Showing posts with label bookish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bookish. Show all posts
10.7.08
my thoughts on gay marriage
I've always been so strongly ambivielent about it. It's not a right i want. i feel like it should be a right i can have, but there's something about it that always seemed like the focus is on the wrong place. and then i read this article in the utne reader tonight over my dinner (frozen amy's and TWELVE oz of raspberries!) and now i have my manifesto. i think i may read her whole book. PLEASE click through and read it, because i can't summarize it. and if i did, i wouldn't have her amazing examples. but what i got from it is this. marrieds have rights, so gays say they want to be married, too, so they can have rights, too. but what about all the OTHER people who should have rights? rights should go to ALL families. why does one's significant other have to be one's sexual partner? what about siblings? what about children of complicated setups? why doesn't our country value ALL families? Focus on the family always seemed to me to focus not on the family but on the political agenda, and now i have found someone who is REALLY focused on the family. this makes me happy, i like to find worldview bandwagons i can jump on.
15.4.08
body piercing saved my life
wish i had time to give a review of this book, or at least tell you how it rocked my world, but i don't. i'll just say it was facinating to read a book about something i used to be totally into, that's written by someone who has the same beliefs i have now. for not ever being a christian, he was so open to xtian music... and it's hard for it to break into my mind that the phenomenon of xtian music has continued after i left the fold- those bad bands are still out there! anyway, here's my choice quote:
"When I started this book, [my wife] was concerned that I was going to become a Christian. That didn't happen. But I have become a fan, not just of the music, but of Christians, and of Jesus himself. To me, the message of the Gospel is love one another, look out for the less fortunate, and try to walk gently on the earth. and I love that. I think evenagelical Christians tie themselves in ontological knots trying to make the whole Bible jibe, which is simply impossible with a collection of historical texts written over more than a thousand years. to anyone struggling with Christianity, my advice (and I realize how little this is worth, coming from someone who doesn't believe in God) is to try and keep your eye on the big picture, not a verse here and there. Love God, if you're so inclined, and love one another. Sort out the rest using those principles as a lens."
"When I started this book, [my wife] was concerned that I was going to become a Christian. That didn't happen. But I have become a fan, not just of the music, but of Christians, and of Jesus himself. To me, the message of the Gospel is love one another, look out for the less fortunate, and try to walk gently on the earth. and I love that. I think evenagelical Christians tie themselves in ontological knots trying to make the whole Bible jibe, which is simply impossible with a collection of historical texts written over more than a thousand years. to anyone struggling with Christianity, my advice (and I realize how little this is worth, coming from someone who doesn't believe in God) is to try and keep your eye on the big picture, not a verse here and there. Love God, if you're so inclined, and love one another. Sort out the rest using those principles as a lens."
7.4.08
i feel so LOVED!
i know, i haven't been blogging at ALL recently, even worse than my usual not-writing streak. it's just that i'm working so much and something has to give if i'm not going to let my house fall into disrepair and eat out every night. but THANK YOU faithful readers for all your snail love!! i got a lovely sweet letter from sarah, i feel like a pen-pal... and today a box arrived from germany! jamie has sent me tiger und tigerente backformen! so now i can bake tiger and tigerduck shaped cakes! yummy!
thank you, thank you, both of you! i promise to visit you each in the next year!
thank you, thank you, both of you! i promise to visit you each in the next year!
18.2.08
google reader
so i've switched to google reader from bloglines. it seemed to be what all the cool kids were doing. and it also seemed like a good time to tell you about the blogs i read. because i want you to read them too. more importantly i want you to tell me about the blogs i SHOULD read. because i know there are more people with facinating lives who will let me spy on them. who am i missing?
In Alphabetical Order:
below the eight. i started to read because she left a comment about my kitty once. Fraulein N is funny and lives in philly and now wears skirts- what's not to like?
cta tattler. an essential read for any chicagoian, especially a public transit rider, ESPECIALLY a red line commuter. this is my life.
disconnected train cars of thought. my friend pam's blog. i miss going to school with her- i believe in reading any blogs of people i know and like in real life.
dooce". come on. you could TELL me you don't read dooce, but i probably wouldn't believe you.
(en)gender. "she's not the man i married" is on my booklist, but until i read it i'll just read the author's blog.
from the mayor's desk my mother, with her taste in older men, i think is a little in love with the mayor of reading. and please, who doesn't love a mayor with a blog, especially an elderly one? it makes me feel a little charmed towards my hometown.
girlyblog i'm a girlyman fan, and so i read a girlyblog.
here be subtletyjamie's blog, my first blogging friend. i' so glad she's back online again! these are the new friends i want to meet, bloggers like jamie.
misanthropic tendencies" sarah's blog, which though i enjoyed before, keeps getting better and better. i want to be friends with krista and sarah in real life. i should really get on the moving to philly thing.
monochromatic girl krista's blog, which i keep on my blogroll in hopes she will someday update again.
my girl purple the girlfriend's blog. where you can catch everything i'm too lazy to write about.
one shoe offliz's blog, another blog i miss. a blog i seem to ALWAYS click through to leave comments on.
pesky apostrophe more philly, more knitting, more local veggies. i never have to worry about mac not posting.
smartypants diary secret confession: i look for mz. smartypants everywhere i go. she just lives a mile or so due west of me. she rides the redline to work. she takes the devon street bus. i keep hoping i'll bump into nora on the street someday. reading a blog that's set in your city is even more exciting than watching a movie set in your city
the panopticon again, i secretly imagine spotting franklin at hydrate or cocktail some night. and i'll actually recognize him since he's a celebrity blogger i've actually met! i NEVER leave comments for him, though, because all those knittin ladies worldwide leave so many twittery comments that by the time i scroll all the way to the bottom it seems it's all been said.
postsecret. again, if you don't like postcards, you must at least like art. if you don't like art, you must at least like secrets. i can't imagine anyone not getting sucked into postsecret.
womenfolk one of jamie's great suggestions, the free downloads have given me some amazing new artists. i hope it gets up and running again soon!
finally, i have a whole folder dedicated to comics, since i finally don't get the paper anymore. it's such a pain to click through i won't post links unless you really really want them and can't be bothered to do a google search yourself, but i read:
a softer world, agnes, doonesbury, for better or for worse, frank & ernest, opus, pearls before swine, and real life adventures.
ok, that's what i read! what do you read?
In Alphabetical Order:
below the eight. i started to read because she left a comment about my kitty once. Fraulein N is funny and lives in philly and now wears skirts- what's not to like?
cta tattler. an essential read for any chicagoian, especially a public transit rider, ESPECIALLY a red line commuter. this is my life.
disconnected train cars of thought. my friend pam's blog. i miss going to school with her- i believe in reading any blogs of people i know and like in real life.
dooce". come on. you could TELL me you don't read dooce, but i probably wouldn't believe you.
