Book Report

[stormkeeper_lovedoris]

You Just Need to Lose Weight by Aubrey Gordon – I am going to do what I try to not do: quote from someone else’s review. “In “You Just Need to Lose Weight,” Aubrey Gordon equips readers with the facts and figures to reframe myths about fatness in order to dismantle the anti-fat bias ingrained in how we think about and treat fat people. Bringing her dozen years of community organizing and training to bear, Gordon shares the rhetorical approaches she and other organizers employ to not only counter these pernicious myths, but to dismantle the anti-fat bias that so often underpin them.” (Back to me now). This was really good. I’ve read a lot on the topic over the years but nothing lately, it seems. I have a BFF who is fat. Hell, everyone who is not fat has a loved one who is. People need to read this to get an idea of the crap that our loved ones go through! Grade: 8

 

Nobody Needs to Know by Pidgeon Pagonis – This intersex author tells their story, starting from the lies that doctors told them via their uninformed parents. Pagonis is told as a child that she was born with cancer in their ovaries and they had to be removed when they were a baby. Only later would they learn that they never had ovaries, and what were removed were undescended testes. (or testicles? I forget). Several surgeries were done on Pagonis as a child without her consent and without her mother really understanding. This is a great story not just about coming of age but also fighting back! Pagonis becomes an activist, pressuring the hospital (Lurie Children’s) that mutilates children’s bodies for no reason other than conformity. I listened to this on audio. An extra layer of interest was provided in the fact that the author grew up near where I live now; they have lived their life in Chicagoland. Grade: 7

 

I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger – Wow, this is so good! It’s a not-too-distant future novel where much of society has broken down. But it’s not all horrible either, and our protagonist Rainy and his wife have found a community and a good enough life. Then something bad happens, and Rainy goes on a journey by boat. I don’t want to spoil anything. I could hardly put the book down, it was so good. Grade: 8

 

Normal Family: On Truth, Love, and How I Met My 35 Siblings by Chrysta Bilton – This memoir is scary, funny, weird, and moving. Bilton’s mother is a larger-than-life figure who does everything from dream up successful business schemes (only to lose them and go broke a few years later) to hanging with celebs like Warren Beatty. She’s a lesbian (in the 1970s), she’s single, she wants to have a baby. Not an easy thing given the times, but she finds a guy to donate sperm. Despite her wishes, he goes on to donate sperm hundreds more times to other women. Bilton’s memoir is a madcap rollercoaster ride. Never a dull moment. Grade: 8

 

A Life In Light by Mary Pipher – I’ve been reading a lot of books by this author in the past couple of years. I feel like she and I are on the same wavelength. I think I once described her as a wise and interesting aunt. In any case, this book is her latest and it’s a memoir. Despite having read bits and pieces of Pipher’s life before, I was engaged the whole time. I liked hearing of what she has been through and her thoughts and feelings. There’s something about Mary. (Sorry, movie title pun). She’s devastated when her daughter and son-in-law move with her grandkids to Canada, and I really felt it for her. Does her last chapter or two AGAIN feel more suited to a Dreamwidth post? Yeah. Does the book at times feel like a replay of Mary Pipher’s Greatest Hits? Yeah. But, hey, it’s a good album and one worth listening to again. Grade: 7

Comments

[nytshd3]

You Just Need to Lose Weight has been on me to-read list for a while, and I love that it's got facts and figures! I was just thinking the other day that I am definitely a 'woman of a certain age' now because I can't remember the last time a stranger made a comment to me out in public. Maybe they just know older ladies don't give a fuck what you think. :)

Interesting about Pagonis! I wonder if Lurie has changed their stance on what they do for intersex kids now (I hope so!)

I love that I Cheerfully Refuse has a simple-enough premise but it was enough to keep you totally hooked!

Ohh, I was wondering if Normal Family was about that fertility doctor who used his own sperm to impregnate dozens of his own clients. It's crazy how easy it is for this kind of thing to happen. Can you imagine finding out you have 35 (or more) siblings??

Aww, I love that you're enjoying Pipher's stuff like that, that sounds awesome! Someday when I get my reading brain back I'll have to check her out.

THanks for sharing, as always!