2025 Reading Challenge discussion

SECOND QUARTER CHALLENGE: #READWOMEN2014
Duration: April 1 - June 30, 2014
-----UPDATED DURATION: APRIL 1 - DECEMBER 31, 2014

#readwomen2014 is a movement started by Joanna Walsh who was tired of the status quo. In her own words, this is what the movement is all about:

It’s a truth universally acknowledged, and confirmed by VIDA, that, though women read more books than men, and female authors are published in comparable numbers, they are more easily overlooked: a smaller presence in literary journals both as reviewers, and the reviewed, they also account for fewer literary translations.

It’s not whether women are published (because they are) but how they are published. Are men more likely to write what’s considered ‘important’ literary fiction, or could it be that more are regarded that way? I’ve heard female writer friends grouse when their books are given flowery covers though their writing’s not, when reviews, even press-releases, describe their work as “delicate” when it is forthright, “playful” when it is experimental, “delightful” when it is satirical, “carving a niche” when it is staking a claim (none of these examples is made up).

For this challenge, decide how many new-to-you female authors you would like to read. Once your goal is set, read! And come back and tell us who your favorites were to get great female authors more exposure. Each author can only count once.

Chloé is both the person who suggested this challenge and its leader. Thank you, Chloé!

This is great! I'm going to go for 4 although I'd like to increase this but I will see how I get on.

I'll go with 5 - it'd be higher if I didn't already read a lot of female authored stuff. :) Most of my picks will come from the list of this year's Nebula award nominees.

I'll go for 6 for now and might change it later on. :)

I will sign up for 4 for now, but who knows what will happen.

I think I will go with 6 (2 a month), may adjust higher

I'm in for 10! I may adjust later. Looking forward to getting started!

I'll start with 4 for now. I know I'll be reading several more books by female authors in April-June, but most are authors I've read before and thus aren't "new to me."

1. Their Eyes Were Watching God-Zora Neale Hurston (4/12/14)
2. The Encyclopedia of Early Earth - Isabel Greenberg (04/26/14)
3. Please Look After Mom by Shin Kyung-sook (05/02/14)
4. Ru by Kim Thúy (05/13/14)
5. Map of Dreams by M. Rickert (05/30/14)
6. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (05/29/14)
7. The Goddess Chronicle by Natsuo Kirino (06/30/14)



Read: 4/4
May 13: Increased goal to 7 books.
New read count: 7/7

------------------ Challenge Expanded to a Yearly -----------------

Adding books read between January and the start of the original quarterly challenge as allowed:

Books by new-to-me women read so far in 2014: 9 (and a bunch of not-new-to-me women)

New goal for the yearly version of the challenge: 20

1. Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston (4/12/14)
2. The Encyclopedia of Early Earth - Isabel Greenberg (04/26/14)
3. Please Look After Mom - Shin Kyung-sook (05/02/14)
4. Ru - Kim Thúy (05/13/14)
5. Map of Dreams - M. Rickert (05/30/14)
6. Howl's Moving Castle - Diana Wynne Jones (05/29/14)
7. The Goddess Chronicle - Natsuo Kirino (06/30/14)
8. Ancillary Justice - Ann Leckie (02/13/14)
9. Ellen Foster - Kaye Gibbons (01/12/14)
10. From the Land of the Moon - Milena Agus (08/25/14)
11. The House on Mango Street - Sandra Cisneros (08/18/14)
12. The Lover - Marguerite Duras (08/20/14)
14. Beasts - Joyce Carol Oates (09/02/14)
14. Memento Mori - Muriel Spark (09/16/14)
15. The Summer Book - Tove Jansson (08/23/14)
16. Two Serious Ladies - Jane Bowles (10/01/14)
17. Memory of Water - Emmi Itäranta (10/18/14)
18. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory - Caitlin Doughty (11/14/14)
19. Bossypants - Tina Fey (12/23/14)
20. Bad Feminist: Essays - Roxane Gay (12/29/14)

Read: 20/20

3/14-6/14

I'll try for 15
1. Laura Bickle-The Hallowed Ones 4-2-14
2. Shannon Hale-THe Goose Girl 4-5-14
3. Gennifer Albin-Crewel 4-7-14
4. Ava Dellaira 4-12-14
5. M.G. Buehrlen 4-14-14
6. Jennifer E Smith 4-17-14
7. Jocelyn Davies 4-20-14
8. Tonya Cherie Hegamin 4-23-14
9. Megan Miranda 4-25-14
10. Karen Cushman 4-26-14
11. Pam Muñoz Ryan 4-27-14

Love the idea for this challenge-I'm in for 9 books!

