1. October Staff Picks
2. New Music
3. New Books All books are available for view on our website at www.womensbookstore.com

October 2004 TWB Picks

First five books are 25% off during the month of October:

Undoing Gender by Judith Butler. Routledge, $31.95.
Constitutes Judith Butler’s recent reflections on gender and sexuality, focusing on new kinship, psychoanalysis and the incest taboo, transgender, intersex, diagnostic categories, social violence and the tasks of social transformation. In this work, the critique of gender norms is clearly situated within the framework of human persistence and survival.

The Earth Path: Grounding Your Spirit in the Rhythms of Nature by Starhawk. Harper Collins, $27.95.
Starhawk takes the reader on a journey into the heart of the natural world, showing how we can have a more intimate connection with the world that surrounds us. Filled with awareness exercises, inspiring meditations and magical rituals.

Sexing the Caribbean: Gender, Race, and Sexual Labor by Kamala Kempadoo. Routledge, $35.95.
Illuminates intersections of gender, sexuality, work, race, and economic relations in the Caribbean. Focuses on the social construction of prostitution and other types of transactional sexual relations that many women and, increasingly, more young men, are engaged in.

Runaway by Alice Munro. McClelland & Stewart Ltd., $34.99
“Runaway” is the first story in this stunning collection, which is sure to be a runaway success. All of the eight stories here are new, published in book form for the first time. Two of the eight have never appeared anywhere, so this will be a special feast for the millions of Munro fans around the world.

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Anchor Books, $18.00.
Fifteen-year-old Kambili’s world is circumscribed by the high walls and frangipani trees of her family compound- and by her wealthy Catholic father. When Nigeria begins to fall apart under a military coup, Kambili and her brother are sent away to stay with their aunt. There they discover a life and love beyond the confines of heir father’s authority.

October new music:

Beautifully Human by Jill Scott. $14.95.
Four years after the release of her debut album she returns with Beautifully Human: Words & Sounds Vol. 2. The album features a collection of hypnotic songs that will make you want to fall in love, live life, and be a better person all at the same time.

So Jealous by Tegan and Sara. $15.95.
This awesome cd includes “walking with a ghost” and a 20-minute documentary on the making of “So Jealous”.

Coastal Tongue: an Anthology of Women in Spoken Word in Vancouver by Various Artists. $15.00.
Features amazing female spoken word artists including Tanya Evanson, Ndidi Cascade, Skeena Reece, Mia Amir and many more. Check it out!

Gumbo by Voice. $10.00.
Features the singles Fantasy Pt.1 and Feel Good.

Scott’s Emulsion by Eliza-Jane Scott. $20.00
New release from local Kingston artist with a gentle, dreamy sound.

Stand Fall Repeat by Michelle Anthony. $18.95.
A fusion of rock, country and pop from a multi-talented singer-songwriter. She switches from bass to guitar to piano giving herself a range of sounds that have gained her comparisons to Emmylou Harris, Liz Phair and Chrissie Hynde.

Ten: A Decade of CommonbonD by CommonbonD. $17.95.
The farewell compilation from an acoustic folk/rock duo whose harmonies are often compared to the Indigo Girls, with a blues-influenced sound. Includes songs from prevoius albums as well as previously unreleased tracks.

Rhapsody in T by Athens Boys Choir. $21.95
. Two self-described "jeans wearin', sailor swearin', bend and tuckin', gender fuckin' dudes", this is what this spoken word duo have to say about their work: "We're fighting for change each time we are furious or content enough to find a pen and a piece of paper. We treat our performances as a forum for activism. We raise awareness about transgender issues, our nation's current and historical racial prejudice, and our "bummer" of a government, among other things. We push our audience to realize their responsibility to their community and selves."

Good Grooming for Girls, by Shameless. $10.00
Check out the new Girl Band/Singer fundraising CD for Shameless magazine! Featuring Arcade Fire, Mecca Normal and Kimya Dawson.

October 2004 new books:

Another World is Possible if…by Susan George. Verso, $24.00.
Whether you are a seasoned campaigner and confirmed “world-changer”, someone who wonders how you can join in the movement, or someone who simply wants to know what it is all about, this book is for you. An extraordinary original book of exquisite irony, a kind of Catch-22 of capitalism.

The Cultural Politics of Emotion by Sara Ahmed. Routledge, $34.95.
What do emotions do? How do emotions move us or get us stuck? Sara Ahmed focuses on the relationship between emotions, language and bodies and takes as its point of entry different emotions - pain, hate, fear, disgust, shame and love - and reflects on the role of emotions in feminist and queer politics.

Key Thinkers on Space and Place, Eds. Phil Hubbard, Rob Kitchin and Gill Valentine. Sage Publications, $69.95.
This book is an essential text not just for geographers, but for all those interested in theories of space and place, whether in sociology, urban studies, anthropology, or women’s studies. It highlights the work of 52 key thinkers, providing a synoptic overview of different ideas about the role of space and place in contemporary social, cultural, political and economic life.