(en)gender. "she's not the man i married" is on my booklist, but until i read it i'll just read the author's blog.
from the mayor's desk my mother, with her taste in older men, i think is a little in love with the mayor of reading. and please, who doesn't love a mayor with a blog, especially an elderly one? it makes me feel a little charmed towards my hometown.
girlyblog i'm a girlyman fan, and so i read a girlyblog.
here be subtletyjamie's blog, my first blogging friend. i' so glad she's back online again! these are the new friends i want to meet, bloggers like jamie.
misanthropic tendencies" sarah's blog, which though i enjoyed before, keeps getting better and better. i want to be friends with krista and sarah in real life. i should really get on the moving to philly thing.
monochromatic girl krista's blog, which i keep on my blogroll in hopes she will someday update again.
my girl purple the girlfriend's blog. where you can catch everything i'm too lazy to write about.
one shoe offliz's blog, another blog i miss. a blog i seem to ALWAYS click through to leave comments on.
pesky apostrophe more philly, more knitting, more local veggies. i never have to worry about mac not posting.
smartypants diary secret confession: i look for mz. smartypants everywhere i go. she just lives a mile or so due west of me. she rides the redline to work. she takes the devon street bus. i keep hoping i'll bump into nora on the street someday. reading a blog that's set in your city is even more exciting than watching a movie set in your city
the panopticon again, i secretly imagine spotting franklin at hydrate or cocktail some night. and i'll actually recognize him since he's a celebrity blogger i've actually met! i NEVER leave comments for him, though, because all those knittin ladies worldwide leave so many twittery comments that by the time i scroll all the way to the bottom it seems it's all been said.
postsecret. again, if you don't like postcards, you must at least like art. if you don't like art, you must at least like secrets. i can't imagine anyone not getting sucked into postsecret.
womenfolk one of jamie's great suggestions, the free downloads have given me some amazing new artists. i hope it gets up and running again soon!
finally, i have a whole folder dedicated to comics, since i finally don't get the paper anymore. it's such a pain to click through i won't post links unless you really really want them and can't be bothered to do a google search yourself, but i read:
a softer world, agnes, doonesbury, for better or for worse, frank & ernest, opus, pearls before swine, and real life adventures.
ok, that's what i read! what do you read?
17.10.07
i am america and so can you
heard stephen colbert interviewed on fresh air the other day, and the bookstore has a whole row of this book, one has to walk by on the way to the bathroom. his eyes follow you. z loves colbert, and i can see the draw. i can see how the title is so perfect for his character, the best title possible. still the grammar DRIVES ME FUCKING CRAZY.
ch can't stop haunting me with it. he'll call me on the way to the bathroom.
in more pleasant things one can do to one's brain, check this out.i couldn't see anything but clockwise, but then with enough staring it switched. i couldn't get it to switch back, but if i stop her i can switch back and forth at will. i guess this comes from beign right handed and left eye dominant?
ch can't stop haunting me with it. he'll call me on the way to the bathroom.
in more pleasant things one can do to one's brain, check this out.i couldn't see anything but clockwise, but then with enough staring it switched. i couldn't get it to switch back, but if i stop her i can switch back and forth at will. i guess this comes from beign right handed and left eye dominant?
14.7.07
my morning
i got a new job. slipcovers for three big cushy chairs. hopefully my measurements are acurate... but the chair is now in my apartment. good so i can try the the slipcovers on multiple times... but hopefully my new employer will get fabric quickly so i can get started on them! after he brought it, i started measuring, so now i would like to transfer those to paper so i have a pattern to work from- a much better idea if i have to make three of them.
anyway, to make room for this new chair, i moved my pillow filled wicker chair into the kitchen. thank goodness the card table is still out there, or there would be no room for it. i curled up in its pillows in my cozy kitchen to finish my book and eat breakfast this morning- quite delightful. hard to feed the worms though, with it blocking their bin.
my book was "a true and faithful narative" and takes plaace in 1687, a bookseller's daughter longs to write books of her own. it reminded me of aftershocks, by william lavender, which is a daughther at the turn of the century who wants to be a doctor like her father, and gets opertunity after the san francisco earthquake- which i suppose is on my mind, since i'll be leaving for sf in four days.
i guess all through my childhood i've read, and been drawn to books like these. certainly children long to read about other children, but specifically i've always read about upity women who disobeyed their parents- the true confessions of charlotte doyle, anything about maid marion, that sort of thing. i makes me wonder what kind of woman i would have been if i had been alive at any point in history. i would like to think so, but i fear i would be much more passive. for starters, i like to sew, and am not against cooking, which it seems all my heroines have problems with. i know now how much i need to read, but would i have worked so hard at learning if it wasn't around?
i never learned to read in the sense i learned phonics and sounding out words. perhaps i should ask my parents, and they would remember differently, but i think it was just one day the print i was surrounded with was uncodeable to me, and the next day it wasn't. i don't remember very much from my childhood, or have any really early memories like some people do, but i do remember where i was when i first read, and the book and my excited parents.
anyway, if i could learn to read the same way even without being surrounded with print, i'm sure i would have enough gumption to persue prohibited words. and i certainly would work hard against my father marrying me off to anyone, ever. so maybe i would be able to be all strong and brave like my novels' heroines. but i have a feeling hindsight is 20/20, and it's easy to put today's morals on the past. though fiction is full of such empowered women, history isn't quite. i have a feeling my life would have been pretty content with status quo. but it depends alot on the cercumstances, of course. things like if we had a spinning wheel or if we had a lot of silver to polish or if the family business had to do with chamber pots or what.
i also sort of like the element of surprise. like, women's lib has made equality of the sexes expected. it's much more impressive if a girl knows how to read latin or handle a sword if such a thing is prohibited. i guess i was raised to believe girls can do anything that boys can do, but no one believes it. so us girls, we can be impressive. watch out.
anyway, to make room for this new chair, i moved my pillow filled wicker chair into the kitchen. thank goodness the card table is still out there, or there would be no room for it. i curled up in its pillows in my cozy kitchen to finish my book and eat breakfast this morning- quite delightful. hard to feed the worms though, with it blocking their bin.
my book was "a true and faithful narative" and takes plaace in 1687, a bookseller's daughter longs to write books of her own. it reminded me of aftershocks, by william lavender, which is a daughther at the turn of the century who wants to be a doctor like her father, and gets opertunity after the san francisco earthquake- which i suppose is on my mind, since i'll be leaving for sf in four days.
i guess all through my childhood i've read, and been drawn to books like these. certainly children long to read about other children, but specifically i've always read about upity women who disobeyed their parents- the true confessions of charlotte doyle, anything about maid marion, that sort of thing. i makes me wonder what kind of woman i would have been if i had been alive at any point in history. i would like to think so, but i fear i would be much more passive. for starters, i like to sew, and am not against cooking, which it seems all my heroines have problems with. i know now how much i need to read, but would i have worked so hard at learning if it wasn't around?
i never learned to read in the sense i learned phonics and sounding out words. perhaps i should ask my parents, and they would remember differently, but i think it was just one day the print i was surrounded with was uncodeable to me, and the next day it wasn't. i don't remember very much from my childhood, or have any really early memories like some people do, but i do remember where i was when i first read, and the book and my excited parents.
anyway, if i could learn to read the same way even without being surrounded with print, i'm sure i would have enough gumption to persue prohibited words. and i certainly would work hard against my father marrying me off to anyone, ever. so maybe i would be able to be all strong and brave like my novels' heroines. but i have a feeling hindsight is 20/20, and it's easy to put today's morals on the past. though fiction is full of such empowered women, history isn't quite. i have a feeling my life would have been pretty content with status quo. but it depends alot on the cercumstances, of course. things like if we had a spinning wheel or if we had a lot of silver to polish or if the family business had to do with chamber pots or what.
i also sort of like the element of surprise. like, women's lib has made equality of the sexes expected. it's much more impressive if a girl knows how to read latin or handle a sword if such a thing is prohibited. i guess i was raised to believe girls can do anything that boys can do, but no one believes it. so us girls, we can be impressive. watch out.
30.5.07
inspiration
so was going to waste more time on the internet, but read an article about khipu in my wired magazine (facinating, just facinating) and now i'm going to macrame a little cage for my pothos to hang in my bathtub, instead.
