500 Great Books By Women discussion

Hello. My name is Aubrey, and my favorite 500 GBbW is The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir. If I could only choose one work to include in the new 500 GBbW list, I would choose The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. My interests include books and feminism.

Hi! I'm Steph and I'm really excited about this group. I just spent a few minutes browsing the group's shelves, and I already have that overwhelmed feeling.... there's so much to read!

Welcome, Steph. I'm glad you're excited about reading all these wonderful books.

Hi, Aubrey! I love your group already, and I admire all the time, dedication and effort you put in to set everything up. I'm impressed!

Anyway, I'm Dustin, an avid reader of pretty much any genre. Diversity is the spice of life. I figured this would be a great place to discover unfamiliar writers, while at the same time familiarize myself with my fellow GR readers/friends.

Currently, I'm reading Margaret Atwood's The Robber Bride. I'll finish it today, actually.

Welcome, Dustin. If Atwood's TRB works out for you, feel free to review it and submit it on the Submissions board. If it doesn't, Atwood's Cat's Eye is one of the original 508 and may prove more to your liking.

Hey everyone, I'm Lauren. I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into discussing some of my favourite books on the list (Middlemarch, After Leaving Mr Mackenzie, The Lover) but more than that, discovering new ones. There are so many listed here that I'd never heard of. Great idea for a group, Aubrey.

Welcome, Lauren. I'm looking forward to your discussions as well.

I'm nathan and have only this to say ::

Nice! High time gr gets an Aubrey=moderated Group. Yes!

(Also, Miss MacIntosh, My Darling is my current darling client for must=read)

Welcome, Nathan. There are some Dalkey pieces in the original 508. Think of them as Easter eggs.

I'm Geoff, and I admire the hell out of Aubrey, and I need to diversify my reading to include more women, certainly, so here I am, approaching this as a student does a new school year...

Aubrey wrote: "Welcome, Dustin. If Atwood's TRB works out for you, feel free to review it and submit it on the Submissions board. If it doesn't, Atwood's Cat's Eye is one of the original 508 and may ..."

I do plan on reviewing it, Aubrey, and am more than happy to share. I will definitely be reading more Atwood in the future. I hear great things about Cat's Eye!

Welcome, everyone!

Geoff wrote: "I'm Geoff, and I admire the hell out of Aubrey, and I need to diversify my reading to include more women, certainly, so here I am, approaching this as a student does a new school year..."

Welcome, Geoff. You have plenty to choose from.

Dustin wrote: "..."

Share away if you think it's a great book, Dustin. While I would like to get as many submissions of new works as possible, there's little point to it if the submitters don't adore the works they're submitting.

Hi - I'm Jonathan and similarly admire Aubrey's reviews, reading choices and general-all-round-book-geek-ness, which is why I came to check out (and then join) this group. Many of my favourite novels and much of my favourite poetry was created by women, and I am very keen to discover and discuss more. I am also very interested in how much of a role gender plays in the form and content of a text, whether through societal/historical or (gulp) biological influence (or indeed if there is any role at all, or if this question is even possible/meaningful to ask).

Welcome, Jonathan. In terms of biology, if you want accurately written portrayals of experiencing menstruation/childbirth/menopause, I suggest you stick with women authors.

Also sex scenes from a woman's point of view. That's a big one.

Thanks Aubrey - and I agree with you completely

Hello everyone. I'm Hadrian. I like books, and this group has a lot of interesting ones. I like books about books - especially when they introduce me to authors or places that I didn't know that I didn't know about.

I don't always contribute to discussions, but I enjoy listening to them. I look forward to this group and hope it does well.

Geoff wrote: "I'm Geoff, and I admire the hell out of Aubrey, and I need to diversify my reading to include more women, certainly, so here I am, approaching this as a student does a new school year..."

Hi Geoff. Just wanted to say that I really love the idea of approaching this as a learning experience. I might adopt that perspective, too!

