starting, finishing, scheduling

First things first.

My kitchen and dining table currently look like this:

It’s being demolished tomorrow at 9:30. Life will be pretty interesting for the next week or so. At least we’ve avoided having to take off additional days for this by doing it tomorrow.

I’m rearranging the posting topic schedule for the next few weeks so perhaps I can keep some sanity and also make it easier.

Today (Sunday) will be about what I’ve read and any thoughts on writing I may have. This makes more sense as I read most of my books over shabbat and return them on Monday. This way I’ll have the books with me if I want them. The remainder of the revised schedule is at the bottom of this post.

I completed quite a few books this past week. Both in anticipation of the semester and because while feeling sick I didn’t want to do much more than that.

Daughters of Abraham: Feminist Thought in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam by Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad and John L. Esposito
This is a very academic book and it’s been over a decade since I’ve looked at the three religions with that viewpoint. I’ve forgotten a good deal and much of it went over my head. However, I found each individual essay quite fascinating and I’d like to learn more about the role of women throughout history in the male-leader dominated religions.

Seed to Harvest by Octavia E Butler
Seed to Harvest is a compilation of the four Patternist novels arranged chronologically: Wild Seed, Mind of My Mind, Clay’s Ark, and Patternmaster. I didn’t bother (yet) to reread Pattnermaster, but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen. I still think it’s my favourite book with Clay’s Ark the least favourite. It took me a while to get into Wild Seed but once I did I was hooked. I wish greatly that I had grabbed this first, instead of Patternmaster. It’s a fascinating series with interesting themes of gender, race, and power.

Next it was All McCaffrey All the time. I read quite a bit of Anne McCaffrey this past week and am quite frustrated to be out of her books on Sunday with the library closed tomorrow. ;)

First up was the “biography/scrapbook” by her son, Todd, Dragonholder which is written for a younger reader and gives snippets to his mother’s life. It was a fun quick read, but definitely not an intense biography of the sort that’s on my current reading list [Greenspan].

Next I grabbed the entire Harper’s Hall triology, more because all the books were sitting on the shelf and I knew that I’d be taking long hot baths each night. Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, and Dragondrums are each part of this subseries to Pern. It was fun and if you find me talking obsessively about music in the coming days and weeks, I’m sorry. This sort of story does it to me. It’s a fun story with strong females and made my mandatory bathtime even more enjoyable. I definitely wish some days that I’d impressed a fire lizard.

Last of the completed reading this past week is Restoree. Honestly the cover turns me off. It looks like one of the romance novels my mom likes to read. Inside however, is a very different sort of tale and while there is a bit of romance, it is anything but. Some research now (I like to read books without being preprejudiced to the story) indicates this was her first published book and a response to how women were portrayed in SciFi. I agree with the reviews that it is very refreshing to read of a strong woman and this novel does not disappoint. I am saddened that it receives lesser attention than her other works and I’m happy I finally looked past the cover painting to the gem of a story inside.

– – –
Revised schedule, 20080120 (we’ll see how this goes)
Sunday – Books & Writing
Monday – Fibre/Create
Tues/Weds – Off (I have class and am running out of things to write)
Thurs – Tools/Work/Project Management
Friday – Jewish Learning
Saturday Evening – Food

• Category: books, life
• Tag: house, scifi-fantasy