Blogging as a Feminist Reader

I compose my blog posts as an individual, as a woman, and as a feminist. (As we know, the latter two categories overlap but are not the same; some women are not feminists, and some men are.) I am pretty sure that those who have read this blog with any frequency will have noticed that I read and post about substantially more books by women than by men. And I often discuss in my posts a writer’s status as a feminist, or the feminist perspectives of certain books. (A quick search in the search box in the top lefthand corner of this blog will show numerous uses of the words “feminist” and “feminism.”) As a feminist reader, I am drawn (although of course not exclusively) to books by women writers, and/or with women main characters. I think about which gender messages the book sends. I think about how the book contributes to the larger history and culture of literature by women and literature in general. Of course I read and appreciate good books by male writers, and especially appreciate them if they seem to have a feminist sensibility, by which I mean they include women characters as people, not as marginal characters or accessories to the main story, or worse. But for so many years, especially during my childhood and young adulthood, most books that were available, and that we read in school, or that were recommended to us as classics, as “the best,” were by male writers. So in a sense I have been, in my own reading, in my teaching, and in my blogging, evening the balance ever since. I am very glad that more women are writing and being published and read. But reports from writers and women’s organizations show that there is still discrimination in the publishing world, such as in the ways books (and other literary works – stories, poems, essays) are chosen, labeled, marketed, reviewed, and awarded prizes. (For information on this, I recommend the organization VIDA: Women in Literary Arts, especially its annual counts of representation of women in literary magazines, etc.) So there is still progress to be made. I hope it is clear that I am not prejudiced against books by male writers, or for books by female writers. I just want a balance in their roles in the world of books.

San Francisco Chronicle's book blog: Bookmarks

Although I have seen mention of the San Francisco Chronicle’s book blog, titled Bookmarks, almost every week in the Sunday book section, I have never actually checked it out until now. I like the topics there; they are a mixture of San Francisco Bay Area topics and national ones. The most recent post tells the sad story of the closing of Black Oak books in Berkeley, after 33 years. The post points out that even though independent bookstores are now, after a steep decline, holding their own, there are still closures, especially because such bookstores often operate on a very narrow profit margin. If you are interested, and especially if you live in the SF Bay Area, check it out at http://blog.sfgate.com/bookmarks/

StephanieVandrickReads Slows Down

Dear Readers, I have been posting daily (with a couple of exceptions) on this blog for three and a half months, and have thoroughly enjoyed doing so. However, for reasons of time and other commitments, I have decided to post less frequently now. I will aim for approximately two to four times a week. I hope you will keep checking in regularly. Also, please tell your reading friends about the blog; one way to do that is to click the little envelope after a post, and forward the post by email to your friends; it's easy! And do comment, or if you prefer not to sign up to comment, please just email me directly (vandricks@usfca.edu) with any responses you have; I am always happy to hear your views on particular posts, or in general on books and reading. Thanks again for reading my blog! -- Stephanie

Possible Brief Pause

Dear readers, I will be very involved in a (happy) family event over the next three days, so may or may not post on Friday and Saturday; if not before, I will definitely be back with a post on Sunday. Thanks, as always, for reading this blog (and do please tell your reading friends about it!). -- Stephanie

No Post Tomorrow

Dear fellow readers,
I will be at a conference for the next few days, and may not be able to post an entry every day. Tomorrow (Wed., 3/24), in particular, I will probably not be able to do so. But I will be back and blogging again very soon!
Best, Stephanie

How the Blog Works

If some of you, like me, are not completely comfortable with the tech aspects of blogs, I summarize below how you can participate, as I understand it.

1. The easiest way, if you don't want to be able to comment on blog entries, is simply to bookmark this site, or jot down the web address, and read it daily or weekly or occasionally, as you prefer.

2. If you want to be able to comment, you can do one of the actions below:

a. Sign up for a Google account (this does NOT mean signing up for gmail); this is easy and free.

b. Sign up to "follow" this blog, either "publicly" (a little icon will show up under "followers") or "privately" (no icon will show). In either case, you do not have to post a photo or give your full name. This is also easy and free.

Thanks very much for your interest in my blog! And thanks, Mary V., for your suggestion that I do the blog!