Pam’s Comments (group member since Dec 29, 2016)

Pam’s comments from the Our Shared Shelf group.

Arthur wrote: "I'd like to recommend some books, but I don't have those properties on my account?
How can I do that?
Is there an application process?
Which moderator is the messenger for those concerns?

Thank you."


Hello Arthur. You can recommend a book here. https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Arthur wrote: "Ellen wrote: "I’m intrigued by how much Rupi Kaur uses nature to represent women’s bodies or portraying female bodies as intrinsically connected to nature.

Is this empowering? At first I thought y..."

Trolls like Florian? I think you are mistaken. Florian is one of the more congenial and pleasant individuals on this forum who often finds grace in all conversations.

I would like you to apologize.

Rest in Peace Queen of Soul.

For those who might not be aware; the first woman to be indicted in the Hall of Fame, a single, unwedded mother of two, one of Martin Luther King Jr's largest financial and motivation contributor, and a kick ass singer who gave us empowering female anthems passed away today.

May angles lead you in Aretha.

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/...

Hmmm. I don't see it as alienating.

Could you give an example?

Emma wrote: "This collection reminded me of the series Women are Some Kind of Magic by Amanda Lovelace.

https://www.goodreads.com/series/2190...

Summary of the first collection by..."

Yes! I just finished And The Princess Saves Herself in this One. Both writers belong to the same publishing company, so I wonder if the company was trying to find the next Lovelace in Kaur.

I thought Lovelace's work was more thematically solid. More refined. Where Kaur's chapters may have had a poem or two that addresses the theme, Lovelace's was a narrative story that followed throughout. Less time jumps I think.

Emma wrote: "Do any of you all think it is possible to have a law fully clarify what it is that is sexual assault? Because it seems to sometimes have gray areas."

No, look at Rape as an example. You got your standard rape, then rape rape, and aggressive rape, and rape-y, and etc. I'm making light of this situation of course. But it's a good point, even if you define it people will interpret it in a different manner that lessens or amplifies it's meaning.

Sexual assault is a lesser offending action, IMPO, than rape. And much more nebulous and broad itself. A case may set a precedence on what it means, but then another may muddy the water on what exactly is at play.

As most of the western world (I think?) works off of the concept that we are Innocent before Proven Guilty... is this wrong?

Christina wrote: "I disagree with some of the above stated and DO believe that Frankenstein is a feminist text. And it is the 200th anniversary.
Therefore, I vote Frankenstein.

If you're curious, here are some a..."


Thanks for the article Christina. Wasn't Mary Shelly also one of the first female writers to be published and it was even under her own name- not a male name? I do not dismiss her wealth, but there is a reason why she and Austen, Edgeworth, all come from privileged backgrounds: free time + an education. This isn't something a poor farming girl or a servant would have access to.

Keith wrote: "True freedom comes to those who have escaped the questions of freewill and fate. ."

Rumi comes off as Buddhist at times. So interchangeable. Love..

Any spoken word fans here?

https://www.ted.com/talks/sarah_kay_i...

If I should have a Daughter: Sarah Kay

If I should have a daughter, instead of "Mom," she's going to call me "Point B," because that way she knows that no matter what happens, at least she can always find her way to me.

And I'm going to paint solar systems on the backs of her hands so she has to learn the entire universe before she can say, "Oh, I know that like the back of my hand."

And she's going to learn that this life will hit you hard in the face, wait for you to get back up just so it can kick you in the stomach. But getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air. There is hurt, here, that cannot be fixed by Band-Aids or poetry.

So the first time she realizes that Wonder Woman isn't coming, I'll make sure she knows she doesn't have to wear the cape all by herself, because no matter how wide you stretch your fingers, your hands will always be too small to catch all the pain you want to heal. Believe me, I've tried. "And, baby," I'll tell her, don't keep your nose up in the air like that. I know that trick; I've done it a million times. You're just smelling for smoke so you can follow the trail back to a burning house, so you can find the boy who lost everything in the fire to see if you can save him. Or else find the boy who lit the fire in the first place, to see if you can change him. But I know she will anyway, so instead I'll always keep an extra supply of chocolate and rain boots nearby, because there is no heartbreak that chocolate can't fix. Okay, there's a few that chocolate can't fix.

But that's what the rain boots are for, because rain will wash away everything, if you let it. I want her to look at the world through the underside of a glass-bottom boat, to look through a microscope at the galaxies that exist on the pinpoint of a human mind, because that's the way my mom taught me. That there'll be days like this.

(Singing) There'll be days like this, my momma said. When you open your hands to catch and wind up with only blisters and bruises; when you step out of the phone booth and try to fly and the very people you want to save are the ones standing on your cape; when your boots will fill with rain, and you'll be up to your knees in disappointment. And those are the very days you have all the more reason to say thank you.

Because there's nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it's sent away. You will put the wind in win some, lose some. You will put the star in starting over, and over. And no matter how many land mines erupt in a minute, be sure your mind lands on the beauty of this funny place called life. And yes, on a scale from one to over-trusting, I am pretty damn naive. But I want her to know that this world is made out of sugar. It can crumble so easily, but don't be afraid to stick your tongue out and taste it.

