Vampires: Myths and Metaphors of Enduring Evil. Edited by Peter Day.
2006. New York: Rodopi. 243 pages. ISBN: 90-420-1669-8 (soft cover). 
Reviewed by Mikel J. Koven, University of Worcester
[Word count: 1014 words]
http://www.indiana.edu/~jofr/review.php?id=371
In May, 2003, the "Monsters and the Monstrous" series of symposia was
launched in Budapest under the title "Vampires: Myths and Metaphors
of Enduring Evil." This conference, which brought together scholars
from a variety of disciplines and academic backgrounds, was part of
the "At the Interface" project, organized by Dr. Robert Fisher
(www.inter-disciplinary.net), to allow scholars to cross-pollinate
their ideas across a variety of academic frontiers. Three years
later, Rodopi published the volume from this conference, number 28,
of their "At the Interface" series of books, which to date is up to
number 44. This context of production, however, required some
research to discover (mostly on-line), as nowhere in the actual
volume I was reviewing is this context explained. In fact, I would
not have even known this book was the result of a conference, if one
of my colleagues was not a contributor; although reading the book, I
certainly had my suspicions.



Chick Lit: The New Woman's Fiction. By Suzanne Ferriss and Mallory
Young. 2005. New York: Routledge. 288 pages. ISBN: 0415975026 (hard
cover), 0415975034 (soft cover). 
Reviewed by Elinor Levy, Independent Folklorist
[Word count: 552 words]
http://www.indiana.edu/~jofr/review.php?id=434
I can say this for Chick Lit: The New Woman's Fiction: Jane Austen,
Helen Fielding (Bridget Jones's Diary), and Candace Bushnell (Sex and
the City) get top billing. This apparent holy trinity of chick lit is
invoked in some combination by every contributor in this volume.
Unfortunately, this becomes overwhelming as you move through the book
and, for me, clouded the work as a whole. Not that I don't love Jane
Austen, and I was amused by Bridget Jones's Diary and Sex and the
City, but I felt like I was being beaten over the head by the
constant comparison of chick lit to this trinity and the lesser
historic pantheon of women's popular fiction.


Tech Girls Are Chic, Not Geek! Media release
for 'Tech Girls are Chic, not Geek' Book (25/01/08)
Bec Dorries and Jenine Beekhuyzen are about to launch a book about women
working in Information Technology (IT) careers. Called the 'girlie IT
book' previously, we are happy to announce our new title for the book -
'Tech Girls Are Chic, Not Geek!'. It will be launched on the 8th of March 2008 - 
International Women's Day at the Griffith Campus Club, Griffith University. 
A huge congratulations to Sarah Ray for the winning title, she wins a new 
model iPod nano. And thank you to everyone who entered.
Click here for a sneak peak of the book!
The book shows girls the 'girlie' side of women through a fun profile and funky photo, and it will also 
show off their smarts, humour and experience through story-telling
experience in running technology days for girls, our research in the
area, and through being one of only a few in a class of many boys
studying technology at university tells us that girls think working
with technology is boring, and that you have to be geeky and
anti-social to do it. We strongly disagree with this stereotype. In an
attempt to change this perception and show another side of the many
intelligent women who work with technology every day, the idea for this
book was born.We have sixteen authors helping us to show how working with technology can be fun, exciting and challenging. 
Aimed at girls aged 12-16, the book also has wide appeal to educators and employers. As the number of females
studying and working with technology is at an all time low, this book
is our attempt to show girls that these women not only have technical
and communication skills, but they are very much girls at heart. We
want to show that us 'tech girls' are not a lot different to everyone
else, and we hope the book shows girls that they can relate to us and
what we do, and that it is ok and even a good choice to have a career
working with technology. 
how can i get a copy?
The books will be distributed throughout 2008 after the launch. School girls will receive a 
free copy at Go Girl in Perth (March) & Melbourne (October) and Brisbane(TBA) and other school and industry events throughout the year.