bookmanity

Female Initiation – An overview of concepts

In my first post Female initiation through reading, I gave a short introduction on what initiation is and how it can be found in literature. In this post, I will explain the concept of initiation a bit more in detail and also show how initiation plays an important part in some of our most beloved novels.

Initiation – The origins

The term initiation comes originally from religion and describes a religious change of status by means of a secret ceremony of admission and conversion, which usually unfolds as a tripartite process consisting of the novices ‘moving out’ of their previous existence, their ‘crossing over’ the decisive threshold after their proof of worth through appropriate tests, and their ‘going into’ a new, purified, and elevated existence and which is commonly acted out as a process of symbolic ‘death’ and ‘rebirth’.

Stack of old books on table, teacup with rose-pattern and tea bag on top

Although the term has a rather long tradition, it is Jesuit Jospeh François Lafitau who gives a new dimension to it in 1724. He used the term to describe certain ceremonies of Canadian Indians. He is the first to divide initiation into three phases which he calls le principe, le commencement and l’entree de la vie. There are many anthropological definitions of the term initiation but in this blog series, I only want to use the definition by Arnold van Gennep. In his work Les rites de passage from 1909, he describes how every individual in society moves from one stage to the next with the help of rituals. He emphasises that the individual goes through changes while moving from stage to stage. He is the first to take Lafitau’s three phases and to adapt them to anthropology:

Van Gennep’s model of initiation

According to Van Gennep’s model, an individual follows three phases: An exit (rite de séperation, 1) takes place which separates the individual from society. This spatial as well as mental and emotional separation of the initiate from his family, especially from the mother, equates van Gennep with the death of the novice. The initiator must pass quests during this time to test and strengthen the initiate before he can rejoin society. The time of separation is called crossing (rite de marge, 2). Upon his return (rite d’agrégation, 3) into the “new” society, his life has to follow new rules and norms. His position in society has changed. The return can be seen as a rebirth.

Until Van Gennep, initiation as such was limited to the age of puberty. He is the first to broaden this view and to claim that initiation can take place at any age. He also is the first to include a psychological initiation in the definition which was before purely based on physical rites.

Line of old books including Little Women

Initiation in literature – a fairly new concept

First of all, most definitions for initiation in literary texts focus on short stories. Furthermore, on American short stories. Cleanth Brooks and Robert Warren adapted the religious and anthropological term for literary texts in their work Understanding Fiction in 1943. The initiation is now more of a process which can contain many steps and the initiate can also only take one step and stay in this group without initiating further.

Mordecai Marcus versus Peter Freese

Mordecai Marcus’ essay What is an initiation story? defines in 1960 two different types of initiation stories:

Initiation is described as a passage of the young from ignorance about the external world to some vital knowledge
Initiation as an important self-discovery and a resulting adjustment to life or society

Marcus completely moves away from the three-phase definition of anthropology:

An initiation story may be said to show its young protagonist experiencing a significant change of knowledge about the world or himself, or a change of character, or of both, and this change must point or lead him towards an adult world. It may or may not contain some form of ritual, but it should give some evidence that the change is at least likely to have permanent effects.

In contrast, the three phases (exit, crossing, return) are vital for Peter Freese, who coined the term initiation journey. For both, initiation is not bound to rituals anymore.

A critical examination of society as initiation

Initiation can happen in various ways: Sexually, intellectually or via a critical examination of society. The ladder is one of the main characteristics of initiation in literary texts. When looking at the initiate, one must also always look at the society surrounding the person. And society is also the main factor that has an impact on female and male initiation. Above mentioned definitions are solely valid for male protagonists. Female protagonists undergoing initiation are barely visible in literary texts. While male initiation in literature is being studied since 1940, female initiation is only looked into since the 1970s.

Stack of three books: Pride and Prejudice, Great Expectations and Wuthering Heights.

In the next post, I will write about female initiation through literature in novels and show you how initiation can be found in works by Jane Austen, Marguerite Radclyff-Hall, Pearl Abrahams, Daj Sijies and Lloyd Jones.

9 tips for a successful book club

Reading, meeting friends and talking about the book you’ve just read – it sounds amazing. The decision to start a book club is soon made and off you go. I am a member of two book clubs. It used to be three but one fell a little apart and I think I know why. It is funny that I had planned this post already some days ago and that the topic of the book club that just didn’t feel right anymore came up today while meeting a friend. Here is a list of 9 tips to have a successful and fulfilling book club.

