Read-a-thon for Mindfulness

[rachelmanija]

The Cause: I am holding a two-day read-a-thon to raise $2700 to attend "Japanese Approaches to Mindfulness," a 10-day study abroad in March staying at Shunkoin, a Zen temple in Kyoto, to study Zen, mindfulness, and Japanese concepts of psychology and mental illness. The abbott is active in the local LGBTQ community, and we will be meeting with LGBTQ activists as well as with practicing psychologists. I think this will benefit me professionally, and will also be helpful to my future clients. (I am studying to become a psychotherapist with a focus on survivors of trauma.) I will blog and take photos, for your enjoyment.

How to Participate: Please comment with an offer of an amount of money per book read and reviewed. You may put a cap on the amount. ("I offer $15/book, with a cap of $150.") In two days, I can read 6-10 books. If you sponsor me, you may propose a book for me to read and review. I will do re-reads, but not of books already blogged. (Check tags by author.) You may also make a general proposal, like, "Something by Robert Heinlein/an Old West memoir/one of your childhood favorites."

If a book is too hard to obtain, I will ask for an alternate. Please don't propose anything extremely long or dense.

FYI: I happen to have obtained a copy of the sequel to Sexteen, which I have been saving for a special occasion.

Please consider linking this post, to pull in more participants. If I have more sponsors than books I can read, I will give special consideration to larger donors and/or and/or prior participants whose books didn't get read and/or especially interesting nominations and/or hold a poll.

For possible inspiration, here are photos of my to-read shelves.

ETA: Day One of the read-a-thon will be held on SUNDAY, January 8. Day Two is TBA until I find out more of my schedule, but will be on Wed, Thur, Fri, or Sat of that week.

Comments

[oyceter]

Could I do something like sponsoring books by poc or lgbtq authors?

[rachelmanija]

Absolutely! Is there a specific one you'd like to nominate, or any of my choice?

[rachelmanija]

ETA: Not sure about LGBTQ authors, since I often don't know their orientation (as opposed to their characters' orientation.)

But if this is helpful, here's a few books by authors of color I happen to already have on hand: The Eddie book by Marjorie Liu, and from the bookcase photos, the three Haikasoru books, Meji, Manifest, Crystal Rain, City of Fire, My Family and Other Saints, and (already nominated) Shadow Speaker.

[oyceter]

Ooh, good point re: LGBTQ authors.

Hrm. How about the following categories?
- POC main character
- QUILTBAG main character
- female character past menopause who actually looks it (i.e. Morgaine or Ari Emory don't count, I am kind of looking for stuff that thinks about aging)
- POC author
- QUILTBAG author
- author who identifies as disabled
- main character who identifies as disabled

And $5 per category. So Malinda Lo's Huntress would be $20 iirc, Tamora Pierce's Will of Empress would be $10, etc.

Uh, also, if this is too confusing, feel free to not go with it!! I don't really have any suggestions because most of this is me being selfish and wanting to find book recs via you.

[oyceter]

Also! I have an extra copy of Dragon Ladies: Asian American Feminists Breathe Fire that I got at a library sale if you want? I can mail it to you.

[rachelmanija]

Sure, thanks!

[rachelmanija]

So, $5 per category, even if they're scattered across books? I think I can track that.

The one that's complicated is "identifies as disabled." In fantasy and a lot of historical fiction, characters don't explicitly identify as disabled because it's not part of the terminology/mindset in the setting, even if they clearly are to our eyes. Also, are you thinking only of physical disabilities, or also of mental illnesses and non-neurotypicality?

[oyceter]

Yeah, that one I am not sure about... I was going to say "hooks for hands" guy doesn't count, but I would put Ed Elric in just because FMA deals with things like upkeep and chronic pain and whatnot. And both physical disability as well as non-neurotypicality. I think it will just be a kind of open category? Like, anything in which you think the character's disability(ies) is treated well and thoughtfully. Doesn't have to be problem novel, but something more than just "He lost an eye! And now we will never mention that again..."

Ahahaha. Sorry! This is totally "stuff I want to find and read for myself."

