Read Women discussion

Hello members!

So As I realized we’re already into November and I should be putting up nomination threads for January, I realized that’s next year. We don’t have themes picked out or set up. We usually run this thread a little earlier, but life happens.

Members, what did you like or dislike about this year with Read Women? What would you like to see again? Or what’s something new you’d like to see? Tell us what themes, conversations, quarterly and annual challenges worked for you or which ones didn’t. We Have a lot! Were there some you didn’t participate in this year, but would love to if they returned next?

And generally, what are some monthly group read themes you’d like us to incorporate? Remember we do the usual fiction and non-fiction, with read around the world and women in translation mixed in. My favorites this year have been the non-fiction art themes (not something I would normally read but I think we had some good ones this year) and generally horror or short stories. Your suggestions can be as specific or broad as you like for genres or themes.

I’m grateful for another year with this group, pushing my reading boundaries and learning new things and perspectives. Even if I don’t read the book, I always enjoy everyone’s comments and discussion.

Let us know what you’d like to read and discuss in 2025!

Thanks everyone in advance for your feedback and input!

Can't say there was anything I disliked, so- bravo, moderators! You two organize and manage this brilliantly, I think. Endless thanks.

I wish I managed more Indigenous reading for the annual challenge, so would be happy with that theme returning. I understand if there's preference to switch it up though.

I also love the nonfiction art theme and would personally love that as an annual challenge. I think I'd prefer spreading those type of books out but I'd get into it as a quarterly too of course. Perhaps if it was broadened to include fiction, it'd have more appeal in this group?

RATW that I'm particularly curious about at the moment:
Ireland, Italy, Nordic, Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe, and Europe in general. Asia and Latin America too.

Other POVs:
Euro POC

Other interests:
classics, nature, health, social issues, rereads- cuz there's so much I say I wanna reread and then I don't find the time

All I've mentioned I can see also as quarterly, and some even as annual...

I'm also up for Author Focus returning.

Also, this has been my year of exploring genre fiction, so I like that all those categories were mixed in too. I would welcome that in 2025.

Agree with returning the Author Focus! I read quite a bit of Elif Shafak as a result and fell in love with her storytelling.

Also love the RATW reads.

I didn't read along with as many monthly group reads this year. Many of the nominated books this year weren't easily accessible/available through my library unfortunately.

I really enjoyed the Multi-Prompt challenge we did a year or so ago as well.

That’s too bad about accessibility. I’ll try to keep that in mind when I nominate in the future.
I’m newer here, went to look up what the multi-prompt challenge was. It reminds me kinda of Bingo. I could totally see myself getting into that.

I only joined this group mid-year, and I still don't feel like I've gotten the hang of how it works. The part that I really appreciated was the women in translation challenge. For what it’s worth, I'd love to see more focus on that topic throughout year, and not just during a single quarter.

Most of the book choices that looked interesting to me were not available through my library, so I've mostly not been able to participate in those discussions. (I don't have the resources to buy books.)

I preferred the first half of the year bingo and author focus.
Over a year I hope to read at least half of my books from my existing TBR pile. A bingo with generic challenges gives me the best chance to match some of my books to the squares.
I also liked the author focus, and the deep dive that many members took. I definitely came away with books to add to my TBR.
I am amazed by the variety of books members read and the joy that members show through their reading. Thank you everyone.

Here's my take (aka "two cents"):
1. I would prefer the women in translation all year as well. (Selfishly because I do that anyway)
2. I did not participate in the author focus as much as I wanted to for a number of reasons, all of them related to being involved in too many challenges in all my groups and a lot of time away from home this year.
3. Love the bingoes. By the second half, however, I was too tightly scheduled for the balance of the year and may not even get one done. I plan to carry that over as a personal challenge next year.
4. I did very poorly in the indigenous challenge and will carry that over as a personal challenge next year.
5. I would love to see the Black Women challenge expanded to include or even separately Hispanic, Asian, Middle Eastern, and indigenous as well. (and whatever else I missed).
6. I'm a big fan of multi-prompt challenges as well.

So - pretty much anything you come up with is perfect!

Ah yea. Author Focus went the same for me as Gail described. It’s just cuz I like too many challenges. I like the idea of it but in the end I only read one from each author. I wish I had found time for a second book from each of them.
I personally am liking the author bingo even though I may only get one line.

