change in the way we, as a society, look at working hours, vacation, necessities, etc.

Unfortunately, I found this book really dull to read. There's a lot of recapping of what various philosophers, like Aristotle, thought about money & work. Mostly I found that stuff boring. There's also a lot of discussion about ways for Americans to reduce the work week on a large scale--not just for the lucky few who can negotiate a part-time deal w/their current employer, etc. Anyway, good ideas, worthy of pondering, but this book was so hard to get through. Yawn.

The Great American Detox Diet - Alex Jamieson. Vegan chef Jamieson is the partner of Morgan Spurlock, he of Super Size Me fame. She took over Spurlock's diet after he became severely ill doing his 30-day McDonald's-only experiment. Her book runs along the same lines; it's nothing that I haven't heard before, but I do like reading about how to eat healthy & stuff. It's accessible & fairly simple, & probably will be useful for folks thinking about this stuff for the first time. There are a lot of yummy-looking recipes in the back too.

I had two small complaints. One: she talks about how important it is to drink lots of water, & that the 8-10 glasses a day idea is a good one, but she never clarifies how big a "glass" is. 8 ounces? 16? More? Two: she talks about a quick way to get a vague idea (not a definitive diagnosis, she's clear on that) on whether or not you're sensitive to certain grains. She says to eat a small bowl of the grain first thing in the morning. Plain, no condiments, & before you even drink anything like coffee or tea. Then you're supposed to monitor yourself for a few hours. Do you feel tired? Foggy? Have a headache? If so, you might be sensitive to the grain. Except I kind of think if you take a typical caffeine addict & keep them from their drug in the morning, they'll feel tired & have a headache. There ought to only be one independent variable, thanks.

Autobiography of a Blue-Eyed Devil: My Life and Times in a Racist, Imperialist Society - Inga Muscio. I've put off writing about this book for over 2 weeks, because it annoyed me so much I didn't even want to pick it up again to delineate why.

First of all, Muscio's writing style is "fucken" (as she would say) annoying. And I don't think her rants are particularly useful for persuading anyone who doesn't already agree w/her. Seriously--who is the audience for this book?

Anyway--one of the first things she does that pisses me off is refer to Bush as "Arbusto" ("bush" in Spanish). Why? Because she thinks Bush's name has too much power in the world & that somehow using the Spanish word instead, when everyone knows you're referring to Bush, will mitigate this.

Which brings me to another point of annoyance: her continual dropping of Spanish throughout the book. A word here, a phrase there, the way she refers to herself as "Inga La Gringa." She seems to actually have a reasonable understanding of cultural appropriation & how white American culture feels licensed to take whatever they want on a whim. So why is she using all the Spanish? Is there some reason she feels that it is different than, say, Gwen Stefani sticking on a bindi (ie. because she thinks it's cool & fun)? She mentions her ethnic background & she doesn't seem to come from Spanish-speaking roots. I wish she would explain why she chooses to use Spanish--hopefully not just because it's an exotic spice.

Hm, next corner I have folded down in the book... she says, "The resistance in my heart for what my country is doing to people in the Middle East consumes every moment of my life." Really, Inga? When you're taking a shit or having an orgasm or thinking about what to order for lunch? Your melodrama serves no one, least of all the people you say you care about.

Next up: an excruciatingly bad poem called, "Somewhere, Someone Can Hook You Up." It's all about how no one should ever have to shop at a chain store or purchase from a large corporation. Which is great, yeah. But I don't think she's very sympathetic to, say, a parent working multiple jobs who may not have time to "put up flyers or advertise online and find [someone to start a chicken co-op with]." Or to "Make sure all the kids in your neighborhood know how to swim. Exchange this for the love and gratitude of parents who cannot afford swim lessons for their children." Nice sentiment, but what kind of privileges are denied folks who just CANNOT do this? (plus, oh, the poem is just so bad)

At some point, she also uses the word "retarded" as an insult, which I despise.

Okay, next: she's talking about a storefront in her neighborhood that displayed the Homies figures, with a white child mannequin lording it over them. She's explaining to the clerk why this is offensive, & says, "I am telling you that almost anyone who grew up in an environment similar to the one represented by Homies would be outraged at that window." Er, thanks for speaking for them, Inga. Sigh. (Need I add that of COURSE we need white allies to speak up about jacked-up shit--& that, sadly, a lot of white folks will listen to other white folks more on this topic? But her phrasing just seemed so very very over-the-top &... white woman speaking up for all the poor brown folks.)

Next: she talks about how most folks in this culture are in denial about the many things that are wrong, sad, & hurtful in our history. Yes, yes. But instead of reckoning w/this, she says, we go to a doctor & get a prescription for antidepressants. Way to totally invalidate the experiences of the many people who DO have a chemical imbalance & do have genuine mental illness & do much better on antidepressants--not because they're medicating themselves into dozy oblivion, but because they have a medical problem! Have you been hanging out w/Tom Cruise?

Oh--& here is the thing that came out of nowhere & filled me w/rage. She's talking about her cat (whom she gave a Spanish name, btw) & how when he came to live w/her, people told her to get him neutered. She flips out, because this is just a way that we're trying to make animals fit into our notions of what they should be. Which I can see in some instances: for example, declawing. But! What about the millions of animals that are put to sleep every year because no homes can be found for them? Her comment on pet overpopulation is to say, "Researchers have never spent time finding noninvasive herbal ways to keep animals from getting pregnant." I actually laughed out loud at this point. Because they've spent so much time researching that stuff for human beings, right? And because owners who abandon their animals or who, for whatever reason, don't administer the herbal contraceptive steadily to their pets, won't add to pet overpopulation? Are you FUCKING KIDDING ME? I am furious that she's putting forth this irresponsible, asshatted view in public, & am glad that someone had already neutered her cat before she got to him. She's also really cavalier about the possibility of him, as an outdoor cat, getting hit by a car: "Look, he's living his life. If that involves getting hit by a car then that will suck, but it's his fucken life." Nice one.

Next in Inga's Treatise on How to Live with Animals: she's never had a roach problem, because when she sees them in her apartment, she tells them:

Look, mighty cockroach clan, I am a clean person and you will be hard-pressed to find food in my home. If you like, I will leave you cookies in the corner of this cupboard, but I ask you to stay away from the rest of my home, please.

She says that her technique has never failed. Well, great. In addition to making women feel guilty because they can't visualize their way into an abortion (see Cunt), now we can feel shitty because we haven't gotten a mystical connection w/the roaches in the cupboard.

Gah. I could go on & on--but yeah. This book sucks. I'm so glad I didn't buy it last year at WisCon, even though the money would've gone to A Room of One's Own. I noticed this year they had the book on sale--trying to fob off their last copies, maybe?