#4, 6-10, 31

[oyceter]

As you can tell, I am horribly behind on linking stuff to the comm...

4. and 31. Yep, Laurence - Dragon Steel and Dragon War
   Shimmer is a dragon princess of the Lost Sea, so called because the evil witch Civet boiled it away. She's on a quest to reclaim her home, although she's not particularly in the good graces of her uncle, the king of the dragons. On her way, she meets the poor boy Thorn, and together, they look for the cauldron. But unfortunately for them, they do as much wrong on their quest as they do right.
   The review is actually for the quartet, although I'm not counting books 1 and 3, since I read them as a kid. (more)

6. Smith, Sherri L. - Sparrow
   I've liked what I've read of Smith so far, and this is probably my favorite of her three to date (I'm very much looking forward to getting my hands on her latest, Flygirl, about a female black aviator in WWII). I particularly love the look at grief and the difficulties of a young adult trying to make her way through the world when she's lost all adult support. (more)


7. Cunningham, Michael, and Craig Marberry - Crowns: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats
   This book originated in Michael Cunningham's photography exhibition of black women in church hats; the interviews came later, as did a stage play (which I wish I could see!). The women mostly range from 40-60 in age, with a few over 60 and a few under 40, and very few under 30. Most of them are from the South, although we have several New Yorkers as well. (more)


8. Qamar, Amjed - Beneath My Mother's Feet
   It was also important to me that Nazia found her role models in other Pakistani women; it reminded me a lot of how Kashmira Sheth centered her feminist message in Keeping Corner in the Indian Independence Movement and in Indian history. It is a taking back of history and culture, a way of grounding revolutions, personal and political, within, not positing change as something only given to the working class, women, people of color by people who have more structural power.
   
   I didn't love the book, but I think the author has potential (this is her first novel), and I'll be interested in seeing what she writes next. (more)


9. Roberts, Dorothy - Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty
   Roberts writes about reproductive freedom for poor black women and how that reproductive freedom often differs from the standard definition used by most white feminists, particularly the mainstream feminist movement for the right to abortion and birth control versus the right to not be coerced or deceived into sterilization or into taking birth control drugs you did not agree to. From there, she examines the meaning of liberty in the United States and what to do when the idea of negative liberty butts up against the idea of social justice.
   
   This is very good. Read it! (more)


10. Shah, Sonia, ed. - Dragon Ladies: Asian American Feminists Breathe Fire
    This is a collection of essays by Asian-American feminists about Asian-American feminists (with the "American" indicating the US, although there is one that focuses on Canadian healthcare). From my recollection, the range seems fairly large—there were quite a few essays on lower-class women and I think the essays spanned a good range of ages, although I could be remembering wrong. I was especially pleased to see good representation of South and Southeast Asian women. I think there could have been more by and about queer women and differently-abled women, though I really loved the round-table with three punk queer Asian women.
    
    I found this book so personally necessary and so comforting that I have no idea how useful this write up will be to anyone who's not me. Still, recommended! (more)