Recently Read Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls

Author: Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo
Genre: Nonfiction/ Illustrated
Publication Date: 2017
Page Count: 212
Rating:  2.5/5

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Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers who Changed the World

Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls in an anthology in the style of bed-time stories about one hundred women from history. Each story is accompanied by an illustration. 

These anthologies of forgotten or overlooked women of history are becoming quite popular, and I love it! I have been reading as many as I can get my hands on because I love using them to discover new-to-me women from history. You may know I majored in English and minored in history, and my area of interest was always gender in both subjects, so these books were made for me! This is the most popular of these anthologies as it is already getting a sequel and has had quite a bit of buzz. However, I heard some critiques of the book I found interesting (mainly this video from Jean Bookish Thoughts on Youtube) so I was really interested in checking it out from the library before purchasing it for myself, and I'm glad I did because I have some mixed thoughts.

Obviously, I love the premise behind this one. I love the idea of a book funded by kickstarter about forgotten women of history all around the world accompanied by portraits of said women done by tons of different women artists, but this sounds better than it was. I found my main problem with this book was the writing of the actual stories. The stories were so vague and watered down that they hardly contained any information about the women themselves or their work. I also found that some of the women's stories focused on strange aspects of their lives other than their work. Virginia Woolf's page, for example, was all about her depression; two short sentences on the page mention that she was a writer. I found myself wanting to learn more about these women than these short summaries offered. There is also the question of the inclusion of a few of the women, as Jean mentions in the video above. There are ancient female leaders who conquered other nations in here, as well as Margaret Thatcher, who was anti-equal rights for many groups of individuals. This brings to light the idea that having power should not automatically earn someone admiration. 

One thing I did love about this book was the full-page color illustration of each woman. I loved that the authors worked with sixty different female artists and that the portraits were of all different styles. Some of the art I loved, and some I didn't, but I appreciated the variation more than I thought I would at the beginning. I also loved that this book included women from around the world as well as  throughout time. This collection was one of the most diverse I have seen. It spans ancient Chinese rulers to current athletes and activists. I also appreciated that current women were represented in this book, and a lot of them are very young. 

If more time and detail had been put into the writing in this book, I would have loved it. I came away with a long list of women I want to research and read about, which is exactly what I'm looking for in these anthologies. I will continue to read every one of these types of anthologies that come out because I love supporting books and ideas like this. Although I think there are probably better anthologies out there, (I'll let you know when I find one) I do recommend you pick this one up.

Let me know if you have any recommendations for me of similar books. Oh, and Happy National Women's History Month :)

February Wrap-Up: T.V, Movies, Books, and More

Life

February has been busy for me. The long-term substitute job I had lined up started about five weeks earlier than I had expected it too, so I have been a bit scrambled. That also means that my February reading plans did not happen, as I found myself without a lot of reading time. However, I did manage to read and watch a few things this month, that I wanted to tell you about. I'm going to to try to stick to two posts a week during this new teaching job, but we will see what I can get done. 

T.V. and Movies

I've been in the mood for documentaries lately, so I started the month off with Paris is Burning which is a documentary made in 1990 about the Drag Queen scene in Harlem New York. I found this one really interesting, as I didn't know anything about the 90s drag scene. The documentary interviews various frequenters of the club Paris is Burning, and interviews them about their life inside and out of the nightclub. I found it fascinating to see that a lot of the slang that black drag queens had invented is coming back in style, and that they are responsible for a lot of cultural elements that they are not given credit for. This documentary is both series and funny, and I really enjoyed watching it. 

The second documentary I watched this month was Finding Vivian Maier. This one reminded me of Packed in a Trunk, which I loved, as they both centered around an undiscovered woman artist. This was is about a nanny who was a secret street photographer and took hundreds of thousands of photos in her lifetime. I really loved this one as it was a dynamic look at her art and her life, and was so engrossing. The photos Vivian Maier took are absolutely stunning, and you can see some of them on the website dedicated to her art here.  

