So, you want to be a medieval knight but stuck in the 21st Century? Go back in time to see what it was like with Chivalry and Courtesy; Medieval Manners for a Modern World1. The book will not help you revive the customs, social norms to overhaul the current western society. But it will make you sensibly chuckle at humanity. How we have advanced technologically but not so much elsewhere.

Different times, Same Rules

We see how historically, table manners are important to present well which is still the same today. Some of the reasonings back then did differ. For example now it is rude to put your elbows on the table if you’re eating with Royalty. But it’s okay to have them on the table at the end of the meal or during coffee. What changed? The tables, they’re built to a certain standard now. There is no longer a concern for overthrowing the whole dining table if elbows are placed on them.

It was also necessary to be well dressed to be taken seriously in Medieval Times. Whether it be presenting at court, offering your services as a knight to a Lord, or wooing your desired person. And still, overall, it’s the same today.

The list goes on but that would mean rewriting the book here. If you want the full breakdown, have a read yourself.

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Women’s work

I feel that we are aware of what the men did because it was properly recorded, the big events usually had the men in it and the prize of nearly anything was a woman. Reading this book confirms that it was and still is a challenge to be a woman. Because our work never ends!

It’s the lady’s job and duty to ensure the smooth running of the household. If you’re a female peasant, or worse a serf, you’re busy working. Either toiling and harvesting the land for food, weaving fabric, making clothes, candles, tending to the farm animals and preparing for winter3.

If you’re lucky enough to be a noble lady or part of a wealthy household, then your job was household operations manager. It’s the same the peasants but at a bigger scale. That job is all on your shoulders and there are no breaks or holidays. As was custom at the time, when the woman got pregnant, she was to be isolated a month before childbirth4 and 6 weeks after. Then she had to be churched56 to be let out to continue her work. Probably also had to plan her own Churching Party too. The lady of the house had to ensure that everything in her household was running as smoothly for 10 weeks - just over 2 months.

The running of the household still seems to be From 600 years ago to now, it still stands that a woman’s work is never done.

Fin

It’s more of a fun history book mentioning manners rather than an instruction book for one to follow. If you’re getting into Medieval history or enjoy it as a hobby, it’s a fun read. But if you like to dive in, you’ll easily see how even after 600 years, with our technological and medical advancements, we’ve advanced there but not so much elsewhere.

This is not a book you read; it’s a book you create. I was gifted this book 300 Writing Prompts1 last year November and it has been an absolute delight to get into.

The best thing about it is, it’s for you. There’s no writing for an audience, you’re writing for you. The points made within the book are for the individual but if there is a decision to expand and share, it is there. Bu the spark, the silliness and strangeness of the initial thought or reaction to a prompt remains within the pages. Or whomever you feel comfortable sharing the book with.

I have to touch on the size of it because it’s similar to an A5 size which for me, I can pop into my handbag and run with it. I do like a book that’s a ‘good fit’ for my bag.

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One thing I highly admire about this book is the space allocated to each prompt. Some of them are half a page, others a full page. I think this helps the writer/reader create a complete thought. I find it easy to get carried away writing and jumping into different tangents taking up plenty of pages. In this book, the space is limited. I don’t like reading incomplete thoughts, yet I cannot complete thoughts in my own private diaries. The limited space forces the point to be made. Reading back on what you wrote and seeing how you didn’t stick the landing for me is frustrating!

This book is not even that expensive - they’ve got these at Walmart for under $8. It’s a delightful book to receive and a great joy to give away. This book is for writers at any stage; aspiring, casual and expert.

There you have it; I judged a book by it’s cover. I found this book on sale for $2 and what caught my eye was the little Penguin1 on the spine and the curious title “A History of Reading”. To my pleasant surprise, this book was an absolute delight to read.

A History of Reading was written by Alberto Manguel23, this book was originally published in 1996 and had a favorable review from the New York Times4 when it came out. I had assumptions with a title like that; A History of Reading. I was thinking that I would be learning about the Gutenberg printing press. Well, I did learn about the Gutenberg press and a whole bunch more.

It is a well thought out and comprehensive book on reading. He’s gone through whatever you thought would be included when talking about reading, plus seven. From cave paintings, how humans figured out how information gets from page to brain, different book formats, banned books and being read to.

Examples from history relating to reading is vast in this book. He covers the whole planet with these references and historical evidence. He covers Europe, Arabic speaking languages, China and Japan. I’ve not seen this much extensive research in an English language book before. But then, I’ve not read a book like this before.

We also get an insight to Manguels upbringing. He shares that when he was younger, he found find solace in pages of books. He started reading young5 and has not stopped which has lead to him being extremely well read. And from this as we read the book, there are plenty of authors or certain works to add to your reading list.

“We are always at the beginning of the beginning of the letter A” - Ch 23 The Endpaper Pages.

The last chapter of the book is the most fun. Manguel dives into the metafictional realm poking fun at himself, the readers and writers to be. It is such a fun way to finish the very information dense book. I feel that what he finishes up on is a challenge to us reader to create our own stories to write down.

The History of Reading has been my most enjoyable nonfiction book to date. I feel that it comes from Manguel’s passion for reading leaping out at you. It’s an informative yet accessible read about everything, so far, relating to reading. This book has been the most surprising delight to read, all from a spontaneous $2 purchase.

Curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back - I saw this bright pink, bold, book at the bookstore; so I decided to buy it. Now I’ve read it, I’ve got some opinions on it and have decided to share my review of the Pussypedia.

The Pussypedia is written by Zoe Mendelson and illustrations throughout created by Maria Conejo 1 The simplest summary of this book is a translation of dry, logical medical literature into normal English that anyone can understand regarding the pussy and surrounding areas.

