The Change by Kirsten Miller

Title: The Change

Author: Kirsten Miller

Publisher: William Morrow 2022

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 480

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer TBR

In the Long Island oceanfront community of Mattauk, three different women discover that midlife changes bring a whole new type of empowerment…

After Nessa James’s husband dies and her twin daughters leave for college, she’s left all alone in a trim white house not far from the ocean. In the quiet of her late forties, the former nurse begins to hear voices. It doesn’t take long for Nessa to realize that the voices calling out to her belong to the dead—a gift she’s inherited from her grandmother, which comes with special responsibilities.

On the cusp of 50, suave advertising director Harriett Osborne has just witnessed the implosion of her lucrative career and her marriage. She hasn’t left her house in months, and from the outside, it appears as if she and her garden have both gone to seed. But Harriett’s life is far from over—in fact, she’s undergone a stunning and very welcome metamorphosis.

Ambitious former executive Jo Levison has spent thirty long years at war with her body. The free-floating rage and hot flashes that arrive with the beginning of menopause feel like the very last straw—until she realizes she has the ability to channel them, and finally comes into her power.

Guided by voices only Nessa can hear, the trio of women discover a teenage girl whose body was abandoned beside a remote beach. The police have written the victim off as a drug-addicted sex worker, but the women refuse to buy into the official narrative. Their investigation into the girl’s murder leads to more bodies, and to the town’s most exclusive and isolated enclave, a world of stupendous wealth where the rules don’t apply. With their newfound powers, Jo, Nessa, and Harriett will take matters into their own hands…

This was the feminist rage book that I needed after last weekend’s news. I highlighted so many passages in this book. I feel like I am becoming these women and I’m totally here for it. We meet three every different women, but three women who are growing into their identity and strengths. I was floored by the changes, but cheered every page of it. I loved following these women and even meeting all the other women highlighted in this book. We get a murder mystery, but also a larger conspiracy tied to the ultra-privileged. My only issue was the revel of the villain. It felt a bit cheap and I wish it had been done slightly differently.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Bad Fat Black Girl by Sesali Bowen

Title: Bad Fat Black Girl: Notes from a Trap Feminist

Author: Sesali Bowen

Publisher: Amistad 2021

Genre: Nonfiction - Memoir

Pages: 272

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

Growing up on the south side of Chicago, Sesali Bowen learned early on how to hustle, stay on her toes, and champion other Black women and femmes as she navigated Blackness, queerness, fatness, friendship, poverty, sex work, and self-love. 

Her love of trap music led her to the top of hip-hop journalism, profiling game-changing artists like Megan Thee Stallion, Lizzo, and Janelle Monae. But despite all the beauty, complexity, and general badassery she saw, Bowen found none of that nuance represented in mainstream feminism. Thus, she coined Trap Feminism, a contemporary framework that interrogates where feminism meets today's hip-hop.

Bad Fat Black Girl offers a new, inclusive feminism for the modern world. Weaving together searing personal essay and cultural commentary, Bowen interrogates sexism, fatphobia, and capitalism all within the context of race and hip-hop. In the process, she continues a Black feminist legacy of unmatched sheer determination and creative resilience.

Bad bitches: this one’s for you.

I’m not usually one for memoirs as I find them to be too self-absorbed and also generalizing. I appreciated this volume focusing on intersectional feminism because of Bowen voice and experiences. We get something very different from the white lady feminism common on Women’s Studies bookshelves. I really dove into her experience and the ways that her life has informed her view of feminism. This was such a great “window” book for me. I cannot understand Bowen’s experience, but I could learn from her stories and her critiques. Definitely a must read for any feminist.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Witches are Coming by Lindy West

