The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

 I've read The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman twice in college in the 1990s for two different English classes. I enjoyed reading this story back then very much. 

Honestly, I hadn't thought about The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in years until a booktuber I follow on YouTube had uploaded a review of it on his YouTube Channel last month. It was then I decided to reread The Yellow Wallpaper.

Lucky me, I was able to find and listen to the unabridged audio version of The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman on YouTube for FREE. I find YouTube to be a wonderful resource for free unabridged audiobooks, especially the classics. (However, plenty of more contemporary works may be found as audiobooks for free on YouTube as well.)

I enjoyed rediscovering The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman! The Yellow Wallpaper is a classic, feminist, 'semi autobiographical' short story written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in 1890 and eventually published in the January issue of The New England Magazine in 1892.

The gist of this short story is a young woman who is a wife and new mother is suffering from postpartum depression shortly after giving birth. Her husband is a doctor and he prescribes complete bed rest in the country where she will overcome the issue according to her husband. The husband claims to know what is best for his wife as he is a doctor after all... Let's just say this theory blows up in his face.

The idea that women were treated the way they were in the late 1800s by the medical professionals is appalling. Women's health was not taken seriously by medical professionals and this short story exemplifies this... Reading The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is almost like reading a horror story of sorts.

Read The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman to glean the full details. This short story makes for interesting reading.

Below is the plot summary for The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman I discovered on Goodreads:

Diagnosed by her physician husband with a “temporary nervous depression—a slight hysterical tendency” after the birth of her child, a woman is urged to rest for the summer in an old colonial mansion. Forbidden from doing work of any kind, she spends her days in the house’s former nursery, with its barred windows, scratched floor, and peeling yellow wallpaper.

In a private journal, the woman records her growing obsession with the “horrid” wallpaper. Its strange pattern mutates in the moonlight, revealing what appears to be a human figure in the design. With nothing else to occupy her mind, the woman resolves to unlock the mystery of the wallpaper. Her quest, however, leads not to the truth, but into the darkest depths of madness.

A condemnation of the patriarchy, The Yellow Wallpaper explores with terrifying economy the oppression, grave misunderstanding, and willful dismissal of women in late nineteenth-century society.

I am giving The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman a rating of 4 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!

Bad Feminist: Essays by Roxane Gay

 

I've had the signed paperback edition of Bad Feminist: Essays by Roxane Gay ever since attending the Bay Area Book Festival in 2017 where I heard Roxane Gay speak at an in person event. 

Despite the fact that I've been wanting to read Bad Feminist: Essays by Roxane Gay for years, I've kept putting it off until this year when I finally listened to the audio version! One of the reasons I've put off reading Bad Feminist is because I don't normally gravitate towards nonfiction essays despite the fact that I enjoy Roxane Gay's writing. However, nonfiction essays worked in my favor while listening to Bad Feminist this month. Each nonfiction essay was relatively short in length. I was able to enjoy each essay as it was presented and then come back for more when I was ready for the next essay as time permitted with my busier schedule this month.

I liked this collection of nonfiction essays by Roxane Gay. I don't think there was a bad essay in the bunch. Although, of course, there were some essays I enjoyed more than others. The essays seemed to run a diverse range of topics, which I enjoyed. I actually learned a lot about Roxane Gay... Like the fun factoids that Roxane Gay is a competitive Scrabble player, loved the Sweet Valley High series as a youngster, and her favorite color is pink.

Below is a summary for Bad Feminist: Essays by Roxane Gay from Chirp's website:

A collection of essays spanning politics, criticism, and feminism from one of the most-watched cultural observers of her generation

In these funny and insightful essays, Gay takes us through the journey of her evolution as a woman (Sweet Valley High) of color (The Help) while also taking readers on a ride through culture of the last few years (Girls, Django in Chains) and commenting on the state of feminism today (abortion, Chris Brown). The portrait that emerges is not only one of an incredibly insightful woman continually growing to understand herself and our society, but also one of our culture.

Bad Feminist is a sharp, funny, and spot-on look at the ways in which the culture we consume becomes who we are, and an inspiring call-to-arms of all the ways we still need to do better, coming from one of our most interesting and important cultural critics.

I am giving Bad Feminist: Essays by Roxane Gay a rating of 4 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!

Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit

 

I listened to the unabridged audio version of Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit and narrated by Luci Christian Bell.

Listening time for Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit is 2 hours, 47 minutes.

After hearing all the hype regarding Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit, I finally gave it a shot. I didn't enjoy this short read of essays as much as I thought I would. 

First off, I thought the entire book would be one long essay about men explaining things to the author, but it wasn't. There were several essays about different topics all pertaining to feminism in some way. The essay about 'Men Explaining Things to Me' was even different than expected, but still good. The rest of the essays gave food for thought, although a couple of them reiterated things I'd already learned in the past. This collection of essays was decent, just not as good as I'd hoped they'd be.

Below is the publisher's summary for Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit from Amazon:

In Men Explain Things to Me, Rebecca Solnit takes on the conversations between men who wrongly assume they know things and wrongly assume women don't. The ultimate problem, she shows in her comic, scathing essay, is female self-doubt and the silencing of women. Writer, historian, and activist Rebecca Solnit is the author of 14 books about civil society, popular power, uprisings, art, environment, place, pleasure, politics, hope, and memory, most recently The Faraway Nearby, a book on empathy and storytelling. She is a Harper's Magazine contributing editor.

I am giving Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit a rating of 2 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next time, happy reading!

Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction by Lisa Kröger and Melanie R. Anderson

 

I recently listened to the unabridged audio version of Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction by Lisa Kröger and Melanie R. Anderson and narrated by Erin Bennett.

Listening time for Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction by Lisa Kröger and Melanie R. Anderson is 7 hours, 29 minutes.

I was able to download Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction by Lisa Kröger and Melanie R. Anderson for FREE from Audible.

Below is my honest, unbiased review for Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction by Lisa Kröger and Melanie R. Anderson.

Oh, my word!! Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction by Lisa Kröger and Melanie R. Anderson is the surprise read of 2020 for me. I listened to this nonfiction book on a whim this month and LOVED every single second of it! I didn't expect to love this book so much.

Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction is methodically well written and is organized into eight main sections, which highlight different subgenres of horror and speculative fiction. Each of the eight sections offers short chapters that highlight different notable women authors that fall into that particular section by giving an author biography, notable works written by each author not to be missed, along with the names of authors with similar works/writing, and a quote. 

I am familiar with quite a few of the women authors mentioned in Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction by Lisa Kröger and Melanie R. Anderson. However, there are many more new to me women authors mentioned in Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction by Lisa Kröger and Melanie R. Anderson that I now have a long list of new to me authors/books to read in the future.

Below is the publisher's summary for Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction by Lisa Kröger from Audible:

Satisfy your craving for extraordinary authors and exceptional fiction: Meet the women writers who defied convention to craft some of literature’s strangest tales, from Frankenstein to The Haunting of Hill House and beyond.

Frankenstein was just the beginning: horror stories and other weird fiction wouldn’t exist without the women who created it. From Gothic ghost stories to psychological horror to science fiction, women have been primary architects of speculative literature of all sorts. And their own life stories are as intriguing as their fiction. Everyone knows about Mary Shelley, creator of Frankenstein, who was rumored to keep her late husband’s heart in her desk drawer. But have you heard of Margaret “Mad Madge” Cavendish, who wrote a science-fiction epic 150 years earlier (and liked to wear topless gowns to the theater)? If you know the astounding work of Shirley Jackson, whose novel The Haunting of Hill House was reinvented as a Netflix series, then try the psychological hauntings of Violet Paget, who was openly involved in long-term romantic relationships with women in the Victorian era. You’ll meet celebrated icons (Ann Radcliffe, V. C. Andrews), forgotten wordsmiths (Eli Coltor, Ruby Jean Jensen), and today’s vanguard (Helen Oyeyemi). Curated reading lists point you to their most spine-chilling tales.

Part biography, part reader’s guide, the engaging write-ups and detailed reading lists will introduce you to more than a hundred authors and over two hundred of their mysterious and spooky novels, novellas, and stories.

I am giving Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction by Lisa Kröger a rating of 5 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!

THE BEST GIFTS FOR FEMINISTS 2020: BOOK LOVERS EDITION!!

