Announcing the April tag

[Anita]

This month we had a record number of votes thanks to the many new users who have chosen to try us out. We are excited to have this new burst of energy, so welcome to those who voted for the first time.

Unlike most months, one tag DOMINATED the voting this time. In fact, so dominated that I'm announcing a tad early. . .and that tag was:

strong women

Please share your reading plans and recommendations below! (I really need some recommendations, so you know, don't forget to share lots of those).

Remember, for the regular monthly reads, the book can be shelved as strong women on Goodreads, or be a book that is not yet shelved that way but you feel should be.

One way to find books to read for this tag is to please visit:

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

[Jenny]

I'm glad this one won as I had the most #tbr books on this shelf!

I'll post my list later but just a quick question: If I read more than one book that fits the tag do I put all the books in the 'strong women' folder or just one and put the others in 'other books'?

[Anita]

Jenny wrote: "I'm glad this one won as I had the most #tbr books on this shelf!

I'll post my list later but just a quick question: If I read more than one book that fits the tag do I put all the books in the 's..."

Great question, Jenny! Please feel free to read as many books that fit the tag as you wish and put ALL of them (each posted as its own review) in the "strong women" folder.

That way, you will get 2 participation points for each read (as you deserve), and we will all get the benefit of seeing more reviews that may help the rest of us to determine our own "strong women" reads.

[Nicole R]

Jenny wrote: "I'm glad this one won as I had the most #tbr books on this shelf!

I'll post my list later but just a quick question: If I read more than one book that fits the tag do I put all the books in the 's..."

Like you, Jenny, I anticipate reading more than one book about strong women next month and I look forward to your reviews!

Just to add on to what Anita said, we will not be posting the new folders for "April: Strong Women" reviews until the first of the month. We just announce the tag a bit early because we are a group of planners and library users!

You may have already realized this, but I thought I would reiterate it with all of the new members.

[Anita]

Hmmm, this tag is a lot more challenging for me than I thought it would be - - both in terms of recommendations AND what I myself might read.

I'm leaning toward Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China and/or Elizabeth I to read, but reserving the right to change my mind after I see all of your wonderful recommendations.

Recommending is even tougher. I just finished a great memoir that I think does fit, Three Little Words: A Memoir. I also would highly recommend Half Broke Horses which definitely fits and is an excellent read for those of you who enjoyed The Glass Castle. In fact, I think I may have preferred the former by a smidge. Finally, I suggest Pope Joan, a super well done, but fast reading, historical fiction novel that I think has broad appeal (yes, I'm Jewish/atheist, and still thought it was terrific).

[JoLene]

Glad this one won, but in looking at the shelf, I’ve already read a lot of them on the first page or two.

I’ll come back with some recommendations when I’m at my computer. I will be reading The Girl Who Played with Fire and probably some other ones as well.

[Susie]

Woo hoo!

[Susie]

My number one recommendation for this tag is The Power by Naomi Alderman. I haven’t decided what I’ll read yet.

[Cora]

I like how you can read from a variety of genres for this tag. Here are some of my recommendations:

The Fifth Season
Daughter of Smoke & Bone
Island of the Blue Dolphins
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
Kindred
The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat
City of Stairs

Some of the books I am considering:

A Thousand Splendid Suns
Bossypants
The Nightingale
The Color Purple
Gone Girl
Nimona
Binti
Homegoing
Six of Crows

[Tracy]

Oh, wow- what to read? I have some Alice Hoffman on the shelf, and she’s great at writing strong women. Toni Morrison, too. And Adichie, and Austen....
One unconventional strong woman, with a memoir that made me cry is Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More by Janet Mock.

[Jamie]

I've got a few in mind including:

Radium Girls
The Woman Who Would Be King
Their Eyes Were Watching God

[[deleted user]]

Strong Women was my second choice but I had a feeling it would win.

Just looking at top 3 pages for the tag:
I am considering: The Alice Network, Moloka'i, Victoria: The Queen: An Intimate Biography of the Woman Who Ruled an Empire .