I just think there are too many challenges now. As all of them are so interesting we all want to participate in them. That means that people focus on their challenges and the participation in the monthly reads are depleted.

It takes alot of planning to organise your reading list and as you can plan for the challenges that becomes your priority. The monthly reads may not always fit in with your planned reading so that leaves you to choose whether the chosen book falls into your plans.

The difference between books read in the monthly reads and the challenges is the discussion. For the monthly reads, there is a genuine discussion about the book. In the challenges, it is more of a sharing of books read rather than a detailed discussion about books.

This is all great feedback, thank you everyone who has shared so far. Please continue to do so.

To summarize what I’m getting from this, we love the first half BINGO and our Author Focused challenges from this year. We like to branch out and read authors of various regions and ethnicities.

We DO have threads for year-long personal challenges mentioned above like Read Black women and Women in Translation - maybe we could promote these better since they aren’t part of our month to month or quarterlies they can be missed unless the member is personally invested in going and updating to refresh the thread.

To give credit where credit is due, Carol has been amazing at selecting and curating our monthly group themes to coincide with the current quarterly challenge. So she’s always been our silent cheerleader setting us up for success with at least one (and often two) group read(s) counting towards that quarter’s challenge.

Perhaps we could scale down our challenges into the four quarterlies and maybe just one or two yearly challenges to maintain focus on our monthly reads. We can do one author focused and one 6-month BINGO next year. We can absolutely do monthly themes that will fit with your author preferences like Indigenous or Asian or Black, as well as from a specific region and translated from a specific language. We can incorporate these to monthly reads, we would just need you to proffer them for our list of themes.

To edge the conversation towards our immediate group needs, I’d love to hear monthly group read theme nominations from you all. Again, these can be as specific or broad as you’d like. For example, gothic or gothic horror. Sci-fi or space opera or AI. A book by Octavia Butler, or Indigenous, Black, Asian. Translated or translated from Korean. You get the point.

Again, thank you and please keep the comments coming.

I think the way Carol has married up the monthly themes with both the group's challenges and wider events like #WIT month and LGBTQIA+ awareness month etc has been fantastic. I hope this continues. I've not engaged as much as I'd have liked with either this year but this is not down to the group. I've just had such an awful year I've not even read a quarter of the number of books as I normally would. I very much hope this changes next year. I would have liked to engage more with the black and indigenous challenges, and group reads in particular. The author and bingo challenges aren't for me. There's also a bit too much NF in the group reads for my personal preferences, although I do like some. The areas of RATW I'm the most interested in are Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia and I'm interested in sci-fi, magical realism and fantasy genres.

Ya'll are fantastic. I enjoy this group. The first bingo was pretty fun. I've lost steam on the second one. I think I prefer the way the first one was set up. Selfishly, I would love for people to join me in a #20BooksByAsianWomen challenge next year. I don't usually participate in the monthly book reads, but not because of any reason other than I already do a book club. And - I already said it - ya'll are fantastic.

Misty wrote: "...I would love for people to join me in a #20BooksByAsianWomen challenge next year ..."

Misty, I doubt I can do 20, but I could certainly participate to the tune of maybe 5 or so. I am at 50% for my Asia/Europe/N America/S America reads but only at 24% for Africa and Oceania.

Gail W wrote: "Misty wrote: "Misty, I doubt I can do 20, but I could certainly participate to the tune of maybe 5 or so."

Awesome!

Misty wrote: "Ya'll are fantastic. I enjoy this group. The first bingo was pretty fun. I've lost steam on the second Amparo Dávilaone. I think I prefer the way the first one was set up. Selfishly, I would love for people to ..."

For what it’s worth, I’ve enjoyed following your read women journey in the thread. I used to do a similar challenges yearly and post it in the Read Women yearly chat. I’d love to follow along with your read Asian women challenge next year, and share my Asian women reads with you throughout the year.

I know you said you don’t typically join the monthly reads, but they do tend to fit your challenge demographics. Just an fyi, next month’s group read The Houseguest and Other Stories by Amparo Dávila will help you along your read Latina women challenge for this year ;)

Anita wrote: "For what it’s worth, I’ve enjoyed following your read women journey in the thread. I used to do a similar challenges yearly and post it in the Read Women yearly chat. I’d love to follow along with your read Asian women challenge next year, and share my Asian women reads with you throughout the year."