[rachelmanija]

I would argue that hooks for hands guy counts. It's absolutely an attempt at a serious treatment of disability. It's a terrible attempt, but the disability really is central to the story. I'd classify that differently from something like, say, "Hero was born with no feet, but had them grown in a vat shortly after birth; there were no side effects to the foot replacement surgery, and this is only ever mentioned in one paragraph."

I'll use my judgment on this one.

[oyceter]

In that case, he counts too! But yeah, attempts at serious or thoughtful treatment (no matter the execution) sounds good!

[kore]

....HOOKS FOR HANDS

AHAHAHA

-- sorry, that was my actual reaction when I saw that. I can't believe I forgot about him!

[rachelmanija]

I read 10 books!

Please make your donations to Rphoenix2@hotmail.com at Paypal. Thank you very much for your support!

Feel free to comment on reviews you missed - some of them went up at odd times.

Let's see how your mini-challenge shakes out:

Voices, by Ursula LeGuin. POC main character. $5.

Anne of Green Gables, by L. M. Montgomery. Marilla is probably the most important character after Anne, and her age is both realistic and an important part of the story. $5.

Frontier Wolf, by Rosemary Sutcliff. Author was disabled. $5.

Within the Flames, by Marjorie Liu. Author of color. $5. (Eddie's ethnicity is never stated, though I did spot some possible evidence that he's at least part Chinese.)

Moyasimon, by Ishikawa Masayuki. Author and all characters are POC. $10.

The Shadow Speaker, by Nnedi Okorafor. Author and almost all characters are POC. $10.

The Gilda Stories, by Jewelle Gomez. Author and protagonist are lesbians of color. $20.

Total: $60.

Incidentally, I didn't count her because nobody knows for sure, but L. M. Montgomery was probably bisexual. I happened to know the sexual orientation of Jewelle Gomez and Ursula Le Guin, but for seven of ten authors, I have no idea whatsoever.

[oyceter]

Done! And looking forward to going through the posts when I have time!

[kore]

I really want to sponsor but can't think of a book right now, am sick....or ohh, would Grounding of Group Six work?

[rachelmanija]

Sure!

[kore]

Also bleah, how does this work? Can I do $20 per book, cap 10 books? Or does that not work?

HI, FLU MAKES ME HAVE THE DUMB.

[rachelmanija]

Sure, any permutation of [-$ per book, cap at -$] is fine.

[kore]

Can I have a mixed bag, i.e. pick 5 books and you choose 5?

[rachelmanija]

You mean, pick 5 and I choose 1? Sure!

[kore]

OH NOW I GET IT. Yeah, because I'm sure someone else is going to pick Group 6, too.

OR I COULD MAKE YOU DO THE UHURA BOOK

[rachelmanija]

Ha ha, no you can't... I already reviewed it!

[kore]

//snaps fingers DANG.

[rachelmanija]

Psst, pick your books - I'm starting Day One on Sunday.

[kore]

Shit, I don't understand the cap thing either, is it OK if I also just give $20 and suggest a book? Grounding of Group Six, or maybe Wrinkle in Time (or any other L'Engle YA), or Voices by Le Guin, or O'Dell's Island of the Blue Dolphins? I checked the tags and didn't see those. Any one of those would be great!

//sneezes

[rachelmanija]

Sure, thanks!

[rachelmanija]

Voices, by Ursula K. Le Guin. Good choice, thanks!

[kore]

Aww yeah, I thought you would like it!

[rachelmanija]

I read 10 books!

Please make your donations to Rphoenix2@hotmail.com at Paypal. Thank you very much for your support!

Feel free to comment on reviews you missed - some of them went up at odd times.

[lab]

I, uh, am probably too tired to really understand the sponsoring-with-cap thingie, but can I just give you 20 USD and suggest a book?

[rachelmanija]

Yes, and thank you very much!

Also, your book is in the mail. FINALLY.

[lab]

Thank you, yay! (I meant to message you to say not to stress yourself about it and then got carried away by holiday-related stress, sorry!) I'd love if you read some random and unwillingly hilarious ya dystopia and/or Unwind by Neal Shusterman or Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

[rachelmanija]

The sequel to Sexteen, an accidentally hilarious teen dystopia!

