#Deborah Ann Author

[deborahannauthor]

New Release! Word Count Tracker for Authors ~

This simple word count tracking notebook is an easy and ideal way to track your writing and reach your writing goals! ~ Word Count Tracker for Authors notebook is a simple way for authors to stay organized and keep track of their writing progress, to help stay motivated toward success. The word count tracker has doable goals of 100 words at a time. But that’s not set in stone, you can change it…

[joncronshawauthor]

20 Women Writers Every Fantasy Reader Should Check Out!

Fantasy is a genre that has traditionally been dominated by male writes. However, in recent years, female authors have been gaining recognition for their incredible works of imagination and creativity. In this blog post, you’ll twenty women writers that every fantasy fan should read (with one more honourable mention). Ursula K. Le Guin Ursula K. Le Guin is a legend in the world of science…

[the-forest-library]

Mid-Year Book Freak Out

This is one of my favorite posts of the year - thanks for the tag @bookcub!

Number of books you’ve read so far: 233

Best book you’ve read so far in 2024: I feel like there hasn't been "the one" yet this year, but there are two non-fiction books that stand above the rest: Bite by Bite by Aimee Nezhukumatathil and Says Who? by Anne Curzan. They cover my favorite topics: foods and words.

Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2024: I really enjoyed the second Emily Wilde, but Chloe Liese really stuck the landing of the Bergman Brothers series. Only and Forever did not disappoint, and I'm sad that the series is over. This has been my comfort series over the last few years, and it has lots of disability and neurodiversity rep.

New release you haven’t read yet but want to: Funny Story by Emily Henry. I'm waiting for the audiobook from the library because Julia Whalen does an amazing job with Henry's books.

Most anticipated release for the second half of the year: I have several, and they are all coming out in the next two months, and they're all of my preorders for the year:

The Black Bird Oracle by Deborah Harkness (7/16)

Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell (7/30)

Last Seen Online by Lauren James (8/1)

The Pairing by Casey McQuiston (8/6) - Going to an in-person event for this!

My Salty Mary by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows (8/20)

Biggest surprise favorite new author (debut or new to you): Cara Bastone - Ready or Not really surprised me in the best ways, taking tropes I don't normally love and wowing me with how they played out.

Newest fictional crush: Maybe this worm from Mr. Postmouse's Rounds. I think he's adorable.

Book that made you cry: I was laughing so hard I was crying during the baby raccoon scene from Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez. It was hilarious in the audiobook.

Most beautiful book you’ve bought (or received) so far this year: I think it has to be The Black Bird Oracle. It's so pretty, and I can't wait for it to get here.

Book that made you happy: I really fell in love with Marianne Dubuc's illustrations in Mr. Postmouse’s Rounds and Mr. Postmouse Takes a Trip. I mean, just look at that cute worm above. The books are full of the most charming creatures and their adorable homes.

What books do you need to read by the end of the year? In addition to the most-anticipated releases above, I still need to get to the remaining books on my 24 in 2024 list:

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

A Willa Cather Book

The Grandest Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Tagging: I'm doing this a few weeks after it was going around, so I don't remember who has already done it. Consider yourself tagged if you'd like to do it and tag me so I can see your responses!

[whencyclopedia]

Women in the American Revolution

In Colonial America, women were discouraged from taking an interest in politics and were instead expected to focus only on traditionally 'feminine' matters, such as homemaking and childrearing. However, such gender roles were challenged during the American Revolution (1765-1789), when women played a crucial role in achieving the independence of the United States.

From the very first signs of tension between the Thirteen Colonies and Great Britain, colonial women discovered their political voice. Women were the driving force behind boycotts of British imports, shunning British tea in favor of local herbal substitutes, and holding spinning bees to reduce dependence on British cloth. Female writers, such as Mercy Otis Warren and Phillis Wheatley, helped turn public opinion against British rule, while hundreds of women accompanied the Continental Army to perform essential duties like washing, nursing, and cooking; some women, like Margaret Corbin, Mary Ludwig Hays, and Deborah Sampson, even took up arms and fought against the British. Although women were not viewed as politically equal to men after the war, their involvement proved to be a vital first step in the long struggle for women's rights in the United States.

Role of Women in Colonial America

In October 1608, the 'second supply' of English settlers arrived at the Jamestown Colony of Virginia to supplement the population of original settlers. Among these new arrivals was Thomas Forrest, a gentleman financier, who was accompanied by his wife, a woman listed in the ship's manifest only as 'Mistress Forrest', and her maid, Anne Burras. Mistress Forrest and Anne Burras were the first two English women to settle in Jamestown; Burras would marry later that year and earn the additional distinction of becoming the first English woman to give birth in Virginia. English women continued to sporadically arrive in Jamestown over the course of the next decade until 1619 when the Virginia Company decided to send large groups of women to foster a self-sustaining population. In 1620, 90 single women, many of them from poor families, arrived in Virginia as the first of the so-called Jamestown brides, or 'tobacco brides'. They were married off to Jamestown's male settlers, each of whom paid the Virginia Company a dowry of 120-150 pounds of tobacco. Additional groups of Jamestown brides continued to arrive in the following years.

