Tag Archives: books

Win This! Us: Americans Talk About Love

Catherine StrawnJanuary 15, 2010 //

Love is one of those things that’s hard to describe and even harder to understand. We can’t really know what love is until we’re in it, and the love between two people is unique, so even if you’ve been in love, you’ll never understand another couple’s relationship. Us: Americans Talk About Love lets us peek into strangers’ love lives with 44 stories collected by social anthropologist John Bowe. As told by a homeless thirtysomething, a married aerobics instructor who fell for a woman, a senior who still smooches her husband on a regular basis, a brokenhearted man who has dated more than 300 women since his wife’s death, and more, these oral reports from across the United States prove that love is anything but uniform. [$10.88, Amazon.com]

WIN THIS! We’re giving away a copy of Us: Americans Talk About Love, but you have to work if you want it! Send an email to contests@thefrisky.com with the subject line “Love Book” telling us how you knew you were in love for the first time and how old you were by 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 14. We’ll pick our favorite response and announce the winner on Friday, Jan. 15. You must live in the U.S. or Canada to win. Keep reading »

5 Reasons I’m Already A Horrible Bridesmaid

Catherine StrawnJanuary 14, 2010 //

I’m going to be a bridesmaid for the first time this summer and don’t have a clue what this entails. I know I’ll be wearing a dress of someone else’s choosing and standing at the front of a church for a long time, but what do I have to do for the bride from now until the wedding day? Who knows? So, when I heard there was a book that would tell me all of the expectations associated with the position, I said, “Send it over!” After reading The Knot Bridesmaid Handbook: Help the Bride Shine Without Losing Your Mind, I feel like I have a lot of work ahead of me; from what I read, being a bridesmaid is practically a full-time job and I didn’t even know I was supposed to do half of the responsibilities mentioned in the book! Keep reading for five things every bridesmaid should know that I didn’t. Keep reading »

Yoko Ono Will Write Her Memoir Before 2015

Jessica WakemanJanuary 7, 2010 //

The thing I remember most about my lame boyfriend from sophomore year of college was his seething hatred of Yoko Ono. According to my ex, the Beatles were the most brilliant band in the world and they only broke up because some hussy brainwashed John Lennon. I just ignored that quirk in his personality at the time. Eventually, though, I realized the Frothing At The Mouth To Blame Yoko For Everything Wrong In The World bandwagon is cuh-razy! (Read Can’t Buy Me Love by Jonathan Gould if you don’t believe me.) Keep reading »

Frisky Q&A: Author Elizabeth Gilbert Talks About Tying The Knot

Catherine StrawnJanuary 6, 2010 //

After her hugely successful book, Eat, Pray, Love, was published, Elizabeth Gilbert settled into a lovely life with the man she met on that personal journey. Both she and the guy, known as Felipe in the book, had been married and divorced before, and they told themselves they weren’t going to get married again; just promising commitment to one other was enough. That is, until the U.S. Department of Homeland Security decided not to let Felipe, a Brazilian with an Australian passport, back into the country after a trip overseas. Sure, the two could have settled down elsewhere, but they wanted to live near family and friends, so the only real option for getting Felipe permission to reenter the United States was for he and Elizabeth to get married.

While they waited for immigration to look into their case — Felipe needed to secure a fiancé visa and wouldn’t be able to return to the States until he was given one — the two bided their time by traveling around the world together, living as inexpensively as possible in Southeast Asia. Meanwhile, Elizabeth looked into this thing called marriage. What was the big deal about it? Why didn’t many last? How has it changed over the years, and what does that mean for us? Beyond the obvious questions, she considered every possible angle, including points of view I had never, ever considered, and wrote about how she came to terms with the institution (because she didn’t have much of a choice) in Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage, which hit stores yesterday. She spoke with The Frisky about the joys and trials of matrimony. Keep reading »

Today’s Lady News: Are Male Novelists Less Macho Now?