Bücherregal in einer Bibliothek mit vielen bunten Buchrücken

9 tips for a successful book club

1. Be clear about your expectations

For one it might be to get together with friends, drink some wine and casually talk about a book. For another it might be the only book they read the month and they want to learn. Learn about the book, but also learn about you as a friend and fellow reader. Be clear on why you start (and/or join) the book club and what your expectations are.

2. Meet regularly, but not too often

You want to meet regularly, but everyone has a different reading tempo. Allow enough time for everyone to actually read the book, but don’t make the time between meetings too short so people might feel under pressure. You are doing this for fun after all!

3. Have a variety in the books you read

Unless you are a specific genre book-club, make sure to have a good variety. My one book club only reads fiction but we have a good selection of classics, contemporary novels and different genre. My other book club reads fiction and non-fiction and we try to switch between these two every other month.

4. Do something else than just talk about the book

Talking about a book is great, no doubt, but if you want to spend time with your friends, it might be nice to do something else as well. One of my book clubs started as a board game club and we now first discuss the book and then play games for hours. It is amazing. Even though we might spend time talking about a book I didn’t really like or have a lot to say about, I always know that there will be games. With my other book club, we always meet at a new restaurant and try new food.

5. Have some questions ready about the book

Many books have already questions for book clubs at the end of the book. They are usually very good and lead to great discussions. If you struggle to get the discussion going, I can only recommend having some open questions prepared to start the conversation. You could also pick out 5 questions everyone has to answer before the meeting. Anything that gets the talking going is wanted.

6. Have dedicated members

In the beginning, everyone will be excited. Then life gets in the way and members might start to drop out or not manage to read the book in time. If your expectations are clear, you can stir this. However, it is vital to be open and talk about the book club and what it does to the group when someone stops reading or showing up. A book club does not have to be huge. My one book club consists of three members and it is great. Two dedicated friends are better for this purpose than 10 who start slacking.

7. Stick to the book

Meeting friends is wonderful, especially if you haven’t seen each other for a month. However, you meet to talk about a book, so stick with it. Maybe have someone in charge who stirs the conversation in the right direction again.

8. Don’t just bring your own friends

We all live in a bubble and usually surround ourselves with people who share the same interests and opinions. Why else would you start a book club together? To broaden your horizon, maybe open the book club for people none of you knows. You will get to know other people, maybe make new friends and see the book in a different way.

9. Throw all rules overboard and have fun

You want to read only books that start with E? Only meet every 6 months? Go for it! Tips are nice, but they are no guarantee that your book club will be a success. Make it your own! I believe that it will be wonderful and last a long time as long as everyone is having a good time and leaves the meeting feeling ready to read the next book.

Are you part of a book club? Which books have you read already?

Female initiation through reading – An introduction

Learning how to read was my rite de passage.

Alberto Manguel

In his extensive work on the history of reading, Alberto Manguel makes a connection between the motif of reading and the relatively new literary model of initiation. In this blog series, I want to show how female protagonists go through a totally different type of initiation compared to their male counterparts – a journey through th the medium of books and through reading.

What is initiation?

Initiation is, according to the Cambridge dictionary, described as “special ceremony or responsibility that signals the acceptance of someone into a group”. The term originally comes from the anthropology. It was then adapted for literary texts after the Second World War. The literary concept of initiation describes the phased introduction of a young man into society. In literature, the young man goes on a life-changing journey and gains new experiences, knowledge and morals. They help him to either submerge into the society or to demarcate from it.

Male and female protagonists – a short comparison

Female protagonists, especially in older texts, are not allowed to travel. They have to stay at home and let the young men go out into the world and experience life out there. Of course, there are texts in which female protagonists are travelling. A few examples are Doris Lessing’s Martha Quest or Virginia Woolf’s The Voyage Out. There are also young male protagonists who read. Examples are Karl Philipp Moritz’ Anton Reiser, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship and Gottfried Keller’s Green Henry. These texts are defined as Bildungsroman and have not been researched in the light of initiation. It is interesting to point out that the male protagonists in the above-mentioned books are reading, however, it is travelling that has an impact on their lives and changes them. The male protagonists get encouraged to discover the world by books. The contrast between female limitation and male freedom can be illustrated clearly using these examples.

