Read Women discussion

It's that time of year: for planning for 2021, pausing to appreciate what works and perhaps consider what might be improved, contributing and also listening.

For needed context, many of you may have noticed that Louise has been absent since late April or so; however, her account has been accessed as recently as August. Neither Anita nor I have been successful in connecting with her to verify whether her absence is by choice, health-related, or otherwise. Send her your good wishes and vibes, consistent with your own beliefs and traditions.

In her absence, we haven't yet created an updated base chart of open themes, established themes and months or otherwise planned 2021 out as of this date, which puts us a little behind where we typically are by mid-October in terms of looking forward. And the sky hasn't fallen. We will take members' inputs and thoughts along with last year's roadmap and share the 2021 mock-up, but likely in early- to mid- November, which slight delay will allow us to take advantage of your feedback.

Right now we have two group reads per month, focused on a balance of fiction and nonfiction and following a theme of Reading Around the World. This year, we offered a series of quarterly themed challenges and whole-year challenges relating to women authors, generally, and women in translation, and many members continue to track mult-year readings from around the world. We have active ongoing discussion threads sharing what we're reading and what we've finished reading, including links to reviews at members' option. We are a large group with the usual proportionately smaller group of active members but also many active lurkers.

So some questions, but feel free to offer commentary without a prompt:
- What do you like most about this group?
- What things would you like to see stay the same?
- What things would you like to see more/less of?
- Would you prefer more or different group reads per month (no theme months, a different approach to RatW, if you don't participate in group reads, is there a change that would inspire you to participate, etc.)?
- Would you be interested in a thread where members could connect iwth one another to set up buddy reads?
- Other ideas/suggestions?

Note: If you typically step up and speak up when feedback is solicited, YES, PLEASE! If you typically stay quiet or are concerned about hurting feelings or become anxious with public postings, please consider sharing your thoughts with this group so we can take your preferences and thoughts into account. We promise civility and encouragement. Also, whether you joined this group in 2016 or yesterday, your inputs are equally valuable. There's no inner circle or number of stamps you have to earn for your thoughts to have value.

Carol wrote: "It's that time of year: for planning for 2021, pausing to appreciate what works and perhaps consider what might be improved, contributing and also listening.

For needed context, many of you may h..."

Thanks for soliciting input, Carol. I'll give it some thought and see if I can come up with suggestions.
Meanwhile, I'm hoping we'll hear from Louise soon. I hope she's ok. I wish there was something we could do.

I only joined recently but I really value the friendly atmosphere. I like the 'What are you reading?' and 'What have you just finished?' threads because they allow participation even when I don't have time to commit to a group read or other activity. They're also a great way of getting ideas for reading and to get to know other members through their reading choices/reading their reviews and to find people who have similar interests. I like the idea of buddy read possibilities too. I haven't participated in any group reads yet but that's partly because I was doing one in another group and working on Victober this month. But if I can I will try to join the 'Disoriental' read later.

I like the themes for monthly reads with periodic open choices. No complaints on that front.

Like most groups I am in, we struggle with participation in the group reads, so I hope some who typically don't participate will speak up and let us know any changes that would encourage them to join in. I will admit that I rarely read both books due to the number of challenges and group reads I have plus my own tbr each month. I wonder if others have the same issue which limits participation.

I love the read women challenge and WIT so I hope those continue. I try some of the quarterly challenges, but I'm not always successful at actually reading books for them.

My favorite thing is the diversity of books I see our group members choose for various challenges. There are a wide range of genres and countries represented, and I love to hear of books and authors I might never hear of otherwise.

Thank you, Carol and Anita for continuing to run the group and moderate in Louise's absence. I hope she is well and just needs a break.

