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Voices of Powerful Women: Words of wisdom from 40 of the world's most inspiring women
A fantastically inspiring collection of interviews with 40 successful and empowering women, including Maya Angelou, Isabel Allende, Mary Robinson and Shami Chakrabati, exploring their challenges and achievements.
In this empowering book, 40 amazing women who have exerted an influence on others in many different ways discuss their work, their achievements, their hopes and their fears, offering women everywhere inspiration and optimism for the future through their fascinating explanations of what they have achieved. Featuring politicians, environmentalists, humanitarians, entrepreneurs, musicians, artists, actors, world leaders and Nobel Peace Prize winners, this book encourages readers to believe that they can achieve their greatest ambitions and help change the world for the better.
The book is structured around ten questions, with the 40 interviewees providing a pithy and insightful answer to each one. Topics range from influential early experiences, inspirations in life and most admired female figures to causes of anger, greatest fears, how to change the world and advice for the younger generation.
The full list of powerful women featured in the book is as follows: Isabel Allende, Christiane Amanpour, Maya Angelou, Hanan Ashrawi, Joan Baez, Benazir Bhutto, Mary Kayitesi Blewitt, Emma Bonino, Shami Chakrabarti, Jung Chang, Kate Clinton, Marie Colvin, Marion Cotillard, Severn Cullis-Suzuki, Carla Del Ponte, Judi Dench, Shirin Ebadi, Tracey Emin, Jane Fonda, Tanni Grey-Thompson, Dagmar Havlová, Swanee Hunt, Bianca Jagger, Nataša Kandić, Kathy Kelly, Martha Lane Fox, Dame Ann Leslie, Professor Wangari Maathai, Mairead Maguire, Mary McAleese, Soledad O'Brien, Sinéad O'Connor, Yoko Ono, Mariane Pearl, Kim Phuc, Paloma Picasso, Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ, Paula Rego, Louise Ridley, Mary Robinson, Jody Williams.
In this empowering book, 40 amazing women who have exerted an influence on others in many different ways discuss their work, their achievements, their hopes and their fears, offering women everywhere inspiration and optimism for the future through their fascinating explanations of what they have achieved. Featuring politicians, environmentalists, humanitarians, entrepreneurs, musicians, artists, actors, world leaders and Nobel Peace Prize winners, this book encourages readers to believe that they can achieve their greatest ambitions and help change the world for the better.
The book is structured around ten questions, with the 40 interviewees providing a pithy and insightful answer to each one. Topics range from influential early experiences, inspirations in life and most admired female figures to causes of anger, greatest fears, how to change the world and advice for the younger generation.
The full list of powerful women featured in the book is as follows: Isabel Allende, Christiane Amanpour, Maya Angelou, Hanan Ashrawi, Joan Baez, Benazir Bhutto, Mary Kayitesi Blewitt, Emma Bonino, Shami Chakrabarti, Jung Chang, Kate Clinton, Marie Colvin, Marion Cotillard, Severn Cullis-Suzuki, Carla Del Ponte, Judi Dench, Shirin Ebadi, Tracey Emin, Jane Fonda, Tanni Grey-Thompson, Dagmar Havlová, Swanee Hunt, Bianca Jagger, Nataša Kandić, Kathy Kelly, Martha Lane Fox, Dame Ann Leslie, Professor Wangari Maathai, Mairead Maguire, Mary McAleese, Soledad O'Brien, Sinéad O'Connor, Yoko Ono, Mariane Pearl, Kim Phuc, Paloma Picasso, Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ, Paula Rego, Louise Ridley, Mary Robinson, Jody Williams.
- GenresNonfictionInspirational
240 pages, Hardcover
Published February 26, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
February 28, 2019
What initially attracted me to this book was the eclectic mix of women that feature in its pages - from all walks of life, from all corners of the globe. It's diverse and inclusive and all the better for it - there are women from different races, cultures, religions and varying professions. What makes it so special is that it has one of the largest selection of inspirational ladies I've seen in this type of book. Zoe Sallis has done a sterling job putting it all together and making it cohesive and uplifting; you cannot fail to be moved and motivated, and because there are such a plethora of women here there will be at least a few that will resonate with everyone, and they are not women plucked from obscurity, the majority will be recognisable to most readers; that is one of the aspects that make this beautiful book so outstanding.
I do, however, feel that the inclusion of a concise biography of each woman at the rear of the book was an excellent idea, but, in my opinion, it should've been at the beginning, not least because some will only find out it exists when they've finished reading the rest. It really doesn't make a lot of sense to place it where it was. Another gripe was the absence of images - it's well-known that people tend to engage with writing a lot more when it is accompanied and complemented by some sort of image, whether that be a photograph or illustration, but, here, there aren't any to speak of. Unfortunately, younger readers will especially be impacted by that.
It's quite important that readers of these type of books can relate to those who grace the pages because if they can't it makes it difficult for the pieces inside to really have an impact. This is the sort of title that pushes you to follow your dreams, and although it's amazingly empowering to read at any age, I think this is a great book for young adults.
It's cleverly based around a standardised set of ten questions to which these women provide their answers; this makes it easy to compare and contrast the responses. I really appreciated this set-up because it ensured the topic was adhered to. I felt the tenth question - asking about a particular piece of art, music or a book that influences them and planted the seed which grew to what they have now become. This connection to popular culture will also appeal very much to younger readers.