Female initiation – What does that even mean?

Initiation always also means a loss of innocence, so that female initiation is often only connected to a sexual introduction. The young girl gets a male mentor who introduces her to society, either through marriage or pure sexual seduction. Young girls are, due to a lack of female tutors, introduced to a clear heterosexual, male-dominated world and have to renounce their own desires and wishes. Why is it not possible for female protagonists to establish themselves in the society around them without having to give themselves up? There is no own, independent world in which the female protagonists can grow into. The society is always already male-dominated and occupied with male dogmas.

I wanted to find a female pendant to the male initiation journey and I believe that it can be found through reading. The male initiation journey finds its counterpart in the female reading.

Next week, I will discuss the concept of initiation a bit further and what this concept means in literature. I will also discuss which books I looked into to see how female initiation through reading is represented in classics and contemporary literature.

Do you believe that books and reading can change the world?

Eat that frog – How to get the right things done

We want to do it all and we very often want or have to do it right away but we also want to make sure to get the right things done. Not only the things others want us to do. Since I work only three days a week, I feel myself get overwhelmed with tasks at work but also on my days off. I just plan too much for one day and get disappointed in myself when I haven’t managed to do all the 20 things on my to-do list instead of seeing the 10 things I did.

I am always looking for new ways to structure my work or projects in a better way and want to share the two things that have made a huge impact on my way of working.

Pencil next to note book on striped background.

The two things I now do to get the right things, or to be honest, to get anything done, can be found in the book Eat that Frog by Brian Tracy.

1. Monthly, Weekly and Daily plans

I always have a yearly bucket list. Things I want to do in a specific time frame and sometimes I do not know how to make them all happen. A few weeks ago, I took 30 minutes, and I promise you that it won’t take longer than that, and I’ve done the following to make sure I am crushing my goals this year:

Finalised my master list of goals for 2019.
Created a monthly list for the remaining months of 2019. This means I have created a list for each month. I looked at my yearly bucket list and wrote down the projects/things I want to do/work on in each month. Some projects take several months and are never finished.
Create a weekly list. I then took the monthly, rather global items and divided them over the weeks of the respective months. I made sure that all items are scheduled at one point in the month.
Create a daily list. I took the weekly list and divided all the items there over the seven days of the first upcoming week.

Example of lists

You can find my master list of goals for 2019 here. This list is the basis for the monthly, weekly and daily list.

Monthly list August 2019

Stitch 5 portraits
Spend a weekend without my mobile phone
Found a magazine
Visit more provinces of the Netherlands
Start a power network
Be able to do a push-up
Host an art night for my friends
Try 5 new recipes
Create one new book lover city guide
Journal for a month straight
Try courses at the gym
Declutter our guest room
Create cross-stitch design and put it on Etsy
Start my happiness project
Work on my blog
Grow my Etsy shop

These are the goals I am focussing on in August. So, let’s see how I broke them down for the first week of August.

Weekly list

29.07-04.08.2019
– Stitch two portraits
– Create to-do-list for my magazine
– Work on push-ups
– Host art night for my friends
– Try one new recipe
– Journal
– Tidy up guest room
– Happiness project
– Blog
– Instagram
– Sport
– Reading
– Power network

In the first week of August, these were the things I wanted to focus on. I created such a very global list for every week of August making sure these lists cover the goals I wrote on the monthly list for August.

The weekly list then turned into a list for every day of the week, making sure I cover all the things from the weekly list over the course of the seven days of the week.

Daily list 30.07.19

Read the book on how to publish a magazine for 30 minutes in the morning
Instagram post and reply to comments
Write blogpost
Make a list of blog post ideas
Continue with to-do-list for my magazine
Send doodle for art night to my friends
Tidy up guestroom
Set date for power network
Ask favourite book shop if they want to sell my pin
Stitch one portrait
Journal before bed
Read before bed

Why the lists work well for me

I am less stressed because I have a clear overview and know that all my projects and things I want to do have their time now. I set priorities without leaving other things behind. At the end of each week, I look at the things I managed to do and also at the things I didn’t do. They are either moved to another upcoming week or I will make a recap/review at the end of the month and see how I can improve for the months to come.

