14 September 2011

Post 425: a general update

Hey there, readerlings. Banned Book Week is coming up September 24-October 1. Due to my poor planning, I already have review books scheduled for that week. This is not to say I won't be participating, because my Banned Book posts get traffic, and I do like me some blog traffic. However, I may not actually be reading new books, but rather reflecting on experiences from books I've read previously in my life and enjoyed. These are books I might not have been able to read if they had been banned that have had a positive, or at least enriching, effect on my life. If you don't like them apples, feel free to submit a guest post for that week on a banned book you've read. You can contact me at acampb8@kent.edu.

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin.
Why yes, I finally got around to reading this book. I won't say I'm the last person to read this book, because I have read an awful lot of book reviews for books I just picked up that have that statement. Unless you plan to exterminate everyone who has an interest in reading, chances are you will not be the last person to read a book.

Steampunk! An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories edited by Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant.
Hurr, hurr, I like steampunk. I'm blogging when I don't really feel like blogging, can you tell? Also, there is a lot of jibber jabber in the background that is very distracting, my headphones can only block out so much yelled phone conversation. Anyway, I'm about a third through the stories. They are not quite as fantastic as Pump Six and Other Stories, but most are still worth reading. This is another of those Netgalley grabs.

The Maid: A Novel of Joan of Arc by Kimberly Cutter.
I have always had a bit of a fascination with Joan of Arc, and female saints in general really. I wrote a whole paper about how some women used eating disorders as a means of attaining sainthood, or at least an elevated position in the community, when they might otherwise have been condemned to a life of childbirth and housekeeping. My history professor made me rewrite it because she didn't believe in feminism, and then complained that I had basically written a completely different paper... yeah. Nobody liked you, history professor who shall not be named. Martyrs are fascinating, well, the not self-proclaimed variety.

Shame the Devil by Debra Brenegan.
Brenegan's publicity person contacted me to review this. I am generally a nice person and agree to review things I have a modicum of interest in. I like to pretend it is good for me, that it will somehow expand my horizons or introduce me to topics/authors I might otherwise ignore. This is a novelization about the life of Fanny Fern, a feminist journalist in the 19th century. It is not totally out of my area of interest as a historian, so I can throw this into professional-ish development and call it a day's work.

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