My tentative reading list:

1. , by Nely Cab
3. , by Sarah Alderson
4. , by Moira Young
5. , by Jen Wylie
6. , by Annie Walls
7. , by Melissa West
8. , by Alexandra Bracken
9. , by Agatha Christie

I really like this idea! I'll go for 5 for now, but I might add to that as time passes.

Count me in for 6 please.

I'm in! I'll do at least 10.

1. Divergent by Veronica Roth
2. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
3. Someone by Alice McDermott
4. Good Kings Bad Kings by Susan Nussbaum
5. Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened by Allie Brosh
6. The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel
7. How Not to Calm a Child on a Plane: And Other Lessons in Parenting from a Highly Questionable Source by Johanna Stein
8. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
9. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
10. The Transcriptionist by Amy Rowland
11. Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko
12. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
13. What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day by Pearl Cleage

#READWOMEN2014 CHALLENGE
Read 12 women authors I've never read before.
Duration: April 1 - June 30, 2014 -- Current Status: 20/20 -- CHALLENGE COMPLETE

Angela Carter .....Finished 04/04/14
Rainbow Rowell .....Finished 04/05/14
Carol Rifka Brunt .....Finished 04/11/14
Loung Ung .....Finished 04/13/14
Joanne Harris .....Finished 04/14/14
Naomi Hirahara .....Finished 04/15/14
Elizabeth Wein .....Finished 04/17/14
Rhiannon Frater .....Finished 04/22/14
Malla Nunn .....Finished 04/23/14
Rhonda Riley .....Finished 04/29/14
Kate Southwood .....Finished 04/30/14
Karen Russell ....Finished 05/07/14
Tatiana de Rosnay ....Finished 05/12/14
Lyndsay Faye ....Finished 05/21/14
Jamie Mason Finished 05/23/14
Nancy Peacock .....Finished 06/01/14
Dot Jackson .....Finished 06/15/14
Annie Dillard .....Finished 06/18/14
Ann Cleeves .......Finished 06/19/14
Kim Echlin ......Finished 06/20/14

Full list of potential new authors from my TBR shelf.

I'll go for 4. I think its going to be hard for me to find new women authors I haven't read.

For people who want to keep it a quarterly challenge, I won't modify your challenge and your deadline is still June the 30th.

For the people interested in turning it into a yearly challenge, they won't close the forum and we will be able to continue it. Then I will update you're new goals when you made your mind. You're deadline will be December the 31st.


Participation List

Andreaks : 0/4
Adriana : 25/30
Aislinn : 2/4
Alessia : 10/30
Alison : 11/15
Alissa : 8/15
Amanda : 7/7 COMPLETED !!!
Amanda W. : 0/4
Anna : 0/3
Apoorv : 2/6

Barbara : 8/15
Bernadette : 20/20 COMPLETED !!!
Brenna : 24/20 COMPLETED !!!
Brianna (bebe): 20/40
Brianna : 14/25

Candice : 0/3
Candiss : 20/20
Cassandra : 7/12
Chloé : 15/20
Claire P.: 28/25 COMPLETED !!!
Claire E. : 0/5
Courtney : 31/30 COMPLETED !!!
Cynthia : 50/60

Dana : 25/15 COMPLETED !!!
Daphne : 2/10
❦Dawn❦ : 3/3 COMPLETED !!!
Diane (Evana): 9/9 COMPLETED !!!

Elsbeth : 26/24 COMPLETED !!!
Erika : 4/4 COMPLETED !!!
EstaAmeliaR : 27/25

Finley Jayne : 0/9

Greg : 30/30 COMPLETED !!!

Holli : 1/5

Ian : 5/5 COMPLETED !!!

Jaclyn : 8/8 COMPLETED !!!
Jacqueline : 3/5
Janet : 20/20 COMPLETED !!!
Jayne : 12/12 COMPLETED !!!
Jen : 0/4
Jennifer : 8/20
Joanne : 4/6
Joanne♥~Bookworm Extraordinaire’s : 0/10
JuliaC : 1/4
Julie : 1/5

Kaitlin : 13/10 COMPLETED !!!
Kara : 3/10
Karena : 50/60
Karina : 6/5 COMPLETED !!!
Karma : 11/10 COMPLETED !!!
Kathryn : 30/30 COMPLETED !!!
Kelsi : 35/30 COMPLETED !!!

