I highly recommend Inga Muscio's Cunt. It was well worth the read, though I definitely won't be taking all of it as gospel. If you're offended by the word "cunt" read it anyhow. If you don't have one, that's ok. I had a few lightbulb-over-the-head sorts of moments, yet also found a few sections that I was shaking my head and disagreeing with.

The book is part biology, part sociology, part history, part psychology. I think I've been convinced to go find a self-defense class to take. I have a few new strategies in mind for dealing with other women (which I've occasionally found challenging). I don't think I'll be following her suggestion though of only reading female authors (for at least a year, she recommends) or boycotting all male-owned businesses. I don't agree that giving power to women means taking it away from all men. I don't know that the country would be better off if the gender balance of those in power were swapped. I'd aim for a 50/50 split.

posted by kristin at 8:33 AM

Only two books read since my last posting, so I guess I'm doing better than usual. I picked up Chester Brown's Louis Riel from the library and read it in a single sitting. It's a biography in comic book form of the 19th century Canadian Louis Riel. Amusingly the writeup on the book on amazon says he's fictional, but unless lots of other people around the web (like the Canadian government) are wrong, he was real. Worth the quick read, especially for those of us completely clueless about Canadian history.

Rudy Rucker's As Above, So Below is a novel of Peter Bruegel's life. Having read a bunch of Rucker's SF, starting it I wasn't quite sure if it would be straight historical fiction, or if it would veer off in some odd direction. It didn't. My only real complaint would be that the reproductions of Bruegel's works that begin each chapter are in black and white. Fortunately it's not hard to find color ones online.

posted by kristin at 1:31 PM

I finished Peter F. Hamilton's Fallen Dragon last night. I quite liked it, but didn't inhale it quite as fast as some other recent 600+ page books (like Harry Potter). It's a standalone book (well, there may be sequels but it's a complete story not obviously part of a trilogy like his Nights Dawn books) with some interesting characters whose viewpoints it flips between. I didn't even notice at first that two of the viewpoints were different points in the same person's life, but I'd have to go back and reread some to see if I was supposed to.

Next up, I think is Neil Gaiman's Adventures in the Dream Trade.
posted by kristin at 12:18 PM

I'm really not sure how to describe Keith Hartman's Gumshoe Gorilla other than to say that it involves gay sex, famous quintuplets, a nearly-dead kitten, witches, televangelists, a PI, and some bizarre mysteries. Fun, but definitely not for everyone.

Philip Gourevitch's We Wish to Inform You That tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families is much easier to describe. It's a well-written, captivating, and yet horrifying account (well, more many people's accounts) of the Rwandan genocide.
posted by kristin at 10:23 PM

I swear if I don't hit my 100 books it'll be because of all the reading detours I've taken.

I checked Greg Critser's Fat Land out of the library and read it last week. Think "Super Size Me" in book form without quite the same personal touch (and no vomiting). It's a quick read but rather sobering on the increasing rate of obesity in the U.S.

Alberto Manguel's Into the Looking-Glass Wood is a collection of reviews and essays about reading, writing and authors. Decent, though not as good as his A History of Reading.

John Nichol's The Sterile Cuckoo is a light tale of a college romance. I started more book with more hope for the characters than I ended with, which I suppose was the point but was frustrating none-the-less. Unfortunately the movie isn't available on DVD so I can't add it to my netflix queue. (I wish I remembered what made me buy the book in the first place though).

I read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in a few days last weekend (bypassing much-needed sleep in the process). Whatever you may think of the content, you have to admit she's a good storyteller.

Ryszard Kapuscinski's The Emperor is a somewhat disjoint (due to being mostly comprised of anonymous interviews) but interesting look at the fall of Haile Selassie's rule in Ethiopia.

I'm currently working on Philip Gourevitch's We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families (so far good, but depressing) and Keith Harman's Gumshoe Gorilla.

posted by kristin at 12:17 AM