Women Unbound (November 2009 to November 2010)

Women Unbound is a reading challenge that runs from today through November 30, 2010. Participants are encouraged to read nonfiction and fiction books related to women's studies = "the multidisciplinary study of the social status and societal contributions of women and the relationship between power and gender."

Interested in participating? Choose one of these three levels:

* 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.

Reading two books would make me a Philogynist:

Beachcombing for a Shipwrecked God ~ by Joe Coomer, 1995, fiction.

Nine weeks after losing her husband, Charlotte escapes to a wooden motor yacht in New Hampshire, where her shipmates are an aging blue-haired widow, an emotional seventeen-year-old, and the ugliest dog in literature. A genuine bond develops among the three women, as their distinct personalities and paths cross and converge against the backdrop of emotional secrets, abuse, and the wages of old age.

We Are Our Mother's Daughters ~ by Cokie Roberts, 1998, nonfiction.

"'A woman's place is in the house... And in the senate' the T-shirts and buttons proclaim at women's political events." This first sentence got me because I used to wear this pin and probably still have it in my desk drawer. I was active in the women's movement in the 1970s, so I guess that makes me one of the mothers, huh?

I know full well I'll read more than two books about women in a year plus a month, so here are three more that would make me a Bluestocking:

The Pull of the Moon ~ by Elizabeth Berg, 1996, fiction.

"Dear Martin, I'm sorry the note I left you was so abrupt. I just wanted you to know I was safe ... I won't be back for awhile. I'm on a trip. I needed all of a sudden to go, without saying where, because I don't know where. I know this is not like me. I know that. But please believe me, I am safe and I am not crazy, I felt as though if I didn't do this I wouldn't be safe and I would be crazy ... And can you believe this? I love you. Nan"

Mrs. Man ~ by Una Stannard, 1977, nonfiction.

This book, which I read about 1980, is about women taking their husband's names. I read it not long after getting a divorce and wondering if I should use my maiden name again. ("Maiden" name? Geesh! It was my daddy's name.) Because I had three young children, I kept Jacobs (their father's name) so we'd all have the same last name. I ordered a used copy of this book in order to re-read it. I haven't been able to get it any other way.

Prodigal Summer ~ by Barbara Kingsolver, 2000, fiction.

This novel is all about connections -- or better, interconnections -- as it weaves together the lives of three women: Deanna, a reclusive wildlife biologist watching changes in the ecosystem as coyotes are reintroduced; Lusa, a bookish city girl turned farmer's wife who is recently widowed; and Nannie, an elderly woman feuding with her neighbor about God, pesticides, and the possibilities of a future neither of them expected.

I may decide to go for eight and be a Suffragette. Here are the ones I'll read, if I get this far:

The Silent Passage: Menopause ~ by Gail Sheehy, 1992, nonfiction.

"The pregnancy club is for women a joyous one -- the menopause club is one nobody wants to admit she has joined" (from the back cover). "Menopause may be the last taboo," says Sheehy, whose goal in writing this book was to "render normalcy to a normal physical process." She takes a look at things like memory loss, "embezzles bone," hormones, night sweats, postmenopausal zest, and the risk of a heart attack.

Herland ~ by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, 1915, fiction.

The book describes an isolated society composed entirely of women. They reproduce by parthenogenesis (asexual reproduction) and have an ideal society free of war, conflict, and domination. The men who find this isolated culture think they've found heaven, thinking the women will treat them royally. I re-read this one about once a decade, and it's time to read it again.

Founding Mothers ~ by Cokie Roberts, 2004, nonfiction.

"George Lucas brought his English wife and daughters to South Carolina in 1734 to claim three plantations left to him by his father. Before long, however, Lucas left for Antigua to rejoin his regiment in fighting the war against Spain, leaving his sixteen-year-old daughter in charge of all the properties, plus her ailing mother and toddler sister. ... Can you imagine a sixteen-year-old girl today being handed those responsibilities? Eliza Lucas willingly took them on."

If you are interested in reading along with us, sign up at the special Women Unbound blog set up for this 13-month challenge. Click here to read some of my thoughts about feminism.

Day to Read (January 8, 2009)

Use all or part of your blogging time to read a book, a magazine, a newspaper, anything. Soccer Mom in Denial asks us to write about "what books, magazines, newspapers mean to you. Write a couple of posts about writings that have taken you to another place. Then Thursday, January 8, 2009 turn off your computer and read. Then on Friday, January 9th, write a bit about what you read."

Here's my report of what I read that day.

Read One Book Challenge (May 1, 2008 - December 31, 2008)

Amy at My Friend Amy's blog has a challenge I discovered today. She calls is the Read One Book Challenge, which seems a bit odd for most of us bookies, but the challenge is exactly what she says it is. She reports:

"According to a survey by the National Endowment for the Arts, 53% of Americans surveyed did not read one book last year."

So that's her goal, to get us to read one book we haven't read before, which must not be a book for work-related research or a children's book we're reading to our children.

"For bonus points, spend an evening at a Barnes and Noble, Borders, or local independent bookshop browsing through books."

For some of us, it is unimaginable that anyone would pass up an opportunity to spend time in a bookstore, browsing. Given the choice of a decadent chocolate dessert or spending the same for a book, I would choose the book every time. Now I should choose the ONE book I'll read for this challenge.
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I haven't been doing challenges, so I had forgotten this was here. I read lots of books, so I'll simply add here the last book I completed: Return to Sodom and Gomorrah, by Charles R. Pellegrino. One of these days maybe I'll get around to writing a review of it.

