Space Station Mir

Happy Top Ten Tuesday ! Top Five Character Names I Love 1. Christopher Carrion, Lord of Midnight from the Abarat books by Clive Barker Doesn't it just roll off the tongue? 2. Rodion Romanovitch Raskolnikov from Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky Besides the alliteration, "Raskolnikov" literally means schismatic, very appropriate for the character. 3. Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore from the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling J.K. Rowling is a genius for names, but this is one of my favorites! (I think I'm noticing a trend...) 4. Dimple Lala from Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier An unforgettable name! 5. Galadriel from the Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien The name is musical, light, and powerful all at once. Just saying it gives me a thrill.

28. Sexy Feminism by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong and Heather Wood Rudulph A couple years ago, I wrote a post entitled Thoughts on Reformist vs. Revolutionary Feminism , based on bell hooks' Feminism Is for Everybody . Since then, it's been one of the most popular hits on the blog. It seems that a lot of people are wondering, what is the difference between reformist and revolutionary feminism? I don't have all the answers or know all the history. But, in my understanding, "reformist feminism" aims to give women equal rights to men, as applied in Western democratic, capitalist societies. Reformist feminists are the advocates of equal pay and of more women in CEO positions and STEM fields. Sheryl Sandberg of Lean In and even Betty Friedan of The Feminine Mystique would be considered reformist feminists. these women are aiming to increase women's presence and power in the workforce, aiming to treat women exactly (or almost exactly, save the contentious mothe...

27. The White Queen by Philippa Gregory So with my two rather new jobs comes an awful lot of commuting. And what better way to pass the time than an audio book? Since I had such success with The Queen's Lover , I decided to pick up some more historical fiction, this time from an author I'm quite familiar with. Philippa Gregory creates tension in the details. Most of her books deal with well-known events in British history, but she focuses in on minor characters and minor events that pack more unexpected dramatic punches. In The White Queen , the first person protagonist is Elizabeth Woodeville, a minor noblewoman who famously beguiled (some say bewitched) Edward IV into marrying her. What I didn't know was that Elizabeth was already widowed with two young sons when she married the king, making her conquest even more extraordinary. I know the broad outlines of the story, that Edward became king through conquest, and after some years of rule died, leaving behind two son...

Happy Top Ten Tuesday ! Top Ten Books I Was "Forced" to Read 1. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien I must confess, it wasn't my idea to read these books; it was my dad's. He went on so much about how they were his favorite books as a kid and made such a point of telling me that he had his own copies available for me that I finally went ahead and read them. And now, his copies sit coolly on my shelves. For safekeeping. 2. The Source by James Michener My grandfather took me to a bookstore once and told me I could have any book I wanted. Then he proceeded to steer me toward this one. He told me all about how much he had enjoyed it, and was so full of enthusiasm that I couldn't resist "choosing" it. I'm very glad I did, it remains one of the most interesting books I've ever read and I'm so glad I had the chance to talk with my grandfather about it. 3. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand My good friend got quite enthusia...

Short Story # 7 Thief of War by Beth Bernobich Publisher: Tor.com Summary: Arbija, a daughter of the northern province Vesterlant, has traveled south in disguise, to steal the jewels of the king of the Erythandran Empire. Her family fears that the Empire seeks to conquer their lands, as they did to nearby provinces in earlier years. Our protagonist is part of a complicated scheme that involves enrolling in an ancient University and using magic to disguise her features, while pretending she is a novice in magical studies. The scope and lore of this novella seem to extend far beyond its contents. The grand lineages, premise, and cast of characters, however, lead to an abrupt and disappointing end. I fervently hope this is only an excerpt from a novel, which I would line up to read! In the meantime, I hope Bernobich does not continue to disguise material of novel proportions in thin novellas! Favorite Quotes: "Beauty was one thing. Humor was far more seductive."