by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jun 12, 2022 | RELAX: Other Relaxation
Elsewhere from Alexis Schaitkin is a melancholy, unsettling book. The setting is an imaginary town, high in the mountains. It’s so near the mountaintop that the clouds settle in there during the evenings. And some mornings, the townspeople wake up to a terrible event....
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jan 19, 2022 | RESIST: Social Justice
Michelle Duster is the great-granddaughter of her subject, Ida B. the Queen: The Extraordinary Life and Legacy of Ida B. Wells. Her family preserves the legacy of this important woman. They deserve sincere kudos for keeping her memory alive because it’s inspiring to...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Aug 21, 2021 | RELAX: Historical Fiction
Kiran Millwood Hargrave crafts a story of community and strength in her historical fiction novel, The Mercies. Set in a remote Norwegian coastal village called Vardø in 1617, the story centers on two women. Maren Bergensdatter is barely out of her teens when a...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jun 16, 2021 | RESIST: Feminism
Elizabeth Packard is the subject of Kate Moore’s new book, The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear. But I’ll venture to guess you’ve never heard of Mrs. Packard. Although her story is...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | May 18, 2021 | LEARN: Everything Else, RESIST: Feminism
Dr. Jen Gunther, MD is my new chief explainer of women’s health. Her upcoming book, The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism is brilliant. It’s an utterly necessary addition to every 35+ woman’s bookshelf. Run, don’t walk, to your nearest...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Nov 26, 2020 | LEARN: Everything Else
Reading My Own Words by Ruth Bader Ginsburg is like dipping my toe into the world of judges and legal briefs. It’s a marginally vast compilation of lectures, briefs, interviews, and other writings from the Supreme Court Justice. They begin early in life—with a school...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Apr 23, 2020 | RESIST: Social Justice
Tressie McMillan Cottom tells it like it is in Thick: and Other Essays. This one sentence from the titular essay encapsulates her perspective for me. “I do not paint ethereal black worlds where white people can slip into our narratives and leave unscathed by judgment...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Apr 13, 2020 | RESIST: Feminism, RESIST: Politics
Look no further than Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg if you’re hungry for inspiration in difficult times. The authors, Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik, pull together stories, photos, drawings, and even text from Supreme Court decisions. The...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Feb 21, 2020 | RELAX: Other Relaxation
In Women Talking by Miriam Toews, a group of women sort life out after experiencing terrible assaults. What makes this unique is that the women are all conservative Mennonites living in the isolated, fictional colony called Molotschna. But this isn’t strictly a work...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Feb 4, 2020 | LEARN: Chronic Illness
Maya Dusenberry compiles and analyzes a boat load of important information in Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick. Now you know her theme—the way women suffer because of misogyny and prejudicial...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jan 3, 2020 | RELAX: Memoir, RESIST: Feminism
Chanel Miller went to a fraternity house party one evening, and woke up in the hospital the following morning. What happened in between is just one reason why she’s written a memoir. During the party, Miller got quite drunk and passed out. Her sister and friend...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Dec 22, 2019 | RELAX: Memoir, RESIST: Feminism
In Flash Count Diary, Darcey Steinke presents her perspective on various aspects of menopause. It’s one woman’s experience, and thus, a memoir. And yet, it’s so much more. There’s science, social commentary, and some thoughts on medical methods. But if you’re looking...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Oct 2, 2019 | RELAX: Other Relaxation
I wanted to love the new Gilead book from Margaret Atwood. I wanted that so much. And it didn’t happen for me. She tells a tale that pales in comparison to both The Handmaid’s Tale book and television series. It’s not gritty, suspenseful, or driven by compelling...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jul 23, 2019 | RELAX: Historical Fiction
I remember just enough of The Kite Runner to know that Khaled Hosseini would break my heart in A Thousand Splendid Suns. And so he did, over and over and over. It’s the story of two women in Afghanistan who each forge a path for themselves, despite and because of the...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jun 2, 2019 | RESIST: Feminism
Kate Manne is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Cornell University. Why am I leading with that in this review? Because knowing that informs everything about her book Down Girl: The Logic Of Misogyny. She’s a brilliant academic thinker and researcher. First and...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Apr 7, 2019 | LEARN: Everything Else
Apparently, I get easily depressed these days. I thought Therese Oneill’s book, Unmentionable, was funny. Until it was just overwhelmingly sad and depressing. Sometimes history can be like that, though. And this book focuses on various parts of women’s lives in the...
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