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My most recent impulse buy was Tough Mothers by Jason Porath. It's an illustrated coffee-table book with fifty vignettes about mothers who did incredible things: women like Sacajawea, Sojourner Truth, Irena Sendler, and many others I had never even heard of.
The book spoke to me not just because it looked awesome, but also because of where I am in my life. I'm a stay-at-home mom who doesn't bring any income to our family. Western society is still in transition about gender roles, and I often feel like I'm standing in the eye of a hurricane. There's shame attached to being "just a mom," like me. I've heard women without kids say they aren't "breeding machines," and women who don't nurse say they aren't "cows." You can imagine how that makes me feel. There's also shame attached to being a preoccupied mom. If you have a job, a business, a hobby, or anything that takes up your time, people look at you with suspicion. They wonder if your children are being neglected while you pursue your selfish interests. It's like you have to be maternal, just not too maternal, but shame on you for not being too maternal. And if you make a mistake as a mother, like if you accidentally leave your kid at the grocery store, expect the internet to publically crucify you. I feel like no one cares about mothers, but that we're still expected to do our jobs perfectly. It's enough to make you ask if your life has any point. When I saw this book on the shelf, my first thought was, "I can be a mom and make a difference at the same time!" We all know this, I think, but it helps to be reminded. I loved reading examples of real-life women fighting wars, marching in protests, and making inventions. My complaints about this book are somewhat miniscule. For instance, not all the women in this book had kids. I'm totally cool with the women who adopted children, obviously. But the book also had a nun, a transgender woman, and others without kids, and I just thought, "Really? Isn't this supposed to be about moms?" He calls those women things like "The Mother of Mexican Literature," but that wasn't good enough for me. It sends a message that there aren't enough tough mothers in the world to fill a whole book. Ouch. All in all, though, this book is powerful, inspirational, and fun. It's a good gift for any history-loving mother who needs a pick-me-up.
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The Journal is Finally For Sale!
Friends and family say my book "Don't Dance on the Toilet and Other Things I Never Thought I'd Say to My Kids" inspired them to write down their own quotes of things they say to their children. I decided to create a guided journal for them. It not only has room for a hundred quotes: it also has journal prompts, questionnaires, and plenty of lined pages. It's a perfect gift for new parents! I've been nominated for the Sassy Brit Book Cover Award! If you want to vote, go to https://alternative-read.com/2020/02/24/jan-2020-alternative-book-cover-award-nominees/ You can vote once a day until March 20. In the comments, someone said I should win an award for the best title! Don't forget to check out my short stories on Amazon. What's new on Patreon Patreon.com is a site for people to fund their favorite artists with small monthly payments in exchange for great content. I post new stuff each month. This month, I added: - 27 Tips to Reduce Your Food Waste - The deleted prologue to my book, VOODOO QUEEN - The Self-Manager Badge: a short story based on one of my own traumatic childhood experiences. - How to Prepare Before Starting a Book: a 16-page manual to help you get started on a new project. If you want to get these updates sent to your email, you can sign up for my newsletter by clicking here. A Lot Has Happened This Month First, don't forget that DON'T DANCE ON THE TOILET is available in print and on Kindle through Amazon. The journal version is still underway. It will be available soon! Second, I decided not to limit myself to just writing. I opened an Etsy shop called With a Twisst where I sell my knitting projects and patterns. Once I got that going, friends started telling me about Patreon.com. It's a site where fans can get a ton of exclusive content from their favorite artists. Every month, I'll post a bunch of new work. This month, I posted:
Click here to browse my Etsy store, With a Twisst. Keep checking back; there will be more items soon!
I think literary traditions can be like new foods; sometimes, you have to taste something multiple times before you like it.