Oh yay! That would be very cool!!!

I hadn't paid attention to next month's read. Thanks for letting me know. I might join in on that one. It's not that I wouldn't enjoy the monthly reads; it's just that I usually have other stuff planned is all.

Since I'm new in this group I haven't yet got to know it. What I do enjoy in other groups are the reading bingos so I 'd love to join a bingo challenge in this group as well.

Jen wrote: "Can't say there was anything I disliked, so- bravo, moderators! You two organize and manage this brilliantly, I think. Endless thanks.

I wish I managed more Indigenous reading for the annual chall..."

Carol and Anita- just wanna add! - please feel no pressure at all at all to go with my ideas especially if no one else has echoed them. I know I named quite a hefty smattering of my various many interests- was just throwing alot out there to see what might resonate with others. I haven't reread others comments here but I can get into pretty much anything. I don't remember reading any ideas where I thought that doesn't interest me.. I'm cool with whatever! Overall the best group here- regardless how yall shake it out, it'll be fun and full of inspiration for me I'm sure.

No worries, we love hearing everyone’s ideas and working in as much as we can. Thank you Jen and everyone who takes the time to comment, we appreciate all the feedback - even if you’re expressing a negative experience or dislike of certain topics, themes, or challenges.

To move in on another specific topic, I’d Love to hear who you’d all be pleased to see in an author focused read/challenge next year?

Have made a few notes of my thoughts but haven't put them together yet. Will put some time aside and do so.

Something I was thinking about that might make things easier for you and Carol would be to take advantage of the recently published The 100 Best Books of the 21st Century published by The New York Times Book Review. It should also give members who prefer more choices and flexibility to fit into their personal reading plans.

Of the 100 chosen books approximately 45 were written by female authors. Figured you could get creative and use some or all of the books and/or authors for a bingo, for multi-choice or expanding author exposure. You wouldn't have to limit it to these specific books chosen (though that would be fine) or you could focus on the author herself and open it up to any of her works. Could be fun and creative.

Anita wrote: "I’d Love to hear who you’d all be pleased to see in an author focused read/challenge next year?"

Toni Morrison
Alice Walker
Octavia E Butler
Louise Erdrich
Margaret Atwood
Elena Ferrante
Annie Ernaux

Great list, Jen, thank you!

Came here to list out some Quarterly challenge prompt ideas I’ve gleaned from the suggestions. Please feel free to add some of your ideas specifically for Quarterly challenges as well, members! Typically, Quarterlies are both fiction and non-fiction prompts.

Indigenous
Art
RATW - Asia
RATW - Europe
Or we can combine for a RATW - Eurasia
Women in Translation (this is usually an annual challenge as well though, so up in the air)

We did something slightly different with the Women’s Prize for Fiction this year, how would we feel about making this a (maybe 2nd?) quarterly challenge? Did anyone have strong opinions about the group’s participation with this award one way or another?

Are there OTHER awards or lists (like MJ’s aforementioned New York Times100 Best of the Century) that you'd be interested in exploring with the group as a challenge?

We’re going to be wrapping up this discussion as we have to put a game plan together. Please feel welcome, enticed, urged to comment, and thank you everyone for the input and all your kind words. We appreciate every one of you!

FEMALE AUTHOR POSSIBILITIES

I have been doing some research during 2024 for 2025 reads I’m interested in and made a list for myself. Many of these authors I’ve read one or some but not all their books and others I’ve been curious about and wanting to read for a while.

Not sure if the author list you’re asking about is for a bingo or multi-challenge or for more focused reading. These authors would be suitable for either. Most have a fair amount of books published and their work has won awards and sponsorships.