I love the WIT and around the world challenges. I love discovering new reads on other members' lists even if I don't always comment. I also like the quarterly challenges and how there are 2 options so that if 1 theme doesn't interest me I can still participate in the other.
I feel like the a-z challenge hasn't had much participation and we could probably lose that. I don't really participate in the 'reading women challenge' and 'what are you currently reading/recently finished' threads because most of the books I read fit into one of the other challenge threads so I just post there.
Because of the way the around the world challenge is tracked (1 post per person) we don't have much discussion around our lists and I wonder if this could be revived somehow. Although perhaps keeping an element in the quarterly challenges and monthly reads is enough, I don't know.
I don't always participate in the monthly reads because sometimes it's a book I'm just not interested in and sometimes availability is an issue - particularly with library closures this year. I am more likely to participate with diverse around the world books, I am less interested in non fiction and some of the other themes. I would be concerned that buddy reads would perhaps take away from the participation in group reads, but then again I may find the buddy reads to be more interesting and participate more!

I appreciate your openness to input, Carol and Anita. I really like this group and, like Laurie, have discovered so many good books through fellow members.

I sometimes have enjoyed participating in the group reads but this year especially, perhaps because of the pandemic, have found the idea of any challenge or extra obligations tiring.

I've also noticed that the more obligations I create around reading (e.g. 'read harder'/ 'read X number of books of this or that type'), the less I am enjoying the act of reading.

I've found over the last few years that reading has become quite politicized and it's dampening my sense of reading as a refuge or home or form of spiritual nourishment.

Like Alwynne, I like the idea of a buddy read thread. Like Hannah, I love the WIT and around the world challenges.

Story, think I know exactly what you mean about the act of reading...just wanted to add I didn't join the WIT challenge as too late in the year but would join in future as I read mostly women and a lot of work in translation so would fit well with my general reading habits. And I get the point re: obligations as soon as I think I should be reading something I end up reading something else! But the general challenges work for me, I think, as they overlap with what I'd be reading anyway.

And also wanted to say the feeling/atmosphere of the group obviously comes from how it's run so thanks to Carol and Anita. I looked at a few groups early on, and some seemed quite unwelcoming, and others a bit dictatorial - saw a few where people introduced themselves and mentioned books they wanted to read and got 'corrected' by moderators for small infractions...the exact opposite of a warm welcome!!! This and the other groups I ended up joining, like 'Reading the Detectives' are great spaces to be in...

Watching and taking notes. Just wanted to say thank you all for the kind comments. Please keep the feedback and suggestions coming, we want to hear from all members - new and old and inbetweeners - so any changes we make can be taken with full consideration of all of your various bookish preferences and habits. I know 2020 has been quite a year, and we want to set up 2021 as another great reading year.

Wow! I can't believe we are already at that point in the year again. Where did this year go?

Like Tamara, I'll give it some thought and see if I can come up with any suggestions.

I have to admit that Laurie's explanation definitely describes my limited participation in group reads this year. I often have the intention of joining in a particular read and then find myself short of time due to other commitments. That is really a problem with my own planning.

I love the Quarterly Challenges as they are short and keep changing. Plus, you can choose your own reading material to fit the theme. I have also really enjoyed the Wit Challenge this year as it has introduced a number of interesting authors to me that I may not have come across otherwise. Although we might not be discussing the books in a group, seeing what other members choose for their challenges, and reading their opinions about different books, is a great way of discovering books to read.

Many thanks Anita and Carol for all your hard work keeping this Group afloat. It is greatly appreciated.

First of all, thanks so much to Carol and Anita for making this group such a wonderful community experience, even in the founder's absence.

I'm not a vocal member of the group but, still, I participate very enthusiastically in both the Read Women and Women in Translation yearly challenges and, when possible, any quarterly that doesn't conflict with previous reading plans.
I almost never comment in any of the group's discussions, but I do update my challenges.

Yearly Challenges: I believe the reading women authors is a group tradition but I hope you will continue the WiT yearly challenge as well.

Quarterly Challenges: I appreciate how each quarterly challenge offers two different paths: a region, theme, time period, genre, and so forth. I love how both mods and members share gophering resources for all the challenges and I also enjoy occasionally peeking at other participants' reading lists. :D

Reading Together: I don't go in for group reads that much.
Usually, I can't read a book at the same time as a group read or, other times, the book doesn't pull me. I do enjoy Buddy Reads, though, since we can join discussion of the books that most interest us.

I do appreciate belonging to this group.
Does that make me one of the "active lurkers"?

