Read Women discussion

This is our thread for our 2024 Read Women Challenge, which runs from January 1 to December 31, 2024. Transgender women and non-binary authors (at your option) qualify.

This thread is for sharing goals and favorite lists, for planning, inquiring, listing books read, posting links to your reviews of books you read for this goal and otherwise discussing qualifying books. Typically, members start and update, as the year progresses, a comment in this thread with the list of all challenge books read. Several members post individual comments per finished book as they read, and share links to their reviews (yay!). If you want to set up a separate thread in this Challenge folder to track and comment on your challenge reads, rather than do so in this thread, you may. It's more engaging for our members if you comment and share in this thread, but if maintaining a separate thread is important to you, set it up.

What women authors and books to you plan to read? Share your thoughts about qualifying books you read as the year progresses or ask for recommendations if you're looking for a book that meets specific criteria or whimsy.

It's usually so fun to plan for the coming year, but this fall I have been so dang busy, I haven't had much of a chance! I am going to do a #20BooksByLatinaAuthors challenge this year. I will make my own thread to keep track of my books, but I will also participate here!

Misty wrote: "It's usually so fun to plan for the coming year, but this fall I have been so dang busy, I haven't had much of a chance! I am going to do a #20BooksByLatinaAuthors challenge this year. I will make ..."

I hear you, Misty. Me, too, in spades. I love your challenge and tend to find myself itching to find more Latina authors beyond the top 3 - 4 on many lists, but not making myself prioritize that search. I look forward to seeing what you plan, pick and enjoy reading in the new year.

Read:

1. White Nights by Ann Cleeves. Finished 2 Jan.
2. The Antlered Ship by Dashka Slater. Finished January 7.
3. Reindeer: An Arctic Life by Tilly Smith. Finished January 9.
4. Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed by Dashka Slater.
5. Less Than Angels by Barbara Pym. Finished January 15.
6. The Bells of Old Tokyo: Meditations on Time and a City by Anna Sherman. Finished January 19.
7. The Happiness of Blond People: A Personal Meditation on the Dangers of Identity by Elif Shafak. Finished January 22.
8. The Gate of Angels by Penelope Fitzgerald. Finished January 29.
9. The School for Cats by Esther Averill. Finished Feb 11.
10. Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde. Finished Feb 12.
11. Mikis and the Donkey by Dutch author , Bibi Dumon Tak. Finished Feb 17.
12. None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell. Finished Feb 21.
13. Heads of the Colored People by Nafissa Thompson-Spires. Finished Feb 25.
14. Japanese Fairy Tales , edited and translated by Yei Theodora Ozaki. Finished March 5.
15. The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo. Finished April 4.
16. The Dog Who Dared to Dream by Sun-mi Hwang. Finished April 5.
17. Blood on Their Hands: Murder, Corruption, and the Fall of the Murdaugh Dynasty by Mandy Matney. Finished April 12.
18. In the Ditch by Buchi Emecheta. Finished April 12.
19. A Line in the World: A Year on the North Sea Coast by Dorthe Nors. Finished April 19.
20. The Truth About Dragons by Julie Leung. Finished May 3.
21. Finding Papa by Angela Pham Krans. Finished May 3.
22. Some Tame Gazelle by Barbara Pym. Finished May 11.
23. Like Sisters on the Homefront by Rita Williams-Garcia. Finished May 15.
24. Witchcraft: A History in Thirteen Trials by Marion Gibson. Finished May 25.
25. The Art of Losing by Alice Zeniter. Finished June 8.
26. 8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster by Mirinae Lee. Finished June 16.
27. A Book of Migrations: Some Passages in Ireland by Rebecca Solnit. Finished June 19.
28. Glory Be by Danielle Arceneaux. Finished June 22.
29. The Teacher by Freida McFadden. Finished June 22.
30. Sulwe by Lupita Nyong'o. Finished June 26.
31. Intimations by Zadie Smith. Finished July 3.
32. The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley. Finished July 5.
33. On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed. Finished July 6.
34. A Game of Lies by Clare Mackintosh. Finished July 9.
35. One Step Too Far by Lisa Gardner. Finished July 13.
36. Feel Free: Essays by Zadie Smith. Finished July 18.
37. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. Finished July 23.
38. Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People by Tiya Miles. Finished August 4.
39. Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jansson. Finished August 20.
40. Mina's Matchbox by Yōko Ogawa. Finished August 25.
41. Foster by Claire Keegan. Finished September 1.
42. Butter by Asako Yuzuki. Finished September 2.
43. Death of an Author by E.C.R. Lorac. Finished September 6.
44. The White Album by Joan Didion. Finished September 11.
45. Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick: Stories from the Harlem Renaissance by Zora Neale Hurston. Finished September 15.
46. The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain. September 19.
47. The Swans of Harlem: Five Black Ballerinas, Fifty Years of Sisterhood, and Their Reclamation of a Groundbreaking History by Karen Valby. Finished September 21.
48. The Intern by Michele Campbell. September 23.
49. Swing Time by Zadie Smith. October 2.
50. The Tea Party in the Woods by Akiko Miyakoshi. October 3.
51. Freedom Farmers: Agricultural Resistance and the Black Freedom Movement by Monica M. White. October 8.
52. Grand Union by Zadie Smith. October 10.
53. Just an Ordinary Day: The Uncollected Stories by Shirley Jackson. October 18.
54. Love Marriage by Monica Ali. October 22.
55. Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel. October 23.
56. Clear by Carys Davies. October 30.
57. Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient Roman World by Mary Beard. November 9.
58. The Mango Tree: A Memoir of Fruit, Florida, and Felony by Annabelle Tometich. November 12.
59. Uncommon Kitchens: A Revolutionary Approach to the Most Popular Room in the House by Sophie Donelson. December 7.
60. Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris. December 11.
61. Hercule Poirot's Christmas: A Holiday Mystery by Agatha Christie.
62. The Brothers Grimm: A Biography by Ann Schmiesing
63. The Houseguest and Other Stories by Amparo Dávila

