A Week of Political Books: All the Single Ladies by Rebecca Traister

We're one week out from what will be an historic election, no matter which way it turns out. America will never be the same no matter which candidate wins. I've got a whole reading list that includes Hillbilly Elegy and The Man Without a Face. II pulled that last book off the Guardian's list of ten must-read books about Vladimir Putin. Check out the list here.)  The book I've just finished is Rebecca Traister's All The Single Ladies.

This is the review excerpted on the book's Amazon page:

The New York Times bestselling investigation into the sexual, economic, and emotional lives of women is “an informative and thought-provoking book for anyone—not just the single ladies—who want to gain a greater understanding of this pivotal moment in the history of the United States” (The New York Times Book Review).  

It's an important book, I think.

New from Alexandra Sokoloff

The latest (number 4) in her "Huntress" FBI series is out. Yay. Check it out on her site.

In Celebration of Women--Edna Lewis

This book came up in, of all things, a search for "gargoyles." The cover is wonderful, isn't it? This is an illustrated biography of the chef and natural food advocate Edna Lewis (with recipes) and it's filled with lovely illustrations and a kind of crazy quilt of folk tales and received wisdom that gives the impression of being in the middle of a family reunion. For foodies. And feminists. And people who love illustrations.

Don't listen to me, listen to Salman Rushdie

Returning to my roots

My genre is mystery.
It's what I read for pleasure.
It's what I always wanted to write.
When I first started writing fiction, it was crime fiction that I wrote. Sometime the crimes were mixed with fantasy; sometimes with science fiction; sometimes even with romance. But they were always mysteries.
I wrote a long novella as my first mystery and I could not get arrested for it. Then I wrote a shorter novella in the fantasy romance vein and I suddenly started selling books. I wrote a sequel to the fantasy romance and that sold too, as did a couple of novelettes I wrote.
It's nice selling books.
And I very much enjoyed writing them.
But I'm going back to my roots for NANOWRIMO. This November I'm going to write a psychological mystery, my version of the female centric thrillers that are suddenly hot. I have a pretty good idea I think; at least and idea that excites me enough to put my heart into writing every day for a month.
And to celebrate, I bought a cover from The Book Cover Designer, my favorite "go-to" for premade covers.
The designer was Valdas Miskinis  of Book Cover Arts and at no extra charge I was provide three font variations, which was a nice surprise.
Wish me luck with this one.
Because I've missed writing crime.

Vote Early. Vote right now.

One ballot, Four Women

So yes, a woman is running for president, the nominee of a major party.
And also there's Jill Stein, who is running for the Green Party.
But I did not know that there are two other women running for President this year. There's also Gloria La Riva of the Socialism and Liberation Party and there's Alyson Kennedy of the Socialist Worker's Party. You can see Alyson Kennedy talking about a woman's right to choose here. You can see Gloria La Riva's stance on the issues here.
It's interesting looking at the platforms of the two lesser-known candidates. La Riva, for instance, shares my stance on the minimum wage. On her web site you can find this meme--which pretty much sums up La Riva's belief that there is no "lesser evil" among the two main party candidates.
Here's a site where you can download information on Alyson Kennedy and her running mate Osborne Hart.You can download their statements on police brutality and killings, as well as a statement of solidarity for the working people of Syria.