I can only recommend to try it yourself and have created a printable you can use to structure your monthly, weekly and daily things you want to do.

Now, let’s talk about the second thing I am doing that helps me structure my work-load better.

2. Divide tasks into A/B/C-tasks

Brian Tracy suggests that we think about the tasks we have to do. And question ourself if it is a task we really must do (A-task) because it has consequences if we don’t or if it is a task that we should do (B-task). Undone B-tasks have only mild consequences. You can further divide your tasks into C-, D- and E-tasks. C-tasks are things that are “nice to have”. It doesn’t have any consequences if these tasks get done or not. D-tasks are things you can delegate to someone else, while E-tasks are tasks you can just ignore and not do at all.

How I use the ABCDE-method to get the right things done

At the beginning of the week, I take a notebook and write down the things I want or have to do this week. Then I decide if the tasks belong to category A, B or C. After writing the responding letter in front of the task, I start making a daily plan. I make sure to also plan in some buffer-time because at my work it often happens that spontaneous things are coming up.

Once I am done with planning out my week, I put the tasks with the A, B or C letter on my trello-board and map out the week there. This takes maybe 10 minutes at the beginning of the week but it really makes a difference in how I work and how much work I get done. I also make sure that I never start on a B or C task before my A-tasks of the day are done. Whenever I get a new task, I add a card on my trello-board and immediately put the right letter in front of the task so I know which tasks to focus on. Since I adapted this system, I get all my tasks for the week and even more done and that makes me just feel proud and organised.

How do you organise your projects and things you have and want to do?

Download the lists for your goals below and get the right things done.

Books Ive read in July

In the last weeks, I have managed a more balanced way of living my daily life. Usually, I tend to focus on one thing and then one thing only. This results in neglecting the rest of the things I want to do. April until the end of May were low-reading months. I focused on eating better, working out a lot and getting more structure in my life. Now that this is, partially, implemented and in place, I took July to focus on my true passion: books. And somehow I ended up with 12 books that I finished this month. I have never ever read that much and will probably not read that many books in the near future, so sit down, get a good cup of coffee or tea, some cookies and find out which books I really liked this month and which I will probably forget within the year.

Bücherstapel – Annes Lektüre im Juli — Annes Lektüre im Juli – eine bunte Mischung

Book-highlights of July

The Forest of Wool and Steel by Matsu Miyashita

I received this book as a present from my boyfriend and it was such a perfect gift. This Japanese novel tells the story of Tomuta, who grows up in the mountains. His life is changed fundamentally when he witnesses a piano tuner perform his job at Tomuta’s school. The student decides to become a piano tuner. We follow him through struggles and first successes. This book is beautifully written. The characters are delicate, soft and unique. Miyashita manages to create a somewhat mystique but yet familiar atmosphere without using stereotypes. I enjoyed a lot how little you know about the protagonists in terms of age and looks, but how well you get to know them through their thoughts, behaviour and speech.

What I talk about when I talk about running by Haruki Murakami

Book What I talk about when I talk about Running

Murakami is one of my favourite authors, and I gave this book to my boyfriend last year in his Advent-Calendar because he is a runner. It was his first Murakami book (but not his last hehe) and hearing him talk about it made me want to read it as well. I have no connection to running, however, this book is so much more. We get to know the famous author on a different level. He explains why running is essential for him and how it helps him be a better writer. I feel like I know Murakami better now and I got the impression that he is a very humble, kind person. That just makes me want to read his books even more.

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

I read this book for one of my book clubs and I think it was the perfect time for me to read it. Conrad managed to create a very intense, exciting atmosphere while not adding a lot of action to the story. I enjoy good symbols in novels, even if they might be a bit obvious as they are in this book. The river Thames and the Congo both symbolising the differences between the “worlds” and how culture is seen by the “other”. Many have claimed that the book is just about a man rambling about his time on a boat and I think this does not do it justice. It is a document of the thinking of Conrad’s time and gives us a deep insight into the racism and prejudices of the end of the 19th, beginning of the 20th century.

Books I learned from

Of course, I also learned from the other ones, but these books helped me with a problem or question I had recently.

Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy

This book is a collection of 21 tools/principles that help you organise your (work) day better and more efficiently. I have just finished it this weekend and have started to use two of suggestions yesterday and could already feel a difference. I plan to test them for longer and write a full review of them here in a couple of weeks.

Laufen by Jean Echenoz

I had never heard about the Czech runner Emil Zátopek. Echenoz tells a fictional portrait of the wonder-runner who shook the world after the Second World War. The book made me want to learn more about Zátopek and in general about athletes who have to face repercussions from their or other countries.

Creative Confidence by Tom and David Kelley

The two brothers wanted to write a book to share their passion for creative confidence. Creative confidence is your own belief in your abilities to change the world around you for the better. I felt that the book focuses a lot on managers, inventors and less on smaller, independent artists. However, I learned that it is essential to overcome your fear of showing your work to others. I tend to plan and plan and work something out in great detail before showing it to others. After reading this book, my goals have shifted and I want to show the rototype of my new project within the next 2 months.

Other books I have enjoyed

Normal people by Sally Rooney

The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli

Inflight Science by Brian Clegg

Buchcover — Tasha Eurich: Insight (2017)

So you want to publish a magazine? by Angharad Lewis

Books I did not fully enjoy

Girl, interrupted by Susanna Kaysen

Emotional Intelligence: Happiness published by Harvard Business Review

Which books have you read this month? What was your highlight?

Challenge Time: How I change my life one month at a time

The first six months of the year are already over and I have participated in a few challenges to help me lead a better life. Let me tell you what I have been up to, one challenge at a time.

Monthly challenges

The greatest thing I am experiencing this year in terms of my goals are the monthly challenges that my boyfriend and I are thinking of. Each challenge lasts exactly one month: We think that 30 days are enough to make a start to change habits but is also not too long if the challenge is not up your alley and you wish you could just quit after the first day. (And believe me, that happened to me in June). We have started with the first challenge in April and so far have done the following challenges:

April: Eating no added sugar
May: Working out every day
June: Cleaning every day
July: Triple C

April

The goal was to not eat any added sugar for a whole month. That meant to check all the food we had and get rid off the sugary things we had before the month started. I was nervous because I love sweets and have been eating them very, very regularly. The weekend before the months started, I bought some items like sugarfree mayo, sugarfree salad dressing and made sure we had enough snacks without sugar. And then the month started and on April, 1st a colleague from Norway gave me a huge chocolate bar with liquorice, which I love. But not eating it was actually much easier than I thought. I didn’t eat added sugar once for the whole month and I was so surprised by myself. In week two, Igot a little ill but from week 3 I noticed an increase in energy. I was surprised to find myself working out in the gym and thinking about doing a bike-tour because I had still so much energy. That was definitely a new experience for me.

What have I kept from the challenge?
My boyfriend and I still don’t buy a lot of sugary foods, although I must say that I have been slacking a lot in the last two weeks. I am a very emotional eater and tend to turn to sugar when I am not feeling well. I know that this will pass and I also know that eating less sugar makes me feel better.

May

The goal was to work out every day. For me, I decided that it meant at least 30 minutes and I have to sweat. And man, was it amazing. I went to the gym, cycled and went swimming. I was so motivated to work out and in combination with eating less sugar, it really gave me a good push in becoming the fittest version of myself. We had so much fun that we decided to just keep going also when the month was over and I am super proud to say that I worked out 44 days in a row. We tried different exercises, challenging ourselves even more and it is such a rewarding feeling to see the weights on the bar go up and feel that your body is getting stronger.

What have I kept from the challenge?
We are still working out a lot. On average, I would say 5-6 times per week which is amazing for me. The last weeks, I am having some problems with my hip and legs which lead to some kind of constant pain which then again leads to me not sleeping well so I have been taking it rather easy with the sports but my mindset made a good shift and I feel I am capable of so much more. So much even that we will spend a cycling holiday in September: We will cycle from the Netherlands to Belgium, France and then take the ferry to England where we will continue cycling. A year ago that would have been unbelievable for me. Now I am excited and cannot wait to do it.

