What books by women are we reading in MARCH 2010?

I picked up When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson last night, and am loving it already. I've enjoyed the first two Jackson Brodie novels by her, and am looking forward to (one day!) finding the time to read Behind the Scenes at the Museum as well.

One of these days, I'll read the second and third books, which are languishing on my shelf. Behind the Scenes is very different from her others, and I really liked it a lot.

I'm reading a book about a woman, but written by a man - The Patience Stone - an Afghan woman at her comatose husband's bedside; she is his caregiver and begins to tell ALL as she watches over him. Not far into it but it sounds powerful. Khaled Hosseini wrote an intro to it, in which he says "For far too long, Afghan women have been faceless and voiceless."

I'm reading my first Georgette Heyer - Death in the Stocks.

Also, I'm reading The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen for Elizabeth Bowen Month with Monthly Author Reads here on LT.

And my on-going book of poetry is The Poetical Works of Christina Georgina Rossetti by Christina Rossetti.

I am reading Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, which is harrowing, but very powerful. I think it should be required reading in high school. I do think students need to be emotionally mature to read it, but it is very good.

k4k

Ah Christina! Death in the Stocks is ok, but some of the other mysteries are better, in my opinion, for example The Unfinished Clue.
However, if you want a taste of Georgette Heyer at her best, read one of her Regency novels. My favourite are (not in order of preference) Frederica, Arabella, Sylvester, among the others. You will not be disappointed, I promise you.

I'm reading Heyer's These Old Shades and Pat Barker's The Eye in the Door. Two very different books!

These Old Shades was not one of my favourites. I always found Leon/Leonie quite irritating.

aluvalibri, what is your opinion of Cotillion? I bought that (my first Heyer!) the other week, and am hoping to get to it sooner rather than later.

*fingers crossed that it's a good one*

Just finished The Autograph Man by Zadie Smith. Got a bit bored with this one but found parts of it quite amusing and enjoyed the literary allusions.

Whizzing through Doomsday Book by Connie Willis. I would say, don't start reading this if you have something urgent you need to do...

#9 I started The Autograph Man many years ago and just could not push my way through it. I'll probably pick it up again some day, but am glad to hear I wasn't the only one who just found it pretty boring. A disappointment after White Teeth, which I liked so well.

I've started A Field of Darkness by Cornelia Read, which I'm finding very compelling so far--if it continues well, I'll have to add Read to my auto-buy list.

#8> wookie, I enjoyed Cotillion, just like I am having fun reading Devil's Cub (which I have almost finished), and which should be read after These Old Shades, by the way, because the characters are the same, approximately twenty years later.
So, wookie, I think you will enjoy it. Quite frankly, so far I have not read a "bad" Heyer's book. She was an excellent writer, her books well researched and amusing, even if 'light' reading.

May I cast a positive vote for Heyer too? Sometimes it's nice just to relax.

I've got a couple of chick lits for this month by Jacqueline Sheehan and Erica Bauermeister .

Just about to start on The Old Wine Shades by Martha Grimes

Finished Claude and Camille (my review is up if anyone's considering it) and am happily moving on to Sarah Addison Allen's The Girl Who Chased the Moon.

I enjoyed Garden Spells and The Sugar Queen wasn't half bad and I do need a little magic in my life. ;-)

Ditto on The Autograph Man; I gave up about 1/3 through, and I loved White Teeth.

I am rereading The Awakening by Kate Chopin for a class I'm teaching. Also reading One Amazing Thing by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and listening to the audiobook of Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson.

I am in the middle of a book of short stories by LT author Hannah Holborn- Fierce.

#10
Doomsday Book (touchstone not working) is one of my all-time favourite books. I just love the characterisation, and the mixture of history blended with a speculative present-day world is wonderful. I know it has flaws, but it's one of the books that would be my on my list if I were stuck on the proverbial desert island. (That should be deserted shouldn't it?)

#19 Did you want a lack of vegetation or people? I'd opt for the latter.

But, make mine a dessert island.

I just finished listening to The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte and am listening to Wolf Hall. The first is by and mostly about women, the second is by a woman and mostly about men. I used to try to read only books by women, but, alas, there are some pretty good male authors out there, and since joining a book club, I'm reading more of them. My book club is mostly women, with 3 men. When we read The Help only 1 of the men finished it, and none liked it -- too many women. Because we know, books about men are about people, books about women are about women.

I've just started The Seamstress by Frances de Pontes Peebles, an historical novel set in Brazil in the late 1920s-early 1930s, about two sisters, both seamstresses, whose lives end up taking very different paths. Not in very far yet, but looking forward to a good, rich historical read.

Mmmm, dessert island.

Finished (and *very* much enjoyed) When Will There Be Good News?.

Have moved on to The World Beneath by Cate Kennedy for bookgroup. I was slightly grumpy about this one - it wasn't one I'd voted for, I "have" to read it, and it was following on from Kate Atkinson (always a hard act to follow). But I read the first 1/2 page or so last night (was too tired to read more) and I think we're onto a winner...

(Sorry. Touchstones not wanting to work this morning.)

there are some pretty good male authors out there,

Yes there are indeed! Some fabulous ones.

Because we know, books about men are about people, books about women are about women.

Grrrr! Don't get me started! Did you make that up, or are you quoting someone? I may borrow that for an essay I have to write this coming week.