What I liked

Learning everyday

I find I am learning much more out of school, than when I was in them. For example; period pains. I was brought up with the fact that the pain was just a part of life as a woman.

Now, I am 32 years of age and I realized the reasoning for this pain. We are aware that: during the menstruation cycle, the egg is released into the uterus waiting to get fertilized. If the egg is not fertilized, it gets shoved out from the uterus. 

The uterus is where a baby is held and grows until it’s ready to be born. Since the uterus can’t distinguish between an unfertilized egg and a baby, all it knows to do is push it out.

I learnt that the Uterus is the strongest muscle in your body by weight. It’s immensely strong; because it is meant to contain a baby, then when the growing’s done, push out a baby.

So the pains you feel during your period is your Uterus revving up. Once I read this; the regular pain that comes with my cycle made so much sense! To put it in machine terms, you’ve got a v6 turbo charged diesel engine supercar testing itself out every month for when it has to haul a load over 3 times its weight.

The Pill Talk or lack thereof

Another thing I learnt was the lack of research with hormonal birth control; all the types.  

I was on hormonal birth control for a year, and I frequented the doctor because of the side effects I experienced. I remember having to go through 4 different brands before I could find one that I could tolerate. I decided to get off of birth control pills because of the depression and weight gain. I felt normal after stopping the birth control pills; no more depression and I went to a healthier weight. 

I had to listen to my body, go back to the doctor to figure out a solution. All this I did on my own.

I see discussions on social media where more women discuss the possible bad side effects of hormonal birth control; but it’s just a discussion. Instead of research, measurements and evidence to look at the benefits, side effects and potential disadvantages of birth control; we’re going back to talking amongst doctors, close friends and family. Small clusters of hushed discussions and old wives tales.  Much like my younger days I had to get help on the ground because couldn’t find much information to help me make a decision about hormonal birth control.

That sentiment is reflected in the Pussypedia; the Author looked for research but found very little and what research was found was inconsistent. I feel in a way we already knew the lack of information, feedback and research on the good and bad of hormonal birth control. But, having it shoved in your face with the sad realization of that fact makes me feel dejected. 

Room for Improvement

A new definition of pussy

Vagina comes from Latin meaning sword holder. Unsurprisingly the penis was referred to as a sword. The author established at the beginning of the book that by using pussy to relate to the whole lady's area should be used because it’s made of many parts and, pussy is usually said with a smile. “Oh yes” I thought, “I do like this!”

Then, in the forward she has this: “As time went on, I learnt many more things about my cunt”

When I read that, I had to smack my head with the book in shock. I looked it up just to be sure I knew the meaning. Cunt: a vulgar term for a woman’s genitals or someone you dislike.

Why should that word be be used in reference for something beautiful, amazing and part of the creation of life. Why would you refer to her in such a horrible, low, disgusting way? Girl come on! We just established to u se Pussy and you go and write this?

Just Europe

The research she has done is extensive and the last 54 pages of the book are dedicated to the notes and references throughout the book. But, it was just European and North American medical information; Plenty of Dutch, German and USA studies but where were the others? On page 15 there is mention of ancient Greek, Arab and Persian records of the observation of the clitoris; but that was it.

I was hoping with such a bold title and the research done behind it that this would encompass the whole world! Where is the Karma Sutra? The Karma sutra isn’t just about sex2, but that is the part that made the text popular in Europe! It was brought over in late 1800’s went “Our society is too stiff and prudish to have an open discussion about sexuality, so let’s read some foreign texts and focus on ”3

Another one is the Su Nu Jing? The basic book of Taoist sexology? Okay that example isn’t that well known in the Western hemisphere unless you’re already into things like Taoist ideology or Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Now, in their defense, this book is in English to an English speaking audience; it makes sense that there are a bunch of European references. But, as before, with a bold title; PussyPedia - I would have thought that she would have gone all around, up and down the world with her findings and compiled it in the book. 

I disagree

To make it easier to take in the information presented in the book, the author has put in her commentary throughout. But at times, when I read her commentary parallel to the facts, it was jarring to me. Like opposing ideas crashing into each other. 

Here’s an example; in chapter 7 it talks about hysterectomies.4 In there is this reference “Studies range from saying that 10% - 90% of hysterectomies in the USA have been unnecessary.” Wha -; 10 - 90%?5 The author’s got the research but the evidence provided is inconclusive; almost irrelevant.

She follows it up the paragraph with this “ It makes sense that The Patriarchy would be extra controlling over the uterus because the uterus is humanities way of making more humans, which is something you need to man the nozzle on if you want to control a society”. I think she’s getting a medical system problem confused with a political and societal problem. 

In her defense, the author made a point where there are people who don’t want and don’t need a hysterectomy, get one. And the ones who really need it, don’t. That same issue of who gets and who doesn’t get a hysterectomy can apply to other procedures as well; cancer treatments, appendix removal, knee replacements, pacemakers and the list goes on. 

A doctor’s misdiagnosis can also play a part in whether a person gets the right treatment or not. In 2023 in the USA there were an estimated 371k deaths from misdiagnosis and 424k who are disabled from it. 6

From what’s presented, how can we be so sure that an issue like hysterectomy procedures, is from a patriarchal system and not a flawed medical system?

Final thoughts

What surprised me most about this book is the fact that I have one, a pussy, I should be pretty knowledgeable about it. I learnt more than I expected in this book. The book covers many things that I’ve not mentioned that are good; masturbation, consent, miscarriages, STIs and drugs. 

It’s indeed an informative book with great interpretive illustrations and breaking information down to easy chunks for all is great. But I feel that this book just missed the mark for me; I was excited to read it. But as I kept reading I felt that the excitement went down to a deflated balloon at the end.

This book gets a “fine” rating from me. 2 1/2 stars out of 5