pickInteresting and entertaining, this book focuses on cultural attitudes about menstruation, particularly during the 19th-20th centuries in the United States, with a heavy emphasis on advertising and marketing of “feminine products.” This is not a heavy scientific book, more a book that shows how advertising/culture has reinforced the idea of periods as negative, sometimes weirdly. Illustrated with vintage ads for feminine products!
pickA great book and absolutely delightful reading experience - Katy Hessel starts from the top and tells the stories of the women who did and did not make the survey texts. It brought me back and inspired me to keep learning.
pickSo now that I've read both the bloke and non-bloke versions, you'll be wanting to know who wore it best, right?
Well the art in this one is just as good as in The Story of Art, but I did sometimes find myself wishing for Gombrich's infectious storytelling whilst reading this excellent collection of art-thusiasm.
You can tell which eras Hessel is most interested in because then her writing gleams.
Another wonderful book about art ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
so-soFor most of this book I thought it would be a pick—and maybe it still should be—but I found the last couple chapters disappointing. The first 11 trials are real, riveting historical witchcraft trials, chosen to both be representative of other trials of their time and to illustrate turning points in the history of witch trials. But trial 12 is a fictional trial that represents the horrible treatment of “witches” in southern Africa—couldn‘t she…
Another irritating error. The Wiccan symbol is a pentacle, not a “pentangle”—seriously, how do you study witchcraft and get that wrong? Also, the symbol isn‘t approved for current service members (I don‘t even know whether that‘s a thing). It‘s approved for placement on grave markers of service members, after years of work, which hardly supports her assertion that the US government theoretically allows freedom of religion including witchcraft.
Hmm… no, it didn‘t. That wasn‘t added to the dollar bill until the 1950s. 🤔
I hate finding errors like this in books. It makes me suspicious of all the research. 🤨
pickIt‘s definitely an interesting story but you have to be in the mind set to read (I also listened to some of it on audio to get through it). It‘s very detailed. I did find it fascinating to know that how one went to medical school initially was not based on academics but on your ability to pay. Elizabeth & then Emily had to push back on many expectations of the time to accomplish what they did. Good but low pick. #bookspin
It's been a rough week. This brand new book arrived yesterday, which brightened my outlook.
From Goodreads:
Most histories have been written by men, about men, relegating women—with the exception of a few queens—to the shadows of time. Now, bestselling author Philippa Gregory reveals the importance of ordinary women, providing a more balanced and truer chronicle that expands and adds rich detail to the story of Great Britain.
It‘s nice to start a weekend trip with a new book!