June

And here we have the first challenge that we failed at miserably. The initial idea was to clean for 20 minutes every day. On day two, we felt like this is not ideal because I was travelling for a few days and did not really feel like cleaning at my parent’s or friend’s house just for the purpose of cleaning. We then decided to divide our home per week and made a list of things we wanted to clean in each room. Well, let me just say that we did barely anything. We realised that the challenges should be something we want to establish in our daily lives and cleaning every day was not something we feel adds a lot of value.

What have I kept from the challenge:
Nothing, because we didn’t succeed in it. Haha.

The current challenge

The current challenge is what we call the triple C and the C stands for Cardio. I have the challenge to cycle 300km, walk 30 km and row 40 km. It is a big challenge for me I am not feeling the best lately, but I know I will make it happen. My boyfriend has almost the same distances, but he has 80km running instead of 30 km walking. My hip starts hurting immediately for weeks when I “run” so I will walk and he runs.

What do you think of such monthly challenges? Have you ever participated in any kind of challenge?

Milkman – Anna Burns

The day Somebody McSomebody put a gun to my breast and called me a cat and threatened to shoot me was the same day the milkman died.

Cover of Anna Burns book Milkman. Person walking along water. Background is a colourful sunset

Wow, what a first sentence to a novel. This very first sentence sets the mood for the whole story. A story where almost nobody has a name. A story that shows how far rumors, stalking and your community can determine your present and future.

What the book is about

Anna Burns tells the story of a female protagonist who is being stalked by the Milkman, who follows her where ever she goes and is slowly but steadily creeping up on her and her life. The milkman, a man in a high position, wants to start an affair with the 18-year-old protagonist, who is in a maybe-relationship with maybe-boyfriend. The society and its rules make it impossible for her to fight against him. Unable to not let him take over her life and mind: “At the time, age eighteen, having been brought up in a hair-trigger society where the ground rules were – if no physically violent touch was being laid upon you, and no taunting looks in the vicinity either, then nothing was happening, so how could you be under attack from something that wasn’t there?“

Blurb of Anna Burns' book Milkman held in one hand

Living in a time of conflict

Set in probably Belfast in the 1970s, the story unfolds not only what stalking and rumours can do to you, but also how the North Ireland conflict destroyed lives, careers and families. How relationships are formed, maybe not based on love but on convenience and lack of choice.

Why I liked the book

The book spoke to me because it feels relatable. I also once experienced some kind of a stalker: a guy at school I had never spoken to found out who I was and where I lived and waited at the entrance to our row of houses several days in a row. It was creepy, it was frightening and I felt helpless because I didn’t know what to do. Afterall, he didn’t harm me physically and who can see which damage is being done mentally anyway.

The characters, apart from one, all don’t have real names. They have names such as maybe-boyfriend, first-brother-in-law or the Milkman. This stylistic geniality generates some sort of anonymity and transferability: it could happen toanyone and it could happen anywhere. All this could happen to you and me, right now, right here.

Why you should read the book

Milkman by Anna Burns takes you on a journey without leaving the confines of one city. It tells you about the Northern Ireland Conflict without explicitly naming it and without making the story about just that conflict. The conflict is more of the background to the way people might act the way they do. You should read the book because it beautifully and uniquely tells a story about the past and the present at the same time.

Anna Burns: Milkman. ISBN 978-0-571-33875-7, 348 pages.

Books Ive read in March

The month of March was full of exciting things: It was my boyfriends birthday and we spent half of the day together eating pancakes, sweet potato fries and playing tons of Pandemic. I also opened my etsy-shop and my first enamel pin arrived and I am so proud of it. The first sales via my etsy-shop and friends and colleague came in and it makes me just very happy.

In March, I’ve read six books which I want to tell you about now. Well, apart from one book because I absolutely did not like it. You will very easily tell which one it is 🙂

Books I’ve finished in March

**1. Die Abenteuer meines ehemaligen Bankberaters by Tilman Rammstedt**

This book was so funny. It tells two stories at once: The story of the former bank adviser of the author and the story of the author trying to convince Bruce Willis to play this bank adviser in his new novel. The story is so absurd, yet funny, that I had to laugh out loud multiple times. The humour is right up my ally. This book was definitely one of the highlights this month and I can only recommend reading it.

Er habe vor Kurzem angefangen, Sport zu treiben, sagte mein ehemaliger Bankberater. Und dann habe er wieder damit aufgehört. “Ich bringe Dinge eben gerne zu Ende”, sagte er.