This is a thought-provoking, honest and authentic book. Well edited and the layout makes it highly readable. It can be read from cover-to-cover like a novel or dipped in and out of whenever you are in need of a pick-me-up. Recommended.
Many thanks to Watkins Publishing for an ARC.
I do, however, feel that the inclusion of a concise biography of each woman at the rear of the book was an excellent idea, but, in my opinion, it should've been at the beginning, not least because some will only find out it exists when they've finished reading the rest. It really doesn't make a lot of sense to place it where it was. Another gripe was the absence of images - it's well-known that people tend to engage with writing a lot more when it is accompanied and complemented by some sort of image, whether that be a photograph or illustration, but, here, there aren't any to speak of. Unfortunately, younger readers will especially be impacted by that.
It's quite important that readers of these type of books can relate to those who grace the pages because if they can't it makes it difficult for the pieces inside to really have an impact. This is the sort of title that pushes you to follow your dreams, and although it's amazingly empowering to read at any age, I think this is a great book for young adults.
It's cleverly based around a standardised set of ten questions to which these women provide their answers; this makes it easy to compare and contrast the responses. I really appreciated this set-up because it ensured the topic was adhered to. I felt the tenth question - asking about a particular piece of art, music or a book that influences them and planted the seed which grew to what they have now become. This connection to popular culture will also appeal very much to younger readers.
This is a thought-provoking, honest and authentic book. Well edited and the layout makes it highly readable. It can be read from cover-to-cover like a novel or dipped in and out of whenever you are in need of a pick-me-up. Recommended.
Many thanks to Watkins Publishing for an ARC.
March 8, 2019
The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
2.5/5
"Voices of Powerful Women" by Zoe Sallis is a collection of answers important and inspirational women gave to some questions. The women who featured this book are 40, from actresses and activists to artists and presidents. The things they said were really interesting and inspiring.
What I didn't appreciate about this collection is that these women are not presented in any kind of way. There's just a name and the answer. I would have appreciated a mini biography about them, so to be able to know who they all are and empathize more.
Plus, I would have liked each woman to have a chapter of her own in order to know her own experiences and thoughts without confusion.
Anyway, I liked the concept behind this collection. These women are such a force of nature!
2.5/5
"Voices of Powerful Women" by Zoe Sallis is a collection of answers important and inspirational women gave to some questions. The women who featured this book are 40, from actresses and activists to artists and presidents. The things they said were really interesting and inspiring.
What I didn't appreciate about this collection is that these women are not presented in any kind of way. There's just a name and the answer. I would have appreciated a mini biography about them, so to be able to know who they all are and empathize more.
Plus, I would have liked each woman to have a chapter of her own in order to know her own experiences and thoughts without confusion.
Anyway, I liked the concept behind this collection. These women are such a force of nature!
January 24, 2019
A very powerful, inspiring book. Interviews with different inspiring women from the glove covering a wide range of themes. Highly recommended to everyone to read, men and women. A totally inspiring and thought provoking read.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion
February 19, 2019
I received an ARC copy of this book from NetGalley
This was an interesting book but I had a bit of a problem with how it was laid out. I love that the book is just all of the women's own words and nothing analyzing whether they are 'right' or 'wrong', but because of the way it was organized I felt it hard to get a picture of each individual woman. The book features 10 questions all the women are asked and the chapters are broken up by question, with each woman's response simply appearing under her name. This was interesting because you get to see how their answers compare and contrast to one another, but not necessarily an entire overview of each woman because it's hard to keep it all straight. Maybe it was because I didn't know who a lot of these women were, but I found it kind of frustrating.
There is a bit at the end where it gives you a short biography of each woman so I would possibly recommend flipping to the back and reading that first if you think it will help you feel more connected to the book. Overall I did find it to be very interesting though and I think that the author interviewed a good mix of women from different countries and different backgrounds. A good read but if you have a short attention span like me you might find yourself getting a bit frustrated with it by the end.
This was an interesting book but I had a bit of a problem with how it was laid out. I love that the book is just all of the women's own words and nothing analyzing whether they are 'right' or 'wrong', but because of the way it was organized I felt it hard to get a picture of each individual woman. The book features 10 questions all the women are asked and the chapters are broken up by question, with each woman's response simply appearing under her name. This was interesting because you get to see how their answers compare and contrast to one another, but not necessarily an entire overview of each woman because it's hard to keep it all straight. Maybe it was because I didn't know who a lot of these women were, but I found it kind of frustrating.
There is a bit at the end where it gives you a short biography of each woman so I would possibly recommend flipping to the back and reading that first if you think it will help you feel more connected to the book. Overall I did find it to be very interesting though and I think that the author interviewed a good mix of women from different countries and different backgrounds. A good read but if you have a short attention span like me you might find yourself getting a bit frustrated with it by the end.
January 31, 2019
So often it's the voice of women that is marginalised and sidelined in a world that is still unfairly dominated by men. That is why I was drawn to this book because I believe it's important to amplify and listen to the voice of women. In Voices of Powerful Women, 40 extraordinary and inspirational women are asked ten different questions on topics ranging from who inspires them, will there ever be an end to poverty, what is their greatest fear and much more. Zoe Sallis interviewed each woman and provides 200+ pages containing their answers.
