Monday is Funday: Contest #1
The winner of this contest will receive four (four!) paperback books by LGBT authors from our personal library. These are books we like, by authors we admire, not an attempt to clean out our bookshelves (though most people would say they could use some thinning).
You don’t have to be queer to enjoy these books, and you don’t have to be queer to enter this contest.
- Rolling the R’s by R. Zamora Linmark
- Faith for Beginners by Aaron Hamburger
- Hello, Cruel World by Kate Bornstein
- Babyji by Abha Dawesar
All you need to do to enter is leave a comment on this post naming the last book you read. Recommend it, pan it, promote the book you wrote–whatever. Winner will be chosen at random. If you are shy, or have other reasons for not wanting your entry noted, you can send us an e-mail at arewemarried@gmail.com.
We will choose a winner at 11 a.m. (or so) tomorrow. Any entries posted before we choose will be eligible. We’ll update this post with the winner when he or she is chosen. If you win and have already read any of the books, we will donate them to a book drive or queer youth organization.
(P.S. If you would like to donate a prize for a future contest, let us know.)
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I just finished the new Dan Brown book. The Lost Symbol. I would recomment it. It was a fast read.
The last book I read was Greenblatt’s _Will in the World_, perhaps the most detailed “biography” of Shakes out there. I put “bio” in quotation marks, though, for all of his research came together to create an incredibly in-depth/detailed bio of Elizabethan English society rather than Will himself. Unfortunately, what we know about Will is what we know, and Greenblatt really didn’t have anything new to add to what we know. What he did do that was highly engaging (and entertaining) was recreate the cultural history and try to plug Shakespeare the man back into it. For example, he goes to great length writing about the political and religious turmoil that was happening in Stratford during the years that Will was a kid, and then asks us to take that leap of faith that if he was there are a kid, these events affected him in some profound way. I’m not sure if this exactly works — would I expect Elliot’s life story to be affected much by the defeat of Mayor Nichols? Still, it was a very interesting cultural history. I read it slowly over the summer; I first picked it up to prepare for teaching.
Now I’m reading Julia Child’s memoir _My Life in France_. I’m enjoying it, but I seem to only have a few minutes here and there to get through it. And yes, I bought this book because I was inspired by the movie J&J (as shameful as that is).
I know, would it have been possible to choose two books more WASPish, elitist, & straight than these to win a small collection of LGBT books?
A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick – intriguing sympathetic take on the hungry/poor bad girl marries and intends to kill rich man…of course there’s more to it but you just have to read!
The Pact by Jodi Picoult – A love story, a tragedy, a novel filled with suspense until the stunning conclusion. I love Jodi as a general rule but this book was by far, above and beyond anything of hers that I’ve read.
I just finished Dry by Augusten Burroughs – it’s about his experience becoming sober. It was okay, not as good as Running with Scissors or Sellevision. I read Sellevision right before and would *definitely* recommend it – it’s the hilarious story of the people behind a home shopping channel. They’re quirky and I laughed out loud throughout the book.
I love your blog, btw.
Thanks, Erin!
the last book i read was not a box. its a great kids book that encourages imagination
I just read The Year of Living Biblically, by A.J. Jabobs. It’s about the author’s quest to follow every single rule in the Bible for one year, including “the rules that baffle the 21st century brain. How to justify the laws about stoning homosexuals? Or smashing idols? Or sacrificing oxen? And how do you follow those in modern-day Manhattan?”
My favorite LGBTQ book remains Marion Dane Bauer’s “Am I Blue?” I devoured it as a teenager and it is still close to my heart.
the last book i read was A Bargain For Frances by Russell Hoban
poor little badger gets swindled by her best friend. she cleverly figures out how to get her friend back while staying in her integrity.
OK, closing the contest to new entries. Will use my random number generator in just a minute to pick a winner.
Thanks for playing–and for the book suggestions!
OK, the random number generator picked #7 — the winner is Melissa!
As the title of the post implied, we’ll have a contest every Monday. Oh, it’s fun to have contests. Keep playing!
Yay! Thanks guys!
I would like to show my support by donating $70 ($10 x lucky number 7) to your project or the marriage equality initiative of your choice.
Thank you, Melissa!
It’s a difficult choice, and I’ll tell you why. First, I would prefer to tackle the whole country at once, no more piecemeal, state-by-state progress. But some say national-level legislation to repeal DOMA is doomed to fail–at least this year. I don’t believe that means we shouldn’t pursue it, but is it the best place to put money now? I am not sure.
What would definitely help *some* people immediately is winning state-level battles.
We have Maine, where they’re fighting to keep the law already passed in their legislature and signed into law that would give full marriage rights to same-sex couples. Their voters are going to be asked, “Do you want to reject the new law that lets same-sex couples marry and allows individuals and religious groups to refuse to perform these marriages?” Voters who support our right to marry will have to vote no. The polls say the voters are split pretty close to the middle, so getting a few more votes could mean the difference between winning (defeating 1 and enacting the same-sex marriage legislation) and losing (seeing 1 pass and the law rejected).
To donate to help the No On 1 campaign, you can visit: http://www.protectmaineequality.org/, or mail a donation to No On 1, PO Box 8780, Portland, Maine 04104.
Then there’s Washington State, where I reside. The law that was passed this year in our state legislature and signed by Gov. Gregoire did not allow *marriage* by same-sex couples, but did allow “everything but marriage.” So it would give us all the rights that marriage confers without the right to call ourselves “married.” It’s not everything, but it’s so damned close that it’s a really meaningful change for us. The law changes the definition of spouse–the word spouse would now include domestic partners, so all laws concerning spouses (and there are a lot) would be rewritten to include us, too.
Referenda in Washington go something like this: “Should x law that already passed the legislative process indeed be enacted as law?” So to keep the marriage-like rights we would have gotten if the law had ever gone into effect, we have to Approve Referendum 71, which we fought ever having on the ballot in the first place. Confused yet?
The people to donate to help domestically partnered (see what a mouthful?) Washingtonians like me are Washington Families Standing Together (WaFST), http://approvereferendum71.org/. You can mail a donation to 603 Stewart Street #819, Seattle, WA 98101.
My choice would be to donate to one of these two worthy organizations. If there are other readers with suggestions, though, I would love to hear them.
Again, thank you so much for donating. It means the world to us.
I don’t even remember if I know how to read, much less the last book I read….. *sigh* I’m braindead and I blame my daughter! Hahahahha
Congrats Mel.
I can’t wait til next monday!