What book "by and/or about women" are you reading now?

I just finished The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.

Walls is a CNN reporter, and the book blurbs have called her memoir about her severely dysfunctional family "unflinching, forgiving, brave," or words to that effect.

Walls has the gallows humor lots of children of alcoholics and mentally ill parents learn to develop as coping mechanisms. But that humor seems newly acquired and strained or brittle in some places.

She also glosses over parts of her own life, especially over a first failed marriage.

The book is memorable because it isn't preachy, and it's not an "ain't it awful" hogwallow.

But giving those memories another 10 years to "cook" would have made a better book.

I'm reading a mystery by Swedish author Asa Larsson. It's pretty good so far. She has 3 or 4 prominent female characters of interest, including the murder victim, a priest. Another is a lawyer who, after suffering some trauma in the last book (which I haven't read) seems to be having trouble mentally getting on her feet again, and a police detective coming off maternity leave (she was pregnant in the last book apparently). While it's a good mystery, it also is very character-driven, a lot of internal stuff going on with all the women...

I'm reading Astrid and Veronika, a novel of an unlikely friendship between a young writer and an elderly recluse. It has alternating chapters from each woman's viewpoint slowly unfolding each woman's story. It's set in Sweden, written by a Swedish author now living in New Zealand. I give it fairly high marks thus far...

I finished Fun Home by Alison Bechdel this morning, and was absolutely stunned by it. I'd found myself moving away from the graphic novel as a medium, but if people are producing work of this quality ... my interest is very much rekindled.

Fun Home is autobiographical, juxtaposing her own growing up, her relationship with her family and her coming out with her father's secret life, the tensions it created and his untimely death. The writing is beautiful, richly descriptive, unflinchingly honest and riddled with ltierary imagery .. the art complements it rather nicely as well.

This one is going to be re-read repeatedly, I suspect.

Loved Fun Home! Currently reading Phantasmagoria by Marina Warner, who is one of my favourite feminist critics. It's a very dense, very brilliant book about the nature of the imagination and technology, with an excellent chapter on women spirit-mediums. I've been re-reading Sally Potter's YES screenplay because the language is so beautiful. Just gave Castle Waiting as a gift to a friend, and re-read part of it with her -- loving the convent of bearded women! And Shards of Love by Maria Rosa Menocal is up next - a study of lyric poetry and the influence of Jewish and Arabic poets on the Western tradition, particularly the voices of women in lyric poems.

deliuriumslibrarian, Marina Warner really is a great cultural critic, isn't she? A favourite of mine too. While I keep meaning to, I haven't read any of her fiction yet. Have you?

I think I may order Castle Waiting using the rationale that I'll give it to my sixteen year-old niece as a Christmas gift, although I'll probably keep it for myself ;-)

Shards of Love sounds intriguing. I did a bit of research in the past on arabic-andalusian poetry, sephardic song and the troubadour tradition, so I hope to check it out soon.

I'm reading The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard about two sisters...

Right now I am in the middle of The dud avocado by Elaine Dundy and finishing Cross Creek by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. Both are excellent readings, although very different in style and subject.

I am reading The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh. Piya is a young, independent woman working on a research project. Moyna is from a poor backgound and has had to struggle to continue her education - she also has a child. (The book has several other characters.)

marie therese, hi! I have read most of Marina Warner's fiction, except The Leto Bundle, which I never got my head around. Indigo is really wonderful, very absorbing -- and her short stories are great.

I'd love to hear more about your research on arabic-andalusian poetry -- I'm a newcomer to the area, but totally fascinated.

I've been reading Patti Smith's new book Auguries of Innocence and thinking about its rich connections to that tradition. It's really searing.

What I'm most wanting, though, is less textual and more visual: Annie Leibovitz' new book of photographs, including a record of her life with Susan Sontag.

I'm reading a book called Tales from the Town of Widows and Chronicles from the Land of Men by James Canon. It's set in Colombia. A large village of women are left virtual widows when their husbands are forcibly recruited by a group of communist guerrillas who come through town... The book, so far, is very cleverly written with colorful characters and very tongue-in-cheek. The way the back of the book tells it; the women learn to fend for themselves, find new freedom, create a peaceful community and then some of the men return....

Although it is described as being in "the vein of Isabel Allende", I don't see it yet.