Hi everyone,
I am Mohit. I am a writer and an author of an upcoming YA-ish novel. My favorite 500GbW would be: 'To the Light House' by Woolf, Hilary Mantel's Thomas Cromwell series and Flannery O Connor's 'A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories'.

All these works I admire because they display, to me, astonishing craftsmanship. Nothing lazy or out of place or indulgent. Haven't found other male or female writers who write with such precision.

So much to learn from rereading these works!

Hello everyone - and thanks Aubrey for the invite. I look forward to reading with / learning from all of you as we experience these books.

Hello everyone. I'm John Galt and I figured this would be a great place to discover unfamiliar writers. I like the idea for a group and I'm looking forward to exploring new pastures.

Hi everyone, I'm Rob from London in the UK. Thank you for the invite Aubrey.

Mohit wrote: "Hi everyone,
I am Mohit. I am a writer and an author of an upcoming YA-ish novel. My favorite 500GbW would be: 'To the Light House' by Woolf, Hilary Mantel's Thomas Cromwell series and Flannery O ..."

Welcome, Mohit. 'To the Lighthouse' is an absolute favorite of mine as well. Unfortunately, it doesn't yet have an entry in the group due to not being a part of the original 508 (Woolf's 'Three Guineas was chosen instead), but I aim to change that.

Brian wrote: "Hello everyone - and thanks Aubrey for the invite. I look forward to reading with / learning from all of you as we experience these books."

Welcome, Brian. My pleasure.

John wrote: "Hello everyone. I'm John Galt and I figured this would be a great place to discover unfamiliar writers. I like the idea for a group and I'm looking forward to exploring new pastures."

Welcome, John. You're going to fit right in.

Robert wrote: "Hi everyone, I'm Rob from London in the UK. Thank you for the invite Aubrey."

Welcome, Robert. Thank you for joining.

Hello group, and thanks Aubrey for the invite.
I'm Algernon, and I read almost anything that falls into my hands. I promised myself I would not join more Goodreads groups, but I couldn't resist the appeal of this great setup by Aubrey.
I've just finished one of my favorite reads of 2014, my first Flannery O'connor - A Good Man is Hard to Find.

Algernon wrote: "Hello group, and thanks Aubrey for the invite.
I'm Algernon, and I read almost anything that falls into my hands. I promised myself I would not join more Goodreads groups, but I couldn't resist the..."

Welcome, Algernon. I'm glad my muster has passed your high standards. Also, 'A Good Man Is Hard To Find' is one of the original 508, so if you review it, feel free to submit it.

Thank you for the invitation, Aubrey. This will be another source to discover great books.
Hello everyone. Enjoy your books :)

Florencia wrote: "Thank you for the invitation, Aubrey. This will be another source to discover great books.
Hello everyone. Enjoy your books :)"

Welcome, Florencia. Thanks for joining.

Aubrey wrote: "Dustin wrote: "..."

Share away if you think it's a great book, Dustin. While I would like to get as many submissions of new works as possible, there's little point to it if the submitters don't ad..."

I wouldn't say that I'm particularly passionate about The Robber Bride (from the sounds of it, Atwood has much better work,) but I am fond of her lyrical prowess.:) Overall, this was a wonderful experience, a great introduction to Atwood, and I look forward to reading more from her.

Hello and welcome, everyone! I'm delighted to see many familiar faces!

This is such a wonderful idea! Thanks for the invitation, Aubrey - I've been wanting to read more fiction written by women intentionally as I've noticed my pile of books to be read is scarce on women's names. My favourite author, though, is Alice Munro - she inspires me over and over and over again. All of her work is of the highest quality to my mind.

Anyways, I look forward to being involved in this community. I think it has some really exciting potential in changing my own reading habits.

Neal wrote: "This is such a wonderful idea! Thanks for the invitation, Aubrey - I've been wanting to read more fiction written by women intentionally as I've noticed my pile of books to be read is scarce on wom..."