29.5.07
agony
ALSO, d let me stay up WAY too late on saturday night to finish scott westerfield's "uglies." totally riveting and engaging- i finished it in 24 hrs. but, BUT, i had to go to the sing sunday morning, and the bbq sunday afternoon. so i was never near downtown, and the branch libraries aren't open on sundays, and today was a holiday, so i STILL don't have "pretties" to inhale! how frustrating can trilogies be! i just keep reassuring myself that at least i only have to wait till i can get to the library, it's not like i have to wait for the the other two to be PUBLISHED. (and how much can that suck, hello, amber spyglass?)
16.4.07
on poetry
this post brought to you by garrison keillor's a writer's almanac podcast. because it's exactly as long as my walk between my home and the trainstation. i thought it was closer to 7 minutes, but the podcast is between 5 and 6 minutes long, and it usally gets me from front door to train door or vice versa. first, he has such a soft soothing voice. it's a great way to wake up... or to decompress at the end of the day. there's ads at the begining and end, the first part is the birthdays of authors and a little about their work, and the second part is a poem. it's nice. and it's a good way for me to learn to appreciate poetry. cause i don't really like poetry.
which tends to come as a surprise to people. since i love words so much. i love vocab, i love reading, i love song lyrics. but i can't appreciate poetry. it's to small, goes by to fast. i'm too much of a skimmer. i inhale what i read, and so i really don't do well with books of poetry. i do better when i'm slowed down. i can read the poetry in my planner, because it's just one poem that lasts all week- i am stopped from going on to the next one. and i'm looking from a distraction from my to do list. song lyrics obviously have music to entertain me. and now, garrison keillor's homey voice slows me down. and he picks the poems. so i don't have to go out and find them, they are just fed to me. i think it's good for me. my podcasts, in general, make me feel like a more well rounded person. they are edifying. i feel educated. unlike time spent online, or playing video games, which just dissapears into a useless void.
which tends to come as a surprise to people. since i love words so much. i love vocab, i love reading, i love song lyrics. but i can't appreciate poetry. it's to small, goes by to fast. i'm too much of a skimmer. i inhale what i read, and so i really don't do well with books of poetry. i do better when i'm slowed down. i can read the poetry in my planner, because it's just one poem that lasts all week- i am stopped from going on to the next one. and i'm looking from a distraction from my to do list. song lyrics obviously have music to entertain me. and now, garrison keillor's homey voice slows me down. and he picks the poems. so i don't have to go out and find them, they are just fed to me. i think it's good for me. my podcasts, in general, make me feel like a more well rounded person. they are edifying. i feel educated. unlike time spent online, or playing video games, which just dissapears into a useless void.
17.3.07
things that annoy me
reading an excellent, excellent engaging book on the train home. and having less than 5 pages left when it's your stop. it's SO anticlimactic. but i can never convince myself to ride to howard to finish it.
6.3.07
and just for jamie
i love the book of the week club. my list of young adult books to read grows by leaps and bounds. they don't have really fun catagories (like, i want to read a book on GENDER or FEMINISM every week) but YA keeps me pretty darn happy. i think all readers should check em out and sign up.
23.1.07
same old same old
continue to waste time on tuesdays. took me till THREE today to get out of bed, fold the laundry and put it away, shower, eat breakfast, and fool around online. once i was done doing all that i was able to get a little acomplished- got the squares cut out for the quilt i'm making jr for his birthday, patched a few pairs of his pants, and walked to the hardware store to get housekeys made for d and ch. and there's a new light on glenlake!!! how long has that been there? it's very new and exciting to me. d swears we've stopped at it before, but i don't remember it being there on friday when i did my shopping. it's perfect, because between granville and thorndale there are so many stores and it was so annoying to have to walk all the way to one or the other to cross. since the cvs and the healthfood store and the hardware store and the library are all on one side of the street, and the dominicks, fabric store, and walgreens are all on the other, i was always tempted to jaywalk. but now it is unneccesary, because there is a new light at glenlake! huzzah! it reminds me of when they put the stopsign right in front of my building in hyde park, and it took me a few days to figure out why the cars were all waving me across the street.
anyway, part of my wasted time today was reorganizing my podcasts. i'm really upset that there are no new ebert and ropers. what's up with that? grrr. i deleted morning becomes eclectic videos- i never watch them. don't have the heart to cancel chubb creek yet, even though i never listen to it. but krista likes it so much i feel i should. i signed up for KPBS's a way with words on her recomendation. then i tried to get statler and waldorf's podcast (from the muppets) to replace ebert and roper, but there seemes to be an error. THEN, while listening to windy city queercast i foudn that senator obama has a podcast, which as a voting citizen of illinois i am very happy about, and it's little 5-10 min soundbites of what he believes and what he's doing in washington every week, which i am so glad to hear, beacause all i ever seem to read about in the paper is the hype and the presidency, and not anything meaningful. so it's one of those catch22s- the more podcasts i listen to, the more i subscribe to. still have 20 to go from since christmas. it's worse on netflix. i keep saying i have a moritorium on adding to my queue, but the number keeps getting higher- more sneek in than i watch. watched 2 this weekend... but my queue's still at 125. i really wanna keep it under 100. i'm going to become a better movie watcher this year though. more movies more books (the easy part) and less online wasting (the harder part). also, i am going to buy a suntimes every monday and do the patternless crossword, until i am confident enough to buy it on tuesday. i think i'm kind of making the resolutions up as i go along. i think that's ok. especially in january. will turn them into an actual list, at some point, if i need to make myself feel better.
d and jr came over for dinner, and it was very successful. we made a new recipie from crecent dragonwagon's passionate vegetarian, the curried eggplant sweet potato stew. it was good. had sweet potatoes and nothing too scary for jr, vegan for deb, yummy for me. i mixed up a good curry powder (equal parts tumeric, corriander, garam masala [the real stuff from swad] and cumin) and there were lots of things for jr to peel (the eggplant, the sweet potato, and an apple. d with her contacts chopped the onion, and eveyone seemed happy. i thought it was delicious, and i think it is the first thing jr ever ate in my house.
affterwards, we played some cards, then i had jr read to me. which you know i love. a board book by rosemary wells (who doesn't love ruby and max?) and we started one fish two fish red fish blue fish. he's a good little sounder-outer, but he started wildly guessing when he got tired. so they went home, d with good news from her parents, but sad that she won't see me again for a bunch of days.
another new years resolution- make and send out valentines. can it all happen? stay tuned!
anyway, part of my wasted time today was reorganizing my podcasts. i'm really upset that there are no new ebert and ropers. what's up with that? grrr. i deleted morning becomes eclectic videos- i never watch them. don't have the heart to cancel chubb creek yet, even though i never listen to it. but krista likes it so much i feel i should. i signed up for KPBS's a way with words on her recomendation. then i tried to get statler and waldorf's podcast (from the muppets) to replace ebert and roper, but there seemes to be an error. THEN, while listening to windy city queercast i foudn that senator obama has a podcast, which as a voting citizen of illinois i am very happy about, and it's little 5-10 min soundbites of what he believes and what he's doing in washington every week, which i am so glad to hear, beacause all i ever seem to read about in the paper is the hype and the presidency, and not anything meaningful. so it's one of those catch22s- the more podcasts i listen to, the more i subscribe to. still have 20 to go from since christmas. it's worse on netflix. i keep saying i have a moritorium on adding to my queue, but the number keeps getting higher- more sneek in than i watch. watched 2 this weekend... but my queue's still at 125. i really wanna keep it under 100. i'm going to become a better movie watcher this year though. more movies more books (the easy part) and less online wasting (the harder part). also, i am going to buy a suntimes every monday and do the patternless crossword, until i am confident enough to buy it on tuesday. i think i'm kind of making the resolutions up as i go along. i think that's ok. especially in january. will turn them into an actual list, at some point, if i need to make myself feel better.
