I am now six months in to my #ReadWomen2014 committment, and it seems only appropriate to take a moment to reflect on how my endeavor is progressing so far. I had a few goals in mind when I took up the task of exclusively reading books by women this year; I wanted to expose myself to far more books by women of color; I wanted to catch up on the contemporary literary fiction by women that I kept hearing about but hadn't read; and finally, I wanted to read some of the most noteworthy works of feminist literature/non-fiction, because it seemed in keeping with the spirit of the undertaking.
Read moreA Few Thoughts on YA Literature...
Last week, Ruth Graham over at Slate wrote the ultimate literary click-bait article, complete with inflammatory headline, "Against YA: Read whatever you want. But you should feel embarrassed when what you're reading was written for children." Read it if you dare; I especially like the parts where she confuses children with teens (i.e. The Hunger Games Trilogy is decidedly not for children), and when she blames adult consumption of YA literature on millenials, because their young adulthood extends into the 30s. The timing was either deliberate or fortuitous, as the article dropped amid the week-long "Fault in Our Stars" movie premier hoopla. Naturally, bloggers and writers from NPR, NPR again, the Atlantic, the Hairpin, etc. etc responded mostly in the form of strong disagreement.
Read moreWelcome to Bookhive
Bookhive is a blog about literary culture, readership, and books. Although I’m technically a librarian, my writing will be focused on my personal connections to literature, especially in weekly posts reflecting my current reads.
My writing will be focused on my personal connections to literature.
The creation of the blog was largely inspired by #ReadWomen2014, and much of the content will reflect that, including a weekly recommendation of female authors from the world of literary fiction, as well as regular posts on my favorite female-oriented non-fiction. I’m more interested in writing about contemporary literature, but you can also expect the occasional post on “the classics” as well as a regular round-up of my favorite think-pieces, interviews, and blog posts on literary fiction from around the web.
Although reading itself is a very solitary activity, my enjoyment of literature has always been enhanced by lively discussion with others about the books I love and hate, so I encourage you to please share your own literary viewpoints, recommendations, and experiences in the comments section.