HBIC Book Club: February Pick

Well the HBIC Book Club has successfully completed our first book and are in the midst of our discussion period. I love the questions and discussion that is happening so far! I read that something like less than 10% of people actually keep their New Year's resolutions after January so I would just like to say congrats to everyone that committed to the 2013 Reading Challenge and is sticking with it! (For anyone that recently joined or is still thinking about it then come on board! We are committed to reading one fun book per month for the year.)

With that said, it is time to announce our February book pick! Thanks to everyone that voted in our poll and chose, The Feminist and The Cowboy: An Unlikely Love Story by Alisa Valdes Rodriquez.

Summary of the book from Amazon:

Feminism was a religion in Alisa Valdes’s childhood home. Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem took the place of Barbies and left Valdes impressed with a feminist ideology that guided a prolific writing career—at twenty-two Valdes was named one of the top feminist writers under thirty by the editor of Ms Magazine. Yet despite her professional success, Valdes hit forty-two a single mom and a serial dater of inadequate men in tweed jackets—until she met the Cowboy. A conservative rancher, the Cowboy held the traditional views on gender roles that Valdes was raised to reject. Yet as she falls head-over-spurs for him and their relationship finds harmony, she finds the strength, peace, and happiness that comes from embracing her femininity. From their first date the Cowboy makes her pulse race, and she discovers that “when men… act like men rather than like emasculated boys, you as a woman will find not only great pleasure in submitting to them but also great growth as a person.”  Told with plenty of humor and candor, The Feminist and the Cowboy will delight the many readers who made The Pioneer Woman a bestseller—not to mention every woman who dreams of being swept away by a rugged cowboy.

I must admit that this was not my pick for our next book and the summary does not excite me. From the summary and few short reviews I have read online this seems like a structureless love story laden with cliches about feminism. Such cliches are not only not funny but are a sad excuse for complex writing. There is nothing interesting or provocative about ideology cliches and I fear that this book is just more 50 Shades of Grey-esque garbage that was spewed out and gained praise because everyone loves a love story, even if the relationship on display is dysfunctional and dangerous. But this book was the most popular vote so it is our February pick (democracy rules)! Hopefully I will be proved wrong and it will end up being an interesting read. We shall see...

Finish Date: Friday, February 21st

Discussion Period: Feb 21 - Feb 28

I bought my copy last night on Ebay for about $19 including shipping, FYI.

HAPPY READING!