Lilac : 12/12 COMPLETED !!!
✿Lilac✿ : 0/5
Lisa : 11/15
Lizet : 2/6
Lorelei : 4/5
Lynn : 20/20 COMPLETED !!!
LynnB : 15/15 COMPLETED !!!

Marina : 41/45
Mari-Ann : 10/10 COMPLETED !!!
Marie Clarisse : 14/12 COMPLETED !!!
Mave : 10/10 COMPLETED !!!
Melissa : 17/21
Meimei : 10/10 COMPLETED !!!
Merja : 12/10 COMPLETED !!!
M.H. : 7/6 COMPLETED !!!
Michelle : 2/7
Michelle L. : 5/5 COMPLETED !!!
Mim : 0/6

Nicole : 0/3

Pat : 13/20
Pigletto : 6/10

Reija : 20/6 COMPLETED !!!
Sakina : 35/35 COMPLETED !!!
Sarah : 10/20
Sarah Lou : 2/3
ScarlettMi : 8/13
Sharon : 8/6 COMPLETED !!!
Sherry : 6/6 COMPLETED !!!
Sibyl : 0/5
SilverRaindrops : 2/10
Stephanie : 0/5
Stephen : 0/4
Sydney : 5/10

Tasha : 6/6 COMPLETED !!!
Tricia : 5/5 COMPLETED !!!

Valerie : 11/15
Virginia : 0/12
Virginie : 17/17 COMPLETED !!!

37 challenges completes

Wow the page just went up and we already have quite a few participants! I'm quite excited about this challenge as I realized I don't read as much women as men authors. I intend to read only women for the next three months so I’ll catch up. I can’t wait to discover new writers with you. I, myself, will aim at 12 books. I usually read four books a months.

Here are the books I intend to read.

15/24

★★★★☆ completed January 22nd 2014
★★★★★ completed February 12th 2014
★★★★★ completed March 19th 2014
★★★★★ completed May 27th 2014

★★★★☆ completed April 30th 2014
★★★★★ completed June 7th 2014
★★★★☆ completed July 1st 2014
★★★★☆ completed May 11th 2014
★★★★★ completed June 23rd 2014
★★★☆☆ completed April 4th 2014
★★★★★ completed April 26th 2014
★★★★☆ completed May 2nd 2014
★★★★☆ completed May 15th 2014
★★★★☆ completed June 15th 2014
★★★★★ completed October 26th 2014

I seem to read an equal number of female and male authors but I've realised that most of my favorite reads are by female writers.

This makes me sad.
I'm in for 5!

I'll go for 15 and hopefully more.

Duration: April 1 - June 30, 2014
Female authors new to me:

1. The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath, compl. 12 Apr.
2. Never Fall Down, Patricia McCormick, compl. 3 Apr.
3. The Invisible Ones, Stef Penney, compl. 21 Apr.
4. Quartet In Autumn, Barbara Pym, completed 23 Apr.
5. If I Stay, Gayle Forman, compl. 25 April
6. The Speed of Dark. Elizabeth Moon, compl. 1 May
7. Quilt or Innocence, Elizabeth Spann Craig, compl. 4 May
8. Prague Winter, Madeleine Albright, compl. 5 May
9. How to Breathe Underwater, Julie Orringer, compl. 21 May
10. The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry, Gabrielle Zevin, compl. 24 May
11. Letters from Rifka, Karen Hesse, compl. 24 May
12. A House in the Sky, Amanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett, compl. 5 June
13. A Train in Winter: An Extraordinary Story of Women, Friendship, and Resistance in Occupied France, Caroline Moorehead, compl. 26 June
14. Orphan Train, Christina Baker Kline, compl. 28 June
15. Terror on Tuesday, Ann Purser, compl. 30 June


COMPLETED! 15/15

Add you Lilac and LynnB.
Welcome to the challenge. :)

This is now a year long challenge - aiming for 20 - completed on 21/7/2014
Upping my goal to 25 COMPLETED

34/25 COMPLETED

Angelfall by Susan Ee
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
Three Girls and a Baby by Rachel Schurig
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
Just Kids by Patti Smith
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon
The Enchanted by Rene Denfeld
The Undertaking by Audrey Magee
A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing by Eimear McBride
The Lowland byJhumpa Lahiri
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
We Are Called to Rise by Laura McBride
Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill
Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
The Blazing World by Siri Hustvedt
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler
In the Woods by Tana French
Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage: Stories by Alice Munro
Euphoria by Lily King
The Opposite of Loneliness: Essays and Stories byMarina Keegan

I'll go for 5 since I have recently purchased some books by female authors I have never read before. Since the duration of this challenge has been changed to the end of the year, I updated my goal to 25.

