I had to quit reading Spinoza...he just doesn't click with me like the others.
I am skipping ahead to Hegel or maybe Kierkegaard. I think reading all of Nietzsche before any other philosopher (except Plato/Socrates) spoiled me and now others have a high standard to meet.

I can't say I've read a terrible amount of Kierkegaard, but I really liked his interpretation of the sacrifice of Isaac.

Read The Turn Of The Screw today while the power was gone, going to try to squeeze in The Kingdom Of God Is Within You before school readings overwhelm me.

"Eaters of the Dead," by Michael Crichton, again.

Got a kick out of the excerpt in the original version from Ibn Fadlan's description of the Vikings being 'as tall as trees, with legs and arms like tree trunks' and how they were swinging their 'gigantic' hand axes over their heads and about their 'terrifying' war yells and then he goes on to say, "...and that's just their women."

Nothing, right now. Trying to figure out what to read next. I'm thinking something sci-fi. Any suggestions?

Last Exit to Brooklyn-Hubert Selby Jr.

The Untold History of the United States by Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick. I'm only halfway through the second chapter and holy shit, there's a shitload that's not mentioned in high school classes.

listening to the light.

Finished In Cold Blood last night. It was good, I got it mostly because I was getting sick of the unicorn book I was reading XD Too much whimsy, I needed to read something horrific. But seriously, good book. I like how it wasn't gratuitous when it came to the violence and didn't include pictures, just eyewitness testimony and then the confessions of the killers.

Reading Gaga Feminism: Sex, Gender, and the End of Normal now by J. Jack Halberstam. Not far into it but I'm glad the author is talking more of the idea of Gaga and not idolizing her or pretending she invented this.

Just finished Gaga Feminism. I don't know whether to recommend it or not. Like there's definitely great points made, but also really shitty points, and its not very coherent as to what being gaga feminist means, basically, don't be traditional in any aspect, don't get married, don't be religious, don't be normal in any way. Be childish and unpredictable. How is this accessible? How does gaga translate to the real world? I have to give it the same criticism Gender Trouble got, in that creating gender trouble still by and large isn't safe for a lot of people. As a white academically successful genderqueer, it might be safer for the author than a transwoman, especially a transwoman of colour.

And what's wrong for liking any kind of tradition whatsoever? Is lets say Solumina by being in an open marriage less radical or gaga in comparison to unmarried couples who are emphatically monogamous?

THIS BOOK RAISES TOO MANY PROBLEMATIC QUESTIONS.

Finished "The Untold History of the United States" by Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick. I highly recommend my fellow Yanks to pick up a copy and read it, even if you hate history. It's very eye opening and shows you why we're dealing with the shit we are now in the U.S. and the effects with the rest of the world, confirming some of the things I felt when I deployed to Iraq or was stationed overseas in Germany and South Korea.

I've spent the last two hours scanning goodreads for a book recommendation but I'm feeling particularly fussy. I got a coupon for an ebook and I don't want to waste it!

Also, what is Girl With The Dragon Tattoo doing in a list of lesbian fiction? Yes, give a book about how men hate women and want to **** them at every opportunity and how the female lead is very strong and brave for ****** her rapist in revenge.

Yeah, not my cup of tea. I thought about borrowing the book but didn't after I read one page with one of the abuses... It wasn't "graphic" but I didn't particularly want to read more.

I also just finished 'Big Girl Small' by Rachael DeWoskin, and the plot was unexpectedly similar to Steubenville. Not quite as awful as the real world version and well written, but still I wish I'd chosen something less heavy :(

I'm now looking for the next book...

Have you read 'Tipping The Velvet' and 'Fingersmith' by Sarah Waters, Saya? I found those really interesting reads. (Tipping The Velvet does contain one incident of what you could possibly call domestic violence, not sure if should TW or not)

Yeah I should say I didn't find it bad in the book (I hear the movies are more gratuitous), at least not as bad as everyone hyped it up to be. And I know Lisbeth is bi, but her relationship with the Gary Stu character is central and her relationships with other women aren't mentioned at all until one of the later books. Its just one of those books where the dude doesn't know how to write women or about systems of oppression he never experiences, if that makes sense. Like you ever notice how some men when they write sexism, its always very violent and over the top? Its like the only way they get it. Compare it to a **** scene written by Atwood, which usually isn't detailed at all, but reading it is horrible anyway because the men involved are often pretty ordinary and protected by other men and even women under a system of oppression. Even when the rapist in Year Of the Flood was pretty over the top villainous, he was tolerated and put into power. Or compare to Batwoman: Elegy, where its not her superior's fault that the army at the time did not allow lesbians, he even offers to let her stay if she denies it. Its the homophobic system in which this heterosexual office participates in it that takes away her livelihood. I think part of the reason I like Rucka so much is that he can write women as diverse people who suffer from microaggressions instead of huge disgusting **** scenes.