My mom and I devoured the Queer Eye for a Straight Guy reboot in a matter of two days this month! I LOVE this show! The new fab five is so sweet and funny, and this show has so much heart. It's so much more than a makeover show. It's about human connection and understanding and doesn't shy away from current social topics. This show had me tearing up from emotion and laughter, and I hope there is a million more seasons! 

I really loved Black Panther and I was glad to see that it lived up to the hype! The Afro-futurism setting was super cool; everyone in this movie is so beautiful; and it had more interesting female characters in it than all of the other marvel movies combined. I'm excited to see where this franchise goes, and I'm hoping that Marvel keeps delivering movies like this with complex and diverse characters. 

Books 

 

A Wrinkle in Time- 4/5 stars- This was a first-time read for me, and I really enjoyed it. I'm really looking forward to this movie!
Mary's Monster-5/5 stars- This book was gorgeous! It's an illustrated biography of Mary Shelley and the art is breathtaking. 

 

My Life on the Road-5/5 stars- This was my first read of Steinem's work, and I really loved it. The writing is great and her experiences and knowledge of our society are so vast and intricate. She has really inspired me to concentrate on listening even more than I was before reading this novel.

This Darkness Mine- 3.5/5 stars- This book was a wild ride in true Mindy McGinnis style. This book was addicting and dark and cemented McGinnis' place on my auto-read list.

Posts to Check Out

Ten Books That Made a Romance Skeptic Swoon (this one goes all

the way back to my teenage reading years)

Poetry Spotlight: Black History Month

Stay tuned for some Women's History Month themed posts in March! 

Recently Read: This Darkness Mine

Author: Mindy McGinnis
Genre: Young Adult/Thriller
Publication Date: 2017
Page Count: 376
Rating: 3.5/5

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Also by this author:
The Female of the Species  

Sasha Stone is the perfect girl. She's a gifted clarinet player destined to play for a top college, a straight A student, and has a perfectly polite boyfriend. But a bad-boy named Issac seems to have control of her heart, even more-so than she does. Sasha learns that before birth, she had a twin sister who was never born, but her sister may have found a way to get what, and who, she wants through Sasha. 

McGinnis is a brilliant writer. Her writing is so captivating and intense, and even though her stories are uncomfortable at times, I just can't look away. The Female of the Species really shocked and consumed me when I read it, and I knew I had to read more from McGinnis after finishing that one. I picked this one up at my library as soon as I saw it, and flew through it.

McGinnis is brilliant at writing unhinged characters. Her characters are so unlike anything else in YA. I love a well-done unreliable narrator, and McGinnis has the best in YA. This story is weird, mysterious, shocking, and at times uncomfortable, but McGinnis' story-telling makes it impossible to look away. I really didn't know where this story was headed and was surprised at every twist-and-turn. 

While I really enjoyed being immersed in this book, I don't think it was as strong of a novel as The Female of the Species. To me, The Female of the Species read like a very sophisticated literary fiction, and it dealt with themes and ideas that were vast and complex. This one read more like a typical YA thriller, but with a brilliantly well-done main character. I thought the first half of the book was a lot stronger than the second half, but I was still completely hooked the whole way through. 

McGinnis has made her way on to my 'auto-read' list, and I have picked up another one of her books since finishing this one. If you are looking for a book that will completely absorb you, or get you out of a slump, I recommend checking out McGinnis' works. What she's doing feels unique, and she's very good at what she does.  

If you have any recommendations for YA books with unreliable narrators, please let me know! 

Recently Read: My Life on the Road

Author: Gloria Steinem
Genre: Nonfiction/Memoir
Page Count: 280
Publication Date: 2015
Rating: 5/5

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Gloria Steinem has done everything. She's an activist, journalist, organizer, magazine editor, traveler, speaker, and listener. In her essay-style memoir, she recounts some of the most important events in her life and what she has learned from her travels and her long activist career. 