Books Read: 14 out of 25

1. Lauren Beukes, author of (finished 04/07/2014)

2. Vera Nazarian, author of (finished 04/22/2014)

3. Terra Harmony, author of (finished 05/04/2014)

4. Lois Lowry, author of (finished 06/01/2014)

5. Kristin Vayden, author of (finished 06/02/2014)

6. Sophie Kinsella, author of (finished 06/12/2014)

7. L.J. Smith, author of (finished 06/22/2014)

8. J.A. Schneider, author of (finished 07/08/2014)

9. Eliza Green, author of (finished 07/10/2014)

10. Rayne Hall, author of (finished 07/12/2014)

11. Mary Shelley, author of (finished 07/31/2014)

12. Emma Chase, author of (finished 08/11/2014)

13. Lila Veen, author of (finished 08/15/2014)

14. Gillian Flynn, author of (finished 08/31/2014)

I'm joining!
I'll go for at least 5.

Authors:
1. Marissa Meyer - Cinder 2/04/2014
2. Becca Fitzpatrick - Hush, Hush 9/04/2014
3. Dodie Smith - I Capture the Castle 14/04/2014
4. Eva Stachniak - The Winter Palace: A Novel of Catherine the Great 6/05/2014
5. Amanda Hocking - Switched 15/6/2014


Kate Morton
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Sarah Jio
Jhumpa Lahiri
Philippa Gregory
Ewa Stachniak

COMPLETED: 5/5!

I will start with 4...I already read a lot by female authors so finding some that are new to me might be tough but I will see how it goes! :)


35/30 Complete

1) Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
2) I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai
3) The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant
4) Annabel by Kathleen Winter
5) Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
6) Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
7) City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
8) Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
9) When Stars Die by Amber Forbes
10) Landing Gear: A Novel by Kate Pullinger
11) Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
12) Divergent by Veronica Roth
13) One for the Money by Janet Evanovich
14)The Eyes of a King by Catherine Banner
15) The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
16) The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
17) All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill
18) Sea of Shadows by Kelley Armstrong
19) Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
20) Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
21) The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
22) 666 Park Avenue by Gabriella Pierce
23) Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt
24) A Rope of Sand by Elsie Burch Donald
25) The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
26) Room by Emma Donoghue
27) Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler
28) The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom
29) A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
30) The Giver by Lois Lowry
31) Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
32) Tangled by Emma Chase
33) The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg
34) Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige
35) Glass Houses by Rachel Caine

I'm in since I'm already doing a Women Challenge with my bookcrossing group anyway. I'll try with 15.

Kelsi wrote: "I will start with 4...I already read a lot by female authors so finding some that are new to me might be tough but I will see how it goes! :)"

Come back here and see what everybody's reading, maybe you'll be introduce to new female authors :).

I updated everyone.

I'll do like most challenges this year and update the list on the first page if everybody's fine with it.

Let me know if I skipped you.

Thanks Chloé for suggesting this challenge, it's a really important one! I've already started it and will probably continue reading as many women authors as I can throughout the year, but anyway, for the next three months I plan on reading 10 books written by women.

P.S. I think I'll read Delusions of Gender: How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism Create Difference too! The Kindle edition is actually really cheap

I like this challenge put me for 6 please

6/6

1 The Program,Suzanne YoungApr 3,14
2 Me Before You,Jojo MoyesApr 5,14
3 Vampire Academy,Richelle Mead Apr 9,14
4 The Testing,Joelle CharbonneauApr 9,14
5 Entwined,Heather DixonApr 18,14
6 Lies Beneath,Anne Greenwood BrownApr 30,14

I'm going to go for ten for now. Thanks!

I will go in for 12!

Alessia wrote: "P.S. I think I'll read Delusions of Gender: How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism Create Difference too! The Kindle edition is actually really cheap "

You're sweet! I think it is an important one too. My feminist side was ashamed to realize I read so few women. I often pick my books at random or because they came across my way so many time I feel like I have to read them, that it's some kind of divine message. So I never really consciously picked my books considering the gender of the author, which lead me to read 2 or 3 men for every women.

Delusions of Gender kind of sound like a nice title for this challenge too. It will also count in my non fiction challenge. I hope it's good.

