Isabella, Braveheart of France by Colin Falconer

I found this to be an intriguing, suspenseful, easy-to-read true* story of King Edward II of England and Queen Isabella. SPOILER ALERT: Skip the section in brackets! As we watch Isabella evolve from a naïve child bride from France [to a young mother who realizes she is married to a gay man to a woman who has been exiled back to her home country and into another man's arms] the book likewise covers a range of human traits from noble to diabolical. Love in its many forms, greed, jealousy, hubris, hunger for power, treachery, hypocrisy and more are all experienced at one point or another by all the main characters, for whom the institutions of religion, politics and marriage are mere inconveniences.

*Except, perhaps, the Epilogue.

A Whiskey Sea, by Ann Howard Creel

I just finished A Whiskey Sea by Ann Howard Creel and I really enjoyed it. She is the author of ten published novels -- four middle grade, three young adult and three adult novels -- although this is the first book of hers I've read. I was 10 pages into the book & I already really liked it.

The book is set on the Jersey Shore during Prohibition. Frieda is a young woman whose mother, the 'town whore,' died when Frieda was 5. Raised along with her younger half-sister by a loving single man, she nevertheless grew up very independent and guarded (one might even say bitter). She learns to become an expert at repairing boat motors but soon falls into the dangerous business of bootlegging. Amidst all this, and despite herself, she falls hopelessly in love with a man who can't love her back, while a (male) friend loves her in a way she can never reciprocate. The suspense of the bootlegging runs (the author teases us with a flash-forward at the beginning of the book, so we know something bad is going to happen at some point), the love triangle, her intense relationship with her sister and her loyalty and love for the man who raised her,  result in a well-written, engrossing and fast-paced novel.

Dietland

Dietland made me think about so many issues: my own attitudes toward weight, my issues with my own weight, society’s very narrow definition of what is beautiful, how these attitudes and ideas seem to be disproportionately aimed at women, and the billion-dollar weight loss industry.

In roaming around the Internet reading on these topics, I found a few worth sharing:

The Plus Side: Full-figured Fashion Gets a New Look. This article from the New Yorker magazine takes an in-depth look at a full-figured fashion show and visits the history (and future) of Lane Bryant.

On the Runway at Full Figured Fashion Week. This video (2:24) accompanies the New Yorker article mentioned above. It contains abbreviated commentary from the article, but more importantly shows the models and fashions the article describes.

Understanding Obesity Stigma: This brochure (PDF) from The Obesity Action Coalition lists the biases people face as a result of their weight in the areas of employment, education, and healthcare as well as the consequences of those biases.

Obviously, the book covered a number of other issues. I’m looking forward to our discussion tonight!