Kimberly McCreight's Blog, page 109
October 5, 2015
risarodil:
“Stories were, and I think that they still are, how...
“Stories were, and I think that they still are, how we define ourselves and our culture and even our technology and science. Every human society that wants to behave differently, first has to change the stories that they tell. Stories in songs, in books, on the stage, on podcasts, around the campfire, help us define who we are. We are made of stories.” (x)
huffingtonpost:
Margaret Cho: Trolls Who Call Me ‘Fat And Ugly’...
Margaret Cho: Trolls Who Call Me ‘Fat And Ugly’ Are Admitting DefeatMargaret Cho has a simple philosophy for dealing with degrading comments about herself: If you’re debating a woman and you stoop to calling her “fat” or “ugly,” you’ve already lost the argument.
The comedian explains how to turn misogynist attacks into a “more palatable and pleasurable” experience.
This is so completely and utterly true.
October 4, 2015
socialnetworkhell:
The whole “I’m not like other girls” movement should really be called the “I...
The whole “I’m not like other girls” movement should really be called the “I don’t want men to treat me the way they treat other women” movement because that’s what it really is. Women know that a girl who wears makeup is as respectable as a girl who wears none. A girl who’s played every Final Fantasy game is as respectable as a girl who digs Candy Crush. A woman who started her own law firm is as respectable as a single mom who works in the service industry. A girl who enjoys casual sex is as respectable as a girl who has never had her first kiss. A lesbian who has no interest in men is as respectable as a straight girl who loves her boyfriend. A girl who reads People magazine is as respectable as a girl who reads Dostoyevsky.
Women have been extensively shamed for saying “I’m not like other girls” when what they are really saying, maybe without knowing it, is “I’ve heard the way men talk about specific types of women, typically women who do things that they don’t understand or relate to, and I really, really want them to separate me from that and see me as a person who is worthy of being respected.” How much respect a woman gets from men is very rarely indicative of how much she deserves.
“I don’t want you to treat me the way you treat other girls, because you treat other girls like shit.”
October 2, 2015
Cutting out of work early on Friday because I’ve got...
Cutting out of work early on Friday because I’ve got 50,000 words of Book 2 of The Outliers in the can! Is it a beyond-crappy, hope-my-editor-never-reads, mostly-nonsensical 50,000 words? Yes. Does that still count? Hell, yes.
Later, there will surely be tears. But today, we celebrate.
Dear, @generalmills I hate to say it, but I think...
Dear, @generalmills I hate to say it, but I think “Frosted” Toast Crunch is jumping the shark. Sincerely, Someone-Who-Only-Noticed-Because-I-Was-Buying-Cinnamon-Toast-Crunch (yes, for myself)
thebooker:
My #ReadForMentalHealthWeek TBR
Mental Health Week...
My #ReadForMentalHealthWeek TBRMental Health Week starts this Friday and these are the books that I am hoping to read throughout the week:
The Boy Who Could See Demons by Carolyn Jess-Cooke
Made You Up by Francesca Zappia
Am I Normal Yet? by Holly Bourne
Impulse by Ellen Hopkins
The Illustrated Mum by Jacqueline Wilson - A re-read if my mum can find my old copy, which she apparently has… somewhereI’m not sure if I’ll be able to read all of them but it’s nice to have a few things lined up just in case. I’ll post about the books and my progress throughout the week!
If you’re not sure what #ReadForMentalHealthWeek is then check out THIS POST. If you’re able to, join me! Read whatever you like that relates to mental health. It could be fiction, non-fiction, a re-read, YA, adult, a classic, a book about depression, bullying, eating disorders, etc. If you want some ideas, I’ll be doing a post soon on some of my personal favourites.
Post about it. The aim is to raise awareness and reduce the stigma, while spotlighting mental health books, and you can do that in whatever way you want to. Share photos, edits, quotes, reviews, your thoughts and experiences, etc.