Thought it was worth sharing. Feel free to pick and choose or ignore

FEMALE AUTHOR POSSIBILITIES

Miriam Toews Miriam Toews White Mennonite Canada
Jeanette Winterson Jeanette Winterson White LGBTQ2+ United Kingdom
Helen Humphreys Helen Humphreys White LGBTQ2+ Canada
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Black Nigeria/USA
Zadie Smith Zadie Smith Black United Kingdom
Jesmyn Ward Jesmyn Ward Black USA

Robin Wall KimmererRobin Wall Kimener Indigenous USA
Mavis Gallant Mavis Gallant White Short Stories Canada
Toni Morrison Toni Morrison Black USA
Sigrid Nunez Sigrid Nunez USA White to German mother/Chinese-Panamanian father
Aminatta Forna Aminatta Forna Mixed UK – Scottish and Sierra Leone heritage
Min Jin Lee Min Jin Lee Asian ROK REPUBLIC OF KOREA (South Korea
Maya Angelou Maya Angolu Black USA
Lee Maracle Lee Maracle Indigenous Canada
Edwidge Danticat Edwidge Dantica Black Haiti/USA
Geraldine Brooks Geraldine Brooks White Australia
Lisa Bird-Wilson Lisa Bird-Wilson Indigenous Metis/Cree Canada
Vivek Shraya Vivek Shraya LGBTQS+ Canada/East Indian Heritage

Anita wrote: "Great list, Jen, thank you!

Came here to list out some Quarterly challenge prompt ideas I’ve gleaned from the suggestions. Please feel free to add some of your ideas specifically for Quarterly cha..."

Thanks for all your work on this Anita. Personally, I think it would be better to keep Asia and Europe separate. We could choose one for this coming year and keep the other for the following year.

I like the idea of doing the Women's Prize as a Quarterly Challenge.

I agree with Liesl about the RATW - 1 continent per year. I also personally feel like WIT and indigenous themes work better as quarterly challenges that coincide with wit month and indigenous history month.
For the women's prize; I feel like reading the winner together never seems to work. Members have usually already read it in the run up or if we wait until after then library wait times can be silly and it's impossible to plan. Maybe we could try a monthly or quarterly prize theme where we all chose our own or nominate female candidates who have been shortlisted (or maybe even longlisted) from any prize from the last year? That way we can also support female authors from the booker or translated prizes etc.

Anita wrote: "Great list, Jen, thank you!

Came here to list out some Quarterly challenge prompt ideas I’ve gleaned from the suggestions. Please feel free to add some of your ideas specifically for Quarterly cha..."

I'm thinking broad categories make good annual challenges- continental RATWs, WIT, particular races... I do read qualifying stuff through the year which I guess would be fun to count towards those challenges. And with categories I need to kinda effort to read more of, like Indigenous, Middle Eastern, or Latin American, it gives me more time to work on that.

I think I read plenty of certain groups even without a challenge, like Black, Asian, and queer women writers. I even noticed I read plenty of disabled/neurodiverse-themed, authored, or inclusive stuff. But I think they tend to be American, so I get excited when they intersect with non-US regions of the world, even if it's Canada or Asians from Asia rather than Asian Americans.

I am liking Anita's tendency to read the sorta darker genre fiction in the fall/winter so I've enjoyed those as the final quarter theme.
I am wondering if a similar idea could be fun during a summer quarter, like lighter reads/beach reads, ... Could be very open to interpretation, light reads could be romance, humor, YA, short stories and novellas, classic high school summer reading, celebrity memoir?... And quarterly genres then overlap nicely when annual challenges pertain to identities.
Oh I've also wondered about having a gender diversity quarterly theme. Like, though we're a women author focused group, have a quarter, or a month?, where we give a nod to others on the gender spectrum.

I am liking what Hannah's getting at with the prize reading ideas.

Jen wrote: "Anita wrote: "I’d Love to hear who you’d all be pleased to see in an author focused read/challenge next year?"

Toni Morrison
Alice Walker
Octavia E Butler
Louise Erdrich
Margaret Atwood
Elena Ferr..."

I named these for author focus ideas as they are mostly authors I know I like, they have alot of books, and I can see myself wanting to read a few by them within a few months.

The outlier is Ferrante- haven't yet read- but with her, I figured if I try her fiction and don't like it, I think I'd still be interested in trying her nonfiction. I could say the same about Mj's idea for Jeanette Winterson, too.

Hannah wrote: "I think the way Carol has married up the monthly themes with both the group's challenges and wider events like #WIT month and LGBTQIA+ awareness month etc has been fantastic. I hope this continues...."

