Since I posted my summer reading list I've finished four of the books in my book stack. Of these, three were new to me. The first, Backlash, I've been working on for a couple of months. It's a really large book, but well worth the read. Backlast is a report on the reaction of the 80's to the feminism of the 70's. Not having lived through either of those decades, this book was an eye opener to me. I asked my mom about whether some of the allegations of this book were true, and she said absolutely. I can't imagine a world where I would actually be expected to stay at home instead of work, and I never realized that those views carried well through the 80's and onwards. This book is a great read for anyone who wants to read more about the historical reality of feminism, beyond the change from 50's housewife to 70's radical that is presented in the media.
Next, I read The White Forest, which was a gift from my grandparents for Christmas. Originally it didn't seem that interesting, and I wasn't going to read it. Then, I stacked my to-read list with so many non-fiction books that I knew I would need some more mindless reads to balance it out. I won't say that I loved this book. It was good. I can't quite figure out how to describe the plot without giving something away. Basically, there's a group of friends in victorian England and one of them disappears. The other two try to find him, and discover that their world is not what they thought it was.. The idea behind the book is interesting, even if it wasn't as griping as I like my fiction books to be.
Lastly, I finished Feminism is for Everybody. I bought this book because when you sign up for the newsletter for Everyday Feminism you get a coupon for their store, and I'd heard of bell hooks and wanted to read something of her's for myself. I'm a little conflicted about this book, although my feelings have nothing to do with the message, and more with the presentation and what I was hoping for with this book. It's a small book, and much of the book talks about the need for feminism to move away from academic jargon, to make itself more accessible to the average person. In this book I was hoping to find that release, to find a book that clearly stated the goals and tenets of feminism, that I could hand to people and have them read, in the hope that they would understand better. Instead, hooks' voice is closely tied in with that very academic jargon that she claims we need to stray away from. I've done a decent amount of reading about the patriarchy, capitalism, imperialism, and the like; the people who I had hoped could use this book to learn about feminism in my life haven't, though. Hooks doesn't clearly explain the link between capitalism imperialism, and other isms that modern feminists are fighting against. It's a great little reminder of what we're fighting for, but it isn't the clearly written textbook that I was hoping for when I bought it.
