Book Review: "The Transgender Issue: An Argument for Justice" by Shon Faye

Kindle:

Hardback:
⭐ out of 5

If you've read any of my other relatively recent book reviews, you'll know how I start each of them by saying they all start off with the full five stars and that I hope the book finishes with them all in place too.  This review is no different in that respect.

It's on the Political Science & Ideology section of Amazon, so I'm wondering if it's gonna be shoving politics down my throat... I seriously hope not, but I'm already weary of it.  Gonna still read with an open mind, but if the author concentrates more on politics than people who are transgender then I'll be knocking a star off straight away.

Also, I'm wondering if there's a new trend to only publish as eBooks and Hardcovers as opposed to paperbacks now, 'cos this is the second book I've started reading in the last 24 hours that hasn't got a paperback available.

That's all beside the point now though, just random thoughts is all lol

The book *has* been semi-political so far, but it hasn't turned me off reading it - yet!  The author has been very clever to get their opinions out there about politics without saying "this is the only opinion out there that's right... everything else is wrong" which is refreshing so far.

*Now* it's getting more political, which is frustrating, so I'm knocking off the first star after only 6%.  It's not saying that one party is right and the other is wrong, or anything like that, but it's focussing on political policies rather than people who are transgender which is frustrating.  If it doesn't change pretty soon then I'll be skipping ahead and knocking off another star because of that... I hope I don't have to, but I'm really not enjoying this book right now.

Yup, the author is now talking about Teresa May and comparing her to David Cameron and the author seems to be making it more about their political views than supporting people who are transgender and increasing the understanding of those who want to learn more about those who are transgender, so that's another star coming off and I'm skipping forward... I hope it's not a book that I feel the need to skip more than I read!

OK, I've skipped forward to 15% and I hope that the rest of the book is less political!

OK, so now it's talking about a documentary and the resultant bullying of children who identified as transgender, so I'm hoping that's the end of the political stuff now.  it's a pity that I've already had to get rid of two stars and I'm not even a quarter of the way through the book yet... maybe I had my expectations set too high to start with?

Basic grammar point that even a child knows - if someone is speaking and you're putting it into text, then you use speech marks "like this", right?  I've lost track of if it's a person speaking or the author because there are so few speechmarks used and it's getting on my nerves now.  That third star is looking very wobbly right now, unfortunately.

There are inverted comma's signalling speech now, so maybe the earlier bits just slipped through accidentally and can be put down to human error?  The third star is still wobbly, but it's clinging on by its finger tips right now, so still 3 stars.

19% of the way through and it's returned to being heavily political opinions again, so I'm skipping forward even further... I was really hoping that this wouldn't be like that, but the further I feel forced to skip forward, the more and more it's looking like it is.

I've skipped forward to 25% and I'm really not feeling too positive about this book any more... I'm a quarter of the way through and I've skipped so much of it 'cos it's so political that I'm really not thinking I'll get to the end before I give up unfortunately... that third star is looking incredibly close to dropping off and the author isn't doing theirself any favours.

I've skipped even further forward to 35% and that third star is finally coming off because I'm skipping more than I'm reading.  If it had been considerably less political and quite frankly dull then I would have been happy to keep ploughing on, but this really isn't the book I'd been hoping for in those first pages.  There's only one star left to lose and I'm not even half way through it yet, so things are looking pretty bleak unfortunately.

That's more like it!  I'm 36% of the way through and it's mentioned something political but focussed on the people who are transgender more... as long as the rest of the book carries on like this, it'll be a 2 star review instead of the five I was hoping for when I first started reading it.

I'm at 39% now and there has been very little about politics and has got my attention fully instead of feeling that I have to skip so much of it.


I've skipped forward again through sheer boredom, so that's the final star coming off at 43%.  It was OK in parts, it's just not what I was expecting and the sheer politicalness of it has turned me right off unfortunately.  It's been more like the author's political views than anything more than brief mentions of people who are transgender.

This book is a single star review after less than half way unfortunately.

Beauty Review: Rituals body cream

I got this sample through the post a few days ago and couldn't wait to use it.  The dry skin from a burn that I got a couple of years ago was begging to be moisturised again... I usually use E45 on it but figured I'd use this sample instead and moisturise the rest of my thigh at the same time.  

 

The sample came in a small package and it didn't feel like there was much in there but I opened it with an open mind and squeezed a small amount onto my thigh, thinking that I'd have to use up the whole sachet on just that one thigh.

I was wrong.  That small amount covered my entire thigh by the time I'd rubbed it in, so I put another squeeze onto my other thigh too and that went in just as easily and for such a small amount it went a very long way.

I've got a pickable spot on each thigh, so I decided to risk moisturising those too, just in case it hurt my dry, burnt skin.  Within seconds the cream was gulped up by the spots and they started to look significantly more healed and the cream hadn't hurt at all, so I decided to risk using it on the dry skin around my burn... this would be the ultimate test for me.

