It's July already! Hello fellow Bibliophiles! It's the middle of a scorching hot summer, and I'm nearly out of books on my TBR pile, so I've been hoping and praying that some funds will come my way so that I can restock. I've read all but one of the books that I found at the library book sale, so now I have to wait for fall for another one, and with the prices of everything climbing, especially food and gas, we've had to trim nearly all extraneous expenses from our budget. Still, mid-month I'm hoping for one last trip to Half Price Books and Barnes and Noble to seek out enough tomes to get me through August, perhaps all the way until the fall. Fingers crossed! Here's some troubling tidbits and some book reviews for your edification.
This is so sad. I remember that when I was in middle school and we had our first and last sex ed class, parents were allowed to "opt out" their children on the basis of their fundamentalist/Christian religions. Unfortunately, those were the kids who needed the "birds and bees" talk the most, because they were the most likely to experiment with sex out of rebellion and hormones and ignorance. Those were also nearly always the kids who were gay and questioning their sexual identity and were made to feel ashamed of who they were, so they also had problems with depression and suicide and being harassed or bullied at school if they made the mistake of talking about their crushes on people of the same sex (or their desire to dress in the clothing of the opposite sex). Because my mother was a nurse and I didn't opt out of said classes, I often had desperate notes shoved into my locker or backpack, asking questions about sex and/or sexual identity or pregnancy, the latter when it was usually too late, unfortunately. The parents of these teenagers nearly always blamed the school for their children's predicament, because they didn't want to take responsibility for their crappy parenting. "Protecting" your child from books about LGBTQ people or sexuality doesn't keep them from experimenting or acting on their sexual needs/desires/identity. It makes for a lot of teenage pregnancies, suicides by depressed kids within the LGBTQ community, runaways and children thrown out of their homes by ignorant and cruel parents, if you can call them that. For SHAME on the supreme court, and cowardly parents who "opt out."
Supreme
Court Rules Public School Parents Can Opt Out of LGBTQ+ Books
On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled that
parents of children in public
schools who object to LGBTQ+ picture
books may opt out of lessons or
instruction involving those books. The
case was brought by three sets of
parents against the Montgomery County
(Md.) Board of Education,
objecting on religious grounds to books
that are LGBTQ+ inclusive and
had been approved as supplemental
curriculum for the schools' language
arts program. The ruling was roundly
denounced by members of the book
world.
The American Booksellers Association
issued this response:
"American Booksellers for Free
Expression is deeply disappointed by the
Supreme Court's 6-3 ruling in favor of
the plaintiffs in Mahmoud v.
Taylor, singling out LGBTQIA2S+ books
for special scrutiny to provide
parents with 'opt-outs' of their
inclusive messaging. The plaintiffs in
the case allege that the First
Amendment rights of certain parents were
violated because the 'normative'
messages in the books--that LGBTQIA2S+
identities, marriages, and communities
exist and should be
respected--violated the religious
upbringing of the students. In its
defense, Montgomery County Public
Schools argued that such opt-outs
would be burdensome, counter to its
policies of inclusion, and would
adversely affect LGBTQIA2S+ students in
the district. We agree.
"An 'opt-out' does not just impact
the students whose parents choose to
exercise it. As Justice Sotomayor notes
in her dissent, 'many school
districts, and particularly the most
resource strapped, cannot afford to
engage in costly litigation over
opt-out rights... Schools may instead
censor their curricula, stripping
material that risks generating
religious objections. The Court's
ruling, in effect, thus hands a subset
of parents the right to veto curricular
choices long left to locally
elected school boards.' This decision
subjects LGBTQIA2S+-inclusive
books to a special scrutiny based on
their ideas, stigmatizing
LGBTQIA2S+ children and families while
letting the religious views of
some parents dictate curriculum for all
students.
"Today's ruling impacts educators,
parents, and students, but it does
not determine what booksellers can do.
Indie bookstores can continue to
offer third spaces where tolerance and
pluralism are uplifted if they so
choose. But that does not erase the
stigma that will attach to inclusive
books as a result of this ruling, and
it does not undo the shame some
children will experience when their
peers have to leave the room because
of characters in whom they see
themselves reflected. We stand with
teachers, parents, students, and
educators as they navigate the
uncertain waters in the wake of this
ruling."
RIP to a major journalist and an old school newsman.
Obituary
Note: Bill Moyers
Bill Moyers, the former White House
press secretary "who became one of television's most honored
journalists, masterfully using a visual medium to
illuminate a world of ideas," died
June 26, the Associated Press
reported. He was 91. In addition to his
role with President Lyndon
Johnson, Moyers's career ranged from
young Baptist minister to deputy
director of the Peace Corps to senior
news analyst for the CBS Evening
News and chief correspondent for CBS
Reports.
