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Third book!! All About Love: New Visions, by bell hooks
Oh dear, there are already _three_ holds at my library so I doubt I'll be reading along with you guys. Besides, I haven't finished The Color Purple. . . .
Can't wait to start this one. I really like bell hook's writing.
Both my local library and university library do not hold a copy of this book. However, Scribd has it in pdf format if that's of any use? I'm assuming Scribd is a kosher site?The introduction and opening chapter set up what looks to be an interesting topic. Yet again, here's a book I never would have picked up given the choice - Our Shared Shelf is expanding my horizons.
hooks' thoughts on the cynical nature of the production of books (men write about love; women read about love) got me to thinking that something needs to be done w/r/t artwork where there still appears to be a leaning towards making female authored books look more "flowery," for want of a better word. The online copy of hooks' book has two butterflies on the cover - who came up with that? And why should butterflies signify love? And is that two same-sex butterflies, or not? Somehow the imagery, in most books that I read, fails to convey the content of what it is I'm reading, and I only raise this point because for me, and I try very hard for this not to be the case, the look of a book plays an important role in my picking the book up in the first place - dodgy cover image = not picking it up.
And w/r/t to my last, I have it on good authority, from the few authors I have actually spoken to, that the book publishing industry favours heavily the female worker. One such author, marketed as "chick-lit" against her wishes, told me an anecdote of being in a meeting with her publishers, all women round the table, and seeing a a copy of the intended cover - pink, glittery, shiny, and yes, "flowery." Not at all what she'd imagined. I wonder if hooks imagined butterflies on her cover?
Mod
Matthew wrote: "And w/r/t to my last, I have it on good authority, from the few authors I have actually spoken to, that the book publishing industry favours heavily the female worker. One such author, marketed as ..."Yes, I wondered the same thing about the edition of The Color Purple I purchased, from Orion Books and whose cover was designed by Edward Bettison. The designer's website actually says the author approved of the cover but this is an interesting question to investigate.
I've actually been reading 'Feminism is for Everybody' also by Bell! So looking forward to reading this. She speaks about feminist and gender theory in a really literate, accessible way which is so great. Looking forward to this one!
Lucy wrote: "http://www.bookdepository.com/All-abo..."yesterday the price for the book was 12,09€ and today it's 20,84€...
do you think they raised the price because of this book club and our interest in this book?
No, it probably has more to do with availability and specific copies
Mod
Amazon raised the Steinem price, quite dramatically on the Kindle book. Supposedly it used to be part of the Premium service (not available to me), but it was removed.
It seems that Finland has only one copy of this in all the libraries, so had to buy it online. But I can't wait to read it! I've never read anything from bell hooks, though I have heard of her. I also noticed that Amazon prices shot up so it was actually cheaper to buy from Finland (which basically never happens because books are expensive here).
Justine wrote: "Matthew wrote: "And w/r/t to my last, I have it on good authority, from the few authors I have actually spoken to, that the book publishing industry favours heavily the female worker. One such auth..."that cover is actually very beautiful, an illustration that sends me visually to a field of cotton were I see them working, in the summer.
Nina wrote: "Lucy wrote: "http://www.bookdepository.com/All-abo..."yesterday the price for the book was 12,09€ and today it's 20,84€...
do you think they raised the price because ..."
for sure they raised the prices because of the high requests
I just joined the club and ordered the book yesterday. Excited to take part in this discussion!
thank you for choosing this book...I didn't finish it yet, but as I read on and think about love, I feel that all my life I never knew love or what it means or how to express it...I'm looking forward to finish it, and try to change my perspective...
Kylie wrote: "I love the fact that I never would have picked up any of these three books at the bookstore, and yet I couldn't wait to come home from work and pick up where I'd left off in both so far.. I'm learn..."Definitely the same for me. But I have to wait at least one week, or at most four weeks until I can get it from my bookstore. So sad. But I will read it as fast as possible. I have to spread the knowledge of OSS more over here, in Salzburg, Austria.
Ana wrote: "Hey, Luckness! We always try to do our best to cover as many people and circumstances as possible with each book choice! Believe me when I say, I'm always worried about the translation availability..."Thanks for your answer, it was very kind of you. I´m glad this is a serious group where every comment gets it´s response. I know that it might be a challenge to find a book translated to every language so that everyone would fulfill their will. I have ordered my English copies and the Spanish version (they have not translated them to Basque) of "The color purple" on amazon as my local bookshops do not have any of the books in stock.
I´m sure that for the following months there is going to be more variety with authors from all countries as that is the symbol of feminism that it´s global!
I can't believe Kindle doesn't have this...
Elisa wrote: "Too bad it isn't available as audio book. I'd love to read this!! But due to illness I can't read long texts and can only 'read' my books in audio format. I send an e-mail to Audible with a request..."Maybe you can use IVONA to change the text to audio... I use it for language learning, to hear new words and stuff like that. I hope it helps :)
I ordered my copy yesterday but it will only ship in about 2 weeks. Don't know if I will finish reading in time - probably not. :-(
Book has been ordered. Never heard of the author but from reading the book info sounds like a great book. I look forward to allowing myself to read just to read and to learn more in different areas. I'm very excited.