Carol, did you want suggestions for themes as well? Or is that for November?

Liesl wrote: "Carol, did you want suggestions for themes as well? Or is that for November?"

This is a great place for theme suggestions for the new year. It will help us schedule and hopefully it will facilitate more participation if we use themes suggested by you all.

I thought an interesting theme would be writers who use a pen name. I started thinking about that when the Women's Prize had the Reclaim Her Name project earlier this year. It is amazing how many authors have used pen names of either male names, initials instead of her first name, or a name other than their own. It was common years ago and it still is for various reasons.

I'd be interested in a theme on books (fiction or non-fiction) by indigenous women authors around the world.

That sounds interesting Story, I haven't been around for long what kinds of themes have been used in the past?

Alwynne wrote: "That sounds interesting Story, I haven't been around for long what kinds of themes have been used in the past?"

Here's our theme thread from this year, https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
At the bottom of Louise's first post there is a chart with themes all the way back to 2016 and a list of suggested. Feel free to suggest ones if they've been used before. We try to switch it up a little, but we do all have our favorites too.

Thanks Anita!

Story wrote: "I'd be interested in a theme on books (fiction or non-fiction) by indigenous women authors around the world."

oooh that sounds so interesting! Even if it doesn't make it as a group theme, I think I'm going to nab this idea and use it for my own reading challenges in 2021 :) Fun topic to start researching!

I'm also thinking about challenging myself in reading more detectives with a female sleuth. there are too many male detectives in my go-to series....

I came up with a few ideas that I don't think we've covered before (although I may be wrong about that).

- Pandemics (for obvious reasons);
- Mental Illness;
- Music

I also thought I'd throw in Gothic as a theme & perhaps also Short Stories.

Sanne wrote: oooh that sounds so interesting! Even if it doesn't make it as a group theme, I think I'm going to nab this idea and use it for my own reading challenges in 2021 :) Fun topic to start researching!

I'm also thinking about challenging myself in reading more detectives with a female sleuth. there are too many male detectives in my go-to series.... "

Let me know if I can help with lists of indigenous Canadian authors, Sanne. And if there are indigenous authors where you live, I'd love to hear about them as well.

I love your female sleuths idea! I'd become tired of mystery series a few years ago but somehow the pandemic has revived my love for them. I've been reading a lot of books in the Vera Stanhope series by Ann Cleeves over the past months. And, if I can find the books, I'm thinking of re-visiting Liza Cody's Bucketnut series about a self-described ‘big and ugly’ British female wrestler who moonlights as a security guard.

I have not been very vocal or participative in the group since I became a member, but that is because I find it too late to join the ongoing quarterly or whole-year challenges now. This however, doesn't mean that I dislike them! In fact, my plans are to join one of those challenges once I finish some books I need to get through first. So, in a nutshell, I wouldn't change anything in that area.
Personally, I'd love it if a buddy read thread was implemented, as I would actually use it.

All - thanks so much for the details and thoughtfulness of your feedback. yes, share it all here - including themes. we'll consolidate topics and re-post aggregate feedback on specific activities in the next 7 -10 days, so please do continue to share your thoughts as they come to you.

thanks, especially, Lina, Alwynne and oshizu for giving us the perspective of new members and active lurkers, as applicable :)

So one theme that never comes up here is romance. Do we have romance readers? Feminist romance? Is this something anyone would like to read as a group theme? I'm not personally a romance reader, but as a mod, I notice its absence and wonder if we're missing out on a swath of female readers and writers.

Also please keep those theme suggestions coming. I'm pencilling in themes on the schedule! Feel free to mention themes that may be a hard pass if there is such a thing for you, and remember that one of the gifts of the group is reading expansion. I have quite a few books under my belt that I'm grateful for being exposed to from this group that I would definitely not have read on my own.

I like the idea of 'indigenous women' but wonder if there's some way of extending it, so adding some broader definition of colonial/decolonial writing? So that for UK readers for example Windrush generation writers could be included, or in Europe French-Algerian authors and so on...