Title: The Witches are Coming

Author: Lindy West

Publisher: Hachette Books 2019

Genre: Nonfiction

Pages: 272

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Perpetual - Feminism; Ebook

From the moment powerful men started falling to the #MeToo movement, the lamentations began: this is feminism gone too far, this is injustice, this is a witch hunt. In The Witches Are Coming, firebrand author of the New York Times bestselling memoir and now critically acclaimed Hulu TV series Shrill, Lindy West, turns that refrain on its head. You think this is a witch hunt? Fine. You've got one.
In a laugh-out-loud, incisive cultural critique, West extolls the world-changing magic of truth, urging readers to reckon with dark lies in the heart of the American mythos, and unpacking the complicated, and sometimes tragic, politics of not being a white man in the twenty-first century. She tracks the misogyny and propaganda hidden (or not so hidden) in the media she and her peers devoured growing up, a buffet of distortions, delusions, prejudice, and outright bullsh*t that has allowed white male mediocrity to maintain a death grip on American culture and politics-and that delivered us to this precarious, disorienting moment in history.
West writes, "We were just a hair's breadth from electing America's first female president to succeed America's first black president. We weren't done, but we were doing it. And then, true to form-like the Balrog's whip catching Gandalf by his little gray bootie, like the husband in a Lifetime movie hissing, 'If I can't have you, no one can'-white American voters shoved an incompetent, racist con man into the White House."
We cannot understand how we got here-how the land of the free became Trump's America-without examining the chasm between who we are and who we think we are, without fact-checking the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves and each other. The truth can transform us; there is witchcraft in it. Lindy West turns on the light.

Overall a very solid collection of essays. There were many that had me laughing hysterically and there were a few that had me in tears. But most of the essays had me so incredibly mad. And I’m a person who knew most of this us. I still came away with a feeling of wanting to smash the patriarchy (and a few particular men). This collection is definitely prescient in the time of #MeToo and the ongoing revelations of people’s wrongdoings. Unfortunately, we are now in the midst of COVID and Black Lives Matter and these essays fell a bit flat at times. Of course, West could not foresee the future and how our lives would change in 2020, but I still felt that something was missing from this collection. Overall I did really enjoy readying it. I’m just not the biggest fan of essay collections.

Next up on the TBR pile:

How to be a Woman by Caitlin Moran

Title: How to Be a Woman

Author: Caitlin Moran

Publisher: Harper 2012

Genre: Nonfiction - Essays

Pages: 323

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Perpetual - Feminism; Monthly Theme - March

Caitlin Moran puts a new face on feminism, cutting to the heart of women’s issues today with her irreverent, transcendent, and hilarious How to Be a Woman. “Half memoir, half polemic, and entirely necessary,” (Elle UK), Moran’s debut was an instant runaway bestseller in England as well as an Amazon UK Top Ten book of the year; still riding high on bestseller lists months after publication, it is a bona fide cultural phenomenon. Now poised to take American womanhood by storm, here is a book that Vanity Fair calls “the U.K. version of Tina Fey’s Bossypants….You will laugh out loud, wince, and—in my case—feel proud to be the same gender as the author.”

Another collection of personal essays focusing on feminism. I think this collection was executed better than Bad Feminist. This focused more on Moran’s personal experiences and how they have shaped her worldview and her specific take on feminism. I definitely did laugh out loud many times throughout the essays. My favorite was definitely the story about what to name our private parts. But… then we get lots of casual bigotry and racism throughout the essays. And her complete dismissal of women’s history and those that came before us really got my goat. So while I think this was a better themed collection, I found it lacking in many areas.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay

Title: Bad Feminist

Author: Roxane Gay

Publisher: Harper Perennial 2014

Genre: Nonfiction Essays

Pages: 336

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Perpetual; Monthly Theme - March

A collection of essays spanning politics, criticism, and feminism from one of the most-watched young cultural observers of her generation, Roxane Gay.

In these funny and insightful essays, Roxane Gay takes us through the journey of her evolution as a woman (Sweet Valley High) of color (The Help) while also taking readers on a ride through culture of the last few years (Girls, Django in Chains) and commenting on the state of feminism today (abortion, Chris Brown). The portrait that emerges is not only one of an incredibly insightful woman continually growing to understand herself and our society, but also one of our culture.

I loved every essay that Gay focused on her own experiences and thoughts. Learning her personal take on various aspects of life was eye-opening. I love feminist texts that embrace intersectional feminism. Gay excels as laying out the all the different aspects of life and how feminism affects them. I really fell into those essays. Unfortunately, she also included very academic essay focused on pop culture. Those took me right back to college and not in a good way. I was thoroughly bored with those. And of course, they were very dated 6 years later. I would have loved to delete those essays and just keep the personal ones.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Invisible Women by Caroline Criado-Perez

Title: Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men

Author: Caroline Criado Perez

Publisher: Harry N. Abrams 2019

Genre: Nonfiction

Pages: 272

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library

Data is fundamental to the modern world. From economic development, to healthcare, to education and public policy, we rely on numbers to allocate resources and make crucial decisions. But because so much data fails to take into account gender, because it treats men as the default and women as atypical, bias and discrimination are baked into our systems. And women pay tremendous costs for this bias, in time, money, and often with their lives.
Celebrated feminist advocate Caroline Criado Perez investigates the shocking root cause of gender inequality and research in Invisible Women​, diving into women’s lives at home, the workplace, the public square, the doctor’s office, and more. Built on hundreds of studies in the US, the UK, and around the world, and written with energy, wit, and sparkling intelligence, this is a groundbreaking, unforgettable exposé that will change the way you look at the world.