I am finishing reading The pursuit of love and Love in a cold climate by Nancy Mitford, two delightfully funny novels contained in the same book, an excellent example of British humour!

Where did you find Nancy Mitford books? I've looked and they're out of print.

She and Jessica were sisters. Jessica wrote The American Way of Death.

It is actually one book that combines both novels. I found it at a library sale and bought it because I had heard about the Mitford sisters. I am almost done with it and thoroughly enjoyed it!

I've just finished Astrid and Veronika by Linda Olsson. It's a lovely book about a friendship between two women.

I am finishing Edith Wharton's Ghost stories and Carrie Tiffany's Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living.
As different as chalk and cheese, but both excellent.

Just finished a wonderful book, Remember Me by Trezza Azzopardi; a homeless (and possibly autistic) woman's life story told in a spare prose and with a compelling voice. It's amazing sometimes, what can be packed into a little over 200 pages...

Have started Moral Disorder by Margaret Atwood.

I'm reading Burning Marguerite by Elizabeth Inness-Brown about a relationship between a boy/man and his guardian. A retrospective narrative from Marguerite tells us about an unhappy marriage and her discovery of her gift for..... (No spoilers here.) She becomes an independent woman and of course that's inspiring, especially since that part of the novel is set in the 1920s and 30s.

I just finished reading Regena Thomashauer's Mama Gena's School of Womanly Arts, and found it insightful, entertaining, and filled with ideas that have power to fundamentally change women's lives. I would recommend this to any woman who would like to make her desires tangible and bring them into the realm of reality.

Read Margaret Atwood's Moral Disorder recent. It's rumored to be autobiographical, but does it really matter? Nell, the main character seems less apt to be active in her own life 's choices than to be acted upon. Interesting. Aging and "being lost" is also part of the story.

Also just read Jim Crace's post-apocalyptic novel The Pesthouse. It is a very good story and I think he did a very credible job with Margaret, the tough, resourceful, naive, red-headed heroine of the story.

I'm reading a scream of a book called The Observations by Jane Harris set in 1863. About a servant girl who finds out that her mistress is observing her staff with the hope of publishing her discoveries. I don't think it tells anything new about women but the first-person narrative is written as the servant (Bessy) would speak, including her colourful turn of phrase.

It seems I have been reading books written by women since the beginning of the year!!!
Yesterday I read The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke (it does not touchstone....did I not spell the title correctly?) and found it quite imaginative and entertaining. For whom does not know, it is a collection of tales whose main characters are fairies. Jonathan Strange himself appears in the first one.
I now started The crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham (yes, another woman!), a classic English mystery written in 1929, complete with country house, gathering of guests and subsequent murder....wonderful!
It is published by 'Felony and Mayhem', a new publishing house devoted to mysteries and such (as the name suggests). I have a feeling I will look for more among their titles.....

Now reading Colum McCann's new novel, Zoli which is set in the 20th century and tells the story of Zoli, a gypsy woman. Very vivid, thus far (but I'm not terribly far into it).

Just started The masque of the Black Tulip by Lauren Willig, sequel to The secret history of the Pink Carnation.
Although I found The Pink Carnation mildly entertaining - enough to get you through a rainy day, though nothing to rave about - I had already bought The masque of the Black Tulip, and so I will read it.

Zoli is incredible, I highly recommend it. I just finished Behind a Mask by Louisa May Alcott, a novella length thriller about a governess (sorry, no spoilers here). This woman makes full use of her power to create a secure future for herself.

Now, I'm on to Half of a Yellow Sun and Africa. I'm also reading an older poetry collection by Carol Anne Duffy entitled, The World's Wife. The poems are in the voices of various wives...Mrs. Darwin, Mrs. Quasimoto, Mrs. Freud. It's wonderful stuff.

Reading Mermaid singing by Charmian Clift, about the author life on a Greek island with her family. Precious!

The Woman Who Walked into Doors by Roddy Doyle, about a victim of domestic violence. Realistic, not maudlin. Fantastic book.

Wonder When You'll Miss Me by Amanda Davis

After a failed suicide attempt, Faith is hospitalized, loses weight - and is now haunted by the 'fat girl' who follows her.

Still shunned and unwanted, she runs away, changes her name, joins a circus and ultimately 'sheds' the 'fat girl' and becomes her own person.