Faced with this growing population of women, the colonists of Jamestown implemented a gender hierarchy similar to that which existed in England. This revolved around the doctrine of coverture, which stipulated that once a woman was married, she was under the complete authority of her husband and no longer enjoyed an independent legal status. A married woman, or feme covert, was legally considered to be one with her husband; she could no longer own property or sign contracts, and any money she earned belonged to her husband. Once a woman married, she was usually confined to the role of homemaker, devoting her hours to cleaning, cooking, ironing, sewing, and gardening. Divorce was difficult to obtain and was often only permissible if a pre-existing condition rendered the initial marriage invalid. As a result, many colonial women felt anxiety about marriage, with one woman referring to marriage as a 'dark leap' from the familiarity of her parents' house into an unknown future controlled by a man whose personality she may have misjudged (Norton, 42). Still, married life was more desirable than remaining a single woman – or feme sole – for too long, as spinsters were often placed near the bottom of the social hierarchy.

Of course, the status of colonial women varied from colony to colony, and widely depended on social class. Wealthy women, for instance, were usually better educated than lower-class women, as were women from Puritan New England who were often taught how to read in order to study the Bible. But, by and large, women were expected to remain within the 'feminine sphere' and to display only feminine traits such as modesty, cheerfulness, patience, and chastity. They were discouraged from expressing any interest in subjects that were considered masculine, particularly politics; attempts by colonial women to involve themselves in politics were met with punishment, as was the case with Anne Hutchinson, who was banished from Massachusetts in 1637 after challenging the authority of male religious leaders. But, as historian Mary Beth Norton points out, the advent of the American Revolution lent colonial women a political voice for the first time, helping to spark the slow progression of women's rights in the US.

Continue reading...

[garadinervi]

20 Broadsides, Edited by Allan Kornblum, Walker Art Center Reading Series 1980-1981, Bookslinger Editions, Saint Paul, MN, 1981, Edition of 53 unique copies numbered & signed by all authors on their individual fascicules, of which 32 further copies each were released separately [Walker Art Center, Chicago, IL. room 3o2 books, Ottawa]

Feat.: Margaret Atwood, Amiri Baraka, John Barth, Michael Dennis Brown, Alan Burns, Jim Carroll, Marisha Chamberlain, Paul Dutton, Robert Ferguson, Philip Gallo, Judy Grahn, Margaret Hasse, Deborah Keenan, Steve McCaffrey, Tom McGrath, bpNichol, Jayne Anne Phillips, Diane di Prima, Thomas Dillon Redshaw, Raphael Burreta Rivera, Diane Wakoski, Anna Wasecha

[upthewitchypunx]

Hi Alex! I'm a secular witch and I've been thinking of doing some more serious research about different kind of witchcraft and the history of magical practices- I was wondering if you had some sort of reading list of thing you'd recommend for beginners, or things that helped shape your personal philosophy of your craft? No prob if not of course! Your style of practice really resonates with me and I'd love to learn more :D

Sorry it took me so long to get to this! I don't have a personal list and generally ask people what they are into and recommend a book to suit that, but I hadn't thought of one that helped form my practice. I'd end of telling you to read all the Amber Chronicles to explain how I understand Chaos Magic or an old stack of Cometbus zines or a copy of Art of War by Sun Tzu. I also really enjoyed Ellen Dugan's books at the beginning of my practice (Cottage Witchery, Garden Witchery, etc) because she was the first author that didn't make me feel like I had to follow rules and she included personal anecdotes that really felt like applied magic.

Two of my new favorites for new witches that are more educational are Beginner's Guide to the Occult by Deborah Lipp and How To Study Magic by Sarah Lyons. Both of these books give a layout of the land and give you and idea of what there is to know without telling you what to do. I think a lot of people have an urge but don't know what direction to take, and these books are kind of like signposts.

For a great books for new witches I'll always suggest @breelandwalker Grovedaughter Witchery. I also enjoy Kelly-Ann Maddox's Rebel Witch, Folk Witchcraft by Roger J Horne and Six Ways by Aidan Watcher. From there I explore my neighborhood and notice seasonal changes, books about specific interests whether witchy or not. Then start to see the throughlines in your life and practice and see how they integrate into each other. Your ethics, values, and experiences do not exist in bubbles. I think practices are most satisfying when they celebrate the whole experience.

[aliteraryprincess]

April 2024 Wrap Up

Not me posting my April wrap up over halfway through May...

Books Read: 13

Look at all these! I mean, to be fair, five are picture books. But still. My favorite was, of course, The Sunshine Court. I can't believe that the year of our lord 2024 gave us a new All for the Game book. It was amazing! My least favorite was The Biographer's Tale. A serious disappointment from the author of one of my favorite books. I was also unable to finish Apt Pupil, although I thought it was well-written. Almost too well-written. I was seriously disturbed. Books marked with ® are rereads.

Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King - 4 stars

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness - 4 stars

In the night I dream of home by Vagelis Iliopoulos, illustrated by Hariton Bekiaris - 4 stars

The Sleeping Beauty retold and illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman - 4 stars

The Idiot by Elif Batuman - 4 stars

Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey - 4 stars

Molly by Joseph S. Bonsall, illustrated by Erin Marie Mauterer - 4 stars ®

Sea Tale by Gail E. Haley - 4 stars ®

An Ellis Island Christmas by Maxinne Rhea Leighton, illustrated by Dennis Nolan - 4 stars ®

Daniel Deronda by George Eliot - 5 stars ®

The Biographer's Tale by A. S. Byatt - 2 stars

The Sunshine Court by Nora Sakavic - 5 stars

The Ways of Life by Margaret Oliphant - 4.5 stars

Books DNFed: 1

Apt Pupil by Stephen King - due to violent animal death

On Tumblr:

There's not much here, but @thehobbitwithstickyuppyhair helped me find a childhood picture book that I've been trying to find for years, and I am so grateful!

March 2024 Wrap Up

Book Quotes: The Idiot by Elif Batuman

Book Quotes: Daniel Deronda by George Eliot

Help me find this picture book? - Solved!

More Victorian Novels Connections

On YouTube:

And a good mix here, including a Fairy Tale Friday.

March Wrap Up | 8 reads, 1 DNF

Fairy Tale Friday | The Night Dance by Suzanne Weyn

Quarter Year Crisis Book Tag 2024

Currently Reading 4/15/24

The George Eliot Project | Middlemarch

1st Book Haul of 2024 | January to March

May TBR | Mental Health May & more!

What I Read for Picture This 2024

[commanderbabygirl]

11 & 17 for the book ask (*^^*)

11: What was your favorite book that has been out for a while, but you just now read?

time is very relative and i can’t pick favorites so top three!!

i listened to: The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks, and Giants of the Ocean by Susan Casey - published 2010 - a nonfiction book about rogue waves it’s soooooooo interesting it talks a lot about big wave surfing but also how we track freak waves and the history of wave science - it’s literally so good go read it the narrator did a really good job if you like audiobooks

i read: Solitudes Crowded with Loneliness by Bob Kaufman - published 1965 - a poetry collection that’s reallllyyyyy good bob kaufman was a jazz artist and poet throught the mid 19th century and a lot of his work was only ever preformed orally - my favourite of his poems are grandfather was queer too followed by jail poems

i read: Dear America: Hear My Sorrow: The Diary of Angela Denoto, a Shirtwaist Worker, New York City 1909 by Deborah Hopkinson - published 2004 - a middle grade historical fiction about the shirtwaist workers strikes in the late 1900s and early 1910s - the triangle shirtwaist factory fire is a plot point - hadn’t read it since i was little very good held up for the most part younger me was Obsessed with the dear canada and dear america books - 100% what radicalized me at like 8 - just realized this doesn’t really count cus it was a reread shhhhhhh i have negative reading comprehension it’s okay

17: Did any books surprise you with how good they were?

i listened to How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler and was surprised by how much i liked it!!! i’ve been branching out a lot this year with reading more nonfiction and it was the first collection of essays i’ve read and it was super fascinating the author does suchhhhhh a good job marrying the ocean and their life it was sooooo so good like go read it - the author narrated the audiobook which also added another layer of!!!!

i listened to Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger and was surprised by how much the world building sucked me in!!! i had read another of her books a snake falls to earth and was expecting something like that and while it had the same world building aspects it was more of a murder mystery which normally is not my cup of tea but i reallllttttyyyyy enjoyed it - both books are set in the present day in an alternate universe where the legends of indigenous mythology (the author is specifically lipan apache) are very much real and recognized and are a big part of the world and plots

i read The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy by Anne Ursu it’s a middle grade fantasy and i wasn’t expecting to enjoy it as much as i did it had a really cool magic and world building and the intrapersonal relationships genuinely made me cry - no book needs to have a teachable lesson but this one definitely encouraged practicing media literacy and not trusting everything your told just because it comes from an authority figure and did it in a good not heavy handed way which i really enjoyed

thank you for the ask hehehehe

[beardedmrbean]

Of all the parties represented in the German parliament the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) uses the youth social media platform TikTok the most, according to a study published Tuesday.

"We are observing masses of openly right-wing extremist symbols and codes on TikTok," said Deborah Schnabel, the director of the Anne Frank Educational Center, which conducted the analysis. 

"Time and again, accounts from the AfD or from the party's environment are involved" in such content, Schnabel said. 

AfD party leader Alice Weidel is one of the top five political influencers on TikTok, the study noted. AfD politician Ulrich Siegmund of the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt is in the first place with more 400,000 followers. 

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's account has around 260,000 followers, and Robert Habeck's, the vice chancellor, has less than 30,000.

'Parallel universe'

The authors of the 62-page study warned that AfD politicians and right-wing extremists use the platform as a "parallel universe" to spread their ideology and garner support from young people. 

"On TikTok, the AfD presents itself as a caretaker and champion of young people — democratic parties have not yet found any good answers to this," said Schnabel. 

For example, Weidel is often shown on TikTok as spontaneous and funny, promoting a different image than that portrayed in traditional media, the authors said.

A major poll published in April showed that the AfD was the favorite party among young people aged 14 to 29, with a projected 22% of the vote — double its score just a year ago.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's account has around 260,000 followers, and Robert Habeck's, the vice chancellor, has less than 30,000.

