What Books By Women Are You Reading - May 2010

I'm really enjoying Like Water For Chocolate .

Still reading, and enjoying, The Children's Book by AS Byatt.

Well---in theory I'm reading the new Sharon McCrumb The Devil Amongst the Lawyers which releases in June and requires a review. But I picked up Bridge of Sighs on the bookstore sale table and am totally enthralled.

One of my other review books is by a woman, Susie Middleton from Fine Cooking magazine. Fresh Fast & Green seems to be that veggie cookbook I've always dreamed of.

And by the way, The Lady and the Poet turned out to be quite well done. So if anyone's interested in the John Donne-Ann More romance, you might want to give it a look.

We survived a weekend of flash floodinhg and tornado sirens - with one twister passing over our town but not touching down. A sunny Monday is most welcome, thank you very much.

I am currently reading crime fiction - Vanish by Tess Gerritsen. Am enjoying it :)

Right now, I'm juggling Smothered Words by Sarah Kofman and The Primal Wound by Nancy Verrier - not the most uplifting selections.

I just finished Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton, which I enjoyed much more than I expected to (due to all the negative comments about it here at LT).

Oh, I rather liked Ethan Frome. Did seem rather over-the-top melodramatic, especially the ending, but that was half its charm.

I just started Things I've Been Silent About by Azar Nafisi.

Just finished Miss Buncle's Book. What a treat!

Finished Esquivel's novel . Enjoyed most of it , but was confused by the last few chapters . I've now started The School Of Essential Ingredients .

I'm reading Runaway, a collection of short stories by Alice Munro. It's very good, some of the stories are linked.

I just started the Probable Future by Alice Hoffman.

I'm re-reading the dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin. I went through this book in a breeze, about four years ago, so this time, already knowing the story, I want to read more slowly and enjoy all the little details. She won all kinds of prizes for this one.

Just finished Elizabeth Taylor's Angel (can't find touchstone), and I'm now reading Dorothy West's The Wedding, which I'm finding fascinating.

Just starting Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto for the one-word title challenge.

Finally reading Dawn by Octavia E. Butler. I'm finding it's one of the most intelligent and imaginative stories I've read.

3> I bought The Lady and the Poet a few months ago but haven't gotten around to it yet. Have you read Conceit? If so, how does this one compare?

I am about to start Don't Cry, a short story collection by Mary Gaitskill.

I've just started The Line by Olga Grushin.

Posted this on the April thread by mistake, so reposting in the proper place:

Just started Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell, which has as its opening sentence:

"In the first place, Cranford is in possession of the Amazons; all the holders of houses above a certain rent are women."

I've just started a Virago Modern Classic, Mary Olivier by May Sinclair.

I have been reading and enjoying Italian Fever by Valerie Martin.

Just about to embark on A Mortal Curiosity by Ann Granger

I'm reading The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters. I'm somewhat disappointed in it, but am sticking with it. She repeats the same observations about the characters and setting over and over again. I'm 300 pages in and finally getting to the interesting part, I hope.

#17 Cariola, I hadn't heard of Conceit, but I read your quite well done review. I may give it a try sometime; it appears that copies are available through Amazon.

The Lady and the Poet is a love story in the true sense. Most reviewers gave it four stars, but it was a five for me. I was impressed with how well Haran's dialogue read and the honest sexual and intellectual tension between the lovers.

Though it did give me the urge to contribute to Planned Parenthood.

:)

I meant to post this on the April thread, but just got to it. Regarding Ariana Franklin and her Mistress of the Art of Death series, I read City of Shadows and loved it, but find no mention of it on her website, and I suppose no hope of a sequel. Has anyone else read it?

I have City of Shadows sitting on the TBR -- I have read the first 3 in the Mistress of the Art of Death series -- I ordered City of Shadows thinking it belonged to the series, but it seems to be about the Anna Anderson story -- maybe this summer.

I am reading Bastard Out of Carolina, which may have been recommended by this board in April -- can't quite remember, but thank you if that was the case.