The answers to each question are grouped together to make up the ten main chapters. The range of contributors is diverse, including actresses, politicians, activists and athletes (amongst other groups) from all round the globe. In fact, I was quite surprised to not recognise all the names which was a very positive and educational dimension for me when reading this book.
The book itself is an interesting read. As each chapter is centred on a different question it is sometimes hard to gain a full appreciation of the personality of each voice given the opportunity to share their perspective. On the one hand, this is a positive expression with the words of these women given space to speak for themselves. There is no analysis or critique; no questioning if they are right or wrong. That is completely refreshing. However, on the other hand, the book sometimes feels frustratingly disjointed and jumps around a little too much for my liking. Indeed, those words seem disconnected from the person who has said them, particularly if you are not familiar with the work of that woman. The format does not lend itself to build a proper picture of each of these 40 powerful women and for me, that was a shame. I was pleased when I got to the end and found that there was a section about each contributor - I had previously used the internet to research the names I was not familiar with.
Don't let me put you off as there is plenty to like about this book. It is ambitious and enlightening and there are lots of different voices providing competing perspectives on the role of women in the world. I was particularly drawn to the range of answers offered in the chapter where each of the women were asked "What spiritual or religious beliefs do you hold?" I was also moved when I discovered that Benazir Bhutto, the first female Prime Minister of Pakistan, had actually been assassinated shortly after the interview in 2007.
Ultimately, the subtitle is the best reflection of what this book is: we are treated to words of wisdom from 40 inspiring women on a variety of topics. I have learnt a lot and enjoyed this brief snapshot into the lives of this diverse collection of women.
An advanced copy of this book was provided for review by the publisher via NetGalley.
The answers to each question are grouped together to make up the ten main chapters. The range of contributors is diverse, including actresses, politicians, activists and athletes (amongst other groups) from all round the globe. In fact, I was quite surprised to not recognise all the names which was a very positive and educational dimension for me when reading this book.
The book itself is an interesting read. As each chapter is centred on a different question it is sometimes hard to gain a full appreciation of the personality of each voice given the opportunity to share their perspective. On the one hand, this is a positive expression with the words of these women given space to speak for themselves. There is no analysis or critique; no questioning if they are right or wrong. That is completely refreshing. However, on the other hand, the book sometimes feels frustratingly disjointed and jumps around a little too much for my liking. Indeed, those words seem disconnected from the person who has said them, particularly if you are not familiar with the work of that woman. The format does not lend itself to build a proper picture of each of these 40 powerful women and for me, that was a shame. I was pleased when I got to the end and found that there was a section about each contributor - I had previously used the internet to research the names I was not familiar with.
Don't let me put you off as there is plenty to like about this book. It is ambitious and enlightening and there are lots of different voices providing competing perspectives on the role of women in the world. I was particularly drawn to the range of answers offered in the chapter where each of the women were asked "What spiritual or religious beliefs do you hold?" I was also moved when I discovered that Benazir Bhutto, the first female Prime Minister of Pakistan, had actually been assassinated shortly after the interview in 2007.
Ultimately, the subtitle is the best reflection of what this book is: we are treated to words of wisdom from 40 inspiring women on a variety of topics. I have learnt a lot and enjoyed this brief snapshot into the lives of this diverse collection of women.
An advanced copy of this book was provided for review by the publisher via NetGalley.
November 25, 2023
A choppy book with no narrative, just a lot of quotes from interviews (maybe emailed questions which they answered in writing?) with no context. Interesting women are featured, but reading it means a lot of constant flipping to the back pages to see who the person is...oh yes, she was president of Ireland in 1990, or oh yes, she had an ecological non-profit. Sometimes I felt like I was in a museum gift shop reading a lot of posters or coffee mugs.
February 10, 2019
Voices of Powerful Women
Edited by Zoe Sallis
Available in Hardback and ebook
Firstly lets just look at this gorgeous cover on this book. If that doesn't make you want to pick up the book and read it immediately then you best read the rest of this review.
Voices of Powerful Women is a collection of interviews with 40 empowering and inspiring women* ranging from actresses, writers, politicians, activists, athletes and artists. Zoe Sallis has collated these interviews over many years and presented them in this inspiring book which frankly should be handed out to everybody, and it should be compulsory to read extracts from this book when you're having a bad day and you need a lift to get out a pit of doom.
The topics are wide ranging, and gives a platform (with no analysis) for the interviewees voice and opinions on the topics of spiritual and religious beliefs, recommendations, their greatest fear, tackling poverty, who inspires them. This book provides an intimate view into the world views of these women, and I'm hoping it will inspire readers to be more bolder with their views and to speak out about the things that matter in this world.
This is an inspiring book, and is very important for today's society where the voices of women are slowly becoming louder. You can but Voices of Powerful Women from your favourite bookshop.