"But it was for public television
that Moyers produced some of TV's most
cerebral and provocative series,"
the AP noted. "In hundreds of hours of
PBS programs, he proved at home with
subjects ranging from government
corruption to modern dance, from drug
addiction to media consolidation,
from religion to environmental abuse."
Moyers's life and career as a broadcast
journalist have been widely
acclaimed since his death. He was also
an author, with several books to
his credit, including Listening to
America: A Traveler Rediscovers His
Country (1971); The Secret Government:
The Constitution in Crisis: With
Excerpts from an Essay on Watergate
(1988, co-authored with Henry Steele
Commager); A World of Ideas:
Conversations With Thoughtful Men and Women About American Life Today
and the Ideas Shaping Our Future (1989); The Language of Life: A
Festival of Poets (1995); Genesis: A Living Conversation (1996);
Fooling with Words: A Celebration of Poets and Their Craft (1999);
Moyers on America: A Journalist and His Times
(2004); Moyers on Democracy (2008); and
Bill Moyers Journal: The
Conversation Continues (2011).
"In an age of broadcast blowhards,
the soft-spoken Mr. Moyers applied
his earnest, deferential style to
interviews with poets, philosophers
and educators often on the subjects of
values and ideas.” via the NYTimes.
This sounds like an excellent book, I will have to keep an eye out for it.
Reese's July Book Club Pick:
Spectacular Things
Spectacular Things by Beck
Dorey-Stein is the
July pick for Reese's Book Club, which
described the book this way: "When Mia is diagnosed with a
chronic illness, her sister Cricket faces an impossible choice: save
Mia's life by donating a kidney or hold on to her lifelong dream of
playing soccer. Spectacular Things is a heartfelt exploration of
sisterhood and how much we are willing to sacrifice in the name of
love."
Reese wrote: "Spectacular Things
follows sisters Mia and Cricket as they
navigate an impossible choice that will
change everything. Think
sisterhood, sacrifice, and the golden
age of women's soccer all wrapped
into one epic story."
The Cat in the Hat was one of my favorite books as a little kid. I hope the movie proves to be just as iconic.
Movies:
The Cat in the Hat
Warner Bros. Pictures Animation has
released the first trailer for its
first full-length movie, The Cat in the
Hat, an animated adaptation of the classic Dr. Seuss story, Deadline
reported. Starring Bill Hader as the voice of the Cat, the film
chronicles "our hero's toughest assignment yet," when the
I.I.I.I. (Institute for the Institution of Imagination and
Inspiration, LLC)
"asks him to cheer up Gabby and
Sebastian, a pair of siblings struggling
with their move to a new town. Known
for taking things too far, this
could be this agent of chaos' last
chance to prove himself... or lose
his magical hat!"
This is true!
Quotation
of the Day
"Like libraries, indie bookstores
are beacons of a decent, flourishing
society. I was lucky enough to grow up
surrounded by books, not just in
school but at home. Every indie
bookstore I've visited has its own
personality and, most important,
knowledgeable, book-loving owners and
staff. People who own indie bookstores
aren't in it for the money,
they're in it because they know how
amazing, and amazingly essential,
books are for humans to thrive,
individually, and in society. More
indies = better world."--Kenneth
Oppel, author
The Shadow Bride by Shelby Mahurin is a "dark" YA romantasy (just another name for horror/romance hybrids), with a lot of blood and gore and overblown drama that made it hard to read, especially for those of us who aren't into the horror genre. There's a lot of whining, melodramatic misogyny surrounding the cliched young female protagonist, who gives up all her dreams and aspirations for a man, because its made clear that marriage, sex and starting a family (women as brood mares for the "family lineage") are the only worthwhile goals for a young woman, and of course all relationships are cis-gender, between a man and a young woman, as "god" intended. BLECH. Here's the blurb: Having read The Scarlet Veil and The Crimson Moth and other books by this author, I was alarmed at her lack of diversity in the characters of this novel. It was as if someone at her publishing house told her that her books would sell better if there were only male-female white romances in them, especially if vampires were involved, because the paler the vampire, the hotter he is, according to books like the Twilight series, though he's undead, literally a walking corpse...ewww. I felt that the book needed an actual editor with a sharp red pencil to excise all the redundancies and puffed-up, gaudy prose. The plot was predictable and plodding, and the inevitable too-sweet HEA sent my blood sugar soaring. I'd give this bloated tome a C+, and only recommend it to anyone who has read "Scarlet Veil" and really cares about what happens to Celie.
Kill Her Twice by Stacey Lee is a YA historical noir mystery/thriller that was full of snappy prose that kept a swift and precise plot running on all cylinders. Here's the blurb:
An exciting YA murder mystery noir set in 1930s Los Angeles’s Chinatown.
