Read Women discussion

Liesl wrote: "I just finished Fascism: A Warning by Madeleine K. Albright. I personally enjoyed this a lot. Starting with Mussolini, it provides a great history of Fascism right up..."

I’d been on the fence about this one (not lack of interest, just too many books), but you’ve sold me. Thanks for these comments.

I finally got The Lost Gutenberg from my library and I'm enjoying it very much. It falls into that zone of being written as journalistic reportage, complete with human happenings, but also giving a lot of information along the way.

I'm also reading Mind Fixers: Psychiatry's Troubled Search for the Biology of Mental Illness. This is such a troubling book. Or I should say an excellent book on such a troubling topic. I recommend it and if you're interested in the topic but don't have time for a whole book I recommend this excellent review in The Atlantic, which is at least as much an article about the history of psychiatry as it is a book review:

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/...

Liesl wrote: "I just finished Fascism: A Warning by Madeleine K. Albright. I personally enjoyed this a lot. Starting with Mussolini, it provides a great history of Fascism right up..."

Glad to hear you found it interesting. I've had it on my TBR as well so this gives me a nudge to pick it up!

At the moment I am reading Hillary Matfess's Women and the War on Boko Haram: Wives, Weapons, Witnesses. Very interesting analysis of the role of women in the Boko Haram insurgency in northern Nigeria, moving beyond the usual narrative of treating them only as helpless victims. It is certainly a thought-provoking book, and although an academic book, I am finding it quite easy to read.

Valerie wrote: "At the moment I am reading Hillary Matfess's Women and the War on Boko Haram: Wives, Weapons, Witnesses. .."

I'm adding that to my TBR list as it sounds like a good way to educate myself on how this all began.

I finished Michelle Obama’s Becoming and am so glad I read it. And, selfishly, I miss her terribly on the public stage. Here’s a link to my brief 5-star review.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Can't wait to read that one myself Carol.
I just finished All You Can Ever Know: A Memoir by Nicole Chung which is a memoir about transnational adoption - a Korean baby adopted by white Americans. It was interesting, and covers a pretty good swath of identity topics.

Anita wrote: "Can't wait to read that one myself Carol.
I just finished All You Can Ever Know: A Memoir by Nicole Chung which is a memoir about transnational adoption - a Korean..."

This sounds like a book for me.

I finished All You Can Ever Know: A Memoir by Nicole Chung and completed my 3 books for this challenge. I have a few non fiction on hand though so I may be able to add more before time is up.

This last book is a memoir of a Korean baby adopted by white Americans and a lot of identity topics/issues are brought up here. I was personally touched by her aspect of being an Asian girl in white America, with a white parents. Although I was raised by an Asian mother, so the complexities of her upbringing are different than my own.

She also considerably navigates the emotional minefield of being adopted and how it affects many aspects of her life, throughout. I've read in other reviews that having a full length novel to read about many of these complexities has been very meaningful to other adopted people.

I gave it 3.5 stars but haven't had the time to write a thoughtful review yet.

Anita wrote: "I finished All You Can Ever Know: A Memoir by Nicole Chung and completed my 3 books for this challenge. I have a few non fiction on hand though so I may be able to..."

your comments make me want to move it up my tbr.

I’m hoping to read one more book before the month is out, but I’m late starting it since my F2F true crime/mystery book club meets to discuss it on Saturday. Anne Perry and the Murder of the Century by Peter Graham.

How is everyone doing with our challenge? With ten days left, there’s still time (depending on one’s life realities) to finish up those still-lingering books or jump into new ones. Any great reads to share?

Carol wrote: "How is everyone doing with our challenge? With ten days left, there’s still time (depending on one’s life realities) to finish up those still-lingering books or jump into new ones. Any great reads to share? ."

I'm reading both of my outstanding reads simultaneously and loving both of them.

For people interested in learning about how Existentialism evolved and the lives of the philosophers involved At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails by Sarah Bakewell is a great read. I think that Bakewell's writing style is wonderful too as she manages to make everything sound so simple. This has also been an interesting companion to my previous read by Madeline Albright as most of the history is taking place in Germany and France just prior to & during WWII.

The Darkening Age by Catherine Nixey is also a fascinating read about the destruction of Classical Culture by the followers of Christianity. Again, it has moments where I feel it is great companion read to Madeline Albright.

That is such a coincidence; I am currently reading Catherine Nixey's The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World. I am finding it very interesting and well written.

I am hoping to read one more book before the month is over: Helen McCarthy's Women of the World: The Rise of the Female Diplomat . It looks at the struggles of women to enter the diplomatic service in the UK, and their experiences as the early pioneers within the FCO.

Valerie wrote: "That is such a coincidence; I am currently reading Catherine Nixey's The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World. I am finding it very interesting and well w..."

The Darkening Age sounds very up my alley. This group is just the best.

I just realized that we as a group read Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement during this summer non-fiction challenge, so bonus. I liked it, but as far as Angela Davis goes, I think I prefer her scholarly, in depth books rather than topical essays. They were still good and I think a great kicking off point to understand what is important to her as an activist - like intersectionality as a tool, the prison industrial complex, militarization of police, and economical equality (which is her ultimate goal as a member of the communist party) amongst other things. I missed another group read of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness but will bump it up my tbr after having read this one.

Since I have time, I started An American Princess: The Many Lives of Allene Tew by Annejet van der Zijl

I have just finished The Darkening Age by Catherine Nixey. Not only is it full of fascinating history (both of the Ancient world and of Christianity's rise) but it is beautifully written. Just as an example of her wonderful style, Nixey describes the instructions that Clement of Alexandria provided on eating as "starchy and unforgiving sentences, unseasoned by even a dash of humour".

So many things in this book are thought provoking for the world that we are living in. I highly recommend it.

