{Lindsay} 31-40

Moving right along! I love reading binges.

I read some more Shakespeare, this time in the form of Titus Andronicus. Apparently this is Shakespeare's critically worst play, but I enjoyed it. Pretty violent plot driven by vengeance, which I tend to love, so purely from an entertainment angle, I was satisfied with it. Unfortunately I really need the assistance of SparkNotes to help me get past an appreciation of the Bard based purely on entertainment, but whatever. Thanks, Lit degree! Here's hoping I don't fail miserably as an English teacher...

Next were a couple VERY different feminist works. One was called Cunt: A Declaration of Independence, by Inga Muscio. I'll admit, I picked up this book solely because of the title, but what this book seemed to be about was what made me buy it. What I THOUGHT I was gonna read was a long, detailed history of the word "cunt" and how it's meaning and connotations have changed over the course of its history. This was how the book seemed to be marketed, since that was mostly what the little back-cover blurb focused on. Since this is one of my favorite words in any language, and since I'm a whore for language in general, obviously I thought this was going to be a great read. Unfortunately, the marketing and reality of the content of the book didn't quite pair up. Even after reading it, I'm not sure I could give an adequate description of the overall point this author is trying to make. The word origin section is the shortest section in the book, and it's completely lacking in concrete details. The rest of the book lacks clear flow, cohesion, and and has the worst editing I have ever seen in a widely-published work, with the most awkward line breaks I have ever seen in anything. This woman is a SUPER feminist, who takes the stance that men aren't needed for anything and that women should just let their period blood flow down their legs every month. I also had a hard time reconciling her stance against birth control with her detailed descriptions of how horrible two of her three abortions were. I don't necessarily fault her as a person for that, but it's not quite the same path of girl-power I myself tread. Overall I found this book completely alienating, both in content and presentation. I enjoyed Jessica Valenti's Full-Frontal Feminism a lot more. She's a bit younger, appreciates the presence of men in her life, and overall just seems to take a much more balanced view on the whole feminism thing. I really enjoy her writing style, and find myself agreeing with a lot of what she has to say.

Next was No Plot? No Problem! by Chris Baty. I'd been meaning to get this book for awhile, but never felt like paying $15 for it (it's a fairly small volume), but luckily I found it at a book discount warehouse for a third of the retail price. Baty is the creator of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), which takes place every November. Basically you have a month to write a super shitty first draft of a 50,000 word novel. This book is full of tips and support to get through the month and keep your ideas and word count going. I've tried to participate a few years, but never end up getting very far. I'm hoping to finally bite the bullet this year and actually let myself write horrible prose simply for the sake of doing it.

After that was some children's/young adult fiction. First was Pippi Longstocking, which I almost feel bad for counting because it's SO short. That's okay, though. I'll just have to read a 53rd book to make up for it. Despite it being somewhat of a classic, I'd never read it before. I did, however, enjoy the movie when I was little. I thought it was okay. I don't know that I'd care to read it again any time soon, but I guess it was enjoyable.

I continued with something a bit longer: A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L'Engle. This is another classic I'd never read until now, and I definitely enjoyed this one more than Pippi. I really had no idea what to expect going into it, and my first read through of it was a bit frustrating because I had no idea what sort of characters and situations were about to be encountered along the way. Interestingly, at the same time I felt the very end chapters lacked any real tension in terms of plot, but maybe that doesn't necessarily hold true for younger readers. Either way, a good read, and I might be interested to read the rest of the books in the series.

Next was The Tale of Despereaux by Kate Dicamillo, which I think is my favorite of this bunch. The plot construction of this book is great, because it focuses mostly around character introductions. In the course of these introductions, a little bit of the plot is set in motion, but before it goes too far, the next character gets introduced, and then the plot involving that character ends up tying in with the plot bits of the character prior. This makes you really want to keep reading. The writing itself is really great, and the book is full of universal themes and truths, so it's also very emotionally fulfilling.

Finally, an omnibus of three Michael Crichton novels, The Andromeda Strain, The Terminal Man, and The Great Train Robbery. I'd been trying to get through this collection for weeks, so I'm glad to finally just have it out of the way. I've come to realize that I really don't even care about plot when it comes to Crichton, because all the science and technology and random facts he throws into his stories are so freaking interesting. I'm fairly certain I would be entertained reading anything by him.