'Parallel universe'

The authors of the 62-page study warned that AfD politicians and right-wing extremists use the platform as a "parallel universe" to spread their ideology and garner support from young people. 

"On TikTok, the AfD presents itself as a caretaker and champion of young people — democratic parties have not yet found any good answers to this," said Schnabel. 

For example, Weidel is often shown on TikTok as spontaneous and funny, promoting a different image than that portrayed in traditional media, the authors said.

A major poll published in April showed that the AfD was the favorite party among young people aged 14 to 29, with a projected 22% of the vote — double its score just a year ago.

'Weak performance' from other parties

Schnabel noted that AfD member of parliament Sebastian Münzenmaier from Mainz, for example, has almost 80,000 followers on the platform, while the center-left Social Democrats' (SPD) secretary-general, Kevin Kühnert, has around 11,000.

While many politicians and government figures have TikTok accounts, Schnabel said they must rethink their communication strategies, noting their "weak performance."

Putting explanatory videos and educational content on Tiktok is not enough, she said, adding, "Young people also want to be respected in their aesthetic attitudes and addressed on an emotional level." 

Schnabel called for media skills and political education to be given a higher priority in schools.

[hisdhampir]

MEDIEVAL RELIGION READING RECS.

below is a list of books I recommend reading if you are trying to get into the history of medieval religion. this list is being consistently updated, so please come back soon to see what else i've added!

if you have any questions, comments, or would like to recommend an addition to the list, feel free to send a message to my ask box!

BOOKS FOCUSING ON WOMENS EXPERIENCES:

Authority and the Female Body in the Writings of Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe (2004), by Liz Herbert McAvoy・an examination of ways in which the writings of Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe were affected by traditional and contemporary attitudes towards women

English Medieval Mystics: Games of Faith (1993), by Marion Glasscoe・in this book Glasscoe demystifies the religious background, charts the `game of faith', its goals, methods and rules, then goes on to clarify the nature and growth in mystical experience through an analysis of the key works of the five major medieval English mystic writers.

Fragmentation and Redemption: Essays on Gender and the Human Body in Medieval Religion (1992), by Caroline Walker Bynum・Exploring a diverse array of medieval texts, the essays show how women were able to appropriate dominant social symbols in ways that revised and undercut them, allowing their own creative and religious voices to emerge

Joan of Arc: The Early Debate (2000), by Deborah A. Fraioli・Fraioli examines contemporary theological documents which show genuine debate about Joan's mission and whether she was diabolically or divinely inspired...very interesting perspective

Joan of Arc: Heretic, Mystic, Shaman (1986) by Anne Llewellyn Barstow・Joan of Arc is a mystic who heard what the church would not approve. Barstow focuses on the aspects of Joan of Arc's behaviour and her social environment that enabled her, as both a woman and an illiterate peasant, to act autonomously and acquire power

Joan of Arc: The Image of Female Heroism (1981), by Marina Warner・In a new preface to her study, Marina Warner takes stock of the continuing contention, in politics and culture, for this powerful symbol of virtue. Joan of Arc's multiple resurrections and transformations show how vigorous the need for figures like her remains, and how crucial it is to meet that need with thoughtfulness.

Joan of Arc (2014), by Helen Castor・acclaimed historian Helen Castor brings us afresh a gripping life of Joan of Arc (unfortunately this one cannot be read free online to my knowledge)

The Literary Image of Joan of Arc: Prior Influences (1981), by Deborah A. Fraioli・from the journal of the Medieval Academy of America, Fraioli writes an image of Joan of Arc's life in her own time

Secretaries of God (1997), by Diane Watts・a history of women prophets from medieval saints to radical Protestants

She'll Eat Him Up, She Loves Him So (?), by Sarah Clairmont・a study on early Christian women mystics perception of the body, embodiment, and woman’s identification and their struggle with this tension in their asceticism and theology

The Trail of Joan of Arc (1996), translated by W.S. Scott・In her journey from peasant to military commander to martyr, Joan of Arc cuts an extraordinary figure. here is her story.

Women and Mystical Experiences In the Middle Ages (1992), by Frances Beer・an original and thought-provoking study of three medieval women mystics based on writings and biographical material

Women Mystics in Medieval Europe (1989), by Emilie Zum Brunn・the lost story of feminine Christianity is here enriched for the first time by the historical context of each woman's life and her fresh literary expression of spiritual reality

OTHER BOOKS:

COMING SOON!

[bookclub4m]

Episode 176 - Fantasy

This episode we’re talking about the genre of Fantasy! We discuss whether fantasy needs magic, clam powers, forklore, Tears of the Kingdom, worksonas, It’s Always My First Day at Wizard School, and more!

You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, or your favourite podcast delivery system.

In this episode

Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | Jam Edwards

Things We Read (or tried to…)

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo

When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse

Storm of Locusts by Rebecca Roanhorse

Sing, Nightingale by Marie Hélène Poitras, translated by Rhonda Mullins

A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark

The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune, narrated by Kirt Graves

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw

Lakelore by Anna-Marie McLemore

Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang

The Chill by Scott Carson

Nothing but Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw

Big Machine by Victor LaValle

Other Media We Mentioned

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey (Wikipedia)

Elfquest by Wendy and Richard Pini (Wikipedia)

Read it online free!

