Our Shared Shelf discussion

Can we create a list of future book suggestions to be read in Our Shared Shelf or any books involving equality that people in this group might be interested in?

Little Women
Code Name Verity
Pride and Prejudice (or literally anything by Jane Austen)
Anne of Green Gables

Natalie wrote: "I'd love to read some Eve Ensler - especially I Am An Emotional Creature, because one of my all-time favourite quotes comes from that book and yet I've never got around to reading it. The quote bei..."

I Am An Emotional Creature sound interesting! Marked it down :)

I just read two AMAZING short story collections by female authors that should be required reading. "Mother's, Tell Your Daughters" by Bonnie Jo Campbell and "A Manual for Cleaning Women" by Lucia Berlin. Everyone needs to read these books!

For youngsters - well, for ALL of us, really ... The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch. Do the books have to be written by women? It's a good story, albeit short, about not waiting for a man to save you, but stepping up and slaying your own dragons.

I was thinking of Code Name Verity but I haven't read it yet so I'm not sure how relevant it would be to feminist and equality literature

Lorraine wrote: "For youngsters - well, for ALL of us, really ... The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch. Do the books have to be written by women? It's a good story, albeit short, about not waiting for a man to s..."

Men are feminists, too.

I have Code Name Verity on my tbr but I haven't actually read it yet. I may have to finally pick it up!

In my shelf I have "Pride and Prejudice" and "Wuthering Heights", and I think are nice books to read

Erin wrote: "Lorraine wrote: "For youngsters - well, for ALL of us, really ... The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch. Do the books have to be written by women? It's a good story, albeit short, about not waiti..."

Yes! Just wondered if there were any "rules" about that.

Sharing amazing article I read today:
I stopped reading white male authors last year. Here's what I learned. http://theweek.com/articles/595520/st...

There are so many to choose from. Anything by Audre Lorde is amazing. Let's highlight authors who are also women of color.

So many books to suggest! Here are my current suggestions (in no particular order), some of which I've read, most I want/need to read.

1) Negroland by Margo Jefferson
2) Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay
3) The Heart of a Woman by Maya Angelou
4) I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
5) Nightwood by Djuna Barnes
6) The Female Man by Joanna Russ
7) Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
8) Gender Trouble by Judith Butler
9) The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir
10) Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate Politics by bell hooks
11) Redefining Realness by Janet Mock
12) The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan
13) Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit
14) A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
15) Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
16) Citizen by Claudia Rankine
17) Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid
18) Mama Day by Gloria Naylor
19) Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
20) A Vindication of the Rights of Women by Mary Wollstonecraft
21) A Voice from the South by Anna J. Cooper
22) The Narrative of Sojourner Truth by Sojourner Truth
23) Women, Race, and Class by Angela Davis
24) Women, Culture, and Politics by Angela Davis
25) The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi
26) The Color Purple by Alice Walker
27) Confessions of a Mask by Yukio Mishima
28) Land of Love and Drowning by Tiphanie Yanique
29) A House of My Own: Stories from My Life by Sandra Cisneros
30) The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston
31) Three Lives by Gertrude Stein
32) Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases by Ida B. Wells
33) Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson
34) The City and the Pillar by Gore Vidal
35) Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany
36) Out by Natsuo Kirino
37) The Eighth Day by Mitsuyo Kakuta
38) Sonata Mulattica by Rita Dove
39) Jam on the Vine by LaShonda Katrice Barnett
40) Dust by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor
41) White Teeth by Zadie Smith
42) Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
43) We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
44) Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by ZZ Packer
45) The Handmaid's Tail by Margaret Atwood
46) Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood
47) Anything written by Toni Morrison (The Bluest Eye, Beloved, etc)
48) Fun Home: A Family Tragicomedy by Alison Bechdel
49) Persepolis Vol. 1 & 2 by Marjane Satrapi
50) So Long A Letter by Mariama Ba
51) Scarlet Song by Mariama Ba
52) Sultana's Dream: And Selections from The Secluded Ones by Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain

I have one suggestion! I Call Myself A Feminist: The View from Twenty-Five Women Under Thirty.

It was published last November.