I squeezed the last of the sachet onto the burnt skin and prepared to cry out in agony, but I was wrong about that too.  I carefully rubbed the cream into the skin and it instantly reduced the dry skin and stopped it being so dry and flaky and looks significantly less raw already now.

When I very first opened the sachet, I got the gorgeous scent of cherry immediately going up my nose... so far so good with the scent, but would it be so strong when I'd rubbed it in?  Would it be too overpowering?  Nope, the scent was just the right level so that I could tell there was something cherryey on my body, but it was just right so that my hubby didn't feel overwhelmed by the scent.

As long as it doesn't cost a bomb I'll definitely be getting it again!

Over 3 hours already this morning...

...and it's not even 9am yet, so I reckon it'll be at least 12 if not 15 hours of care for my carer today, yet apparently I do bugger all to care for him 🤷

I struggled to take a photo earlier on...

...it came out very blurry and shaky and I just wasn't happy with it, so I deleted it, came back in to recover and I've just been out to try again.

 

It's not the best photo in the world, but it's better than nothing:

One of 'em looks like it needs to be picked and eaten either today or tomorrow, a second one the day after that and there are a few that are just starting to ripen, so hopefully by the end of next week we'll be able to pick and eat those too.

 

They seem to be about ⅔ of the size you get in supermarkets, but one of them that is just starting to ripen is the size I was thinking they would be (in the photo it's just slightly off centre to the left) so that's gonna take a little bit longer 'cos it's so much bigger, but we will be able to start having the fruits of my labour very soon!

 

That's the tomatoes watered and...

...my morning pills down the hatch and the tomatoes watered, so time for the news now, then I can settle down to read more of the book.  Gotta go and make breakfast first though lol

 

Early mornin' all

According to my FitBit I was properly awake for the day at 4.41am and temporarily awake once overnight, which was at just gone 4am 'cos I looked at my watch and groaned lol

 

I've already cared for my carer for 53 minutes this morning and filled his empty pop bottle with water to try and encourage him to drink more today to see if that helps him to stay awake.  The FitBit app on my phone says that daytime sluggishness might be due to dehydration and that's certainly been the case for me, so we are experimenting today.  I doubt it'll be instant awake-ness if he gets through the bottle 'cos it's prolly been building up for weeks if not months, but after a little while, hopefully he'll notice the difference.

 

My daily virus scan didn't show any nasties so I'm gonna take my morning pills then go and make breakfast for my carer I reckon.  Gonna make a start on the news then carry on reading and reviewing the book this morning too.  It's Sunday, so we need to put our rubbish and recycling out at some point and I'll need to water the tomatoes first though!

Just taken my evening pills, and...

...I fancy an early night, so as soon as the side effects start kicking in I'm gonna head to bed.

 

I had high hopes for understanding and empathising with people who are transgender when I first started reading this book this morning (or was it afternoon??) but it's already down to 2 stars at only 39% of the way through, disappointingly.  I hope that star stays in place for the rest of the book, but without being pessimistic and based on what I've read so far, I doubt I'll get to half way before it drops off tomorrow. 

Just edited Monday's grocery order and...

...amazingly my drinks are still on there!

 

I took off one of the multipacks of orange juice (because we've still got a multipack left over in the fridge from this week's shop) and replaced them with Jaffa Cakes and crisps for Steve (which I can't have 'cos of the flavour of the Jaffa Cakes and the crisps aren't suitable for vegans) instead of hash browns for both of us, so the totals now look like this:

 

My stuff:  £5.35
Steve's stuff:  £20.44
Joint stuff:  £15.94

So yet again Steve's stuff is the majority of the order and is £5.50 more than the joint stuff, which is more difference than my entire part of the shop, yet he complains when something of his has to be taken off.  At least I'll be able to have pop again next week for the first time in 4 weeks though and I think it's been good for my body to have mainly water with just 2 bottles of pop a week, instead of a bottle every day...kinda a mini sugar detox kinda thing?

That's my afternoon pill...

...crunched up and swallowed, so now it's time for a quick check of my emails, then I can settle in to read this book too.  I enjoy days like this where I can just sit down and get lost in a different world so that I can forget about my own troubles for a while.

As I predicted this morning, I made lunch as well as breakfast.  T'was only a MugShot each, but at least it was something nutritious, rather than relying on my carer to be bothered to cook for the fourth time this week.  Apparently we're definitely having pasta 'n' sauce 'n' cheese tomorrow, but I won't be holding my breath.

Oooh! Another ARC to read and review!

NetGalley have just sent me information about another ARC that I've been pre-approved to read and review, so I'm gonna go and make Steve's lunch then settle down with another book to read and review, hopefully before the end of tomorrow... be on the lookout for the second review in as many days!  I've had 29 free books off 'em (including this one and another that I've reviewed and am just waiting for publication day) and there's no way I could have afforded to buy that many, so to get them for free in exchange for a review here on my blog, the appropriate site and Amazon is a fair and worthwhile exchange and agreement for me!