CitizenJoyce, I'm a Joyce too. But I like to hide behind Nickelini.

Well, Nickelini-Joyce, I think I made it up, but sometimes the stuff that oozes out of my brain has oozed in from somewhere else, and I don't even know it.

Well then you're brilliant (does it go with the name?). I hope you're okay with me borrowing it. If I use it you'll get your moment of fame in my footnotes.

I am just doggone flattered. Thanks for brightening my day.

I'm reading Iris Murdoch's The Sea, The Sea - a group of us are reading Murdoch's novels in order and we're on to a great sequence now.

I have just finished The independence of Miss Mary Bennet by Colleen McCullough. I dont usually read continuing sagas, but must admit that it was a little piece of light reading and I did enjoy it thoroughly.You just never know what you are going to get with a book!

It's a sunny Monday (an oxymoron?) and last night I started Nancy Pickard's The Scent of Rain and Lightning.

So far it's rather flat after The Girl Who Chased the Moon; Sarah Addison Allen does know how to weave that magic.

Just finished Cheerful Weather for the Wedding by Julia Strachey downstairs, while I continue to read The Triumph of the Spider Monkey by Joyce Carol Oates upstairs.

I'm reading The Beekeeper's Apprentice mystery series, currently about halfway through Justice Hall. I enjoy reading mystery novels with strong, intelligent, independent female detectives, preferably involving historical settings and travel to foreign lands. Mary Russel fits that description admirably.

It just occurred to me why The Beekeeper's Apprentice sounded so familiar. Then I remembered, I listened to it last year, and also the next one, A Monstrous Regiment of Women. I was never interested in Sherlock Holmes, but Mary Russel was quite compelling. However, I wasn't much interested in going beyond those two, enjoyable as they were. For the most part, mystery novels aren't my thing, though I like the ones I do read. Does that even make sense?

I'm just starting Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.

21> You might enjoy a book I just started reading for a review, Romancing Miss Bronte by Juliet Gael. From the title, I thought it would be romantic fluff, but I'm quite enjoying it. Although it will eventually get around to the curate who courts Charlotte Bronte, so far it is more a family story-- quarrels among the sisters, their efforts to deal with their father and Bramwell, their decision to self-publish their poems in hopes of making a little extra cash, etc.

>33 Citizenjoyce: Does that even make sense?

Umm . . . no? Well, maybe. Actually I'm pretty sure it does. It definitely maybe makes sense.

. . . I think.

I just kid--I think I get what you mean. There are some books that I crave to read, that call out for me from the TBR pile saying 'pick me pick me!' Then there are other books that I perfectly enjoy when I pick them up, but maybe I only started them because I had to, or it was for book club, or I felt I should read it, or it was recommended, etc. Or maybe the book turns out to be something a bit different than what I thought it would be, and what I'd been in the mood for when I picked it up. I think there's a difference between a book that I viscerally choose because of my mood and a book that I somehow 'end up reading.'

Now I'm not sure I'm making sense.

>33 Citizenjoyce: and 36: Talk amongst yourselves. ;o)

#35 Cariola

Thanks for the suggestion. It sounds like Romancing Miss Bronte is much like The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte which was, well I can't say not what I was expecting, because I knew nothing about the Brontes and learned so much. To have such talent centered on one family. When I googled them I kept finding that Bramwell was thought to have been the most talented. What was that all about? He did publish a few poems, then proceeded to wreck his own life and did his best to destroy those around him. Meanwhile the sisters went about writing novels that have effected readers for 1 1/2 centuries. Maybe Bramwells biggest contribution was that Emily was supposed to have based her character of Heathcliff on him.

#36 SaraHope
You make perfect sense. It's well that I don't just stick with books that call out to me because I think that would greatly narrow my reading and thus my ability to think about the world. It's easy for me to get all cozy with feminist science fiction and never look at anything else. Now I've done just the opposite and have been looking so much at everything else that I haven't read science fiction in months. I have to do something about that.

Hello, new to the group - whose name rather put me off until I read the description!

I've just finished reading The Children's Book by A S Byatt. Among other things, there's much in this novel about women's choices, women's education and women's suffrage, being set in late Victorian & Edwardian England following a generation of children, girls and boys both, as they grow up.

Enjoyed it, though sometimes it read more like history than fiction (lots of name-checking of the wider political, artistic and literary context in a way that did not feel fully integrated into the narrative).

#1 I love the Jackson Brodie novels, particularly the two most recent ones. I've read most of Kate Atkinson's, having really enjoyed Behind the scenes years ago.

However, I only got a short way into Emotionally weird over a year ago and never continued. Has anyone else read that one and do you think it is worth persevering?

>37 teelgee: Teelgee, sometimes I think that, like Dogberry, I'm just too cunning to be understood. :-|

>40 gennyt: gennyt, welcome to the group. I know what you mean about the name, but the original "owner" has left LT apparently and no one else can change it or the image. Ah well, glad you found it!

40, 43 . . . I know what you mean about The Name. It has horrible connotations for me, on multiple levels. Somehow I've trained myself to not actually read it anymore. But I'd love to see it change to something better.

I don't mind the group name , its the mainpage pic that I find off-putting .