Read Women Authors
☀ 117 / 84 104 books - FINAL

☀ Agatha Christie: The Mystery of the Blue Train
☀ Agatha Christie: Cards on the Table
☀ Agatha Christie: The Mysterious Mr. Quin
☀ Agatha Christie: Partners in Crime
☀ Agatha Christie: The Witness for the Prosecution
☀ Akwaeke Emezi: Pet
☀ Alice B. Sheldon, writing as James Tiptree Jr.: The Women Men Don't See
☀ Alice Zeniter: The Art of Losing
☀ Amélie Nothomb: The Book of Proper Names
☀ Amparo Dávila: The Houseguest and Other Stories
☀ Amy Tan: The Moon Lady
☀ Ann Patchett: Tom Lake
☀ Annabelle Tometich: The Mango Tree: A Memoir of Fruit, Florida, and Felony
☀ Anne Brontë: Agnes Grey
☀ Anne Youngson: Meet Me at the Museum
☀ Annette Dashofy: Where the Guilty Hide
☀ Annette Dashofy: Keep Your Family Close
☀ Annette Dashofy: Uneasy Prey
☀ Anita Brookner: Hotel du Lac
☀ Anne Holt: Blind Goddess, translated
☀ Becky Chambers: A Psalm for the Wild-Built
☀ C.J. Wray: The Excitements
☀ Catherine Mack: Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies
☀ Celeste Ng: Our Missing Hearts
☀  Claire Keegan: Foster
☀  Claire Keegan: Small Things Like These
☀ Cynthia McLeod: The Cost of Sugar
☀ D.R. Ransdell: Mariachi Meddler
☀ D.R. Ransdell: Island Casualty
☀ Danielle Arceneaux: Glory Be
☀ Darcie Wilde: The Secret of the Lost Pearls
☀ Dorothy L. Sayers: Strong Poison
☀ Dorothy L. Sayers: Are Women Human? Astute and Witty Essays on the Role of Women in Society
☀ Edith Wharton: Xingu
☀ Elise Gravel: Killer Underwear Invasion!: How to Spot Fake News, Disinformation & Conspiracy Theories
☀ Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez: My Side of the River
☀ Elizabeth Hay: Late Nights on Air
☀ Elizabeth Strout: Olive, Again
☀ Elizabeth Strout: My Name Is Lucy Barton
☀ Emily Giffin: First Comes Love
☀ Elly Griffiths: The Last Word 
☀ Emily St. John Mandel: Sea of Tranquility
☀ Emma Steinkellner: The Okay Witch
☀ Evie Woods: The Lost Bookshop
☀ Gabrielle Zevin: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
☀  Gloria Naylor: Bailey's Café
☀ Heather O'Neill: Lullabies for Little Criminals
☀ Hilma Wolitzer: Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket: Stories
☀ Ingvild H. Rishøi: Brightly Shining
☀ Irène Némirovsky: The Dogs and the Wolves, translated
☀ Iwatobineko: The Invisible Man and His Soon-to-Be Wife Vol. 1, translated
☀ Jacqueline Davies: The International House of Dereliction
☀ Jana Beňová: Seeing People Off, translated
☀ Jean Hanff Korelitz: The Sequel
☀ Jean Hanff Korelitz: The Plot
☀ Jen Wang: Stargazing
☀ Jennifer De Leon: Don't Ask Me Where I'm From
