Embedded link and direct download below, plus a list of books discussed this week. You can also download (and subscribe!) on iTunes.
direct download
THE ENTERPRISE OF DEATH by Jesse Bullington is one of my favorite reads of the last few months. Although a bit gruesome and not for the faint of heart, it features a strong lesbian character in a gritty fantasy setting, something I haven't seen much of.
Hey, in this episode, I talk about nipples! Part of my project involved searching through the lesbian novels on my kindle for how many times they used the word nipple. THE FLING by Rebekah Weatherspoon is a very sexy romance, and uses the word nipple 63 times. It also should probably win an award for mentioning nipples in the very first line of the book!
Four books about falling in love with crazy people. Yes that's oversimplifying!
GIRL WALKING BACKWARDS by Bett Williams
HERSELF WHEN SHE'S MISSING by Sarah Rosenblum
HOOD by Emma Donoghue
THE WRESTLING PARTY by Bett Williams
Music in this episode
I really loved Girl Walking Backwards and I noticed your comment on the fuckyeahlesbianliterature post, so I came here. I thought it was a really true point when you said most lesbian YA mention that the characters are doing /something/ but they never talk about it directly (sigh). And when I found Girl Walking Backwards, it wasn't even in the teen section, but adult. There were two copies at the store when I bought mine, and I've checked recently, and now there are none. I'm guessing there are no new copies being sold where I live, in Toronto. It's such a shame! I want other teenagers to stumble on the specialness that it is. The quality of writing is so strong, when most of the YA (and basically all the other easily-purchased lesbian YA I've read) at the big bookstores in Toronto are just blah. Amazon also advertises a lot of bland stuff, and I'm glad I've finally discovered how to truly use the internet (like tumblr!) to find the good stuff out there.
ReplyDeleteI had a sense Girl Walking Backwards (oh my gosh, I've read it so many times) might have been vaguely autobiographical, and I've found a lot of authors' best works are the ones most connected to their own life. I haven't read the Wrestling Party, but I'll try to hunt down a copy; it sounds interesting and I love William's writing style. It really is too bad she has no more fiction, and I hope something new magically appears on the shelves one day.
I think we do see a little bit into Jessica, when Mol and Sky are reading her emails. Jessica's emotion and vulnerability were so realistic, and I think that was really interesting, because until that point, she's half-fantasy, almost a shell that Sky is pinning her own imagination to. I find it really interesting, too, when Sky goes to Jessica's house and sees Jessica's plain, everyday-American-family background and feels some of the magic dissipate, but continues to deny it, clinging on to her version of Jessica as her dream broken-girl. I could ramble about the book forever, but I'll stop now! Enjoyed the podcast :)
For a while Bett Williams had a personal blog that I would read from time to time. Very scattered thoughts / personal stuff, but still the same very vivid writing. Looks like it's invite only now, which is too bad.
DeleteOne of the really interesting things about Girl Walking Backwards is that it holds up on rereads. Sky's sardonic voice mostly seemed cool when I read it at 14. Now (quite a bit later) when I read it her vulnerabilities are what stick out to me. But even with my changing POV I find her to be completely sympathetic and appealing.
If you're interested in edgy YA stuff, I recommend LIAR by Justine Larbelestier. The main character isn't a lesbian, but I would call her queer. And her voice is fantastic.
Thanks for listening to the podcast and for your comments! Always nice to hear what other people think about these books.