Agree about the NF, and like others am put off too by the fact that I'd have to buy many of the titles to participate - The Mango Tree is too niche for my library, isn't in stock at Waterstones or Blackwell's, costs over 23 quid on Amazon and around 20 quid plus postage from a few other online retailers that's a substantial outlay for many people. I'd also enjoy more fantasy/sf, a few lighter reads and a bit more European content - as well as more contemporary/popular/up-and-coming authors like R. F. Kuang, Mona Awad, Eliza Clark etc All write about important subjects from colonialism to the beauty industry to gender roles. I find things like the threads on indigenous reads interesting but quite honestly they're often skewed towards American readers. The term 'indigenous' here is most often used by the far-right to refer to white people who believe people of colour are displacing them! It's not that I'm not interested in finding out about American indigenous groups or Australian/Canadian for that matter, just not as directly relevant to me as other topics.

I also find, and again think this is me, that some of the group read titles sound a bit worthy/potentially a bit of a slog. I've noticed that there's been a bit more variety lately which is great, and more recent titles like Foster, also great. As well as classics, like Woolf, which I'd like to see more of - also open up reads to more people as tend to be cheaper, often available free online etc. But other reads like the Renni Eddo-Lodge, while I appreciate the sentiment behind selecting it, are ones that I covered years ago and it'd be good to have a few more topical choices. Although I did like that that marked a move to consider how racism operates in parts of Europe. And, tbf, as a woman of colour I wouldn't have felt comfortable discussing that particular book in a mixed group.

But, overall, I think Carol does an excellent job of catering to a wide range of members, all of whom, like me, have different tastes/priorities.

Alwynne wrote: "Hannah wrote: "I think the way Carol has married up the monthly themes with both the group's challenges and wider events like #WIT month and LGBTQIA+ awareness month etc has been fantastic. I hope ..."

Oh that's interesting about the term 'indigenous' in UK. Do you have a suggestion for a better label? 'First Nations' is also common in US but I imagine that could be used similarly in UK as they use 'indigenous'?

As Alwynne says the term indigenous has been a bit hijacked in the UK, but I can't think of another term that meets the same criteria as first nations. I will read regional voices, for example I might read a story set in the Welsh valleys, but back in the 19th century that area had mass migration to the coal mines from other parts of the UK.

Sonia wrote: "As Alwynne says the term indigenous has been a bit hijacked in the UK, but I can't think of another term that meets the same criteria as first nations. I will read regional voices, for example I mi..."

Essentially as the definitions of all of these terms are the same ie. the first inhabitants of a land, it really doesn't matter which one you use. They could all be hijacked in the same way. If people feel that it is necessary to make additional specifications to avoid someone hijacking the theme, then we could add a list of places that the term is to be applied to.

Or we can assume that the people in this group understand what is meant by our use of the term "indigenous" and know that, as with this current year, the suggestions will be in line with that intention.

Liesl wrote: "Sonia wrote: "As Alwynne says the term indigenous has been a bit hijacked in the UK, but I can't think of another term that meets the same criteria as first nations. I will read regional voices, fo..."

I think I didn't make my point clearly enough, I was trying not to be blunt as it always gets me in trouble but maybe I should just bow to my fate.


So:

I was using indigenous as shorthand for the fact that as a European I feel the group is sometimes too weighted towards American concerns/readers. Some of the reads reflect that, expensive here because niche and tied to American concerns like The Mango Tree.

As for up-and-coming authors etc that was shorthand for a lot of the titles are ones more likely to appeal to my mum than me. This is particularly the case when it comes to NF titles.

There has been a bit more variety in fiction recently - particularly the Jen picks - but it would be nice to see a few more books by younger, contemporary women authors. More queer titles/authors, more genre fiction.

There's a lot around racism which is great but often skews towards white readers wishing to expand their knowledge, so more on other topics like VAWG which is a major concern globally would be welcome.

Also would like to see more classics - Carol began covering some of this territory with her short story reads - for a number of reasons: more widely available so less exclusionary of group members who don't have the resources to buy lots of books; interesting in terms of women whose work has been ground-breaking culturally/politically/socially. The Woolf is a great choice, as it's all of those things, and also a queer title by a queer woman author. And it's been trending lately because it ties to debates around gender so of interest to a broad readership.

Alwynne wrote: "Liesl wrote: "Sonia wrote: "As Alwynne says the term indigenous has been a bit hijacked in the UK, but I can't think of another term that meets the same criteria as first nations. I will read regio..."

Thanks for sharing all of this Alwynne. FWIW, I enjoy your bluntness in this group :) I joined hoping to read more internationally (I know that's not the main theme, but it's one of my reading goals) and like your suggestion for more contemporary women authors.

