Caitlin Moran Readalong: Introductory Post

Hi, y'all, and welcome to the pre-publication readalong for Caitlin Moran's novel, How to Build a Girl! I'd like to extend a thank you to Harper Collins for sponsoring our fun; if you're following along and think you'd like to read the book, you can pre-order it here. 

This week we're introducing ourselves before diving into the discussion.  My name is Emily and I'm an independent bookseller by trade, and my blog, which is in its sixth year (egads--I had to look that up just now), is split more or less evenly between books and travel. Hence, my alter-ego Crowe both Flies and Reads. 

Now here's a little confession -- I've never read Caitlin Moran before. In fact, I only recently learned how to pronounce her name: Cat-lin.  But as an independent bookseller, I've sold lots of her books, and as a blogger and a feminist, I've read lots of rave reviews of her earlier books. Many of those reviews are from bloggers participating in this readalong, including What Red Read, Devouring Texts, Reading the Bricks, Reading Rambo, Nylon Admiral, and others.  Mostly I just want to read her because she gets that sexism is one of the hidden "-isms" of this world and I think she's funny and smart and wants all women (and men, too) to realize that feminism is neither a bad word nor an outmoded worldview.

Caitlin Moran herself might be checking in every now and then as we're discussing How to Build a Girl, and she sent me an email conveying her enthusiasm for what we're doing: 

 "...I just want to kiss you from here, because my three hobbies are long country walks, sexual activity and THE REVOLUTION, and every time another woman gets it - when they nod and go "I know what you're trying to do, dude. I'm with you" - it thrills my mascara-stained heart to bits and back.

So yes - thank you: endlessly, properly, and in an oddly un-British way. I hope you like the new book, How To Build A Girl - I wrote it with all the love I could, and I cried like a psychopath writing loads of it. "I'm moving me!" I wept. "I am mining my guts! I must stop talking to me in the third person!" And if you don't like it, let's just pretend it never happened, and move onto the next one. That's even better. It's called How To Be Famous..."

I can't wait to delve into our discussion.  So without further ado, here is the readalong schedule.  This is a comparatively short book, so we should be able to get a lot of mileage out of each section and it shouldn't be too difficult to complete each week's reading.  I'm trying to get something straightened out with the Linky folks, so until the linky appears, please leave a link to your post in the comments instead.  

July 7: intro
July 14: pp. 1-58 (part one)
July 21:pp. 61-128 ( chapters 5-10)
July 28: pp. 128-190(chapters 11-15)
Aug 4: 190-246 (chapters 16-20)
Aug 11: section #3 sends wrap-up