Recommendations:
Any of the books in the The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series might be a good choice for a lighter read. Although I didn't look through the entire list, Victoria should qualify.

I am going to wait and read through others' suggestions and see what I am in the mood for, before making a decision.

[Elise]

I have The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante in my bookcase waiting to be read. It's not shelved as strong women on GR, but I have a feeling it should be? Those of you who have read it, what do you think, does it fit in the tag?

[Nicole R]

Susie wrote: "My number one recommendation for this tag is The Power by Naomi Alderman. I haven’t decided what I’ll read yet."

I knew you would have a great recommendation! Do you (or others) think that this would be good on audio?

[Nicole R]

Jamie wrote: "I've got a few in mind including:

Radium Girls
The Woman Who Would Be King
Their Eyes Were Watching God"

Radium Girls is high on my list too and is a top contender this month!

[Amy]

Well this one was a no-brainer for me, because it’s also my listopia list (Remarkable Women in Historical Fiction). I have been looking forward to devoting this year not just to historical Queens, bet you everybody from Eve, Cleopatra, queen of Sheba, to modern day women such as mademoiselle Chanel, and even Ms Houdini, and some off the list, Such as Hillary Clinton. This shelf is kind of what I read in general. So the only trouble for me is the myriad of choices, which is made fat easier, By my just picking two listopia books that are both in from the library. I am going with the Last Tudor by PhillIpa Gregory, and Abundance, which features Marie Antoinette. I have other strong women books laying around that would also fit, but I think if I’m lucky I’ll get to these two. Plus I’m curious to see what the Decathalon pickle day. I also have in from the library the flying couch, which features three strong women who are Holocaust survivors or direct descendants. That fits too.

[Robin]

I'm going to kill two birds with one stone as I'm also working on books that have been on my TBR the longest for another group I'm part on and going to read Orphan Train.
Will also try
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.
All the Light We Cannot See
Three to Get Deadly

[Joanne]

So glad this one won! I have so many on my TBR list!

Right now I am reading The Essex Serpent

So recommendations from my TBR list

Nefertiti:
Pope Joan
White Rose, Black Forest
Queen Isabella: Treachery, Adultery, and Murder in Medieval England

And some from my read list(all 4 and 5 star):

Into the Wilderness
The German Girl
Red Queen
The Alice Network
Through a Glass Darkly

[Joanne]

Lisa A wrote: "Strong Women was my second choice but I had a feeling it would win.

Just looking at top 3 pages for the tag:
I am considering: The Alice Network, Moloka'i, [book:Vict..."

Lisa, I have read both of your 2 considerations TBR, recommend both!

[Joni]

I am finally going the read The Nightingale!!!!!! And maybe a few others.

[Jenny]

Anita wrote: "Jenny wrote: "I'm glad this one won as I had the most #tbr books on this shelf!

I'll post my list later but just a quick question: If I read more than one book that fits the tag do I put all the b..."

Many thanks Anita for clearing up the answer to my question (& the messages ;-) :-) )

Here's my definite #TBR:
Anna Karenina
Anne of Green Gables - these two will get two off my Listopia as well.
Garden Spells
Never Let Me Go
Scarlett Undercover
Shades of Milk and Honey

IF I finish this lot, I may try to get some of the following read as well:
The Art Forger
The Bear and the Nightingale
The Bell Jar
Big Little Lies
The Chilbury Ladies' Choir
The City of Brass
The Essex Serpent
The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue
Georgiana
The Girl Who Played With Fire
Hidden Figures
Howard's End (not sure about this one, but one of my favourite celebrities lists it as a favourite, and she is DEFINITELY a strong woman lol! --> Anne Hegerty off The Chase, if anyone is wondering.)
The Likeness
Men Explain Things to Me
The Radium Girls
The Red Tent
State of Wonder
Tell the Wolves I'm Home
Wedlock
Z