d and jr came over for dinner, and it was very successful. we made a new recipie from crecent dragonwagon's passionate vegetarian, the curried eggplant sweet potato stew. it was good. had sweet potatoes and nothing too scary for jr, vegan for deb, yummy for me. i mixed up a good curry powder (equal parts tumeric, corriander, garam masala [the real stuff from swad] and cumin) and there were lots of things for jr to peel (the eggplant, the sweet potato, and an apple. d with her contacts chopped the onion, and eveyone seemed happy. i thought it was delicious, and i think it is the first thing jr ever ate in my house.
affterwards, we played some cards, then i had jr read to me. which you know i love. a board book by rosemary wells (who doesn't love ruby and max?) and we started one fish two fish red fish blue fish. he's a good little sounder-outer, but he started wildly guessing when he got tired. so they went home, d with good news from her parents, but sad that she won't see me again for a bunch of days.
another new years resolution- make and send out valentines. can it all happen? stay tuned!
31.3.05
booklist
the list of recomended books is incredibly long and poorly organized.
the list of faves is constantly changing.
so rather than putting book reviews up only when i think about it, i'm going to post all the books i read, and all the movies i watch, perpetually. say, once a month or so. so here's the books. the movies will be next post.
please, tell me, if you read and liked or hated any of them, or if you're looking for recomendations from here! (btw, bow is book o' week club)
august 07:
talk to me- carol dines (not really worth reserving)
jack- a. m. homes (ok gay kids)
nobody passes- mattilda aka matt bernstein sycamore (PLEASE! SOMEONE READ THIS SO WE CAN TALK ABOUT IT! facinating gender, and other, essays)
something rotten- jasper fforde (better than the previous, not as good as the first)
the sand child- tahar ben Jelloun. (i didn't get it.)
juli 07:
born to rock- gordon korman (bow)
georgies moon- chris woodworth (forgettable bow)
the wish - gail carson levine (still love her)
life as we knew it- susan beth pfeffer (amazing facinataing scary must-read)
ophelia- lisa klein (as expected)
the grim grotto- lemony snicket (how many more?)
alice in the know- phyllis reynolds naylor (i do have a soft spot for alice)
letting go of bobby james- valarie hobbs (worth putting on hold. really good.)
grass angel- julie schumacher (unremarkable)
a true and faithful narrative- kathrine sturtevant (only problem- too short!)
under the same sky- cynthia defelice (bow. but i forget.)
palms to the ground- amy stolls (unremarkable bow)
self-made man- norah vincent (interesting, if extremely binary, gender nonfic)
valencia- michelle tea (bought in san francisco!)
juni 07:
prom- laurie halse anderson (better than expected)
westmark- lloyd alexander (old beloved friend)
my almost epic summer- adele griffin (not epic)
little fur- isobelle carmmondy (nice cover)
rules of the road- joan bauer (a good one)
the slippery slope- lemony snicket (trying these again)
fairest- gail carson levine (i love her.)
mai 07:
the bitch posse- martha o'connor- well written but disturbing
memory board- jane rule (sweet lesbian novel)
not the only one- jane summer (short story collections of various enjoyability)
marly's ghost- david leviathan (forgettable bow)
bad kitty- michelle jaffe (pink teenage braintrash)
getting it- alex sanchez (queer teen)
bang!- sharon flake (bow)
uglies- scott westerfeld (amazing, absorbing, my new addiction)
the mozart season- virginia euwer wolff (forgettable bow)
crush- carrie mac (can't even remember)
pretties- scott westerfeld (see, i told you!)
upstate- kalisha buckhanon (beautiful and heartbreaking bow)
specials- scott westerfeld (so satisfying!)
the carniverous carnival- lemony snickett (i can't get enough)
under the wolf, under the dog- adam rapp (bow)
playing dad's song- d. dina friedman (bow)
define "normal"- julie anne peters (a familiar friend)
the minister's daughter- julie hern ( i think i liked it, but it's unmemorable)
april 07:
dairy queen - catherine gilbert muridock (excellent ya, highly recomended)
heven to betsy- maud hart lovelace (not sure why this was on my list)
best foot forward- joan bauer (typich ya)
the full spectrum- ed. deven leviathan and billy merrell (really cool queer kid's stories of their experiences)
the joy luck club - amy tan (better than expected)
here they come - yannick murphy (dark, disturbing, uncomfortable, not recomended)
party princess - meg cabot (as fun as the rest of them)
märz 07
the necessary hunger- nina revoyr (excellent, lesbian teen basketball players)
west with hopeless- carolyn lieburg (bow)
a changed man- francine prose (a great novel. read it.)
like the red panda- andrea seigel (creepy ya. very depressing)
between mom and jo- julie anne peters (you KNOW how i feel about her books)
the sea of trolls- nancy farmer (bow, norse lord of the rings)
playing the field-phil bildner (girl on the boys baseball team)
februar 07
the man who fell in love with the moon- tom spanbauer (one of ch's faves, and understandably so)
the world according to mimi smartypants (made me subscribe to her blog)
the shell house - mimi newberry (a gayYA with NO ending)
the fall of fergal- phillip ardagh (kids braintrash)
overnight- adele griffin (bow)
the love wife- gish jen (i don't know why i like her book so much, but i do)
januar 07
avalon high- meg cabot (a's xmas gift. a great re-read.)
coffee will make you black- april sinclair (lesbian ya)
the house on the gulf- margaret peterson haddix (bow)
swimming to america - alice mead (bow)
breakout- paul fleischman (bow)
true believer- virginia euwer wolff (oddly like coffee will make you black, also enjoyable)
a theif in the house of memory - tim wynne-jones (bow)
whispering to witches -anna dale (bow, the book in my photos, oddly)
a house of tailors- patricia reilly giff (lovely bow, too short)
enna burning - shannon hale (odd but enjoyable bow)
the bermudez triangle- maureen johnson (lesbian YA)
the most beautiful girl in the world- judy doenges (it looked good at w&cf. wasn't too bad, actually)
best lesbian love stories 2004 (cause the library's erotica collections have been stolen)
dezember 06
justin case- meg rosoff (nothing like the other)
i was a non-blond cheerleader -kieran scott (fun braintrash ya)
fly on the wall- e. lockhart (odd but enjoyable)
november 06
gulf breeze- gari hill (lesbian fic)
devil on my heels - joyce mcdonald (bow)
eva underground- dandi daley mackall (excelent bow)
looking for alibrandi- melina marchetta (bow? or maybe just ya)
koyal dark, mango sweet- kashmira sheth (indian ya)
shakespeare bats cleanup- rone koertge (him again)
aftershocks- william lavender (excellent bow, one of my faves)
shadow of a doubt- s. l. rottman (bow)
oktober 06
the key to the golden firebird- maureen johnson (bow, i liked blue envelopes better)
the extraordinary adventures of lafred kropp- rick yancy (goofy bow)
where i want to be- adele griffin (unmemorable bow)
i know you're out there- michael beaumier (excellent memoir about personal ads
running with the reservoir pups- colin bateman (ya list)
the truth about forever- sarah dessen (yeah, her again. this one is perhaps my fave)
september 06
head games- mariah fredricks (i lked this one better)
ruby- francesca lia block and carmen staton ( i really just have to say flb)
all the wrong places - karen kallmaker (lesbian romance)
now you see it - vivian vande velde (bow)
newbies- james a. moore (why was this on my list?)
