Read Women discussion

Hello members,

This is the thread for our November nominations.
We are looking for a Fiction by an Indigenous Author and a Read Around the World focused on a MENA country or author (Middle East & North Africa). This may be fiction or non-fiction.
Please be sure to include your country when nominating for the RATW category this month.

You may nominate in both fiction and read around the world.
One nomination per category.
No books that have been read in the previous three years.
Please use the ‘add book/author’ tab to avoid confusion.
Written by an author who identifies as a woman.
Please indicate whether you will be leading the discussion.

Nominations will close in about a week.

Fiction by an Indigenous Author:

Stolen by Ann-Helén Laestadius

"Swedish novel that follows a young indigenous woman as she struggles to defend her family’s reindeer herd and culture amidst xenophobia, climate change, and a devious hunter whose targeted kills are considered mere theft in the eyes of the law...Based on real events, the award-winning novel ... is part coming-of-age story, part love song to a disappearing natural world, and part electrifying countdown to a dramatic resolution—a searing depiction of a forgotten part of Sweden."

Read Around the World focused on a MENA country or author (Middle East & North Africa).

Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi (Egypt)
"From her prison cell, Firdaus, sentenced to die for having killed a pimp in a Cairo street, tells of her life from village childhood to city prostitute. Society's retribution for her act of defiance--death--she welcomes as the only way she can finally be free."

The author was a fascinating woman. A physician, an activist, a feminist, she was jailed for testing Anwar Sadat's words that Egypt was a democracy and that criticism was essential.

Fiction by an indigenous author:
To Shape a Dragon's Breath
by Moniquill Blackgoose

Awesome coming of age story from the perspective of a young woman dealing with colonialism, racism, and sexism. Oh and learning about homophobia for the first time. The magic system is very unique and interesting involving dragons breath, and a complex system for making that dragons breath constructive instead of destructive.


"The remote island of Masquapaug has not seen a dragon in many generations—until fifteen-year-old Anequs finds a dragon’s egg and bonds with its hatchling. Her people are delighted, for all remember the tales of the days when dragons lived among them and danced away the storms of autumn, enabling the people to thrive. To them, Anequs is revered as Nampeshiweisit—a person in a unique relationship with a dragon.

Unfortunately for Anequs, the Anglish conquerors of her land have different opinions. They have a very specific idea of how a dragon should be raised, and who should be doing the raising—and Anequs does not meet any of their requirements. Only with great reluctance do they allow Anequs to enroll in a proper Anglish dragon school on the mainland. If she cannot succeed there, her dragon will be killed.

For a girl with no formal schooling, a non-Anglish upbringing, and a very different understanding of the history of her land, challenges abound—both socially and academically. But Anequs is smart, determined, and resolved to learn what she needs to help her dragon, even if it means teaching herself. The one thing she refuses to do, however, is become the meek Anglish miss that everyone expects.

Anequs and her dragon may be coming of age, but they’re also coming to power, and that brings an important realization: the world needs changing—and they might just be the ones to do it."
I would not be leading the discussion.

hmm... I wanted to nominate Spider Woman's Granddaughters: Traditional Tales and Contemporary Writing by Native American Women for Indigenous fiction but now I see it's described as a mix of fiction and NF.

So! I will nominate another one that I own and have been putting off too long: Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich.

I read one Erdrich which isn't known as one of her best (I found it only pretty good), and more recently I read a new short story in The New Yorker that I loved. So I'd be happy to try her again.

Wow. We've got several strong nominations already - I'm excited to read the ultimate winners.

For MENA, I will nominate Daughters of Smoke and Fire, a debut novel by Canadian-Kurdish author and activist, Ava Homa, set in Iran and delving into themes of resistence, identity, oppression and addressing the intersection of gender and ethnic discrimination.



I can lead.

Thanks for your patience everyone, the polls are more open. Please vote here:
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/1...

Thank you to everyone who nominated