I'm curious also - I don't know much about UK history if I'm being honest (other than Scotland/Ireland/UK battle-type history), so I don't actually know what the "indigenous" history or background looks like. I imagine it's not at all the same as Canada, US and Australia, given the nature of Colonialism in those other places.

Lindsey wrote: "Alwynne wrote: "Liesl wrote: "Sonia wrote: "As Alwynne says the term indigenous has been a bit hijacked in the UK, but I can't think of another term that meets the same criteria as first nations. I..."

Thanks! With you on international, love to read translated work and would like more of it, particularly Europe and East Asia.

Thinking about Woolf also made me think it would be good to look at an author from different angles - probably too ambitious. But the Woolf would be fascinating paired with Lote which comes at Woolf and her work from a queer perspective but also reflects on the conflict around liking Woolf's work as a woman of colour - something I've struggled with too. It's also a great novel.

I didn't do very well with the challenges this year, I think I got carried away and read other things, but I did really well with my Total women authors (not se well with black women unfortunately) and I just love bingos, I'll give them a shot every time!
I can't point to something that I didn't like, you've all done a fantastic job setting the challenges for 2024 and I can't wait to plan my 2025 reading

Also, what does RATW mean?

Read Around The World

Thanks Jen!

Great work on the group - I've not been very active, but I enjoy popping in and getting inspiration for more women authors, so take this as you like, since I'm not a core member:
The themes for quarterly reads are too restrictive for me - unless it's something I'm doing anyway - like reading the world, reading women and in translation. Not a big fan of genre fiction, but that's just me, a lot of people seem to be into these categories, it's just not for me.
I agree with one (or two) of the others above mentioning the American bias - and don't take this personally, I'm a european on Goodreads, I'm in this group because it's one of the few places, where people read women from around the world, which I love to do as well. However some categories don't make sense to me. As pointed out above "indigenous" doesn't really make that much sense (to me at least) outside north America - and while I applaud that you are reading these women, the category is just a bit narrow for someone who'd like to read the rest of the world. (like when diversity becomes diversity in the US, POC become POC in the US. Nothing wrong with reading that, just leaves little room for reading say asians from Asia or African literature).

Another oddity to me is the category "In Translation" - I get that you call it that here on Goodreads, and I don't have a problem filling this category as most of what I read is translated, unless I read Danes in Danish or English speakers in English - there are plenty of options for me - I can even read the English books in a Danish translation and check those off as translated literature. But I guess the reality is, that this is American shorthand (and maybe UK/AUS etc) for "Books not written in English", rather than actually translated books. If so, I guess I should technically be counting my Tove Ditlevsen reads as "In Translation", even though I read them in the original version? I'm not really looking for clarification here, just pointing out that some categories doesn't make a lot of sense outside the US. That's okay, we are who we are, I'm just guessing I'm not the only participant from outside the US and with English as a second (or third or whatever number) language.
Anyway - on a more constructive note: I like to share reading lists, peek and comment on other peoples bingo-reading etc, so I'm all in favor of those kinds of challenges (as long as they don't demand too much genre fiction and US categories) :) I'm also a fan of flexible challenges that allows a personal twist on things. Thanks again for keeping the group going and please take or leave anything of the above, I'm just happy you are here and helping us all discover more women to read :)

Anetq - that’s a great point about “in translation.”

I think, from an American perspective, it’s a good challenge because otherwise Americans tend to just read books written by other Americans. Personally, I read a lot of “in transition”, but I’ve made it a point to do so over the last few years.

Living in America, it’s SO easy to follow local book lists (NY Times, whatever), which feature predominantly American writers or writers writing in English. Again, to your point - this is an American bias, and I fully support any “international” leaning or challenges for the coming year.

Lindsey wrote: "Anetq - that’s a great point about “in translation.”
I think, from an American perspective, it’s a good challenge because otherwise Americans tend to just read books written by other Americans. P..."