Just joined group. I have been reading Diana Gabaldon books. Romantic, sexy, fictional history.

I am now reading The Feiry Cross

I'm always tempted to read Diana Gabaldon but never have. I don't like romance in my books, will take some but hate for it to be the main focus. So where does it lie with Gabaldon

Well, the gentleman, Jamie, adores his wife, Claire. They can not keep their hands off each other. I think every woman would love to be adored the way he adores Claire! Lots of adventure and mishaps also in the book. Jamie can't seem to keep out of some kind of trouble! The first book, Outlander, is the most tame of the series.

I'm about to start How to Escape from a Leper Colony, a collection of a novella and some short stories by Tiphane Yanique.

#38 "When I googled them I kept finding that Bramwell was thought to have been the most talented." Well of course he was; he was A Man.

Finished The Scent of Rain and Lightning last night; the title is the only imaginative part of the novel. It goes on sale April 20 but I'm not encouraging anyone to rush out and buy unless they live in Kansas. (They might enjoy the local color.)

I think Susan Vreeland's Life Studies is up next.

#46 Count me in as a fan of the young Jamie. But the series just went on too long for me. I opted out with the current book.

ah well, time to dress to go stand on my head and meditate. It's Yoga Day again.

>48 NancyMcK:: I think every woman would love to be adored the way he adores Claire!

That's an assumption I wouldn't necessarily make! I would wonder what the tradeoff is, especially if he's always in some kind of trouble. But, not having read the books, I can't say for sure. Just the hair rising on the back of my feminist neck.

I understand where you are coming from but it really is ok. Claire is a well respected doctor in the community
. She is not a wimpy up on a pedestal kind of character.

Books by ladies so far:

The Night Watch by Sarah Waters - finished

Lighthousekeeping Jeanette Winterson - just started

annnnd a little Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling - on the side

As for the Outlander series...I enjoyed the first one, after that, to me (personal opinion, I know there are some Jamie lovers out there) it was just more of the same fawning. I think the major problem I have with Outlander is the same problem I have with the Twilight series, apart from the writing (again, don't hate, so sorry to offend). There's a lot of the big strong man rescuing his damsel, regardless of how fiesty his damsel may be, telling her how to think or indulging her feminine whims...and the somewhat rueful damsel grudgingly assenting to his superiority.

Nowww...granted, in Outlander, at least some of that can be excused given the time slip situation and the fact that it's reasonable that Claire could very easily have been knocked around or killed for arguing her position..and the fact that her character came from an early point in women's rights anyhow...and the fact that, in rough hilly clansland, back in the day, it usually was all about man-strength - but, just...not all of it. She got a little too swoony over it for my taste.

You are all probably tired of this conversation but here is more on Jamie and Claire. They each have their separate adventures. Claire actually rescues Jamie of his biggest problem. Try the next book. It flows differently than the first. I also don't like books where the female is always in distress and rescued by the big strong male. Don't worry, no offense taken on the feminist stand. I'm right there with you. Jamie knows better than to Claire what to do or think. :) This damsel rescues herself and others too!

You are all probably tired of this conversation -

Not at all, Nancy! I think there's precious little of this sort of dialog/debate happening on LT! Glad to hear your opinion!

Question: did you leave out a word here: Jamie knows better than to Claire what to do or think. Did you mean he knows better than to tell Claire.... ? Don't want to assume!

QuitetheHuman --- again, not having read the Twilight series, I'm sticking my neck out a bit by commenting -- but I've been quite disturbed by the description I've heard of the Bella/Edward "relationship" and that teens today are swooning over this sort of abusive/possessive behavior. It's not the sort of relationship I'd like young women today to have as a role model. Sounds downright creepy to me, vampire or no vampire!

Can't make any comments about Outlander (but am enjoying the discussion). Am sometimes tempted to try the first one, I've heard that it's a pretty good fun read. But there always seem to be other books demanding my attention. And demanding it louder.

Just picked up Cotillion by Georgette Heyer. Looks like it's going to be a fun read! I'm new to Heyer, so this is the first of hers I've read.

gennyt, welcome! I've got The Children's Book on Mt TBR - I'm looking forward to reading it! Byatt's Possession: A Romance is one of my most favourite reads. I haven't read Kate Atkinson beyond the Jackson Brodie books, but have Behind the Scenes at the Museum and a collection of her short stories (Not the End of the World) awaiting their turn on Mt TBR.

So many good books in the world!

Yes, I meant "tell". Thanks! Sometime, try reading book two just to see for yourself. Now by book 4, I am a little tired of the formula. The last book is better.

Now as far as Bella, the interest is the whole love triangle thing. Also, that push and pull of Edward trying to have a "normal" or any sort of relationship with a mortal. One girl in love with two very different "men" and the two "men" in love with her but none if it can/will work out. Hint: It gets resolved in the last book.

#57. My daughter told me that it gets resolved in the last book and also that Bella stops hating herself quite so much. I'll never find out for myself. There's not enough anti-emetic in the world to make me read any more of my least favorite character in "literature".

>55 teelgee:: teens today are swooning over this sort of abusive/possessive behavior.
Not mine, thank goodness. In fact, they think it's creepy. Plus they are Harry Potter fanatics and there's a sort of HP/Twilight rivalry thing, at least among their friends.

Interesting conversation on this thread!