checkers- john marsden (unmemorable bow)
the car- caren paulsen (bow)
alice on the outside- phylis reynolds naylor (gay kids, banned book)
parrot in the oven, mi vida- victor martinez (not impressed)
thy neighbors wife- georgia beers (lesbian fic)
coming out under fire - allan berube (nonfic i wish i could write a research paper on- makes me want to hear stories)
dreams of tresspass, tales from a harem girlhood- fatima mernissi (more nonfic- autobiography)
avalon high- meg cabot (meg cabot. aurturian legend. sounds awesome. is awesome)
the beat goes on- adele minchin (public service ya, but good anyway)
13 little blue envelopes- maureen johnson (awesome, i loved it, i cried and cried)
cinderellis and the glass hill- gail carson levine (retold fairy tale)
athletic shorts - chris crutcher (i gotta read the boy books too, sometimes)
august 06
necklace of kisses- francesca lia block (who only gets better as she ages. and no less magical)
size 12 is not fat - meg cabot (good stuck in an airplane book)
fun home - alison bechtel (magnificently magical graphic autobiography)
tipping the velvet- sarah waters (lesbian historical fiction -rocked.)
endgame- nancy garden (NOT what i consider a nancy garden book!)
dark angel- david class (went a little too well with endgame)
on the run- michael coleman (don't even remember this one)
i am the wallpaper - mark peter huges (ya braintrash)
better than running at night- hillary frank (she's a pretty awesome author, too)
return to lesbos- valerie taylor (vintage lesbian pulp)
when kambia elane flew in from neptune- lori aurelia williams (wierd in an unenjoyable way)
far from xanadu- julie anne peters (my fave lesbian YA ever, i am SO IN LOVE with mike)
picture perfect- jodi piccault (much better, and more fun, than expected, good book.)
july 06
looking for alaska- john green (excellent YA, i cried.)
box girl- sarah withrow (gay kids)
the boyfriend list - e. lockhart (fun and enjoyable bow)
postcards from no man's land - aidan chambers (wonderful, satisfying, well-crafted enjoyable book. highly recomended.)
the left hand of darkness - ursula k leguin (fun with gender scifi)
comedy girl - ellen schreber (ya)
razzle- ellen wittlinger (less fun than hard love)
boy meets boy- david levithan (finally! it was my hold's turn. the gay surrealistic dreamworld)
a girl named disaster - nancy farmer (bow i slogged through)
the order of the poison oak - brent hartinger (ya gayboy braintrash)
the first part last - angela johnson (good ya)
party girl - lynne ewing (unmemorable ya)
this lullaby - sarah dessen (because she wrote it)
june 06
iron man- chris crutcher (gay kids booklist)
full service- will weaver (enjoyable bow)
hard love- ellen wittlinger (better when one is not suffering such)
the killer's cousin -nancy werlin (enjoyable bow)
when she was good - norma fox mazer (unimpressive bow)
are we there yet? - david leviathan (another fun new author)
breaking boxes - a. m. jenkins (excellent gay older brother book)
i am the messenger- marcus zusak (great bow with a disapointing ending)
mai 06
dove and sword- nancy garden (about joan of arc, no baby dykes)
the bride price- buchi emecheta (indian YA)
crooked- louisa luna (i liked brave new girl better, but it was ok)
in every laugh a tear- leslea newman (lesbian fic)
mystery- peter straub (the mystery to read while cruising islands. totally excellent)
pepperland- mark delaney (bow)
dreamland- sarah dessen (cause i'm gonna read them all)
bluebirds used to croon in the choir- joe meno (short stories of varying degrees of enjoyable)
cant get there from here- todd strasser (unmemorable YA)
april 06
love medicine- louise erdirich (required for fiction writing. okay, other than that, i guess)
michael cart- my father's scar (i like gay girl books better)
escape from memory- margaret peterson haddix (unmemorable bow)
24 girls in 7 days - alex bradley (loveable bow braintrash)
fat boy swim- cathrine forde (excellent bow)
trying hard to hear you- sandra scoppettone (lesbian YA)
journey to a woman - ann bannon (classic vintage lesbian pulp)
joe jones- anne lamott (perhaps her best work of fiction)
girl, 16, absolute torture- sue limb (ya braintrash)
brave new girl- louisa luna (dark, dark, but excellent mtv book)
m or f? - lisa papademitriou and chris tebbets (fun with gender YA)
morning star- nick bantock (beautiful, as always)
the philadephia story- phillip barry (required for school)
the last chance texaco- brent hartringer (better than his other, ya)
i can't tell you - hillary frank (unmemorable ya)
märz 06
desert of the heart- jane rule (vintage lesbian)
teen idol- meg cabot (i'm still an addict)
the thin woman - dorothy cannell (a re-read of my fave mystery)
how i live now (bow book, amazing mesmerizing, beautiful, haunting)
confessions of a teenage drama queen- dyan sheldon (ya braintrash)
the other side of venus - shirley verel (vintage lesbian pulp)
the warrior heir- cinda williams chima (a better than expected YA fantasy)
how i paid for college: a novel of sex theft friendship and musical theater- marc acito (read all in one morning, one of the best books of 2006, on my list of best books ever, love it, own it, quote it, you must read it)
rose of no man's land- michelle tea (absorbing, creepy)
sophie pitt-turnbull discovers america - dyan sheldon (i really have no excuse for reading two of them)
banana rose- natalie goldberg (a's new fave, not really my style, but very much hers)
kissing the witch - emma donoghue (feminist folk tales)
the heavenward path- kara dalkey (bow)
the canning season - polly horvath (fun and brittish bow)
shade's children- garth nix (engaging sci-fi bow)
februar 06
that summer- sarah dessen (new YA author for me- she's a good 'un!)
the arizona boy - ron koertge (my new fave YA author- i put this book in a short story of mine- my character liked it even more than i did!)
the house of scorpion- nancy famer (facinating bow- someone else read it so we can talk about it!)
spring fire- vin packer (vintage lesbian pulp)
maja running- aniali banerice (YA, not well written)
the rise and fall of a 10th grade social climber- lauren meehlin and laura moser (the title says it all. this was a great one of the genre)
doormat- kelly mcwilliams (unmemorable bow)
boy meet boy- ron koertge (perhaps the best rk yet)
manstealing for fat girls - michelle embree (excellent, but made me track everyone's eating habits for about a week)
burning up- caroline cooney (braintrash YA)
after summer- nick earls (good, but not as good as 48 shades of brown)
alexandria- nick bantock (beautiful, as usual)
kissing vanessa- simon cheshire (unmemorable bow)
januar 06
the boy in the basement- susan shaw (mesmerizing bow)
a face in every window - han nolan (very good YA)
princess in training- meg cabot (as good as the rest of them)
the blue sword- robin mckindley (a reread- my fave book- this was post-wisdom teeth)
storytime- edward bloor (creepy YA, not recomended)
plastic angel- nerissa nields ( i really liked it, it's just like the song)
girls in pants- anne brashares (hey, they're enjoyable. i have a hard time remembering them, though)
the girls in 3-B- valerie taylor (one of my fave vintage lesbian pulp- takes place in chicago)
december 05
the lost prince- frances hodgston burnett (by far her worst)
astra- grace livingston hill (it's a xmas requirement)
a man without a country- kurt vonegut (stick to fiction)
lark in the morning- nancy garden (not my fave NG, but please, i read it in leah and rachel's hallway in philly- how bad could it be?)
