Christmas Book Haul!

We finally opened presents this morning, which means I finally have a Christmas book haul to show y'all! I got some really good ones this year. They all came straight from my wish list, but I asked for them a while back, so I had totally forgotten which ones I was getting, which made it a nice surprise.

Here's a list of what I got:

Volumes 35-37 of Batman (The New 52!). It's the Endgame Arc. I'm not caught up on Batman at the moment, mostly because my ability to keep up with comics is severely hindered by my inconsistent paychecks, so I've been sticking to the graphic novels. Still, if the covers are any indication, I will be enjoying these immensely.

Flytrap by Frances Hardinge. This one was a bit of a mistake. It looks good, but turns out to be the sequel to a book I haven't read. I asked for both in the same request and I guess my parents didn't see the note that it was the second book. They realized the error, though, and are sending the first one to my apartment, which is super sweet of them.

The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family by Mary S. Lovell. I heard about this book on the same YouTube video where I heard of the Frances Hardinge books. (British YA Classics with Livs.) It sounds amazing and I am very eager to tear into it.

The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir. I've recently read The Feminine Mystique and am therefore eager to read another of the most prominent texts in feminism. And that cover is gorgeous.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman. When is Neil Gaiman not a good idea? And it's a signed copy that was on sale as a Black Friday deal. I've heard great things about this book and I'm sure it'll be totally up to the hype.

What Christmas books did you get? Any special favorites? Let me know in the comments below.

The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan

What an amazing read! 
Like most people, I had heard about The Feminine Mystique for ages before I got around to reading it, but I finally sat down with it over the course of Thanksgiving break and it simply blew me away. Anna Quindlen kind of hits the nail on the head in the introduction when she talks about having gone into it expecting to look at it like history, then realizing how much really does still apply to today. That definitely happened to me. 
Reading it was like seeing a mirror of so many women in my life (myself included at times) and having that sudden clarity like, "Holy shit, THAT'S why!" As women, we've come a long way since Betty Friedan wrote the book, but we still have a long way to go. 
My copy is now covered with sticky tabs that mark different spots that I found particularly interesting or of particular importance. There is so much that, as women, we ignore or take for granted because that's the way it's always been, but Friedan really goes the extra mile to re-analyze a lot of preconceived notions that no one seemed to question before.
Obviously there are a few things scattered throughout that I disagree with. This book was written in the fifties, so society has learned a great deal since then (ie. Her discussion of homosexuality is particularly cringe-inducing, because it was understood as an aberration or illness at the time). 
This is a must-read, especially for women. If you're even vaguely interested in Women's Studies, this books is for you. It will really make you think. It has changed the lives of millions of women and continues to do so today. After reading it, I can absolutely see why. 
Definitely check this book out ASAP!

Rating: ★★★★★

2013 Reading Wrap-Up

At the end of 2013, I ended up falling behind on reviews due to my brief hiatus when my family came home for Christmas and the general business of the holiday season. So I decided to give a brief review of the last four books that I read at the end of the year and didn't get to review.

The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson & the Olympians, #4)

"Tell me, Percy. I have no wish to argue with you. But do you support the gods because they are good, or because they are your family?"
 Riordan doesn't disappoint in the fourth addition to an already wonderful series. Percy, Annabeth, and Grover face graver dangers with higher consequences than ever before. Once again, Riordan manages to capture all of the excitement, terror, and adventure that the reader can imagine in this thrilling installment to the series.
I cannot get over how much I love the character growth throughout this series. I really enjoy getting to watch our three heroes grow and mature even as the world becomes more dangerous around them. I cannot wait to read the final book in the series and find out just how everything goes down.

Rating: ★★★★☆


Ghost Knight by Cornelia Funke

My mother had once said to me, "We make our best friends in the dark times because we always remember how they helped us out of the darkness." 

After reading the Inkworld Trilogy (which I absolutely fell in love with), I am hard pressed not to pick up a Cornelia Funke book if I pass it in a shop.
Ghost Knight has only heightened my love for her work. A children's novel about a boy who must battle an ancient curse in order to save himself and everyone he loves, it was an absolutely delightful and chilling read. Accompanied by illustrations that heighten the sense of creeping danger and valiant bravery, I could not be more entranced by this gripping volume.

Rating: ★★★★★

Full Frontal Feminism by Jessica Valenti

It's pretty well established that girls want to be considered hot. I mean, when you're brought up to think that your hotness quotient is pretty much your entire worth, that shit becomes pretty damn important.
If you've been looking for a text that will cover all the basics of what being a feminist means, look no further. Jessica Valenti covers it all in this fabulous book that explains what feminism stands for and why you're almost definitely a feminist too.
I dove into this and barely surfaced for air. It was packed so full of gems that just thinking about this book makes me want to go back and reread it now. Give it a shot. You won't regret it.

Rating: ★★★★★

Female Chauvinist Pigs by Ariel Levy

Even if you are a woman who achieves the ultimate and becomes like a man, you will always be like a woman. And as long as womanhood is thought of as something to escape from, something less than manhood, you will be thought less of, too.
This was one of those books that I just picked off the shelf at Barnes & Noble because it looked interesting, then found myself thirty minutes later, well into it and dying to read more. Ariel Levy has a distinct voice that rings with truth in an ages where women are trying to find equality and especially sexual freedom, yet aren't really sure what that look like.
Levy warns against the dangers of buying into what our culture calls "sexy" and letting a new era of objectification wash in where we thought we were ushering in our own freedom. This is definitely a must read for women everywhere.

Rating: ★★★★☆

The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler

At first, women were reluctant to talk. They were a little shy. But once they got going, you couldn't stop them. Women secretly love to talk about their vaginas. They get very excited, mainly because no one's ever asked them before.

I had heard of The Vagina Monologues once or twice before, but never really noticed until I saw the title peering out at me from the Women's Studies section of my local Half Price Books. It's a relatively small volume and sounded interesting, so I picked it up and added it to the pile.

A friend came over a few days later and started reading a random monologue from it while I was cleaning my room. It was the monologue entitled "The Little Coochi Snorcher That Could," which happens to be quite a sad story, though it ends in the woman's healing and restoration.

That was the point at which I was certain I would enjoy this book. I knew it would introduce me to more women like this and make me sit back and think. That's exactly what it did.

The Vagina Monologues is exactly what it sounds like. It's a series of monologues all about vaginas originally performed by Eve Ensler. It is a collection of stories, of moments, concerning women and the various relationships they have or have had with their vaginas. From the girl whose husband forced her to shave her vagina, though it was uncomfortable and upsetting for her, to the one whose boyfriend taught her that her vagina wasn't something to be ashamed of, but something beautiful; these stories are the stories of women who have been systematically told that their vaginas are dirty places that should never be spoken of, when the truth is exactly the opposite.

I really enjoyed Eve Ensler's collection of monologues. Each was heartfelt and portrayed women from every end of the spectrum. It was absolutely what one would call art; poetry about a faction of humanity that has been taught that the very thing that makes them who they are is something to be ashamed of.

It is absolutely worth reading, for men and women. It opens your eyes, makes you sit back and think. Ensler may not have realized the power she tapped into when she began her "vagina interviews," but it is raw and untamed and exactly what I had hoped for when I cracked open The Vagina Monologues.

Rating: ★★★★☆

We forget the vagina, all of us 
what else would explain
our lack of awe, our lack of wonder.