Read Women discussion

Carol wrote: "Michaela wrote: "Thanks Carol! I love Erdrich´s books, and read several of hers this and last year. I usually don´t get to read new books, but I bought this one and found it really good."

I need t..."

I know they´re not easy to read, and though I liked Night Watchman very well, I liked Love Medicine even more, one of a series of books about two families and their intertwined stories.

Michaela wrote: "Carol wrote: "Michaela wrote: "Thanks Carol! I love Erdrich´s books, and read several of hers this and last year. I usually don´t get to read new books, but I bought this one and found it really go..."

Thank you!

I recommend this essay published yesterday in the Washington Post, entitled, For Today's Feminist Writers, Sex Makes a Comeback. If I had time, I'd pull out all of the books discussed into individual links, but it's worth the read for top-level concepts even aside from the books and author mentions.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entert...

Thanks Carol.

I came across an article about this An American Covenant: A Story of Women, Mysticism, and the Making of Modern America and thought it sounded interesting

https://www.guernicamag.com/lucile-sc...

I've also been listening to the Los Angeles Review of Books podcast including talks with writers like Larissa Pham

https://lareviewofbooks.libsyn.com/

Recent podcast for any other Katherine Mansfield fans:

https://lithub.com/remembering-kather...?

The list of submissions for the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation 2021 is up now. There are a few titles I've read, and some I have my eye on, but quite a few that are new to me. Thought other people might like to see what's on the list:

https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/w...

Alwynne wrote: "The list of submissions for the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation 2021 is up now. There are a few titles I've read, and some I have my eye on, but quite a few that are new to me. Thought other..."

Yes, thank you!

Thanks, Alwynne!

Thanks Alwynne!

That's okay, anyone else having problems with posting reviews btw? My latest one's been stuck on Alwynne finished reading for hours, tried removing it from the feed and reposting but made no difference!

Some articles that might be interesting:

a profile of Jenny Erpenbeck
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/per...?

an interview with debut novelist Pik-Shuen Fung
https://bombmagazine.org/articles/pik...?

and an extract from her new novel Ghost Forest: A Novel
https://lithub.com/ghost-forest/?

Alwynne wrote: "That's okay, anyone else having problems with posting reviews btw? My latest one's been stuck on Alwynne finished reading for hours, tried removing it from the feed and reposting but made no differ..."

The whole feed thing seems not to be working. I looked at my profile and came across a comment you made days ago on a book I read that never appeared in my feed.

I just realised my notifications aren't working properly either, some appear, some appear as new but were made hours ago, and some aren't appearing at all but I've happened across posts/comments. Such a pain.

I got round things not posting by commenting on my own review and it added it to my feed as something I commented on, but the review's not showing up on the GR page for the book either, so the link between our reviews and those seems to be malfunctioning too.

My notifications are back but there's such a massive timelag they're completely confusing me! They're all for things that happened yesterday.

Just to say checked on 'Goodreads Help' site and they're aware that reviews are not posting properly and working on it...

Avuyile (Moderator)

12 hours ago
Hi there! Thank you for taking the time to write about this. Our developers are aware of this issue and are working on fixing it – we know how important it is to have your reviews posted on your profile updates. Feel free to reach out to support to share info: https://www.goodreads.com/about/conta...

I realize that the Booker Prize longlist is being discussed in many groups, but wanted to flag the women authors and their respective works to our members, as well. 6 of the 13 novels chosen (from 158 novels published in the UK or Ireland between 1 October 2020 and 30 September 2021), are women:

Rachel Cusk: Second Place

Karen Jennings: An Island

Mary Lawson: A Town Called Solace

Patricia Lockwood: No One Is Talking About This

Nadifa Mohamed: The Fortune Men (US release date is March 1, 2022, but US readers can order it from the UK)

Maggie Shipstead: Great Circle

The 6-book shortlist will be announced on September 14. The 2021 winner will be announced on November 3.

https://thebookerprizes.com/booker-pr...

Have you read any that you recommend? What are you most excited about seeing on this list?

Carol wrote: "I realize that the Booker Prize longlist is being discussed in many groups, but wanted to flag the women authors and their respective works to our members, as well. 7 of the 13 novels chosen (from ..."

I have read A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson and quite enjoyed it. Rated it 4 stars. Reviews seem to be mixed. It is a quiet book, in that not a lot of “typical action” is happening. However, the author did add mystery and intrigue in a stimulating character-focussed plot. I believe its success was due to the insight and writing finesse of the author. There is a universality of its story about people, their feelings and relationships.

