A New Reading List

Evening, guys! How are ya?

Sorry for not showing up yesterday - I guess I broke my New Year’s Resolution a bit.

I did a bit of retail therapy this afternoon - two books. Okay, not exactly mountains of dresses, but I’m not a dress kinda girl, as some of you may very well know. I do love books, though. They’re wonderful resources of information and humor.

I’ve been holding on to two gift cards to Chapters for quite some time, but I never really got out of the house to go buy any books. Today I had an exam early this morning, then nothing at all until 2:30 pm. So I had lunch with Dad (sushi is the best celebration food, in my opinion) and then went to Coles (Chapters with a different name and a smaller selection).

I picked up Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky and Naomi Klein’s Fences and Windows. While I used to scorn non-fiction, I find myself more and more drawn to the well-written, well-thought-out books about culture studies. It helps that the two books are written in a very conversational, powerful tone, but the content is nonetheless extremely interesting.

I also stumbled on a fantastic title which addresses a part of youth today that I simply can’t ignore. The book is relatively small (about ¾ of an inch thick and a quarter of a page large), but it’s filled with stats, provocative cartoons, direct quotes from teens and rather descriptive short stories. The name of the book? Generation S.L.U.T. While I’m not too partial to using the word “slut” myself, I can’t deny that there are quite a few young people who fit perfectly into that category.

S.L.U.T. stands for “Sexually Liberated Urban Teens”. The book doesn’t necessarily take a stand on whether copious amounts of sex is good for young people, but it certainly give startling facts. For one thing, I can say that I am glad and proud to be Canadian. According to the book, 80% of 18-year-old American males have lost (or freely given) their virginity. 77% of 18-year-old American females are also non-virgin. The kicker?

7,700 18-year-old Americans lose their virginity per day.

Oh My God.

The diseases these young people get is something I couldn’t care less about, but consider how many uneducated, uncultured, unprepared teenage parents society is looking at! Out of 7,700 condoms (that’s assuming they all use condoms), how many fail? How many kids are either going to be forced to have an abortion or to raise a child they are not willing or ready for?

Sorry - a bit of a rant. I guess I ought to stick true to the titles of my posts, but the book just warranted that rant. But the two first books are books I am currently reading, with Generation S.L.U.T. next on the list. I suppose you could say that I’m getting more and more into sociology.

Also, I’ve started work on another Squidoo lens. This time, it’s about things youth should care about and why. I’m not sure if it’ll be able to sway anyone, but you can bet that “GS” is gonna  end up on there.

Give Some Thought To Your Actions - Always. (Especially if you’re a young person)

Namaste,

Clarise

PS: I’ve posted a link to an online store which contains my current reading list and my upcoming purchases in the sidebar. You can take a look if you’re interested - it’s always nice to talk about what we read with others who share the interest.  There’s also a section in the store with all the more light-hearted stuff I’m watching or reading - just to break up the whole “heavy culture analysis” thing.