☀ Jessica Ellicott: Murder at a London Finishing School
☀ Jessica Knoll: Bright Young Women
☀ Jhumpa Lahiri: Interpreter of Maladies
☀ Jill Cullen: Flirting with a New Life: a novel
☀ Jocelyn Nicole Johnson: My Monticello
☀ Judi Dench: Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent
☀ Julia Bryan Thomas: The Radcliffe Ladies’ Reading Club
☀ Karina Sainz Borgo: It Would Be Night in Caracas
☀ Kerri Maher: All You Have to Do Is Call
☀ Kristin Hannah: The Women
☀  Kristen Perrin: How to Solve Your Own Murder
☀ Laia Jufresa: Umami, translated
☀ Laurie R. King: Back to the Garden
☀ Lisa Jewell: Breaking the Dark
☀ Louise Erdrich: The Mighty Red
☀ Louise Jensen: The Sister
☀ M.L. Rio: If We Were Villains
☀ Magda Szabó: Abigail, translated
☀ Malla Nunn: A Beautiful Place to Die
☀ Margaret Mizushima: Killing Trail
☀ Marianne Wheelaghan: Food of Ghosts
☀ Marjane Satrapi: Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
☀ Marta Molnar: The Secret Life of Sunflowers
☀  Martha Wells: All Systems Red
☀ Mercè Rodoreda: Garden by the Sea, translated
☀ Michal Ben-Naftali: The Teacher, translated
☀ Michelle Hoffman: The Second Ending
☀ Mona Susan Power: A Council of Dolls
☀ Narine Abgaryan: Three Apples Fell from the Sky
☀ Natalie Babbitt: The Eyes of the Amaryllis
☀  Nev March: Murder in Old Bombay
☀ Nicola Clifford: No Refuge
☀  Nilima Rao: A Disappearance in Fiji
☀ Nita Prose: The Mystery Guest
☀ Patricia Highsmith: Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction
☀  Phyllis Shand Allfrey: It Falls Into Place: The Short Stories of Phyllis Shand Allfrey
☀ Pip Williams: The Dictionary of Lost Words
☀  Radha Vatsal: A Front Page Affair
☀ Rebecca Solnit: Cinderella Liberator
☀ Reem Faruqi: Lailah's Lunchbox: A Ramadan Story
☀ Reni Eddo-Lodge: Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race
☀ Rupi Kaur: milk and honey
☀ Sandra Cisneros: The House on Mango Street
☀  Selva Almada: The Wind That Lays Waste
☀ Shelby Van Pelt: Remarkably Bright Creatures
☀  Shirley Jackson: Just an Ordinary Day: The Uncollected Stories
☀ Sofia Robleda: Daughter of Fire
☀ Souvankham Thammavongsa: How to Pronounce Knife: Stories
☀ Sujata Massey: The Mistress of Bhatia House
☀ Sulari Gentill: The Woman in the Library
☀ Susan Elia MacNeal: The Last Hope
☀  Tanya R. Taylor: Blind Sight
☀ Tara M. Stringfellow: Memphis
☀ Tess Gerritsen: The Spy Coast
☀ Valerie Burns: Murder is a Piece of Cake
☀ Wayétu Moore: The Dragons, the Giant, the Women: A Memoir
☀ Yaa Gyasi: Transcendent Kingdom
☀ Zadie Smith: Intimations
☀ Zadie Smith: Weirdo
☀ Zora Neale Hurston: The Mule-Bone