Welcome, Neal. Have you read Munro's Lives of Girls and Women? It's one of the original 508 and thus could use some reviews.

Hadrian wrote: "Hello everyone. I'm Hadrian. I like books, and this group has a lot of interesting ones. I like books about books - especially when they introduce me to authors or places that I didn't know that I ..."

I didn't forget about you, Hadrian! Welcome. We could use your super speedy reviewing rate.

Hello everyone, and kudos to you, Aubrey, for putting together this group. Wonderful to be a part of this group -- so much enthusiasm, knowledge, and talent in one place.

Hi everyone, I'm so pleased to have found this group (thank you for your amazing effort here, Aubrey). This is just the group I've been looking for on gr and until now, failed to find. Looking forward to some great discoveries.

I'm a bit late to introducing myself and thanking you for my invite, Aubrey. This is a great idea for a group and lured me from my recent stance of resisting new groups.

I'm Sue and I see many familiar faces/names here. I believe I will find many more great reading ideas here and probably some interesting discussion.

Thanks Aubrey for a fantastic plan.

Kris wrote: "Hello everyone, and kudos to you, Aubrey, for putting together this group. Wonderful to be a part of this group -- so much enthusiasm, knowledge, and talent in one place."

Welcome, Kris. I admit, I've been especially looking forward to you deigning to grace us with your presence.

Jen wrote: "Hi everyone, I'm so pleased to have found this group (thank you for your amazing effort here, Aubrey). This is just the group I've been looking for on gr and until now, failed to find. Looking forw..."

Welcome, Jen. I'm glad to hear you say that, for the creation of this group was powered in no small part by my own frustration at it not yet existing.

Sue wrote: "I'm a bit late to introducing myself and thanking you for my invite, Aubrey. This is a great idea for a group and lured me from my recent stance of resisting new groups.

I'm Sue and I see many fam..."

Welcome, Sue! Your enthusiasm since this group's beginning has shaped it for the better.

Hello. Caroline here. I read mostly literature in translation, so my woman author interest lies mostly in that arena.

Caroline wrote: "Hello. Caroline here. I read mostly literature in translation, so my woman author interest lies mostly in that arena."

Welcome, Caroline. We need all the translated literature we can get.

Hi everyone, glad to find more great books to read...as if my TBR wasn't weighty enough already!

Hello all. My name is Leola. To read more women writers is a pursuit of mine, and I need all the help I can get. My main purpose here is to listen; but if an author or work comes up that I particularly admire, I'll throw in my two cents.

Currently finding inspiration in: Alice Walker, Simone Weil, Flannery O'Connor, Toni Morrison.

Halloa, I'm Andrew, and I'm rather confused and intrigued.

That aside, I have a hard time remembering the names of authors as opposed to remembering book titles, so I often cannot recall whether a book I have read is by a male or female author. I hope to see if I can use this group to get better at identifying, remembering and diversifying my authors.

Andrew wrote: "...so I often cannot recall whether a book I have read is by a male or female author...

You are the ideal reader, Andrew!
That's a view I hold too although it would be untrue for me to say that I don't register that a book is by a male or a female author because I do mostly. Actually, I had an interesting experience recently with regard to this book The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yōko Ogawa. When I had read it a few years ago I got it into my head that it was by a man, something about the portrait of the professor, although the author's name should probably have been a give away. I don't think I even noticed the name - I often don't with books from different cultures to my own, not finding it easy to remember unfamiliar names. But Yoko is in fact a woman. I wonder if other readers have this experience with authors not from their own cultures?

Hi all, I'm Chris. This group looks interesting. Going off to browse shelves now.

Kris wrote: "Hello everyone, and kudos to you, Aubrey, for putting together this group. Wonderful to be a part of this group -- so much enthusiasm, knowledge, and talent in one place."

Yay, Kris is here!! It's so good to have you with us.:) Welcome!

Welcome to all our latest members, as well!