Announcing the Tag for August

[Anita]

This was closer than I thought it would be, but in the end, the winner is

women's history

Please share your reading plans and recommendations below.

Remember, for the regular monthly reads, the book can be shelved as "women's history" 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/...

We encourage people to link to additional lists below if they find them.

Happy Reading!!!

[Theresa]

Oh goodie! I know some who will be very happy with this pick, and who had little hopefor it winning.

I had books to read for whatever won.

[Book Concierge]

I also have books for any of the tags.

[Robin P]

Some good books on women's history:

Founding Mothers
Ladies of Liberty: The Women Who Shaped Our Nation
Diva Julia: The Public Romance and Private Agony of Julia Ward Howe
Romantic Outlaws: The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Her Daughter Mary Shelley
Margaret Fuller: A New American Life
Maria Mitchell and the Sexing of Science: An Astronomer among the American Romantics
Louisa: The Extraordinary Life of Mrs. Adams
Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father
Free Thinker: Sex, Suffrage, and the Extraordinary Life of Helen Hamilton Gardener
The Woman's Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote
Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All

Also plenty of historical fiction such as
Hild
Matrix
My Dear Hamilton: A Novel of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton
Leaving Coy's Hill: A Novel - about Lucy Stone

[Joanne]

I have some to Recommend

Non-Fiction
Madame Fourcade's Secret War: The Daring Young Woman Who Led France's Largest Spy Network Against Hitler
Victoria The Queen: An Intimate Biography of the Woman Who Ruled an Empire
The Lady and the Panda: The True Adventures of the First American Explorer to Bring Back China's Most Exotic Animal
The Lady in Gold: The Extraordinary Tale of Gustav Klimt's Masterpiece, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer

Historical Fiction
The Red Tent
The Personal Librarian
A Well-Behaved Woman: A Novel of the Vanderbilts
The Convert
Clara and Mr. Tiffany

[Amy]

I have two books in mind. Maybe three. In fact I have so many I can’t see straight. But what I think I might choose, is the magnificent life of Marjorie post, the only woman in the room, or the next of my coco Chanel books

[KateNZ]

The panda one sounds fabulous, JoAnne. Well I’m sure the woman’s history and social history is great too. But pandas.

[Joanne]

KateNZ wrote: "The panda one sounds fabulous, JoAnne. Well I’m sure the woman’s history and social history is great too. But pandas."

It is very good. Who doesn't love Panda Bears?

[Booknblues]

Amy wrote: "I have two books in mind. Maybe three. In fact I have so many I can’t see straight. But what I think I might choose, is the magnificent life of Marjorie post, the only woman in the room, or the nex..."

If you decide to read The Only Woman in the Room, I may join you as I have had that on my TBR for a couple of years. I'm planning on starting with The Diamond Eye.

[Amy]

The Diamond Eye is great, but I would love you to join me.

[Booknblues]

Amy wrote: "The Diamond Eye is great, but I would love you to join me."

Just let me know when!

[Amy]

You have a deal friend!

[LibraryCin]

I was hoping for "time travel" but I figured this had a good chance. Will need to check my tbr, but I'm sure I have plenty. I will likely keep it to nonfiction for this one.

[Jenni Elyse]

Blech. You win some, you lose some. I’ll figure something out … if I have time. I moved this month and putting my house together is taking more time than anticipated. My reading is woefully behind right now.

[Hannah]

Booknblues wrote: "Amy wrote: "The Diamond Eye is great, but I would love you to join me."

Just let me know when!"

If you do both read The Only Woman in the Room, I would love to join in too. I own a copy of the book, so I could start reading it whenever works for you both.

[Amy]

This is getting exciting!!!!!!

[Amy]

For some reason I think JoAnn wants to read it too.

[Jen]

Apparently I have only read 4 on this tag ever and only liked 2 of them. The Colour Purple (loved) and Burial Rites (liked a lot) so if anyone knows of another one with shades of those then please let me know, if not I think I will give this month a miss.

[Amy]

My Trim book is the Social Graces, which also fits women in history…. Just sayin’

[Jen]

Amy wrote: "My Trim book is the Social Graces, which also fits women in history…. Just sayin’"

Lucky you!

[Joanne]

Booknblues wrote: "Amy wrote: "The Diamond Eye is great, but I would love you to join me."

Just let me know when!"

May join you too

[John]

LibraryCin wrote: "I was hoping for "time travel" but I figured this had a good chance. Will need to check my tbr, but I'm sure I have plenty. I will likely keep it to nonfiction for this one."