Will be an interesting read for someone happily married for 21 years, hah :)
Mod
No worries about any sort of time limit! The discussion will remain open past the end of the month. As you can see, discussion of The Color Purple is still going strong, and Emma only just posted her own discussion prompts a couple of days ago. It is our intention that, while a new book is chosen every month, the schedule is not considered strict and discussion thrives regardless of the month. Even My Life On The Road is still being actively discussed because of Emma's recent interview with Gloria Steinem! So don't worry about getting your book "late," because you don't have to miss out on discussion!
My Amazon Prime 2 day shipping is turning into a week! I was a little sad when the projected arrival date (yesterday) came and went without the book arriving.I think we (the group) are affecting book sales and availability with our rush to get the monthly selections :)
Emma wrote: "This month's book choice is in honor of bell hooks who interviewed me for Paper magazine this month. Maya Angelou said of bell’s work, “Each offering from bell hooks is a major event, she has so mu..."I just ordered mine from Amazon! It should be coming in the post in a few days. I can't wait to start reading it - it's been on my list for ages!
Caroline wrote: "My Amazon Prime 2 day shipping is turning into a week! I was a little sad when the projected arrival date (yesterday) came and went without the book arriving.I think we (the group) are affecting ..."
I love that we are, super cool isnt it? and that its selling out in so many places - anything that profits and advertises good authors is fab in my book.
I can't wait to read this book. I have never read any of Bell Hooks books. I love that I get to read things I normally wouldn't be exposed to.
I am so looking forward to it.
Tracy wrote: "I can't believe Kindle doesn't have this..."Yes, that was disappointing.
It wouldn't surprise me if the stores were noticing a spike in interest over the books each month. I worked at a book store, and at a library for quite a while, and we could always tell when there was a new book club selection somewhere because there was a huge increase in interest in a specific book. I think that's a great thing to some extent. Got my copy from the library earlier today and have already got started reading.This is the first book from Bell Hooks that I have read, so I'm looking forward to really getting into it.
What an interesting choice! I've never heard of it but I'm very intrigued. Currently, I'm working on getting my hands on a copy to participate in the discussions this month. I really enjoyed reading the discussions from last month's book, The Color Purple. I also checked out some of Bell Hooks' discussions at The New School on YouTube. She seems like a great speaker too.
Natasha wrote: "Gotta admit, the first thing I did was look for an ebook version too!You can read it online here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/124493278/b...
:)"
Thank you so much for the link Natasha! I'd given up on getting a copy of this one :) love this group x
I heard a lot about both this book and its author! Can't wait to start reading!
Should I read this? I'm kind of on the fence.
I just ordered it on Amazon. It will be interesting to read what is love from the point of view of someone who probably is not a christian. (I am not sure, and am not judging!) It should arrive in 5 days or so.
I like how there is a thread winding its way through the book selections so far. There is a picture of Gloria Steinem with Alice Walker in "My Life on the Road" and she has a quote on the back of bell hooks' novel. Furthermore, bell hooks' work continues with the theme of love and our difficulty finding (and defining) it that was one part of "The Color Purple".
Caroline wrote: "I like how there is a thread winding its way through the book selections so far. There is a picture of Gloria Steinem with Alice Walker in "My Life on the Road" and she has a quote on the back of b..."Great Point!
Just curious if anyone has noticed a similarity to this book and Brene Brown's books on shame and vulnerability?Wonderful choice for this month; I literally devoured the book in two days!
I've just ordered the book from the bookdepository, since it takes 6-8 weeks (!?!) to ship from the dutch site bol.com. Should be here in 2 weeks or so. Can't wait to read the book!
Wow this book is £75.28 on Amazon.co.uk, will definitely be heading to the library to see if I can get it there instead, other wise I might wait and read it in a couple of months once the price goes back down
Started the book yesterday. It's the first one of the book club I'm reading and so far it is really special, and I like it a lot.
Great choice! I actually read this one a while back and it offers lots to think about. I was also wondering: Can we offer suggestions for next month's book, or is the list already set?
So...there I was on amazon trying to buy the book, since this service is kinda new in Mexico (country) I was trying to get a gift card to buy the book! I live in a small town and there's no giftcard anywhere here so I decided to wait a little and today is no longer available and it costs more (just a bit) ... I rather read in paper than ebooks, so my super-excitement is now "why didn't I get it just 2 hours ago" :( I can't wait to read this Bell Hooks book. Never heard of her but from I have found out is a woman worth reading and learning from.
Good luck with your readings and findings. Hope I get my shipment soon
Happy womans day from Mexico :D
Mod
Follow the directions in this post to suggest a book for the club: How to Suggest a Book
I also read the reviews here on goodreads and I'm not impressed. Apparently it's very hetero-normative and full of binary thinking and assumptions about other people. Also less relatable to many due to Christian undertones.