It's Cyber Monday!! Are you looking for gift ideas on what to buy that feminist book lover in your life for the holidays? Look no further!! I discovered an article on Book Riot's website titled, THE BEST GIFTS FOR FEMINISTS 2020: BOOK LOVERS EDITION by Kelly Jensen. In the article, Jensen wrote the following:

Whether you’re shopping for yourself or another favorite person in your life for the holidays or for a future celebration (or, you know, just because), perhaps you’re seeking out those gifts falling in the center of the “Feminist” and “Book Lovers” Venn diagram. Good news! Find below a roundup of the best gifts for feminists in 2020 and beyond. These gifts range from outstanding subscription boxes, to rad bookish feminist sweatshirts, to enamel pins, and more.

Click on the above link to see which feminist items made the list!

The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness by Jill Filipovic

                                                                                                                                       

I chose to read The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness by Jill Filipovic during Women's History Month and I am glad that I did!

I received an advanced reader copy/uncorrected proof of The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness by Jill Filipovic from the Goodreads Giveaway program. 

Below is my honest, unbiased review of The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness by Jill Filipovic.

I enjoyed reading The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness by Jill Filipovic. This nonfiction book comes with an introduction, eight chapters, and a conclusion. Topics discussed include women and friendship, women's history, motherhood/parenting, marriage for women, women in the workforce, food and body image, identity and feminine sacrifice.

I found that The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness by Jill Filipovic focuses largely on how things are for women in the US currently and the history of how things came to be for women in the USA. The conclusion chapter, which was short, is just that a conclusion. It discusses the areas we need to change in order to improve the quality of life for women. 

The following is a summary for The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness by Jill Filipovic from Goodreads:

What do women want? The same thing men were promised in the Declaration of Independence: happiness, or at least the freedom to pursue it. 

For women, though, pursuing happiness is a complicated endeavor, and if you head out into America and talk to women one-on-one, as Jill Filipovic has done, you'll see that happiness is indelibly shaped by the constraints of gender, the expectations of feminine sacrifice, and the myriad ways that womanhood itself differs along lines of race, class, location, and identity.

In The H-Spot, Filipovic argues that the main obstacle standing in-between women and happiness is a rigged system. In this world of unfinished feminism, men have long been able to "have it all" because of free female labor, while the bar of achievement for women has only gotten higher. Never before have women at every economic level had to work so much (whether it's to be an accomplished white-collar employee or just make ends meet). Never before have the standards of feminine perfection been so high. And never before have the requirements for being a "good mother" been so extreme. If our laws and policies made women's happiness and fulfillment a goal in and of itself, Filipovic contends, many of our country's most contentious political issues--from reproductive rights to equal pay to welfare spending--would swiftly be resolved.

Filipovic argues that it is more important than ever to prioritize women's happiness-and that doing so will make men's lives better, too. Here, she provides an outline for a feminist movement we all need and a blueprint for how policy, laws, and society can deliver on the promise of the pursuit of happiness for all.

I am giving The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness by Jill Filipovic a rating of 4 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next posy, happy reading!

We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Paperback Nonfiction

We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a short book that is 52 pages in length. It's a nonfiction essay dealing with the specific topic of feminism. I was able to read this book in one sitting!

I've been wanting to read We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie for quite awhile and had planned to read it next month for Women's History Month. However, I simply couldn't wait to read it sooner rather than later... I'm glad that I decided to read We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie earlier than anticipated.

Although I thoroughly enjoyed reading We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, I felt like several ideas discussed in Adichie's book, were ideas I was already familiar with through reading other feminist texts. However, that doesn't mean that I didn't learn anything new at all or that I didn't enjoy the powerful message contained between it's covers.

What I enjoyed most about reading We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is that it is very readable, yet contains a very powerful, straightforward message about the importance of being a feminist. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie also makes a great case on why it is important to begin raising our children differently without the usual gender stereotypes/biases. 

I think We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie should be read by everyone, men and women alike. We all have the power to change our views and outlook to make the world a better, more inclusive place for all.

Below is a synopsis of We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie from Amazon:

The highly acclaimed, provocative New York Times bestseller—a personal, eloquently-argued essay, adapted from the much-admired TEDx talk of the same name—from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, award-winning author of Americanah. Here she offers readers a unique definition of feminism for the twenty-first century, one rooted in inclusion and awareness. Drawing extensively on her own experiences and her deep understanding of the often masked realities of sexual politics, here is one remarkable author’s exploration of what it means to be a woman now—and an of-the-moment rallying cry for why we should all be feminists.

