Links! News! Things people write online – and some sales and coupons! Oh, the excitement, it might knock your flip flops off, unless you're in the southern hemisphere, where it's fall, and you're probably not wearing flip flops.
PN Elrod sent me a link to Mother Jones' timeline of sexual treatment for hysteria, and it's fascinating. I especially like the idea that vibrators and massagers were used for health reasons. Yes, indeed!
Meanwhile, I am over at Kirkus this week talking about why so many characters of color are described in coffee terminology:
There's a lot to be said—and not much of it good—about describing people as beverages, as liquids that can be consumed in cups that are disposed of after. The fact that this motif of description is so common adds another layer of WTF to the idea that in romance and other fiction genres, “coffee people” are not those who enjoy drinking coffee (as opposed to Mr. Pibb or tea) but are more often those who are some other color than white.
And now, sales and coupons!
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20% Off Kobo eBooks with code “June20off”
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At Amazon, there are a few deals and sales:
Get $2 off any mp3 download with code MP3S4ALL. Ends 15 June 2012 – use the coupon by Sunday night!
You can use the coupon to take $2 off an album or two free .99c songs. There are also compilation CDs on Amazon on discount, such as this one: Celebration, a collection from Madonna, is $2.99 – or, with coupon, 99c.
And, now, ebooks on sale! As I noted in the Rachel Gibson Classic Romance list, several Gibson titles are on sale:
- See Jane Score by Rachel Gibson * $3.99 * A | BN | K | S
- The Trouble With Valentin's Day by Rachel Gibson * $3.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Simply Irresistible by Rachel Gibson * $3.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Any Man of Mine by Rachel Gibson * $4.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Rescue Me by Rachel Gibson * $4.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Daisy's Back in Town by Rachel Gibson * $3.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Truly Madly Yours by Rachel Gibson * $3.99 * A | BN | K | S
- It Must be Love by Rachel Gibson * $3.99 * A | BN | K | S
- The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley * $4.90 * A | BN | K | S
- Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
- City of Veils by Zoe Ferraris * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Lessons in French by Laura Kinsale * $1.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Got Your Number by Stephanie Bond * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Timeless Innocents by Janis Susan May * $1.99 * A | BN | K | S
- Designed for Death by Jean Harrington * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
- The Pirate's Lady by Julia Knight * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
I'm having a hard time spending the $2 music credit, which is really silly – it's $2. What will you buy with it?
Some ‘90s bands have new music coming out – Matchbox 20, Eve 6, Goo Goo Dolls. I might see if I can use that $2 on any of their new albums.
A Discovery of Witches is not showing up on Amazon as 2.99 🙁
T.C. Boyle’s Breakfast of Champions had an awesome orgasms-to-treat-hysteria subplot. Or maybe it was depression. Either way, unsatisfied wives were visiting the hot doctor for “hand manipulation” of their wombs. Weird-ass book, but I remember enjoying it immensely.
My bad! I’m sorry – that discount must have expired. I’m sorry!
I cannot recommend City of Veils by Zoe Ferraris highly enough, BUT you have to read Finding Nouf first. Otherwise, all the tension, all the wonder of two people discovering themselves and each other is gone. Ms. Ferraris’ books, on one hand, are crime novels set in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. OTOH, they are a close and personal look into a culture most of us will never experience. The third book has just been released and I’m hoping more readers will discover them.
Neither is the Darynda Jones book. Boo.
That was a one-day sale only (June 10). I found out about it via Facebook so happily snatched it up then.
Thanks for the amazon deal heads up! I totally just bought two songs that have been stuck in my head for days. A Drop in the Ocean by Ron Pope and Naive by The Kooks. Now I can listen until the earworms are driven out.
Sarah for you,
“And she still had the dusting of freckles over her pert little nose. His mother used to tell her that the angels had sprinkled cinnamon on her, adding spice to sweet.” (62)
The True Love Quilting Club by Lori Wilde
I was reading this book and inspired by your coffee post.
As an aside, the theater company where I work is closing “In the Next Room (or, The Vibrator Play)” this weekend. It looks at treating hysteria with vibrators, even with the male patients! It’s hysterical (no pun intended) and thoughful at the same time.
You’ve won me. I had a yen for a book with a new-to-me cultural setting. Unfortunately the sale price isn’t available here in Aust (boo!) but I’ve bought the first book—titled differently but the plot synopsis is def “Finding Nouf”—in the Audible 40% off sale, instant for my weekend’s read but cheaper than Kindle. Downloading now.
That vibrator timeline was a super interesting read! I actually found out about the medical use of vibrators a few months ago while reading ‘An Affair with Mr. Kennedy’. There is a scene really early on where ladies are lining up for treatment with the machine. I literally had to put the book down and browse Wikipedia to find out more!
Thanks for the link!
There’s a movie coming out titled Hysteria with Maggie Gyllenhaal – we saw the trailer ages and ages ago but it’s finally out now (at least it’s showing in 2 locations in Nashville). Looks really good: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt14…
Its a period piece about “The truth of how Mortimer Granville devised the invention of the first vibrator in the name of medical science.”
I’m going to try to go see it this weekend – I’ll report back if I get to go!
I actually bought I’ll Make a Man Out of You from Mulan and Don’t Leave Me from Regina Spektor….definitely worth it.
The timeline was really neat too!
I bought Kimbra’s Vows. Wouldn’t have known about her if it wasn’t for the song with Gotye.
Sorry to pour historical cold water over everyone’s enthusiasm, but the book on which the historical use of vibrators is based has been fairly critically received. See here for a debunking of this and other myths: http://www.lesleyahall.net/fac…