I know, and I understand why - it just sometimes leads to these odd moments of dissonance - like "In Translation". Being where I am I get free exposure to a lot of Scandinavian and to some extent European lit. (at least for the prize winning stuff or if one pays just a little attention) - but we also get a lot of exposure to US (or just english speaking) lit & culture everywhere - so it's sometimes an effort to NOT just read what's popular in the English speaking countries. I really enjoy going to bookshops in Berlin, when I'm there - lurking in the German ones (I am fluent in German, but I don't read it to relax :) ) - but also going to some of the English bookshops as their selection, even though it's in English do still have a lot more European, Eastern European and Russian (etc.) on their shelves - as they're fairly close neighbors - it always broadens my reading perspectives :)
And I really enjoy this group as it is one of the few I've found with a fairly broad scope (halv the worlds population give or take) and rather varied readings from around the world.

Interesting comments on "in translation" and "indigenous" since I think of "in translation" as not American-oriented, but a challenge to read a book originally published in a language that isn't the reader’s primary language. I'm most sensitive to avoiding POC and/or including BiPOC, as short-hand for non-white-identifying authors, but didn't realize the first two topics were sending US-centric vibes. Thanks for raising and being open to discussing!

I typically hold back on commenting on this thread for awhile so as not to unfairly sway the conversation and I'm really psyched for all of the feedback and the investment of time our members are willing to make to comment and share their thoughts. On the other hand, I didn't intend to be commenting for the first time on 29 December. We experienced a death in the family on the 20th, had to travel and have otherwise been in a period of unanticipated emotions, tasks et al. Anita and I will get a plan posted in the next couple.

Thank you all!

I am greek, so for the "In translation" challenge, I also count translated books in greek, not only in english

Crazytourists_books wrote: "I am greek, so for the "In translation" challenge, I also count translated books in greek, not only in english"

Good to see you, CT - I hope you're doing well.

Carol wrote: "Interesting comments on "in translation" and "indigenous" since I think of "in translation" as not American-oriented, but a challenge to read a book originally published in a language that isn't th..."

Carol, sorry to hear of the death in your family. Keep well.

@Carol, I am so sorry to hear about your loss.

For me, "in-translation" means any book that I read that has been translated from another language into the language I read in. While mostly that is English, I also read in Spanish so when we read any works that were originally written in Spanish, I do not read them in translation and therefore do not count them for a WiT read.

I don't feel that in-translation is US centric. I think the person reading needs to adapt the term to their own reading methodology. I think that is why WiT works as a challenge but not really as a monthly read theme because whether a work is a translation will be different for many of us.

With respect to the "indigenous" theme, I would only like to add that this a a very large and diverse group of people and there will be themes that are interesting to some and not to others. I do not believe we will ever achieve 100% agreement for every theme
or challenge listed. When there is a theme that does not interest me, I respect that there are people that are interested in reading it and just choose not to participate in the reading for that month.

Thanks, Gail and Liesl. I appreciate your kindness.

Thanks for identifying the problem of WIT as a monthly read theme - I hadn't thought of that context presenting its own interpretive challenge. I'm also mindful that when we choose works for our monthly read that have been widely translated, we often ten to have healthy discussions, so there's some tension between, on the one hand, being English-centric, e.g., choosing an English-language work and labeling it WiT, and on the other hand, a popular vote system identifying the sort of works that appeal to and are available to our membership.

I've posted a 2025 plan which Anita and I worked on, after taking in the collective and thoughtful comments here. We will publish a set of BINGO prompts and still need to kick around possible subjects for an Author Focus. I want to open up a thread for a Feb - June Author Focus and see if we can identify and align on an author that at least 6 - 8 members are interested in prioritizing reading and participating in discussing. If not, let's not force it, but maybe bring it back for 2026.

Two other changes we made in the interest of streamlining and driving book discussions. 1. we reduced the quarterly challenges to 3 4-month challenges (as per wiktionary, "quadrimester" = 4 months in duration). I love our quarterly challenges, but the July - Sept one, in particular, has tended to get lost and we're thinking that offering 3 challenges vs. 4 will offer more members some breathing room to think about their selections, lean into them and have an opportunity to discuss them before we move from one to the next. 2. Reducing our "official" annual challenge offerings and baking the core women authors tracking and discussion into a single, more flexible "create your own challenge" thread. Members can set up individual tracking threads for their personal challenges within the "create your own" folder, and also discuss their reads and ask for recs in a single, overall thread.

Thanks again for both your patience and your energy in support of this group and keeping it a welcoming, responsive space for discussing women authors and books.

Here's the link to the Author Focus thread for anyone interested in participating in the nomination and selection process.

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...