*The women interviewed in this book include: Isabel Allende, Christiane Amanpour, Maya Angelou, Hanan Ashrawi, Joan Baez, Benazir Bhutto, Mary Kayitesi Blewitt, Emma Bonino, Shami Chakrabarti, Jung Chang, Kate Clinton, Marie Colvin, Marion Cotillard, Severn Cullis-Suzuki, Carla Del Ponte, Judi Dench, Shirin Ebadi, Tracey Emin, Jane Fonda, Tanni Grey-Thompson, Dagmar Havlova, Swanee Hunt, Bianca Jagger, Natasa Kandic, Kathy Kelly, Martha Lane Fox, Dame Ann Leslie, Professor Wangari Maathai, Mairead Maguire, Mary McAleese, Soledad O'Brien, Sinead O'Connor, Yoko Ono, Mariane Pearl, Kim Phuc, Paloma Picasso, Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ, Paula Rego, Louise Ridley, Mary Robinson, Jody Williams.
I was sent an ebook version of this ebook from Netgalley.
Edited by Zoe Sallis
Available in Hardback and ebook
Firstly lets just look at this gorgeous cover on this book. If that doesn't make you want to pick up the book and read it immediately then you best read the rest of this review.
Voices of Powerful Women is a collection of interviews with 40 empowering and inspiring women* ranging from actresses, writers, politicians, activists, athletes and artists. Zoe Sallis has collated these interviews over many years and presented them in this inspiring book which frankly should be handed out to everybody, and it should be compulsory to read extracts from this book when you're having a bad day and you need a lift to get out a pit of doom.
The topics are wide ranging, and gives a platform (with no analysis) for the interviewees voice and opinions on the topics of spiritual and religious beliefs, recommendations, their greatest fear, tackling poverty, who inspires them. This book provides an intimate view into the world views of these women, and I'm hoping it will inspire readers to be more bolder with their views and to speak out about the things that matter in this world.
This is an inspiring book, and is very important for today's society where the voices of women are slowly becoming louder. You can but Voices of Powerful Women from your favourite bookshop.
*The women interviewed in this book include: Isabel Allende, Christiane Amanpour, Maya Angelou, Hanan Ashrawi, Joan Baez, Benazir Bhutto, Mary Kayitesi Blewitt, Emma Bonino, Shami Chakrabarti, Jung Chang, Kate Clinton, Marie Colvin, Marion Cotillard, Severn Cullis-Suzuki, Carla Del Ponte, Judi Dench, Shirin Ebadi, Tracey Emin, Jane Fonda, Tanni Grey-Thompson, Dagmar Havlova, Swanee Hunt, Bianca Jagger, Natasa Kandic, Kathy Kelly, Martha Lane Fox, Dame Ann Leslie, Professor Wangari Maathai, Mairead Maguire, Mary McAleese, Soledad O'Brien, Sinead O'Connor, Yoko Ono, Mariane Pearl, Kim Phuc, Paloma Picasso, Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ, Paula Rego, Louise Ridley, Mary Robinson, Jody Williams.
I was sent an ebook version of this ebook from Netgalley.
January 27, 2019
Thank you to netgalley and publisher for the copy for an honest review.
This is a collection of questions answered by a collection of women who have become empowered by their careers, upbringing or beliefs. They have strong voices and are women unafraid to say what they mean.
I enjoyed the insight into their lives/thoughts; with interesting questions that are thought provoking for the reader as well as the women being interviewed. I knew some of the women and loved their answers but it was the women I wasn’t familiar with that really caught my attention.
I liked how the book is laid out- each chapter a new question that gets answered by each woman. There were some formatting issues on this copy but I’d hope that will be rectified.
An easy, read that is interesting both to men and women alike.
This is a collection of questions answered by a collection of women who have become empowered by their careers, upbringing or beliefs. They have strong voices and are women unafraid to say what they mean.
I enjoyed the insight into their lives/thoughts; with interesting questions that are thought provoking for the reader as well as the women being interviewed. I knew some of the women and loved their answers but it was the women I wasn’t familiar with that really caught my attention.
I liked how the book is laid out- each chapter a new question that gets answered by each woman. There were some formatting issues on this copy but I’d hope that will be rectified.
An easy, read that is interesting both to men and women alike.
February 28, 2019
3.75/5
*I received this book from NetGalley in return for a honest review*
This book was very different from what I was expecting. I was expecting more narrative to go alongside the words from these 40 women, but each chapter is one question with a selection of them answering that question. The questions range from topics about peace, activism, religion, and the younger generations.
Some of the women I know, some well others just the knowledge of there names and some I had never heard of at all. Some of the answers I agreed with and others I didn't, but I enjoyed reading the perspectives of all of these women from different cultures, generations, and walks of life.
There is wisdom in this book, but I may have enjoyed a bit more context to their words.
*I received this book from NetGalley in return for a honest review*
This book was very different from what I was expecting. I was expecting more narrative to go alongside the words from these 40 women, but each chapter is one question with a selection of them answering that question. The questions range from topics about peace, activism, religion, and the younger generations.
Some of the women I know, some well others just the knowledge of there names and some I had never heard of at all. Some of the answers I agreed with and others I didn't, but I enjoyed reading the perspectives of all of these women from different cultures, generations, and walks of life.
There is wisdom in this book, but I may have enjoyed a bit more context to their words.