Add in that Lisbeth was named after a woman Larsson saw gang-*****, and the main character is an obvious Gary Stu stand in for Larsson, and its pretty creepy.

Tipping the Velvet came up on the same list! Thinking about it, though not in the mood for historical fiction right now.

I know, in the book it seemed banal and not graphic but still horrible if that makes sense.

I definitely know what you mean about the way some male authors write women... I've seen where the woman is like an idealised romantic/sexual fantasy, or it's the male authors words coming out of his female characters mouth. (Or a combination of the two.)
I've found YMMV though. I can read confronting scenes without finding them exploitative/gratuitous in every case or male-created female characters without finding them too far off, I've just found those things are done frequently and often badly.

Have you read Foxfire by Joyce Carol Oates? (About a girl gang) Still a few stereotypes in it but I enjoyed.

I haven't! I'll check it out, trying to get through the books I bought recently.

Just finished On Beauty by Zadie Smith. I liked it, but I hated one of the characters so much, and while he does get comeuppance in the end, I just felt it wasn't cathartic enough.

I think I'm going to read The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency to wind down from that.

I read a lot on Advaita Vedanta, Jnana Yoga, Kundalini theory, and related texts. I find it funny how Jnana/"Gyana" Yoga is virtually unheard of in the West, and yet, is completely related to samadhi, the traditional goal of yoga. I remember seeing a Yoga 101 late start class my college was offering, and I found it funny that this is another class around something stripped of its goal, pretty much because I've been meditating on and off for five years and I'm probably crazy.

Well, I read my way through Dante's Commedia Divina in the last few days (I particularly liked Purgatorio, it is second only to Inferno in my mind), and I was reading The Name of the Rose just recently too.

I'm reading "Infinite Jest" by David Foster Wallace and but my reading has been interrupted by exams and essays, so I haven't gotten very far. It's not the easiest read to begin with (DFW warding off the casual reader, probably) but weirdly enjoyable.

Just finished lost boy lost girl by Peter Straub. First time reading Straub and it was pretty disappointing. Didn't hate it, but it wasn't scary. Will try another book sometime.

Now reading A Farewell to Arms by Hemingway.

"Wizardry & Wild Romance (A Study of Epic Fantasy)" by Michael Moorcock. Interesting read where he points out the strengths and weaknesses of Fantasy and Science Fiction literature.

The God of Small Things, by Arundhati Roy. Been meaning to read it for a long time now after first coming to her through her activism, and it's been well worth the wait - beautifully written and totally absorbing.

So, at this big used book sale a few months ago, I ran into an old coworker in the mystery section and asked her for a recommendation, and she gave me a Nora Roberts (Born In Death). Skeptical, I took the book to be polite, and just got around to reading it.

And its not AMAZING and a few things made me roll my eyes, but it did make me wonder why I thought she would be so bad. Is it because she's a woman? Is it because she also writes romances? Its not high art, but its not trash either. She's at least better than James Patterson, and IMO Dean Koontz and Stieg Larsson, and not quite so infuriating as Stephen King. Hell the mystery itself is way better developed than Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. And the stuff that I rolled my eyes at, I understood why it was there. Like, there's a surprise wedding and babies being born, which made me laugh, but I'm sure she thought "you know what women like? Murder! Babies! Weddings!" Even if it was silly, I understood why.

Now I really wish the English department would get off their asses and offer the Gender and Writing course again so I could write about it D:

Anyway, about to start Lilith's Brood by Octavia Butler.

I had never read any of her books until I worked at the resort and I had also thought that she would kind of suck. I found that of the books that ended up on our bookshelf (we had a take a book leave a book kind of thing, also any books in the lost and found for more than a month ended up on our shelves) hers were the ones I liked the best (well other than anthologies of short stories). They were interesting and enjoyable without being all consuming so they were perfect for reading at the desk during the off season and the kind of thing that I would take along on a vacation.

A Red Sun Also Rises. Kind of a steampunk book, a bit weird and slow to get started. Came together at the end but not amazing.

So I kinda read all of Dawn, the first book of Lilith's Brood, today. It was amazing, but really sad, so I'm reading Four And Twenty Blackbirds by Cherie Priest before I read the next one. Octavia Butler gives me too many feels.