Day to Read (January 10, 2008)

Mark it on your calendar: January 10, 2008, is a day to read. This reading challenge, conceived by Soccer Mom in Denial, should be easy for anyone who is a reader. According to Diane Gioia, the Chair of the NEA,

"The poorest Americans who read did twice as much volunteering and charity work as the richest who did not read. The habit of regular reading awakens something inside a person that makes him or her take their own life more seriously and at the same time develops the sense that other people's lives are real."

What a thought! Reading makes us aware of the humanity of others. That is awesome! So let's read on January 10th and, on the following day, blog about what we read. Read anything you like -- a book, an article, the newspaper -- then tell us about it.


Here's my report of what I read, along with other posts about this challenge on Bonnie's Books.

Banned Books (indefinite)

In honor of Banned Books Week (September 29 through October 6, 2007), I started a new reading project, to read and post about banned books. That's it. No time limit, no required number to complete, just reading any book that has ever been challenged or banned. These are some of the books I want to read or re-read:

1. Anastasia Krupnik (Series) ~ by Lois Lowry
2. Blubber ~ by Judy Blume
3. Bridge to Terabithia ~ by Katherine Paterson
4. Deenie ~ by Judy Blume
5. Earth's Children (Series) ~ by Jean M. Auel
6. Epaminondas and His Auntie ~ by Sara Cone Bryant (online)
7. The Giver ~ by Lois Lowry
8. The Handmaid's Tale ~ by Margaret Atwood
9. The Higher Power of Lucky ~ by Susan Patron
10. James and the Giant Peach ~ by Roald Dahl
11. Lady Chatterley's Lover ~ by D. H. Lawrence
12. A Light in the Attic ~ by Shel Silverstein
13. Little Black Sambo ~ by Helen Bannerman (online)
14. The Lorax ~ by Dr. Seuss
15. On My Honor ~ by Marion Dane Bauer
16. Pillars of the Earth ~ by Ken Follett
17. A Separate Peace ~ by John Knowles
18. Whale Talk ~ by Chris Crutcher
19. A Wrinkle in Time ~ by Madeleine L'Engle
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Click on a title to read my review of the book.

Four-Legged Friends (Sept 20, 2007 - Feb 26, 2008)

The Four-Legged Friends reading challenge is in memory of Sandy, Kailana's best friend of 12 years, who recently died. That's Sandy in the photo. Kailana brought Sandy home on September 20th, so we have a short lead time, but five months to complete the challenge. Read books that have an animal as the main character or an animal who plays an important enough role that you remember it afterwards. They do not have to believable, but the animals do have to be real, as in, no dragons. Kailana counts The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks, for example, because the dog in it makes the book one of her favorites. The aim is to honor our pets (even if they don't have four legs), and length doesn't matter ... reading a picture book of Bambi to your child or grandchild counts. The most outrageously fascinating thing Kailana added to her "rules" was this:

My suggested food while you are reading? Baby carrots. I used to munch on carrots and never really think to give them to Sandy, but she loves them! So, baby carrots turned into half the bag for me and the other half for her. Actually, that's what I did with her for her last night. I ate carrots with her. She did not eat a lot, but I think baby carrots will always remind me of her.

Her last "rule" is that we tell something about our pets in our introductory post. I have had a number of pets ... turtles, puppies, fish, kitties, salamander, and a hamster named Herman, for example ... but the ones I have bonded with have mostly been cats.

When I was nine years old, a neighborhood boy and I were splashing in rainy puddles when a bedraggled kitten found us. My mother said it looked like a drowned rat (well, mouse ... the kitten was very small), and Micky's mother wouldn't let him bring it into their house. After due consideration, Mother decided to let me keep the kitten. I named her Duchess, and she slipped right into our family like she had always belonged there and grew to be very regal indeed, a beautiful soft gray cat with white paws and a white spot below her chin that moved like a dog's tag when she walked. Duchess had her first litter of kittens in my drawer on top of my socks and underwear; it must have been the softest place available to her at the time. When I was in high school, we rode the regular city buses to school and home again in the afternoon, yet Duchess was always at the bus stop to meet me. How did she know which of the buses that ran every 20-30 minutes all day would be the one I rode? I don't know, but her internal clock was set and there she was, waiting to walk home with me. One part of this challenge is dedicated to the memory of Duchess.

Hmm, I was going to tell you about Duchess, Pippa, Jack, and Kiki in this post. But I think I'll tell you about the others when I post my book reviews. Since I'm about to finish a book about a dog named Merle and one about a gentleman cat, I already have two books for my list.

1. Merle's Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog ~ by Ted Kerasote ~ dedicated the memory of Pippa
2. The Fur Person ~ by May Sarton ~ dedicated to the memory of Jack
3. Cat's Eyewitness ~ by Rita Mae Brown and her cat Sneaky Pie Brown ~ dedicated to Kiki
4. Goldie (The Puppy Place Series #1) ~ by Ellen Miles ~ dedicated to the memory of Herman
__________

Click on a title to read my review of the book.
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Reviews by participants of this challenge can be found HERE.
__________

This challenge has been completed.

Outmoded Authors (Sept 2007 - Feb 2008)

The Outmoded Authors Challenge explores authors kicked out of the "in" crowd. There are at least four authors on the list that I'd like to read: Sarah Orne Jewett, D. H. Lawrence, Malcolm Lowry, and May Sarton.

My choices:
Sarah Orne Jewett, The Country of the Pointed Firs, 1896
D. H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley’s Lover, 1928
Malcolm Lowry, Under the Volcano, 1947
May Sarton, The Fur Person, 1957
__________
Click on a title to read my review of the book.
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My posts on the Outmoded Authors blog:
9-17-07 Bonnie's list