#8: I will be interested to hear what you think of Things I've Been Silent About. It is on my TBR list, but I tried Reading Lolita in Tehran and couldn't get into it.

Reading "Broken Things" (no touchstone), a collection of short fiction by Padrika Tarrant.

Just finished Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls for my book club. The main character reminded me alot of my grandmother and some of her stories of her childhood, and I really enjoyed that aspect of the book. It felt like the author needed to go that far back to understand her childhood and accept her parents.

I'm starting Second Nature by Alice Hoffman tonight.

#26 I liked City of Shadows; one thing about Franklin is that she's the consumate professional; I doubt that any bad books leave her desk.

If I may be a dissenting voice: I had quibbles with Mistress of the Art of Death. I found the first half annoying anachronistic (and I read and enjoy the Amelia Peabody books, so I don't always mind anachronisms!). But the second half was a breathtakingly good thriller, and I do have the second book of the series on Mt TBR. But it was a close thing, I almost gave up reading it at one stage.

Finished The Children's Book. And when I woke up this morning, I re-read the final chapter. Good stuff.

And while I'm still absorbing the ending, I didn't particularly want to jump into any further literature that requires serious thought, so picked up Soulless to read next. Vampires, werewolves, Victorian London. Rather fun, but I did have a quibble with one character being described as having a slight Scottish accent, then on the next page he is rumoured to be Scottish (well, I thought the accent gave that one away), then on the next page he says "Aye".

I GET IT ALREADY. HE'S SCOTTISH.

And the romance kicked in on page 8. Honestly. Couldn't we just have one book with young women fighting the good fight against the denizens of the demon dimensions *without* romance? Yeesh.

But I am reading this for entertainment, and it is rather fun. One must just remember to not think of it as literature. (Over two weeks of reading A.S. Byatt has tainted me somewhat.)

Wookie, interesting that you mention The Children's Book, because I just went back to it, after a brief interruption with a couple of other books.
I am savouring it slowly and with relish, I must say. It is one of those books I wish went on forever, just like it happened when I read Possession. I guess it is Byatt's style, and perhaps the subjects she chooses.

32, 33> The Children's Book was one of my favorites last year. It's so smart on so many levels--and a great story to boot. Like you, Wookie, I found myself dissatisfied with everything I picked up for a few weeks after finishing it.

I'm trying to "skim-read" a number of books that don't need too much concentration or that I have a feeling I won't really care for, in hopes of getting my TBR shelves, stacks, bags, and drawers reduced over the summer. Last night I finished The Bronte Myth by Lucasta Miller. Today I'm working on Rereadings:Seventeen writers revisit books they love by Anne Fadiman.

Deborah - are you going to review the Bronte Myth? I've had it out of the library twice but never had time to actually read it. Am I missing anything? Want to hear your thoughts!

35> I just posted my review. I wasn't terribly impressed--gave it 3 out of 5 stars. The premise is interesting, but it covered a lot of already familier ground, and the writing style is terribly dry.

The Fadiman is a joy, however!

Thanks, I saw it! Definitely won't rush back to the library for it but if it falls in my lap I might try it.

Almost finished The Devil's brood by Sharon Kay Penman. This is the 3rd * last in her Eleanor of
Aquataine series. The 2nd. book Time and Chance was probably the best, tho they all are hard to put down. Each book is from 500 to 700 pages, but I hate to see them end. She is a writer that creates a whole world, when I put a book down, it takes a few moments to get back to reality.

Am reading two books The Lacemakers of Glenmara by Heather Barbieri - which is very worthy literature and sweet.

Then I am also reading Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs - a Paranormal Mystery which is a darn good read as well.

I'm finishing up The Journals of Susanna Moodie by Margaret Atwood and reading The Line by Olga Grushin.

I'm reading The Happiness Project: or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning by Gretchen Rubin.

I just started the Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter. Although I like the idea of the book, and it is really slim, I'm not sure that I can read it. First, the print is super tiny and I'm not sure my eyes can take it. And second, it's written in a sort of distracted, distant style that I've never been fond of. So we'll see. I'll try to give it 50 pages.

