book talk: mongolian feminism

So, I am almost finished with this book, which I picked up at the library partially for it's cool cover image, and partially for its intriguing title. I am always interested in powerful women, and this book seemed to promise an encouraging tale of women in power, doing great things, rescuing an empire.

Of course, history is never as neat and tidy as we'd like to imagine, and this book offered less "women-as-heroes" moments than I'd expected. Also, it really highlights the deeply engrained patriarchal tendencies of men, even in a society established to be so egalitarian as Genghis Khan's empire seemed to be. (Genghis Khan: Mongolia's first feminist? Pretty cool.)

The overarching story is less about one generation of women (as the title might imply) and more about important women rising to power, holding power, staging revolutions and just being general bad-asses over the course of several generations. That kind of consistency has a lasting effect, and this book is ultimately encouraging in a wholly un-glamorous, un-hollywood, but totally real way.

Five Gratitudes

Happy, Happy Friday! Whew. Does it seem like this week took forever~yet went at a frenetic pace~or is it just me?

Here's what I'm grateful for today:

image source

1. Today marks the Autumnal Equinox, and I'm so grateful that my favorite season officially here! I'm also grateful to Adam Frank for posting a thought-provoking blog about The Tyranny of Modern Time on NPR's website that fits in with the occasion perfectly.

2. I'm grateful to my uncle for posting this mesmerizing video shot from the International Space Station.  Can we say jaw-dropping? Look at all those cities!

3. I'm grateful to Alli for posting about one of my favorite books ever, Pride and Prejudice. On a rainy day like today, thoughts of curling up with a classic comfort read make me smile.

4. I'm grateful that tonight, Jake and I have the chance to try out this new restaurant that just opened in our town. Looks like it will be a delicious dinner!

5. Last but not least, I'm grateful to ProfHacker for this blog on thinking about ways to make writing fun. For myself, for my students, I want to think more about ways to inspire a desire (heh, that rhymes!) for writing...and I am still musing on this quote: 

"I wonder what it is that tells us that only difficult tasks are worthwhile, that fun tasks are frivolous and unnecessary."

Indeed. 

What about you, friends? What are you grateful for today?

judging a book by...

Hello from Hot-lanta! I am currently in the throes of an academic conference here; having fun, learning a lot, and pooped out. More on the conference particulars later...

For now, I just had to share this fascinating article I came across about the (scary? imagined? very real?) importance of book cover design. As a writer myself, I instinctively balk at the notion that anything other than my brilliant words would be the crucial factor in someone deciding to read my writing, or not. But...as a visual learner, and someone who considers herself at least mildly aesthetic, I have to say that I see the cover as an important part of the rhetorical strategy. It is trying to persuade an audience for a specific purpose. And, as a reader, I have to admit that I'd rather read a book with a cool cover than one with an embarrassing cover. I can't pretend that my book purchases aren't based, at least partly, on the cover-factor.

Take, for instance, this book I just started:

The author, Geraldine Brooks, is a Pulitzer Prize winner. So, automatically she comes with "writer street cred." But, if I'm gonna be really honest, I never would've picked up this book if the cover hadn't "grabbed me." 

What do you think? Is judging a book by its cover inevitable? Avoidable? Just a part of the rhetorical exchange?