READING WOMEN CHALLENGE - 2018
As always, I'll be participating in a wide variety of readathons and reading challenges this year. The overarching theme of my reading in 2018 will be to buy and read books by women / POC / LGBTQ+ authors and do my small part of amplifying voices that have been marginalized for too long. The Reading Women Challenge provides an excellent framework for a year of empowering and informative reading.
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1. A book by a woman in translation (bonus if also translated by a woman)
Human Acts by Han Kang (Historical fiction centered around atrocities committed during a student uprising-turned massacre in Gwangju, South Korea in 1980 and its aftermath. Not of the faint of heart.) ☆☆☆☆
2. A fantasy novel written by a woman of color
The Library of Fates by Aditi Khorana (Indian mythology and a lush, vibrant setting. ) ☆☆☆☆
3. A book set in the American South
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (Lush, lyrical writing about a woman of color on a hero's journey of self-discovery.) ☆☆☆☆⭒
4. A short story collection
Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado (Genre-defying collection of feminist stories about women's relationships with our bodies. Like Margaret Atwood, but with way more queer sex.) ☆☆☆☆
5. A graphic novel or memoir
Are You My Mother? A Comic Drama by Alison Bechdel (The author/illustrator explores her relationship with her artistic, intelligent mother--a companion to Fun Home, which is about her father.) ☆☆☆☆
6. A book published by an independent press
The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante (A woman spirals into madness after her husband leaves her for a younger woman.) ☆☆⭒
7. A book set in Russia or by a Russian author
The Womanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexievich (Hundreds of Soviet women who served during WWII--some of them in support jobs like nurse and laundress, and some in positions usually held by men, like pilot and sniper--recount their memories.) ☆☆☆
8. A book with an immigrant or a refugee viewpoint character
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (A beautifully written love story from and immigrant perspective, filled with perceptive observations about race and culture.) ☆☆☆☆
9. A book by an Australian or a Canadian author
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (An all-too-real dystopian future in which religious zealots have taken over the US.) ☆☆☆☆☆
10. An essay collection
Shrill by Lindy West (West takes on the big issues faced by women in a culture that devalues our worth and she does it with candor, wit, and intelligence.) ☆☆☆☆☆
11. A book about someone with a chronic illness
Still Alice by Lisa Genova (A brilliant Harvard professor notices that she's becoming forgetful and disoriented and gets diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's. Prepare for a five-alarm snot-bomb. Julianne Moore is fantastic in the movie adaptation.) ☆☆☆☆
12. A true crime book
The Fact of a Body: A Murder and a Memoir by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich (ALL THE TRIGGER WARNINGS. As an idealistic young lawyer, the author is forced to confront her own traumatic memories of childhood sexual abuse as she reviews the case of a child molester/murderer. I was riveted.) ☆☆☆☆☆
13. A book by an African American woman about Civil Rights
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander (A compelling analysis of the way mass incarceration has decimated African-American communities.) ☆☆☆☆
14. A classic novel written by a woman (bonus points if not Austen or a Brontë)
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (A classic gothic novel that is still relentlessly creepy. Maxim de Winter is a widower who takes his second wife home to his estate, where she is constantly under the shadow of the first Mrs. de Winter. Is the house haunted by the dead woman's ghost? Is Maxim a murderer? If you don't know, read this marvelous book to find out.) ☆☆☆☆✩
15. A poetry collection
16. A book where the characters are traveling somewhere
The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett (When her husband dies suddenly, Sabine finds out that he had lied about his family dying in an accident. Lovely writing. My only complaint is the abrupt ending.) ☆☆☆☆
17. A book with a food item in the title
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See (Well-researched historical fiction about an isolated tribe and China's tea trade.) ☆☆☆☆⭒
18. A book written by a female Nobel Prize winner
Beethoven Was One-Sixteenth Black and Other Stories by Nadine Gordimer (A slightly uneven collection of stories about the legacy of Apartheid, love, loss, racism, sexuality, memory, and the inner life of a tapeworm.) ☆☆☆
19. A book from the Reading Woman Award 2017 shortlists
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee (An engrossing family saga that follows a Korean family through four generations.) ☆☆☆☆
20. A memoir by someone who lives in a country different from yours
In Other Words / In Altre Parole by Jhumpa Lahiri (Her memoir about her love affair with the Italian language and her search for identity and belonging.) ☆☆☆☆
21. A book inspired by a fairytale
Uprooted by Naomi Novik (A must-read for fantasy lovers. Dragon, the wizard tasked with protecting the kingdom from the malevolent and magical Wood, takes a village girl every ten years. Agnieszka is prepared for her best friend to be taken, but soon finds things getting way worse than she could have imagined. Inventive and magical.) ☆☆☆☆☆
22. A book by a local author or recommended by your local bookstore
23. The book that has been on your TBR the longest
The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett (Pregnant and dissatisfied with her marriage, Rose abandons her husband and ends up at St. Elizabeth's Home for Unwed Mothers, where she plans to give up her baby. Then life happens--things change and things stay the same. I loved this beautiful book, right up until the unsatisfying ending.) ☆☆☆
24. A book in a genre you have never read
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (Speculative Fiction set in a future destroyed by out-of-control bioengineering and corporate greed.) ☆☆☆☆
BONUS
25. A book by Virginia Woolf
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf (The story of a family's life, told in two parts--before and after Mrs. Ramsay's death. I see why this book is so beloved, but the stream of consciousness writing is not my cup of tea.) ☆☆☆
26. A book by Flannery O'Connor
Everything That Rises Must Converge by Flannery O'Connor (A beautifully written collection that takes on race, class, and morality--with a large dollop of irony.)