#42 We watched a dreadful little French film last night with the same philosophy - is my 20 minutes up yet?

#38 Have you tried Penman's mystery series? It's not as satisfying as the histories, much lighter, but fun.

Just started Major Pettigrew's Last Stand.

43> I loved Major Pettigrew's Last Stand; hope you do, too!

I read The Hearing Trumpet by Leonara Carrington last night. Not my cup of tea, I'm afraid; I don't care for fantasy, feminist or otherwise.

I am reading my first Penman book Here Be Dragons it's good so far but I have a long way to go.

#44 Major Pettigrew's Last Stand left me with a big smile.

Now to get back to The Devil Amongst the Lawyers which may prove to be a chore.

I finished Mary Olivier which as OK. Now I'm reading Siri Hustvedt's What I Loved. Still too early to have much of an opinion ... Also dipping into Anne Fadiman's essays in At Large and at Small, and really enjoying them.

Finished The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street yesterday. Meh.

Just started Spiderweb, as recommended by Charbutton. Good so far.

I'm reading If I Am Missing or Dead by Janine Latus, which is rather depressing altogether, but interesting and compelling.

I just started Sarah Dunant's Sacred Hearts.

It's such a delight to read a well written phrase. Go Sarah!

I'm reading a few books by guys, but have also started Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell and am surprised at how easy it is to read.

Just finished Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson, which I found delightful and surprising.

31: I enjoyed Oranges, too! (probably because it was far too reminiscent of the religion of my childhood)

@53,54>> This is a case where I really liked the television miniseries better. (Winterson, incidentally, wrote the screenplay.) Great performances by Charlotte Coleman and Geraldine McEwan. It's a three-parter, but each night's segment times in at just under an hour so it's something you can watch in one (long) sitting.

I finished If I Am Missing or Dead and moved onto some fiction--Elle Newmark's The Book of Unholy Mischief.

#17 Cariola, #24 dianaleez I've read both The Lady and the Poet and Conceit. They make a very interesting comparison, but I prefer Mary Novik's Conceit--a more original book with much more to chew on. Some real surprises. Blogger Constance Reader has some images and a comparison here: http://www.constance-reader.com/2010/05/john-donne-undone.html

Thanks! I've read Conceit and have The Lady and the Poet waiting in the wings (for as soon as I finish my ER reviews).

I've just finished Nina Bawden's Family Money, a really excellent look at family dynamics. Specifically, the story is about a widow who, after a concussion, begins to behave just slightly erratically, and how her family respond to that - although this is a real oversimplification, as every time I thought I had a handle on what the book was about, it moved onto a broader canvas.

I picked the book up in a charity shop after reading about Nina Bawden in the coverage of the 'Lost Booker' - I hadn't even realised that she wrote books for adults. I can't believe that someone with such a fine touch on social comedy and family relations is not better known.

We Viragoites are all VERY familiar with Bawden! I got a copy of Family Money just last week and am now eager to get around to it.

Oh for cryin' out loud, I've been doing all my posting on the April thread. Let me just move one post over here:

This past week I finished The Murderer's Daughters by Randy Susan Meyers and liked it very much. Meyers expertly examines the long lasting effect of domestic violence on children in this story of the surviving daughters of a "loving" father who kills their mother. The novel, by a woman who worked with violent men and their victims for 10 years explores the themes of survivor guilt, filial devotion, family devotion, and emotional manipulation. I was very interested in her take on the lack of external reward for altruism. To me she seems to say that good deeds may have good results but need to be seen as a reward in themselves. When helping people who have no emotional reserves it's reasonable to expect them not to show, or even feel, gratitude. Sad, but I think true. I read a library copy, then had to go out and buy one for a friend.

Also, I want to ask if any of you has read anything by Edith Forbes. She was mentioned on Bookwomen today and sounds fascinating, but apparently all her books are out of print.

#59 Sold me. Ordered my copy.

