500 Great Books By Women discussion

Hi everyone!
Very excited to take part in this challenge - and glad to have found a lot of ideas for books to read in this group's threads!!

Here are some first options:

B
1 - Published in the 1900s - The Wall
2 - Sci-Fi - The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
3 - Author Born in Latin America - The Remainder
4 - Queer Theme and/or Author - Memoirs of Hadrian
5 - Potential Classic Published After 1969 -Someone

I
1 - Translated from Language Other Than English - Three Apples Fell from the Sky
2 - Play
3 - Disability as Theme and/or Disabled Author --> waiting for my copy of The Gray House
4 - Published in the pre-1800s - The Tale of Genji
5 - Novella - Less than 200 Pages - Tentacle and The Taiga Syndrome

N
1 - Published in the 2000s - read What We All Long For
2 - Long Read - More than 600 Pages ---> currently reading Middlemarch
3 - Free Space - The Idiot
4 - Less than 1,000 Ratings on Goodreads - feeld
5 - Howl's Moving Castle

G
1 - Published in the 1800s - Emma
2 - Nobel Laureate Author - Not Just For Lit - currently reading Second-hand Time
3 - Author Born in Africa - Americanah
4 - Less than 5,000 Ratings on Goodreads - Language, Capitalism, Colonialism: Toward a Critical History This book is amazing
5 - Mystery/Thriller - Disappearing Earth

O
1 - Less than 10,000 Ratings on Goodreads - Books and Islands in Ojibwe Country
2 - Author Born in Asia - The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree
3 - Poetry - Glass, Irony and God
4 - Nonfiction - Lab Girl
5 - Short Story Collection - Islands of Decolonial Love: Stories & Songs & This Accident of Being Lost: Songs and Stories

Welcome to this challenge, Sophie! You've a number of very good, if challenging, books picked out (Middlemarch, Tale of Genji, Memoirs of Hadrian), and I hope all your choices go well for you.

Welcome to the challenge! =D Many are on my TBR and several I also plan to read for this challenge. I do wish that ‘Beijing Folding’ were also translated into English as that looks intriguing. Good luck on your challenge and I hope that you enjoy your selections!

Such great choices, Sophie. Some are favorites, like Middlemarch and Memoirs of Hadrian, and I also really enjoyedHomegoing and the Le Guin that I've read. Have fun!

Thank you so much for the kind words!

Small update: I just finished Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar. I can't believe I waited this long to finally read this book, but it sure lived up to the praise! I'm already looking forward to re-reading it in the future.

I'm also adding The Wall by Marlen Haushofer, which I read in January, for B1. This was an instant favorite as well, and one I can't recommend enough.

So, so far:

B I N G O
X O X O O
O O O O O
O O O O O
O O O O O
X O O O O

Ha, and now I just realized that I had the wrong date for the publication of Memoirs of Hadrian and that it actually doesn't work for B5! I guess I'll potentially move it to B4 or N3. In the meanwhile, I'm excited to find another "potential classic" (maybe something by Rachel Cusk?) :)

Side note: I'm trying to mix, as much as possible, this bingo with another personal challenge, which is to read at least 10 books in German this year. So if anyone has recommendations for great books by women originally published in German that would work for any of the bingo's items, I would be very glad to hear them!

Stendhie wrote: "Ha, and now I just realized that I had the wrong date for the publication of Memoirs of Hadrian and that it actually doesn't work for B5! I guess I'll potentially move it to B4 or N3. ..."

I'm glad to hear MoH went well, even if it already qualifies as a classic ;)

As for German works by women, you unfortunately (or is it fortunately?) already read 'The Wall,' which is utterly magnificent. As for other German works by women, I can recommend:

Christa Wolf and Elfriede Jelinek in general (The Quest for Christa T. (less than 1,000 ratings/novella) and The Piano Teacher the most, respectively)

Visitation (published in the 2000s/potential classic/less than 5,000 ratings) by Jenny Erpenbeck.

Herta Müller is also worth checking out, if you need to swap around Nobel Laureates (Jelinek is also one).

Also, here is the directory of 500 GBBW in translation, which contains a fair number of works in German: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

In addition, here are the German written works by women on my own shelf: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

Wow, cool choices.
A possible fantasy selection in German could be Die Magie der Namen by Nicole Gozdek.. or others in that series. I've read and enjoyed books by Alina Bronsky in German. Her books such as Die schärfsten Gerichte der tatarischen Küche have only 2000 or less ratings, so could be a candidate for a low rating one.

Thank you both so much for the suggestions!

Just finished feeld by Jos Charles, which I'm selecting for N4.

