Soooo, I didn't write as much as I wanted or intended to last month. Theres several blog posts I've wanted/needed to write, but I haven't really had the time or energy lately. My husband's chemo is going well. My job unionized, and the new health insurance will help a lot with treatments. Work has been fine, my boss has been on my ass since I took FMLA, but she can't do anything about it, so. I've been relatively consistent with my Pimsleur Spanish, and I'm able to form simple sentences, I'm also able to read a YA novel in spanish with relative ease. I have my gripes with the course, but overall, it worked well. I do have a spanish blog post planned, I just have to write it, and I need my laptop to do that, and I haven't really been using it since I upgraded my desktop. Last month went by in a blur, but it was good. I got to go to my city's pride event, that was a ton of fun. Anyways, on to the books.
The Hundred Years War
I found this book very informative, but very dry. Its a description of historical events in Palestine starting in 1917 and going through a little after 2017, and an explanation of how those events fit historically, as well as an examination of the events under the lense of a colonial settler movement. I came away from the book with a good understanding of the situation. I do feel like the author is more concerned with the politics of the situation than anything else, and how Palestine presents itself on a global stage, but it is understandable because he is a political activist for Palestine. He also makes good arguments as to why that is his focus. He also does a good job putting the history in context, and analyzing it through a marxist lens, he makes a strong case for seeing Israel as a Jewish Settler Colony backed by the strongest military power of the day. And he does a good job in outlining the issues, errors, hypocrisy, and blatant genocide that has been ensuing since the beginning of the endeavour. Either way, it took me forever to read this book, as I said, it's pretty dry, but I would still recommend the book for anyone interested in a full picture of the history of the situation. I do still want to do more research into more sides and perspectives on this issue, but for now, I at least know the basic outline of the events.
The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions
I really enjoyed this book. It talks about trans and gay issues through recent history in a very poetic way. It does talk about very heavy topics, but again, in such a flowery way that it makes it easier to absorb, at least for me. I wouldn't consider it a very historically informative piece, but I would still recommend it to people interested in queer history, and it is incredibly short, I finished it within 1 work shift.
The Einstein of Sex
I found this book incredibly informative, not just on the history of Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, but also the history of his era. Since I dropped out of highschool, and I never learned world history bast the 1700s or so, I have been trying to cath up, because there has been many world changing historical events since the founding of this slave colony. I am woefully underinformed about the history of the Nazis and their rise to power, and while that is not a focus of this book, it does talk about it somewhat, since Dr, Hieschfeld was a primary target of theirs because of his work. His work being the research and study of sexuality, gender, and race. In fact Dr. Hirschfeld was the original author of the Kinsey scale for sexuality. He was one of, if not the first to propose that people are born either straight, bisexual, or gay, and it was not a result of childhood trauma or 'recruiting,' a very controversial idea at the time, especially since homosexual acts between men were banned in Germany when he started to propose this theory. (and if iI remember correctly, stayed banned his entire life, despite his work to get the law overturned) He did extensive research into homosexuality, sexuality in general, and gender, with more of a focus on race in his last few years. His institute and activist group he founded were instrumental in advancing the rights of transgender individuals in germany at the time, and the first gender affirming surgeries were done under his care and medical supervision. (though I don't think he was the surgeon)
The above, famous image of the Nazis burning books, they're burning Dr. Hirschfeld's life's work, his research books, film, studies, and surveys. One large reason is because he had data on prominent Nazi officers in those files, but also he was a very convenient target for their hatred, seeing as he was 1) Jewish and 2) his entire life's work undermined their basis for their cause. Anyone interested in queer histpry should really read this book. Dr. Hirschfeld is a unsung hero for queer rights, theory, and research, and his name and his story deserve to be known.
I'm also currently reading a few books, I'm enjoying Accidentally on Purpose even though I probably would not have picked it out myslf anytime soon. I found the book through the Goodreads challenges for the last season, and it got me 2 bookmarks, so. I'm also reading El Ladrón del Rayo or The Lightning Thief in spanish, and I'm able to do it with relative ease, I'm able to understand more than I was expecting, and I have to look up very few words per page. It's also helping me grasp the sentence structure better. I'm also reading Foucault's History of Sexuality vol. 1 which has not been easy, Foucault is a terrible writer, and a lot of his ideas seem to be without basis, though there are some small pieces in his writings that are useful. I'm hoping I can push through quickly. I do still intend to finish Everyday Life in the North Korean Revolution before the end of the year, I just have to figure out a format that works for me, since the pdf on my phone is too easy to get distracted from, and the printed version isn't very convenient. Either way, I will hopefully have more updates this month than I did last month.