november 05
mountain solo- jeanette ingold (bow book, excellent YA)
rosemary and juliet - judy maclean (classic lesbian YA)
valencia- michelle tea (laura's favorite book ever)
enchantment- orson scott card (one of my perpetual rereads)
oktober 05
margaux with an x- ron koertge (i'm a huge huge fan of anything he writes)
all this heavenly glory -elizabeth crane (even better than her first- neurotic short stories)
acelleration- graham nance (book o week club)
a small rain- madeline l'engle (one of my frequent re-reads)
an inexpressible state of grace- cameron abbott - unmemorable lesbian fiction
september 05
holly's secret- nancy garden (kid's book, gay parents)
luna- julie anne peters (the best YA transsexual novel ever written)
the misfits- james howe (cozy feel good YA)
august 05
choices- nancy toder (early 80's lesbian)
rough music- patrick gale (highly recomended)
one of those hideous books where the mother dies- sonyan sones (excellent YA)
reflections of a rock lobster- aaron fricke (kinda lame gay autobio)
blindsighted- peter moore (excellent YA)
lesbian/ woman- del martin and phyllis lyon (enormous classic lesbian nonfiction)
bird-eyes-madelyn arnold (creepy, disturbing, not recomended)
i love everybody- laurie notaro (humor, memoir, braintrash)
juli 05
dirty girls social club- Alisa valdez-rodriguez (worth the wait, lives up to the hype)
swollen- melissa lion (mindtrash YA)
babyface- norma fox mazer (mindtrash YA)
a knot in the grain- robin mckinley (short stories, fairy tales)
juni 05
chasing vermeer- blue balliett (HP YA)
twilight girls- paula christian (vintage lesbian)
girls will be girls- leslea newman (lesbian short stories)
the door in the hedge- robin mckinley (fairy tales)
culture shock germany- richard lord (nonfiction)
saving francesca- melinda marchetta (excellent YA)
mai 05
waiting for christopher- louise hawes (interesting ya)
monsoon summer- mitali perkins (really excellent feel good YA)
the true meaning of cleavage- mariah fredricks (mindtrash YA)
breadgivers- anzia yezierska (good anti-jewish-father book)
the virgin suicides- jeffery eugenides (as always well written, though not plot driven)
king matt the first- janusz korczak (interesting, but needed an editor)
48 shades of brown- nick earls (even better the 2nd time! i love it!)
pages for you- sylvia brownrigg (i told you how this captivated me)
naked without a hat- jeanne willis (mindtrash YA)
mind's eye- paul fleishman (whatever, it's a p.f.)
vögelein, the clockwork faerie- jane irwin (may make me obsessed with graphic novels)
persepolis 2- marjane satrapi (I LOVE THESE! i keep giving away my persepolis 1)
april 05
karin kallmaker-watermark (lesbian romance)
willam sleator- interstellar pig (wierd YA)
jean ferris- of sound mind (great, well written YA)
anne lamott- plan b:further thoughts on faith (nonfic, christian, liberal, funny)
l.s.matthews- fish:a novel (odd but likeable YA)
andrew clements- things not seen (hyde park YA)
pauline fisk- midnight blue (magical, lovely)
louise plumber- a dance for 3 (unremarkable)
sandra cisneros- the house on mango street (short chapters like poetry. not really my thing. chicago.)
patricia wrede & caroline stevermer- the grand tour (regency europe, magic, fun, braintrash)
rosa guy- ruby (lesbian, not recomended)
monica furlong- coleman (i've been waiting forever! lived up to expectations)
bett williams-girl walking backwards (a.- you totally need to read this one!)
jane futcher- crush (lesbian YA)
märz 05
alex sanchez- rainbow boys, rainbow high (sweet valley high for gay boys. totally fun)
ann heron- two teenagers in 20 (dated, but still good)
chris lynch- the gravedigger's cottage (well written YA book)
suzanne fisher staples- shiva's fire (enjoyable indian YA book)
xanthus press- breaking silence (coming out letters- interesting, timeless)
roald dahl- skin and other stories (totally creepy, but well written- ugh!)
ann brashares- second summer of the sisterhood (addicting, enjoyable, great quotes)
kate brian- the princess and the pauper (lovely YA braintrash)
dorothy canfield fisher- understood betsy (adorable classic)
brenda woods- red rose box (enjoyable YA)
lloyd alexander- the rope trick, the book of three (escapism r us)
the list of faves is constantly changing.
so rather than putting book reviews up only when i think about it, i'm going to post all the books i read, and all the movies i watch, perpetually. say, once a month or so. so here's the books. the movies will be next post.
please, tell me, if you read and liked or hated any of them, or if you're looking for recomendations from here! (btw, bow is book o' week club)
august 07:
talk to me- carol dines (not really worth reserving)
jack- a. m. homes (ok gay kids)
nobody passes- mattilda aka matt bernstein sycamore (PLEASE! SOMEONE READ THIS SO WE CAN TALK ABOUT IT! facinating gender, and other, essays)
something rotten- jasper fforde (better than the previous, not as good as the first)
the sand child- tahar ben Jelloun. (i didn't get it.)
juli 07:
born to rock- gordon korman (bow)
georgies moon- chris woodworth (forgettable bow)
the wish - gail carson levine (still love her)
life as we knew it- susan beth pfeffer (amazing facinataing scary must-read)
ophelia- lisa klein (as expected)
the grim grotto- lemony snicket (how many more?)
alice in the know- phyllis reynolds naylor (i do have a soft spot for alice)
letting go of bobby james- valarie hobbs (worth putting on hold. really good.)
grass angel- julie schumacher (unremarkable)
a true and faithful narrative- kathrine sturtevant (only problem- too short!)
under the same sky- cynthia defelice (bow. but i forget.)
palms to the ground- amy stolls (unremarkable bow)
self-made man- norah vincent (interesting, if extremely binary, gender nonfic)
valencia- michelle tea (bought in san francisco!)
juni 07:
prom- laurie halse anderson (better than expected)
westmark- lloyd alexander (old beloved friend)
my almost epic summer- adele griffin (not epic)
little fur- isobelle carmmondy (nice cover)
rules of the road- joan bauer (a good one)
the slippery slope- lemony snicket (trying these again)
fairest- gail carson levine (i love her.)
mai 07:
the bitch posse- martha o'connor- well written but disturbing
memory board- jane rule (sweet lesbian novel)
not the only one- jane summer (short story collections of various enjoyability)
marly's ghost- david leviathan (forgettable bow)
bad kitty- michelle jaffe (pink teenage braintrash)
getting it- alex sanchez (queer teen)
bang!- sharon flake (bow)
uglies- scott westerfeld (amazing, absorbing, my new addiction)
the mozart season- virginia euwer wolff (forgettable bow)
crush- carrie mac (can't even remember)
pretties- scott westerfeld (see, i told you!)
upstate- kalisha buckhanon (beautiful and heartbreaking bow)
specials- scott westerfeld (so satisfying!)
the carniverous carnival- lemony snickett (i can't get enough)
under the wolf, under the dog- adam rapp (bow)
playing dad's song- d. dina friedman (bow)
define "normal"- julie anne peters (a familiar friend)
the minister's daughter- julie hern ( i think i liked it, but it's unmemorable)
april 07:
dairy queen - catherine gilbert muridock (excellent ya, highly recomended)
heven to betsy- maud hart lovelace (not sure why this was on my list)
best foot forward- joan bauer (typich ya)
the full spectrum- ed. deven leviathan and billy merrell (really cool queer kid's stories of their experiences)
the joy luck club - amy tan (better than expected)
here they come - yannick murphy (dark, disturbing, uncomfortable, not recomended)
party princess - meg cabot (as fun as the rest of them)
märz 07
the necessary hunger- nina revoyr (excellent, lesbian teen basketball players)
west with hopeless- carolyn lieburg (bow)
a changed man- francine prose (a great novel. read it.)