My full review if interested:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

I am interesting in reading Second Place by Rachel Cusk, Have enjoyed a couple of her previous books.

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead but it's too long for me right now

An Island by Karen Jennings if I can access a library copy

Fyi, I could be mistaken but I don't think Francis Spufford is female.

Mj wrote: "Carol wrote: "I realize that the Booker Prize longlist is being discussed in many groups, but wanted to flag the women authors and their respective works to our members, as well. 7 of the 13 novels..."

Thanks for the call on Spufford, Mj — I failed to seek a photo.

Wanted to send a private email but unfortunately could not because you are not accepting emails.

Sometimes the photos are deceptive anyway. I believe the author of The Rainbow TroopsAndrea Hirata in another post is also male.

Fyi, I did read the book and for a debut rated it 3 stars and did some research about the author. Both his name and photo look feminine but I've read a number of comments and interviews about him that say "he."

Mj wrote: "Wanted to send a private email but unfortunately could not because you are not accepting emails.

Sometimes the photos are deceptive anyway. I believe the author of [book:The Rainbow Troops|160892..."

In England Frances is more commonly usually used for girls and then Francis for boys, if that helps.

I've been following the Twitter comments that, rightly, point out the inappropriate use of stereotyping language and demeaning descriptions of a number of the young people discussed by Kate Clanchy in her memoir about teaching Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me. Apart from the heartening apologies from organisations like Poetry Wales, I came across a post that linked to this article which is, I think, a very clear and very readable explanation of why using phrases that appear in Clanchy's book like 'chocolate-coloured skin' to describe one of her black students is so problematic:

https://writersmosaic.org.uk/wp-conte...

I've also signed up for newsletters from Bad Form Review an organisation that promotes the work of black and Asian writers, I was really heartened to read the open letter they've posted in support of the WOC who've been targeted by the far right as a direct result of their criticism of Kate Clanchy's writing. It was also great to see so many authors and critics I follow have signed it and more adding their names every day:
https://www.badformreview.com/read/yo21

Alwynne wrote: "I've also signed up for newsletters from Bad Form Review an organisation that promotes the work of black and Asian writers, I was really heartened to read the open letter they've posted in support ..."

Thanks for sharing this, Alwynne. I'm glad to know about Bad Form Review.

I think it's definitely worth signing up for the newsletter, a lot of content is closed off but articles come up directly if you search the journal on Google.

Check out Age is a Feminist Issue in the Arts, a thought-provoking article by Joanna Walsh (Twitter: @badaude). "The announcement of a new writing prize for under-35s raises questions about how age limits create barriers for women writers, says @badaude":

https://bylinetimes.com/2021/08/13/re...

If you're interested, there's also an open letter to the Women's Prize and Good Housekeeping Magazine for which she's seeking signatories (stored in a Google doc) linked from this tweet:

https://twitter.com/badaude/status/14...

Ready to expand your TBR? LitHub's Most Anticipated Book Releases for H2 2021 presents a whopping 222 books being published between July - December. Includes men. New fiction releases get a ton of marketing, IMO, but I found the non-fiction titles, in particular, to be worth digging through, and the descriptions blessedly concise and on-point.

https://lithub.com/lit-hubs-most-anti...

An interview with Michelle Zauner talking about her book Crying in H Mart

https://www.panmacmillan.com/blogs/li...

Alwynne wrote: "An interview with Michelle Zauner talking about her book Crying in H Mart

https://www.panmacmillan.com/blogs/li..."

Thank you!!

No problem Carol. Btw don't know if this kind of thing bothers anyone else but have had friend requests recently from newish accounts whose reviews seem to be plagiarised, the reviews are longer than usual, and the writing quite polished, sometimes slightly academic in tone, seemed a bit odd somehow particularly as the styles varied a lot between reviews. I checked online and the content seems to have been lifted from online essays, blogs, review sites etc. I find that annoying, seems like dressed-up spam, so if anyone else feels the same then might want to look out for that.

Alwynne wrote: "No problem Carol. Btw don't know if this kind of thing bothers anyone else but have had friend requests recently from newish accounts whose reviews seem to be plagiarised, the reviews are longer th..."

How annoying! Thanks for the heads-up.

Carol wrote: "Ready to expand your TBR? LitHub's Most Anticipated Book Releases for H2 2021 presents a whopping 222 books being published between July - December. Includes men. New fiction releases get a ton of ..."

Wow! Thanks Carol. Lots to look forward to, reading-wise. And that's important given that it looks like another autumn to stay at home.