As a Canadian, I have to vote for Margaret Atwood. As a woman, I vote for her twice.

Siobhan wrote: "As a Canadian, I have to vote for Margaret Atwood. As a woman, I vote for her twice."

I got to hear her speak when she gave a talk at Notre Dame. She's so amazing!

The Woman Who Walked Into Doors by Roddy Doyle. A novel about abuse.

Maria wrote: "Can we create a list of future book suggestions to be read in Our Shared Shelf or any books involving equality that people in this group might be interested in?"

Coming of Age in Mississippi ! Great read

Suggestion!: The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore

It is actually so excellent. So interesting.

"a crucial history of twentieth-century feminism"

"The Secret History of Wonder Woman is a tour de force of intellectual and cultural history. Wonder Woman, Lepore argues, is the missing link in the history of the struggle for women’s rights—a chain of events that begins with the women’s suffrage campaigns of the early 1900s and ends with the troubled place of feminism a century later."

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

This book is coming out in a couple months and looks intriguing to me. It's about a black girl from the states wrestling with how she is viewed as a woman of color while traveling the world. Thanks for starting this group! It's called "The Land of the Living."

Here is the website for anyone interested in the book :) sherie-james.com

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time Read the "Three Cups of Tea" young reader's edition of this book many years ago, and is about Chris Mortenson, an American that aspired to build up education in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He provided education to over 50,000 school girls, and I think that if we can connect it to Malala's story and also, to our book club, this would be a perfect book to read pre Malala, or after it.

Sister Citizen by Melissa Harris Perry
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Women, Race, and Class by Angela Davis
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...

A Thousand Splendid Suns Khaled Hosseini

I'd like to suggest Lean In, by Sheryl Sandburg

Might sound out of place here, but I believe tha The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand presents us with a very unique take on feminism.

Some I'd like to suggest:

1. The Modern Girl Around the World: Consumption, Modernity, and Globalization ed. Alys Eve Weinbaum
2. The Straight State by Margot Canaday
3. Only Paradoxes to Offer: French Feminists and the Rights of Man by Joan Wallach Scott
4. Gender and Jim Crow by Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore
5. Practicing Modernity: Female Creativity In The Weimar Republic by Christiane Schönfeld
6. The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
7. Women, Race, and Class by Angela Davis
8. Gender Trouble by Judith Butler
9. Bodies That Matter by Judith Butler
10. Negroland: A Memoir by Margo Jefferson
11. Crow After Roe: How "Separate But Equal" Has Become the New Standard in Women's Health and How We Can Change That by Robin Marty and Jessica Mason Pieklo
12. Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More by Janet Mock
13. Playing the Whore: The Work of Sex Work Melissa Gira Grant
14. Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution by Sara Marcus
15. Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison by Piper Kerman
16. Exile & Pride: Disability, Queerness, & Liberation by Eli Clare
17. Without a Net: The Female Experience of Growing Up Working Class by Michelle Tea
18. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
19. A Cup of Water Under My Bed: A Memoir by Daisy Hernández
20. Feminism and Affect at the Scene of Argument: Beyond the Trope of the Angry Feminist by Barbara Tomlinson
21. Songs in Black and Lavender: Race, Sexual Politics, and Women's Music by Eileen M. Hayes
22. Gaga Feminism: Sex, Gender, and the End of Normal by Jack Halberstam
23. Changed for Good: A Feminist History of the Broadway Musical by Stacy Wolf
24. A Feminist Ethnomusicology: Writings on Music and Gender by Ellen Koskoff

A lot of these are books I've read for classes that I'd be interested in rereading, or I've only read parts of, and others that are on my to-read list. I'll probably edit as I think of more :)

Alice Walker's essay compilation In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens

The Help perhaps?

I think 'Embroideries' by Marjane Satrapi would be a good pick)

The book of fate - parinoush saniee

Maria wrote: "Can we create a list of future book suggestions to be read in Our Shared Shelf or any books involving equality that people in this group might be interested in?"