I can see why pandemics might be tempting but I wonder if it might yield a limited range of options and also I know some people see GR as an escape/welcome relief from dealing with life during a pandemic so might not be that popular a topic?

I also like the idea of gothic but again if it could be extended to include variations on the idea of gothic like Angela Carter's work, 'Rebecca', some of Sarah Waters or domestic gothic like Barbara Comyns, could also include genre fiction like urban fantasy which has gothic links...

Music's intriguing too as could cover fiction and non-fiction thinking of memoirs/autobiographies from Patti Smith, Tracy Thorn, Kim Gordon and similar...

Would be interested in female sleuths but is there too much cross-over with groups like 'Reading the Detectives'? Or could there be a shared topic across groups?

Don't personally read romance but does seem fairly popular but again could give it a broad definition and include authors like Sally Rooney....or what I think of as 'anti-romance' like Bad Behavior

Story wrote: "Let me know if I can help with lists of indigenous Canadian authors, Sanne. And if there are indigenous authors where you live, I'd love to hear about them as well."

Oh I'm always open to recommendations! So if you have any for indigenous Canadian authors, please let me know :)
I live in the Netherlands, so we don't have any indigenous people, so I can't help you with that. But I did find this list, which does have a nice covering of indigenous women writers from anglophone countries. I'll have to go through my read books and add the titles that I read...

@Alwynne, I agree that decolonial writing (or perhaps even wider: writing by women from ethnic or racial minorities from around the world, regardless of whether their books discuss decolonial themes) is an interesting topic for a challenge as well.

I'm not sure if that's a concern for the organisers, but I personally find books by indigenous authors and authors from other ethnic minorities that are not UK or US based, are harder to get my hands on. That might be the case for others as well - especially if you depend on your library for your bookish habits. If you want a theme where books are more easily available, perhaps widen the theme, as Alwynne suggested.

Thanks Sanne guess I was thinking about readers I know who would be more likely to read things 'closer to home' but less likely to read in depth about Canada or North America, in the U.K. the legacy of empire is probably the nearest equivalent to the 'indigenous' women category...Personally I'll read anything along either of those lines and a lot of the titles on the list you linked look really tempting/worth trying. Although some might be hard to get where I am, now that the pandemic has slowed down international deliveries, and hiked up some of the costs!

Alwynne wrote: "Thanks Sanne guess I was thinking about readers I know who would be more likely to read things 'closer to home' but less likely to read in depth about Canada or North America, in the U.K. the legac..."

Oh you're quite right! There are plenty of readers who prefer to read closer to home. I think I got carried away with my own reading preferences and rabbit holes. It would also be an interesting challenge to pick up some books about decolonial themes and experiences close to home (wherever that is). I do try to pick up a few books in that vein every year, but I don't always succeed in that goal...

I enjoy this group a lot, and have discovered several great reads. I wouldn't mind more genre books, so the female sleuths sounds good to me. Also, romance would be fun. Maybe narrow down the category to a specific type of romance? Possibly romances mixed with mystery? The two categories could dovetail together...

I know what you mean Sanne I read pretty widely too but noticed a lot of GR users seem to prefer particular genres like fantasy. The other issue that occurred to me was accessibility/inclusivity, a lot of people have already lost income, others are cutting back, next year's likely to be even more of a problem economically. So having at least one theme that cover the kinds of titles that are likely to be in paperback, in people's libraries, or second-hand seems a positive thing. Louise Erdrich would be widely available in UK libraries but not more specialist titles...French libraries more likely to have books by authors linked to former colonies etc...Gothic if it covers older nineteenth-century and broader gothic influences would be more likely to include books that might be free online/out of copyright, easy to get in libraries/second-hand...

I guess it's a difficult balancing act, narrow themes might not appeal to as many but the ones it does appeal to may be more dedicated so more likely to commit to it, broader themes may be more inclusive but too broad to attract committed readers?

Anita wrote: "So one theme that never comes up here is romance. Do we have romance readers? Feminist romance? Is this something anyone would like to read as a group theme? I'm not personally a romance reader, bu..."