February 1, 2019
Featuring interviews from influential women around the world, Zoe Sallis asks some of the most powerful women from the last century 10 key questions. From sharing their greatest fears and inspiration, to imparting advice for younger generations, each woman shares her personal motivations and life experiences.
Filled with a mixture of interviewees you will recognise, and some you may not, you're virtually guaranteed to find at least one new inspirational woman who you want to learn more about. Imparting an overall message of hope, courage, and inspiration, Voices of Powerful Women is a motivational and thought-provoking read.
Filled with a mixture of interviewees you will recognise, and some you may not, you're virtually guaranteed to find at least one new inspirational woman who you want to learn more about. Imparting an overall message of hope, courage, and inspiration, Voices of Powerful Women is a motivational and thought-provoking read.
January 26, 2019
I received an ARC of this book (publication date: 2/26/2019). Each chapter is laid out as a question with different women providing insight into their lives by their responses. The questions are often thought provoking and the responses are incredibly honest. Some of the women I was very familiar with and others I want to learn more about. The collection is well edited and a quick easy read. Hopefully the layout/formatting issues I experienced will be resolved before publication.
January 28, 2019
This book is great! It is honest and inspirational and something that is so easy to enjoy reading. It gives insight to the lives and thoughts of women who are well-known and have had some kind of impact on our lives and the way we think. I loved it so much and can't recommend it enough.
I voluntarily read and received a free ARC copy of this title through NetGalley in exchange for a review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I voluntarily read and received a free ARC copy of this title through NetGalley in exchange for a review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
March 6, 2022
Some inspiring messages from women from different backgrounds; humanitarians, activists, writers, artists and journalists. The book is easy to read and good for dipping in and out of if you don't have much time, I've mainly read it whilst waiting for dinner to cook. I think I'd have got bored reading it for hours at a time as it's made up of responses to lots of questions. There's a section at the end that describes the contributors but I think this would have been better at the beginning, I didn't notice it at first so was googling who some of them were. Some images of the women would have been good and made the book more attractive to younger audiences. I had the physical book but if I'd had the kindle version I would have highlighted some of the messages. It's a book I'll keep and re-read sections from time to time.
September 24, 2019
I really enjoyed reading the perspectives of different, powerful women on a variety of questions. The faith chapter was particularly intriguing for me - I enjoyed reading about how a variety of these women incorporated faith and spirituality into their journeys.
July 19, 2019
A wonderful collection of interviews from a diverse range of women. Empowering and insightful, this book is truly fascinating with a gorgeous cover to boot!
May 24, 2020
A great gift and a book that can be read in one go or used as an inspirational book to dip in and out of. I loved reading about the achievements and challenges of some amazing women.
February 18, 2021
Even tho I didn't agree with what some women say on some things, I find this book it be really good and inspirational.
Read
February 20, 2023It's a grt one, love to read it
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 19, 2019
I think this was a really good book because we got to read a lot of different answers to questions from a diverse group of incredible women. The author asked questions like 'Did your upbringing or early experiences influence the direction your life took' and ' Which women, past or present, do you most admire?' I loved these questions because it's interesting to see what these amazing women have to say. Women like Jane Fonda, Yoko Ono, Kin Phuc, and Maya Angelou all had brilliant and wonderful answers and that's why I enjoyed this book so much.
January 28, 2019
This is an important book. I really loved hearing all of the different women's voices, opinions, and arguments. It was eye opening whether or not I personally agreed with the particular statement or not. Some of the women I know a lot about and some are new to me. This was nice as it gives me a chance to learn about new activists that I hadn't previously been aware of. Really important book. Highly recommend to everyone.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the book to review.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the book to review.
February 1, 2019
Wow. What a wonderful inspirational read. This book should be read by everyone male and female. A great book club choice. Wonderful interviews of inspirational women. Fabulous read.
⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️
⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️
February 5, 2019
My first observation of the book is that the Kindle DRC I received has some fairly obvious formatting issues, which I hope will be rectified before publishing. However, the cover art is gorgeous!
Voices of Powerful Women (henceforth called “Voices”) is a non-fiction collection of questions and answers from various inspirational women. From actresses and artists, to presidents and activists, there are 40 women whose answers to specific questions have been collated by Zoe Sallis.
These are the women who have been interviewed for the book:
Isabel Allende, Christiane Amanpour, Maya Angelou, Hanan Ashrawi, Joan Baez, Benazir Bhutto, Mary Kayitesi Blewitt, Emma Bonino, Shami Chakrabarti, Jung Chang, Kate Clinton, Marie Colvin, Marion Cotillard, Severn Cullis-Suzuki, Carla Del Ponte, Judi Dench, Shirin Ebadi, Tracey Emin, Jane Fonda, Tanni Grey-Thompson, Dagmar Havlová, Swanee Hunt, Bianca Jagger, Nataša Kandić, Kathy Kelly, Martha Lane Fox, Dame Ann Leslie, Professor Wangari Maathai, Mairead Maguire, Mary McAleese, Soledad O’Brien, Sinéad O’Connor, Yoko Ono, Mariane Pearl, Kim Phuc, Paloma Picasso, Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ, Paula Rego, Louise Ridley, Mary Robinson, Jody Williams.
