I’ve loved the X-Men since I was about ten. Movies, comic books, novels, tie-ins, toys, all the way up to the latest movies, I’m about it. So, my first reaction when I heard about The Gifted was to wonder if they would have anything new to say. They don’t necessarily have to, the first X-Men movie was 17…… Continue reading I’ve been watching The Gifted and I have thoughts.
I’ve worked in libraries, on and off, for the past 13 years. When I’m not working in them, I’m still there all the time, and have been since I was a wee little child. I’m still not an expert on the back rooms, but I can tell you the biggest thing people don’t understand about how libraries…… Continue reading How Libraries Work (For Writers and Readers)
The Russia House is a 1990 espionage movie starring Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer. It’s based on a novel by John le Carre, who’s sort of the bureaucrat’s Ian Fleming. I’ve said we should talk more about action movies, so here we are — but it is based on a book, the main character is a publisher,…… Continue reading The Russia House: On James Bond, Atomic Blonde, and Being a Realistic Spy Movie
It’s a bit of a stretch to judge a whole genre on whether or not it’s feminist, I know, BUT since romance is a women’s genre it’s relevant. And really, instead of the whole genre, I’m just comparing two collections: Marvel Romance, which collects some highlights from Marvel romance comics of the sixties and seventies, and Fresh…… Continue reading Is This Feminist? Romance Comics
I was browsing through my local library’s online catalog recently, as I often do, and found two interesting books listed next to each other: How to Read and Why by Harold Bloom, and How to Read Superhero Comics and Why by Geoff Klock. “That’s gonna make an interesting blog post,” I thought to myself, so…… Continue reading Classics, Comics, and Continuity, or, How to Explain Books You Like
The time has come, friends, to show you some of what I’ve been doing these two long years in graduate school. I can’t show you my actual thesis yet, because there’s a possibility of academic publication, but I’ve been in a public history and museum studies program and that means I’ve also done a public…… Continue reading I Digitized Some Gay Pulp For You
So far in our week of queer-friendly picture books we’ve talked about inclusive family lists, books explaining same-sex parents, and books about trans or genderqueer toddlers. As discussed yesterday, there are hardly any queer kids depicted in picture books. Gender seems to be easier for authors to address because we have so many gendered objects…… Continue reading LGBT+ Picture Books: Acting Like Animals
On Monday we talked about family list books including same-sex parents. Yesterday we talked about the slightly more sophisticated books for toddlers explaining that same-sex parents are just like other parents and their kids are happy. Some of these books are adorable and great, but they don’t talk about gender, bisexuality, or trans identities for…… Continue reading LGBT+ Picture Books: OMG Dresses!
Yesterday we started talking about types of queer-friendly picture books, and LGBT+ inclusion in counting/alphabet books about families. These are the most basic type, but not the most common… That honor belongs to the “explaining same-sex parents” genre. These are books that talk to toddlers about how two men or two women can be in…… Continue reading LGBT+ Picture Books: “How Do I Explain to My Kids?”
Happy Pride Month, everybody! This week we’re talking about queer picture books, and it’s been a long time coming. I love a good picture book, and it can be hard to find queer-friendly ones. My first thought was to make a list, but plenty of people have done that, and if you’re super serious about…… Continue reading LGBT+ Picture Books: Getting Counted
Hannah Reads Books 