Liesl wrote: "I have just finished The Darkening Age by Catherine Nixey. Not only is it full of fascinating history (both of the Ancient world and of Christianity's rise) but it..."

Just under the wire for June and ... I’m adding it to my TBR post-haste.

Carol wrote: "Just under the wire for June.."

Ha!Ha! About 10 days ago I thought I was going well to finish both of the books I was reading but I went to a wedding last weekend and that was the end of several days this week. Still hoping to finish At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails by Sarah Bakewell today. Fingers crossed.

Anita wrote: "I just realized that we as a group read Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement during this summer non-fiction challenge, so bonus...."

That is true! I wasn't counting that in my non-fiction books read. Is it cheating to add it?

No way Carol, read is read and it counts! Consider it another perk of our wonderful book club - the bulking up of challenges ;)

I finished An American Princess: The Many Lives of Allene Tew by Annejet van der Zijl and gave it 3 stars. It was good, but I found myself more interested in the history she lived through than her actual role in said history. Only because of delivery though. She had her hand in many pots - we're talking American settlement, the sinking of the Titanic, Black Thursday, the fall of czarist Russia (I think she was referenced in Anna Karenina even!), World War 1 and 2, nazi Germany... she had a part or social connection to all of it. But, it never really seemed like she was ever fleshed out.

I also read Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick by Maya Dusenbery, and gave it 4 stars. It was really good but I completely recommend Tums, snacks, and aromatherapy for this one because it is infuriating. Part 2 is very enlightening on a handful of specific ailments that greatly affect women like endometriosis, fibromyalgia, migraines, chronic pain, and others, if one can get through Part 1 which is pretty rage inducing because of all the experiences of women with doctors and medicine. But also really enlightening on a couple issues like auto immune diseases and modern medicine's general evolution affecting women.

That puts me up to 5, I think, which is pretty good for a 3 month span. I still read non-fiction throughout the year, but this definitely bulked up my numbers for the year. I have The Greatest Love Story Ever Told on audiobook, so maybe 1 more...

Just finished The Unwomanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexievich - an extensive collection of firsthand oral testimonies from women who fought/served for Russia in WWII before mostly being ostracised when they returned home and deliberately expunged from the historical record. First published in the 60s, but the English translation has only been available since 2017, so I'm counting it.

That means I managed 3 books for this challenge. Not great, have been in a bit of a reading lull recently. But on the brighter side, all 7 NF books I've read so far this year have been by women, so doing well there!

Louise wrote: "Just finished The Unwomanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexievich - an extensive collection of firsthand oral testimonies from women who fought/served for Russia in WW..."

I love that book Louise! It still pops into my head and I think about those women and their experiences during and after the war. I loved just learning about their social culture from reading their hopes and wishes... I could go on and on about it, lol. I've been trying to get Zinky Boys at my library for quite some time and I'm eager to read any of her other work. Have you read any others?

Carol wrote: "Anita wrote: "I finished All You Can Ever Know: A Memoir by Nicole Chung and completed my 3 books for this challenge. I have a few non fiction on hand though so I ..."

Haha, I'm so sorry Carol, I just realized I posted that book twice here. It's been a crazy month, what can I say.

I managed to finish At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails by Sarah Bakewell and I feel like a broken record in this challenge but I thought it was a fantastic work. Bakewell has an amazing talent for explaining the works of the Existentialist philosophers, while placing their evolution in an historical context.

This work has added a large number of books to my TBR list because in addition to their philosophical works, many of these philosophers experimented with literary works that illustrated their theories. Ultimately, I would love to sit down with this book and take each chapter slowly and read all the mentioned works alongside it. One day!

Liesl wrote: "I managed to finish At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails by Sarah Bakewell and I feel like a broken record in this challenge but I thou..."

Liesl, that sounds like a great read along! I've always felt that way about Letters to Tiptree, that one day I will start a group here on Goodreads to track my read through Letters again, and read some selected works from the authors of the letters as well as the referenced Tiptree works in their letters.

I've added At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails to my tbr. Thank you for the recommendation!

It feels lovely to have enjoyed these books so much and to have been able to write so positively about them. I felt as if I had been on quite a negative streak lately as nothing was living up to my expectations.

I just happened to stumble across this group today and I have been working through this challenge without even having it set as a goal.

So from April 1 to June 30, books that would count include:

Book Love
A Really Good Brown Girl
Claudia's Cocina: A Taste of Mexico from the Winner of MasterChef Season 6 on FOX
Recipes From My Home Kitchen : Asian And American Comfort Food
Lab Girl (which I listened to and highly recommend on audio)
Lidia's Italy
Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen
Honeybee
The Sun and Her Flowers

Looks like I'm just one short of 10. Not too shabby.

Mandie wrote: "I just happened to stumble across this group today and I have been working through this challenge without even having it set as a goal.

So from April 1 to June 30, books that would count include:
..."

Much applause in your general direction, Mandie. You even read Lab Girl, which I had planned to knock out, but didn’t. Definitely not shabby.

Did you have a favorite?

Liesl wrote: "I managed to finish At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails by Sarah Bakewell and I feel like a broken record in this challenge but I thou..."

Bakewell's How to Live: A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at An Answer may be my all-time favorite non-fiction. I'm not sure why I even picked it up, since Montaigne is nowhere near my radar. I can't believe I've forgotten about her - I want to read everything she's written :)

Carol wrote: "Mandie wrote: "I just happened to stumble across this group today and I have been working through this challenge without even having it set as a goal.

So from April 1 to June 30, books that would ..."

I really enjoyed Lab Girl and that's probably due to the fact that I prefer to listen to memoirs if they are read by the author. Hope's delivery just hits your heart in some spots of the book and it was just great.

Other than that, I loved Book Love.