"Baby," I'll tell her, "remember, your momma is a worrier, and your poppa is a warrior, and you are the girl with small hands and big eyes who never stops asking for more." Remember that good things come in threes and so do bad things. Always apologize when you've done something wrong, but don't you ever apologize for the way your eyes refuse to stop shining. Your voice is small, but don't ever stop singing. And when they finally hand you heartache, when they slip war and hatred under your door and offer you handouts on street-corners of cynicism and defeat, you tell them that they really ought to meet your mother.

Meelie wrote: "Just so you know, they’re not all blood and gore, but the underlying themes can be considered horror ;)

I voted for Octavia Butler, love a vampire novel!"

Lol. Yes. Thank you. I was curious about the Trump campaign book. I'm sure Al Gore showed up only once. (Bah dun dummm) I'll see myself out...

Fun post Robert.

Why are YOU here?

I started on Goodreads because I wanted a place to keep track of the books I read. I found soon after that people could have discussions on the books and had book challenges. I was intrigued.

I belong to a family book club but as much as I love my siblings we rather avoid confrontation then to delve into the reasons why opinions differ. Book club with them meant answer 10 questions and then spend an hour gabbing about life. Which is great! But it also awoke a hunger for learning more or hearing more nuanced ideas regarding the book.

I joined two book clubs before finding OSS. They included challenges and reviews and not much else. It was a cursory overview. And would have been fine, if I didn't also see reviews for books on OSS and the community discussions that spawned from them.

Going from a 5 person book club to a 30 person book club to a 10,000 person book club was amazing.

Why do YOU stay?

The discussions and viewpoints here are so much more than what I can find on Facebook.

What brought you to OSS and has what brought you here changed or evolved over your time spent here?

The book choices are secondary for me. Emma's involvement means little to nothing to me. I'm glad she started it, and really greatful that she hosts the interviews with the writers, but I didn't come here for her, I came here for the 10,000+ people and their opinions.

As for what has evolved... My appreciation and understanding of topics has evolved. Each book forces me to confront my reality and ways that I can change and soften my heart.

And I second your other item Robert, I too have made friends here that I look forward to hearing from and take interest in their lives outside of OSS. It's been amazing to get to know them.

Ooh fun! I'm not normally a horror reader so this will be new for me.

https://youtu.be/BEdJ4PIGad4

A cheeky look at women in films with Catherine Tate and some other English actors with an appearance of Katie Leung (Cho Chang from Harry Potter).

Gonna be honest, they had me at Catherine Tate.

Yes. Thank you. :)

Emma wrote: "Pam wrote: "Could you define for me the goals of feminism?

"Winning" here is awfully subjective."

To me, the goals of feminism are to promote and work towards social, political, and economic equ..."

Exactly. Feminism is an idealogy. 'Winning" or "loosing" depends on the individual's perceptions and their prioritiy.

Even our "spokespeople" have received huge backlash when they have commented on feminism from places of privledge and not from unqiue perspectives. Or they outright alienate some people.

So comment all you want on winning or losing but feminism is a movement that is going to span generations and we will never see 100% saturation in our world population.

Charlene wrote: "From Radium Girls, I felt like the only research investment the dial companies did was to prove that the paint was safe. It did not seem like they were interested in putting money into researching ..."

We could even go further. Scientific thought is currently being monetized. Companies in an industry only paying for studies on items beneficial to their bottom line. Research into new ideas that might threaten that don't receive funding and therefore don't ever get pursued.

Or worse, we don't have funds for peer review. So many things are published but aren't validated or duplicated to remove bias. The number of studies approved that aren't tested is staggering.

Hmmm...

If I understand this correctly, we are upset that more people are proclaiming themselves feminists?

Or are we upset because finally companies are paying attention and giving us clothes that announce our pride, marketing campaigns that reflect our values, and items that help our cause?

Emma wrote: "Colleen wrote: "Oh, I hope you get a lot of responses. The only one that comes to mind is by Nora Ephron “I Feel Bad About my Neck”. Perhaps not a feminist book but by a feminist. Or checkout Carri..."

Disclaimer: I read Carrie's The Princess Diarist. I cried like a child. Do not read that one for a good, uplifting time. It's a subtle knife to the soul.

My suggestions:

The Doctor Is In: Dr. Ruth on Love, Life, and Joie de Vivre

Dr. Ruth lived through the Holocaust and somehow this pint-size bitty became America's love doctor. She has many other books on advice as the love doctor, but this one explains how she went from the tragedy of genocide to fighting to embracing happiness in hard times. I read it last year and it helped push through some of the doldrums.


A Beautiful Work In Progress
Mirna is similar to Dr. Ruth, an effervescent personality who helps you to square back your shoulders and to be present. She is an Ultra Marathoner and also more than 200lbs. Normally those two don't go together, but Mirna pushes through and explains how she has embraced her interests and not society's restrictions.

And also... look how beautiful these covers are? They are so happy and vibrant and I don't even like pink.

Could you define for me the goals of feminism?

"Winning" here is awfully subjective.

Florian wrote: "Ok, my bad I did not know people would get confuse by the utilisation of the word Poesy instead of Poetry. Now I understand some of the comments. If you think changing Poesy by Poetry in the title ..."

Nah! Keep it as Poesy. I can't speak for everyone, but now that I know this new word/definition, I want to use it!