I’m really excited about this challenge so I can read everyone’s reviews and recommendations. I have a feeling my tbr is going to get ever higher. The challenge lasts until November 2010, and more information can be found at the Women Unbound Challenge site.
There are three options:
Philogynist: read at least two books, including at least one nonfiction one.
Bluestocking: read at least five books, including at least two nonfiction ones.
Suffragette: read at least eight books, including at least three nonfiction ones.
I’m going with the Suffragette option. I’ll first list the titles I’m interested in reading for the challenge, and then I’ll give some recommendations of some great books that I think are great reads for this endeavor.
Fiction:
The Forest Lover by Susan Vreeland
The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1892)
Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1915)
The Good Women of China by Xinran (2002) (non-fiction)
Kristin Lavransdatter III: The Cross by Sigrid Undset (1922)
Expat: Women’s True Tales of Life Abroad edited by Christina Henry De Tessan (non-fiction)
A Woman of Independent Means by Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey (Amazon info)
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden (Amazon info)
Jane Austen Ruined My Life by Beth Pattillo (this is a light read, but it does examine how women’s expectations are sometimes based on the literature we read)
Publishers Weekly has released their best children’s books of 2009. I’ve only read one, Catching Fire, which I did enjoy. Boy, all of these look good. Have you read any that you highly recommend?
My list below is only the fiction titles. Nonfiction titles and picture books can be found at Publishers Weekly.
Wintergirls. Laurie Halse Anderson. (more info) Going Bovine. Libba Bray. (more info) Fire. Kristin Cashore. (more info) Catching Fire. Suzanne Collins. (more info) If I Stay. Gayle Forman. (more info) The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate. Jacqueline Kelly. (more info) Purple Heart. Patricia McCormick. (more info) The Ask and the Answer. Patrick Ness. (more info) A Season of Gifts. Richard Peck. (more info) When You Reach Me. Rebecca Stead. (more info) Shiver. Maggie Stiefvater. (more info) Marcelo in the Real World. Francisco X. Stork. (more info) Tales from Outer Suburbia. Shaun Tan. (more info) Lips Touch: Three Times. Laini Taylor, illus. by Jim Di Bartolo. (more info) The Uninvited. Tim Wynne-Jones. (more info)
(Please note: When I originally saw this list at PW, it stopped after True Compass. When I looked again at the source page on 11/3/09, the list had more titles on it. I have since added those titles.)
Hunt at the Well of Eternity by Gabriel Hunt, as told to James Reasoner
Comics
Parker: The Hunter by Darwyn Cooke and Richard Stark
Driven by Lemons by Josh Cotter
Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth by Apostolos Doxiadis and Christos H. Papadimitriou with art by Alecos Papdatos and Annie Di Donna
The Photographer: Into War-Torn Afghanistan with Doctors Without Borders by Emmanuel Guibert and Didier Lefèvre
Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli
Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe by Bryan Lee O’Malley
Footnotes in Gaza by Joe Sacco
A Drifting Life by Yoshihiro Tatsumi
You’ll Never Know: A Good and Decent Man by Carol Tyler
Pluto by Naoki Urasawa
Nonfiction
Born Round: The Secret History of a Full-Time Eater by Frank Bruni
Land of the Lost Souls: My Life on the Streets by Cadillac Man
Columbine by Dave Cullen
Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America by Barbara Ehrenreich
The Good Soldiers by David Finkel
Yes Means Yes! Visions of Female Sexual Power and a World Without Rape edited by Jaclyn Friedman and Jessica Valenti
Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford’s Forgotten Jungle City by Greg Grandin
Food for Thought, Thought for Food edited by Richard Hamilton and Vincente Todolo
Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home by Rhoda Janzen
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer
The Snakehead: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream by Patrick Radden Keefe
True Compass: A Memoir by Edward M. Kennedy
Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder
Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer
Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristoff and Sheryl WuDunn
Gabriel García Márquez by Gerald Martin
Green Metropolis by David Owen
Larry’s Kidney: Being the True Story of How I Found Myself in China with My Black Sheep Cousin and His Mail-Order Bride, Skirting the Law to Get Him a Transplant—and Save His Life by Daniel Asa Rose
Changing My Mind: Occasional Essays by Zadie Smith
Horse Soldiers: The Extraordinary Story of a Band of U.S. Soldiers Who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan by Doug Stanton
Jazz Loft Project: Photographs and Tapes of W. Eugene Smith from 821 Sixth Avenue, 1957–1965 by Sam Stephenson
Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong by Terry Teachout
Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789–1815 by Gordon S. Wood
Religion
Angry Conversations with God: A Snarky but Authentic Spiritual Memoir by Susan E. Isaacs
The Case for God by Karen Armstrong
The End of Suffering: Finding Purpose in Our Pain by Scott Cairns
Fingerprints of God: The Search for the Science of Spirituality by Barbara Bradley Hagerty
The Future of Faith by Harvey Cox
Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom
In Due Season: A Man’s Life by Paul Wilkes
Judas: A Biography by Susan Gubar
Muslims in America: A Short History by Edward E. Curtis IV
Rashi by Elie Wiesel
Lifestyle
Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy by Lidia Bastianich and Tanya Bastianich Manuali
Momofuku by David Chang and Peter Meehan
Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller
Child Care Today: Getting It Right for Everyone by Penelope Leach Gourmet Today by Ruth Reichl
Happy November! That extra hour of sleep sure felt great didn’t it? Always one of the best weekends of the year. Or did you spend the extra hour reading? I’m fairly happy with my stats this month, and I was really excited about my results for the R.I.P. Challenge. I ended up reading 22 books for it when usually I just get the minimum. Anyway for October, I read 11 books and 3900 pages. My favorite read was The Hungry Tide, and my spookiest read was Heart-Shaped Box Box. Joe Hill is really following in his father’s footsteps. If you like Stephen King, definitely read Joe Hill. My books were as follows:
Club Dead by Charlaine Harris (2003, 272 pp.)
Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris (2004, 291 pp.)
Vampire Knight Vol 1 by Matsuri Hino (2007, 208 pp.)
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (2005, 656 pp.)
As you can see, I’m SO FAR behind on my reviews, and last week I even had a post asking for questions about the books I’ve read to spur me on a bit. Thanks for all those who responded, and hopefully I’ll be getting to a few reviews this week — I’d really like to get in at least 5 or 6.
Click for more info
Have you heard about the Women Unbound Challenge? I’ll be posting my book choices for that tomorrow but would like to recommend the following fiction titles to those participating:
Jane Austen Ruined My Life by Beth Pattillo (this is a light read, but it does examine how women’s expectations are sometimes based on the literature we read)
"Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal." (John 6:27, ESV)
by Joe Hill (2007, 384 pp.)
by Suzanne Collins (2008, 274pp.)