The tragedy of this story is twice fold as Amanda Davis was killed in a plane crash with her parents on their way to a book reading. You can read more here.
http://wonderwhenyoullmissme.com/index.html

aluvalibri: I have read articles about Charmian Clift but not the book. I did read Searching For Charmian by Suzanne Chick, the daughter she gave up for adoption. That was very moving.

Amanda, the book is well worth reading, IMO. I did not know she gave up a daughter for adoption. How can a mother do that? I find it simply appalling (even if, at times, my kids are a great pain in the.....)

Si Paola, it's heart-breaking. And by the time Suzanne Chick found out that her mother was Charmian Clift, Clift had died. Luckily, Chick seems like a strong woman and coped with it all.

Heh, y'all are made of literary awesome.

Lately I've been reading lots of Allende and Woolf, who talk to each other in very interesting ways.

Also just picked up the Second Sex which I'll probably read in fits and starts over the next year. I love de Beauvoir.

sylvan-eyre, tell more about the Woolf/Allende conversation!

What a strange pairing--one of them wispy haired and walking into the sea in a grey cardigan and sensible shoes because she was already drownng slowly in repression and she might as well get it over with, the other covered in Spanish lace and tangoing into the night in a bright red dress with Zorro.

>nohrt4me

Now I'm envisioning Nicole Kidman walking into the water....
However much I love that movie, VW is again repressed to fit into a cultural model of the suicidal artist. It's not all of her, and I wish there could be a way to show more of her.

Anyway. Thanks for asking!

To answer your question, what immediately comes to mind is the love of England and the English language that Allende effuses (which is ironic given that I read her in an English translation.) Allende also addresses the female domestic, not to mention the same time periods within her cohesive cast of characters (here I'm think of Casa de los Espiritus and Portrait in Sepia). Woolf uses the same characters between Mrs. Dalloway and The Voyage Out, and in both Allende and Woolf it's interesting to note the details about characters that get repeated, and what gets left out according to perspective.

Allende and Woolf also share a sense of style, to a certain extent; they deal with interiority extensively in free indirect narration, though I hesitate to call Allende's style stream-of-conciousness.

Anyway.

I'm sure there are even deeper connections, but that's what I've noticed so far. I might note that I'm reading Casa de los Espiritus for the second time, and the Voyage Out for the first, though I've read Mrs. Dalloway and To the Lighthouse several times.

I saw Maggie Smith do a one-woman show about VA on stage 30 years ago, so I always imagine a young Professor McGonagal walking into the water instead of Nicole K.

But ne'mind that. My age is showing.

Interesting comparison, and worth my re-reading VA in that light.

Wonder if there's anything in VW's style that matches up with IA's magical realism. I think Vita Sackville West's "Orlando" would make a better comparison there. Though I have to admit that despite the gender bending, I thought it was kind of boring.

Also wonder if Elizabeth von Arnim's Enchanted April might qualify as having a bit of magical realism. I love her books, especially the one about the woman who marries the younger man and spends half the day getting facelifts so she won't look old, only to have everybody think she's her husband's mother anyway. But that's not magical, only realistic.

#37, I believe you attributed Orlando to Vita Sackville West by mistake, as it is by Virginia Woolf.
I think you might call that magical realism, but I cannot see any other of their books as falling into that category.
I agree with what you say about Enchanted April, it IS a magical book!

Thanks, aluvalibri. I stand corrected. I shoulda googled before I posted.

I think I was dragging Vita in b/c of her association with VW, etc.

well, now, Orlando (hehe Orli as I call it) is about Vita, so almost full marks there.

As for magic realism v. stream of conciousness- very, very different. Magic realism straddles the fence between fantasy and reality, while stream of conciousness attempts to portray and sometimes transcend reality, depending on the author (i believe VW fits into the latter category.)

Sorry if I'm preaching to the choir, but what I think is interesting is where Allende's magic realism and Woolf's s-o-c interleave.

It's kind of cool, and coincidental.

But then that's why I read more than one book at a time in the first place.

I am currently reading Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult. I have read two other books by Jodi Picoult and I am quickly becoming a fan. Her books are well written and keep you guessing.

I'm reading Midnight at the Dragon Café by Judy Fong Bates. Very simple, straightforward style. Fictional work about a young Chinese girl who emigrates with her mother from Hong Kong to a small town in Canada in the 1950s as the Communists are taking over China.

