Coffee + Blogs No. 25

I haven't put together a Coffee + Blogs post in forever. Which way do I go? Serious, politically-minded, addressing the visceral fear I feel about the current state of our country? Total froth, Shadowhunters and Gilmore Girls, which is my current escape method? Straight Hamilton lyrics all the way, which is a mix of both?

I'm just going to put some stuff out there and when I get too exhausted, go to my Tumblr dash, which is completely comprised of fandom GIFs, fat girl fashion, and YA book aesthetic photo sets. Lovely.

So...this. An All-Caps Explosion Regarding the Liberal Backlash Against Hillary Clinton. I voted for Bernie Sanders in our political primary. But I think this article brings up a really important point about how much harder Clinton is expected to work and how "likable" she has to be in order to be considered relevant. And memes about how uncool she is melt my heart a little every time.

#VeryRealisticYA describes the plot of young adult books if they were happening in real life.  Kody Keplinger: Girl finds out boy from class has been sneaking into her room to "watch her sleep." Is terrified. Presses charges. There's more where that came from in this Buzzfeed round up of some of the tweets from the hashtag.

Kendra James at the Toast writes about her disappointment over Leslie Jones' role in the new Ghostbusters trailer. I am eagerly anticipating the new incarnation of the franchise (Melissa McCarthy!) but I know that a big part of my excitement is that I get to see a plus size actress I love in a role that isn't a Chris Farley impression. I completely recognize James' weariness. 

Gala Darling wrote about Beyonce's video for FORMATION and it's perfect. Bolded emphasis in the quote is mine. "This video was not made for white women like me and that is exactly why it is essential that we watch it. Without seeing music videos and movies made by black artists, without hearing the words spoken by people of colour, and without reading books by people who are different to us, we will never learn about anything except our own — dominant, heteronormative, white — culture. Without being conscious and paying attention, we will never fully grasp the immense privilege afforded to us simply based on the merits of having white skin."

Pictures of the US Presidents as young hotties.  "It’s not easy telling your husband that you’re leaving him for a 163-year-old daguerreotype of Rutherford B. Hayes. So what you’re going to want to do is just leave him a note."  LOL at Clinton's caption. I love you, Obama.

 I recently finished Things No One Tells Fat Girls by Jes Baker, aka The Militant Baker. Jes does amazing work around body acceptance and you should follow her on Instagram immediately. She recently published a list of diverse and body positive books for kids. I've read some of these titles and will be checking the others out soon!

I've been extra busy for the past few months because I've begun contributing on a regular basis to Book Riot. (!!!!!) This is a huge honor, as Book Riot is one of my favorite sites for book news/discussion, and I have been reading it daily for almost a year now. So far I've submitted articles about becoming a book girl, life lessons I learned in the library in the 90s, love triangles, modern takes on fairy tales, and following authors on Twitter. The back channel, where contributors and editors discuss posts, book news, and book recs, has exploded my TBR list and educated the shit out of me. 

Camp NaNoWriMo is coming! Run by the same people who do National Novel Writing Month in November, camp months (April and July) let authors set their own word counts, and you get grouped in cabins with other authors who can motivate you. I was in a great cabin last year where we shared about our real lives, pieces from our works in progress, and in general cheered each other one. If you've ever been curious about NaNoWriMo but are overwhelmed by the commitment of 50K, definitely try a camp month in April! If enough people are interested, I'd love to start a cabin together! Let me know.

Right now I am deep into an obsession with Gilmore Girls (Season Five, Episode 3. I started out getting excited about Rory's love life and now I am OBSESSED with Lorelai's current situation) and am reading too many books. TOO MANY BOOKS. Dietland by Sarai Walker, Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare (!), Fearless 10 by Francine Pascal, Notorious RBG: Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Irin Carmon, Shana Knizhnik  (#beyourownbookclub), Lumberjanes Vol. 2: Friendship to the Max by Noelle Stevenson (and many others), I Woke Up Dead At The Mall by Judy Sheehan, and I just started Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho on audiobook. I am getting a little confused and may to set some of these aside.

I've been spending more time on Tumblr, so make sure to follow me and reblog lovely things for me to heart! I also updated the Books page here at Be Your Own Lady. Anyhow, what are you reading/watching/loving this week? Please share! xo