Today at work, some of my colleagues were arguing which "team" they were on - Team Edward or Team Jacob. I blurted out "I'm on Team Quality Literature!"

The glares I got! =)

I'm going to have to say Team Harry Potter. There's not a character in there who would have given Bella 5 minutes of their time. Well, maybe Bellatrix would have enjoyed her for a while.

Wanting to give female writers the benefit of the doubt, I even read Meyers' The Host, thinking perhaps she wrote adult females better than adolescents. Nope, same character, different plot.

Now, I'm not for censorship, but I think it would be helpful if Mrs. Meyers were locked in a room and forced to read all the women we picked as favorite female characters before she was allowed to attempt to write another one.

Who's Jacob??

I think it is a shame that for some it is a rivalry between HP and T . I enjoyed them both. Unfortunately teens relate to the abusive/rivalry theme.
Many teen girls relate to Bella's "self-hate" . Luckily, Bella does grow up throughout the story.

I guess to each their own. I substitute teach at the middle school and high school level. It is really hard to find and literature that they will voluntarily read. If I keep seeing the same book on everyone's desk, male and female, I go read it.

Besides HP, and T, they are reading Lightening Thief, A Great and Terrible Beauty, and Jodi Poucult (sp?) books. They read Jodi's because they are religion based and I live in the "Bible Belt"

Very few will chose to read the classics. Mostly,If they aren't required to read it for a class, they don't read. Of course I am in Georgia, so that may be part of the problem! (sad but true)

I try to read what ever my daughter, sr, in HS has to read in her AP classes, if I haven't already read them.

You ladies are a tough audience! It sounds like many of you enjoy a similar type of literature as Oprah. Now don't get offended anyone because none is meant. I just mean that the Oprah books are wayyyy over my head! To profound for my enjoyment.

I like books that are fast and hold my attention to the end. I am bad about skipping to the end of the book, if I can put the pieces together at that point, I am done. That is why I like HP and T! Can't figure out the middle! (yes, I am ADD! :)) Always needing recommendations! Hint, Hint.

>64 NancyMcK: Actually, Oprah enjoys a similar type of lit as I do! LOL!

Here's a few I'd recommend:

Elizabeth Berg - she's written tons of books, I really liked We Are All Welcome Here
The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer.

None of these are what I would call profound reading, though you can certainly take away profound ideas from them.

What is your daughter reading for AP classes? I think it's great that you read them too.

Wuthering Heights, Heart of Darkness,MacBeth.
I'm trying to remember them all. I can't get through all of them, yawn!

I have The Help on hold at the library. I love Phillipa Gregory!

Other of our English classes are reading Book Thief, Of Mice and Men , Frankenstein, 1941, Farenheit 451.

The Help isn't a Philipa Gregory book....

The Book Thief is fabulous, one of my all time favorites.

I finished Two Old Women by Velma Wallis today - a short but powerful read. Is based on an Alaskan legend.

Interesting discussions - (and loads of books mentioned that I've not read, or even heard of).

Our different tastes just show you can't reduce either women writers or women readers to a stereotype.

#61 I love the idea of locking up writers of one kind of fiction/character with some strong examples of very different kinds of characters.

#56 Hope you enjoy The Children's Book when you get to it - if you liked Possession you probably will.

I haven't read any Heyer for years - I remember a fun light read.

I just finished How to Escape from a Leper Colony, a collection of short stories and a "novella" (or was it just a long short story?) by Tipahne Yanique, a young writer from the Virgin Islands.

#64 NancyMck I have some books you might like, not by a women but about them, all by Philip Pullman. His Dark Materials trilogy: The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass, lots of adventure. His Sally Lockhart series has adventure plus romance: The Ruby in the Smoke, The Shadow in the North, The Tiger in the Well and The Tin Princess.

The Mists of Avalon is another I'd recommend, Nancy, by Marion Zimmer Bradley. The tale of King Arthur told from the women's point of view. Well written.

Oh yes, NancyMck, you'll love The Mists of Avalon. Just reading the title makes me want to re read it.

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll put them on my list. I know that The Help is not written by Phillipa. Once again I left out a word! I meant "And I love Phillipa Gregory. It was late when I was writing that one.

Our different tastes just show you can't reduce either women writers or women readers to a stereotype.

Quoted for truth. :)

I'm finally finishing up Fatima Mernissi's The Forgotten Queens of Islam and am about halfway through Asperger Syndrome: A Love Story, by Sarah Hendrickx (both nonfiction). After those are finished, I may, at last, read Points of the Compass, the small collection of short stories by Sahar Tawfiq. (I'd tried it earlier but detoured into other books.)

I've just started Women In The Wall, a novel set in a nunnery in 6th-century Gaul, although much more vivid and lively than that description makes it sound!

>76 wandering_star: That's intriguing! Will look for your post-reading comments.

Half Broken Things by Morag Joss. Picked it up at the library and can't put it down. Similar in style to Ruth Rendell.

I just started a re read of Water For Elephants for book club this month. I remember liking it very much, so am really looking forward to it.

Finished Heyer's Cotillion - thought it was good fun, although it did take me a while to wrap my head around the language, dash it all!

And then polished off We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. Good stuff.