This book was chosen by our county library this year for the Everybody Reads program (Portland, Oregon). They've chosen some very good books, so I didn't hesitate to pick this one up.

I do like stories about immigrants and the hurdles they have to overcome - especially multi-generational stories. This one is not exceptional, but it is a good and interesting read. I'm about 2/3 of the way through.

Re: Fun Home Isn't it a fabulous book??! I'd never read a graphic novel before but was so taken with this one, I will search out others. Bechdel is a genius.

Just finished Why she married him by Myriam Chapman, and about halfway through The Italian by Ann Radcliffe...dungeons, ravines, villains, Inquisition....brrrr....THE Gothic novel par excellence!

I also have Why She Married Him but haven't read it. It sounded interesting in the publisher's catalog...please tell me what you think of it, aluvalibri.

I'm reading Joyce Carol Oates' forthcoming novel, The Gravedigger's Daughter, but I'm only a few chapters in so I don't have much to say about it yet...

Lois, I will not try to write a review about Why she married him as I am not good enough to do it, but I will tell you what I think of it. Quite frankly, even though I like Chapman's writing style and the smoothness of her prose, the book left me dissatisfied. The reason is that I felt the main characters could have been more developed. At times I felt she was trying to rush through the story. In essence, I felt she could have developed the story more.
Let me know what you think of it, perhaps I am totally off the mark!

Well, it may be a long time before I get to it. I just happened to come across the hardcover recently when I was shuffling books around. Thanks for your input though.

Really, I think you should not be so self-conscious about writing a review; most of us aren't professional book reviewers. I'm happy to read anyone's opinion of a book here on LT! Everyone has something to say. And as an editor once said to me when I was then writing for a community newspaper, "write as if you are sitting across the kitchen table from someone".

That's excellent advice, avaland!

I was just looking at my bookshelves this morning and thinking that I should start writing reviews - but have hestitated because I didn't want to sound trite.

You've given me courage!!

I'm reading Mother's Milk by EDward St Aubyn. There are three narrators - a boy, his father and his mother. The mother is facing all the dilemmas of raising young children - keeping them from danger, getting them to sleep and the sqillion other things she has to do for them. This is every mother's story but written so well it doesn't seem trite. Included in this is her choice to be a full-time mother and what she has to give up for that choice.

I am reading We have always lived in the castle by Shirley Jackson. I must say that I am not particularly impressed. In another discussion group (I don't which one), a lot of people were ranting and raving about how wonderful this book is. So far, I cannot agree.

I'm back to reading The Gravedigger's Daughter by Joyce Carol Oates. It's bleak this far, but strangely compelling.

Re-read....(waiting for books to arrive in the mail, and adrift in my physical library..)

American Women in a Chinese Hat by Carole Maso.

Evocative, poetic and sensual...

I finished The Gravedigger's Daughter which was excellent. It is difficult to read the first half of the book which has so much poverty and abuse but somehow I felt this woman's survival depended on my continued reading, it's hard to explain. Rebecca Schwart/Hazel Jones will linger in my mind for many days to come.

Reading Angela Carter's Nights at the Circus. A famous female, winged aerialist tells her story to a skeptical young (male) reporter. Are her wings real?
Set in the 19th century...imagine, a woman who can fly!

Women can always fly, Lois. Hadn't you noticed?
;-)

Angela Carter is made of awesome!

I just finished, "The Bitch In The House" written by 26 women. It was amazing. A good friend told me about it and I decided to read it because I wanted to see if I should recommend it to my sister. The understanding I came to is that EVERY woman should read it. You will not be disappointed. The only thing I wish is that I could have read it as a woman because as a man there is no way I could fully connect to all the stories as deeply as my friend or sister can.

I am half way through The Shuttle by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I am really enjoying myself.

>57 sfjohn: Kudos to you!

Reading Black Girl White Girl by Joyce Carol Oates.

avaland,

I have Grave Digger's Daughter on my list to purchase when it comes out next month I believe. It sounds intriguing and I enjoy Joyce Carol Oates. Will also try Black Girl White Girl as well. What others of hers have you read and enjoyed?

I am a big Jodi Picoult, Philippa Gregory, & Elizabeth Berg fan.