Check the booktriggerlist or ask someone if you’re wary about a particular book/issue. Don’t feel as though you have to participate - if it’s too much for you right now, that’s fine. You may want to blacklist tags such as #ReadForMentalHealthWeek
If you have any questions let me know!
Let me know what you’re reading or do your own post about it using the #ReadForMentalHealthWeek tag. What are you reading for Mental Health Week?
This is a great idea. There should never, ever be a stigma to mental Heath issues. I’m listening to FURIOUSLY HAPPY which is AMAZING. #ReadForMentalHealthWeek
October 1, 2015
Monday Book Rec:
[Image Description: iPhone audiobook of RECONSTRUCTING AMELIA by Kimberly McCreight. Cover shows a girl’s face hidden by blonde hair and a torn black page that stops below the eye.]
Title: Reconstructing Amelia
Author: Kimberly McCreight
Narrator: Khristine Hvam
Received From: Public Library, Overdrive Audiobook
Book Description: When Kate, single mother and law firm partner, gets an urgent phone call summoning her to her daughter’s exclusive private school, she’s shocked. Amelia has been suspended for cheating, something that would be completely out of character for her over-achieving, well-behaved daughter.
Kate rushes to Grace Hall, but what she finds when she finally arrives is beyond comprehension. Her daughter is dead.Despondent over having been caught cheating, Amelia has jumped from the school’s roof in an act of impulsive suicide. At least that’s the story Grace Hall and the police tell Kate. In a state of shock and overcome by grief, Kate tries to come to grips with this life-shattering news. Then she gets an anonymous text: Amelia didn’t jump.
The moment she sees that message, Kate knows in her heart it’s true. Clearly Amelia had secrets, and a life Kate knew nothing about. Wracked by guilt, Kate is determined to find out what those secrets were and who could have hated her daughter enough to kill. She searches through Amelia’s emails, texts, and Facebook updates, piecing together the last troubled days of her daughter’s life.
Reconstructing Amelia is a stunning debut pause-resistor that brilliantly explores the secret world of teenagers, their clandestine first loves, hidden friendships, and the dangerous cruelty that can spill over into acts of terrible betrayal.
What I Thought: I’m always on the hunt for a good audiobook, it’s much easier to do errands or make myself go to the gym if I’m listening to one. In audiobooks I tend to gravitate towards adult thrillers, something so I don’t get stuck in a YA rut.
Granted, Reconstructing Amelia could be a YA crossover; while Kate, Amelia’s mother, is the protagonist, we get to know Amelia through flashbacks, texts, and emails with her best friend Sylvia, a mysterious boy named Ben, a club of vicious girls called The Magpies, and someone named Dylan whom Amelia was clearly in love with. Through these bits of Amelia’s life, we see the girl she really was, and, like Kate, try to discover what happened when she fell from the roof of Grace Hall.
The murder mystery moves a bit slowly and implausibly at times, but the character of Amelia is so compelling that it’s easy to stay sucked-in. Khristine Hvam’s wonderful narration helps (and perhaps, even enhances this book, as it’s much easier to listen to Amelia’s texts than try to wade through the text-speak the author thinks teens use).
But what makes this book truly work isn’t the murder mystery, but the complex, in-depth relationships Amelia has with those around her–her sometimes-best-friend Sylvia, her mother Kate, Dylan–all of these are fully fleshed-out and compelling to where by the end of the book, the reader feels like they truly know these characters.
There’s also some absolutely great queer rep in this book, though I won’t say much more than that except it was a pleasant surprise and I’m glad it was handled.
Final verdict? Come for the murder mystery and what happened to Amelia, stay for the complex relationships and refreshing queerness.
elloellenoh:
micdotcom:
The UCC shooting in Oregon is the 45th...
The UCC shooting in Oregon is the 45th school shooting in America this year and the 142nd since Sandy Hook. (via)
For the latest on the situation in Oregon.
Since when did the right to bear arms supersede people’s right to life?