LOS ANGELES, 1932: Lulu Wong, star of the silver screen and the pride of Chinatown, has a face known to practically everyone, especially the Chow sisters—May, Gemma, and Peony—Lulu’s former classmates and neighbors. So the girls instantly know it’s Lulu when they discover a body one morning in an out-of-the-way stable, far from the Beverly Hills home where she lived after her fame skyrocketed.
The sisters suspect Lulu’s death is the result of foul play, but the police don’t seem motivated to investigate. Even worse, there are signs that point to a cover-up, and powerful forces in the city want to frame the killing as evidence that Chinatown is a den of iniquity and crime, even more reason it should be demolished to make room for the construction of a new railway depot, Union Station.
Worried that neither the police nor the papers will treat Lulu fairly—no matter her fame and wealth—the sisters set out to solve their friend’s murder themselves, and maybe save their neighborhood in the bargain. But with Lulu’s killer still on the loose, the girls’ investigation just might put them square in the crosshairs of a cold-blooded murderer.
LOS ANGELES, 1932: Lulu Wong, star of the silver screen and the pride of Chinatown, has a face known to practically everyone, especially the Chow sisters—May, Gemma, and Peony—Lulu’s former classmates and neighbors. So the girls instantly know it’s Lulu when they discover a body one morning in an out-of-the-way stable, far from the Beverly Hills home where she lived after her fame skyrocketed.
The sisters suspect Lulu’s death is the result of foul play, but the police don’t seem motivated to investigate. Even worse, there are signs that point to a cover-up, and powerful forces in the city want to frame the killing as evidence that Chinatown is a den of iniquity and crime, even more reason it should be demolished to make room for the construction of a new railway depot, Union Station.
Worried that neither the police nor the papers will treat Lulu fairly—no matter her fame and wealth—the sisters set out to solve their friend’s murder themselves, and maybe save their neighborhood in the bargain. But with Lulu’s killer still on the loose, the girls’ investigation just might put them square in the crosshairs of a cold-blooded murderer.
The middle sister, who is a snarky risk-taker and snoop reminded me a great deal of Alan Bradley's Flavia deLuce, from that excellent mystery series. I laughed at Gemma's antics and I enjoyed her ability to push her overly cautious older sister into doing things that require courage. I was irritated by Peony, the youngest sister, who really wanted to help but only seemed to get in the way and make matters worse. Their pregnant mother was also a bizarre sort of maguffin of strictness and rules, and I was glad that the girls were able to find ways around her so they could go sleuthing and also bring in more money into their household. I appreciated the perspective on racism toward Asians and Asian actors in the 1930s as well. A smart and fast-paced page turner, I'd give this novel a B+ and recommend it to anyone who likes old school mysteries with a twist.
A Slender Thread by Tracy Chevalier is a historical fiction novel that focuses on women post-WWI during the depression leading to WWII. An elegantly written book, as all of her works are, this short novel keeps readers turning pages as the plot runs swift and true. Here's the blurb: This poignant story of a woman who, after losing most of her family to The Great War, tries to escape a life of caregiving slavery to her bitter, selfish and mean mother, really resonated with me, as I've been forced into caregiving slavery by my alcoholic husband who is a narcissist and abusive toward me, just as Violets mother is to her. Hence, I rooted for Violet to leave her mother and struggle against societies expectations in building an independent life...some things don't chance, and the patriarchal misogyny that claims that women are to be responsible for all caregiving activities, regardless of their own hopes and dreams is still in effect. Having been a professional caregiver as a CNA during the 70s and 80s, and never being paid what I was worth, so I was impoverished and rarely had enough money for even basic food and shelter, I empathized with Violets desperate need to make a living wherein she can care for her own needs and desire for happiness on her own terms, ie without getting married and having to bear children. Unfortunately, Violet succumbs to the misogynist idea that no woman is whole without being a mother, and she has a child out of wedlock by a man she knows is married (and why he can't man up and get a divorce and marry Violet, the woman he loves, is never explored), but then manages to have a career while still raising her daughter, with the help of her friends. She even builds bridges with a "tamed" version of her mother, which seemed unrealistic at best. Still, it was tightly written and an engaging read. I'd give it a B, and recommend it to anyone interested in embroidery and needlework in the 1930s. A great quote from the book "But that is what we women are trained for--to give to others, to make others comfortable, whatever we feel for ourselves. It can be tiring, thankless, to be so generous all the time."
The Cautious Traveller's Guide To the Wastelands by Sarah Brooks is a bizarre historical fantasy that is set in a distorted nightmare landscape that is unsettling and often makes no sense. Here's the blurb: It is said there is a price that every passenger must pay. A price beyond the cost of a ticket.
