What I've been reading
"Nobody Passes: Rejecting the Rules of Gender and Conformity," a collection of essays edited by Matt (Matilda) Bernstein Sycamore. This collection of essays touches on various types of "passing" -- whether it's passing as a specific gender or as a specific racial/ethnic identity or as disabled or able-bodied, and often by authors dealing with a variety of different identities and group affiliations that may or may not be in conflict. They address issues such as being trans while traveling or being in prison, how claiming an ethnic identity informs claiming a gender identity, and more. I loved the intersectionality going on in these essays. I found the collection challenging and yet readable. Highly recommended to anyone interested in social justice, gender identity and LGBT issues.
and
"Cold Comfort Farm" by Stella Gibbons. This classic humorous novel is funny from the foreword, which touches on Gibbons history as a newspaper writer before switching to prose and poetry. The story concerns Flora Poste, a young woman who becomes orphaned at 19 and goes to live with relatives in the country. Instead of them helping the poor orphan girl, she ends up as the village busybody helping everyone on the farm, from young Elfine whose wild girl ways are keeping her from marrying a young Lord, to old Aunt Ada Doom who was driven crazy by seeing "something nasty in the woodshed" when she was two. Though I found this a tad dated, it was a funny and easy read, not at all a dry and deadly dull "classic" novel. The movie adaptation (with an adorable baby Kate Beckinsale, a cheerfully oblivious Stephen Fry, and minor roles filled by Sir Ian McKellen and Rufus Sewell, among other casting gold) is also quite fun.
My full comments on both books here.
and
"Cold Comfort Farm" by Stella Gibbons. This classic humorous novel is funny from the foreword, which touches on Gibbons history as a newspaper writer before switching to prose and poetry. The story concerns Flora Poste, a young woman who becomes orphaned at 19 and goes to live with relatives in the country. Instead of them helping the poor orphan girl, she ends up as the village busybody helping everyone on the farm, from young Elfine whose wild girl ways are keeping her from marrying a young Lord, to old Aunt Ada Doom who was driven crazy by seeing "something nasty in the woodshed" when she was two. Though I found this a tad dated, it was a funny and easy read, not at all a dry and deadly dull "classic" novel. The movie adaptation (with an adorable baby Kate Beckinsale, a cheerfully oblivious Stephen Fry, and minor roles filled by Sir Ian McKellen and Rufus Sewell, among other casting gold) is also quite fun.
My full comments on both books here.