I am assuming this is not a rhetorical question. If it is, just skip to the end.

I read a lot of YA, which goes quickly. I read very little nonfiction, and the nonfiction I do read uses accessible language. I travel a lot for work, and for whatever reason I seem to read twice as fast in airports/on planes. I don't watch a lot of television. I do not have a terribly exciting social life.

As for really good books: I like Liane Moriarty for characterization and observations about human nature. I love Ruth Ozeki's books and Maria Semple's. Station Eleven was great. Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan. Redefining Realness by Janet Mock. Butterflies in November by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. I thought Adam by Ariel Schrag was absolutely fucking brilliant, though I would hesitate to actually recommend it because of the subject matter. Krik? Krak! by Edwidge Danticat. All the early Discworld books except for Pyramids. Pyramids was a slog. Get in Trouble by Kelly Link.

Terrible ones: The Memory Painter by Gwendolyn Womack. Nothing about that book worked, including her depiction of how long it takes to travel around Newfoundland. We Should Hang Out Sometime by Josh Sundquist - unfunny self-pitying Nice Guy (tm) crap. Rent Girl by Michelle Tea - why the queer community worshipped this woman is beyond me. Cat Out of Hell by Lynne Truss - I loved Eats, Shoots and Leaves but her fiction leaves a lot to be desired. The Housewife Assassin's Handbook - read it for a reader's challenge; understood why it was not traditionally published. Glory O'Brien's History of the Future by A.S. King - not the good kind of weird.

I mean, it wasn't the best or the most subtle satire ever, and I certainly wouldn't want to spend time with people like the characters. I think it had its good points, though - the pacing was good; some of the satire was effective; I laughed out loud once. It takes a lot for me to call a book terrible.

“The warmth and movement produced in the appendage in question was the direct result of the blood lying just underneath the skin; blood that would cover the floor and the other party were there even the slightest breach of skin integrity."

Totally on the alien's side with this one. I have told the "one time a guy TORE his FORESKIN INSIDE ME" story here before. It is not a nice story and I'm pretty sure it contributed to my lesbianism. (Which is fine, lesbianism is awesome.)

Oh, whoops. I totally would have gotten that if I'd heard you say it out loud.

I don't know if those would work as well, though - I read these as a commentary on how women's accomplishments are belittled and they're reduced to just "mom". Like when a high-achieving woman in the sciences dies and her obituary talks about how she made her famous beef stroganoff for her husband and kids?

Maybe I totally misread the piece, but if I did don't tell me, because I think it's a great piece if I'm interpreting it correctly.

If you stick a pencil eraser to the end of your poppy pin, you won't lose it or get stabbed by it!

(I get stabbed and/or lose my poppy every year. This year I managed to rake the pin over my whole palm.)

My local centre is here: http://www.sexualassaultniagara.org/ We do really good work, we got great training, and we can use volunteers and donations.

I can! I would probably have to play it from 1 until 4 rather than from 9 until noon, though.

(Seriously, if we could apply as a team we'd be pretty great. And our finances are combined anyway, so there wouldn't be any awkwardness there.)

How would you feel about getting two awesome queer ladies for the price of one? I am an excellent copyeditor and could do comment moderation, and my wife would be fantastic at the blogging and organizing parts.

It's great that you can hire someone! Congratulations!

It amuses me that Ross Hull, who played Gary on Are You Afraid of the Dark (and also Chris on Student Bodies), is a meteorologist now. It just seems like there's such a leap from "child actor" to "meteorologist", although it also seems like a pretty good outcome for a child actor, considering.

The biggest logical inconsistency in Under the Umbrella tree is that Holly is a real live human, and most of the puppets are animals, but Mrs. McMurtry was a puppet of a person, and no one ever commented on this. It was not at all weird that Holly hung out with a bunch of puppets, or that there was basically no difference between Mrs. McMurtry and a gopher, but there was also no difference between Holly and Mrs. McMurtry except for the fact that Mrs. McMurtry was a puppet.

(Under the Umbrella Tree was bothering me just last week. It's bizarre that this showed up on The Toast this week, because how obscure is that show?)