**2. 12 Rules for Life. An Antidote to Chaos by Jordan B. Peterson**

I had to read this book for a book club and all I can and want to say is that I disliked it with a passion.

**3. A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson**

This book was the highlight of the books I’ve read in March. It has taught me so much. My review can be found here.

**4. Guru by Ru Paul**

Buchcover über Selbstoptimierung und Unternehmertum

Another book for another book club. I was expecting a book about his life, some kind of autobiography. When I picked up the book, it turned out it is more a coffee-table-book, a picture book. It is full of photos of Ru Paul but I was rather disappointed by it as I feel it has no clear structure and is not cohesive.

**5. “They Can’t Kill Us All”. The Story of Black Lives Matter by Wesley Lowery**

Another book I really enjoyed reading. The book takes us to the protests of the Black Lives Matter movement and I find this such an important and often overlooked topic. My review can be found here.

**6. No More Bullshit. Das Handbuch gegen sexistische Stammtischweisheiten by Sorority**

This book debunks typical sexist statements such as “Women simply don’t want to be in managing positions” and offers a lot of fact based on studies. I am already quite informed about the topics mentioned in the book, so it offered little new for me. However, I believe these books are so important and unfortunately still necessary. The book was published by Sorority, a women network from Austria. And reading about such strong women inspired me to start my own network of women here in the Netherlands and this will be a nice project for this year.

Which books have you read in March?

They Cant Kill Us All – Wesley Lowery

Michael Brown
Eric Garner
Tamir Rice
Walter Scott
Philando Castile
Freddie Gray
Alton Sterling
Jamar Clark

All of the above are no longer alive. All of the above were killed by police in the United States in the last years. Between January and August 2015, 24 unarmed black people had been shot and killed by police. I had heard about these killings. I had heard about the Black Lives Matter-movement, but I had not investigated a lot myself. In the last years, my interest and awareness for racial profiling increased. So when I saw the book “They Can’t Kill Us All” The Story of Black Lives Matter I bought it immediately. And I have learned so much. About the people behind the movement. The people who were killed and whose deaths were the tipping points. And most definitely what the groundwork feels like for journalists. Wesley Lowery, a journalist at The Washington Post,takes us to the protests. He gives insight into his work and what it means to write about killings, police violence and suffering on a daily basis.

Why I liked the book

Lowery was and still is right in the middle of the movement. He is not just a bystander who watches everything unfold from afar. The journalist gained attention because he got arrested in 2014 while covering the protests in Ferguson. He describes what reporting about such a personal matter feels like and how he approached the families of the victims. How he worked with other reporters together and how being surrounded by death impacts his own well-being. I liked the book because it talked about the Black Lives Movement in the context of the history of the US. I learned how the movement came to live. Most of all, I liked the book because it told the stories of the victims and gave a voice to those who cannot speak for themselves anymore. I had never heard about Jonathan Butler, Martese Johnson, Netta Elzie or DeRay Mckesson but now I am definitely wanting to learn more about their impact and activism.

Lowery’s way of writing is easy to follow and understand. It is personal and a little all over the place, which has been criticised by others. I think it only shows the impact these killings are having and helps the pace of the book. It never slows down. The idea of local reporters via social media is interesting and has a lot of power. We cannot always wait for the newspapers to publish information, and we all long for the unfiltered truth.

Why you should read the book

If you are anything like me (white, European woman, female) you probably don’t face racism or racial profiling often. We all have to be aware and most of all acknowledge that racial profiling and institutional racism exists. That it is a huge part of the daily life for many people. Especially in the USA. Black men and women make up around 12 percent of the nation’s population, “but they accounted for nearly 25 percent of those who were being shot and killed by police.” Lowery’s book gives a deep insight into a movement we all have to join. A movement we have to support and to make sure that we raise awareness for. A movement that is called Black Lives Matter for a reason. The book helps to understand the movement. It helps to be outraged. It helps to get angry. About politics, about racial profiling and about the ignorance of so many people. Sometimes we have to get angry to make a change and Lowery’s book shows how being outraged can turn into a movement.

A seat at the table isn’t worth much if your fellow diners refuse to pass you a plate.