This book was infuriating… In that this book highlighted all the ways that women are disadvantaged, put in danger, ignored, and put in the “other” category. I hated reading this because I my anger just kept rising. But it was a good book to really put statistics and facts behind all those feelings I had about how women are second class citizens. It really highlighted many areas of concern backed up with studies (or lack thereof). I was really interested in the chapter about toilets. Who knew that the lack of toilets could impact women so negatively? I think I did underneath, but this really laid out all the problems. A fascinating read. My only issues came with the lack of ways to move forward. The book got me really angry, but did little to help me channel that anger to something productive.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Title: Herland

Author: Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Published: 1915

Genre: Classics - Feminism

Pages: 128

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Perpetual (Feminism); Reading Assignment; Popsugar - About Feminism

Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935) was an American sociologist, writer, and a lecturer for social reform. She was a utopian feminist. Her best remembered work today is her short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper".
"Herland" (1915) describes an isolated society comprised entirely of women who reproduce via parthenogenesis. The result is an ideal social order, free of war, conflict and domination. 

I've read and loved Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper", but somehow I never picked this one up. Thankful that I did as it's an interesting bit of feminist history. I immediately fell for the account of this utopian society populated only by women. Gilman allows the reader to feel the wonder and confusion along with her three main male characters. Her thoughts of motherhood and societal worth are interesting if a bit outdated. But reminding myself that she wrote this in 1915 gives me the correct lenses to read it through. I don't expected 21st feminist critique from her, but am fascinated by her early 20th century approach. 

Next up on the TBR pile:

Dead Feminists by Chandler O'Leary and Jessica Spring

Title: Dead Feminists: Historic Heroines in Living Color

Author: Chandler O'Leary and Jessica Spring

Publisher: Sasquatch Books 2016

Genre: Nonfiction - Women's History

Pages: 192

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Perpetual (NonAd; Feminism);  Popsugar - About an Interesting Woman(en)

Based on the beloved letterpress poster series of the same name, Dead Feminists interweaves intricate broadside art with archival photographs and ephemera. This book brings feminist history to life, profiling 27 unforgettable forebears of the modern women’s movement such as Eleanor Roosevelt, Gwendolyn Brooks, Rachel Carson, and more. Across eras and industries, passions and geographies, this collection of diverse, progressive, and perseverant women faced what looked like insurmountable odds and yet, still, they persisted.

Random grab at the library, although someone on some blog had mentioned it. I did not read the description before diving in. I assumed it was just a book of short biographies of extraordinary women (which I would have loved to read). Instead, we get short bigraphies and artisitc broadsides created specifically for each woman. I loved the biographies of these amazing ladies, but the real interest was in the art that was created. I loved how the authors included some explanations as to their choices for each broadside. They incorporated so many aspects of life from each woman. Fascinating work! I would love to own a few of these broadsides for my walls.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Bust Guide to the New Girl Order

Title: The Bust Guide to the New Girl Order

Edited By: Marcelle Karp and Debbie Stoller

Publisher: Penguin Books 1999

Genre: Nonfiction

Pages: 376

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Perpetual - Feminism; Mount TBR

Both a literary magazine and a chronicle of girl culture, Bust was born in 1993. With contributors who are funny, fierce, and too smart to be anything but feminist, Bust is the original grrrl zine, with a base of loyal female fans--all those women who know that Glamour is garbage, Vogue is vapid, and Cosmo is clueless.The Bust Guide to the New Girl Order contains brand new, funny, sharp, trenchant essays along with some of the best writings from the magazine: Courtney Love's (unsolicited) piece on Bad Girls; the already immortal "Dont's For Boys"; an interview with girl-hero Judy Blume; and lots of other shocking, titillating, truthful articles. A kind of Our Bodies, Ourselves for Generation XX, The Bust Guide to the New Girl Order is destined to become required reading for today's hip urban girl and her admirers.

A reread from way back when I bought this at the end of high school. And I'm disappointed. Most of the essays in here are way too dated to enjoy 18 years late. The whole "grrrl zine" thing is super grating to my 35 year old ears. I just can't get over the Spice Girls-ness of the whole collection. There may be some good essays in there, but overall I just couldn't get over the book screaming at my "It's 1999!"

