About honeyandlocusts

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• Comment on Tom's answer…

  0 0 We're outside Kihei, not in town, which I like, and I do think we're going to hang out a lot just in our condo on our lanai. I've done the drive to Hana before, and it's beautiful, but neither my partner nor I really enjoys driving, so it ends up being a stressful trip. And we paid enough for our condo rental that we're not staying nights anywhere else!! Maybe on another trip we'll just do Hana alone. Yes and I vote for you and your wife being able to take a honeymoon! Do it! honeyandlocusts commented about 1 year ago

• Follow Following 1 What should we do in Maui? honeyandlocusts asked in Long Distance Travel about 1 year ago by O my captain & 4 other answers by Tracy M , NealH…

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  What are some good subversive books for teenagers concerning religion?

  0 0 I will second and third A Wrinkle in Time, and the books that followed it (A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet). She was an Episcopalian (she was the librarian and the writer-in-residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in NYC), but I don't know if super conservative Christian parents worry about her or not - super conservative Christians don't tend to love Episcopalians. But I don't know if she's on their list. (I wonder how we could find out what YA books are on their hit lists? Do they make websites about them? They must, right?) For the younger end of that age spectrum, I'd suggest some E.L. Konigsburg books. They are often about children discerning the rules that govern the adults around them, and figuring out their own truths (a wonderful example of this is Silent to the Bone). They often feature nontraditional families (like a brother and a sister making a family together in From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler). Stay away from the Jennifer, Hecate book because that's about witches. Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place might not be good either. honeyandlocusts answered in Book Recommendations about 1 year ago Answer, comment & read 10 more answers »

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  Well. So a friend was diagnosed with cancer yesterday. God damn it. Questionland, help me out.

  1 0 I second and third and fourth all the suggestions that say to just do the practical stuff for him, especially if he's someone who feels safest being outwardly calm and "in control." I'd add that it can be important too to be a companion in being angry. Often people who are living with/through cancer feel they have to buy into the huge cheese fest of hugging/smiling/positive thinking. It can be really helpful for him to have a friend who just says, "Seriously, dude, this REALLY sucks." honeyandlocusts answered in Health & Fitness about 1 year ago Answer, comment & read 10 more answers »

• Comment on phileotruth's answer…

  1 0 Actually, to complicate that a little further, in Genesis 1:27, the term "Elohim" is the word we translate "God." "Elohim" is, however, *plural*. So technically, the verse reads, "In the beginning God(s) created humanity in their own image, in the image of God(s) they created them; male and female they created them." honeyandlocusts commented about 1 year ago

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  What is the hipster animal du jour?

  0 0 antlers. also, wolves. honeyandlocusts answered in Whatever about 1 year ago Answer, comment & read 11 more answers »

• Comment on phileotruth's answer…

  3 0 Hi! I'm an actual biblical scholar! Not like you, who is faking it! There is actually another gender mentioned in the Bible, several times: the eunuch. Eunuchs were considered neither male nor female, but an entirely different gender. And God has a major soft fuzzy place in God's heart for them. Isaiah 56:4-5 4For thus says the Lord: To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, 5I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. BETTER THAN SONS AND DAUGHTERS. Got it? Like, literally, God loves gender transgressors better than other people with boring genders. Matthew 19:12 For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.’ Apparently you can't, Phileotruth. But the rest of us can! And all this isn't to mention the female *and* male gendering of Wisdom/Sophia/the Holy Spirit. Nor the female *and* male gendering of God. Your answer is hate speech and it contributes to there being a lot of murdered trans people. God is really not into it. honeyandlocusts commented about 1 year ago

• Comment on David Wright's answer…

  0 0 Yeah, I couldn't ever get into that place with talking about books where I was supposed to get so enlightened that I was like "above" plot or narrative. Stories are important! Stories keep cultures alive! Stories help people understand who they are! Stories help those of us with really difficult day jobs disappear into someone else's life for a few hours at night, which is an incredibly valuable service! But yes, there are some books that have a healthy respect for story without much "happening." The best example I can think of is Marilynne Robinson's Gilead. I think it would be really fun to be on the other side of the desk and see who's really unabashed about their particular genre love and who hides them under their fancier books and goes to the self-check-out (ahem, me). I even sometimes won't put something on hold because I'm convinced that the librarians notice whose names are attached to which holds, and try to make little stories about what kind of people we are based on those holds, and sometimes I don't want to wreck my (obviously, wholly imaginary) reputation. honeyandlocusts commented about 1 year ago

• Comment on Paul Constant's answer…

  0 0 I think the "literary" fiction thing is really tricky. I gave up on it as a useful descriptor after the Franzen/Oprah dust-up - it became clear in that conversation that literariness was really just a signifier of a particular kind of snottiness, entitlement and overall douchey-ness. I should have been more clear in my original question...I was thinking about how I used to look at the massive rows of paperback mysteries in my local used bookstore, and they all looked just alike, and I kind of figured that they were all just alike on the inside. But then my dad told me to read some Tony Hillerman, which I loved. (I love that his books do sort of what this new era of TV dramas do - develop characters over time, rather than being limited by one discrete episode. People die, there's grieving and resting and coming back and getting to know a character over the course of 4 or 5 books instead of one. Walter Mosely is another one who is hiding in the mystery section but is very talented with this long-form technique.) But if you don't know how to look, the Hillerman novels look just like all the other mystery novels. Or like the Carl Hiassen paperbacks are sold in the airport bookstores alongside the crap airplane books but are actually very funny and cutting and smart. I was wondering if there was anyone buried in the romance novel section of the used bookstore that's like that - mass marketed gems. From the answers to this question, I gather Georgette Heyer is the best of those. I remember reading about One Day - I need to put it back on my list. I don't particularly enjoy reading Nick Hornby (his cynicism interferes with his writing, I think, and he sucks at writing women characters). Isn't It Romantic looks great, too, and I LOVE that he describes as "an entertainment"! honeyandlocusts commented about 1 year ago

• Comment on Nancy Pearl's answer…

  0 0 Thanks for these recommendations. I know that "good" is too vague an adjective there. I should have stated the question more clearly. I'm looking for romance novels with strong writing (although I suppose "strong" is up for grabs too), novels that would be enjoyable to read by people who pick up "literary" fiction (i.e. if it didn't have a gilded, cleavage-y cover, and instead had a sleek modern one, and people picked it up, would it satisfy?), novels that play with the edges and the expectations of the genre. I also like tough smart lady protagonists. No unnecessary fainting. honeyandlocusts commented about 1 year ago

• See all of my 4 Questions , 3 Answers and 25 Comments