Funny, i had the same thought this weekend - that we don't ever mention romance and I don't know if that means that none of our most active members are interested in it -- except if it's a classic novel, I suspect - but other members read and would participate in a discussion if we made one available, or if I'm wildly speculating in error.

I'd like to read a romance novel by Beverly Jenkins or Alyssa Cole, but I'm unlikely to make it a priority unless romance is one of our themes.

Anyone else care to weigh in on this topic?

Alwynne wrote: "Would be interested in female sleuths but is there too much cross-over with groups like 'Reading the Detectives'? Or could there be a shared topic across groups?

Don't personally read romance but ..."

I would love a female sleuths theme. Not that it's all about me, of course. I'm not familiar with Reading the Detectives, but the Historical Mystery group features a lot of women authors and, as a result, many female sleuths. Each group's personality is so different - as a reflection of its members. I don't see any reason to avoid topics or themes that other groups are doing well.

By the way, the romance theme could be spiced up to include erotica, or toned down a bit in terms of sexual content to include classics like Jane Eyre and Emma. It could be framed broadly as any novel whose primary focus is a 'romantic relationship" or expressly genre-focused.

Maybe inclusion of buddy reads would help group members looking for more narrow themes than the group themes chosen for next year.

Alwynne wrote: "I also like the idea of gothic but again if it could be extended to include variations on the idea of gothic like Angela Carter's work, 'Rebecca', some of Sarah Waters or domestic gothic like Barbara Comyns, could also include genre fiction like urban fantasy which has gothic links......"

I don't think we would need to extend the idea of Gothic. It is a genre that has evolved over time and includes Contemporary Gothic writing.

People are free to choose works based on their application of the theme as well. I think this might also assist with the concerns expressed about readers wanting to choose from local literary authors that might not be as accessible to other members. For example, having a theme such as indigenous writers is broad enough to allow for writers from various countries around the world. I think it only becomes a problem when you have a specific theme such as Canadian indigenous writers for example as those authors might not be accessible to all members.

Anita wrote: "So one theme that never comes up here is romance. Do we have romance readers? Feminist romance? Is this something anyone would like to read as a group theme? I'm not personally a romance reader, bu..."

Personally, I'm not a romance reader either. Like many genres, Romance has evolved and so I'm always happy to explore it if it is popular with the group. Also, it could be paired with another topic in the Quarterly Challenges so that people who don't like reading it have another option to focus on.

Personally I don't have an interest in either romance or mystery but don't mind skipping a month if they are popular with others! I think that indigenous women would be a great theme and agree with Leisl that it is broad enough on its own. Ethnic minorities could work as a separate or paired theme though. Immigrant experience seems to rightly be getting a lot of attention atm.
I would like to suggest speculative fiction as a theme which would be very broad (perhaps too much so) which could work well for a quarterly challenge. It could include dystopias, sci-fi, fantasy and could incorporate speculative pandemic fiction too for those who are interested. That way members could choose which way they want to take their own reading.
I also like the mental health suggestion. And I would like to keep up the around the world themes in the quarterly challenges. I enjoyed Africa this year and would like to explore Latin America more next year - my south and central American countries definitely need expanding

Thanks Hannah, I was probably too hung up on the fact that Europe doesn't have 'indigenous women' in the strict sense - apart from the Sami, and thinking around how the category could be stretched to include the closest European equivalent which relates to former colonies....I wasn't thinking of 'ethnic minorities' in general as much as writing that deals with the experiences of the colonised...But personally like 'indigenous women' as a theme and think I would enjoy exploring it.

And prefer 'mental health' to 'mental illness' as encompasses the latter but opens up wider possibilities.

Think your speculative fiction idea is really great. Would definitely enjoy that as a broad theme.

And Liesl good to know you were thinking of gothic in the broadest sense from Southern to beyond!

Alwynne wrote: "Thanks Hannah, I was probably too hung up on the fact that Europe doesn't have 'indigenous women' in the strict sense - apart from the Sami, and thinking around how the category could be stretched ..."

as a side note: do you know how impossible it is to find any writing by Sami people in English? It's near impossible... Only available at very small publishers and/or out of print and insanely expensive second hand. Much easier to grab something by Louise Erdrich.

