Reviews with TLC

The Eddy Fence Poems by Donna Henderson felt voyeuristic and universal all at once. Henderson lays grief open like a surgeon and exposes the tender scar it leaves in its wake. Her beautifully poignant poems connected me with memories from times in my life when I'd faced the struggle between holding on for myself and letting go for someone else. Henderson explores heartache and dying alongside the destruction of nature while always finding a thread of resilience and hope in the cycle of life and loss and living.  

I wanted to love The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan. I picked it up with expectations of being inspired, of being enraged, of being enlightened... I was convinced this book would turn me into a militant feminist; okay not really, but I thought it would somehow change my relationship with feminism, answer questions I'd never thought to ask, radically change my life... In that, I think perhaps my expectations were too high. It is an important book. It is well written, and Friedan makes her points quite convincingly. As a way to understand the foundation of modern feminism, I highly recommend it. That said, I found myself reminding myself that some of the research she cites is outdated, has been proven incomplete and, at times, inaccurate while grimacing that we are facing some of the same battles yet again - or perhaps still. As I read The Feminine Mystique it became very clear to me that equality, at least for women, seems to wax and wane. Progress is made, then fear, miscon...