Why it has to be Black Lives Matter and not All Lives Matter

While researching about the Black Lives Matter movement I came across the movement of All Lives Matter. I was astounded by it. I cannot understand why people feel offended by the name of the Black Lives Matter movement and I am wondering if these people actually understand what this movement is for (or against) and why the name matters. The Black Lives Matter movement fights against violence and systematic racism towards black people. It does not mean that only black lives matter and that there are people who started a movement called All Lives Matter makes me angry. This name implies that all lives are facing the same risks, which is simply not true. It shows how people don’t understand structural racism and tend to focus on themselves. The Black Lives Matter movement is not a thread to your privilege, it is a movement for basic rights that should be granted to everyone, no matter the skin colour.

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

I learned a lot in school but I must admit that I had really no idea about chemistry, physics or biology. Ever. These topics always seemed impossible for me to understand. Sometimes this made me feel a little embarrassed and I was always hoping no one asks me anything about atoms or how the moon influences the tides. During school, I was never really interested in topics such as water, stones and fossils. This all changed because of Bill Bryson’s book A Short History of Nearly Everything. A Journey Through Space and Time which my boyfriend gave me for Christmas last year. You might wonder What is so interesting about fossils? What’s the deal with water? I get it. But read the review and you might understand why this book is here to change your perception.

Book cover of Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything. Atlas holding the world

Why I liked the book

It is the first book I’ve read by Bill Bryson and I had no expectations other than to maybe learn a little. Bryson manages to make the most difficult theories and finding easy to understand and even entertaining. He writes with wit, deep knowledge and from a perspective of infinite wonder and desire to know more. To know more about the earth, the oceans and its inhabitants, theories and concepts. He takes us on this journey through the history of our planet and the (human) beings on it. The book consists of many chapters, one not longer than 20 pages which makes it easy to read.

Bryson writes in a way that made me stand still and marvel at the things we know about the world, but also at the things that are still unknown. His enthusiasms for science and finding answers really took me by surprise and I am still amazed by how science changed the world, how we take certain things for granted. I have, for example, always thought that Dinosaurs have been known/discovered ages ago. But it turns out the T-Rex was only discovered in 1902.

Why you should read the book

I recommend the book to anyone who has a (very) basic knowledge of physics, biology and our planet or thinks these are topics that are just boring. We all need to be reminded that books actually teach us a lot, that we can get enthusiastic for topics we believed to be boring. I remember my geography lessons and being bored because I was not interested in stones and levels of earth. But after reading A Short History of Nearly Everything I am amazed by the knowledge people have and how we can find beauty and surprises in ordinary things.

Things I learned

The Big Bang Theory became popular only in the mid-1960s.

Only about 6000 stars are visible to the naked eye from Earth.

Isaac Newton was the first person in Britain knighted for scientific achievements.

Richard Owen (a horrible person apparently!) coined the term dinosauria in 1841. It means “terrible lizard”.

Even the cookbooks of Marie Curie contain so much radiation that they are too dangerous to handle.

The plates of Europe and North America are parting at about the speed a fingernail grows – approximately two meters in a human life.

There are apparently 2 earthquakes of magnitude 2.0 or greater somewhere in the world every day

Tokyo stands on a meeting point of three tectonic plates, which makes it an easy target for earthquakes

The Earth would be uninhabitable if it was situated 5% nearer or 15% further from the Sun

At any moment, 1.800 thunderstorms are happening around the globe, making it around 40.000 per day

Every second, around 100 lightning bolts hit the ground.

The Pacific holds just over half of all ocean water (51.6%), the Atlantic holds 23.6% and the Indian Ocean 21.2%.

Extract

This paragraph was my favourite and illustrates brilliantly how Bryson writes about the really interesting characters of the past:

On another occasion, while poisoning himself wit elevated levels of oxygen, Haldane had a fit so severe that he crushed several vertebrae. Collapsed lungs were a routine hazard. Perforated eardrums were quite common, too; but, as Haldane reassuringly noted in one of his essays, ‘the drum generally heals up; and if a hole remains in it, although one is somewhat deaf, one can blow tobacco smoke out of the ear in question, which is a social accomplishment.”

Do you enjoy reading books about science? Did any of the facts above surprise you?

Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything. A Journey Through Space and Time., ISBN 978-0-552-15174-0, 574 pages. All quotes are from the book.