Steven Universe (Wikipedia)

Sailor Moon (Wikipedia)

Squire by Sara Alfageeh and Nadia Shammas

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

The Golden Compass / Northern Lights by Philip Pullman

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Redwall (Wikipedia) Brian Jacques

The Discworld Mapp: Being the Onlie True and Mostlie Accurate Mappe of the Fantastyk and Magical Dyscworlde by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Briggs

Discworld (Wikipedia)

The Chronicles of Narnia (Wikipedia) by C.S. Lewis

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce

Wise Child by Monica Furlong

Juniper by Monica Furlong

The Sandman (comic book) (Wikipedia)

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Wikipedia)

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Wikipedia)

Yakuza 0 (Wikipedia)

A Song of Ice and Fire (Wikipedia) by George R. R. Martin

The series of novels on which the television series Game of Thrones is based

The Wheel of Time (Wikipedia) by Robert Jordan

The Black God's Drums by P. Djèlí Clark

Leaving Mundania: Inside the Transformative World of Live Action Role-Playing Games by Lizzie Stark

Links, Articles, and Things

X-Men (Wikipedia)

Scarlet Witch

Magik (Illyana Rasputina) (though her magic powers are separate from her mutation)

Magical girl (Wikipedia)

Alebrije (Wikipedia)

Dungeons & Dragons (Wikipedia)

Independence Day (1996 film) (Wikipedia)

30 Fantasy fiction by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) Authors

Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcasts chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

Road of the Lost by Nafiza Azad

A Broken Blade by Melissa Blair

A Thousand Steps into Night by Traci Chee

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi

The Unbroken by C.L. Clark

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

VenCo by Cherie Dimaline

The Daughters of Izdihar by Hadeer Elsbai 

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

Blood Scion by Deborah Falaye

The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez

The Lost Dreamer by Lizz Huerta

Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

The Björkan Sagas by Harold R. Johnson

Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee

Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim

A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin

The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

The Return of the Sorceress by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

The Famished Road by Ben Okri

Beasts Made of Night by Tochi Onyebuchi

The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter

Give us feedback!

Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!

Check out our Tumblr, follow us on Twitter or Instagram, join our Facebook Group, or send us an email!

Join us again on Tuesday, June 20th we’re talking about celebrity book clubs and one book reading campaigns!

Then on Tuesday, July 4th we’ll be discussing non-fiction books about UFOs and Aliens!

[onebluebookworm]

September 2023 Book Club Picks

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith: Cassandra Mortmain lives in a crumbling Suffolk castle with her penniless and eccentric family - her wild-tempered author father, her precocious younger brother, and her sensible older sister - recording their various misadventures in her diary. When two wealthy American brothers become their new landlords, Cassandra and her sister are immediately drawn to them, wondering if perhaps they've finally found an escape from their mundane lives.

Deborah Goes to Dover by Marion Chesney: Hannah Pym sets out once more for a glorious adventure, this time destined for Dover. Of course, what's an adventure with the infamous Traveling Matchmaker without matches to make? First, there's poor Abigail Cunningham, accompanied by her mother to be shuffled into a loveless marriage. Then there's tomboyish Deborah Western, encouraged to a life of lazy excess by her unruly twin brother William. Hannah isn't about to let two eligible ladies go astray, not when there are handsome eligible bachelors to pair them with!

The Only One Left by Riley Sager: Everyone knows the story of the Hope's End massacre - on a stormy, cold night in 1929, Lenora Hope systematically killed her whole family, stabbing her father and mother, and hanging her sister from the chandelier. Lenora swore she didn't do it and was never formally charged, but it had to be her. After all, she was the only one left. Fifty-four years later, Kit McDeere has been assigned to Hope's End as a caregiver after a series of strokes leaves Lenora almost totally immobilized, save her left hand. And one night, Lenora uses that left hand to plunk out a simple sentence on an old typewriter - I want to tell you everything. As Lenora tells Kit her story, it's clear that there's more to the story than anyone knows, and Kit begins to wonder how much she can trust this seemingly harmless woman.

Mary, Bloody Mary by Carolyn Meyer: Mary Tudor - Princess of Wales, only surviving child of King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon - leads a life full of riches and admiration, destined to rule all of England one day. But vicious rumors begin to circulate through the court - King Henry's eyes have begun to wander, vexed that Catherine never provided him with a proper male heir. His sights land on the beautiful and ambitious Anne Boleyn, and turns his kingdom upside down to be allowed to marry her. Mary, only a child, is thrown into a dangerous world of political intrigue, spies, and love gone mad as her once-beloved father tears her life apart, strips her of her title, her home, and her mother, and declares her a bastard, unfit to inherit the throne. But Mary endures. After all, it is her destiny to rule one day.

Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte: When her father loses the family savings on a risky investment, young Agnes Grey decides to easy her family's financial burden by taking a position as a governess to a wealthy family. Ecstatic at the thought that she has finally gained control and freedom over her own life, Agnes arrives at the Bloomfield mansion armed with confidence and purpose. The cruelty with which the family treat her however, slowly but surely strips the heroine of all dignity and belief in humanity.