Black Women Authors
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
☀ 13 books
☀ Akwaeke Emezi: Pet
☀ Cynthia McLeod: The Cost of Sugar
☀ Danielle Arceneaux: Glory Be
☀ Gloria Naylor: Bailey's Café
☀ Jocelyn Nicole Johnson: My Monticello
☀ Reni Eddo-Lodge: Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race
☀ Tara M. Stringfellow: Memphis
☀ Valerie Burns: Murder is a Piece of Cake
☀ Wayétu Moore: The Dragons, the Giant, the Women: A Memoir
☀ Yaa Gyasi: Transcendent Kingdom
☀ Zadie Smith: Intimations
☀ Zadie Smith: Weirdo
☀ Zora Neale Hurston: The Mule-Bone

Indigenous Women Authors
☀ 2 books
☀ Mona Susan Power: A Council of Dolls
☀ Louise Erdrich: The Mighty Red

Well let's see, I have a few on the shelf and have finally gotten out of only reading the library books, because they have a deadline :)

Still on the TBR;
Hot Milk by Deborah Levy (UK)
Free by Lea Ypi (coming of age in a closed country - Albania)
The Bread the Devil Knead by Lisa Allen-Agostini (Trinidad and Tobago)
I Am the Brother of XX by Fleur Jaeggy (Switzerland)
Om udregning af rumfang I by Solvej Balle (Denmark)
Cockfight by María Fernanda Ampuero (Ecuador)
Atlas of Remote Islands: Fifty Islands I Have Never Set Foot On and Never Will by Judith Schalansky (Germany)

Update: finished this, so that is off next year's list!
This is the Canon: Decolonize Your Bookshelves in 50 Books by Joan Anim-Addo

Read so far in 2024:
Simone de Beauvoir: Misforståelsen
Anne Mari Borchert: Lykkelig med M
Anne Boyer: Beklædning imod kvinder
Jo Callaghan; In the Blink of An Eye
Anne Carson: Autobiography of Red: A Novel in Verse, Nej snarere, Albertine-øvelsen, The Trojan Women
Ama Asantewa Diaka: Woman, Eat Me Whole: Poems
Alexandra Fuller: Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood
Christina Hagen: Pow pow pow
Han Kang: Hvid
Judith Hermann: Vi ville have fortalt hinanden alt
Anna Juul: Superskurk
Ursula K. Le Guin: Bæreposeteorien om fiktion
Katherine Mansfield: The Garden Party
Hala Mohammad: Lån mig vinduet
Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir: Eden
Joanna Rubin Dranger: Ihågkom oss till liv, Fröken Märkvärdig & karriären
Amalie Skram: Madam Høiers Lejefolk
Inga Strümke: Maskiner der tænker
Rin Usami: Idol, Burning
Liv Strömquist: Den er der ikke , Hundra procent fett, Liv Strömquists astrologi

Just what doesn't fall under the other yearly themes of Black, Indigenous, and nonfiction, which I listed in those respective threads.