Continuing the run of non-serious stuff, but do have my eye on West with the Night by Beryl Markham which I scrounged from the library on the weekend.

Finished The Beacon by Susan Hill and now I'm reading Dark Places by Kate Grenville, which is an absorbing read.

I'm reading Women and Writing, which is a collection of essays by Virginia Woolf.

I started Sarah Hall's Haweswater last night and am absolutely mesmerized by its descriptive prose. I'm overdue for a really good read, and I think this might be one.

I've just finished Elizabeth Bowen's The Last September. I feel like I've said this in about 3 places already, but I have to say it again - I wanted to love it but I really did not enjoy it! But several LT friends LOVED this book. I love that about this site.

My big problem was that I didn't like any of the characters - to start with, I loved Bowen's writing and still think she described Ireland in the 1920s beautifully. So one day I might try another of her novels, but it won't be for a while.

#76 wandering_star, I'm really looking forward to your comments on Women on the Wall because I brought it over here with me. (And I saw that you loved The Last September!)

I read Outlander in 2008 and enjoyed it - it was a good, fast read and I liked Claire. But I took forever to read the second book, and by the 3rd it felt all a bit the same - Claire finds Jamie, they have raunchy sex yet again, Jamie and Claire are in mortal peril, there is some time travel, and they will somehow make it through. If the books were half the length I might keep going, but I have given up on them.

#60 Jill, I'm giggling at your comment about which Team you were on. I haven't read Twilight but will probably make myself before my 3 year old wants to read it. That gives me a good few years to get up the motivation. I am a HUGE HP fan though.

It is really nice to see lots of new members posting in this group!

#84, I've finished it and will review soon! In a nutshell, very good, but sometimes tough going because of the subject matter.

ETA: review now up, here.

#84, 85 - I read women in the wall by O'Faolain many, many years ago (late 1980s/early 90s roughly) and had forgotten all about it until you mentioned it. I think I enjoyed it, can't remember any of the plot details but it has left a general impression of the challenges and opportunities Christianity offered women in a violent age where expressions of faith were themselves often extreme and violent. I was studying aspects of early medieval life including monasticism at the time, so was not unfamiliar with the general historical period, but it certainly gave a different perspective from some of the non fiction.

I have a feeling that I picked up the book through a Christian women's resource centre/library at which I was volunteering at the time, where I was first introduced to some pretty radical and exciting writing and thinking about women and religion.

Edited because the touchstone keeps disappearing, or reverting to the wrong book - hope it is right this time... Still wrong, have put the author in now to clarify in case it wont work third time.

I'm reading Maria McCann's The Wilding which just appeared on the Orange Prize longlist. I was cleaning yesterday evening, saw the book and thought I might just read the first page. It was the end of my cleaning. It's wonderfully enjoyable. I also had enjoyed her first book, As Meat Loves Salt, years ago (so this second book has been a long time coming).

Discussion on this board last month or so about Barbara Pym inspired me. I had read Pym in the late 80's (or maybe early 90's - last century anyway), but nothing in a long time except An Academic Question, which was not too good. So, this was like running into an old acquaintance, and after a couple minutes thinking "Why haven't I called this person to go places, to have dinner, or just to hang out??" Now I have read An Unsuitable Attachment and an rereading Jane and Prudence. What a pleasure!

I too have not read any Pym since about the same time, and can't even remember what I did read back then (it might have been Jane and Prudence, the name is familiar). Another one to look out for and add to the growing list of tbrs!

88, 89> My favorite Pym so far is No Fond Return of Love. I have them all but have been spreading them out to savor the experience.

I finished my re read of Water for Elephants. What a wonderful book! For a while I was wondering why a woman would write a book with a male main character, then it occurred to me. The main character "accidentally" joins a circus. He ends up being roommates with a strange man and getting involved in a love triangle. He gets beaten up several times, drinks a lot, cares for animals of all sizes, and frequently worries he might be killed, but he never has to worry that he will be raped. A woman could have done everything he does in the story, but the fear of rape would always have been with her. Of course, this story was set during the Great Depression, now, I guess, even men worry about rape.

I'm reading The Forest of Souls by Carla Banks (she also writes under her real name Danuta Reah). So far, Forrest of Souls is as good any of her books under Reah, therefore, I'm enjoying it immensely. I prefer women mystery writers with female protagonist. However, it seems most women writers of mystery seem to have male leads - Or is that just my imagination. Anyway, I'm always looking for good female mystery writers - especially from the UK.

I'm about to start The Fortunes of War by Olivia Manning -- I'm taking it on a long airplane trip tomorrow.

I just finished Alice Munro's Too Much Happiness, which I loved. I started The Elegance of the Hedgehog, but couldn't stand it, so I've moved on to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society.

#94 Enjoy your trip to Guernsey; I had the same reaction to Hedgehog - it's good to know I'm not entirely alone.

I started the new Deanna Raybourn, The Dead Travel Fast but it's easy to put down so far. Here's hoping we meld a bit better....

#93 I enjoyed The Fortunes of War years and years ago and am interested in hearing a more contemporary reaction. Let me know how you like it. Sounds perfect for a long trip.

Today I'm starting my ER book , The Season Of Second Chances .