I didn't know in general but wanted to read Kirsti Paltto's 'Let the Reindeer Graze Free' a while ago after it came up in an article and couldn't find it in English so can only imagine.

Here is a list of Indigenous peoples of the world in case that helps spark ideas:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...

Alwynne wrote: "Thanks Hannah, I was probably too hung up on the fact that Europe doesn't have 'indigenous women' in the strict sense - apart from the Sami, and thinking around how the category could be stretched ..."

Sorry Alwynne I misunderstood, I understand where you were coming from now :)

Thanks Hannah think it was me being unclear!!!

Honestly, I would love a female sleuths theme! Although I completely understand why some people may find it conflicting with other group reads. I'd also like a romance theme and wouldn't be opposed to it.
About an indigenous women theme, I agree with Hannah and Liesl on it being a very broad theme, but I guess that's what gives us an opportunity for expanding our reading horizons. However, I don't think we should narrow the theme too much to the point where it becomes very hard for some people to find a book that fits the theme. Maybe we should keep it a little wide and extended as Alwynne and Sanne suggest :)

Based on the interest expressed here, I've set up our new buddy reads folder and nominations thread. I just realized that it says, "2021", but ignore that. If you want someone to read a book any time, including in 2020, use the thread, find another member to join you, we'll set up the applicable discussion threads and you're off to share your reading experience on your own timing with another interested member.

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

here are some themes that are a mix of, themes I'm interested in as an individual reader and themes I think would generate some interesting noms or book lists, depending on whether they are used for a monthly read/group discussion or a challenge prompt.

immigrants, expats, exile, displacement
debut novels
women in science or math
Books on books (language)
Feminism
Authors under 30
Changing the world
social justice / civil rights
Main characters (MC) who are non-white (trying to avoid both the US-centric POC or the Brit-centric BPOC)
MENA authors - whether through heritage or birth (https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/eu...)
biographies, memoirs, autobiographies
MC practices a non-monotheistic religion, or non-monotheistic religions as a non-fiction theme
classics (first published 50 or more years from date of nomination)

do any of these intrigue or resonate with you?

[Early this year, the UN came up with the following] 6 “action coalition” themes: gender-based violence, economic justice and rights, bodily autonomy and sexual and reproductive rights, feminist action for climate justice, technology innovation for gender equality and feminist movements and leadership. I can imagine this list, in the aggregate, presenting an interesting basis for a year-long challenge, or a couple of them combining for a quarterly challenge, or any one working well for a monthly challenge. is anyone interested in these themes and, if yes, how would you most like to engage with them?

Carol wrote: "here are some themes that are a mix of, themes I'm interested in as an individual reader and themes I think would generate some interesting noms or book lists, depending on whether they are used fo..."

Out of this great list of themes, the ones that intrigue me the most are:
immigrants, expats, exile, displacement
Feminism
MENA authors
And MC who are non-white

The UN themes all look interesting and overlapping. I don't know how it would be best to integrate them except an inkling that as the subject matter looks to be quite heavy/intense a longer time frame might be better, perhaps

I'd like to see feminism as a theme for both fiction and non-fiction, but it's such a broad topic that nominations could drastically vary - which is fine. I think it would make a great quarterly challenge if there was enough group interest, and all of the UN action coalition themes fall within feminism.
I like MENA authors and think it could be a RATW prompt, or another good quarterly challenge.
And reading women Classics is a classic theme for a monthly fictional. It could also make a good quarterly challenge.
I'm all about women in science or math or anything. Biographies of women in history, really, is a great theme imo. A good nonfiction theme.
Immigrants expats exiles and displacement is a good theme for a monthly fiction or nonfiction, or a quarterly challenge.

Most of that list sounds great least likely to participate in

- women in science or math
- Books on books (language)
- MC practices a non-monotheistic religion, or non-monotheistic religions as a non-fiction theme

but that's just personal taste and sure they'd appeal otherwise!

I've been following recent debates/discussions in the UK about ageism in publishing and older authors e.g. over 40, mostly women, and particularly debut novelists, not being eligible for grants, awards etc so least keen on reading books by author age...