Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. My last blog was about watching terrible television, so you might think I haven’t been reading much. In fact, my television watching is less bingeing and more carefully planned portions (like Bright Line Eating.) This means I am *still* watching my way through Highlander. Meanwhile, I have actually been reading several books. I currently don’t have the wherewithal to make a whole blog post about any one of these books, so this week you get a run-down post compiling several of my recent reads. Enjoy!
Scary Stuff
Since this post covers things I read in October, it includes some creepy stuff. (Of course, I reserve the right to read creepy stuff year-round.) The longest and creepiest was Dr. Sleep. It has only been a few months since I listened to the audiobook of The Shining while on vacation. With the movie coming out, I had to dig in to Dr. Sleep. I have listened to a lot of Stephen King in the last year or two. He gets a little long-winded, but so do I, so I can’t fault him for that. I don’t know when his birthday is or anything, but I consider myself a fan. In other words, I feel a sort of moral obligation to like everything he does. That being said, I really did like Dr. Sleep. Obviously the book is better than the movie. Considering how different the movie of The Shining is from the book, I feel like they did a good job trying to make the movie of Dr. Sleep more of a sequel to the movie while the book is more related to the book. Read and watch both. Compare. Contrast. Repeat. Oh, the life of an English major! I foresee people making entire careers out of these two books and two movies.
Another book I read that was more creepy than scary was The Witch of Hebron by James Howard Kunstler. I have been wanting to read this one for a while. It is set around Halloween in post-apocalyptic town of Union Grove, New York. This is the second book in The World Made by Hand series, and I read the first book twice. I finished this book on Halloween night, which was absolutely perfect. Now I am 61% finished with the third book, A History of the Future. This one is set around Christmas, so it’s a perfect winter read. There are four books in the series with the fourth being The Harrows of Spring, which I think means I will not be disappointed if I wait until spring to read it. Four books, four seasons, get it? I have to admit that my favorite character in these books is Brother Jobe. He is creepy and has some sort of supernatural power that he augments with just plain pushiness. I think he might be the best example of how to survive and thrive after the apocalypse.
These books had me thinking about the traditions surrounding Halloween, Day of the Dead, and Christmas. You might not know that there used to be a tradition of telling ghost stories on Christmas Eve. That’s where Dickens got the idea for A Christmas Carol. I learned about this in a literature class about “ghosts and gender.” In that class we read The Turn of the Screw, so I decided to read it again. There will also be a movie based on this one soon, but I am on the fence about seeing that one. This is a classic ghost story and a quick read. If you haven’t read it, you should.
SFF
For Sci Fi book club recent reads have been Galactic Forge (book one) and All Systems Red (book one in the much-acclaimed Murderbot Diaries series.) We read a lot of book ones in Book Club. I think I have mentioned it before. Galactic Forge was a fun read, but I won’t be bent out of shape if I never get around to reading the rest of the series. Murderbot on the other hand… I hope the second book made next year’s book club list, because I definitely want to find out what happens next. I like that our book club occasionally takes on a Book Two. For a long time it was the same core group of attendees, so it was safe to suggest a sequel if book one had been on the list. Thanks to Kathy sharing the details on Meetup, we have had an influx of fresh blood, so a few people might be thrown off next month when we discuss Children of the Divide, which is actually Book THREE in a series. If it is similar to the second book in the series, Trident’s Forge, it did a good job of being a sequel that could also stand alone. I need to finish A History of the Future so I can start this one. I am very grateful that my tap dancing class changed nights so that I can make it to Sci Fi Book Club again. It is such a great group. This is one of the highlights of my month. I enjoy chatting about books… Who knew?!
After I wrote about My Favorite Fantasy, I bought the latest book by favorite fantasy author, Raymond E. Feist. King of Ashes is yet another book one. Not only that, but the second book doesn’t hit shelves until the middle of next year. Maybe I should have thought longer about that purchase decision, because now I have to ponder what comes next in the Firemane Saga for months before I get to find out. It was nice to be reminded that people are still writing fantasy though. Sometimes I forget that all fantasy books are not dusty old classics. The genre is alive and well.
Rage Becomes Her
This book needs a post of its own, and I plan to give it one in the future, but for now, READ THIS BOOK! Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women’s Anger is a book with the power to change lives, our culture, (dare I say it?…) THE WORLD. I learned about this book when the author was the keynote speaker at a women’s conference I attended. Last year I went to the same conference. I had a great time. I networked, and I learned some new stuff. My only complaint was that a lot of what I heard was the same old stuff that I have heard as a woman in corporate America for the past 19 years… just realized this week is literally the 19 year anniversary of my first corporate gig, wow… Anyway, for the past 19 years I have been told that a.) I should feel like I can bring my 100% authentic self to work and add value with my unique perspective while (simultaneously) being told b.) if I want to be more successful there are just a *few* things I need to change about myself. If you are a woman reading this, you already know what I’m going to say: Be. More. Assertive. Right? But don’t forget not to be pushy, mm’kay? And I don’t need to explain to women how it feels to walk an actual, literal, albeit virtual tightrope each day. Because as women, we all know that we’re not doing enough and the answer to patriarchal oppression is for women to DO MORE. Oh yeah, are you with me? Because you might have guessed that after 19 years of this… I. Am. Angry.
I think this is a good article that can ease you into the idea that it’s not women who need to change to fit into the world. The world should be a safe space for women and men alike. If you don’t understand that women spend a lot of time not feeling safe, well, then… you are either a man or you have internalized misogyny to a degree that you probably voted against yourself (and the rest of us) in the last election. I don’t have the certifications necessary to fix you, but you should get some help.
After leaving the feedback “stop telling women to act like men” after last year’s conference, I was very happy with the fresh content this year. We talked about white privilege, we talked about vulnerability and trust, and to wrap up the conference, we talked about anger. Women’s plate-throwing anger. Soraya Chemaly gets me. She gets US. This book is a thing of beauty and a national treasure. It won’t make you angry. It will remind you that you already are. I need more of my friends to read this so we can talk about it. I need to read it repeatedly and take notes. I think I need to go and edit my post about Life-Changing Books to include this one. Much more on this book later.
In Conclusion
I’m still reading. I want to talk about books and blog about books. Right now, it’s hard to sit down at the computer and organize my thoughts. I’m in a weird in-between state. I’m trying to appreciate the in-betweenness. It’s like a crepuscular period in my life. It would be inauthentic to say I’m not struggling. Quite frankly, I feel like I could stay in bed for two weeks and not feel rested. And I don’t get to do that. I’m literally getting ready to post this from the road while on the run. First law of motion, right? Keep moving. That’s the only way to get to the other side. If you’re going through Hell, keep going. Keep reading. Keep blogging. Keep doing your best until it gets better.
