Sunday, 4 March 2018

My Week in Review to the 4th March

Ethical Superstore competition 
For the first time(!) I am linking up with The Sunday Post hosted by the lovely Kimberley at The Caffeinated Reviewer.

We're right in the middle of Fairtrade Fortnight at the moment (26th February to 11th March) and it occurred to me during our trip to Spanish supermarket Consum this week that initiatives such as Fairtrade don't seem so widespread out here as they are back in the UK. I've noticed in the more touristy towns (such as Peñiscola where we are now, and Denia) there is an 'Eco' organic display in the fruit and veg section and I can get Oxfam Fairtrade coffee. Strongly Spanish towns don't have these products in their supermarkets, but the people do still enthusiastically support their weekly markets where local producers sell their wares.

The competition I've linked to is run by online grocer Ethical Superstore. They stock an amazing range of ethically sourced food and drink as well as other household products. The competition celebrating Fairtrade Fortnight is to win a Fairtrade Bundle worth over £100. Enter here!


It's been a rainy week here which has seen us cooped up in our caravan more than we would have liked, however I am glad to have missed the storms and snowfall overwhelming the UK right now. There was even snow in Torquay - when we bought our flat there the neighbours assured us that was one thing which never happens. They fibbed! To counter all the whiteout photos crowding blogs and social media this weekend, here's a couple of springtime photos I took yesterday. On a Spring theme, I've added an Easter Gift Guide to Artisan Rainbow and, if you still need to, you might just have time to snap up the perfect present from my Mother's Day Gift Guide too!


In last week's Review I linked to three blogs whose posts had particularly caught my eye. This week I am thinking about an e-mail I received from an author. K'Anne Meinel had approached me for a book review which I unfortunately had to refuse as I am almost overwhelmed with unread books right now. K'Anne replied asking how I feel about LGBT books. My immediate thought was that "I don't have particular feelings about LGBT books." This is true in as much as I have no strong feelings either way about characters' sexuality in novels. I really don't mind, but the statement does sound dismissive so I went on to say:

"I don't seek out my books because they are in any specific genre, but do appreciate seeing LGBT characters included in literature as an accurate representation of society. I usually find myself drawn more towards contemporary and literary fiction titles and rarely read romance.
I've read great books about LGBT characters - Sugar And Spice by Anne Goodwin springs to mind, and Odd Adventures With Your Other Father by Norman Prentiss. For me, the quality of the writing and the strength of the story are most vital. If an LGBT character has a good story to tell, I'll want to read the book!
This link lists specifically LGBT books on Literary Flits - http://litflits.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/LGBT? - to give you an idea of which I have especially liked or been disappointed with."

What do you think? Would you particularly want or not want to read certain novels because of a character's sexuality?


While we ponder, here's what you might have missed on my other blogs this week. Click the images to visit the pages ... and don't forget to enter all the Giveaways!

 

Artisan Rainbow

Literary Flits
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8 comments:

  1. Deb Nance at Readerbuzz4 March 2018 at 12:30

    I don't seek out books with an agenda, no matter how underrepresented they are in the mainstream.

    Probably just me.

    https://readerbuzz.blogspot.com/2018/03/prosciutto-e-uova-verdi-green-eggs-and.html

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    1. Stephanie Jane4 March 2018 at 15:59

      I don't think that all books with LGBT characters have an agenda. Some do no doubt but others simply reflect the diversity of humanity.

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  2. Mary @ StackingMyBookShelves!4 March 2018 at 15:53

    You have had a great week! I am riding out the storm that took out our power at a friends. So surreal looking at all the downed trees and power lines cut in half. Have a good Sunday!

    Mary #SundayRoundup #8

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    1. Stephanie Jane4 March 2018 at 15:57

      Sounds horrendous. Thank goodness you had people to take you in! Fingers crossed your home gets its power back soon

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  3. Greg4 March 2018 at 20:22

    Welcome to the Sunday Post! It's nice to see pics without snow- ours melted too and I hope it stays away lol. Sounds like you picked the right time to be away from the UK too.

    I'm not sure I read a book or not based on sexuality, I usually go with a book if the story appeals to me and if there's diverse sexuality that's good too. I do think it's good that people of all orientations can read about characters like themselves and don't feel marginalized.

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  4. Somewhere Only We Know5 March 2018 at 15:40

    If I know up front that some content is included in a book especially if it is a main story line then I won't pick up the book. That goes for political agendas, some religious content (although I am a Christian), and certain sexual orientations. I like to read for fun so that means I want to read what I want to read, in the same way that I typically avoid time travel books. I just don't enjoy that. Good question though. Have a great week!


    SP & STS
    Sandy @ Somewhere Only We Know

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    1. Stephanie Jane5 March 2018 at 16:48

      Thank you for stopping by :-) Hope you have a good week too!

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