Tales from the Clit: A Female Experience of Pornography

Tales from the Clit: A Female Experience of Pornography edited by Cherie Matrix
2001
Weight: 6.4oz
Method of Disposal: Taking Suggestions!

Any suggestions on how to best ensure that books about sex, pornography, sex work make it into the hands of someone who wants them?  Let me know if you would like me to send this one to you! 

I reread this book this year, and it is definitely dated.  It was published in 1996 and is about the UK.  Some things aged really well and some did not.  I am sure there will still be readers who will relate heavily to some of the authors and their fantasies even now.  This book was a good source of personal essays about pornography, S/M, and censorship.  It does not delve into academic arguments for or against censorship.  It is really more based on feeling and personal pleasures, personal stories.  Some of the authors were arrested or had their homes torn up due to censorship. 

If you are exploring sex and sexuality, but are fairly new to the world beyond heteronormativity, this might be a good introduction still.

Rocks and Rain, Reason and Romance

Rocks and Rain, Reason and Romance By David Howe
2019
Weight: 8 oz
Method of disposal: Lending Library

I purchased this book the last time Harriet and I went to England.  Not only do I find the place where Harriet grew up in beautiful,  but there is also a sort of magic in thinking about us both growing up on either side of the ocean, living such different lives. Learning about the Lakes and Northern England just feels like one more way to help me understand my wife and, if that’s not true, then maybe it will give me a snippet of information to impress her mom with on some random day! So, win win, really.

The author tries to pack a lot in a small book, but I appreciate it. He seems to ultimately be primarily interested in the literature from and about the Lake District, but he also discusses science, geology, conservation, etc. Here are some things I have learned:

-It has some of the highest rainfall of all the UK.

-A mere is, indeed, a lake.

-There are assorted, ancient, stone circles dotted throughout England, including Castlerigg Stone Circle.

-There are 16 recognized lakes in the Lake District and some decent sized tarns (pools).

Ok, I realize that I’m impressing no one right about now. Let me try again.

-The lakes get as deep as 250 feet (Wastwater).

-I have a need to go see Blea Water in the High Street Fells.

-More than I know how to relay here on the authors; Wordsworth, Radcliffe, Ruskin, Coleridge, Potter, Ransome, and Martineau.

-It was only 7,500 years ago that Britons really began to inhabit the coast and lower valleys of the Lake District. 

-The Lake District was particularly important in the Stone Age and beyond for the production of axes due to tbd unique stone found there.  From greenstone to bronze to Iron.

-“many...major invasions of Britain have left very little genetic trace.  We see little genetic evidence of the Roman conquest, nor of the Danish Viking control of large parts of England from the 9th Century...Nor of the Norman Conquest.  These invasions have had a major impact on our history and culture, but not on our gene pool. The inference is clear. In each case there must have been control by a ruling elite, backed by superior military power, but not large-scale settlement...” Professor Peter Donnelly 

-Water flows from the Lakes all the way to Manchester via gravity (no pumps!). It takes a day and a half for water to get from Thirlmere go Manchester around 80 miles away.

-There are two villages now underwater. One of them being Mardale, which is currently emerging. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2766498/Lake-District-s-Atlantis-revealed-A-village-drowned-1930s-reappears-driest-September-half-century.html

Okay, I will stop boring you to death but, the point is, there is a lot of history, art, philosophy, geography I need to catch up on and this was a great starter. Now, it is much to late, and Harriet has been asleep for hours. I guess that it is time for me to go lay beside her and just enjoy the closeness until tomorrow when I bore her, like I have you, with details of her homeland.

Snow Day

The Last Book in the Universe by Rodman Philbrick 2000
The Magic Paintbrush by Lawrence Yep 2000
Weight: 14 oz
Method of Disposal: Leaving Somewhere

I am feeling very lucky and a little guilty.  I have been in my nice warm house all day, and the power has not gone out yet.  I am very thankful for this.  I have not been back to the animal shelter since 11pm last night.  Four of us went to clean up the pets, let them out, and make sure the one generator we have was working.  Today, a small crew of dedicated staff went to the shelter to care for the animals.  I was pleased to enjoy my day off and also feeling a little useless.  Mixed feelings.  I have no idea what tomorrow brings.

Meanwhile, in the UK the weather is even more atrocious.  Harriet's power went out a couple times, and we were creating backup plans to ensure we would still be able to check in with each other periodically.  Wishing everyone could be safe and warm tonight.

80 mph Gales

About 4 hours away in Wales

I wish I could say that I had been productive today, but I absolutely have not been.  I have been snuggling with all the critters, my own and my fosters, and reading books.  I should be cleaning, working, writing letters, but I am so sleepy and my body just seems to want to rest so I have been reading.  I finished these two books today.  I remember being worried that The Last Book in the Universe would just be a rip-off of Fahrenheit 451.  Not at all.  It might have made me cry at one point. I am already scanning my shelves for my next read.

The Daylight Gate

The Daylight Gate  by Jeanette Winterson
2012
Weight: 11.2 oz
method of disposal: Leaving at Joe's in EAV

This is a weird one for me.  This is Jeanette Winterson's latest novel.  I try not to purchase too many books while I am doing this project.  It defeats the point, but I LOVE Winterson.  Her books come out in the UK at least a full year before they come out here.  You cannot get them on an e-reader in the US until the book is actually sold here, none of the libraries have it, and I cannot borrow it from a friend.  I cannot wait either and, now, I have a connection in England.

I begged Harriet to send me this book for months and, finally, she brought it with her when she visited the States, along with a non-fiction book about the Lancashire witches.  I was already at the pinnacle of excitement and was thrown over the edge when I found out the book is based out of the location where Harriet lives.  Holler.  This was particularly exciting because I knew I would visit Harriet and thus the book could become more real to me.  It also made me feel like I was somehow reading into Harriet's history in some weird, distant way.

So, here is the wrap up.  This book was incredibly exciting and important because:

• I read all of Winterson's books the second I can get my hands on them.
• It was a gift from Harriet and came with an accompanying non-fiction text.
• It took place somewhere I will stomp around one day

This book was fucking strange, and not really in a good way.  After reading the first few pages, while hanging out in a cabin with Harriet and Heather, I started to feel a little naughty, like I should hide.  Castration, incest, sexual assault, you name it---it was in this book.  Harriet and her mother went out to get the book, and I began to worry that one of them might decide to read it and that they would then think there was something seriously wrong with me.  There was next to no character development, and it was just one brutality after another.  There was next to no description of the land either.  It almost felt like she read the same nonfiction book and then quickly wrote a book afterwards and, perhaps, she was in a dark place.  Or, I realized it was put out by a publisher of horror stories so maybe that was why?  It is my least favorite Winterson book.

Around Valentines Day, I sent out cards to all my friends and, apparently, told some about the book, as well as my life.  Later, after I had finished The Daylight Gate, I got this text from Marisa: Your card was amazing!  Only you could include the words love, rape, incest, and awkward all in the same brilliant card.  Happy V day gorgeous."  I guess I do not need to worry about what people will think if they see me reading this book.  I, happily, put enough strangeness and confession into the world without any help.

I am sad to see this gift from Harriet go, but I know I will not read it again.  It served its purpose and then some.  It delighted me before it horrified me.  It created some laughs and unusual conversations.  It was there when I wanted it.