But someone needs to write a review here. hint hint

#60, Glad to hear it! The good news for me is that now I have many more of her books to read.

#62, I'm on it...

My reads of the moment are Joanna Trollope's rather soapy but enjoyable so far Friday Nights and Katherine Whiteside's The Way We Garden - which has the most delightful illustrations and light cheery style.

Now if Ms Whiteside would just help with the weeding.

Enjoying the dark, strange fables in Black Juice by Margo Lanagan.

Just starting Five Miles From Outer Hope by Nicola Barker

Started A Shilling for Candles by Josephine Tey this morning. Enjoying it so far!

This is about movies, not books. Do you all know the Bechdel test:

http://www.care2.com/causes/womens-rights/blog/lights-camera-action-fail-bechdel...

It's a way of judging whether a movie is truly "woman friendly". There are 3 questions:

•Does the movie have at least two named women in it?
•Do these two women talk to each other?
•Do the women talk to each other about something other than men?

It's amazing how many movies can't answer yes to the questions. I heard an interview with Alison Bechdel once in which she said the first movie she could think of that fit the questions was Aliens in which Ripley and various named women talk about how to get the monster.

Here's a list of movies going back to 1931.

http://bechdeltest.com/
It's amazing how many good ones don't fit the test.

Interesting! Thanks for sharing that, Joyce.

For Jane Fonda, at least they've got Agnes of God on that list, but no one's yet included Julia, which was my first thought! (And that was Vanessa Redgrave's Oscar, along with a nomination for J-Fo.)

Interesting that, by the third standard (talk about something other than men), Nine to Five probably doesn't qualify, though the "talk about men" is satirical. Among other J-Fo movies that you'd at first think might be included but then realize they wouldn't qualify because of the "only talk about men" standard: Coming Home (her second Oscar), On Golden Pond (Oscars for her father and Kate Hepburn and a nomination for herself), and probably Georgia Rule.

I think Nine to Five should absolutely qualify. They completely renovate the business. I added both it and Julia. Well see if they're accepted. Wow, wasn't Julia something!

And as to Julia, I forgot to include Jason Robards as an Oscar-winner (Best Supporting, for playing Dashiell Hammett). In all respect to Robards, though, and he's an actor whom I hold in the absolutely highest regard, I really thought his role in Julia was more "window dressing," though I'll have to give the movie a re-watch one of these days and maybe change my mind. I'm surprised that he won that Oscar, considering he'd already won Best Supporting the previous year in what I thought was a much meatier role as Ben Bradlee in All the President's Men.

An interesting trivia point: I'm pretty sure Vanessa Redgrave is the only winner in Oscar history for Best Supporting Actress playing a title role. My recollection is that her and J-Fo's nominations were somewhat controversial, that the studio had promoted her for the Supporting nomination so that she and J-Fo wouldn't be in competition with each other. Still, though, she had less screen-time and fewer lines than J-Fo so putting her into the Supporting category was technically legitimate.

I have a feeling that the list you posted only treats feature films as qualifying, not made-for-TV movies. If so, that's a real shame because it overlooks some great work, the two first that come to mind being If These Walls Could Talk and If These Walls Could Talk 2. I especially love the "drag king" segment of Talk 2, with Michelle Williams and Chloë Sevigny, and Demi Moore and especially Sissy Spacek both put in great performances in Talk (One).

Julia is one of my favourite movies, and I loved the story too, when I read it, a billion years ago.

Pentimento by Lillian Hellman

I just finished and reviewed My Husband Betty by Helen Boyd who has some very interesting insights into variations of sexuality. Now I'm about to start The James Tiptree Award Anthology 3: Subversive Stories about Sex and Gender edited by Karen Joy Fowler. Some of the contributors are Dorothy Allison, Eleanor Arnason, Aimee Bender, Ursula Le Guin, Vonda McIntyre and James Tiptree Jr.. Sounds good, doesn't it?

Yesterday finished According to Ruth by Jane Feaver. Mostly narrated by a sixteen-year-old girl coping with three younger siblings and her parents' disintegrating marriage. Very good.

