The Prodigal Book Reviewer
When I first applied to library science programs, I think I was working under this unconscious, internalized stereotype of librarianship being an easy job, and library school being a breeze. This might have been exacerbated by my other experience with grad school, an MFA, which was basically summer camp with professors. Boy, did I get [...]
...read moreBook Review: Share This!
Share This!: How You Will Change the World with Social Networking by Deanna Zandt (Berrett-Koehler Publishers) Back in ’08, when the conventions of social networking were still maybe a little wonky (because of course they’re perfectly logical now), my husband wasn’t invited to a party because the invitations were sent out through Facebook and he [...]
...read moreBook Review: Working For Justice
Working for Justice: The L.a. Model of Organizing and Advocacy edited by Ruth Milkman, Joshua Bloom, and Victor Narro (Cornell University Press) I first found out about this book when I got an email from one of my activist friends, which she had sent out to all her activist friends, about the release party. I [...]
...read moreMuslim Women on Sex and the City 2
In light of yesterday’s discussion of SatC, I thought I’d direct your attention to Muslimah Media Watch’s discussion of the film. If any non-Arab, non-Muslim readers are itching to say (or repeat), “Well, I don’t think it’s racist, and my opinion is valid, too, and also you’re just looking for stuff to complain about!” just [...]
...read moreSpeechless
Overcoming Speechlessness: A Poet Encounters the Horror in Rwanda, Eastern Congo, and Palestine/Israel by Alice Walker (Seven Stories Press) “In Kigali I paid my respects to the hundreds of of thousands of infants, toddlers, teenagers, adolescents, young engaged couples, married people, women and men, grandmothers and grandfathers, brothers and sisters of every facial shape and [...]
...read moreCall for Editors and Volunteers – Dinah Press
Many of you probably already saw this on Alas, but I’m posting here for good measure: Dinah Press, a new small press devoted to publishing the work of marginalized voices, is seeking 1-2 passionate and committed individuals to join its permanent editorial collective. We are also seeking volunteers to donate their time and talent to [...]
...read moreSi son de amores vengan derechas
The House of Secrets: The Hidden World of the Mikveh by Varda Polak-Sahm (Beacon Press) One clear evening in Jerusalem, Varda Polak-Sahm shows up alone at her neighborhood mikveh – a ritual bath for Jewish women – to purify herself before her second wedding. After her first mikveh experience, during which she kept her out-of-wedlock [...]
...read moreJust Food
Just Food: Where Locavores Get It Wrong and How We Can Truly Eat Responsibly by James E. McWilliams (Little, Brown) Say what you want about publishers, but they know how to sell a book. Let’s say a manuscript ended up on an editor’s desk with a title like Some More Things You Need to be [...]
...read moreBetween XX and XY
Between XX and XY: Intersexuality and the Myth of Two Sexes by Gerald N. Callahan, Ph.D. (Chicago Review Press) Hi, all! As some of you may have noticed, my flow of book reviews has slowed to a trickle over the past few months. It’s not because I don’t love what I do! I’m applying to [...]
...read moreOppression, Identity, and Liberation
Sexuality and Socialism: History, Politics, and Theory of LGBT Liberation by Sherry Wolf (Haymarket Books) Sherry Wolf’s Sexuality and Socialism is a collection of essays, arranged in the order of the historical eras they examine, that look at the interplay between sexuality and economics, theory, and activism through a Marxist lens. Although the essays wander [...]
...read moreEve’s Bible
Eve’s Bible: A Woman’s Guide to the Old Testament by Sarah S. Forth (St. Martin’s Griffin) Eve’s Bible is written for “every woman who has ever said, ‘I’ve always wanted to read the Bible, but…’” Billing itself as a guide to reading the Old Testament “with Eve’s eyes instead of Adam’s,” the book begins with [...]
...read moreMagdalene & the Mermaids
Magdalene & the Mermaids by Elizabeth Kate Switaj (Paper Kite Press) A quick note: I wasn’t able to preserve the original formatting of the poems I’ve excerpted. My apologies to the author. Elizabeth Kate Switaj’s Magdalene & the Mermaids is, as the title indicates, divided into two complementary series of poems: the reflections of Mary [...]
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