Everyday Sexism by Laura Bates

Title: Everyday Sexism

Author: Laura Bates

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books 2016

Genre: Nonfiction

Pages: 406

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Perpetual - Feminism; I Love Libraries

The Everyday Sexism Project was founded by writer and activist Laura Bates in April 2012. It began life as a website where people could share their experiences of daily, normalized sexism, from street harassment to workplace discrimination to sexual assault and rape.

While this book is extremely depressing, it is also very informative and should be required reading. I could only read a few pages at a time because their were so powerful. I needed extra time to digest the information and experiences. Thank you Laura Bates for giving people a place to share their stories and receive some sense of support.

Bossypants by Tina Fey

Title: Bossypants

Author: Tina Fey

Publisher:Little, Brown and Company 2011

Genre: Memoir

Pages: 277

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Popsugar - Written by a comedian; 52 Books - W52; Perpetual (Feminism #33)

Before Liz Lemon, before "Weekend Update," before "Sarah Palin," Tina Fey was just a young girl with a dream: a recurring stress dream that she was being chased through a local airport by her middle-school gym teacher. She also had a dream that one day she would be a comedian on TV.

She has seen both these dreams come true.

At last, Tina Fey's story can be told. From her youthful days as a vicious nerd to her tour of duty on Saturday Night Live; from her passionately halfhearted pursuit of physical beauty to her life as a mother eating things off the floor; from her one-sided college romance to her nearly fatal honeymoon -- from the beginning of this paragraph to this final sentence.

Tina Fey reveals all, and proves what we've all suspected: you're no one until someone calls you bossy.

A very enjoyable read for this Christmas holiday. I've been wanting to pick this one up for awhile and finally got it from the library. The first half the book focusing on her younger life was interesting,but I feel like the book really picked up once she started sharing stories and lessons from her professional life. The insights into the improv world, writing, and producing shined. I think I preferred Amy Poehler's book, but that may be because her humor is more like mine. I still loved Fey's lessons. I ended up reading this in three days. High praise as my reading time currently is limited.

Failure is Impossible by Lynn Sherr

Title: Failure is Impossible: Susan B Anthony in her Own Words

Author: Lynn Sherr

Publisher: Times Books 1995

Genre: Nonfiction -- History; Biography

Pages: 384

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Perpetual (NonAd; Feminism); Nonfiction; 52 Books - W16

Juxtaposed with contemporary reports and biographical essays, the words of this legendary suffragist reveal Susan B. Anthony as a loyal, caring friend, and an eloquent, humorous crusader. "More than a collection of well-arranged quotations, the work informs, inspires, and gives historical perspective."

Full disclosure: I am a huge history nerd. I also have a B.A. in Women's Studies and Susan B. Anthony has always been one of my favorite historical figures. That being said, I really wanted to love this book. I was fascinated by the idea of using mostly primary sources to get an insight in Anthony's life. Unfortunately, the volume fell flat. I couldn't get beyond the unusual format both in terms of the primary sources being the focus and the chapters divided by topic rather than time period. I just couldn't really get into this one at all. Definitely not the book for me...

We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Title: We Should All be feminists

Author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Publisher: Anchor Books 2015

Genre: Nonfiction

Pages: 52

Rating:  5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Nonfiction Adventure; Feminism; 52 Books - W40

What does “feminism” mean today? That is the question at the heart of We Should All Be Feminists, a personal, eloquently-argued essay—adapted from her much-viewed Tedx talk of the same name—by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the award-winning author of Americanah and Half of a Yellow Sun.

This reads very much like the TED talk is is based on, but I still really enjoyed reading her message about feminism. Her argument is strong but clear. Her examples are personal enough to give her some emotional connection to the audience while illustrated her points. At 50 pages, this short essay packs a lot of ideas and discussion points. Now I need to go read one of her novels...

The F Word by Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner

Title: The F Word: Feminism in Jeopardy

Author: Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner

Publisher: Seal Press 2004

Genre: Nonfiction

Pages: 332

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Nonfiction Adventure (perpetual); Feminism; Mount TBR; 52 Books - W30

Many young women today consider "feminism" a dirty word, an antiquated term that hasn’t expanded to accommodate the diverse needs of a new generation. In addition, decades of negative campaigns, excessively "messaged" issues, and hanging chads have all combined to make political apathy appear not only smart, but sexy. The result is that while they still bemoan the state of gender politics, gender equity, and the agendas of their local, state, and national politicians, nearly 19 million young women chose not to vote in the last presidential election. Yes, the face of feminism is changing, but to what end? Is a new generation taking for granted the rights hard-won only a generation before? And by focusing on cultural–not electoral–politics, are young women giving their power away? In this pivotal book, Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, political and environmental consultant (and wife of Washington State’s Republican senate majority leader), asks these critical questions, tracing feminism’s distinguished past and asking what can be done to protect and further women’s rights and freedoms.