Now, I confess I don’t know who all of these women are. I would have liked to have seen a short biography at the beginning of the book so that the answers from these women had context? It is all very well and good for them to be commenting on their unusual or traumatic childhoods and how it influenced them in their adult years, but we don’t know what they do or who they are. I don’t want to keep putting a book down to google each person mentioned. I also didn’t know there was a short biography on each woman until the very end. That would have been much more beneficial at the beginning.
There are some really harrowing tales from these women and some deeply profound accounts of experiences of war and oppression. Honestly, though, some of the answers were less than inspiring. It was perhaps because I didn’t know the context of their experiences that I was unable to feel touched or inspired by them? Really, I think listing every single response to the questions is a little boring, I would have much preferred to see cherry-picked answers, not necessarily including the irrelevant or uninteresting.
That is not to say that there were contributors who were uninteresting, I simply mean that not every question produced an interesting or inspiring answer from every single woman.
“WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST FEAR? Yoko Ono: I fear to lose freedom by being fearful.”
I found the format of Question followed by 40 answers to be disjointed and disconnected. I didn’t have a chance to get inside the mind of each contributor before we moved on to the next answer. Perhaps it would have been more effective to have a section on each woman, ask the questions and present their carefully chosen answers based on their interest and relevance.
I honestly became bored of reading answer after answer “I am”, “I am”, “I am”. I wanted to hear about what was behind the responses that were shared. Okay, so you were inspired by your terrible childhood in a warzone. Why? What happened? How does it influence you now? The answers lack depth and they lack context.
I didn’t HATE this book, I really feel like if the formatting and layout of the book were different, it would be an inspiring and empowering read. I have three daughters, I’m always on the lookout for books like this for them to read, I want them to be empowered by the experiences and teachings of other strong women. This could be exactly that book. As it is, I was left a little disappointed.
The women who contribute to this book are fascinating. Individually they have wisdom that is truly remarkable. I really think Zoe Sallis has created a potentially potent collection of mini-memoirs. If each chapter was based on one woman, it would make the reading so much more enjoyable. I could see myself reading a chapter a night with my girls so they can learn about the different lives of such empowering women. I do think that I will still buy this as a hard copy once it is released. I would like to see if the formatting and layout are improved.
For now, I give Voices: 3/5 stars
I feel terrible for not being able to give it more stars, the feminist in me is shaking her head right now. It really is just down to personal taste. Having read other reviewers thoughts, I see that some people loved it and some not-so-much.
Voices of Powerful Women (henceforth called “Voices”) is a non-fiction collection of questions and answers from various inspirational women. From actresses and artists, to presidents and activists, there are 40 women whose answers to specific questions have been collated by Zoe Sallis.
These are the women who have been interviewed for the book:
Isabel Allende, Christiane Amanpour, Maya Angelou, Hanan Ashrawi, Joan Baez, Benazir Bhutto, Mary Kayitesi Blewitt, Emma Bonino, Shami Chakrabarti, Jung Chang, Kate Clinton, Marie Colvin, Marion Cotillard, Severn Cullis-Suzuki, Carla Del Ponte, Judi Dench, Shirin Ebadi, Tracey Emin, Jane Fonda, Tanni Grey-Thompson, Dagmar Havlová, Swanee Hunt, Bianca Jagger, Nataša Kandić, Kathy Kelly, Martha Lane Fox, Dame Ann Leslie, Professor Wangari Maathai, Mairead Maguire, Mary McAleese, Soledad O’Brien, Sinéad O’Connor, Yoko Ono, Mariane Pearl, Kim Phuc, Paloma Picasso, Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ, Paula Rego, Louise Ridley, Mary Robinson, Jody Williams.
Now, I confess I don’t know who all of these women are. I would have liked to have seen a short biography at the beginning of the book so that the answers from these women had context? It is all very well and good for them to be commenting on their unusual or traumatic childhoods and how it influenced them in their adult years, but we don’t know what they do or who they are. I don’t want to keep putting a book down to google each person mentioned. I also didn’t know there was a short biography on each woman until the very end. That would have been much more beneficial at the beginning.
There are some really harrowing tales from these women and some deeply profound accounts of experiences of war and oppression. Honestly, though, some of the answers were less than inspiring. It was perhaps because I didn’t know the context of their experiences that I was unable to feel touched or inspired by them? Really, I think listing every single response to the questions is a little boring, I would have much preferred to see cherry-picked answers, not necessarily including the irrelevant or uninteresting.
That is not to say that there were contributors who were uninteresting, I simply mean that not every question produced an interesting or inspiring answer from every single woman.
“WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST FEAR? Yoko Ono: I fear to lose freedom by being fearful.”
I found the format of Question followed by 40 answers to be disjointed and disconnected. I didn’t have a chance to get inside the mind of each contributor before we moved on to the next answer. Perhaps it would have been more effective to have a section on each woman, ask the questions and present their carefully chosen answers based on their interest and relevance.
I honestly became bored of reading answer after answer “I am”, “I am”, “I am”. I wanted to hear about what was behind the responses that were shared. Okay, so you were inspired by your terrible childhood in a warzone. Why? What happened? How does it influence you now? The answers lack depth and they lack context.
