Top Ten Tuesday for April 24th!

Here are previous Smoke & Mirrors Top Ten Tuesday posts. 

This weekly meme was created by The Broke and the Bookish, 

but as of January 2018, moved to That Artsy Reader Girl!

This week's topic is "Frequently Used Words in Book Titles."

At least that is my specific topic!

The original topic is "Frequently Used Words In [Insert Genre/Age Group] Titles."

Considering that I attended the Christamore House Guild's 

2018 Book & Author Benefit Luncheon last Friday and heard A.J. Finn speak, 

I felt compelled to create a short post for this topic, based upon his presentation. 

We learned that Finn's novel, The Woman in the Window, is quite purposefully titled. 
(Okay, I admit I do love this cover!)

This title versus Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo...

well, you get the idea.

He insists that his protagonist, Anna Fox, is an independent woman capable of 
caring for herself while determining the cause of mysterious happenings and events...
she is NOT a "girl"! 
While she may well not be a "girl," having read approximately one-third of TWitW, 
I believe Anna to be totally unreliable as a narrator, and a bit of a mess!
But we shall see...
Honestly, until I heard Finn speak about this, I hadn't seriously considered the 
implications that could be inherent with such titles. 

Amy of GG is quite obviously a grown women, having been married for five years!
Rachel of TGotT is definitely no longer a girl, though she is rather 
an unreliable narrator, even if she is a grown woman! 
And Lisbeth of TGwtDT is...well...in my humble opinion, Lisbeth is a God. 
Perhaps a God unto women! She is 24 years old.
And she is definitely NOT a "girl"! 
I read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo way before I had a blog for reviews, 
but I can tell you I adore all three books in  Larsson's Millenium series!
And my favorite part of all of them? Is Lisbeth herself...and Blomkvist!

I personally equate a grown woman being called "girl" 
with a grown black man being called "boy." 
Though I believe the latter is far more discriminatory and prejudicial than the former,     denoting much more inflammatory prejudice. 

Perhaps the idea of referring to a "woman" as a "girl" is simply a carryover from an
extremely patriarchal society, as was the U.S. in the past. 

It did get me thinking...

What do you think? 

Have you read any of these books or others with the word "girl" in the title 
when the person referenced is actually a grown woman? 

Happy reading!
--Lynn

A great visit with six authors--all in one day!!

CHG Book & Author Luncheon

Friday, April 17, 2015

I just had the most amazing experience this past Friday...well, it actually stemmed from an amazing experience one year ago, in April 2014!! I did not post about attending this event last year, though I was so thrilled with it! So I'll make up for that today...you'll learn (Probably more than you ever wanted to know!) all about this annual event that brings close to 1,000 readers and 4-6 authors together for a time of camaraderie and sharing each other's company! 

Firstly, in February of 2014 one of my coworkers asked if I would like to use her ticket to attend a "Book Author event." Well...of course...I really, well, I just really had to take a look at my rather crowded social calendar to determine whether this would fit into my schedule or not... Okay, not! I'm lying! I IMMEDIATELY said YES!!! (And yes, I may have YELLED it!) What is it? When? How much does it cost, etc., etc., etc. I'm sure she was sorry she'd ever offered her ticket to me within those first few minutes! But really...what else could she expect from a book nerd like me! 

As it turned out, she is a member of the Christamore House Guild (CHG), whose sole mission is to raise money to support the Christamore House, located just west of the IUPUI main campus in Indianapolis, Indiana. Inside this rather innocuous looking building, life teems with learning, helping, respecting, and most of all, conscientious caring! This is some of what I have learned in one year's time about this organization. It is much more than a community center, or preschool, or home for the elderly; it is a safe haven for community children in those after-school hours with many opportunities to expand and develop intellectually and socially, and engage in civic enrichment activities. 

What more could you ask from a non-profit? It is as all-inclusive as any such organization I've seen, and considering my employment in social work, I've seen a few! But it was just one event last spring that initiated my interest in membership. As I investigated that opportunity, I became convinced I could spare some time and money to help this Guild support this community center's worthy endeavors! What is more noble or effective than helping people improve their lives? Nothing, in my humble opinion. What began as a totally self-indulgent event for me, became so much more...and I am so grateful for this unique opportunity to give to and help others! 

So, last year's Book & Author Luncheon included (Listed alphabetically, to avoid any suggestion of favorites!):

Krista Bremer--My Accidental Jihad

Carol Cassella--Gemini

     I also loved Oxygen!

Robin Oliveira--I Always Loved You

     I adored her historical fiction novel My Name is Mary Sutter!

Chris Pavone--The Accident

     Also loved The Expats, the first in this series.

Ayelet Waldman--Love & Treasure

     Though I did read and review Red Hook Road. 

It was too late for me to actually read many of these books prior to attending the event, though I had been lucky enough to meet Carol Cassella on March 17, 2014, at the Gemini book release party held at The Elliott Bay Book Company while on vacation in Seattle, Washington. I was also able to meet so many others of my absolute favorite authors at that event! (But that's a whole 'nother blog post just waiting to be written!) I did read some other books written by some of these authors, but not THESE books specifically. Just not enough time! 

I did much better this year, particularly since I had advance notice of the authors to be included and their latest releases. This year's event included these authors/books:

Marisa de los Santos--The Precious One 

     She is listed first due to "seniority"/longevity--I have read and adored all her other 

     books, as well as this one!

Dwight Ritter--Growin' Up White

     Second because this is one of the best books I have ever read! Period!

Bryan Reardon--Finding Jake

     Third because initially I felt Ritter's book hit me a bit harder than Reardon's, though in

     the aftermath, I believe these two could tie for second! :)

Elizabeth Berg (The Dream Lover)

     Fourth because I have read and really liked Open House with my book club. 

     Unfortunately, this book was only released two days prior to the event, and I was 

     unable to take time off work to read it... :( But it will be high on my TBR list to read 

     and review as soon as possible. I'm excited, because I believe this is her first historical 

     fiction novel and I love historical fiction!

Jane Green--Saving Grace

     Fourth because this is the only book of hers I've read, and while it wasn't as creepy as
     I feared it might be, it just wasn't a theme with which I was enamored, from the 

     start! Though I really appreciated her writing and will definitely read more of her 

     books, including The Beach House which she claims to be her own favorite!

Amanda Eyre Ward--The Same Sky 

     I loved speaking with Ms. Ward and listening to her speak about her writing process 

     and research for this book. This is a very timely issue and a heartbreaking one. I just 

     prefer much more detailed characterization and didn't feel as if I got to know these 

     characters as well as I would have liked to. But the good news is...I am definitely in 

     the minority since it is currently rated 3.89 with 1,421 ratings on Goodreads! I have 

     marked another one of her books and intend to read it, just to compare--maybe it was 

     just this specific book...

Admittedly, I feel as if I've "cheated" by just using my Goodreads reviews for almost all of these books, but I like to process and take time with my blog posts of reviews, so those are still being composed! To be released in the (hopefully very near) future. :)

My point here is that sometimes life leads us to surprisingly pleasant and fulfilling experiences in the most unexpected ways. I try to keep myself open to new ideas and opportunities to expand my horizons, and this has proven to be invaluable in the enjoyment of my life! And next year, I will have had a much more active role in this event as a 2nd-year CHG member! 

Have you read any of these books? Have you met any of these authors? Obviously, I have some catching up to do with regard to reading last year's books!