LibraryCin, have you considered the Kendra Donovan series by Julie McElwain. it combines time travel (more like Outlander) and a mystery series in the Regency England period. It begins with A Murder in Time.

[Booknblues]

Joanne wrote: "Booknblues wrote: "Amy wrote: "The Diamond Eye is great, but I would love you to join me."

Just let me know when!"

May join you too"

Let me know when it is good for you.

[Karin]

I highly recommend the book in this post and wish more women knew a lot about this!!! For those disappointed that this one won, it has to do with women of colour.

These women were VITAL to Canada's early exploration and history by Europeans--they literally couldn't have done what they did without them!!! This is really the most important book that I known of on the subject and it was the first comprehensive one with a great deal of primary source document research.

Most Americans have no idea about how First Nations' (no such thing as being Native American outside of the US ;) ) women were involved to such a large degree in a very important aspect of Canadian history. There is no direct parallel in magnitude and many other things with how it went in the States, in part due to the climate, but for other reasons as well :)

It is more academic, but very readable!

Many Tender Ties: Women in Fur-Trade Society, 1670–1870 by Sylvia Van Kirk and you can get it on Amazon Prime if you can't find it locally.

[Anita]

Normally I love non-fiction, but with the Booker prize longlist about to be announced, I was hoping for some broad fiction tag that would allow me to dive right into those books.

However, I have found two books that fit the tag and the look very interesting. And both seemed readily available from the library for August.

My two options are: When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present

or

All the Single Ladies: Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation

I am just not sure which to go with! Has anyone here read either of them?

[Anita]

Jen wrote: "Apparently I have only read 4 on this tag ever and only liked 2 of them. The Colour Purple (loved) and Burial Rites (liked a lot) so if anyone knows of another one with shades of those then please ..."

Maybe check out The Awakening. It is very short and a classic. However, whatever you do - - DO NOT read the prologue. These publishers must feel a need to provide an analysis for students, and the prologue in my version was both extremely dull AND had spoilers.

But I thought the story itself was excellent. And really more of a novella . . .so like not hard to plow through quickly.

[Theresa]

Anita wrote: "Jen wrote: "Apparently I have only read 4 on this tag ever and only liked 2 of them. The Colour Purple (loved) and Burial Rites (liked a lot) so if anyone knows of another one with shades of those ..."

I second Anita! This definitely fits the tag, is short and very readable. I told my youngest sister to just read the novella and skip the rest, to just let the book happen. I said no more and she loved it. My sister is not a literary fiction or non-fiction reader.

[Theresa]

Anita wrote: "Normally I love non-fiction, but with the Booker prize longlist about to be announced, I was hoping for some broad fiction tag that would allow me to dive right into those books.

However, I have f..."

Tough choice, Anita. Both authors are excellent. I lean towards the Gail Collins - in fact I have a copy in the TBR - because I read her pieces in the NY Times, and like her writing style, research ethics, and overall journalistic integrity.

[Book Concierge]

I read Jennifer Chiaverini's The Women's March: A Novel of the 1913 Woman Suffrage Procession this past year and quite liked it. I also read her Resistance Women for my book club in that last year or two and we had a fabulous discussion about it. Switchboard Soldiers has just come out this past week (July 19th pub date).

All these books are fiction, but feature real women in historic setting / accomplishments.

Another that would fit, though it doesn't involve any actual people, but is totally fiction based on real events is Fannie Flagg's The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion (The women who ferried aircraft for the Air Corps, but were not given veteran status, despite casualties in the service of our WW2 efforts, until quite recently.)

NONfiction: We Band of Angels: The Untold Story of American Nurses Trapped on Bataan by the Japanese

[LibraryCin]

John wrote: "LibraryCin, have you considered the Kendra Donovan series by Julie McElwain. ..."

Thanks, John! I'll take a look.

To be honest, I have plenty that fit the tag, however. :-) And I do like to choose off my tbr... ideally ones that have been there longer. I'll read one of those next month (I don't think I came back to post a few of my options that are at the top of my list), but I will take a look at your recommendation, anyway, and possibly add it to the tbr, as well.

ETA: Turns out it IS already on my tbr! But I was wanting to focus on nonfiction for this tag, but I'll get to this one at some point!

[LibraryCin]

Anita wrote: "
All the Single Ladies: Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation..."

Haven't read it, but it sounds interesting to this unmarried woman! :-)

[LibraryCin]

Now the ones at the top of my tbr include:

The Witches: Salem, 1692 / Stacy Schiff
Arbella: England's Lost Queen / Sarah Gristwood
Abundance / Sarah Jeter Naslund

That last one is about Marie Antoinette. I most want to read "The Witches" for this tag, BUT the other two have been on my tbr a long time. Would love to get to them all! (They are all nonfiction)

[Robin P]

Anita wrote: "Normally I love non-fiction, but with the Booker prize longlist about to be announced, I was hoping for some broad fiction tag that would allow me to dive right into those books.

