500 Great Books By Women discussion

A space to come together and discuss our RWB2020 reading trajectories.

I'm currently reading The Etched City by K.J. Bishop for N5 - Fantasy.

Currently reading: The Group by Mary McCarthy for B1-Published in 1900s. It was published in 1963.

Just finished earlier today for Non-fiction O-4: Born Criminal: Matilda Joslyn Gage, Radical Suffragist by Angelica Shirley Carpenter. The book was a bit dry, but she was a fascinating woman ahead of her time. She worked very closely with Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, but is now somewhat forgotten. She wrote a very critical book on the church, Woman, Church, and State, which I plan to check out at some point (available via Gutenberg). She was considered too radical by many, since the suffragists at the time were struggling to get mainstream acceptance. The author also mentions Gage's feminist influence on her son-in-law L. Frank Baum, author of the Wizard of Oz series of books.

I've started A Haunted House and Other Short Stories by Virginia Woolf for O5 - short story collection.

Heard good things about Canadian mystery author Louise Penny, so I'm currently reading Still Life for G-5 Mystery/thriller. Quite nice so far.

I've started Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by Z.Z. Packer for N1 - Published in the 2000s.

I'm really curious about Drinking Coffee Elsewhere--looking forward to your thoughts, Aubrey.

I finished The Country Girls for 1900's, which was quick and very enjoyable.

Next up will probably be The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations for nobel laureate, which I'm waiting for from the library.

Also coming soon I will start On Lies, Secrets, and Silence: Selected Prose, 1966-1978. This one looks short, but it is dense (not surprising, Adrienne Rich after all), so I think it will take me some time.

I'm also anxious to start Wolf Hall, my long read, so could get to that one any time I stop being able to resist.

Kathleen wrote: "I'm really curious about Drinking Coffee Elsewhere--looking forward to your thoughts, Aubrey.

I finished The Country Girls for 1900's, which was quick and very enjoyabl..."

Coming off of Woolf's short stories, I'm afraid that DCE isn't going to fare well, Kathleen, but I'll do my best to give an objective a review as possible. You're reading my absolute favorite Rich and Mantel is always a treat, so I hope those go well.

In terms of my own reading, I've started Zofloya by Charlotte Dacre for B4: Queer Theme.

Just got a couple of, I hope, good ones from the library (The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin and All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders), so I'll be reading those soon, but now I've been starting to think about what to choose for the long read and maybe Wolf Hall would be worth a second go. I read it when it came out and remember absolutely hating it...but it may have been more about what was going on with me at the time rather than the book. So many folks whose opinions seem very solid do love this book, so I'm thinking of trying again with it, though not at the moment. I've definitely had completely different reactions upon a re-read.

Regarding Drinking Coffee Elsewhere, I read this last February and liked but did not love it. Looking forward to seeing others' opinions.

I hope you enjoy The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations, Kathleen. I read it a couple of months ago and there were a lot of treasures to be found there. Ms. Morrison was such an amazing thinker and writer.

Samy wrote: "Just got a couple of, I hope, good ones from the library (The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin and All the Birds in the Sky by [author:Charlie Jane And..."

'The Dispossessed' is one of my absolute favorites, Samy, so I hope it goes well for you. As for Mantel, I've largely found her works great, but the hype around her is real, and hype's always exhausting, so, if WH doesn't go well for you again, that's the way it goes sometimes.

Regarding DCE, I'm not being wowed by it, so I'm just aiming to review it as objectively as possible. I'm not normally a short story person, so perhaps Packer's in progress novel will go better.

I've started Oreo by Fran Ross for B5 - Potential Classic.

I've started The World I Live In by Helen Keller for I3 - Disability (Author).

I've started reading The Tale of Genji and am loving it.

I'm also considering reading something by Ingrid Noll for the mystery novel spot.

I have to say I'm very happy with the books I've read for this challenge so far and delighted to see that I'm now at over 50% books by women for my reads this year.

Stendhie wrote: "I've started reading The Tale of Genji and am loving it.

I'm also considering reading something by Ingrid Noll for the mystery novel spot.

I have to say I'm very hap..."

That's excellent to hear, Sophie. I'm looking forward to my reread of TToG with the very shiny edition I acquired a few years back, as my first read was with an older translation.

Aubrey wrote: "Stendhie wrote: "I've started reading The Tale of Genji and am loving it.

I'm also considering reading something by Ingrid Noll for the mystery novel spot.

I have to..."

I'd love to hear how that goes!

I'm actually reading it in an absolutely gorgeous edition, which is sadly not listed on GoodReads: https://editionsdianedeselliers.com/l... It's full of high-quality reproductions of paintings, often with several illustrations for one scene which allow comparing different ways the story was interpreted by artists.

It's definitely the best translation available in French, but I'm also planning on getting Royall Tyler's translation from the library to compare it to my edition.

After all the great recommendations, now I will definitely add The Tale of Genji to my list...

Currently am reading Mary Beard's SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome for the category of potential classic (since 1969). So far, it's quite good.