First the BIG news is that the final word has come in on the Guys Lit Wire Book Fair for Boys and we received 600 books! It's so far beyond what I hoped for this project - honestly I thought we might get 100 books and we were excited about that. To receive 600 books for boys that have none however; that's just too awesome for words. Head over to my latest post at GLW for more details and to hear about our plans for the future. We intend to continue our relationship with IOW and the boys of the LA County juvenile justice system. This will not be the last book fair GLW holds for these boys and we look forward to getting more great reads into the hands of some kids that desperately need them.

Also, the new issue of Bookslut is up with a selection of "Summer Adventures" in my column. These are not big adventures or even conventional ones.They are mostly books to while away a summer afternoon with a few elements of surprise or bravery involved that stood out for me. The reviews include Ghost Town, (which should just be about a kid figuring out what home means but expands to a dozen different discoveries on many levels and is funny and cool and very smart); Petronella Saves the Day (I've shortened that title) (And there better be a sequel because it is surreal Jane Austen combined with a teen Amelia Peabody minus the Egypt bits and plus international intrigue); The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate (or what I like to think of as "Jo March loves bugs" or Laura Ingalls and Susan B. Anthony meet Darwin in the body of a young girl); So Punk Rock (teen Jewish rock band angst! The funniest purest example of how frustrating it is to be a good kid I've read in ages); Nothing But Ghosts (an old mystery occupies a teen struggling with grief over her mother's death - the anti "After School Special" that is deeply affecting and beautifully crafted); and Flygirl by Sherri Smith which is a historical drama that grabs you by the throat and holds on tight. This book needs to win an award and be used in schools and sell millions of copies.

Heck - every single one of my July books needs to sell big. I loved them all very much.

My "Cool Reads" are This is Me, Jack Vance (talk about an adventurous life!), a most unusual writer's autobiography, and Yellowstone Moran, a picture book about a great American artist of the west I'd never heard of and am so glad I have now. (Any artsy kid will love this one.)

I have a standalone review of Lisa Hamilton's Deeply Rooted in the issue as well - a story of three independent farmers bucking the system. It's very readable and quite interesting - it shows you how conventional farming works and why doing something different is better for everyone and, in a lot of ways, more affordable. There's also some great social history. I really liked it.

But wait! There's more! The new issue of Eclectica Magazine is also up and includes three round-ups from me. There is a collection of arts books for ages from the very young to YA (Ashley Bryan is featured here); poetry books, again for the young to YA and a group of picture books for younger kids that all rock in various ways. I had fun putting all these reviews together and I'm sure there is something for everyone.

I'm reading a ton of good books right now (including this one about a girl on a college ice hockey team); I will have more on all of these later this week. And tomorrow brings another entry in the What a Girl Wants series - be sure to check it out.

From Dina Goldstein's "Fallen Princesses" series - they certainly make you think about the truth behind the image. (via io9). Unless of course you don't want to look beyond the image which is what I've been thinking about the last couple of days.

Honestly, I have no problem with enjoying a fairy tale and adored Belle in Disney's version of Beauty and the Beast. I have also quite happily read a few Nora Roberts titles in my day and Katie Fforde. Hell - if Clive Cussler isn't the male version of Roberts then I don't know what is, and I've enjoyed some Dirk Pitt novels (the older ones) as well. Just like pretty much everybody else in the world sometimes I'm happy to fall for the gender stereotypes. As long as I know that sometimes it is not like this - that happily ever after isn't the automatic end game - then I think I'm doing okay.

So, love Cinderella with her Fairy Godmother but also enjoy seeing her sitting in a bar the morning after as well.

The question is do people read what they like and/or know as much as what they don't like or don't know? I don't mean you have to read horror if you hate it, but do you accept that Cindy might not have had it made - that the dance was only the beginning and getting the shoe to fit would really be the easiest part of her relationship with our dear Prince? You can't bury your head in the sand in other words; you can love that image of the two of them together but you need to acknowledge that life will get in the way and the going will get rough - it always does.