I remember trying Oates in the early 80s and I just couldn't get into her novels. Life was certainly different for me back then. Off the top of my head Beasts was a small gothic novel I read, more recently was Rape: A Love Story which I thought quite horrible and quite a powerful meditation on justice. I'm picking up a book or two on Literary Criticism on her so I may explore her work more fully and decide which of her older novels I'd like to read.

I have read Plain Truth by Picoult and The Tenth Circle. In Plain Truth I enjoyed the window into the Amish culture and her positing the question of whether the young Amish girl could have a "jury of peers" if they weren't Amish. I didn't care for The Tenth Circle much. I was asked to read it by a sales rep but, to be honest, I told him I thought she was trying to do too much in the novel and that it didn't work. And while including a graphic story/comic seemed "cool", I didn't think that worked either. She is a charming, funny and down-to-earth lady, btw.

**POSSIBLE SPOILERS for The Handmaid's Tale**

I just finished The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. I had never read any of her books before, but I am interested in dystopian literature and this one keeps popping up on lists of 'must-reads' everywhere (whether specifically dystopian or not). While I didn't love it to the extent that some people seem to, I did really enjoy it. I liked many of the narrative tricks that the author used, especially later in the book and with the ending.

The book made me think a lot about how rights can be rolled back gradually so that people don't see the larger picture. I found it intriguing that many people in the novel framed the women's situation in terms of protecting them or helping them. I wondered if at one point they had been sincere or if that was always a smokescreen. This book actually made me think a lot about many things. :) It is definitely a keeper!

I am also trying to start Sanditon and Other Stories - a collection of Jane Austen's unfinished works, sketches and juvenile (boy that word does NOT look like it is spelled correctly...) writings.

I am excited to have found this group. While I don't specifically choose books because the authors are women, I find that many of the books that have influenced me over the years are by women.

I am reading The Secret River by Kate Grenville and enjoying it immensely. Great prose!

I'm finally getting to The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood which is turning out to be great fun.

Good to hear that, Lois. Penelopiad is in one of my giganormous TBR piles!

With all my school reading now, short books are very attractive! I fear getting caught up in a long novel and ignoring my texts...

Reading Obasan by Joy Kogawa - novel about the internment camps in Canada.

hi, just joined the group.

I am currently reading The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger for a book club. I must admit that in my snooty way I had been shunning this book due to its popularity, but I'm about 2/3 through and really enjoying it, so shut my mouth! ;)

I just bought a stack of new (or new-to-me) scifi/fantasy by women, so next on my list is probably going to be Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey or A Brother's Price by Wen Spencer.

Welcome mamajoan!!! :-))

I shunned "The Time Traveler's Wife," too, but I got too curious to see how she'd plot the book. It was a much better read than I thought it would be.

>68 mamajoan: Coincidentally, I have A Brother's Price waiting for me at the bookstore. I actually ordered it along with some others for some teens I'm taking to a convention in July (so they will have read some of the authors who will be there), but I might read it first. I don't read that much SF anymore but I'm always curious about some which feature female-run societies - and it's worth comparing to the feminist canon in science fiction. Wen Spencer is a decent storyteller. Another contemporary book which features a planet run by women is Carnival by Elizabeth Bear.

I'm halfway through The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek and IMO she is one of the most talented writers I have encountered. If you can cope with style over plot, and love language, you must read this.

Just started "Love" a novella by Angela Carter (didn't dare attempt a touchstone for that one!).

Despite what I wrote in #68, got sucked into Snow Flower and the Secret Fan which is beautiful and depressing. Almost done with it, and then A Brother's Price is next, really, I swear. ;)

I did finish 'Love' and found it very interesting. But, also interesting, is the fact that I'm not reading any books about women at the moment (or the last couple of weeks) - which is very strange indeed.

Whiled my way through a cold and wet weekend by rereading some Phryne Fisher stories by Kerry Greenwood.
Nice touch of humour, strong minded character set in Melbourne 1928. Since I live here now, it's nice to see the references to the city and surrounding areas as it used to be. Currently reading The Castlemaine Murders, one of my favourites in the series.

I just started Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. It's about a Chinese woman in the 1800s who grew up in the midst of foot binding and arranged marriages. It's really interesting but the part about foot binding was painful. I've had it for about a year and that part kept me from picking it up.