My main reason for giving the book 3 stars was because it felt very dated to me. To be fair, it was published in 2004, so a lot of her examples are dated. I felt that for someone who reads a lot of current events, social politics articles and books, the information was a repeat of what I already knew.  I would recommend this book for someone who is interested in learning more about third wave feminism and an overview of the sociopolitical situation. Just not going to be the best book for someone like myself.

Witchcraze by Anne Llewellyn Barstow

Title: Witchcraze

Author: Anne Llewellyn Barstow

Publisher: Harper Collins 1994

Genre: Nonfiction - History

Pages: 255

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Nonfiction Adventure; Feminism; TBR Reduction

Over three centuries, approximately one hundred thousand persons, most of whom were women, were put to death under the guise of "witch hunts", particularly in Reformation Europe. The shocking annihilation of women from all walks of life is explored in this brilliant, authoritative feminist history Anne Llwellyn Barstow. Barstow exposes an unrecognized holocaust -- the "ethnic cleansing" of independent women in Reformation Europe -- and examines the residual attitudes that continue to influence our culture.

Barstow argues that it is only with eyes sensitive to gender issues that we can discern what really happened in the persecution and murder of these women. Her sweeping chronicle examines the scapegoating of women from the ills of society, investigates how their subjugation to sexual violence and death sent a message of control to all women, and compares this persecution of women with the enslavement and slaughter of African slaves and Native Americans.

Ultimately Barstow traces the current backlash against women to its gynophobic torture-filled origins. In the process, she leaves an indelible mark on our growing understanding of the legacy of violence against women around the world.

An interesting read but was definitely more of a historical paper than an accessible piece of nonfiction. I would not recommend to most of my friends; it's just too dry. But I found it a very good in-depth look into the European witch hunts, causes and effects. I liked how Barstow interspersed her analysis with accounts of real stories. By taking a holistic approach to "why," I found Barstow's conclusions to be satisfying. It wasn't just that they were women or old or poor, but a combination of societal, economic, and historical factors that played into the hysteria.

Yes, Please by Amy Poehler

Title: Yes, Please

Author: Amy Poehler

Publisher: Dey Street Books 2014

Genre: Nonfiction, Memoir

Pages: 352

Rating:  5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Nonfiction Adventure; Feminism; TBR Reduction; Ebook; 52 Books - W13

Do you want to get to know the woman we first came to love on Comedy Central's Upright Citizens Brigade? Do you want to spend some time with the lady who made you howl with laughter on Saturday Night Live, and in movies like Baby Mama, Blades of Glory, and They Came Together? Do you find yourself daydreaming about hanging out with the actor behind the brilliant Leslie Knope on Parks and Recreation? Did you wish you were in the audience at the last two Golden Globes ceremonies, so you could bask in the hilarity of Amy's one-liners?

If your answer to these questions is "Yes Please!" then you are in luck. In her first book, one of our most beloved funny folk delivers a smart, pointed, and ultimately inspirational read. Full of the comedic skill that makes us all love Amy, Yes Please is a rich and varied collection of stories, lists, poetry (Plastic Surgery Haiku, to be specific), photographs, mantras and advice. With chapters like "Treat Your Career Like a Bad Boyfriend," "Plain Girl Versus the Demon" and "The Robots Will Kill Us All" Yes Please will make you think as much as it will make you laugh. Honest, personal, real, and righteous, Yes Please is full of words to live by.

Oh yes! This was a great memoir to read. I loved watching Amy Poehler on SNL and Parks and Rec. I had to eventually read this novel. Actually this is our book club selection for April. I can't wait to discuss in a few weeks. But first, my thoughts:

This is not a typically structured memoir. We don't get a chronological account of her life and accomplishments. Instead we get a series of vignettes from her life and some essays of life lessons. I liked the mix of life stories and advice. I wouldn't say to shelf this in the self-help section, but Poehler definitely has some great life advice. Plus it's just funny. I love her sense of humor and loved reading her funny stories and observations. I also appreciate that she didn't get too nitty-gritty dirty details from her life. I don't really need to read all about her divorce about Will Arnett. I respect Poehler's decision to keep that chapter of her life private. Overall the book felt real to me. I now feel like I have a better understanding of Amy Poehler the woman. I don't think this is the book for just anyone. But for those readers already fans of Poehler, this book made me love her more.