like the red panda- andrea seigel (creepy ya. very depressing)
between mom and jo- julie anne peters (you KNOW how i feel about her books)
the sea of trolls- nancy farmer (bow, norse lord of the rings)
playing the field-phil bildner (girl on the boys baseball team)
februar 07
the man who fell in love with the moon- tom spanbauer (one of ch's faves, and understandably so)
the world according to mimi smartypants (made me subscribe to her blog)
the shell house - mimi newberry (a gayYA with NO ending)
the fall of fergal- phillip ardagh (kids braintrash)
overnight- adele griffin (bow)
the love wife- gish jen (i don't know why i like her book so much, but i do)
januar 07
avalon high- meg cabot (a's xmas gift. a great re-read.)
coffee will make you black- april sinclair (lesbian ya)
the house on the gulf- margaret peterson haddix (bow)
swimming to america - alice mead (bow)
breakout- paul fleischman (bow)
true believer- virginia euwer wolff (oddly like coffee will make you black, also enjoyable)
a theif in the house of memory - tim wynne-jones (bow)
whispering to witches -anna dale (bow, the book in my photos, oddly)
a house of tailors- patricia reilly giff (lovely bow, too short)
enna burning - shannon hale (odd but enjoyable bow)
the bermudez triangle- maureen johnson (lesbian YA)
the most beautiful girl in the world- judy doenges (it looked good at w&cf. wasn't too bad, actually)
best lesbian love stories 2004 (cause the library's erotica collections have been stolen)
dezember 06
justin case- meg rosoff (nothing like the other)
i was a non-blond cheerleader -kieran scott (fun braintrash ya)
fly on the wall- e. lockhart (odd but enjoyable)
november 06
gulf breeze- gari hill (lesbian fic)
devil on my heels - joyce mcdonald (bow)
eva underground- dandi daley mackall (excelent bow)
looking for alibrandi- melina marchetta (bow? or maybe just ya)
koyal dark, mango sweet- kashmira sheth (indian ya)
shakespeare bats cleanup- rone koertge (him again)
aftershocks- william lavender (excellent bow, one of my faves)
shadow of a doubt- s. l. rottman (bow)
oktober 06
the key to the golden firebird- maureen johnson (bow, i liked blue envelopes better)
the extraordinary adventures of lafred kropp- rick yancy (goofy bow)
where i want to be- adele griffin (unmemorable bow)
i know you're out there- michael beaumier (excellent memoir about personal ads
running with the reservoir pups- colin bateman (ya list)
the truth about forever- sarah dessen (yeah, her again. this one is perhaps my fave)
september 06
head games- mariah fredricks (i lked this one better)
ruby- francesca lia block and carmen staton ( i really just have to say flb)
all the wrong places - karen kallmaker (lesbian romance)
now you see it - vivian vande velde (bow)
newbies- james a. moore (why was this on my list?)
checkers- john marsden (unmemorable bow)
the car- caren paulsen (bow)
alice on the outside- phylis reynolds naylor (gay kids, banned book)
parrot in the oven, mi vida- victor martinez (not impressed)
thy neighbors wife- georgia beers (lesbian fic)
coming out under fire - allan berube (nonfic i wish i could write a research paper on- makes me want to hear stories)
dreams of tresspass, tales from a harem girlhood- fatima mernissi (more nonfic- autobiography)
avalon high- meg cabot (meg cabot. aurturian legend. sounds awesome. is awesome)
the beat goes on- adele minchin (public service ya, but good anyway)
13 little blue envelopes- maureen johnson (awesome, i loved it, i cried and cried)
cinderellis and the glass hill- gail carson levine (retold fairy tale)
athletic shorts - chris crutcher (i gotta read the boy books too, sometimes)
august 06
necklace of kisses- francesca lia block (who only gets better as she ages. and no less magical)
size 12 is not fat - meg cabot (good stuck in an airplane book)
fun home - alison bechtel (magnificently magical graphic autobiography)
tipping the velvet- sarah waters (lesbian historical fiction -rocked.)
endgame- nancy garden (NOT what i consider a nancy garden book!)
dark angel- david class (went a little too well with endgame)
on the run- michael coleman (don't even remember this one)
i am the wallpaper - mark peter huges (ya braintrash)
better than running at night- hillary frank (she's a pretty awesome author, too)
return to lesbos- valerie taylor (vintage lesbian pulp)
when kambia elane flew in from neptune- lori aurelia williams (wierd in an unenjoyable way)
far from xanadu- julie anne peters (my fave lesbian YA ever, i am SO IN LOVE with mike)
picture perfect- jodi piccault (much better, and more fun, than expected, good book.)
july 06
looking for alaska- john green (excellent YA, i cried.)
box girl- sarah withrow (gay kids)
the boyfriend list - e. lockhart (fun and enjoyable bow)
postcards from no man's land - aidan chambers (wonderful, satisfying, well-crafted enjoyable book. highly recomended.)
the left hand of darkness - ursula k leguin (fun with gender scifi)
comedy girl - ellen schreber (ya)
razzle- ellen wittlinger (less fun than hard love)
boy meets boy- david levithan (finally! it was my hold's turn. the gay surrealistic dreamworld)
a girl named disaster - nancy farmer (bow i slogged through)
the order of the poison oak - brent hartinger (ya gayboy braintrash)
the first part last - angela johnson (good ya)
party girl - lynne ewing (unmemorable ya)
this lullaby - sarah dessen (because she wrote it)
june 06
iron man- chris crutcher (gay kids booklist)
full service- will weaver (enjoyable bow)
hard love- ellen wittlinger (better when one is not suffering such)
the killer's cousin -nancy werlin (enjoyable bow)
when she was good - norma fox mazer (unimpressive bow)
are we there yet? - david leviathan (another fun new author)
breaking boxes - a. m. jenkins (excellent gay older brother book)
i am the messenger- marcus zusak (great bow with a disapointing ending)
mai 06
dove and sword- nancy garden (about joan of arc, no baby dykes)
the bride price- buchi emecheta (indian YA)
crooked- louisa luna (i liked brave new girl better, but it was ok)
in every laugh a tear- leslea newman (lesbian fic)
mystery- peter straub (the mystery to read while cruising islands. totally excellent)
pepperland- mark delaney (bow)
dreamland- sarah dessen (cause i'm gonna read them all)
bluebirds used to croon in the choir- joe meno (short stories of varying degrees of enjoyable)
cant get there from here- todd strasser (unmemorable YA)
april 06
love medicine- louise erdirich (required for fiction writing. okay, other than that, i guess)
michael cart- my father's scar (i like gay girl books better)
escape from memory- margaret peterson haddix (unmemorable bow)
24 girls in 7 days - alex bradley (loveable bow braintrash)
fat boy swim- cathrine forde (excellent bow)
trying hard to hear you- sandra scoppettone (lesbian YA)
journey to a woman - ann bannon (classic vintage lesbian pulp)
joe jones- anne lamott (perhaps her best work of fiction)
girl, 16, absolute torture- sue limb (ya braintrash)
brave new girl- louisa luna (dark, dark, but excellent mtv book)
m or f? - lisa papademitriou and chris tebbets (fun with gender YA)
morning star- nick bantock (beautiful, as always)
the philadephia story- phillip barry (required for school)
the last chance texaco- brent hartringer (better than his other, ya)
i can't tell you - hillary frank (unmemorable ya)
märz 06
desert of the heart- jane rule (vintage lesbian)
teen idol- meg cabot (i'm still an addict)
the thin woman - dorothy cannell (a re-read of my fave mystery)
how i live now (bow book, amazing mesmerizing, beautiful, haunting)
confessions of a teenage drama queen- dyan sheldon (ya braintrash)
the other side of venus - shirley verel (vintage lesbian pulp)
the warrior heir- cinda williams chima (a better than expected YA fantasy)
how i paid for college: a novel of sex theft friendship and musical theater- marc acito (read all in one morning, one of the best books of 2006, on my list of best books ever, love it, own it, quote it, you must read it)
rose of no man's land- michelle tea (absorbing, creepy)
sophie pitt-turnbull discovers america - dyan sheldon (i really have no excuse for reading two of them)
banana rose- natalie goldberg (a's new fave, not really my style, but very much hers)
kissing the witch - emma donoghue (feminist folk tales)
the heavenward path- kara dalkey (bow)
the canning season - polly horvath (fun and brittish bow)
shade's children- garth nix (engaging sci-fi bow)
februar 06
that summer- sarah dessen (new YA author for me- she's a good 'un!)
