Okay, first of all, acknowledging my commenters on the last entry: That was not an easy entry to comment on (or write, to be honest), and I really appreciate that you did. Thank you.

Second of all, PART OF AN ACTUAL ENTRY!

I read at a statistically above-average speed, which, essentially, makes me hella stupid when I'm sitting here at midnight with a brand new, 140K word book.

I had to finish it, though, because books. So here I am, having met my personal time limit with a twenty-minute remainder, and I decided it wouldn't hurt to put fifteen to good use talking about it here.

This is the second night I've pulled this trick, and probably the second morning I will feel a slight tinge of regret in pulling it. Even more unfortunate is the fact that there are still two more books in the series, and I'd say I'm unwaveringly bent on finishing them before Christmas. They're totally about sex, by the way, and I'm totally not going to apologize for that, because someone had to fact check Mara Wilson's assertion that they should be the standard, rather than Fifty Shades of Grey (a book I will, at some point, have to read in order to make comparison and argue for her kickass alternative--ugh). She made a direct suggestion, and I respect that enough to check them out, for science. Also, it totally freaks me out that women are reading literature that could potentially warp their view of healthy and consensual sex, so, like...

There's that.

The plot is soap-opera-y...to an extent. I don't know what I expected, there, to be honest, because reading this sort of book is new to me. I didn't expect the writing to make me laugh, in places, because the author actually meant to be funny, so that was a great surprise. And holy guac in a shake, it was so deeply feminist and such a healthy portrayal of a sexual relationship, I can't complain about the plot being a little extreme, especially considering that it's fiction, and whatever. The writing is actually pretty sublime, even though some characters can be a little one-dimensional. Even there, I'm nitpicking (this is a phrase I never used before this break, during which I've been watching Food Network nonstop. One judge on Kitchen Inferno uses it, and I love it, so I have made it mine). I also may have cried and hugged my laptop upon realizing that the author canonically establishes that many main characters aren't straight (in a way where it's just conversational, like, "Oh, she kinda just likes whoever and doesn't worry about it," then the narrative goes back to concentrating on the main discussion, whatever that may be), and she even tackles body issues in a way that doesn't ignore fatness, and doesn't ignore high fashion stigma. Oh, and whipped cream on top of a sundae: It tackles cancer and doesn't try to pretty it up or make like everyone says the right thing and has the right answer, 100% of the time.

All in all...it represents women and queer individuals better than 99% of anything I've read otherwise (barring nonfiction from this estimation, because you know my library is stacked with lit on gender roles, feminism, etc., and that would just make it unfair). It's balanced, it's well-paced, and I would read it totally without the sexy parts, if they weren't clearly integral to the narrative.

As someone who has powered through some of the "most philosophical/" "most enlightened/" whatever novels of all time, I can say this without feeling like a total bon-bon munching, chihuahua-owning, celebrity-pining housewife: not bad books at all. Probably more along the lines of what I needed to be reading, really, despite my current romantic interest suggesting My Stroke of Insight (nonfiction, by a neuroanatomist who experienced a stroke and was lucky enough to live through, to be able to later analyse her experience through a scientific scope--right up my alley, and would look great wedged between my neuroanatomy coloring book and my unnaturally-large collection of Psychology Today magazines--habits die hard, and loving psychology is a very old habit) and something by Toni Morrison (whose writing, by the way, I do not naturally have a taste for. Let me be clear that I am reading this solely because I like this girl).

All things considered, not a waste of four and a half hours.

So wait, what was the title of the book you read?
» randomjunk on 2014-12-25 01:14:23

Meanwhile I'm reading awful fiction about people wrapping on doors.
» middaymoon on 2014-12-25 10:06:53

yeah, what was it called?

My mom is always recommending "Stoke of Insight" to everyone.
» Zanzibar on 2015-01-14 09:52:46

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