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Reading the End Posts

The #HamAlong Never Liked the Quiet Before

At least, dear friends, the worst has happened. The #HamAlong has reached the second-saddest bit of the musical:1 Philip Hamilton dies in a duel which he fought to defend his father and in which his father urged him to delope. Anyway, not quite yet. We’ll get to that. The first thing that happens is that Hamilton supports the Alien and Sedition Acts, which Chernow tries to pretend is semi-okay even though it is blatantly not. And like — honestly? This section makes me feel rather patriotic. Like, the ways that America turned out well were very far from inevitable, if…

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#BBAW: Book Recommendations

Today is the hardest topic of all the topics for Book Blogger Appreciation Week (hosted, again, by me and Ana and Andi and Heather, over at the Estella Society); or I should say rather, the very easiest. To wit: Day 3 What have you read and loved because of a fellow blogger? What haven’t I read and loved because of a fellow blogger? Before blogging, my reading life was on its way to becoming a tragic wasteland. I had exhausted the recommendations of my friends and relations and was reduced to — this is not a joke — examining college syllabi for various…

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#BBAW: My Friend Amy

When I was a young blogger (yes, cast your minds back through the mists of time to that faraway day), I would always see other book bloggers talking about their friend Amy, always with such affection that it took me ages and ages to realize that “My Friend Amy” was the actual name of her blog. If you’ve ever seen old-lady-bloggers like me on Twitter talking about how cozy and close-knit the blogosphere used to be, it’s partly a function of its having been smaller, and partly a function of My Friend Amy. She was one of those bloggers who…

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#BBAW: Introduce Yourself!

The time has come! The time is now! After a few years of lying fallow, Book Blogger Appreciation Week has returned! Huge, huge thanks to my co-hosts Heather, Andi, and Ana, and thanks to everyone who’s participating. Day 1: Introduce yourself by telling us about five books that represent you as a person or your interests/lifestyle. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte I’m starting with an unoriginal one, I know! But Jane Eyre was the first book where I ever read the end before I read the middle. It gave me a taste for romance, for gothic novels, for crazypants plots where…

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NB, Tulum: A Links Round-Up

Happy Friday, everyone! I have had a stupid week and am psyched for it to be over! So here are some links, as ever, for your delectation and delight. First and most importantly, Book Blogger Appreciation Week is NEXT WEEK. I’ll be hosting a Twitter chat on Tuesday at 9 PM EST, and the blogosphere at large will be squeeing about our love for each other all week long. Don’t miss it. I admit this has nothing to do with anything, but Caity Weaver’s GQ profile of Justin Bieber is magic. It’s unsettling to share a personal story, or ask…

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The #HamAlong Is Never Gon’ Be President Now

Poor old George Washington! With his strongest and cleverest ally gone from the cabinet, this section of the readalong finds him struggling to find competent people to fill political posts, while the southern motherfucking democratic republicans roundly abuse him all over the press. He keeps writing pitiful letters to Hamilton to be like And in actually the nicest gesture I have so far encountered in this readalong, Washington sends Eliza and Alexander a supportive gift during the Reynolds Pamphlet hullabaloo, with a note that says this: I pray you to present my best wishes, in which Mrs. Washington joins me,…

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Jessica Jones, Episode 11: AKA I’ve Got the Blues

And now, a conundrum. AKA I’ve Got the Blues is an episode that focuses on Jessica and Trish’s relationship but also features a whole lot of Evil Simpson (a plotline that, as I mentioned in my last recap, really bugs me) and doesn’t move the Kilgrave needle forward hardly at all. So what wins out: The “I heart female friendship” Jenny or the “get a damn move on with the plot already” Jenny? Let me tell you what tipped the balance. Patricia. Come on. Jessica just got hit by a truck. When someone is in great pain and sadness, you…

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The #HamAlong Lets Its Ideals Blind it to Reality

NOW we have attained the kind of rap-battle controversy that I was expecting from Ron Chernow’s Hamilton. The lines are drawn, the gloves are off, and A. Ham is wading into battle against prettttttty much every other Founding Father. Which means that it’s time for a new #HamAlong feature I shall call Which Founding Father Is Being the Worst This Week? Which Founding Father Is Being the Worst This Week? I’m going to have to say Monroe. This fuckin’ guy. When some guys in the federal government got wind of Hamilton’s history of giving money to James Reynolds (they heard…

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What Is Veiling?, Sahar Amer

I try, in general, to cast a critical eye upon ideas and information and opinions, and sometimes I am more successful at this and other times less successful. For genres of things where Societal Bullshit has often been at play in the past, I try to be extra skeptical about that thing. As a totally inconsequential example, I know that the Bachelor manipulates my views of all the women through editing; and I maintain a particular skepticism of the edits that people of color receive. (The, like, three that have ever been on that show.) Similarly, I have decided upon…

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Jessica Jones, Episode 10: AKA 1000 Cuts

In the cage room that is now a super-gross murder scene, AKA 1000 Cuts picks up right where AKA Sin Bin left off. Kilgrave compels Jeri to drive him to medical care, while Jessica rallies her remaining allies: Trish, Clemons, and a still-compelled Albert. Clemons takes over like a boss, ordering Trish not to call an ambulance until he can get some guys he trusts on the scene.1 Meanwhile, Jessica will go in pursuit of Kilgrave, and Trish will take Albert to a hotel where they can start working on a vaccine: Kilgrave’s power, Albert reveals, is a virus, and…

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