As for recommendations:
Agnes Grey
All the Light We Cannot See
Career of Evil - but any of the Cormoran Strike novels if you haven't read from #1
The Diary of a Young Girl
Eleanor & Park
The Eyre Affair
Far from the Madding Crowd
A Game of Thrones Boxset
Harry Potter Boxset
The Hunger Games Trilogy Boxset
I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban
Jane Eyre
Much Ado About Nothing
Northanger Abbey
One for the Money
Outlander
Pride and Prejudice
The Queen of the Tearling
Sense and Sensibility
Special Topics in Calamity Physics
Twelfth Night

[Cynda]

Thank you Jenny. This month I will be reading books in honor of Earth Day and in honor of Shakespeare's birthday. So some of Shakespeare's plays will fit the tag. Good point good.

I also have a stack for Earth, but I might add books by and about strong women who help sentient beings on Earth, such as Jane Goodall and Diane Fossey. Or women who otherwise help the Earth.

[Hayjay315]

Thrilled this is the tag that won but know my TBR will be growing exponentially with all of your fantastic recommendations and reviews!

Recommended:
Desert Queen: The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell: Adventurer, Adviser to Kings, Ally of Lawrence of Arabia by Janet Wallach. This is amongst my favorite and most highly recommended books.
The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World by Jacqueline Novogratz. This book chronicles the journey of the author from a career in international banking to founding the nonprofit venture capital firm Acumen Fund
The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street by Susan Jane Gilman. The incredible story of a crippled orphan who learns the ice cream business and starts her own business Dunkle's Ice Cream.
The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb by Melanie Benjamin. The life of a woman who refused to let her short stature define her dreams and limitations was an enjoyable read for me.

I have quite a few books on my TBR that would qualify for this. I'll have to think over for a few days which one I'll actually go with but these are the top contenders:
Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary
The Spymistress
The Indigo Girl
Song of a Captive Bird
The Librarian of Auschwitz
Enchantress of Numbers
Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution

[annapi]

I will definitely be reading Radium Girls, since I need that for Jen's March Madness game so it would kill two birds with one stone.

As for recommendations, happily there are so many, probably too many to list. I will go with two favorites that are unlikely to be mentioned by others here, as they are fantasy/sci-fi:

The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon
Valor's Choice by Tanya Huff

One more, as I just read it and really enjoyed it:

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

[Jenni Elyse]

Awesome. I would've been fine with any of them, but this goes along with my current reading choices for April so yay! :D

I plan to reread Cinder and read Scarlet, Cress, and Winter in April. They all fit the tag. :D

I'm currently reading Anne of Green Gables right now and I think it definitely fits the tag. I'm enjoying it immensely so I'd highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't read it yet (if there's anyone left).

[Ellen]

Here are a few recommendations that I particularly enjoyed:

The Help
A Thousand Splendid Suns
The Red Tent
The Nightingale
Moloka'i
Cold Mountain

I intend to read:
Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail
and if time permits:
Day After Night

[Anita]

As per usual, all these great posts are not making my decision any easier, lol. So many excellent and intriguing suggestions.

[Susie]

Nicole, I thought that the audio of The Power was excellent.

[SANDYE]

I am undecided as to what I will read in April. I can't plan ahead like that. I have to just finish a book, and then see what catches my eye.

Here is a list of books I have on my TBR shelf that should all fit the strong woman tag for April! Maybe someone will find something that interests them:
Queen of the Universe
which is when it all began
Cry of the West: Hallie
A New Life
Inheritance
Better Off Without Him
Night Moves
A Woman of Fortune
Treasures of the North

[Book Concierge]

Cynda wrote: "Thank you Jenny. This month I will be reading books in honor of Earth Day and in honor of Shakespeare's birthday. So some of Shakespeare's plays will fit the tag. Good point good.
..."

Portia in The Merchant of Venice definitely qualifies as a Strong Woman!

[[deleted user]]

Joanne wrote: " Lisa, I have read both of your 2 considerations TBR, recommend both! ..."

