Edmonton Lesbian+ Book Club

Looks good? I think so. Who's your daddy? Also? Interesting news stolen from afterellen.com : Carol Ann Duffy has been appointed poet laureate of Britain, a prestigious 341-year-old position previously held by men like John Dryden, Alfred Tennyson, William Wordsworth... Not only is Duffy the first woman to hold the position, she is the first Scot, the first mother, and the first lesbian.

what's on the shelf Originally uploaded by kim.mama Thanks to some great suggestions, we have a plan for the next few months of reading! A non-fiction title: My Miserable, Lonely, Lesbian Pregnancy by Andrea Askowitz because at least one member of the book club is pregnant and I wish I were too. Fiction: Valmiki's Daughter by Shani Mootoo because basically, we're hopelessly devoted to her. A young adult novel: Breathing Underwater by Lu Vickers. Maybe it's not young adult. Maybe just about a young adult? Either way. A collection of short stories and a Lambda winner: All the Pretty Girls by Chandra Mayor - a Winnipeg author and because Kay thinks we should. We were going to wait for Chandra to be able to join us but everyone keeps requesting it so we're not waiting anymore! A classic that also happens to be sci-fi: Lilith's Brood by Octavia Butler because it was Trevor's first/best idea. Another non-fiction: Transparent: Love, Family and Living the T wit...

Okay. I have a confession to make. The first book we ever read in this book club was a science fiction title by Nicola Griffith: Ammonite . It was chosen by the members of the newly formed group and most of them (I think all 3 at that point?) really liked it. But here's my confession. I hate science fiction - yes, I'm making a blanket generalization about a whole genre. I just do. I have a mental block about it. I'm sure Ammonite has all kinds of goodness to it, but I got to page 7, saw the word "airlock," and I was done. I just couldn't push through. So, several book club members of late have decided we need to go down that road again. To punish me, maybe. To expand my horizons, maybe. Anyhoo, we've been researching like mad, with the help of the wonderful Trevor at Audrey's Books. And I've got a long list of titles to choose from. So. Go. Read below. And tell me your opinion. Quick! Before I change my mind. Octavia Butler: Lillith's Brood A...

2 favourite things at pride Originally uploaded by kim.mama Was anybody at Pride? Was everybody at Pride this weekend? Man, it was crowded. My little one and I didn't last too long but it was fun. Also, the Lambda Lit Awards were announced and I've been meaning to post some of the winners. BISEXUAL Open , Jenny Block, Seal Press LESBIAN DEBUT FICTION The Bruise , Magdalena Zurawski, Fiction Collective Two/University of Alabama Press LESBIAN FICTION (a tie!) The Sealed Letter , Emma Donoghue, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and All the Pretty Girls , Chandra Mayor, Conundrum Press LESBIAN MEMOIR/BIOGRAPHY Sex Talks to Girls , Maureen Seaton, University of Arkansas Press LESBIAN MYSTERY Whacked , Josie Gordon, Bella Books LGBT SCI-FI/FANTASY/HORROR Turnskin , Nicole Kimberling, Blind Eye Books

Zami was a great read the first time and I loved it more the second time. Audre Lorde is cool, face it. She was radical. She was brash. She pushed back.

Skim was good. That seems to have been the consensus. It's won about a gazillion awards. Including being nominated for the Governor General's award . You can even become a fan of Skim on facebook . Cute. Sweet. Ambiguous. Interesting. Definitely a glimpse into teen-dom. For those of us *cough* who barely remember. I had my usual aversion/problem with interpreting the graphic parts. Words I know how to interpret. The graphics? I struggle. Sigh. Found out some interesting stuff about the author and illustrator - they are cousins. One lives in Toronto and seems to be adroit at pretty much everything. The other is from Calgary (come see us someday, 'kay Jillian?!) and lives in New York and makes a living with her art. Which I admire. And love. Makes me happy for them. Check out Mariko Tamaki's site and Jillian Tamaki's site too. Apparently we're trend-setters too - the CBC book club has chosen Skim as their June title! Check out the pod-cast! Next month we...

The 2008 Lammy finalists have been announced! Lesbian Fiction The Slow Fix , Ivan E. Coyote, Arsenal Pulp Press The Sealed Letter , Emma Donoghue, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Map of Ireland , Stephanie Grant, Scribner All the Pretty Girls, Chandra Mayor, Conundrum Press Breaking Spirit Bridge , Ruth Perkinson, Spinsters Ink Lesbian Debut Fiction Red Audrey & the Roping , Jill Malone, Bywater Books Passing for Black, Linda Villarosa, Kensington Closer to Fine, Meri Weiss, Kensington Love Does Not Make Me Gentle or Kind, Chavisa Woods, Fly by Night Press The Bruise, Magdalena Zurawski, Fiction Collective Two/University of Alabama Press Lesbian Memoir/Biography Wrestling with the Angel of Democracy, Susan Griffin, Shambhala Publications Intersex (For Lack of a Better Word), Thea Hillman, Manic D Press Sex Variant Woman, Joanne Passet, Da Capo Sex Talks to Girls: A Memoir , Maureen Seaton, University of Arkansas Press Case of a Lifetime , Abbe Smith, Palgrave Macmillan It's great t...

adopted: veprecose Originally uploaded by kim.mama meaning: full of prickly shrubs or bushes heh. savethewords.org is a fun site with some words that have fallen into disuse and are being dropped from dictionaries.

So. Apparently, *someone* in our book club knows *someone* featured in this book - Secret Service: Untold Stories of Lesbians in the Military by Zsa Zsa Gershick. That alone qualifies it for our reading list. Hee. Seriously, it sounds really interesting, don't you think? Another memoir just caught my eye too: My Miserable, Lonely, Lesbian Pregnancy by Andrea Askowitz. It sounds very funny and a little bitter. Anybody in?

In case you didn't know what IHOP stood for. April's selection is The IHOP Papers by Ali Leibegott. We met last night to chat about Dionne Brand's novel What We All Long For . There was a lot to say. For one thing, we tried to answer the question - what did the main characters long for? Did they long for love? For release from the ties to their families' troubles? I myself loved the depiction of Toronto - having lived there myself for a couple of years. It felt really honest. Not everyone loved it, but all of us found it fascinating to read and discuss. The book made us examine the immigrant experience, race, familial relationships, art, music, and on and on and on!