There is only one way to travel across the Wastelands: on the Trans-Siberian Express, a train as famous for its luxury as for its danger. The train is never short of passengers, eager to catch sight of Wastelands creatures more miraculous and terrifying than anything they could imagine. But on the train's last journey, something went horribly wrong, though no one seems to remember what exactly happened. Not even Zhang Weiwei, who has spent her life onboard and thought she knew all of the train’s secrets.
Now, the train is about to embark again, with a new set of passengers. Among them are Marya Petrovna, a grieving woman with a borrowed name; Henry Grey, a disgraced naturalist looking for redemption; and Elena, a beguiling stowaway with a powerful connection to the Wastelands itself. Weiwei knows she should report Elena, but she can’t help but be drawn to her. As the girls begin a forbidden friendship, there are warning signs that the rules of the Wastelands are changing and the train might once again be imperiled. Can the passengers trust each other, as the wildness outside threatens to consume them all?
There is only one way to travel across the Wastelands: on the Trans-Siberian Express, a train as famous for its luxury as for its danger. The train is never short of passengers, eager to catch sight of Wastelands creatures more miraculous and terrifying than anything they could imagine. But on the train's last journey, something went horribly wrong, though no one seems to remember what exactly happened. Not even Zhang Weiwei, who has spent her life onboard and thought she knew all of the train’s secrets.
Now, the train is about to embark again, with a new set of passengers. Among them are Marya Petrovna, a grieving woman with a borrowed name; Henry Grey, a disgraced naturalist looking for redemption; and Elena, a beguiling stowaway with a powerful connection to the Wastelands itself. Weiwei knows she should report Elena, but she can’t help but be drawn to her. As the girls begin a forbidden friendship, there are warning signs that the rules of the Wastelands are changing and the train might once again be imperiled. Can the passengers trust each other, as the wildness outside threatens to consume them all?
The weird, hypnotic prose and strangely non-linear plot make this story hard to follow and often tedious. Even the ending is strangely unsatisfying...what are readers to surmise from it? That eventually mother nature always wins out and consumes mankind, twisting and corrupting them into grotesque creatures? WHY? Even poor Weiwei, a child born and raised on the train, doesn't get to fall in love with an "outside" creature, which barely makes sense. Is it because she is gay, and the creature, though presenting as female, is never actually described as having a particular sex? At any rate, I found this ebook uncanny and uncomfortable. I'd give it a B- and only recommend it to those who enjoy distorted dystopias.
Stone Heart by Mallory Glass is a modern gothic romantasy novella with enough spice that it rides the line between romance and soft core porn. Here's the blurb: An isolated manor. Ancient enemies locked in an eternal struggle. An innocent woman’s heart and soul caught in the middle.
Lord McCardle hires me to stay at Kinloch Manor to restore the keep’s magnificent granite guardians. From the arrogant McCardle to the grumpy Cook, no one here is what they seem.
Adriel, the great stone beast guarding the manor’s entrance, unlocks the magic hidden inside me. Now I have two choices.
Flee from the handsome monster who occupies my nights and surrender my daylight dreams...
Or risk it all for love and join the battle between two ancient enemies.
A modern day romantasy exploring the connection between an independent woman and the beast she encounters in the Scottish Highlands. For fans of monster romance, fated mates, grumpy/sunshine, independent women, and tortured heroes. Contains plenty of spice.
Lord McCardle hires me to stay at Kinloch Manor to restore the keep’s magnificent granite guardians. From the arrogant McCardle to the grumpy Cook, no one here is what they seem.
Adriel, the great stone beast guarding the manor’s entrance, unlocks the magic hidden inside me. Now I have two choices.
Flee from the handsome monster who occupies my nights and surrender my daylight dreams...
Or risk it all for love and join the battle between two ancient enemies.
A modern day romantasy exploring the connection between an independent woman and the beast she encounters in the Scottish Highlands. For fans of monster romance, fated mates, grumpy/sunshine, independent women, and tortured heroes. Contains plenty of spice.
So this gargoyle/human romance has sexy scenes starting in the first few pages, and they crop up at regular intervals throughout the book. Though these sex scenes were cliched and trope-ridden, the female protagonist was not, thankfully, a simpering naive petite blonde whose child-like demeanor is deemed hot by the much older and larger male protagonist, who seems like a pedophile in his grooming and lust for her. While the female protagonist is a strong and somewhat independent woman, she allows the arrogrant 'monster' to toss her around and initiate all their sexual encounters, satisfying though they may be. In true Beauty and the Beast fashion, she saves him from being a beast for eternity, and turns him back into a "real" man with the touch of her hands. I'd give this spicy and swiftly plotted novella a B+, and recommend it to anyone who likes Beauty and the Beast kinds of fairy tales, and their smart female protagonists.
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