This was a pretty difficult read for me, especially as a non-native English speaker. Jos Charles uses a non-normative spelling in the book, something that evokes both Chaucerian English and Internet speak (notably in the use of numerals for words like "to", "too" or "two"). See for instance: "a tran is noting but the scens off sum burning / i a lone hav scaped 2 tell u this"

I like all the interpretations I've read on how this choice connects to the book's theme, e.g.:

- that it invents a new language for the trans experience while also reclaiming this experience as part of our history through the reference to Middle English;
- that the feeling of being lost the reader experiences can help us come closer to understanding body dysphoria;
- that you're forced to read aloud certain passages to make out the meaning of words - thereby involving your own body in the process of reading poetry that is very much about bodies...

The re-spelling is rich with puns. Some of the book's key words take on multiple meanings, which in turn connect them to the rich thematic layers of the book. Words like "sirfase" or "queery' (for query) have obvious weight for the book's central theme. "Feeld" is both field and "feel-ed", "copse" both (potentially menacing) cops and a copse of trees, "breasthes" links breasts with breathing...

This makes for a book that would very easily lend itself to over-interpretation: next to these obvious puns, you find yourself dreaming about the many connotations any word could have. Even prepositions like "in" and "of", spelled here "inn" and "off", take on new meaning - "inn" potentially bringing to mind a secure space, while "off" evokes a separation. This feeling is key for many poetry books, but one could argue that few transform language in such a potent and immediately perceptible way.

For all that, I'm still not sure how to rate this book, especially as it still evades my understanding to a large degree. I'll keep coming back to the poems I liked the best though.

And with this, I'm updating my bingo to:

B I N G O
X O X O O
O O O O O
O O O O O
X O X O O
O O O O O

O3 complete. I read Glass, Irony and God by Anne Carson

Stendhie wrote: "O3 complete. I read Glass, Irony and God by Anne Carson"

Carson's an author that I've read a couple works by and have been intrigued by ever since. I haven't read that one, so I hope it went well.

Aubrey wrote: "Stendhie wrote: "O3 complete. I read Glass, Irony and God by Anne Carson"

Carson's an author that I've read a couple works by and have been intrigued by ever since. I ..."

It's actually the first book of hers I read and I definitely agree that she's intriguing - planning on reading more books of her once I've made more progress with my ever-increasing "currently reading" pile!

I especially loved the first section, "The Glass Essay", which I really would recommend, to anyone and especially to Wuthering Heights lovers. It's a mix of autobiographical poetry and of an essay on Emily Brontë. In it, she mixes her reaction to the end of a love affair with musings on Brontë's life and works, which she is re-reading while visiting her mother, who lives "on a moor in the north".

I am not so used to reading narrative verse, but I must say I found the effect of how the different elements slowly build up and intermingle incredibly powerful.

Finished The Idiot for N3 and Books and Islands in Ojibwe Country: Traveling Through the Land of My Ancestors for G4.

Updated bingo:

B I N G O
X O X O O
O O O O O
O O X O X
X O X X O
O O O O O

I actually completely stopped reading during the first months of lockdown, so I've been catching up in the last weeks :)

I updated my first post with the books I've finished and current plans.

Stendhie wrote: "I actually completely stopped reading during the first months of lockdown, so I've been catching up in the last weeks :)

I updated my first post with the books I've finished and current plans."

Welcome back, Sophie! 2020's been a tough year, so take your time with this. Just to let you know, we currently have a mini Women in Translation Month event going, which your reading of 'Secondhand Time' would qualify for. You can set your goal to any number, so that might end up being more feasible than a full twenty five. Check it out! https://www.goodreads.com/challenges/...

Aubrey wrote: "Stendhie wrote: "I actually completely stopped reading during the first months of lockdown, so I've been catching up in the last weeks :)

I updated my first post with the books I've finished and ..."

That's tempting, but I'm already juggling 15 books and constantly adding more to the pile, what with the different challenges and bookclubs I'm in, so I'm trying to "restructure" and focus on finishing the (many) books I've started :)

It's great looking at the challenge and seeing all the books everyone has picked though. I've also taken part in the book exchange organized as part of the WIT month after reading you post about it, and will soon receive Celestial Bodies, which I'm quite excited about.

I've updated my first post with books read since August.

I read Disappearing Earth for G5, Americanah (finally!) for for G3, The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree for O2. For O5, I've decided to switch from my original plan (a book by Alice Munro) to two short story / poetry collections by another Canadian writer, the Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg author Leanne Betasamosake Simpson - Islands of Decolonial Love: Stories & Songs and This Accident of Being Lost: Songs and Stories.

That still leaves 6 books to read/finish to complete the challenge :)

Stendhie wrote: "I've updated my first post with books read since August.

I read Disappearing Earth for G5, Americanah (finally!) for for G3, [book:The Enlightenment of the Greenga..."

Congrats! You can do it!