Review: The Beauty Myth

The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was interesting. It got a bit repetitive/redundant at times, and some of the ideas were ones I had read or heard before in my Women's Studies classes. But there were some discussion points that my colleague and I found interesting, as we read the book together for a feminist theory study group. In particular, I was interested in the idea of plastic versus cosmetic surgery, religion and sexuality, the diet industry as a mechanism of control, and why society is overly concerned with thinness for women. If women are hungry, we are not as likely to have the energy to be activists. That is something to consider when we live in political times that are at least on the border of extreme conservative, if not crossing that threshold. Being healthy is great, but being healthy and being small are not always one in the same. In fact, we as women should be going to the gym and walking now to stay strong and be up for the fight. A good and timely read for me!

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Review: Buffy: The High School Years - Freaks & Geeks

Buffy: The High School Years - Freaks & Geeks by Faith Erin Hicks
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this book all in one setting and loved it! I think it's a great reboot of the Buffy series and comics. I love Faith Erin Hicks as well as this series, so I figured I would enjoy it. In this version, a band of nerdy vampires gets kicked out of the vampire cool kids' club and wants to prove themselves by killing Buffy. But will one of the vamps bite the hands that feed her? A great look at cliques, friendship, and what's really important in life. Plus, Buffy beating the bad guys is just what I need to watch and read right now. I recommend it!

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Review: Dryland

Dryland by Sara Jaffe
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I would give this 3.5 stars if I could. :) It took me a while to get into this one. Although I appreciate stream of consciousness/diary-like writing, I tend to prefer books that are dialogue intensive. I realize that's partly a personal preference, as a former theater and chorus nerd. I loved Julia as a character from the beginning, and the book has a beautiful, lyrical writing style. Plot wise, I didn't really know where the book was going at first. But I'm glad I kept reading it, and it'll be super fun to discuss at book club tomorrow, especially since we're going to talk about it in context to the YA literature genre. At the end of this novel, I felt like I had finished a puzzle, as all of the plot points came together into a very satisfying end. As a former distance track runner and summer swim team kid, I could relate to finding your stride, both as a distance athlete and as a teenager. Overall, this was a worthwhile read, and I'm glad I went on this journey with the author. It's probably not a book I would have picked to read myself, but the beauty of book club is that it encourages me to explore novels I might otherwise overlook. Plus, I enjoyed reading about the early 90s from a teenager's perspective, as I was in late elementary/early middle school during this time. I remember the AIDS epidemic and understood the seriousness of it, along with discussions of global warming, but this book helped me to develop a deeper understanding of the AIDS epidemic and how it affected people. I also enjoyed the depictions of the west coast and of Seattle, a city that I truly love.

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Review: The Age of Miracles

The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this book in one setting during an ice and snow storm in Georgia and just loved it. It's a middle grades book told from a shy, late bloomer 11/12 year old's perspective, so I could relate to it a lot. It has an apocalyptic feel to it, as it's the future, and the earth's rotation around the sun has been altered. The result is overly long days, gravity issues, and a faulty magnetic field. The world, it seems, is literally ending. In the meantime, Julia is facing the normal challenges of a middle school girl: first crush/love, tension between her parents, girl drama, and lonely lunches in the library. To me, the book is an extended metaphor for early adolescents: you feel that your body and your sense of time is out of sync with the rest of the world. The book is a great mixture of melancholy, brutal realism, imagination, and hope. It's the very book I needed to read after a rocky 2016, a year that started with me losing a past spiritual mentor, continued with me passing my PhD program comps despite getting very sick and later my prospectus, included a tumultuous election year and political climate, yet ended with me spending time with family and a perfect New Year's Even wedding. 2016 was not always great. It was a year that, for me, included grief, illness of me and others who I love, disappointment, and persevering against the odds. Yet it was a year in which I wrote and reflected much, in which I literally read 40 plus books, in which I attended four lovely weddings, in which I spoke at two CONS and four conferences, and in which I found out that I will soon be an Aunt. So it was not, indeed, the end of the world. This book reminded me that in rocky times, the beautiful moments become even more important, and they are worth fighting for.

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Review: Worthy

Worthy by Donna Cooner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was enjoyable to read, and I was lucky enough to get a ARC of it. Linden, the main character, reminded me of a younger version of myself. She's witty, interesting, perceptive, shy at times, and independent. I love how she grows throughout the course of the novel. The storyline was predictable, and the pacing of Linden and Alex's relationship seemed rather fast, even for teenagers. However, I think the book made important points about internet culture, online apps, communication, and the dating world. The big social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) did not exist when I was in high school, so it was interesting for me to see how they affect teenagers and youth culture. Overall, I think the book is age appropriate and a worthwhile read for adolescents. The narrator's voice was particularly strong. I really want to read Skinny, a novel by the same author, as I've heard that is her best work so far in terms of teen literature.

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Review: The Writer's Guide to Crafting Stories for Children

The Writer's Guide to Crafting Stories for Children by Nancy Lamb
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this book for a two-day course I am taking this March about how to write children's literature (including middle grades and YA novels). I found it to be very helpful. It's definitely a "how to" book rather than a theory book on the topic, which is what I needed. I wrote a draft of a middle grades fantasy novel several years ago, and I wish I had read this book first. I think I would have done a much better job with the draft of my first attempt at a middle grades novel if I had read this advice first. It's a great book for people who are relatively new to writing in this genre. Also, the author recommends mentor texts as well as books that offer more advice on craft.

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