I really should stop joining groups. Each one I join adds a dozen or so books to my longest to-read list (I've got four: books I want to read this year, books I will probably read next year, books I want to read at some point, and books I might want to read if I live long enough - books gradually bubble up from the last list to the first one . . . This makes me sound way more organised than I really am!).

I am currently re-reading Pride and Prejudice. I recently read all of Jane Austen's major books. The only one I wasn't so keen on was Persuasion; I found it quite predictable and I didn't like the characters nearly as much as in the other books. I'm also in the middle of reading The Gentleman's Daughter by Amanda Vickery, which is non-fiction about the lives of middle-class women in Georgian England.

Currently reading Excellent Women by Barbara Pym. Quite enjoyable.

Barbara Pym is a hoot. I've read them all, but forget which ones Everard Bone shows up in. A name Dickens would wish he'd come up with--had he been bold enough.

Everard Bone is in Excellent Women. Yes, that is definitely a dickensian name!

There is a tender memoir called A Very Private Eye by Barbara Pym that shows the difficulties of the road to publication and fame.

almigwin: Not to get all metaphysical, but Barbara Pym is one of those authors with whom I've always felt a deep connection, someone I hope to meet in the Choir Invisible. I and my cat also look scarily like the photo of Barbara and her cat on the back of A very private eye, though I wouldn't be caught dead in that daisy dress.

waderu: Thanks for the rec on Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. I'm just past the footbinding part.

>77 waderu: Another book that features the practice foot-binding is Kathryn Harrison's The Binding Chair. I suspect it is more complex than Snow Flower (which I haven't read yet perhaps because I read the Harrison previously) but I thought it quite good. Publishers Weekly has a fairly accurate review, imo, on Amazon if you wish to know more.

Hi all! just found this group, and I'm so glad y'all are here!

I am trying to figure what my next read will be, and my immediate TBR stack is making it hard -- Lois McMaster Bujod's Sharing Knife: Legacy, Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Justice, Maria Snyder's Magic Study, Juliet Marillier's Blade of Fortriu, Liz William's Ghost Sister (which is being discussed in my book group rightnow) and Paul Park's The Tourmaline.

Unfortunately, almost all of these are 'the next book' in series I enjoy by authors I enjoy.... a luxury of choices!

re: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, I found it a very interesting read and well-written, but I have a hard time saying that I "enjoyed" it or "liked" it, since the subject matter is so depressing. I would say it was a worthwhile read, though. The footbinding parts were difficult, but fortunately fairly brief.

re: A Brother's Price which I had posted about here before -- I found it disappointing. You can read my review here on LT (or longer version on my livejournal, username chlaal) for details. It was not what I expected.

I am now trying to read Kushiel's Dart since so many people I know (online and off) have recommended it. So far it isn't grabbing me -- not my kind of thing. But I'm going to stick with it a bit longer and see if I can get into it.

Just joined the group as I find myself reading a lot of female authors.

Wanted to put in a good word for LT author Shanna Swendson and her Enchanted series: Enchanted, Inc., Once Upon Stilettos, and Damsel Under Stress...the books are about a girl from Texas who is living in NYC. She's immune to magic, so a perfect candidate for a job at MSI, a magic company (think Harry Potter, not Houdini), as a person who makes sure other magical people are not taking advantage of the company. There's a hot, powerful wizard named Owen, a whole cast of magical creatures, and adventure, laughter, romance, and magic!

mamajoan, thanks for the review. I was intrigued by the premise but, as you suggest, I would've been disappointed.

Mamajoan - I know what you mean about "enjoying" Snow Flower. Once I got passed the footbinding I thought a lot about the friendship between the two women... I've found myself pushing advice on friends instead of listening to who they are and loving them for that. The friendship was really intriguing.

Avaland - I just finished reading Sun Storm by Asa Larsson. It was pretty gruesome but I liked it a lot. Interesting learning about the Swedish culture. And it wasn't a happily ever after ending. I couldn't believe that Sanna didn't appreciate Rebekah's efforts. But I liked that about it.

I am reading Ama by Manu Herbstein who is a Library Thing author. It is a book about the African slave trade thru the experiences of a young woman who was captured and sold as a slave by an African tribe that was warring with her tribe. It is very well written, exciting and fearful. I'm in the middle of it now, but I certainly recommend it.

Am reading Sammy's Hill by Kristin Gore (Al's daughter). Didn't think I would like it, but I really do. An enjoyable fairly light read.