[lafcadiosadventures]

Madame Putiphar Readalong. Book One, Chapter Ten:

Were it not for the open ending this chapter could have been a short story like those in Champavert. A young woman is stabbed by her father’s henchman who thinks he’s murdering her lover instead (as commanded by her father) Once the mistake is discovered, the father is distraught, not because he has much love for his daughter but because it frustrates his negotiations to marry her off.

Romeo and Juliet Act Five Header illustrated by Kenny Meadows, engraved by John Orrin Smith. From the Victorian Illustrated Shakespeare Archive

We begin with more Cockermouth characterization which allows Borel to explain us the different ways in which English domain of Ireland was exerted. The autonomous since 1690 Irish Parliament was now under English control (whatever the intervened parliament decided had to be approved by the English Crown)

Both the Irish clergy and the rebels are fervently against Cockermouth (Cockermouth is so extreme and baroque in his power abuse that he had proposed to implement mandatory castration of catholic priests)(and the rebels that had fallen in his power during the Kerry uprisings had been treated with the utmost cruelty)(Cockermouth is here to rip the country’s culture off and obliterate its morale via gruesome violence)(Borel tells us this castration ordeal had been implemented before, and Cockermouth was merely trying to bring it back in 1723)(all I could find was this: “In 1719 a law was put forward which included the penalty of castration for unregistered priests. It was rejected by the British authorities. A 1723 bill was to require all Catholic bishops and clergy who were members of orders to leave the country, along with secular priests who did not take an oath of abjuration.”-> source )

But after that intro about exerting and holding power in colonies, the narrative violently swerves and we dive into the preparations for Cockermouth’s birthday party.

The only people adhering to the celebrations are the paupers (earlier the local workers payed their compulsory respects to their lord), who come expressly to their lands to pay liege homage to the kitchen. The description of the charity by the ladies of the castle is vaguely idealized. Anne and Deborah are like the good fairies feeding and dressing the mendicants. We are told they are dressed elegantly but are humble and kind and generous. The people are naturally grateful and happy at being fed and treated kindly. A full fledged popular party breaks out, bagpipes are implemented, the minstrels sing traditional songs and improvise some new ones in their hostesses honor. There is no irony in the treatment of charity by Borel. He makes that comment on the women’s elegance among the smoky surroundings and the dirtiness/raggedness/nudity of their guests, but calls it a beautiful example. However, this paragraph comes right after the one about Cockermouth violence so we cannot help but put them in contrast. How do the local poor people felt at being forced to get their food at the house of an infamous torturer, (who also usurped their land of its resources) willingly entering his house to beg for food because its a celebration day. It is very revealing of their desperation, even if Borel doesn’t highlight and has only positive words for Debby and Anne.

By nightfall, the comme il faut guests start arriving to the Castle. They are received by the Lord and Lady. She, “(...) of an interesting beauty even through a forest of fandangle (...) ” (translation -and footnotes- here!! ) I like Borel dismissing luxury as being in detriment of beauty (takes us back to his proclaimed love of poverty in the prologue for the Rhapsodies) So of course Debby, who is Petrus’ ideal wears no fussy jewels -but she has other reasons besides aesthetic ones to avoid attention. As soon as she can, she tries to get lost into the crowd.

But she is forced to abandon her hiding place to meet her husband to-be. She keeps her lips tightly shut in a smile, curtseying to her suitor, making herself into a pleasant doll, a nodding Coppelia, playing her part hoping it would make it all pass as quickly as possible.

And we hear about her suitor. Through him Borel sketches his own prototypical libertine in an 18 th c novel, but there is no glamour, no appeal to the figure. He is a man of leisure who is a professional rapist (the peasant girls he thinks himself so irresistible to, flee on his sight like Daphne from Apollo) He is also ridden with venereal diseases (the peasant girls run away from him like from the Plague, he is the masculine version of the prostitutes in Félicien Rops’ paintings, a skeleton hiding behind a grinning mask, but in his case even the mask is blood-curdling). His family is trying to prevent any grave scandal by marrying him off (by giving him Deborah) but of course he has no intention of changing his ways and is merely glad that his future wife is good looking and that her money would enable him future conquests because ��Money is the sinews of war.” 

Deborah was aware of his reputation, but even if she hadn’t been she would have been instinctively repelled because his demeanour made him as repelling to women as poison.

As once as his disgusting attentions were over, she fled.

Leaving lights in her window when leaving her room to make it seem occupied, she ran to meet Patrick. We return to Cockermouth who is not enjoying himself, he is too anxious checking his watch, thinking of his plot to have any fun. At nine he meets Chris at the courtyard (and the next scene between them is once again a theatrical dialogue)

Thinking Debby was still in her room, they lock the gate expecting to keep her trapped inside. Chris complains about the lack of stars, the visibility is very low and he can’t see ahead. Low visibility notwithstanding, they still station themselves in a turret and Chris aims and shoots at a figure walking by bellow. They descend, and Cockermouth watches as Chris humiliates his victim.