I am giving We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie a rating of 4 stars out 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!

7 Worthwhile Reasons to Start and/or Join a Feminist Book Club

I feel that women's issues and feminism in general are more important than ever these days. So, when I discovered an article on Bustle's website titled, 7 Ways A Feminist Book Club Can Change Your Life This Year by E. Ce Miller, I looked forward to reading the it. In the article, E. Ce Miller wrote the following:

It’s clear that the world is starting to change for women in a big way this year — and joining a feminist book club might be just one way to help yourself make sense of it all. Between the power of the Women’s Marches and the devastation of rampant sexual assault cases there’s a lot of gray area, and room for a whole lot of questions about what feminism means to you and where you might find your own place in it all. Reading some great feminist literature — and gathering together with some feminist book-lovers like yourself — might be exactly what you need to hold space for yourself and your questions, and start to work out some much-needed answers. Plus, by reading feminist literature you’ll be supporting women who, like the women of the #MeToo Movement today, have dared to tell hard stories about their lives. A book club and feminist activism all rolled into one? You can’t beat that.

I'd love to start or join an existing feminist book club, whether it is person meet-up type of book club or an online book club. There are so many great feminist works out there to be read and discussed with others! 

Nasty Women: Feminism, Resistance, and Revolution in Trump's America edited by Samhita Mukhopadhyay & Kate Harding

Feminism Paperback Edition

I received an uncorrected, paperback edition of Nasty Women: Feminism, Resistance, and Revolution in Trump's America edited by Samhita Mukhopadhyay & Kate Harding  through the Goodreads Giveaways program for Free!!

Below is my honest, unbiased review of Nasty Women: Feminism, Resistance, and Revolution in Trump's America edited by Samhita Mukhopadhyay & Kate Harding.

I was really excited to read this feminist, nonfiction book when it arrived in the mail!! I am a feminist and I enjoy reading a wide variety of feminist works. I am not a Trump supporter or fan, so felt that it was important to read this timely collection of feminist essays. I found Nasty Women: Feminism, Resistance, and Revolution in Trump's America to be an inspiring and empowering collection of essays to read as the essays highlight important topics/issues effecting women and minorities.

I enjoyed reading Nasty Women: Feminism, Resistance, and Revolution in Trump's America very much. This anthology contains 23 essays, written by 23 diverse feminist writers, like Jill Filipovic, Katha Pollitt, Cheryl Strayed, Rebecca Solnit, Jessica Valenti, Sarah Jaffe, and many more.

My personal favorite essays from Nasty Women: Feminism, Resistance, and Revolution in Trump's America include the following:

1. "Beyond the Pussy Hats" by Katha Pollitt
2. "Advice to Grace in Ghana: Trump, the Global Gag Rule, and the Terror of Misinformation" by Jill Filipovic
3. "The Pathology of Donald Trump" by Sady Doyle
4. "Nasty Native Women" by Mary Kathryn Nagle
5. "Farewell to Meritocracy" by Jamia Wilson
6. "Trust Black Women" by Zerlina Maxwell
7. "How to Build a Movement" by Alicia Garza

I pretty much liked all the essays included in Nasty Women: Feminism, Resistance, and Revolution in Trump's America with one exception... The only essay I didn't care for was "Country Crock" by Samantha Irby.

The following is a basic summary for Nasty Women: Feminism, Resistance, and Revolution in Trump's America edited by Samhita Mukhopadhyay & Kate Harding from Amazon:

When 53 percent of white women voted for Donald Trump and 94 percent of black women voted for Hillary Clinton, how can women unite in Trump’s America? Nasty Women includes inspiring essays from a diverse group of talented women writers who seek to provide a broad look at how we got here and what we need to do to move forward.

I am giving Nasty Women: Feminism, Resistance, and Revolution in Trump's America edited by Samhita Mukhopadhyay & Kate Harding a rating of 4 stars out of 5 stars.

As far as my 2018 reading goals go, Nasty Women: Feminism, Resistance, and Revolution in Trump's America is the 1st of 12 books I plan to read that I received for FREE as part of a giveaway.

Until my next post, happy reading!!