I am reading The Moth Diaries by Rachel Klein and loving it so far. I have a weakness for boarding school stories and this one has a wonderfully gothic feel with a character who may be a vampire or this belief could a symptom of the young diarist's disturbed mind. It's the ambiguity I'm particularly enjoying and am hoping it doesn't become more explicit and "Rochelle Mead" later on. There are shades of Sheridan Le Fanu about it which I think is deliberate!

94, 95> Ditto on The Elegance of the Hedgehog. I got about a third of the way through before I gave up on it. I hated the pretentious main characters and didn't care what happened to them.

I decided to re-read old favorites, so I'm in the world of Melrose Plant and Richard Jury in Martha Grimes' first Jury novel, The Man with a Load of Mischief.

Somewhere along the way I stopped reading the series, so I'll see how far it holds my interest this time.

The new Deanna Raybourn, The Dead Travel Fast put me to sleep. It wasn't interesting enough to finish.

I just started The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy, which I am teaching in a course.

Just finished Women Hollering Creek: and Other Stories by Sandra Cisneros. As always, I laughed, cried--

Reading an ARC - The Lotus Eaters - by Tatjana Soli about a photographer in Vietnam during the war. So far - meh.

I just started Noah's Compass by Anne Tyler. Easy and enjoyable reading so far, but again I'm wondering why a woman would write a male main character. Maybe it will become clear to me as I get further into the book.

#103 "again I'm wondering why a woman would write a male main character. Maybe it will become clear to me as I get further into the book."

Thought provoking observation.

Would you care to explain your reservations? (I promise not to argue with your reasons; I'm just curious.)

I think it's mostly a political thing. There are so many male strong, active main characters that I think we need more women: not support women or loving partners but women who move the plot along and make us think. When I read women characters written by men I can't help thinking "What does he know about being a woman?" except for Wally Lamb, of course. How'd he get that one right? And that's the second reason. I know writers now don't think you should write what you know but where your heart or talent or interests take you. I just have a hard time thinking we can know another gender so well we can write from his/her perspective. So far I have to say Anne Tyler's Liam Pennywell is pretty believable.

dianaleez feel free to argue, not that I'm any good at arguing, but I'd like to see your perspective.

#105 No, no agrument. I was just curious.

I spent a fair amount of time studying and teaching lit, and it's always interesting to see how people approach fiction.

The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt. Not long into it and already loving it.

Paola, I loved it, too!

I just finished Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, which was quite delightful--very witty with great characters. I started my first Angela Thirkell, Before Lunch.

Haweswater was excellent ... highly recommended!! Now excuse me while I read a guy book for a bit. Back soon.

I am reading The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood. I have been pretty disoriented during the early chapters, but now I am starting to get involved in the book.

This is my second Atwood. The first was The Handmaid's Tale, which I loved!

k4k

Am I the only one who has never heard of 99% of the books you all are reading? I am impressed with the variety of the books being read out there! I need to get busy and catch up! My sister just asked for a book recommendation so I sent her to this website. Lots of good recommendations listed here.

Nancy, LT and this group are both wonderful for new recommendations - I hope your sister likes it too.

I've just started Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain and am loving it.

I am meant to be reading Burnt Shadows for a book group, but finding it slow to get into (there seems to be a lack of commas where I would expect them, making the sentences a bit long and vague - or maybe I'm just reading too late at night!).

As a diversion, read The Stolen Lake by Joan Aiken - she was a childhood favourite and I've just discovered through this site that she wrote quite a few more that I was not aware of. This was a quick read, and a page-turning adventure with the lively, down to earth heroine Dido Twite.

@110 Hope you enjoy The Blind Assasssin - I did, I like the story within the story and the gradual piecing together of past and present...

@107 I did enjoy The Children's Book too, though found it in some places too heavy on the historical context so that it read more like a history that a novel in those places - but great when she stuck to the characters and let that kind of detail emerge directly from their lives and experiences.

#113 genny, I really enjoyed Burnt Shadows last year - hope you get into it soon!

>111 NancyMcK:

Nancy, I agree. I haven't heard of the vast majority of these books. I wonder where most people get their information about new authors to read? I guess that would be a subject of another thread...

>113 gennyt:

Wow, amazing to think that all the threads in Blind Assassin ARE going to come together.

#114 Thanks Cushla, I will persevere when I am feeling more alert! The book group meeting is another month away so I have time...

Oh, and Testament of Youth was a significant read for me in my early 20s. I had never seen the point of feminism in my teens, because it was 'perfectly obvious to me that women were as good as, if not better than, men, so what was all the fuss about?' Reading the account of her struggle to get a university education made me really take on board how much women had had to fight for the things I now took for granted in terms of equal rights and opportunities (and the struggle is not all over of course).

I just finished reading Women and Writing by Virginia Woolf, which I think was an excellent collection of essays, and a must-read for anyone who is interested in women and writing.

I read the wonderful The Balkan Trilogy by Olivia Manning while on a trip and have just ordered her connected trilogy, The Levant Trilogy. I'll soon be organizing my thoughts about it and posting it on my reading thread.

I gave up on my guy book and picked up a nonfiction chunkster, A History of Their Own, Vol I which covers the history of women in Europe. I picked this up at a book sale a while back. Published in the late 1980s, it has a certain feminist tone that reminds me of that time period, but not in a bad way.

