Books to read in bed: Polysexual romantic fiction
I decided I wanted some light reading that had sex in it, and realized… I think this means I want to read a romance novel. But ew: romance novels? I’m not at ALL interested in the bodice ripper “big strong man, docile female” dynamic that many romance novels focus on, so I went off on a hunt for something different: Intelligent feminist polysexual romantic fiction.
Wait, does such a thing exist?!
My favorite Goosebumps books and how they relate to my life
Did you guys ever read Goosebumps? The series of sixty-two books was published in 1992 to 1997 to give younger readers a chance to get creeped out by R.L. Stine before their time, and I was TOTALLY ON BOARD. While I eventually graduated to the Fear Street series (and was subsequently so terrorized I was told to stop reading the books), my heart has always had a special place for Goosebumps and the bizarre-ness it holds.
What pregnancy books can I read that won’t make me crazy?
My husband and I will begin baby making attempts in the next few months. I’ve never been into self-help and intend to approach pregnancy as just another stage in life, not some idealized baby obsessed utopia during which I need to document everything, take extreme precaution with safety and food, and transition my life into mommy perfection.
Europe on $5 a day
This is a trailer for a new book, released yesterday, called Europe on 5 Wrong Turns a Day. In it, author Doug Mack takes travel advice from classic travel book Europe in $5 a Day.
You can imagine how well travel advice from the 1960s has held up.
What geeky books do you plan to share with your kids?
I maybe did a happy dance in my chair when I found a link to Wired’s 67 Books Every Geek Should Read to Their Kids Before Age 10… hello, BOOK NERD DREAM! I thought it’d be fun to talk about a few books that made their list (talking about all 67 would be a little lengthy, y’all) and dish about which books we each plan to share with our kids before the ‘tween years kick in.
Starting conversations about inequality in finding a home
In the recent foreclosure crisis in the United States, a disproportionate amount of women and racial minorities were the victims of subprime loans and mortgages with adjustable interest rates — statistics that speak to inequality in housing. For Anita Hill, there is a “sense of belonging that comes from being at home” – so what happens when one is without a home? Reimagining Equality reveals that these biases are historic in the American construction of what “home” means.
A Very Hungry Caterpillar birthday party you can totally pull off
Oooh how I love the birthday party that Elle recently threw for her now one-year-old daughter, Penelope. The decor, food, and attire were inspired by Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and unlike a lot of birthdays you’ll see, this one is TOTALLY pull-offable. You basically need cardboard, yarn, paper streamers, and some fruit and you have a insta-caterpillar birthday success.
The Arizona book ban matters: to my kids, your kids, and kids all over the world
The ban on ethnic studies and ethnic literature in Tuscon, Arizona matters to your children. It matters even if they are not growing up in the Southwest, like my children, with names like Joaquin, Rodrigues, Donaciano, and Aragon. It matters even if they aren’t in the spectrum of browns redacted from history books. It matters even if they would never have read the authors and titles spirited off library shelves in Tucson.