For me and Hispanic literature, the third time was the charm. I adored The House of the Spirits, and loving it helped me to appreciate the other two books. I loved the complexities of the multitude of characters. Each one was fleshed-out with layers of personality that evolved as they aged. I couldn't tell you which of them was the main character because each one was so essential to the story. This book was an "easy read," and when I say a book is "easy reading," I don't mean that it's simplistic; this book was easy in that everything flowed together so smoothly that I zipped through the pages without realizing time was passing by. If you read this book -- and I highly recommend that you do, because I might even read it twice -- I suggest reading it with a cup of Abuelita hot chocolate. I probably had a cup of the Mexican drink each night that I sat down to read it. Probably my only complaint was the torture and raping at the end, not because it was poorly done or because I have an issue reading those things, but because I seem to read a lot of books about women getting tortured and raped. I'm getting bored with it. I need to stop reading World War II books; that's my biggest problem. The torture and rape was important to the story, though, so this isn't really a fair complaint. In summary: this book is one of the most important and beloved Latin American books, and I understand why. You don't have to spend long on my site to see that all my reviews are overwhelmingly positive. It's because I don't post negative reviews. Ever.
There are so many reasons for me to only post positive reviews. The most obvious and selfish reason is that I'm running a book-selling business here. I'd be shooting myself in the foot if I were to tell you what not to read. But the real reason is, I don't want to stand between a reader and a book, not matter how bad I think the book is. Tastes are so subjective; just because I hated it doesn't mean you will, and it would be a shame if I discouraged someone from reading what could have been their favorite book. So often, I'll hate a book and be baffled that anyone would enjoy it. Then, I'll talk to someone who loved it, and while the conversation might not change my mind about the book, at the very least I can learn to appreciate what I didn't understand before. We should be having conversations to help us understand what matters to other people, not telling others why the things that matter to them are actually garbage. Another reason I don't post bad reviews: authors are people. In fact, many of my friends are published novelists. I might feel comfortable publicly shooting down a product, but I am not comfortable shooting down another person's creative work. I also like to practice good karma; someday, I hope others will review my books, and I don't want the universe to have a purse full of negativity that it's been saving up just for me. Trust me, I can firmly attest that there are some bad books out there. But I don't think we should handle bad books by announcing to everyone how terrible they are. I think we should just not talk about them at all because we're so busy going on and on about all the books we loved, and then all the mediocre books will be forgotten.
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What else?
Well, the list goes on, but sufficeth to say I don’t read romance very often. I absolutely adore a good romance, but it’s too hard to find one I like. I gave this book a chance anyway, and I’m glad I did! Sometimes it’s nice to read a relaxing book that doesn’t overwork your brain muscles or exhaust your emotional capacity, but is still engaging. This book definitely qualifies. It wants to be read on a beach. Don’t get me wrong; it isn’t empty. I thought the relationships between each of the characters was tantalizingly complex. While the book is technically about Van’s love for Peter, it focuses a lot her best friend and also her best friend's mom, who both saved Van’s family and ruined it in her own kind and selfish way. There’s quite a bit in there about Van’s deceased mother. The book also dabbles in class division and how the rich view the poor (think Me Before You, but with a dog). And, of course, there’s the sexy veterinarian. That doesn’t count as a spoiler. I mean, honestly, in a book about a heart-broken new dog owner, who else was she going to fall in love with? You might think that she buys the dog, meets the vet, and all is well and good (and boring) afterwards, but no. When Peter – the man Van has been in love with for six years – returns from his honeymoon with his new bride, that’s when things really get interesting. But I don’t want to give too much away. Despite the novel’s complexities, it’s still an easy, relaxing, fun read. There was one moment in the book that was hands-down my favorite. As I mentioned, she gets drunk and orders the dog, and then the next morning remembers she did it…but she has no idea how much she spent. This dog is trained to sniff out drugs and is being flown overseas, and the currency on her receipt isn’t American dollars, so it wasn't going to be cheap. As she frantically checks a currency converter, I was holding my breath (and also trying not to laugh). I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys romance and dogs and wants some light reading, especially anyone going to the beach. This site is made up of affiliate links. Every purchase you make through one of my links helps to support the blog. Similar Books You Might Enjoy
Pope Joan is about the (possibly true?) legend of a woman who became pope. In the novel, Joan is a brilliant, gifted girl who constantly battles against the ignorance, superstition, and bigotry of the ninth century.
She finally decides to live as a man to be free from the constraints of being a woman, and as she navigates her way through the Catholic clergy system, she finds herself thrust into the most powerful position in the world. Oh, and it’s a fantastic love story. Truly, fantastic. The research is impeccable, the heroine is intelligent and fierce, the villains are detestable, the story is intense, and the romance swoon-worthy. It’s my #1 Favorite Book. As soon as I read it, I knew this was the kind of book I wanted to spend the rest of my life writing. Now not only do I identify as a historical novelist, but because of Pope Joan, I also write on religious subjects.