Chris makes sure to bring up that one time Patrick refused to drink with him, and jokes on how he wouldn’t drink with him whom is now disembowelling him. To which lord Cockermouth feels compelled to add the disembowelling is done on his behalf. (to which Chris adds, rather insolently, on half his behalf) Cockermouth grows impatient at his henchman’s childish sadism (he is compared to Harlequin, we already discussed this but they are farce and commedia coded). As he would never be able to murder him by hitting him with the butt of his rifle only, the Lord hands him the feudal sword to make the task swifter. (and I bet Chris would have been extremely pleased by being bestowed that honor, touching the blade of his beloved Lord, but he is having too much fun stabbing away to remark on that fact. Cockermouth asks for his sword to be cleaned before it being returned to him)

After the carnage, Cockermouth nonchalantly returns to the banquet. He invites his guests to follow him to the dining room. They all seat for the feast. Deborah’s fiancé misses her, and asks over and over for her. Lord Cockermouth angrily sends Chris to find her, bring her back and scold her for her rudeness. When Chris returns, he reports that Deborah was nowhere to be found. However, her rooms were locked from within and the lights were still burning. Cockermouth extended arm fell inertly on the table, all the guests noticed his distress and his pallor...

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Douglas Todd

Published: Apr 15, 2016

Canada is a place where gender stereotypes remain unusually strong. Few seem able to hear that women can be as violent as men in domestic disputes.

UBC psychology professor Don Dutton, who is about to retire at age 72, has never had a strong desire to be the centre of attention, let alone be infamous. To his mind, he just follows the evidence.

But the expert on forensic psychology ranks high for controversy, at least in Canada.

Dutton has written hundreds of peer-reviewed articles, more than eight books and textbooks, won dozens of grants and served as an expert witness in scores of legal cases, including appearing for the prosecution in the 1995 murder trial of former NFL star O.J. Simpson.

The more than 250 students who take Dutton’s courses each year learn about everything from the reliability of eyewitness accounts to personality disorders, from the roots of genocide to what makes serial killers tick.

But on one subject, now known as intimate-partner violence, Dutton has become too hot for many Canadians to handle.

That may be why outspoken Senator Anne Cools has asked Dutton to speak to the Senate in Ottawa next Thursday, where he will outline how most domestic disputes involve “bilateral,” or mutual, violence.

Sitting in the living room of the Kitsilano home that he shares with his wife, Marta Aragonez, Dutton explains his research is readily received in many places outside Canada.

The author of Rethinking Domestic Violence and The Domestic Assault of Women (both published by UBC Press) has already spoken to the World Bank, the University of Washington law school and many other institutions.

His books have been published in several languages, including Japanese and Dutch. Scholars around the world have formally cited his research more than 7,000 times.

But Canada is a place, he says, where gender stereotypes remain unusually strong. Few seem able to hear that women can be as violent as men in domestic disputes.

Dutton didn’t always think so. He started out his UBC psychology career in the 1970s, offering court-mandated psychotherapy to husbands accused of battering their wives.

“In those days,” Dutton says, “I thought it was just the men who were doing it.”

By the 1990s, however, Dutton realized many husbands were telling the truth when they said, “My wife is violent, too.”

Mutual violence emerges when “couples don’t know how to stop”

American researchers were discovering the same reality. Daniel Whittaker has found the most common form of domestic violence is mutual: Up to 75 per cent of victimized women were also aggressors.

“Couples get into screaming matches that get physical,” Dutton says. “They are under stress and insult each other. And they just don’t know how to stop.”

The second most-common form of intimate-partner violence is perpetrated by females, according to Whittaker and others. The third most-common form, known as wife battering, is perpetrated by males.

Weapons, despite being rare in domestic violence, are gender-neutral, including scissors and boiling water.

Why is such data so little known in Canada?

A key factor, says Dutton, is technical, at least on the surface. Statistics Canada’s widely used domestic-violence data is based solely on criminal reports — and women make the vast majority of complaints to police.

Canadian researchers don’t take the extra steps that American and European researchers do: They don’t ask each partner if they contributed to the violence.

When U.S. scholar Deborah Capaldi has asked such questions, she’s found that in 87 per cent of the cases in which the man was arrested, the woman admitted she had shown prior aggression.

In his presentations, Dutton also cites a study by Denise Hines, who followed 302 men who called a New Hampshire hotline that had been established for men involved in domestic violence (a rare public service). In three out of four cases the men had been injured. But when those same men sought followup help from another domestic-violence program, 64 per cent were told they were the “real batterer.”

In one case, a husband called police after his drunken wife attacked him. The police found the man with a knife sticking out of his body. They still arrested him.

Most police officers that Dutton knows, male and female, are already aware that gender stereotypes about domestic disputes don’t hold up. But he says police feel their hands are tied by public perceptions about violence against women.

Unlike many, Dutton has no desire to politicize domestic violence. Despite accusations hurled at him, he doesn’t belong to any sort of men’s rights movement. Still, he’s taken considerable lumps.

The case of Fariba Mahmoodi

Among other things, Dutton was devastated by the national attention given to 35-year-old Iranian student Fariba Mahmoodi, who convinced a B.C. Human Rights Tribunal he had created a “sexualized atmosphere” when she came to his Kitsilano home in 1994.