I didn’t HATE this book, I really feel like if the formatting and layout of the book were different, it would be an inspiring and empowering read. I have three daughters, I’m always on the lookout for books like this for them to read, I want them to be empowered by the experiences and teachings of other strong women. This could be exactly that book. As it is, I was left a little disappointed.
The women who contribute to this book are fascinating. Individually they have wisdom that is truly remarkable. I really think Zoe Sallis has created a potentially potent collection of mini-memoirs. If each chapter was based on one woman, it would make the reading so much more enjoyable. I could see myself reading a chapter a night with my girls so they can learn about the different lives of such empowering women. I do think that I will still buy this as a hard copy once it is released. I would like to see if the formatting and layout are improved.
For now, I give Voices: 3/5 stars
I feel terrible for not being able to give it more stars, the feminist in me is shaking her head right now. It really is just down to personal taste. Having read other reviewers thoughts, I see that some people loved it and some not-so-much.
February 17, 2019
A very interesting read! This book is a collection of interviews with influencing women of power from across the world. It covers a range of topics and it's interesting how each woman has answered differently to each question as they all come from different backgrounds and have different influences in their lives.
The only criticism I would give is that it could have included more women from today. I appreciate that the answers have been collated over a number of years but I felt like there could have been other contributors from today's world.
I liked how it's set out, however it could have done with the biographies of each contributer at the beginning and not the end.
Thank you to NetGalley and publisher Watkins Publishing for this advanced copy in exchange of an honest review.
The only criticism I would give is that it could have included more women from today. I appreciate that the answers have been collated over a number of years but I felt like there could have been other contributors from today's world.
I liked how it's set out, however it could have done with the biographies of each contributer at the beginning and not the end.
Thank you to NetGalley and publisher Watkins Publishing for this advanced copy in exchange of an honest review.
February 23, 2019
I have to admit, my interest in Voices of Powerful Women was piqued by its incredible line-up of interviewees. I’m not much for celebrity, but Voices of Powerful Women contains interviews with some of the most inspiring and impressive women in our modern world, including Maya Angelou, Judi Dench and Joan Baez; some of the interviewees I had heard of, and some I had to Google, but all of them had something important to say. And I wasn’t disappointed.
As you would expect, Voices of Powerful Women is full of wonderful words of wisdom, as well as some fantastic stories about the lives of these women. This is definitely one of those books you’ll pick up and flip open when you need a little inspiration, and I was very pleased to receive a copy from the publisher.
The book opens on a beautiful quote from Eleanor Roosevelt (who is not one of the interviewees, for obvious reasons): “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams”. Zoe Sallis goes on to ask her subjects a series of serious questions; and I think some of their answers will surprise you.
[Some of my favourite quotes from the book]
Voices of Powerful Women was a lovely collection of words, by some fascinating and inspirational figures, and is undoubtedly a book which many women will find inspiring. That being said, it really is one to flip through, rather than read end-to-end, because it is quite list-like.
As you would expect, Voices of Powerful Women is full of wonderful words of wisdom, as well as some fantastic stories about the lives of these women. This is definitely one of those books you’ll pick up and flip open when you need a little inspiration, and I was very pleased to receive a copy from the publisher.
The book opens on a beautiful quote from Eleanor Roosevelt (who is not one of the interviewees, for obvious reasons): “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams”. Zoe Sallis goes on to ask her subjects a series of serious questions; and I think some of their answers will surprise you.
[Some of my favourite quotes from the book]
Voices of Powerful Women was a lovely collection of words, by some fascinating and inspirational figures, and is undoubtedly a book which many women will find inspiring. That being said, it really is one to flip through, rather than read end-to-end, because it is quite list-like.
February 22, 2019
Voices of Powerful Women takes a group of inspiring and strong women and asks them some very simple questions on a range of topics such as faith, the impact of their upbringing , inspiration, art and the role of women in making a difference in the world. The diversity of the women included , and the sometimes surprising commonalities in their answers made the book very interesting, and even thought provoking at times, since I found myself presented with ideas and perspectives I had never thought about before. The contributors include authors such as Isabel Allende and Jung Chang, journalists like Christiane Amanpour, politicians like Benazir Bhutto, human rights activists like Mary Robinson, artists, actresses including Judy Dench and Marion Cotillard and musicians such as Sinead O'Connor and Joan Baez. These women were all asked the same questions , and the answers compiled. While this was an interesting idea, and often worked well , at times a little more context would have helped. I would suggest that this book is best enjoyed as something to dip in and out of, rather than something to be read from cover to cover. While some of the questions and answers were predictable , I found myself surprised on several occasions, most notably when the participants were asked about faith and religion.
I read and reviewed an ARC supplied by the publisher via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.
I read and reviewed an ARC supplied by the publisher via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.
March 4, 2019
This book was one that I was really looking forward to reading, but the formatting issues really took away from my being able to enjoy it. Hopefully these will be resolved soon for future readers.
March 12, 2019
"One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We cannot be kind, true, merciful, generous, honest." -Maya Angelo
I was very excited to read this book. The cover is beautiful and emits power and strength. I started reading it earlier than I originally planned since international women's day was approaching and I wanted to spark the female empowerment flame via this book.