I have several books going right now, but the one that's most compelling is The Age of Oprah: Cultural Icon for the Neoliberal Age, by Janice Peck. It's more of a commentary about media, culture, psychology and society than about Oprah herself. Fascinating stuff.

Since Oprah became spokeswoman for The Secret and its assurance that you can control the universe I've pretty much lost interest in her, though in her case I have to agree, she has lots of control in her own universe.

Today I'm starting The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery, which seems to be a love it or hate it kind of book. I'm hoping it will be the former for me.

I read and reviewed The Lotus Eaters this week - excellent debut novel.

Now I'm reading a nonfiction by Rebecca Skloot, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, which has received much acclaim and is proving worthy of it!

121> Put me in the "hated it" camp. In memory, I never read such mean, self-absorbed, unlikeable characters. I just wanted them both to off themselves and get it over with.

Just finished The Girl Who Fell from the Sky by Heidi Durrow, an interracial coming-of-age novel(la). I highly recommend it, although I do think the ending could have been perhaps a bit more conclusive.

I also just finished Holly Black's short-story collection, The Poison Eaters. It's nice to see her back into YA urban fantasy after her time-out on Spiderwick stories.

Not sure where I'm going from here, although I do have Gail Godwin's Unfinished Desires near the top of my TBR piles.

I've also got A.S.Byatt's The Children's Book on my Kindle and in unabridged audiobook reading by Rosalyn Landor. It's actually the audiobook that's gotten me interested in Byatt, because Landor (who's now pretty much working in audiobook readings, not acting) played Helen Burns in the 1970 York-Scott TV adaptation of Jane Eyre (IMDb). she was an excellent Helen (my favorite literary supporting character), although I'm not at all a fan of that particular adaptation.

Also on tap, Katharine Beutner's Alcestis and Paula Reed's Hester.

I have just started on Cross Bones by Kathy Reichs

Have finished two JCO novellas - First Love and Black Water, both were good in their own ways. As it happens, I will probably read some man books next...

121 - Since Oprah became spokeswoman for The Secret and its assurance that you can control the universe I've pretty much lost interest in her, though in her case I have to agree, she has lots of control in her own universe.

Yes, that really was the icing on the cake, wasn't it! She certainly had lots of new agey-new thought before it, but that one really made me a little ill.

Nickelini, have you read Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America by Barbara Ehrenreich? I think that power of positive thinking stuff has had its day, time to move on to reality.

I have Brightsided (thanks to a certain wonderful person on LT), but haven't had a chance to read it yet. It's high on my list when I'm finished with school. I've definitely thought about it while reading the Oprah book.

I just started listening to an audiobook of Krik? Krak! by Edwidge Danticat, short stories about Haiti. I thought it would be depressing, and so far so right. The first story is about a young man who flees Haiti on a boat and the young woman who loves him and stays behind with her mother and abusive father while the macoutes are terrorizing the country. Pretty strong stuff.

Danticat is an amazing writer, isn't she? I have that one on my shelf to read, soon. Also want to read Brother I'm Dying.

Well, I was kind of torn about Danticat. I didn't like Breath, Eyes, Memory much when I read it years ago. You know the phrase "my mother drunk or sober" as in "my country right or wrong"? I'm not a big fan of that. One reason I hated The Great Santini was that we were supposed to know that the dad really loved the son even though he was a tyrant. I didn't know that. I feel that love that isn't shown isn't love. The mother's whole virginal verification thing in Breath, Eyes, Memory was just too much for me. Then I read Brother I'm Dying and liked it, but even without the intervening book I would have read Krik Krak because of what's going on in Hati. So far I like it, just as long as there aren't any crazy mothers, please.

I guess I'm not a big Danticot fan. I've read two of her books, Breath, Eyes, Memory and The Dew Breaker. Both got huge PR, many awards, and positive critical reception, but were just OK by me.

Cariola, we agree yet again. The Danticat book I read was The Farming of Bones, which I had really looked forward to but was disappointed in. Someone gave me Breath, Eyes, Memory but I've buried it in the depths of Mnt TBR.

I have several books going right now, but the only fiction girlybook is Love of a Good Woman by Alice Munro.

128 - I think that power of positive thinking stuff has had its day, time to move on to reality.

I think you're right, although it seems to be the sort of philosophy that crops up periodically (like The Power of Positive Thinking from the 50s). Anyway, I finished the Age of Oprah, which was surprisingly good. My review is here: http://www.librarything.com/work/4678158/reviews/57534335

Good review, Nickelini. We seem to be kindred spirits. I may have to add Age of Oprah to my tbr pile which just grows and grows and grows.

#133, 134: I agree - I've read The Farming Of Bones and Krik, Krak and thought both were OK, but not much more.

I've just started my latest ER book, Beside The Sea.

>128 Citizenjoyce:, 129 Now that you mention it, it is interesting that Ehrenreich didn't bring Oprah into her discussion, although perhaps she didn't fit so easily into how her book was organized or perhaps she just chose not to go there. I definitely prefer measured optimism with - as Ehrenreich avocates - a "healthy skepticism" and a "vigilant realism."

>136 Nickelini: I read your review over on Club Read and it is indeed a great review!

139 - Thanks, Lois.