Tasha, Adriana, Cassandra and Bernadette, I added you. Welcome to the challenge and I hope you'll have some fun and insightful reading.

Chloé wrote: "My feminist side was ashamed to realize I read so few women. I often pick my books at random or because they came across my way so many time I feel like I have to read them, that it's some kind of divine message. So I never really consciously picked my books considering the gender of the author, which lead me to read 2 or 3 men for every women."

I can totally understand that! I have never really paid attention to how many books written by women I read, I just pick them because they fit a challenge or because they're one of the 1001 books list. This campaign was definitely necessary :P

You haven't added me though.. LOL
I'm going to try for 10 books

Tricia wrote: "I'm joining!
I'll go for at least 5 and I want to read some books by female authors who won Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (Orange Prize for Fiction).

Possible authors:
Helen Dunmore
Anne Micha..."

I can recommend Kate Grenville, Tricia. And I also have a Lionel Shriver on my TBR list (Big Brother) but not sure I'll get around to reading it by June.

And isn't interesting that women authors tend to be read less than male authors? It is definitely the other way around for me - and not because I choose women deliberately, just because I must like the sound of books written by women better - I make a decision to read a book based on the blurb and recommendations from friends and sometimes reviews on GR, and it is only after all that I realise what gender the author is (sometimes well after!) and it just so happens looking at my "read" list for last year that a lot are women - especially of the 4 and 5 star reads.

I almost need a challenge like this for male authors! But meanwhile, put me down for 12 - I'm already intending to read 6 women authors I've never read before in April and May, so finding and fitting in another 6 new authors from my lists that I'm already reading for other challenges before the end of June shouldn't be too taxing.

1. The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman - 2.5 stars

2. House for all Seasons by Jenn J. McLeod - 3.5 stars

3. The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris by Jenny Colgan - 3 stars

4. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce - 3.5 stars

5. Hidden Sorrow, Lasting Joy by Anneke Companjen - 3.5 stars

6. The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman - 5 stars

7. The Autobiography of the Queen by Emma Tennant - 3 stars

8. One True Thing by Anna Quindlen - 4 stars

9. The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen - 3 stars

10. A Far Cry from Kensington by Muriel Spark - 2.5 stars

11. Other People's Country- A woman's journey from suburbia to life as a remote area nurse by Maureen Helen - 3.5 stars

12. Singled Out: How Two Million Women Survived Without Men After the First World War by Virginia Nicholson - 3 stars

13. The Fate of Mercy Alban by Wendy Webb - 4 stars

14. My Brother-But-One by T.M. Clark - 3.5 stars

15. The Captain's Daughter by Leah Fleming - 4.5 stars

16. All That I Am by Anna Funder - 3 stars

17. Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey by The Countess Of Carnarvon - 3 stars

18. Thornwood House by Anna Romer - 4 stars

19. The Paris Wife by Paula McLain - 2.5 stars

20. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver - 3 stars

21. Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah - 4.5 stars

22. The Women in Black by Madeleine St. John - 3.5 stars

23. Ellenvale Gold by Amanda Deed - 3 stars

24. Out of Time by Lesley Dimmock - 3 stars

25. The Novel in the Viola by Natasha Solomons - 3.5 stars

26. The Spirit of Imagination by S.A. Tawks - 3 stars

27. Smile by Raina Telgemeier - 3.5 stars

28. Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain - 4 stars

29. Cicada by Moira McKinnon - 2.5 stars

30. The Collected Works of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin - 4 stars


EDIT: Book no. 3 changed from Other People's Country- A woman's journey from suburbia to life as a remote area nurse by Maureen Helen

EDIT#2: Book no. 3 changed again - from Sarah Thornhill by Kate Grenville as this author is not new to me.

EDIT #3: Other People's Country- A woman's journey from suburbia to life as a remote area nurse added back in and am glad I read it!

EDIT #4: Goal updated to 25 to continue for the remainder of the year.

EDIT #5: Additional books added. Goal remains at 25 for the moment.

EDIT #6: Goal updated to 30.

Sorry Alessia, I added you and Kathryn.

I'm going to try for 13 for this challenge.

[This year 13 of the 31 books I've read so far have been written by women, so I fully intend for that to be the minimum in the next quarter. I just have to remember to make sure they're new-to-me this time around and not works from existing favourites.]