However, I have f..."

Both of those are excellent! I read and enjoyed them both.

[NancyJ]

Jen wrote: "Apparently I have only read 4 on this tag ever and only liked 2 of them. The Colour Purple (loved) and Burial Rites (liked a lot) so if anyone knows of another one with shades of those then please ..."

I really loved Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. Alice Walker (Color Purple) was a huge fan, and was responsible for getting this book reprinted. Parts of the books are written in a dialect that is hard to read, but it's easy to understand when spoken. Ruby Dee's audio performance is wonderful. In recent years, many of her books have been re-released. I would love to read a book about her life.

I'm having a really hard time with this specific tag too. It's very narrow, with only about 5000 books on the list. We usually have 25,000 - 100000 books on a list. I read many of these books already and I keep clicking on book that turn out to be written for children. There might be many other related tags and listopia lists that might provide more breadth. I'll look for some.

[Charlie]

I am going to read Minor Characters: A Beat Memoir and I recommend First: Sandra Day O'Connor.

[Joy D]

For those who want to read a novella for this prompt, and are not worried about meeting the 150 page-count, I can recommend:
Small Things Like These - it is a piece of women's history from Ireland written in novella form.

[Jen]

Thank you Anita, Joy D, NancyJ and Theresa....I will have a look at those suggestions.

[Lyn]

I have a few on my bookshelf:

The Flight Girls by Noelle Salazar
Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge by Erica Armstrong Dunbar
The Pocket: A Hidden History of Women’s Lives, 1660–1900 by Barbara Burman

I would highly recommend We Band of Angels: The Untold Story of American Nurses Trapped on Bataan by the Japanese. It was a very good book.
Also recommend The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women if you haven't read it.
Both these books are about incredibly brave women.

[[deleted user]]

Glad this one won. I'm also planning on going down the NF route. I have plenty of options, but not many recommendations!

Possibilities
Square Haunting: Five Writers in London Between the Wars
Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart
Cleopatra: A Life
The Dragon Empress: Life and Times of Tz'u-Hsi, Empress Dowager of China, 1835-1908
First Lady of America: A Biography of Pocahontas
The Penguin Book of Witches & lots more!

Recommendations
The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper
The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women

[Joanne]

Another suggestion - If you would rather have something more like short stories, I can highly recommend:

The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line: Untold Stories of the Women Who Changed the Course of World War II

I won this book in a give away and was very glad I had the chance to read it. Each chapter highlights a different woman, a small mini-bio of each.

[Jenni Elyse]

I'm looking at reading The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra. I've always been really fascinated by Anastasia and I want to see what this books says about her.

[NancyJ]

Has anyone heard of The Girl in His Shadow by Audrey Blake. My library is making unlimited ebooks/audios available as part of a community project - or something bigger. I'm not sure what it is, but the book looks really good. As soon as I wind up my memoirs I'm cutting loose.

[Michelle H]

I am reading The Feminine Mystique. I have owned this book for probably 15 years and never got around to reading it. We are camping this week so I should have a lot of time in the hammock with my book!

[Book Concierge]

LOVE the banner this month!

[Michelle H]

Anita wrote: "Normally I love non-fiction, but with the Booker prize longlist about to be announced, I was hoping for some broad fiction tag that would allow me to dive right into those books.

However, I have f..."

Thanks! I have added both of these books to my TBR list.

[Joanne]

The Banner is awesome!

[Joy D]

I am planning to read:
The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine who Outwitted America's Enemies
and maybe:
The Fossil Hunter: Dinosaurs, Evolution, and the Woman Whose Discoveries Changed the World
Edith Cavell

I recommend:
Non-fiction:
The Woman's Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote
West with the Night

Fiction:
Remarkable Creatures
Resistance Women
The Women of the Copper Country

[Robin P]

The books of Marie Benedict all fit this category. I got a deal on the ebook of 3 or 4 of them some time in the last year but haven’t read them yet.

[KateNZ]

I’ve got ‘The Woman Who Smashed Codes’ as well. And Pearl S Buck’s ‘Imperial Woman’ about the last Empress of China.

[Joanne]

I am reading The Dark Queens: The Bloody Rivalry That Forged the Medieval World-It is about, believe it or not, Brunhild....you know that "fat lady" in "It's not over until the Fat Lady sings" (And history shows, she was not fat, so there!)😂