Unhomely States: Theorizing English-Canadian Postcolonialism, edited by Cynthia Sugars. Broadview Press, $24.95.
Unhomely States is the first collection of foundational essays of Canadian postcolonial theory. The essays span the period from 1965 to the present day and approach broad issues of Canadian culture and society.

Locating Afghanistan by Gita Hashemi. Subversive Press, $10.00.
A beautiful collaboration of photographs and text, in an effort to keep Afghanistan in the consciousness of we who live in the West. A must have!

Sound Clash: Jamaican Dancehall Culture at Large by Carolyn Cooper. Palgrave, $33.95.
Carolyn Cooper demonstrates the ways in which the language of dancehall culture, often devalued as mere “noise”, articulates a complex understanding of the border clashes that characterize Jamaican society. Cooper also analyzes the sound clashes that erupt in the movement of Jamaican dancehall culture across national borders.

With Faith Eroded by Margarita Aguilar Ruiz. Other Eye, $20.00
With Faith Eroded is absorbing new fiction from Mexico. This politically charged work is an indictment of the violating conditions which result in the rise of HIV/AIDS among the indigenous peoples of the Highlands of Chiapas, Mexico.

She Who Changes: Re-imagining the Divine in the World by Carol P. Christ. Palgrave, $23.95
She who changes looks at the deeper meaning of female images of divine power, including Goddess, God-she, Sophia and Shekhina. This book is for everyone who has ever wondered about re-imagining God as female.

Trace Elements of Random Tea Parties by Felicia Luna Lemus. Seal Press, $19.50
Trace Elements is the story of Leticia Marisol Estrella Torrez a young woman in her early 20s trying to find her place in a world even if it means breaking with the traditions of her Mexican-American past. Navigating the twisting road of her own shifting gender and falling deep into “papaya lush blush” love, she rediscovers the strength and meaning of la familia.

This Body by Tessa McWatt. Haper Collins, 32.95
Moving evocatively between London, Toronto and Guyana, This Body is a tender portrait of two people searching for truth, love and identity. Tessa McWatt has created an astonishingly wise novel about what it means to love and to lose and to create a new family in world cross-cut with old wars and old wounds.

Wild Dogs by Helen Humphreys. Harper Collins, $28.00
Wild Dogs is a kaleidoscopic novel whose stories intertwine and come together in a haunting conclusion that leaves us with profound insights into the nature of caring. Helen Humphreys’ luminous and graceful writing, her sensitivity and intelligence combine to produce an unforgettable story about the wild in all of us.

Vagina: An Owner’s Manual by Dr. Carol Livoti and Elizabeth Topp. Thunder’s Mouth Press, $21.00
This is a book for all women. Packed with facts about periods, pregnancy, how to keep healthy, STDs, birth control when (and when not) to be worried, abortion and more, Vaginas is a fun thorough and revealing “owner’s manual” for your vagina.

On Building Solutions for Women’s Equality: Matrimonial Property on Reserve, Community Development and Advisory Councils Co-edited by Marylea MacDonald, Michelle K. Owen. CRIAW, $13.95.
On Building Solutions brings together three timely articles on Canadian issues requiring immediate attention: the lack of matrimonial property law on reserves, the appropriation of women’s unpaid labour and the need for feminist bureaucratic structures. The articles provide the reader with the background to understand the issues and theoretical grounding on which useful and effective solutions for women’s equality can be built.

Breaking Free: Women of Spirit at Midlife and Beyond edited by Marilyn Sewell. Beacon Press, $23.95.
In twenty-seven personal and daring essays these writers get down and dirty, look at themselves as they are, and at life as it is, to discover not only what time has taken from them but also the powerful gifts that only come with age and experience.

Healing the Trauma of Domestic Violence: A Workbook for Women by Edward. Kubany, Mari A. McCaig and Janet R. Laconosay. New Harbinger Publications, $28.95.
For those who have freed themselves from an abusive relationship but still suffer from its effects, this workbook provides trauma recovery techniques that help reclaim peace of mind. Based on a clinically proven set of techniques called cognitive trauma therapy (CTT), the exercises in this workbook will help address feelings of guilt, anger, depression, anxiety, and stress.

A Mulher Nos Acores E Nas Comunidades/Women in the Azores and the Immigrant Communities. Coordenacao de/ Edited by Rosa Maria Neves Simas. $21.95
The variety of topics and perspectives presented in this volume propose a fresh and dynamic reflection upon the reality of women, seen in positions of leadership and prestige - as presidents, directors, pioneers, creators - and also in abusive and marginal situations - as victims of violence and deportation.