Read Women discussion

Nominations for our July group reads are now open.

FICTION: Latina authors
NON-FICTION: Feminism

You may nominate one book for each 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 one week.


**Per the UN the following countries are considered "Latin America", called Intermediary Subregion.

Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Barbados
Belize
Bolivia
Brazil
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Cuba
Curacao
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
El Salvador
French Guiana
Grenada
Guatemala
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Jamaica
Mexico
Nicaragua
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent / Grenadines
Suriname
The Bahamas
Trinidad and Tobago
Uruguay
Venezuela

It's a mixture of countries in North America and South America, and a mix of Geographical Subregions of Caribbean, Central America, and South America. We are also including the diaspora and descendants of those from the above countries.

If, for fiction, this category is including women of Latin American descent (not from Latin America), and Latin America includes Caribbean islands...

I'd nominate The Vulnerables by Sigrid Nunez. I was planning to read it first half of July anyway, so I'll throw it in the mix if it qualifies...

For fiction, I nominate Catalina by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio. The author was born in Ecuador, a Latin American country.

The storyline: "When Catalina is admitted to Harvard, it feels like the fulfillment of destiny: a miracle child escapes death in Latin America, moves to Queens to be raised by her undocumented grandparents, and becomes one of the chosen." But undocumented.

Whelp, I thought I'd have quite some books to nominate for the first category, and lately all my spanish-language readings have been South-American, but turns out the ones (non-horror) I still have in wishlist are from Spain.

For the second category all that comes to my mind is Simone de Bouvoir but her great feminist treaty is almost 800 pages so...maybe not for a group read?

For once that I thought I'd have nominations, I end up not having them, unless I can think of some in the meantime. I'm sorry!

For NF, I nominate Fighting Chance: The Struggle over Woman Suffrage and Black Suffrage in Reconstruction America by Faye E. Dudden

Jen wrote: "If, for fiction, this category is including women of Latin American descent (not from Latin America), and Latin America includes Caribbean islands...

I'd nominate The Vulnerables..."

Yes, women of Latina descent are included so your nom qualifies :)

For fiction, I nominate Hurricane Season by Mexican author Fernanda Melchor. I've heard very good things about this one and cannot explain why it has been on my tbr for years! Please note the trigger warnings before voting. I can lead

Ninnisha|Roberta wrote: "Whelp, I thought I'd have quite some books to nominate for the first category, and lately all my spanish-language readings have been South-American, but turns out the ones (non-horror) I still have..."

No need to apologise Ninnisha! It is a bit of a tricky one for me too. Feel free to nominate horror if you want to :)

For the sakes of clarity, I've added the countries considered to be part of Latin America by the UN to message 1 above

For feminism, I nominate Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman by Lindy West which I'm hoping will bring a lighter tone to a difficult topic, but in a respectful way....if that makes sense! Reviews suggest that it will. I can lead

Hi! Just a reminder the nominations close in a few days. If you have ideas, please post here. Thanks!

For feminism, I nominate The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson.

From Graywolf Press' dedicated page:
Maggie Nelson’s The Argonauts is a genre-bending memoir, a work of “autotheory” offering fresh, fierce, and timely thinking about desire, identity, and the limitations and possibilities of love and language. At its center is a romance: the story of the author’s relationship with artist Harry Dodge. This story, which includes the author’s account of falling in love with Dodge, as well as her journey to and through a pregnancy, is an intimate portrayal of the complexities and joys of (queer) family making.

Writing in the spirit of public intellectuals like Susan Sontag and Roland Barthes, Nelson binds her personal experience to a rigorous exploration of what iconic theorists have said about sexuality, gender, and the vexed institutions of marriage and childrearing. Nelson’s insistence on radical individual freedom and the value of caretaking becomes the rallying cry for this thoughtful, unabashed, uncompromising book.

“A fiercely provocative and intellectually audacious memoir. . . . The author turns the whole process and concept of motherhood inside out, exploring every possible perspective, blurring the distinctions among the political, philosophical, aesthetic and personal. . . . A book that will challenge readers as much as the author has challenged herself.”—Kirkus (starred review)

For fiction, I nominate How to Order the Universe by Chilean author, María José Ferrada.

María José Ferrada expertly captures a vanishing way of life and a father-daughter relationship on the brink of irreversible change. At once nostalgic, dangerous, sharply funny, and full of delight and wonder, How to Order the Universe is a richly imaginative debut and a rare work of magic and originality.

Accessibility note: It's a 2021 release, but I don't think an audiobook exists, and it's worth checking your libraries to determine availability.

Nominations to date:

FICTION: Latina authors:
* The Vulnerables by Sigrid Nunez
* Catalina by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
* Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor
* How to Order the Universe by María José Ferrada

NON-FICTION: Feminism:
* Fighting Chance: The Struggle over Woman Suffrage and Black Suffrage in Reconstruction America by Faye E. Dudden
* Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman by Lindy West
* The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson

Also, just an FYI - July 19th is the Anniversary of the First Women’s Rights Convention.

Just an FYI that the nonfiction by Dudden on suffrage in the US is available on Internet Archive and seems to be more like 200 pages in chapters and there’s a big section of notes in the end. I was personally happy to discover this as my Libby and Hoopla don’t have it…

https://archive.org/details/fightingc...

Jen wrote: "Just an FYI that the nonfiction by Dudden on suffrage in the US is available on Internet Archive and seems to be more like 200 pages in chapters and there’s a big section of notes in the end. I was..."

wow! thats great intel

What a varied list of noms! Keep them coming! Polls will go up tomorrow

Jen wrote: "Just an FYI that the nonfiction by Dudden on suffrage in the US is available on Internet Archive ..."

Oh, this just caught me breaking my "reading rules" - AGAIN! I checked the two libraries I use, but not IA. Ugh.

Nominations are now closed and the polls are open until the 7th of June. Thanks to everyone who nominated!