Jessica WakemanJanuary 4, 2010 //
  • Controversial women’s issues writer Katie Roiphe penned an essay for Sunday’s New York Times Book Review lamenting what’s happened to male novelists writing about sex. In the ’60s and ’70s, many balked at the ravenous, at times violent, depictions of sexuality in books by writers like Philip Roth, John Updike and Norman Mailer. But the “Great Male Novelists” of today that Roiphe cites—men like Dave Eggers and Jonathan Franzen—write more passively and apologetically about sex. It’s another “let’s blame feminists for everything” type of piece, but it also led me to believe this woman has never heard of Tucker Max. [New York Times Book Review]
  • Legislators in Kansas hope to block $250,000 in federal funds for preventing unwanted pregnancies from going to two Planned Parenthood clinics. Ugh. Please stop being foolish, people! [Kansas.com]
  • Grr. Why is it that women who start their own businesses are called “lipstick entrepreneurs”? Can’t we just be regular entrepreneurs like men? [Times of London]

Keep reading »

The Baby-Sitters Club Is Back!

Jessica WakemanJanuary 1, 2010 //

If you were anywhere near as dorky in middle school as the Frisky staff, you passed many an hour not on the phone with boys and instead reading The Baby-Sitters Club. Each one was only about 200 pages but the series seemed endless. The Baby-Sitters Club was published from 1986 to 2000, when all the books went out of print … until now. Keep reading »

Today’s Lady News: Boomer Ladies Love Their Books

Jessica WakemanDecember 28, 2009 //
  • Power to the lady boomers! In the first nine months of 2009, women ages 43 to 61 were the single biggest book buyers, followed by women ages 20 to 30. There’s bad news, though: the crappy economy has led 68 percent of women surveyed to cut their book purchases, meaning all your writer friends are probably poor. [Publisher's Weekly]
  • For a book author Sarah Palin isn’t doing too shabby: Going Rogue has sold over one million copies. Palin’s tour for Going Rogue recently wrapped up with a book signing in her hometown of Wasilla, Alaska. [Alaska Daily News]
  • The Washington Post is still fixated on the 2008 election and why younger women didn’t vote for Hillary Clinton. Um, because we liked Barack Obama (or John McCain) better?[Washington Post]

Keep reading »

Why We Still Need Women’s Bookstores

Jessica WakemanDecember 24, 2009 //

There’s something comfortable and familiar about chain bookstores, like Borders and Barnes & Noble: The vanilla latte always tastes the same, the photography books are always near the fashion books, and there are always comfy chairs. I’ve probably spent thousands of dollars at chain bookstores and I spent many a weekend during my high school years at their poetry nights.

But the bookstore most dear to my heart is a tiny little place called Bloodroot, half vegetarian restaurant and half feminist bookstore. My brother-in-law took me to Bloodroot when I was a teenager and it became a part of my identity. I came of age in the late ’90s and early aughties, when Britney Spears slithered around onstage and suburban kids wore Playboy bunny T-shirts to school, which, don’t get me wrong, is all enjoyable, yet nauseating after a while.

Luckily, the bookstore at Bloodroot proved to be a godsend for the feminists and freaks and gay kids who were trapped in the suburbs until graduation. We could have something we didn’t have anywhere else: a community. Keep reading »

Winter Staycation Reading List

Amelia McDonell-ParryDecember 23, 2009 //

For those of us who won’t be spending our holidays somewhere warm and wonderful, the next best thing to jetting to St. Barts, Miami, or Cabo is getting lost in a book that takes you there. Herewith, ten tomes that offer tropical settings and enough sun-drenched drama to make Jay-Z’s yacht look boring. The only thing you’ll miss is a tan. Keep reading »

Win This! Flying Apron’s Gluten-Free & Vegan Baking Book

Annika HarrisDecember 18, 2009 //

Have you ever wanted to eat at a well-known restaurant but couldn’t get there in time for dinner because you live on the opposite side of the country? Yeah? Well, then you know how excited we are that Jenny Katzinger, owner of the Flying Apron Bakery in Seattle, is sharing her recipes in Flying Apron’s Gluten-Free & Vegan Baking Book. The cookbook not only includes recipes for delectable baked goods like scones, cookies, and cakes, but it also has step-by-step instructions for entrées and soups anyone — even the pickiest eaters — can enjoy. And even though all the recipes are 100 percent gluten-free, they’re easy to follow. We can’t wait to try the Dark Chocolate Cake. [$14.93, Amazon]

WIN THIS! We’re giving away Flying Apron’s Gluten-Free & Vegan Baking Book to two readers, but you have to work if you want it! The best commenters for the next two weeks—from today, Friday, Dec. 18 through Thursday, Dec. 31—will be awarded with the book. So, be as clever, smart, and original as you can. Click HERE to read the official rules. And remember to check Gift For Gab on Jan. 1 to see if you’re the winner. Keep reading »

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