✔️= planned
✓ = add-on/substitute

READ
✓ Evidence of the Affair by Taylor Jenkins Reid (novella, audio)
✔️Dance of the Happy Shades by Alice Munro (Canadian, short stories, her first book)
✔️10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World by Elif Shafak (Turkish, Author Focus read)
✔️As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh (Syrian love story amid revolt, YA, audio for long trip)
✓ The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo (Viet American, fantasy Gatsy retelling, audio while quilting)
✔️Sitti's Secrets by Naomi Shihab Nye (Palestinian American, children's book)
✔️Why I Wake Early by Mary Oliver (poetry, nature focus/Q1)
✔️Claudine at School by Colette (French classics)
✓ Stargazing by Jen Wang (group read: middle grade, graphic novel)
✓ Still Born by Guadalupe Nettel (Mexican, WIT, Q2)
✓ The Old Woman with the Knife by Gu Byeong-mo (Korean, WIT, mystery/thriller, roadtrip audio)
✔️Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia (Cuban, Miami, Q2)
✓ The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey (Caribbean/Trinidad, Q2, audio)
✓ The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang (Vietnamese American, romance, neurodivergent, audio)
✓ The Bride Test by Helen Hoang (Vietnamese American, romance, neurodivergent)
✓ A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll (Scottish, YA, autism, witch trials, audio)
✓ The Art of Losing by Alice Zeniter (French Algerian, historical fiction)
✓ My Yellow Heart by Vi Khi Nao (Vietnamese, poetry, Pride Month)
✓ Shubeik Lubeik by Deena Mohamed (Egyptian, graphic novel, speculative)
✓ Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata (Japanese novella, Q3)
✓ The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan (Asian/American, matriarchal saga, Bingo 2)
✔️Lies and Sorcery by Elsa Morante (hefty Italian classic, Q3)
✓ Claudine in Paris (2nd of 4 books) from the collection The Complete Claudine by Colette Gauthier-Villars (French classics, Q3/WIT)
✓ Greek Lessons by Han Kang (Korean, Q3/WIT)
✓ Foster by Claire Keegan
✓ Love by Hanne Ørstavik (Norwegian, novella, contemporary)
✓ The Dry Heart by Natalia Ginzburg (Italian classic, novella)
✓ Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield (lesbian literary speculative/thriller, Q4, british)
✓ The Houseguest and Other Stories by Amparo Dávila (Mexican, short stories, classics, speculative, Q4)
✓ Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner (witchy classic)
✓ Circe by Madeline Miller

PLANNED
-Good Morning, Midnight by Jean Rhys (British/Caribbean classic)
-The Body Where I Was Born by Guadalupe Nettel (Mexican)
-The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin (sci-fi classic novella)
-A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O'Connor (Southern gothic short story, classic)
-Family Lexicon by Natalia Ginzburg (Italian classic)
-The Djinn's Apple by Djamila Morani (Algerian, YA, speculative)
-Family Ties by Clarice Lispector (Brazilian, classics, short stories)
-something by Joan Didion (American classic)

*they/them authors
✓The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes (YA, audiobook)
✓When We Were Sisters by Fatimah Asghar

I read Family Lexicon over the summer. I found Ginzburg a good story teller of her family life. I found myself chuckling over her anecdotes and it brought back memories of the silly things my family did.