It’s hard to explain, but I’ll do my best. I was 22 when I read this book and everything I’d read so far ended in happily ever after.
This was unfortunate for me because the blissful honeymoon stage of my marriage had drawn to a close and I had come to realize that hey, marriage is super hard. I was feeling a little lost. It was refreshing – actually, it was life-saving – to read in Mama Day about a relationship from the beginning all the way to the end. Cocoa and George remind me a lot of my husband and I, so whenever they got in a fight, it was a wonderful release to see them repair everything again. Despite the earthquakes of their tempers and insecurities, their love for one another was deep and unbreakable. This book changed how I view romantic relationships, including my own.
That sounds like a pretty horrendous fight, but the author pointed out that the reason they were fighting was because the woman didn’t feel like she had been as good of a wife as she wanted; she was always tired and distracted by the children. Her strong emotions come from a place of love. And when he asked, the couple both assured him that they were very happy and satisfied in their marriage.
Seven Principles transformed the way I thought about marriage. I firmly believe every married couple should read it.
The part that affected me the most, though, was at the end. He went home. I guess I had this feeling that life was never going to be the same again for me or for him – that I was never going to be happy again – that I would never “go home.” But despite everything that happened to Frodo and his friends, they made it back to the Shire right where they started. It assured me that despite how I felt and what I was going through, someday everything would be okay again for me, too.
And eventually, it was.
Maya Angelou said, “We, in this world, and this weary world itself, have a great gaping need for SARK.” Maya Angelou said that, guys. If you don’t believe me, trust Maya Angelou.
When I was an adult, I was thrilled to discover SARK had published three times as many books as my teacher had on her shelves. I was somewhat less thrilled to discover that my teacher had weeded out the ones with graphic description on the glories of masturbating. (This is apparently a favorite pastime of SARK’s.) It’s usually just a page or two, so….read at your own risk. But Inspiration Sandwich is clean. I was also thrilled to discover that beyond being a book writer, she’s also a lifestyle coach with lots of online resources. https://planetsark.com/ She has inspired the masses with her millions of books sold, her online classes, and her speaking engagements at TedTalk, Woman’s Leadership Summit, and Association of Transformational Leaders. With these discoveries I was able to re-experience SARK’s message as an adult, which has a different but just as strong message for me now as it did when I was a child. Has a book ever changed you? Let me know in the comments!
Allie Brosh uses the Paint program on her computer to illustrate the absurdities of her life in the most exquisitely hilarious book I've ever read.
I absolutely love it. First off, I’m a big fan of simplicity (example: the Pigeon books). It amazes me how much artists are able to convey with so little drawing.
But this particular medium makes images amusing in a totally unique way, transforming an already-funny story into a roll-on-the-floor laughing cartoon. Allie actually spends four hours on each drawing to get it exactly right, so the characters have a perfect expression on every page. If the humor isn’t enough to hook you, Allie Brosh is also a mental illness awareness advocate. Several stories illustrate the difficulties of depression. I am also a depression survivor, and I can testify that everything she says about it is spot on. So, if you want to learn more about depression and laugh at the same time – without feeling weird about laughing at depression – I highly recommend this book. Books Similar to Hyperbole and a Half
It's not just the structure of the novel that floored me; the story was great, too. I was 100% invested in Charlie the entire time, even when he changed from a simple-minded sweetheart to, frankly, a know-it-all jerk. There's a romance, too, and I love me a good romance. (It isn't anywhere close to sappy.)
Some books you savor, and some you devour. This, for me, fit into the devour category. I think I read it in two days. As a caution, this book is gut-wrenchingly sad. If you want to know what reading this book is like, imagine someone rips your heart out, tears it into a million pieces, sews it back together again, and your heart is somehow better than before. Yet that, I believe, is part of the novel’s genius. I love books that change me. If I feel like a different person after reading a book than I was when I started it, it’s a satisfying experience. Oh, and the last line of this book is easily the best last line I’ve ever read of any book. Wow. It felt like a punch to the gut. I get chills just thinking about it. Did you read Flowers for Algernon? What did you think of it? Similar Books You Might Enjoy |
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