I just got Shirley Jackson: Novels and Stories in the Library of America edition and I've started reading it straight on through. The only work of hers I'd ever read had been "The Lottery." and one story I particularly love is the quite short (just a bit over four pages) "Afternoon in Linen" about a young girl whose private writings (poetry) are invaded by adults, who read them publicly in front of one another. My understanding is that there's an autobiographical basis of some sort for this story.

On a humorous note, I had a 40%-off Borders coupon with only two days to use, and I went into a Borders to look for the Jackson LoA. I couldn't find it, and searching the kiosk told me that the only local Borders that might have it was a somewhat larger store about ten minutes away, so I asked one of the clerks to call ahead for me to see if they could reserve it.

He did, and the other store wasn't able to find it. I figured that was just tough luck and it must be sold out, because I think this is a pretty in-demand book and it's just come out. Still, I had this coupon that had to be used and this other somewhat larger Borders store was along my path of driving, so I popped into it thinking I might find something else of interest to me.

Browsing the fiction section, two copies of the Jackson LoA struck my eye so of course I bought it. But why hadn't they been able to find it? Um, it was shelved at the beginning of the "letter O" rather than with the rest of the Shirley Jackson editions. Whoever shelved it saw it was edited by Joyce Carol Oates and thought that's where it belonged!

#77 CurrerBell I get so frustrated at things like that. Good thing you decided to just browse around.

Currently reading Angela Carter's Nights at the Circus and am enjoying it.

I'm reading a highly amusing children's book, The Anybodies by N.E. Bode. I'm not sure that the author is female, but there's a read feminist slant to the book, so I suspect N.E. Bode is a she. If not, he's a very cool guy who I'd like to meet.

I'm also listening to Loitering with Intent, by Murial Spark. I've never heard of this book, but there wasn't much available to download from the library website this time, so I'm going by Spark's reputation alone on this one.

@80>> N.E. Bode definitely looks to be a woman, based on her Amazon page.

It looks like an interesting book. I was about to download it to my Kindle, but then I saw something about its having a number of drawings, so maybe I'll see if I can get hold of it in treeware.

The drawings are great actually, and adding to my enjoyment of the book. I would like to see this made into a movie with the same artist doing the art work--something about the illustrations makes me want to see them moving.

I just started Hillary Mantel's A Place of Greater Safety. So far it's riveting but eerily familiar...

Let's see - there's massive national debt, dishonest politicians, the common folks are restive, the price of bread keeps rising....hmmmm

Finished Ursula Hegi's Floating in my Mother's Palm a series of memoirs about her growing up in post-war Germany. She is the author of Stones from the River which is really good. This book contains some of the same characters.

I'm immersed in Margaret Drabble's The Sea Lady -- I do love Drabble -- I just seem to know so many of her characters, and we've grown old together....

I just went to check out The Anybodies and find it's written be Julianna Baggert (or close to that) who writes under the name of N. E. Bode for the series which includes, I think, The Somebodies and The Nobodies. Pretty clever. If you know the books, you won't forget the author.

How did you find that out? (And if the answer is "google", you can just ignore my question.)

I did a search on my local library page for The Anybodies and this is what I found:

The Anybodies
Baggott, Julianna.
New York : HarperCollins, c2004.

below that was

The Nobodies
Bode, N. E.
New York : HarperCollins Pub., c2005.

then

The Somebodies
Bode, N. E.
New York : HarperCollins, c2006.

As Julianna Baggot she's written some other YA books

The Ever Breath
Baggott, Julianna.
New York : Delacorte Press, c2009.

The Miss America family
Baggott, Julianna.
New York : Pocket Books, c2002.

The Prince of Fenway Park which I ordered for my grandson who doesn't like to read, but he loves baseball.

89- Ah ha! Caught her. Very clever, you are (I like to think it comes with the name).

Finished Don't Cry, which was stunning. I'll be thinking about these stories for weeks (or more).

I'm reading The Blind Contessa's New Machine by Carey Wallace for another website's member review program.