My 2024 plans, apart from joining in here.
With a love of Virago Modern Classics and secondhand bookshopping a reading challenge to incorporate both was inevitable. So I have done 22 in 2022, 23 in 2023, and now moving onto 24 in 2024. I may buy a few new ones, but I mainly buy secondhand, so the selection is random.
I have two small projects I want to finish off - reading authors from the Harlem Renaissance (am now moving onto the men) and reading books by Welsh authors or set in Wales.
Finally books in translation. Am hoping to get to the following sitting on my bedside over the coming months
A Little Luck
The Postcard
Ultramarine
Forbidden Notebook
Out of EarthMy Brilliant Friend
All Our Yesterdays

@Sonia, same here- I like getting everything (not just books) secondhand whenever possible. But I’m happy to support new authors or indie presses by purchasing new on occasion.
Appreciate your testimonial on the Ginzburg. I have to be patient as I’ll be getting to that one later in the year.

Jen wrote: "Here, I'll just list projected reads that don't fall under the other yearly themes of Black, Indigenous, and nonfiction, which I listed in those respective threads.

-[book:10 Minutes 38 Seconds in..."

I loved 10 minutes... I might read it again in 2024

Anetq wrote: "Well let's see, I have a few on the shelf and have finally gotten out of only reading the library books, because they have a deadline :)

Hot Milk by Deborah Levy (UK)
[book:Free|57..."

The Jaeggy is an interesting one, Anetq. I am adding several of these to my tbr. What did you think of Decolonize Your Bookshelves?

I finished my first RW challenge book of the new year, also my first Ann Cleeves novel: White Nights. It’s an IRL book club pick, but she’s an author I’ve had in my TBR for awhile and hadn’t prioritized so I’m glad I read it. Not the strongest in terms of the mystery, and a trifle long, but the audible narrator is quite good, as a supplement to the paperback.

Happy new year, everyone!

Happy new year Carol!

I also finished my first RW challenge book: Women of Means: The Fascinating Biographies of Royals, Heiresses, Eccentrics and Other Poor Little Rich Girls (Bios of Royalty and Rich & Famous) by Marlene Wagman-Geller. It was interesting, and I'm glad I read it. Maybe not the most glowing review - LOL.

I've gotten started on 3 of the books from my list in message 7.

I'm listening to Syrian YA novel As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh on a long road trip from NY to Texas. Audiobooks are new to me and I'm feeling quite absorbed in this story but find myself wishing to read it too. I think, at some point when back home in Europe, I will buy the paperback because I noticed this version has a short story included!

I'm slowly working my way through Dance of the Happy Shades, short stories by Alice Munro. Loving them.

And I'm reading 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World by Elif Shafak and I've just shared some initial thoughts/feelings in the Author Focus thread for this book.

The Katouh and Munro I'm really into. The Shafak not as much but enjoying it alright. It's my first read from all these authors.

I read a Norwegian novella, Love by Hanne Ørstavik who's getting attention recently for her newer work Ti Amo. An interesting work, not something that grabbed me and pulled me in. It's subtler, quieter, humorless. I'm sitting with it still. My reading history has a big gap when it comes to writing from Scandinavia and Nordic countries so I'm glad to have done a little something this year to change that.

I've read alot that works for this category but not other annual challenges. Been updating my list in message 7 all year.

Sonia wrote: "My 2024 plans, apart from joining in here.
With a love of Virago Modern Classics and secondhand bookshopping a reading challenge to incorporate both was inevitable. So I have done 22 in 2022, 23 i..."

Sonia, alot of what you mentioned in your plans interests me too. I wonder how it's gone, what you've liked. Although this is Read Women, I'm curious about your Harlem Renaissance readings by men too. I checked out some this year too and other works relating alot to Harlem which wasn't an intentional focus for me but I like how that worked out- seeing the borough and its history from various angles.

Carol wrote: "Anetq wrote: "Well let's see, I have a few on the shelf and have finally gotten out of only reading the library books, because they have a deadline :)

Hot Milk by Deborah Levy (UK)..."

Sorry totally missed your reply there! I liked it a lot - for a rather academic endeavour it is not boring and the suggestions are a good start for anyone wanting to diversify their reading I think.