"For Her Own Good: 150 Years of the Experts' Advice to Women" by Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English. A fascinating and predictably infuriating look at how various forms of misogyny have been rationalized. A sample:

"But too often the experts' theories were grossly unscientific, while the traditional lore of the women contained wisdom based on centuries of observation and experience. The rise of the experts was not the inevitable triumph of right over wrong, fact over myth; it began with a bitter conflict which set women against men, class against class. Women did not learn to look to an external "science" for guidance until after their old skills had been ripped away, and the "wise women" who preserved them had been silenced, or killed."

A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers is a reasonably quick read. Although it's billed as a romantic comedy, it's somewhat more than that. Lots about language, communication, love and it's an interesting look at Western culture.

I am presently reading, among other things, Wild Mary, a biography of writer Mary Wesley by Patrick Marnham. Interesting and entertaining.

I'm currently reading The Hard SF Renaissance, which is an anthology that includes quite a few stories written by women. Before that, I reread Sunshine by Robin McKinley.

I'm now reading Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell, a fascinating story that's part travelogue, part history, part political/sociological commentary. She basically traveled the USA visiting various sites related to presidential assassinations, and she recounts the stories behind those murders, making very cogent connections between the political issues of those eras and the political climate of today. Really a great read.

aluvalibri, where did you find Wild Mary? I've added it to my amazon shopping list as it's only available used. How do you like it so far?

Bleu, I was lucky because almigwin lent it to me.
I am enjoying it a lot, a very interesting and turbulent life, a "peppery" and charming woman (LOTS of lovers).
If you have the chance of getting a copy, please do: you will love it!

>93 vashT:, Oooh, I really want to read For Her Own Good. You're enjoying it, I assume, even if infuriated?

I just finished Red, White & Drunk All Over, non fiction - a wine writer gives interesting stories/information/interviews with growers in France, Italy, CA. Talks to owners of wine shops. Spends an evening as sommelier, hosts a wine tasting dinner party. Learned quite a bit and kept my interest.

Anyone else read it?

I just finished For Her Own Good: 150 Years of the Experts' Advice to Women by Barbara Ehrenreich. I posted my thoughts on the talk page for the book. My only regret is that I tried to save some money by checking the book out from the library, but the copy they had was over 30 years old! I should have splurged and gotten the new edition, since a lot has happened in the interim.

As reading So Vast the Prison bt Assia Djebar which follows the life of an Algerian woman... BUT, I may be tempted this weekend to set it aside to read Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History by Laurel Thaxter Ulrich...

Has anyone read Catering to Nobody or any others in that series? The first one was okay, kind of interested in the characters - do they get better over the course of the series?

I am currently reading The Elegant Gathering of White Snows by Kris Radish. Love Radish

I just finished The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Downby Anne Fadiman. I would highly recommend it to anyone.

I bought six second-hand books last Sunday, and not until I started reading the new posts in this topic did I realise that every single one of them was written by a female writer. I'm so oblivious!

Anyway, reading The Dreamstone at the moment, and enjoying it. It's my first Cherryh. :)

I'm reading a YA SF novel by Ann Halam a.k.a. Gwyneth Jones called Siberia. (touchstones aren't loading...)

In the Name of Salomé by Julia Alvarez. Takes place in the Dominican Republic, Cuba and the east coast U.S. - travels time between the late 1800s, the 1950s and 60s. Wonderful read.

>106 mcna217: mcna217 - Spirit was amazing, wasn't it? Fadiman is an excellent writer, also try her books of essays: Ex Libris : confessions of a common reader and At Large and at Small (which I just purchased, haven't read yet but hear great things about).

rereading Celebration by Mary lee settle. About a widowed anthropologist and a scottish archaeologist, an african jesuit, an English Lord and their relationships in late sixties London.

I really enjoyed this book. It was so interesting to me that I wasn't distracted by anything or anyone while I was reading it.

almigwin, #110, In the early 80s, I read Mary Lee Settle's Beulah Quintet (O Beulah Land, Know Nothing, Prisons, Blood Tie, The Scapegoat), an amazing series of historical novels about West Virginia. Your mentioning her makes me think I should reread these.

Just bringing this thread up to the top of the list!

The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory.

Gregory takes scant information about the short marriage between Prince Arthur and Katherine of Aragon and heats them up into a roiling froth of sexual awakening, dreams of a new Camelot and a fair amount of anachronistic nonsense.