Despite the tribunal learning Mahmoodi had stalked Dutton and lied at least three times to advance her career and her finances — and despite the B.C. Civil Liberties Association supporting Dutton by saying the ruling brought a new “chill” to freedom of expression on campus — Dutton emphasizes most “people do not know how bad it is” to be subjected to such a concerted public attack.

The Mahmoodi nightmare dragged on for years, but Dutton notes no other woman ever came forward to complain about his behaviour — “because I don’t do that kind of thing.” He has no idea what’s happened to Mahmoodi.

SFU criminology professor Ehor Boyanowsky believes it’s a shame Dutton’s work, especially on intimate-partner violence, is not more appreciated in Canada.

The problem, Boyanowsky believes, is that Canada is home to more liberal, “well-intentioned” people than most countries.

“They follow their unanalyzed prejudices based on what they think is the right thing to do — rather than looking at the data and acting appropriately for harm reduction.”

Describing Dutton as brilliant, but personally “timid,” Boyanowsky said the UBC psychology professor overcomes his cautiousness by working tremendously hard and doing deep research.

“He challenged the paradigm that men are the perpetrators and women are the victims in almost all cases. He follows the evidence. He’s a scientist.”

SFU professor emerita of psychology, Kim Bartholomew, also admires Dutton.

“He’s been courageous in maintaining his intellectual integrity in a field in which ideology is often more influential than data, and in which there are strong pressures against challenging the ideological view.”  

For his part, Dutton believes Canadian politicians, from both the left and right, have fallen into a gender trap.

Liberal-left politicians and activists have turned domestic violence into solely a women’s rights issue, often defining the entire category as “violence against women.”

Conservative politicians don’t get the picture either, he says. Since they want to appear protective of women, they appeal to religious supporters by framing partner violence as a lack of “family values.”

There is a significant reason Dutton wants policy-makers, including the senators he’ll meet on Thursday, to overcome their stereotypes and recognize men and women are similarly violent in relationships.

If public officials understood the realities, Dutton believes they would realize the harm of domestic violence could be reduced by courts mandating both partners take part in couples therapy.

As he prepares to retire from UBC after 47 years, however, Dutton is not optimistic Canadian politicians will accept the evidence.

“I don’t see it turning around.”

[ Via: https://archive.ph/0GlB7 ]

==

This is what happens when I tag "violence ag" and let it suggest. If you wonder why I'm posting on this topic, this is as good a reason as any.

[honeyhour]

hey

caroline mercer / jenna coleman. pastry chef.

daphne acaster / riley keough. secretary. 

diana zhou / jessie mei li. paralegal. 

eleanor temult / hannah dodd. politician’s daughter.

kelsey hoffman / halston sage. radio show host.

marley st. james / deborah ann woll. author. 

meredith dorian / kennedy mcmann. teaching assistant. 

octavia mercer / monica barbaro. interior designer. 

olivia henderson / bella maclean. con artist.

[hcolleen]

Twenty books

In no particular order other than how I remember them, twenty books that helped make me who I am. Supposed to be without explanation, but I think I'll add some. I'm not saying these are all good, but they all influenced me.

The Time Quartet by Madeline L'Engle. I'm on my third copy of Wrinkle in Time (the other two fell apart and my current copy has loose pages)

The DragonRiders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey. Not sure if this was authorial intent, but there's a scene that impressed upon young me that you judge people by what they do, not by who they love.

A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton Porter. I learned a lot about moths and butterflies in this book

Spock's World by Diane Duane. Taught me to question who and why behind news.

The Nero Wolfe Mysteries by Rex Stout. The first mysteries I actually liked.

Black Holes and Time Warps by Kip Thorne. The first deeper science book about cosmology and relativity that started a deep love.

The Girl with the Silver Eyes by Willow Davis Roberts. Haunted me.

For Love of Evil by Piers Anthony. Not all evils are the same, and sometimes evil is a means to get to the good ending, but still should be evaluated by results and motivation.

Full Moon Rising by Keri Arthur. Got me back into PNR after Anita Blake put me off the genre, which led me to most of what I read now.

The Cat Ate My Gym Shorts by Paula Danzinger (and other titles). Helped young me develop resilience.

They Have a Word for It by Howard Rheingold. Started my love of linguistics.

GetBackers by Yuya Aoki and Rando Ayamine. The best manga I've read and I think of how it all ties together so well and deliciously often.

The Turing Option by Harry Harrison. An exploration of the divide between human and machine and what makes us human

The Last Coincidence by Robert Goldsburough. The first audiobook I listened to and while I thought it odd in high school, though I enjoyed it, is now how I read most books.

Double Trouble by Barthe DeClements. One of those books that haunts my brain from childhood.

The Vmapire's Mail Order Bride by Kristen Painter. Started my love affair with cozy PNR mysteries, my most read genre now.

The Utterly Uninterestig and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant by Drew Hayes. Introduced me to one of my new favorite authors.

The Cures of Chalion by Louis McMaster Bujold. One of my favorite books and an interesting exploration of religion and how it affects history.

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. An openly curious exploration of everything that fascinated the author as a child, encouraging my adult curiosity and exploration.

The Poisoner's Handbook by Deborah Blum. History and science and crime and how our modern systems developed.

The Giver by Lois Lowry. Quite a haunting book.