Thanks, Joanne! :-)

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo just became available through my library. It is actually tagged more as strong female protagonist so it should qualify for strong women too. Maybe I will read two books for April!!

----------

Anita- I totally understand your dilemma. So many good ideas being listed here. Wish I could read them all!

[Book Concierge]

This is a tag I use with some regularity (570 books on my shelf have this tag).

Looking at JUST the 5-star reads on my shelf with STRONG WOMEN tag, I would recommend:
The Sandcastle Girls
Like Water for Chocolate
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
The Book of Ruth
The Sparrow (Though I think Children of God might be an even better example)
Sights Unseen
Stones from the River
Midwives
Out of the Dust
What the Body Remembers
Still Alice
The Good Earth
Blindness
Under the Mesquite
Two Old Women: An Alaskan Legend of Betrayal, Courage and Survival
The Color Purple
Lamb in His Bosom
Gone with the Wind (Who is stronger: Melanie or Scarlett?)

As for what I'll read ...
I'll be traveling for two weeks but I think I'll get to We Band of Angels: The Untold Story of American Nurses Trapped on Bataan by the Japanese

[Book Concierge]

By the way ... I looked through my LISTOPIA (Literary mysteries) and was dismayed to find so few that already had the EXACT tag.

But a couple had such wonderful tags as:
Strong Female Protagonist / Strong Heroine / Strong women rock / Strong female character /

[Jgrace]

Lots of choices and lots of favorites! Both of my autobiographies this month would qualify.

My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor
Africa in My Blood: An Autobiography in Letters by Jane Goodall

I just might finish the 2nd one if I stop checking in on this thread!

[~*Kim*~]

I've read a lot of the top ones already, but my top recommendations are:

Girl in Translation
The Storyteller
Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia
The Tea Rose

I will probably try to read either
White Chrysanthemum
or
Lilac Girls

[Michael]

That was a helpful link from Anita for ideas. I think I will try for:
The Dovekeepers--Alice Hoffman
Code Name Verity--Elizabeth Wein
Manhattan Beach--Jennifer Egan
The Madonnas of Leningrad-Debra Dean

Recommendations:
Frontier setting:
True Grit--Charles Portis
My Ántonia--Willa Cather
Savage Country--Robert Olmstead
Tracks--Louise Erdrich
Folly and Glory--Larry McMurtry
Dalva--Jim Harrison

Historical fiction:
A Thread of Grace--Mary Doria Russell
The Grand Sophy--Georgette Heyer
Year of Wonders--Geraldine Brooks
The Poisonwood Bible--Barbara Kingsolver
Do Not Say We Have Nothing--Madeleine Thien
White Houses--Amy Bloom

Sci fi/Fantasy
The Fifth Season--N.K. Jesimin
Ancillary Justice--Ann Leckie
Dawn--Octavia Butler
Seveneves--Neal Stephenson
Pandora's Star--Peter Hamilton
On Basilisk Station--David Weber
Paladin of Souls--Lois McMaster Bujold

Non-fiction
Desert Queen: The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell: Adventurer, Adviser to Kings, Ally of Lawrence of Arabia--Janet Wallach (concur with Hayjay)
West with the Night--Beryl Markham
The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother--James McBride
Margaret Fuller: A New American Life--Megan Marshall
Savage Summit: The True Stories of the First Five Women Who Climbed K2, the World's Most Feared Mountain--Jennifer Jordan

[Ladyslott]

Jamie wrote: "I've got a few in mind including:

Radium Girls
The Woman Who Would Be King
Their Eyes Were Watching God"

Read The Radium Girls, it is right now my favorite book of 2018. It is filled with strong women!

[Ladyslott]

Anita wrote: "Finally, I suggest Pope Joan, a super well done, but fast reading, historical fiction novel that I think has broad appeal (yes, I'm Jewish/atheist, and still thought it was terrific). ..."

I have a feeling that I recommended this book to you, back at Shelfari - there was a time when I recommended it to everyone. I too am Jewish and loved, loved, loved this book.