Born With Teeth: A Memoir
by Kate Mulgrew

The Salt RoadsThe Only Woman in the Room: Why Science Is Still a Boys' ClubThe Immortal Life of Henrietta LacksBonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and SexThe Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II

Hi, I am an officer of the Women in Science club at Hunter College and these books, with the exception of the Salt Roads, were all books that we were excited to do for our book club. They not only talk about the many issues that surround women in a field dominated by men, but also speak to how women as well as minorities are subject to prejudice in the workplace and throughout history.
The Salt Roads is a bit different. It is an afro-futuristic novel that involves following the timelines of several women in different time periods. This story combines african folklore, historical fiction, science fiction, and feminism to discuss how every person is an individual and that a silly stereotype or role cannot take that away. It is a powerhouse for strong female characters and though fictional, shows a realistic and heartwarming depiction humanity's strength to overcome adversity.

I want to suggest the 'Lioness' and 'Protector of the small' quartets by Tamora Pierce, they are are lovely, easy to enjoy fantasy novels with fantastic, strong female protagonists pushing for equality! <3

I've just finished "When God Was A Woman" by Merlin Stone. Is amazing!

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? By Mindy Khaling and Yes Please by Amy Poehler

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? By Mindy Khaling and Yes Please by Amy Poehler

Hey quickly decide book for a month...its already 8 January today..not to waste time in suggesting ... We may start reading

Siobhan wrote: "As a Canadian, I have to vote for Margaret Atwood. As a woman, I vote for her twice."

I'm with you! I loved The Handmaid's Tale; seriously a life changing book for me.

Anne wrote: "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? By Mindy Khaling and Yes Please by Amy Poehler"

They're both quite good!

Not exactly a "feminist" book, but The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan is an incredible read, and it'd be wonderful to celebrate this amazing young woman's memory.

Adrianna wrote: "I want to suggest the 'Lioness' and 'Protector of the small' quartets by Tamora Pierce, they are are lovely, easy to enjoy fantasy novels with fantastic, strong female protagonists pushing for equa..."

Oh! I totally agree with this recommendation, I love Tamora Pierce's books and those series are fantastic! I loved the Circle Opens series too the female characters in the book are all very strong in their own way

Adrianna wrote: "I want to suggest the 'Lioness' and 'Protector of the small' quartets by Tamora Pierce, they are are lovely, easy to enjoy fantasy novels with fantastic, strong female protagonists pushing for equa..."

I need someone to help me to post something please

thanks for all the extensive suggestions so far. i'm so excited to check out the ones i haven't come across yet!

+1 to The Yellow Wallpaper
Also, Gloria Steinem's recent biography, My Life on the Road

"Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women" by Susan Faludi. Although originally published in 1991, it is every bit as relevant today.

My suggestions:

Nonfiction: The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir (or maybe excerpts/chapters)

If you want something a little different, how about some poems by the brilliant Lucille Clifton? Plenty of feminist material in her poems.

Dietland by Sarai Walker would be a good one. Or Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay.

I vote Lean In and Notorious RBG.

N. K. Jemisin has just a handful of wonderful fantasy/sci-fi books out with a completely unique touch of intersectional feminism. Her lead characters are strong black and brown women who succeed in white-male dominated worlds of magic. The genre itself is shaken because Jemisin is a black female writer, and is giving no f*cks about following procedure in the fantasy/sci-fi genre. Read her. Your life will change forever.

Below are the books I've read/currently reading:

Inheritance Trilogy:
1. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
2. The Broken Kingdoms
3. The Kingdom of Gods

The Broken Earth Series
1. The Fifth Season (sequels to come soon I hope!)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6... New French Feminisms was one of the first feminists texts I encountered as a young woman. It was so eye-opening, and introduced me to thinking about feminism in opposition to what was and what still is. I think it is important to acknowledge the shoulders we stand upon, and many of these women writers were pioneers in feminist thought. I hear young women today question the validity of feminism, and I have to wonder if that isn't because they don't know much about how things were before women dared to call themselves feminists. These essays are not perfect, they have been critiqued for their failure to acknowledge women of color, but for me, at the particular time in my life when I first encountered these writings, they took me beyond my own narrow scope and gave me an appreciation for the voices of women everywhere. Highly recommend any, if not all of the essays in this book.