This is my first Steinem experience. I was aware of her and her work before reading this, and I knew she was a person that I wanted to read about and from, so I thought her memoir would be a good place to start. I knew I would enjoy this, but I didn't know the writing would be so good. Steinem's writing is so engaging and entertaining, that even when she is discussing complex or distressing concepts, it felt like a casual conversation with a friend. 

This memoir starts with a chapter on her childhood with a focus on her father. This was my favorite chapter of the novel. The way that Steinem writes about her always-traveling father with love, admiration, and introspective-reflection was quite beautiful. Steinem has a great outlook on life, and has accomplished so much in so many areas of life and activism, it's a bit insane. 

The biggest take away from this memoir for me was the importance of listening. Steinem is a constant listener, and because of this, she is able to learn and experience so much life. She covers so many interesting topics and eras in the novel and recounts the stories of others rather than herself. While feminism is a large focus of this novel, as it is a large focus of Steinem's career, it is not the only focus. Steinem discusses racism, overcoming a fear of public speaking, AIDS activism, the rights of indigenous Americans, and of course travel. Her section on the primary election in 2008 between Obama and Hillary Clinton was fascinating. Her account of listening to democratic women who did not support Clinton was so interesting, and her conclusions were something that I had never thought of before. 

Before this novel, I admired Steinem for her activism and barrier-breaking career. After reading her memoir, I still admire her for those things, but even more than that, I admire her ability to listen and communicate. Her chapter on talking circles and her audience-involvement at her public speaking events has really inspired me to listen more. I have always considered myself a good listener, but I could always do a better job of listening to individuals (particularly ones I disagree with or who think differently than me) and I think that is something that is universally true of humans. I can see myself revisiting chapters in this novel many times, and found myself marking many sections where I learned something new or was introduced to a new approach to a topic. 

I highly recommend checking this out if you have an interest in Steinem, feminism, activism, or just want to learn something new. I want to search out more of her work, particularly her essays in the near future, as well as learn more about some of the activists I was introduced to in this novel. 

Recently Read: Mary's Monster

Author: Lita Judge

Genre: Nonfiction/Illustrated

Publication Date: 2018

Page Count: 320

Rating: 5/5

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Frankenstein Review

Literary Look: The Gothic Novel 

Mary's Monster: Love, Madness, and How Mary Shelley created Frankenstein tells Mary Shelley's life and woes with beautiful illustrations. From her own birth, which brings misfortune, to the death of her beloved, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and the creation of her masterpiece and the science fiction genre, Mary Shelley's story is heartbreaking and poetic. 

I read Frankenstein a couple of years ago, and I believe it is one of the best and most important novels ever written, even more impressive, is that Shelley was eighteen years old when she began writing it. I researched the origin of the novel a little bit when I first read it, as I was writing a paper on it, and immediately knew I needed to learn more about Shelley. When I saw this one, I was interested, but upon learning it was completely illustrated, I immediately ran to my library to grab it. 

The story of Shelley's life is told in free-verse and accompanied by absolutely breathtaking illustrations. The back-flap reveals that this books took Judge five years to finish, and I cannot imagine how much work went into this novel. Every illustration is a full-page or double-page charcoal drawing, which captures the mood of Shelley's life perfectly. 

Mary Shelley had a turbulent life and romance with the famous poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Her fear of and tragic experiences with pregnancy and birth lead her to explore themes of creation and motherhood in Frankenstein and her involvement with Shelley, Byron, and others in the Romantic circle allowed for her to create and publish her novel. Shelley wrote Frankenstein in nine months, while she was pregnant with her second child; her first had died ten days after birth. It was published anonymously, but after it's great success with the public, Lord Byron published proof that Shelley was the author.

This biography is a great introduction to Shelley's life. It gives the complete story of Shelley and her creation, but it doesn't go too deep. I have plans to read much larger biographies, but I'm glad that I read this one first. The art is what really makes this novel. Shelley was an amazingly brilliant woman who defied society at every turn and created one of the most important and popular novels ever written. I recommend this novel for all levels of interest in Shelley and her work. Even if you are a seasoned-Shelley-scholar, the artwork in this novel is worth seeing alongside her story. 