[lab]

Sent (a couple of days ago), the one from L. from Austria, I don't know if I left you a specific message in the comment box.

[mme_hardy]

I'm going to cosign on brain-dead; you have $25 from me.

[lab]

I'm glad it wasn't just me ;)

[rachelmanija]

Thank you very much!

[rachelmanija]

I read 10 books!

Please make your donations to Rphoenix2@hotmail.com at Paypal. Thank you very much for your support!

Feel free to comment on reviews you missed - some of them went up at odd times.

[kate_nepveu]

Hmm. Amazon says that Opal Whiteley's book is 384 pages; is that too long or too brainbreaking?

[rachelmanija]

Yes to both. Also, I cannot possibly write anything as good as rushthatspeaks's review.

[kate_nepveu]

Okay! Then $10/book and suggestions only if they appeal to you

_Kapla Imperial_: http://www.steelypips.org/weblog/2011/12/gorodischer_kalpa.php

_Mechanique_: http://www.steelypips.org/weblog/2011/11/valentine_mechanique.php

Something by Sarah Caudwell: http://www.steelypips.org/weblog/2005/03/caudwell_sarah.php

A Dortmunder book: http://www.steelypips.org/weblog/books/mystery/dortmunder/

_A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver_ by E.L. Konigsburg: http://www.amazon.com/Proud-Taste-Scarlet-Miniver/dp/068984624X

[rachelmanija]

Thank you very much! Several of those have been on my to-read list for forever.

[kate_nepveu]

Re: the last, I haven't booklogged it because I only read it to prepare to beta this: http://archiveofourown.org/works/299663 (no spoilers), which would give you a good feel for it.

[rachelmanija]

I read 10 books!

Please make your donations to Rphoenix2@hotmail.com at Paypal. Thank you very much for your support!

Feel free to comment on reviews you missed - some of them went up at odd times.

[kate_nepveu]

Yay! Done.

[cyphomandra]

How about $50 for one volume of manga? (as a one-off, as I've just also snaffled a review from rushthatspeaks).

I will optimistically suggest Moyasimon: Tales of Agriculture, which is appropriately about a college student, although that the agricultural college he attends is pretty weird, the student can see and talk to bacteria, and the first volume features the most disgusting traditional delicacy I've ever encountered... but if that's not available, how about Fumi Yoshinaga's food memoirNot Love but Delicious Foods as a contrast? Or feel free to take on Yoshinaga's Ooku, which won the Tiptree despite having a really irritating English translation?

[rachelmanija]

Thank you!

I've already reviewed both Ooku and Not Love... under manga: [title]. I will look for Moyasimon. Alternatively (if it's hard to come by), I have some as-yet-unread volumes of Mushishi, A Bride's Story, and Angel Coffin on hand.

[cyphomandra]

(obviously I cannot check tags accurately!) If you can't find Moyasimon - it came out in 2009, I think, but IIRC Kodansha's taken the licence back so there are only two volumes - I would be most interested in A Bride's Story.

[rachelmanija]

Moyasimon! That "delicacy" was one of the most disgusting things I've ever heard of. I am trying to wipe it from my mind right now. ;)

[rachelmanija]

I read 10 books!

Please make your donations to Rphoenix2@hotmail.com at Paypal. Thank you very much for your support!

Feel free to comment on reviews you missed - some of them went up at odd times.

[cyphomandra]

Congratulations!! This should have gone through - also with $50 for rushthatspeaks.

[rydra_wong]

Before I signal boost -- is "and review" implicit in the "read" here?

[rachelmanija]

Yes, absolutely. People can click on my "read-a-thon" tags to see what sort of reviews I'm likely to produce. (I've done this before, to raise money for others and for causes.)

[rydra_wong]

Figured; I just wanted to check. Signal now boosted.

[rachelmanija]

Thank you very much!

I hope more people take advantage of rushthatspeaks very generous offer; their reviews are incredible.