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Two books already offered and still awaiting homes!

When I started dividing up the bookshelf and writing blog post to try and find new homes for the various titles, I honestly didn't think it would be this difficult to give away so great books. I'm not selling them, I'm not asking for a contribution to postage, I'm just asking for someone who would like to read them and pass them on. 

To date I've offered four titles online and only two have been claimed. 'The Outdoor Book For Girls' is winging its way to Our Chalet in Switzerland, and 'Persepolis is somewhere over/on the Atlantic heading to a new owner in Costa Rica. 'The Burn Journals' and 'Change The World For A Fiver' are still available (Let me know by any means if you would like one of them!).

I take claims by any method of communication - tweet, facebook comment, comment here, drop me an email to pippa@myriadit.net or send out a carrier pigeon.

This Week

All the new titles on offer today!

I wonder whether its the particular title on offer that week just doesn't appeal, so this time I'm putting a whole selection of books online.These are:

• The Way We Are Now, edited by Ben Summerskill
• Great Speeches of Gay Rights, edited by James Daley
• 50 Facts You Need To Know: USA, by Stephen Finder
• Boy Kills Man, by Matt Whyman
• A Good Life: The Guide to Ethical Living, by Leo Hickman

I'll update this post as and when these titles are claimed - if you'd like to give one a read get in touch and the book will be winging its way to you. As always the only requirement is that you pass the book on to somebody else when you are done with it.

Send me a message to let me know which one you'd like.

**Update**

 Boy Kills Man, A Good Life and The Way We Are Now have all found new homes. The other four titles are still available.

The Burn Journals

Here's the next in our bookshelf giveaways - "The Burn Journals" by Brent Runyon. The back cover reads:

"Brent Runyon, a super-smart boy from a well-to-do family in Virginia, had it all. But home pressures, school pressures, life pressures, were suffocating him - and aged fourteen he set fire to himself. He survived the blaze, but he lost eighty-five per cent of his skin. The Burn Journals is Brent's account of the traumatic year following his suicide attempt. Breathtakingly honest, shocking and heart-warming, The Burn Journals is the story of one boy's courage and determination to overcome terrible physical and mental scars."

Having been depressed and having suicidal thoughts as a teenager, I read this book after receiving it as a birthday gift aged 17. It is an incredibly moving story that in the end helped me to see the world in a much more positive light and deal with my own problems.

How to Claim

As always, comment below, on the facebook page, tweet me @Pippab3 or email me at Pippa@myriadit.net to claim this book. Free to a good home on the condition that its onward journal doesnt ever stop.

That time of year again. A Roundup.

Today, March 8th, is International Women's Day - a day to celebrate the achievements of women worldwide and to raise awareness of the gender inequalities and how we might address them. I'm not heading out to any big event this year, but hearing great things about several from home and wearing my Stop The Violence t-shirt whilst cleaning the house and tidying the garden for solidarity.

This week, and today especially, has seen an explosion of gender equality messages on social media. If you're on Twitter there's plenty of events to track through their hashtags including #IAmVisible, #WOWLDN (including an inspirational and much quoted speech from Malala Yousafzai this morning), and not to mention #IWD2014 itself. Then there's the infographics, quotes and all round Factivism going on to. Take a look at UN Women's #HeForShe campaign, and this great image from DFID.

Some of the WAGGGS delegation to CSW 55!

Monday also sees the start of the 58th UN Commission on The Status of Women in New York City - I an tell because my email inbox is swamped with different organisations promoting their side events and sharing inside knowledge on the negotiations that have already started. There's a fabulous delegation from the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts to follow - yes I know I'm biased, but these young women do some amazing work every year. The policy coordinator for the delegation is my fellow WAGGGS Post-2015 Ambassador from Australia, Erin Wicking, and you can follow her Tumblr blog here. Also worth following is Amy Graham, a member of the WAGGGS advocacy staff team, who also blogs here.It's also very exciting this year that there are remote delegates who will be contributing to the CSW discussions from their home countries and WAGGGS have produced an engagement document for the national guide and scout organisations to take the key messages forward.

Another Book - Persepolis

For the next book giveaway, due to the date and upcoming events, a fitting book is needed. That book is Persepolis. I first read this book shortly after I came back from my first UN Commission on the Status of Women event, and have since watched the film adaptation.

This graphic novel tells the story of a young woman's childhood in Iran, her travels to Europe to study and her subsequent return. The artwork is simple yet atmospheric and, I think, the graphic novel format helps you feel closer to the characters than in a traditional novel - but that might have something to do with dyslexia and reading images rather than words...

It's an easy to follow introduction to a little bit of the history of that area as the events are explained to the child character as they happen.

Like before, this is free to the first person to comment below, message me or send me an email (pippa@myriadit.net) and I'll update this post once it has been claimed. The only requirement is you pass it forward when you're down with it.

UPDATE - This book is heading to MaLau in Costa Rica!

What are the priorities in MY World?

Throughout last summer and into the autumn, I was regulrly asking blog readers and Facebook followers to complete the MY World survey. This survey seeks to crowd-source the world's priorities for an international development agenda to come in effect after 2015, and many of you voted (if you didn't, you still can add your views here).

I recently discovered that they've made the data that they've colelcted so far explorable on their website. If you head to this page, you can see how different people voted based on age groups, gender, levels of education and country. It's interesting to see where the different priorities have been placed. For instance, 'equality between women and men' is ranked #12 for men globally, but is up at #8 for women globally. Narrow down the filters further and this priority reaches #4 for women aged 16-30 in the UK and #3 for girls aged 15 and under here.

Priorities for a global develoment agenda voted for by young women (16-30) in the UK.

In contrast, gender equality comes in at #10 for nearly all boys and men in the UK (rising one place to #9 for the 46-60 year olds). Their other priorities come in a very similar order.
Gender equality will not become a reality in the UK when it is mostly girls and women who are the ones calling for it. How do we make this issue a priority for boys and men as well?