Oddly enough I've been thinking about this not because of fiction but nonfiction. Part of the Cheap discussion has included the not unusual suggestion that the only folks likely to read a book about American's cheap consumer habits are folks who are already hip to those habits and avoiding them. Basically, the author is preaching to the converted and the folks who need to learn about the subject will never read the book - because they don't now there's a cheap culture and are too busy shopping at Walmart, IKEA and Old Navy to care. Is that really true? I don't think so - I can't think so. If no one ever reads anything to gain a different perspective then I'm wondering why we bother writing much of anything. Why write about mountain top removal if only some activists will care? Why did I bother reading and reviewing (this month at Bookslut) Deeply Rooted if the country still cares more about agribusiness and can't afford to support indy farmers? (And why would an author research and write such books?)

It's just so bloody hopeless. And it suggests that we don't learn anything from books or that certain people don't learn anything. I grew up poor, I came from parents who were poor and I've learned all kinds of stuff. My grandparents rarely ever read any books - it was not an important thing to any of them. (They did all read the newspaper religiously however.) My parents came from nonbookish households and were both voracious readers. Both read tons of magazines. My mother will still read anything I recommend on any subject and even though she might not like it as much as I did, she certainly reads it. My father was the fastest reader I've ever known. He loved books - all books - and also read multiple newspapers everyday. What would either of them think of Cheap? I still have to send it to my mom but I think my father would have been fascinated. He cut coupons like nobody's business but he wanted to take advantage of the stores - not the other way around. He compared prices all the time. I think he would have been interested by all the psychology behind pricing and I'm sure it would have made him think twice on certain things. At the very least, I would have loved the conversation with him.

This notion that you have to already be in on the joke in order to care about reading it - as in already hate the princesses to care and look at their realities - just deflates me. I don't understand it. Anyone who buys anything would want to know more about what their buying, right? It might not change all of your habits but it could change a couple and that's something worthwhile. Are we all really this jaded and if so, how in the hell do we think the world will ever change?

Geez - who wants to live in a world where nobody cares enough to learn something new?

And yet, I also feel like I'm clinging to my street cred when I write about growing up without much money. It's the anti elite argument all over again (and lord aren't we sick of that?). Somehow money and intelligence have gotten conflated because of last year's election mess. So if you read books about the economy then you aren't living paycheck to paycheck - it just doesn't work that way. Lower middle class and poor don't want to know the true price of the cheap culture because they can never afford other than the cheap culture. And if I do seek to live differently then obviously I'm thinking I'm better - no matter how blue collar my childhood.

If I don't like the princesses in all their finery, then I'm declaring folks who do (including my dearly beloved three year niece) are easily fooled and thus ignorant. I guess I should be demanding my brother frame Ms. magazine for my niece's wall to save her from a sad princess future. I will have to fit this in between conversations dissing Walmart and shopping at organic markets. Clearly, you can be only one type of person and once tarred as an elitest (and frowning on IKEA) then you can't go back.

You betcha.

Ah come on - you knew this was how Snow White ended up!

...isn't much.

Newsweek has a new issue out with Michael Jackson on the cover and a big spread inside on books. I think it is really really cool that they've devoted so many pages to summer reading and included such a diverse selection. It's really quite awesome. But then they had to go and disappoint me. There's a spread of short recommendations on a variety of subjects from a variety of people. For example, Melissa Gilbert recommends Hollywood memoirs, Bob Woodward recommends Political Scandal titles, Patricia Cornwall recommends True Crime and Fareed Zakaria recommends foreign policy titles. All makes perfect sense. But then...Jenna Bush recommends the kids books. She was selected because she was a presidential daughter (?), 6th grade teacher and, of course, wrote the book Ana's Story.

Please just kill me now.

I have to assume that every living Caldecott, Newbery and Printz winner was very busy the day they put this list together because surely - surely - Jenna Bush could not be the first choice. Absolutely pitiful and a huge disappointment. You'll just have to overlook it when you read the rest of the section. (And the bits on MJ are actually quite good as well.)

I'm off to enjoy the weekend - warm temperatures here and no sign of rain. (Although we do hope it shows up next week sometime - it's starting to get pretty darn dry.) I'm supposed to talk to my agent next week on what comes next and I have some ideas but nothing concrete. I just finished a short story that I'm happy about (need to reread it next week to be sure I'm still happy about it, but nothing major needs fixing), and I am outlining a YA novel but the big next thing will be more nonfiction and I'm just spinning when it comes to a subject. I don't now which direction is the best one. Hopefully she will have some insight; we'll see.

ETA: Amy has bloggers signing up to read and discuss the 50 books on Newsweek's list. There are only a few slots left (the remaining books do sound very interesting though - especially if you like history).

Happy 4th of July!