Human Acts by Han Kang (Historical fiction centered around atrocities committed during a student uprising-turned massacre in Gwangju, South Korea in 1980 and its aftermath. Not of the faint of heart.) ☆☆☆☆
2. A fantasy novel written by a woman of color
The Library of Fates by Aditi Khorana (Indian mythology and a lush, vibrant setting. ) ☆☆☆☆
3. A book set in the American South
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (Lush, lyrical writing about a woman of color on a hero's journey of self-discovery.) ☆☆☆☆⭒
4. A short story collection
Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado (Genre-defying collection of feminist stories about women's relationships with our bodies. Like Margaret Atwood, but with way more queer sex.) ☆☆☆☆
5. A graphic novel or memoir
Are You My Mother? A Comic Drama by Alison Bechdel (The author/illustrator explores her relationship with her artistic, intelligent mother--a companion to Fun Home, which is about her father.) ☆☆☆☆
6. A book published by an independent press
The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante (A woman spirals into madness after her husband leaves her for a younger woman.) ☆☆⭒
7. A book set in Russia or by a Russian author
The Womanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexievich (Hundreds of Soviet women who served during WWII--some of them in support jobs like nurse and laundress, and some in positions usually held by men, like pilot and sniper--recount their memories.) ☆☆☆
8. A book with an immigrant or a refugee viewpoint character
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (A beautifully written love story from and immigrant perspective, filled with perceptive observations about race and culture.) ☆☆☆☆
9. A book by an Australian or a Canadian author
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (An all-too-real dystopian future in which religious zealots have taken over the US.) ☆☆☆☆☆
10. An essay collection
Shrill by Lindy West (West takes on the big issues faced by women in a culture that devalues our worth and she does it with candor, wit, and intelligence.) ☆☆☆☆☆
11. A book about someone with a chronic illness
Still Alice by Lisa Genova (A brilliant Harvard professor notices that she's becoming forgetful and disoriented and gets diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's. Prepare for a five-alarm snot-bomb. Julianne Moore is fantastic in the movie adaptation.) ☆☆☆☆
12. A true crime book
The Fact of a Body: A Murder and a Memoir by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich (ALL THE TRIGGER WARNINGS. As an idealistic young lawyer, the author is forced to confront her own traumatic memories of childhood sexual abuse as she reviews the case of a child molester/murderer. I was riveted.) ☆☆☆☆☆
13. A book by an African American woman about Civil Rights
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander (A compelling analysis of the way mass incarceration has decimated African-American communities.) ☆☆☆☆
14. A classic novel written by a woman (bonus points if not Austen or a Brontë)
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (A classic gothic novel that is still relentlessly creepy. Maxim de Winter is a widower who takes his second wife home to his estate, where she is constantly under the shadow of the first Mrs. de Winter. Is the house haunted by the dead woman's ghost? Is Maxim a murderer? If you don't know, read this marvelous book to find out.) ☆☆☆☆✩
15. A poetry collection
16. A book where the characters are traveling somewhere
The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett (When her husband dies suddenly, Sabine finds out that he had lied about his family dying in an accident. Lovely writing. My only complaint is the abrupt ending.) ☆☆☆☆
17. A book with a food item in the title
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See (Well-researched historical fiction about an isolated tribe and China's tea trade.) ☆☆☆☆⭒
18. A book written by a female Nobel Prize winner
Beethoven Was One-Sixteenth Black and Other Stories by Nadine Gordimer (A slightly uneven collection of stories about the legacy of Apartheid, love, loss, racism, sexuality, memory, and the inner life of a tapeworm.) ☆☆☆
19. A book from the Reading Woman Award 2017 shortlists
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee (An engrossing family saga that follows a Korean family through four generations.) ☆☆☆☆
20. A memoir by someone who lives in a country different from yours
In Other Words / In Altre Parole by Jhumpa Lahiri (Her memoir about her love affair with the Italian language and her search for identity and belonging.) ☆☆☆☆
21. A book inspired by a fairytale
Uprooted by Naomi Novik (A must-read for fantasy lovers. Dragon, the wizard tasked with protecting the kingdom from the malevolent and magical Wood, takes a village girl every ten years. Agnieszka is prepared for her best friend to be taken, but soon finds things getting way worse than she could have imagined. Inventive and magical.) ☆☆☆☆☆
22. A book by a local author or recommended by your local bookstore
23. The book that has been on your TBR the longest
The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett (Pregnant and dissatisfied with her marriage, Rose abandons her husband and ends up at St. Elizabeth's Home for Unwed Mothers, where she plans to give up her baby. Then life happens--things change and things stay the same. I loved this beautiful book, right up until the unsatisfying ending.) ☆☆☆
24. A book in a genre you have never read
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (Speculative Fiction set in a future destroyed by out-of-control bioengineering and corporate greed.) ☆☆☆☆
BONUS
25. A book by Virginia Woolf
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf (The story of a family's life, told in two parts--before and after Mrs. Ramsay's death. I see why this book is so beloved, but the stream of consciousness writing is not my cup of tea.) ☆☆☆
26. A book by Flannery O'Connor
Everything That Rises Must Converge by Flannery O'Connor (A beautifully written collection that takes on race, class, and morality--with a large dollop of irony.)
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