the arizona boy - ron koertge (my new fave YA author- i put this book in a short story of mine- my character liked it even more than i did!)
the house of scorpion- nancy famer (facinating bow- someone else read it so we can talk about it!)
spring fire- vin packer (vintage lesbian pulp)
maja running- aniali banerice (YA, not well written)
the rise and fall of a 10th grade social climber- lauren meehlin and laura moser (the title says it all. this was a great one of the genre)
doormat- kelly mcwilliams (unmemorable bow)
boy meet boy- ron koertge (perhaps the best rk yet)
manstealing for fat girls - michelle embree (excellent, but made me track everyone's eating habits for about a week)
burning up- caroline cooney (braintrash YA)
after summer- nick earls (good, but not as good as 48 shades of brown)
alexandria- nick bantock (beautiful, as usual)
kissing vanessa- simon cheshire (unmemorable bow)
januar 06
the boy in the basement- susan shaw (mesmerizing bow)
a face in every window - han nolan (very good YA)
princess in training- meg cabot (as good as the rest of them)
the blue sword- robin mckindley (a reread- my fave book- this was post-wisdom teeth)
storytime- edward bloor (creepy YA, not recomended)
plastic angel- nerissa nields ( i really liked it, it's just like the song)
girls in pants- anne brashares (hey, they're enjoyable. i have a hard time remembering them, though)
the girls in 3-B- valerie taylor (one of my fave vintage lesbian pulp- takes place in chicago)
december 05
the lost prince- frances hodgston burnett (by far her worst)
astra- grace livingston hill (it's a xmas requirement)
a man without a country- kurt vonegut (stick to fiction)
lark in the morning- nancy garden (not my fave NG, but please, i read it in leah and rachel's hallway in philly- how bad could it be?)
november 05
mountain solo- jeanette ingold (bow book, excellent YA)
rosemary and juliet - judy maclean (classic lesbian YA)
valencia- michelle tea (laura's favorite book ever)
enchantment- orson scott card (one of my perpetual rereads)
oktober 05
margaux with an x- ron koertge (i'm a huge huge fan of anything he writes)
all this heavenly glory -elizabeth crane (even better than her first- neurotic short stories)
acelleration- graham nance (book o week club)
a small rain- madeline l'engle (one of my frequent re-reads)
an inexpressible state of grace- cameron abbott - unmemorable lesbian fiction
september 05
holly's secret- nancy garden (kid's book, gay parents)
luna- julie anne peters (the best YA transsexual novel ever written)
the misfits- james howe (cozy feel good YA)
august 05
choices- nancy toder (early 80's lesbian)
rough music- patrick gale (highly recomended)
one of those hideous books where the mother dies- sonyan sones (excellent YA)
reflections of a rock lobster- aaron fricke (kinda lame gay autobio)
blindsighted- peter moore (excellent YA)
lesbian/ woman- del martin and phyllis lyon (enormous classic lesbian nonfiction)
bird-eyes-madelyn arnold (creepy, disturbing, not recomended)
i love everybody- laurie notaro (humor, memoir, braintrash)
juli 05
dirty girls social club- Alisa valdez-rodriguez (worth the wait, lives up to the hype)
swollen- melissa lion (mindtrash YA)
babyface- norma fox mazer (mindtrash YA)
a knot in the grain- robin mckinley (short stories, fairy tales)
juni 05
chasing vermeer- blue balliett (HP YA)
twilight girls- paula christian (vintage lesbian)
girls will be girls- leslea newman (lesbian short stories)
the door in the hedge- robin mckinley (fairy tales)
culture shock germany- richard lord (nonfiction)
saving francesca- melinda marchetta (excellent YA)
mai 05
waiting for christopher- louise hawes (interesting ya)
monsoon summer- mitali perkins (really excellent feel good YA)
the true meaning of cleavage- mariah fredricks (mindtrash YA)
breadgivers- anzia yezierska (good anti-jewish-father book)
the virgin suicides- jeffery eugenides (as always well written, though not plot driven)
king matt the first- janusz korczak (interesting, but needed an editor)
48 shades of brown- nick earls (even better the 2nd time! i love it!)
pages for you- sylvia brownrigg (i told you how this captivated me)
naked without a hat- jeanne willis (mindtrash YA)
mind's eye- paul fleishman (whatever, it's a p.f.)
vögelein, the clockwork faerie- jane irwin (may make me obsessed with graphic novels)
persepolis 2- marjane satrapi (I LOVE THESE! i keep giving away my persepolis 1)
april 05
karin kallmaker-watermark (lesbian romance)
willam sleator- interstellar pig (wierd YA)
jean ferris- of sound mind (great, well written YA)
anne lamott- plan b:further thoughts on faith (nonfic, christian, liberal, funny)
l.s.matthews- fish:a novel (odd but likeable YA)
andrew clements- things not seen (hyde park YA)
pauline fisk- midnight blue (magical, lovely)
louise plumber- a dance for 3 (unremarkable)
sandra cisneros- the house on mango street (short chapters like poetry. not really my thing. chicago.)
patricia wrede & caroline stevermer- the grand tour (regency europe, magic, fun, braintrash)
rosa guy- ruby (lesbian, not recomended)
monica furlong- coleman (i've been waiting forever! lived up to expectations)
bett williams-girl walking backwards (a.- you totally need to read this one!)
jane futcher- crush (lesbian YA)
märz 05
alex sanchez- rainbow boys, rainbow high (sweet valley high for gay boys. totally fun)
ann heron- two teenagers in 20 (dated, but still good)
chris lynch- the gravedigger's cottage (well written YA book)
suzanne fisher staples- shiva's fire (enjoyable indian YA book)
xanthus press- breaking silence (coming out letters- interesting, timeless)
roald dahl- skin and other stories (totally creepy, but well written- ugh!)
ann brashares- second summer of the sisterhood (addicting, enjoyable, great quotes)
kate brian- the princess and the pauper (lovely YA braintrash)
dorothy canfield fisher- understood betsy (adorable classic)
brenda woods- red rose box (enjoyable YA)
lloyd alexander- the rope trick, the book of three (escapism r us)
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