(9/13)


1. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
2. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
3. Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of his Time by Dava Sobel
4. Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
5. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
6. The Raven Boys & The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
7. The Pearl that Broke Its Shell by Nadia Hashimi
8. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
9. The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey by Candice Millard
10.
11.
12.
13.

I like the idea of this challenge. I really can't say if most the books I've read so far this year are by male or female authors but I am intrigued to find out.
I have many female authors on my bookshelf and Kindle, but most are by women whose other works I have read.
I look forward to discovering new authors.

Please put me down for 6 books.

I do have a question. Are we concentrating only on fiction for this challenge?

Barbara wrote: "I do have a question. Are we concentrating only on fiction for this challenge?"

I'm not - as far as I'm concerned a female author is a female author regardless of whether she's a fiction or non-fiction author!!

I've got 3 non-fiction books written by women on my list - not sure what others are doing...

I've also got a nonfiction book on my list. I didn't see anything about fiction only....but I also didn't see anything about this challenge being limited to women group members....come on male feminists....join us!

Barbara wrote: "I like the idea of this challenge. I really can't say if most the books I've read so far this year are by male or female authors but I am intrigued to find out.
I have many female authors on my boo..."

Non fiction is alright Barbara! I'll be reading some myself :)

Lynn wrote: "I've also got a nonfiction book on my list. I didn't see anything about fiction only....but I also didn't see anything about this challenge being limited to women group members....come on male fem..."

Right! But the challenge page's up for only three days, I'm sure some men will show up eventually. Many people aren't aware the challenge started, I think we will get more people when Kara announce the April challenges and books as she usually does.

SECOND QUARTER CHALLENGE: #READWOMEN2014
Duration: April 1 - June 30, 2014

For this challenge, decide how many new-to-you female authors you would like to read. Once your goal is set, read! And come back and tell us who your favorites were to get great female authors more exposure. Each author can only count once.

1. Someday We'll Tell Each Other Everything by Daniela Krien

2. Aavikon tyttäret by Nura Farah

3. Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

4. Divergent (Divergent #1) by Veronica Roth

5. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

6. Taivalaulu by Pauliina Rauhala

6/6

Thanks, Cloe'. Since non-fiction is allowed, I definitely will read Wangari Maathai's memoir "Unbowed." The great thing about this challenge is that I am finding forgotten gems on my own bookshelf. This probably means that my husband is correct in saying that I have too many books.

Reija wrote: "I take a challenge and try to read 6. New-to-me would be hardest part, I like to read women's writing generally."

Reija, have you read Tell the Wolves I'm Home from Carol Rifka Brunt. It's one of the rare women I read this year and might be my favourite book so far this year.

Barbara wrote: "Thanks, Cloe'. Since non-fiction is allowed, I definitely will read Wangari Maathai's memoir "Unbowed." The great thing about this challenge is that I am finding forgotten gems on my own bookshelf..."

Great you'll be able to dust your bookshelves! And he's wrong you never have too many books ;).

SECOND QUARTER CHALLENGE: #READWOMEN2014
Duration: April 1 - June 30, 2014

I'm in for 10 books

1. by Julie Kagawa~ 5/11/14
2. ~ by Justina Ireland~ 6/1/14
3. ~ by Amanda Maciel 6/7/14
4. ~ by Cassandra Clare~ 6/8/14
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

SECOND QUARTER CHALLENGE: #READWOMEN2014

10/10

1. Dark Aemilia: A Novel of Shakespeare's Dark Lady - Sally O'Reilly - 11/04/14
2. West of the Moon - Margi Preus - 24/04/14
3. Shadow. Translated from the Swedish by McKinley Burnett - Karin Alvtegen - 15/05/14
4. The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern - 05/06/14
5. Fallen - Lauren Kate - 05/07/14
6. The Goddess and the Thief - Essie Fox - 03/08/14
7. Inkheart - Cornelia Funke - 09/08/14
8. Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel - 13/08/14
9. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold - 23/08/14
10. Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood - 19/09/14
11. 12.
13. 14.
15.

I'm finding more women authors on my nook and it will go along with the series challenge. so put me down for 5 instead of 4. thx

Mary-ann wrote: "I'm in please, I would like to sign up for 8.

I've counted up my male / female authors this year so far and actually well ahead with female authors. However they aren't really new female authors ..."

I planed to read the Night Circus as well. I bought it a month ago and haven't read it yet. It's the book I'm most excited to read in my list for for this challenge, because it has quite a lot of good reviews. I'm reading The help as my last book for the first quartet challenge (the rainbow one). I really like it so far. I loved the movie too.