As the title states, this book is a collection of voices of women from around the world. I recognized the names of some of the women interviewed while I have no clue who others are. I did not bother to look them up nor did I feel there was a need to. I somewhat expected this book to be stories or words of wisdom shared by different women. I expected to gain a few valuable life lessons with each story. I wanted to learn more about the journey of these women and how they overcame the difficulties of life. I wanted to see the differences in our experiences but learn from their determination and resilience. That was my honest expectation and this book did not come near what I expected it to be.
However, now that I've pointed out what this book isn't, I can focus on what it is and how it can be embraced. The formatting of this book, questions at the beginning of the chapter and the responses from the different women within the chapter, reminded me of a devotional/daily reflection type book. Instead of getting to know the women, we get glimpses of their life story by the responses in each chapter. The responses aren't organized by each woman, we don't get a chapter per woman to know them better. It is simply a question and answer type format. We get glimpses of what their childhood was like, depending on what each person shared, but the point is to give us a response. To answer a question and focus on that.
I would approach this book as a meditational/reflection type book. A thought-provoking book where one can start or end their day/week by reading one chapter and asking themselves the same question. It's an invitation to join the women in this book, assuming you're a woman and adding your voice on paper or a journal.
Although it wasn't what I expected, I would recommend this book to a friend. I think it's empowering to reflect on the responses and join in the conversation with the women interviewed. I would definitely have appreciated short life stories of the women interviewed or a chapter per woman's response to each question so that her life story could somewhat connect with the interview, but it can definitely still work if one accepts it as a book of quotes and reflective questions.
I was very excited to read this book. The cover is beautiful and emits power and strength. I started reading it earlier than I originally planned since international women's day was approaching and I wanted to spark the female empowerment flame via this book.
As the title states, this book is a collection of voices of women from around the world. I recognized the names of some of the women interviewed while I have no clue who others are. I did not bother to look them up nor did I feel there was a need to. I somewhat expected this book to be stories or words of wisdom shared by different women. I expected to gain a few valuable life lessons with each story. I wanted to learn more about the journey of these women and how they overcame the difficulties of life. I wanted to see the differences in our experiences but learn from their determination and resilience. That was my honest expectation and this book did not come near what I expected it to be.
However, now that I've pointed out what this book isn't, I can focus on what it is and how it can be embraced. The formatting of this book, questions at the beginning of the chapter and the responses from the different women within the chapter, reminded me of a devotional/daily reflection type book. Instead of getting to know the women, we get glimpses of their life story by the responses in each chapter. The responses aren't organized by each woman, we don't get a chapter per woman to know them better. It is simply a question and answer type format. We get glimpses of what their childhood was like, depending on what each person shared, but the point is to give us a response. To answer a question and focus on that.
I would approach this book as a meditational/reflection type book. A thought-provoking book where one can start or end their day/week by reading one chapter and asking themselves the same question. It's an invitation to join the women in this book, assuming you're a woman and adding your voice on paper or a journal.
Although it wasn't what I expected, I would recommend this book to a friend. I think it's empowering to reflect on the responses and join in the conversation with the women interviewed. I would definitely have appreciated short life stories of the women interviewed or a chapter per woman's response to each question so that her life story could somewhat connect with the interview, but it can definitely still work if one accepts it as a book of quotes and reflective questions.
March 18, 2019
This is an inspiring and eye opening collection of questions and answers with some of the world's most impressive women. I think there is a lot to be gained for women of all ages reading this book and having it to flick through again and again. I did, however, begin to find the answers a bit repetitive - there are 40 women answering the same questions, and what this book mainly showed me is that the passionate, the kind and the strong are probably going to answer questions meant to be insightful in the same way.
April 21, 2019
This book was absolutely awe inspiring and an awesome insight from all the women who contributed. I think this would be a perfect book for a women's studies class but also just to read for just inspirational womanhood and women in general.
May 18, 2019
A review in phrases:
Pros:
The selection of women from all over - a truly diverse set of voices compared to many other books I have seen;
Loved the concept itself
Enjoyed and appreciated the brief biographies of the included women
Cons:
The layout of the book - arranging it by question rather than the person makes the reading of the book soulless; clumping (yes, it does seem like clumping) all the answers from these inspiring women for each question together makes for disjointed reading; if the book had been arranged by the women answering each of the 8 questions asked there would have been a flow more natural and contextual. the included biographies could have been either at the beginning of the book or if layout by women, then bio followed by the complete interview of each woman would have made the book wonderful to read
so overall 3 stars
content and concept - 5 stars
layout /presentation of content - 2 stars
Disclaimer: thank you to NetGalley for the digital review copy of this book.
Pros:
The selection of women from all over - a truly diverse set of voices compared to many other books I have seen;
Loved the concept itself
Enjoyed and appreciated the brief biographies of the included women
Cons:
The layout of the book - arranging it by question rather than the person makes the reading of the book soulless; clumping (yes, it does seem like clumping) all the answers from these inspiring women for each question together makes for disjointed reading; if the book had been arranged by the women answering each of the 8 questions asked there would have been a flow more natural and contextual. the included biographies could have been either at the beginning of the book or if layout by women, then bio followed by the complete interview of each woman would have made the book wonderful to read
so overall 3 stars
content and concept - 5 stars
layout /presentation of content - 2 stars
Disclaimer: thank you to NetGalley for the digital review copy of this book.
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