What redeems the book is Gregory's interesting construction of political events that historians are still arguing about: Was Katherine lying when she claimed to have been a virgin when she married Henry 8, a key point in their divorce trial? To what extent was she a political pawn, and to what extent did she manipulate events herself?

Some historians are quick to dismiss Katherine as a "good Catholic girl" who simply did what she was told, and who was unable to leave England after Arthur's death because Henry 7 had taken all her money.

What's often overlooked is that Katherine's childhood was spent on military campaigns and that she herself led a successful rout of the Scots while Henry 8 was away fighting in France. The luxury of her cosseted later childhood years was offset by the fact that she spent a good deal of her early childhood on military campaigns. As the daughter of Isabella of Spain, she inherited brains and ambition.

Gregory also draws lively portraits of Henry 7th and his mommy dearest, Margaret Beaufort, both of whom were obsessed with money and legitimizing Henry's claim to the throne--largely because they had neither.

The pair of them were about as loveable as a pair of crocodiles, but they were pragmatic and shrewd and laid the foundation for strong and sane rule in England.

Elizabeth I was their true heir. And one can't help recalling Elizabeth as Gregory tells Katherine's story. The two queens had a fair amount in common, though it would have mortified them to admit it. Both were ambitious, shrewd, smart, loved the arts, and could weather a political crisis by knowing when to lay low.

Elizabeth came out ahead in the end because she learned, not only from her mother's example, but Katherine's as well, that dynastic marriage brokering was a game she couldn't win at.

In the TBR pile is Laurie R. King's "The Game" (not touchstoning), James P. Othmer's The Futurist, and Rex Libris by James Turner.

Edited to correct various ambiguities spotted upon re-reading and admiring my own posts.

We have a thread over here for May - Aug '08.

Feel free to cut and paste and put it over there if you want to.

But allow me to blow off some steam about the many pigeonholes this group creates. It begins to look more like people are interested in maintaining neat "piles" of comments than in the comments themselves.

It's a bit deflating, and not particularly conducive to participation.

Steam blown now.

Oh, I wasn't trying to tell you to move the comment over there! I do appreciate your insights on the Philippa Gregory book. I apologize for not mentioning that earlier and for any hurt my brevity may have caused. I was simply trying to create a roadmap for readers to follow as I noticed there were two threads after I posted my "currently reading", but you, it goes without saying, may feel free to post your comments anywhere. However, my quick wording turned what I intended to be a "look over here for more comments as well!" into something more harsh. In many online and some non-virtual discussions, I am not usually very wordy, so I am aware of the possibilities of misinterpretation, and I should have caught myself in this instance. Mea culpa.

No need to apologize. I just don't get why this thread has to be subdivided by date unless there's a limit to the number of comments it can accommodate.

It's not that big a deal, isn't going to make me stop participating, though maybe some people now wish I would :-0

wow, great review of the Gregory. I've not read her, I suppose because I'm less interested in the time period. But it's tempting...

In most places these threads get subdivided into dates because when a thread goes over about 200 posts, it takes a lot longer to download for those with dial-up (so I'm told). It is the general trend (although in some groups they wait for it to top 200 and then create a new thread). I tend to read all the threads on this group anyways . . .

BUT, it may have been my fault as I see I rescued the thread from oblivion in dormancy to bring it to the top of the list. Apologies if I have lead you astray! Now I have to wonder if I really meant to pull up this thread or intended some other thread and clicked on this one in error...

I have been a bit out of the loop having indulged recently in books written by men (imagine!)....:-)

I have dial-up, and LT goes slow for me, especially with the new personal home page.

I read the posts that are active and respond to anything that looks interesting. Waiting around for the group's home page to load and then find the appropriate incarnation of the post is really more time than I want to spend, what with the slow download and being over 50 and the Grim Reaper tapping his watch every so often to remind me my time to read all the great books people post over here is limited.

But that's my personal problem, and as christiguc noted, you can go on any thread and post.

Thanks for explaining about the 200-post limit.

fyi the so-called home page is now editable - you can remove and move stuff to your heart's content.

You can also bookmark a different page if you don't want to start with the homepage.

I have always gone to my profile page via a bookmark first; that's where my messages are. That probably won't change. There are some things I like about the new home page though.