I wonder if Ehrenreich didn't bring Oprah into her discussion because she didn't want to "take on" the power that is Oprah? Or perhaps she was even hoping for a guest appearance on her show? (Although after reading The Age of Oprah, I don't think I'd want to be a guest expert on her show--it sounds like a very frustrating experience). Anyway, I did see Ehrenreich on Jon Stewart, who of course has a healthy degree of skepticism.

I'm pretty sure Ehrenreich did mention Oprah in her book; however it was a library read so I don't have it here to check.

Just about finished with Shadow Tag by Louise Erdrich. Talk about a toxic relationship. Anyone else read it? Thoughts?

>141 Citizenjoyce: hm, I don't remember it, but Nickelini can tell us after she reads the book.

I'm starting a re-read of Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson.

143 I don't remember it, but Nickelini can tell us after she reads the book.

Will do! It's high on the list once all my school work is over.

I just noticed that I have been delinquent in posting my female author readings for the month of March, probably due to the predominant male authors that have taken my attention.

I started the month off reading Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf - This was my first Woolf and I thank the GR on LT for helping me to tentatively stick my toe into Woolf's works. The 'stream of consciousness' approach of the book was easy to follow and it covered a lot of ground for one day! I am open to suggestions anyone may have for another Woolf book.

I read The Ministry of Pain - I am not up on the authors of the former Yugoslavia or their works so I liked the fact that snippets of works were included in the story. Oh, and as for the story, it focuses on a group of emigrants/ refugees of the former Yugoslavia residing in Amsterdam attending, of all things, a university course on the literature of their politically war ravaged former homelands. A fascinating, and a times brutal examination of how adrift nation-less people feel and how they try to cope with having no home to identify with.

I am now reading Grace Hammer by Sara Stockbridge. Don't think I will have the time for any other books for this month.

I am open to suggestions anyone may have for another Woolf book.

You came to the right place! Of her novels, my favourite is To the Lighthouse. If you want to try her non-fiction, I highly recommend A Room of One's Own (although she makes up a narrator and a little story for it, so it's not entirely non-fiction). Also, don't forget her short stories, which are fabulous.

Nickelini,

Thanks for the Woolf suggestions! I read Mrs. Dalloway and really enjoyed it, but have been intimidated from beginning other works. I just downloaded a free sample of To the Lighthouse to my kindle.

As for Blind Assassin, I just finished it, enjoyed it, but I gotta talk! Maybe I will start a thread (with a spoiler alert) on Book talk.

k4k

For the Mrs Dalloway fans out there, The Hours by Michael Cunningham is a must-read. They play off each other beautifully.

>148 krazy4katz: Do start another thread - I'd be interested to hear what you thought of Blind Assasin.

Just started reading The Mists of Avalon by Marion Bradley. So far so good. Arthur a young boy being taken care of by his sister.

>151 NancyMcK:: oooh, loved that book -- it hit me at a very formative time in my life. I found the retelling from a woman's perspective to be so powerful! Enjoy.

I'd think The Mists of Avalon is one of the most influencial novels for women in that it makes them start thinking of herstory, not just history. I loved it when I read it years ago.

Have never read the Mists of Avalon though I read a great deal of Arthurian retellings in my younger years especially - must get around to this one some day...

>150 gennyt: I will start a thread. Thanks! I posted a review, but not sure how to link to it. I think it is the latest review on the Blind Assassin main page.

>149 Nickelini: Yes! I really liked The Hours after reading Mrs. Dalloway.

k4k

To the Lighthouse and The Hours have both been added to the TBR pile - Thanks Nickelini!

Yes, by all means, read The Hours, then read Mrs. Dalloway again! Then read The Hours.... Oh! Then watch the movie, The Hours.

I just started Margaret Drabble's The Red Queen.

The reviews seem to be all over the place, so it will be interesting to see how it goes.

I've seen the movie adaptation of The Hours but am yet to read either that or Mrs Dalloway! Both are pretty high on Mt TBR though...

I also recommend A Room of One's Own even though I read it simply years ago now. Probably due for a re-read soon!

157Yes, by all means, read The Hours, then read Mrs. Dalloway again! Then read The Hours.... Oh! Then watch the movie, The Hours.

Yes, yes, and yes! I totally agree, Terri. Sometimes I just take a short cut and watch the movie, though. It's turned into one of my top 5 favs--the more I watch it, the more I find in it.

I know it has not been two months yet but I'm still waiting on my January book! Argh! February hasn't shown up either! Frustrating!

Nancy, are you referring to Early Reviewer books? If so, they are often notoriously late.

I keep hearing that but it is hard to believe it really takes this long! I try to be patient. Thanks for the info.

Nancy, it's also possible that sometimes they just don't come for one reason or another. How frustrating! Why don't you check out the Early Reviewer board and see if others got theirs?

My ARC copy of Jennifer Lee Carrell's Haunt Me Still came yesterday from Amazon, so, since I've been waiting for this one since I finished her last, Interred with Their Bones, I've cheated and moved on to it.

But it's having to compete with 'Nurse Jackie' on disc - too many good things to do at once? Yeah!

Nancy, one book never arrived, but another came about three months late. Hang in there! Are you posting on the Early Review thread for January books received? Sometimes the LT staff will intervene if a book doesn't seem to have been mailed.

#164 Ah, Nurse Jackie, best new show on TV. I'm so glad the season started again.