[LibraryCin]

Amy wrote: "Well this one was a no-brainer for me, because it’s also my listopia list (Remarkable Women in Historical Fiction). I have been looking forward to devoting this year not just to historical Queens, ..."

I also have a listopia list that this can work with (Biographies). :-) I will take a closer look at what I might read, but off the top of my head, one of my Listopia books is Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert Massie, so I might try to get to it (possibly in addition to others).

[LibraryCin]

Cynda wrote: "I also have a stack for Earth, but I might add books by and about strong women who help sentient beings on Earth, such as Jane Goodall and Diane Fossey. Or women who otherwise help the Earth..."

Oooooh, nice!

[Ladyslott]

I am going to read Cress, it's the third book in the Lunar Chronicles and it does feature a strong woman in this fairy tale retelling of Rapunzel (this will be my second retelling of Rapunzel since I just read Bitter Greens). Just bummed that this isn't on the Listopia list I am reading for the challenge, even though the first two books are on the list and it is tagged as a retelling over 1,000 times. Oh well, I have others available..

[Ladyslott]

Susie wrote: "My number one recommendation for this tag is The Power by Naomi Alderman. I haven’t decided what I’ll read yet."

I am on a long wait list for this, so I will need to read something else.

[Ladyslott]

Nicole R wrote: "Radium Girls is high on my list too and is a top contender this month!"

From your reading twin - read The Radium Girls - you will love it and I think you will love both the science and the law that went into this case.

[LibraryCin]

A few more options for me:

As already mentioned:
- Catherine the Great / Robert K. Massie (also Listopia)

Plus, possibly:
- Cleopatra: a Life / Stacy Schiff (also Listopia)
- Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian… by Jim Ottaviani
- The Six Wives of Henry VIII / Antonia Fraser (also Listopia)
- Yarrow / Charles de Lint

[KateNZ]

I'm going to try to get to The Handmaid's Tale - it's on my Listopia list too.

I've also seen quite a few on the TBR that are shelved as "strong women", including:
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
The Night Circus and
The Power.

But then I found both My Beloved World and Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the list, so now I am torn (and I am still kicking myself for not picking up a copy of the Sotomayor book when I visited the Supreme Court last year - I dithered forever and then decided it wouldn't fit in the suitcase)

[Hilde]

Love this tag, so many good suggestions already! :)

I haven't decided which book I'm gonna go for, but here are some that caught my eye that I have been wanting to read for a long time;
The Handmaid's Tale
Big Little Lies
All the Light We Cannot See
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
The Glass Castle
A Town Like Alice
A Thousand Splendid Suns

Some of my favourites reads from the list includes;
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Help
The Hate U Give

My current read for autobiography also fits nicely (The Complete Persepolis)

[Anita]

Michael wrote: "That was a helpful link from Anita for ideas. I think I will try for:
The Dovekeepers--Alice Hoffman
Code Name Verity--Elizabeth Wein
Manhattan Beach..."

Thread of Grace fits? Hmmm, that's been on my TBR for so long. And then you mention a mountain climbing book. You know I love those.

This decision is actually getting harder and harder the more people post lol! I've gone from no ideas to like 12.

[Anita]

Ladyslott wrote: "Anita wrote: "Finally, I suggest Pope Joan, a super well done, but fast reading, historical fiction novel that I think has broad appeal (yes, I'm Jewish/atheist, and still thought it was terrific)...."

You definitely did! And I've been hawking it ever since. Like over 10 years, trying to get people to read it. It is one of my favorite historical fiction novels to be honest.

[Anna]

What a fantastic list of recommendations. I plan to read Their Eyes Were Watching God and hopefully others from all your suggestions but not sure which yet.

[Nicole R]

Add me to the list of people excited for this tag!

I have narrowed down my choices and I am leaning toward:

The Power for my audiobook
The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women for my print book.

Then, if there is still time, is this the month that I FINALLY get to Americanah?!?

As another bonus, I might read the next book in the In Death series....Eve is nothing if not a strong woman!