Alwynne wrote: "No problem Carol. Btw don't know if this kind of thing bothers anyone else but have had friend requests recently from newish accounts whose reviews seem to be plagiarised, the reviews are longer th..."

Wow. That’s, of course, we all agree, offensive. But it’s also … odd. I mean, what’s the play? At least I understand the accounts pushing porn and work from home schemes, as well as author nonsense. But what possible payoff is there in plagiarized content posted free at a free site for bookworms?

I was trying to work that out, I wondered if it was related to spam accounts? It's obvious when they have no real content that they're a bit dodgy. One of the ones I got a request from obviously originated in China but that was about all that was clear. Some of the reviews were lifted from online essays but others were just strange, like sections from reviews of films of the books! Lots of them though, and all loaded on the same day, they already have over a 100 friends, so whatever the play is, it's working. Actually the mods in another group sent round a message that GR has stopped href links because of a lot of odd links being posted on comment sections recently. Maybe this is a way of making it easier to dump spam content? I've had a lot of experience of checking material for plagiarism so maybe that's why the content stood out.

Memoirs by Women Who Love to Walk

https://electricliterature.com/8-memo...

Like many of us, the pandemic has rekindled my love of walking and I thought some of these looked great.

Thanks for that Story, already have my eye on the Sethi, Andrews and Shepard but quite a few there I haven't read. Have you seen Rebecca Solnit's Wanderlust: A History of Walking you might be interested in that one too?

Oh, Alwynne, I love Solnit and was thinking about her Field Guide to Getting Lost just this morning but I haven't read Wanderlust. Thank you so much for reminding me of it!

Story wrote: "Oh, Alwynne, I love Solnit and was thinking about her Field Guide to Getting Lost just this morning but I haven't read Wanderlust. Thank you so much for reminding me of it!"

Me too! Just saw this and thought of you!

https://lithub.com/following-the-path...

And for other Maggie Nelson fans an interview with her about the new book,

https://lithub.com/maggie-nelson-on-c...

Alwynne wrote: "Story wrote: "Oh, Alwynne, I love Solnit and was thinking about her Field Guide to Getting Lost just this morning but I haven't read Wanderlust. Thank you so much for reminding me of ..."

Hey, thanks! Looks interesting...

Do we have a general queries thread? I just wondered if anyone else had the same experience? In the last week keep being offered the test format, beta, page view, and on these my recent reviews show up on the page for the book I've read. But if I switch from the test page format back to the old-style pages for books my reviews aren't visible.

Alwynne wrote: "Do we have a general queries thread? I just wondered if anyone else had the same experience? In the last week keep being offered the test format, beta, page view, and on these my recent reviews sho..."

We don’t, but feel free to create a thread where we can discuss this sort of topic.

I despise the beta. I’m not having the specific tech problem you’re having though.

I hate it too, every time it loads I rush to push the button to exit. It's much too fussy.

Alwynne wrote: "I hate it too, every time it loads I rush to push the button to exit. It's much too fussy."

Same. It’s very much like the app; low in content delivery, high in unhelpful white space and pretty-ness.

"Slow-Burn South and East Asian Thrillers" (mostly by women authors)

https://crimereads.com/in-praise-of-t...

For anyone who has access to the BBC, Salley Rooney's Beautiful World, Where Are You is read from tomorrow on BBC Radio 4 then on iplayer

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000...

This is one of those public service announcements, just to say if you have a challenge question for friend requests, there's a glitch in the GR software, so people sending a request can see the challenge question but the box for adding a reply's missing so they can't answer it. This means that any friend requests won't go through.

Thanks for letting us know :)

A friend of a friend sent me a message because their friend had tried to send a request then I tried to send a request to someone who I've been following and hit the same issue. This site is so weird at the moment. I wonder if there's some spam thing they're trying to block that's being passed in messages? I noticed I couldn't add links to outside sites again earlier. I'm reluctant to remove my challenge question partly because it explains why I don't accept requests from strangers or people I haven't been following/interacting with.

If Carmen Mola is on your TBR because you've thought she is a female author, you may want to reconsider whether you want to read her novels:

"[O]n Friday night, at a ceremony to award the 1 million euro (about $1,160,000) Planeta literary prize to [[author:Carmen Mola|17883260]] for her historical thriller “The Beast,” three men ascended the podium and claimed the award instead. .... Last year, a branch of Spain’s Women’s Institute listed Mola’s “The Girl,” a part of the trilogy, as one of the must-read books and films by women that “help us understand the reality and the experiences of women.”

Mola’s latest work, “The Beast,” is a historical thriller centered on the murder of children in Madrid during a cholera outbreak in 1834."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...