My Library Holds List

I've been trying to cut down on my book buying this year, as I am running out of shelf space for my physical TBR at the moment. It really stresses me out to see a jam-packed shelf of  books that I have owned for various amounts of time that are still unread, so I've been trying not to add to it. I have of course bought some books this year,  but I have been using the library a ton in the past two months. One thing I like about placing holds on books from the library is that you're on the list to get the book, but if there are people in front of you, you don't get it right away. That means that in the mean time I can read the books I own and it really is the best of both worlds. Here's a look at what I have a hold on at the moment in both physical and ebook format from my library.

Everything I have read by Maureen Johnson has made me crack up, so I really want to read her new release. She's great at mystery and humor, and since this is a mystery, I think I'll really enjoy it. 

This sci-fi novella is a bit different from what I would normally pick up, but I've heard great things about this series, and I have been interested in science fiction lately. I've got a long list of books I want to read in this genre, and I think this will be a good starting place. 

What really drew me to this nonfiction account of Mary Shelley's life and her creation of Frankenstein was that it is illustrated. I love Frankenstein; I think it is one of the best novels ever written, and I really want to learn more about Shelley. I have a longer biography of her and her mother on my shelves already (Romantic Outlaws), but I think this shorter one will be a nice introduction. 

Ever since reading Women in Science, I have been wanting to read all of the anthologies about historical women! They are so expensive though, so I am loving getting them from the library and then deciding which ones I want to buy in the future. This one looks like it has beautiful illustrations, which is something on my priority list for books like this. 

This is a similar anthology, but I have heard some mixed things about this one, so I wanted to check it out from the library and get in on the controversy. This one has become very popular, which is why I was surprised to see the controversy around it. I don't think this is the best anthology out there, but I want to check it out.

Recently Read: A Wrinkle in Time

Author: Madeleine L'Engle
Genre: Children's Classic/Science Fiction
Page Count: 256
Publication Date: 1963
Rating: 4/5

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Meg's scientist father has been missing for years and no one will tell her family where he is. She's having trouble fitting in at school and misses her father. When a stranger shows up at her house and  claims to know where her father is, Meg, her younger brother Charles Wallace, and a boy from school named Calvin go on a journey through time and space to save him.

I never read this as a child, and with the Disney adaptation coming out in March, I knew I needed to pick this up. The adaptation looks brilliant, and I have very high hopes for it. I wasn't sure what to expect out of this book as I know it is well beloved, but also aimed at young readers and was written in the 1960s. I sometimes have issues with older books aimed at children because they can sometimes seem too simple or dumbed-down compared with the children's books of today. That was not the case with this book.

I was pleasantly surprised at how good this was. I was pulled in right away by Meg and the three Mrs. characters. The writing was good and the plot and concepts totally unique. I knew absolutely nothing about this book (in fact I kept waiting for them to ride a big furry creature before realizing that I was thinking of The Never Ending Story) so I truly got to experience the story for the first time, and as an adult, loved it.  

I really liked the science fiction elements of this story as they were based in reality and L'Engle doesn't shy away from including real science in the book. The concept of wrinkling time is so poetic and a great analogy and mental image. The themes running through this novel are both obvious and subtle and for readers of all ages, as there is much to examine under the surface of this novel. I think this book would have been so unique and outstanding in its time of publication, but I also think it stands the test of time as a story that will fascinate young readers and inspire nostalgia in older readers for years to come. 

I am really looking forward to seeing this novel visually, as its world is so interesting and has the potential to be so beautiful. I really like the casting for the movie as well. On a side note: the inclusion of a few references to  religion has me interested in researching the motif of religion in children's sci-fi and fantasy novels. If you have examples of novels besides this one and Narnia with religious references or themes, let me know! 

If you haven't read this one yet, I really recommend you do before the film comes out. It's a quick, light-hearted adventure through time and space. What more could you want in a children's book?