Smart Bitches Trashy Books | All of the romance, none of the bullshit.

Tall, snarky, not-too-bright blonde chick dies, is resurrected with superpowers that include unusual strength and speed and is dragged into the battle of Good vs. Evil, kicking and screaming and making pop culture references all the way. Sound familiar? Yeah, the Undead franchise has been so good to Davidson that she’s now saving other people the trouble and is blatantly ripping herself off, down to the black best friend and taciturn, hot, dark-haired hero. She could’ve called this book Undead and Microchipped. Feh.

Thanks to Monica, I found Brenda Coulter’s blog, which I’ll probably be checking out regularly from now on. (Note to self: Must update sidebar links.) This entry about double-standards in judging fiction in particular made me chuckle, and I agreed with much of what was said. This bit, though, made me sigh a little: “I’ve said before that I don’t consider myself a feminist, and I don’t twist myself in knots trying to be politically correct. But when someone displays prejudice of this magnitude in a public forum, even a non-militant type like me tends to take offense on behalf of her gender.”

Since when were all feminists militant? That’s like saying all Christians are homophobic Bible-thumpers. I’m a feminist, and although I’m outspoken, I don’t think I’m militant in my views. My feminist stance is very simple: I think a woman should be free to do whatever turns her crank, whether she wants to be a CEO or an engineer or a porn star or a stay-at-home mom, or whether she wants to subscribe fully to religious fundamentalist doctrines of female submission (I know a fundie Christian whose wife doesn’t work outside the house and doesn’t vote because they both fully believe in this). The key words here are “freedom” and “choice.”

The way I see it, if you believe in things like equal work for equal pay and that women deserve to be free from discrimination and double-standards, and that our voices deserve to be heard when it comes to decisions that affect our lives--either personal or political--you’re a feminist. There is such a wide variety of movements and schools of thought, from wacky-ass militant separatists (which is what most people think of when they think “feminist,” I’m afraid) to ifeminism (which in my opinion is only very nominally feminist) that very often these central tenets are all that they have in common.

What puzzles and irks me the most is when professional or politically-active women speak disparagingly of feminism. Lady, if it weren’t for feminists, you woudn’t be allowed to vote, own property, have custody of your children should something Very Bad happen to the marriage, work outside the house or attend the same schools men do, much less receive the same professional accreditation men do. Show feminists some love, and think long and hard: are YOU a closet feminist? If you are, come out of the closet. Hey, you already read romance novels, right?

Today’s (uhhh, actually, yesterday’s) Romancing the Blog entry was about author blogs influencing book-buying decisions. With me, it really boils down to this: If I refrained from reading books written by assholes or people whose opinions differ in any way from mine, I’d run out of books pretty damn quick; I think my list of authors would probably be pared down to, like, Eric Schlosser and Jennifer Crusie. Aside from that, I also find it fascinating to read books by people whose views are radically different from mine. A couple of years ago I tried reading Mein Kampf, for example, but I had to quit at page 150 because it was seriously sending me to sleep. I never knew anti-semitic vitriol could be so boring.

Blogs have introduced a lot of authors to me; recently I saw a PBW book written under the Lynn Viehl pseudonym (If Angels Burn) and I picked it up because I recognized the name through her blog. I certainly don’t agree with some of her opinions, but the premise of the book sounded interesting, and hey, if I gave Hitler a chance, I had to extend the same courtesy to PBW, no? (Note: in case it wasn’t obvious, that last remark was strictly in jest, and I’m inserting this clunky disclaimer only because I am completely opposed to using smilies in my blog posts.) The book flunked the 15-page in-store preview, though, and it’s the only reason I didn’t buy it. The other day I saw an Alison Kent book, and while I agree with her views (as presented on her blog, anyway) more than PBW’s and Alison’s on-line persona is much less abrasive, the same thing happened: 15-page preview didn’t grab me, so no go. Monica Jackson’s In My Dreams, on the other hand, passed the 15-page test. And now that I’ve finished the latest Emma Holly I checked out from the library, I’m going to start reading this one, Monica, so the review should be up soon. Be afraid. Be very, very afraid.

(Funnily enough, I found out about Monica not through her blog, but through LLB’s blog. Anyone else think that if these two meet that there will be a catastrophic explosion such as what happens when matter and anti-matter collide and spontaneously annihilate each other?)

Similarly, I’m interested in checking out other authors’ books whose blogs I read should I see them in the stores. If I see a Holly Lisle book I’ll give it a fair trial, even though I categorically disagree with her stance on abortion. I’ll give Kate Rothwell’s books a try too, ditto Lydia Joyce. Monica Jackson brought up Brenda Coulter in her blog entry about this issue, and though I definitely disagree with Coulter on some things, I’ll check out her books if I see them since I’m still determined to give Inspirationals a fair shot, though God knows when I’ll get around to that because Emma Holly is seriously starting to fuck up my TBR stacks.

That 15-page in-store trial, man. It’s really the final arbiter of what I buy, unless the book’s by an autobuy author. The blog thing? The authors’ entries may make for good rant fodder for this site, but I honestly don’t think it affects my purchasing habits other than the exposure to a huge variety of new-to-me authors.

I am Countess Kicksherownass this morning, since I thought I was all smooth grabbing an older short story from a major author. GAH. But - Congrats and big ups to Rani who is now known as

Baroness Pressèdhamm

Wear your title well, and make sure to use it when making dinner reservations. You get a better table that way. 

It’s Friday, y’all. So rustle up some creative thinkin’ and have yourself a go at this week’s Guess that Lonely Heart:

Murderous best-selling author seeks boot-scootin’ hero to rescue her from forced friendship and bonding with cattle-rustling plastic women. Tumbles in the hayloft invited, but hero must be willing to accept heroine who at all times insists on speaking for herself.