Great books for the library at my castle in the clouds

1. All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten ~ by Robert Fulghum, 1986, nonfiction, 196 pages
2. The Alphabet Versus the Goddess: The Conflict Between Word and Image ~ by Leonard Shlain, 1998, language and culture, 464 pages
3. The Art of Racing in the Rain ~ by Garth Stein, 2008, fiction, 321 pages
4. The Color Purple ~ by Alice Walker, 1982, epistolary fiction, 300 pages
5. The Dance of the Dissident Daughter ~ by Sue Monk Kidd, 1992, nonfiction, 304 pages
6. Go Out in Joy! ~ by Nina Herrmann Donnelley, 1990, nonfiction, 221 pages
7. Jonathan Livingston Seagull ~ by Richard Bach, photos by Russell Munson, 1970, fiction, 127 pages
8. Little Women ~ by Louisa May Alcott, 1868 and 1869 (in two volumes), fiction, 759 pages
9. The Metamorphosis ~ by Franz Kafka, 1915, novella, 63 pages
10. My Name is Asher Lev ~ by Chaim Potok, 1972, fiction, 369 pages
11. My Sister's Keeper ~ by Jodi Picoult, 2004, fiction, 448 pages
12. Time and Again ~ by Jack Finney, 1970, fiction, 507 pages

Beginning ~ with her name

"I am Ana.  I was the wife of Jesus ben Joseph of Nazareth.  I called him Beloved and he, laughing, called me Little Thunder."

The Book of Longings ~ by Sue Monk Kidd, 2020, fiction (Israel, Egypt)

Sue Monk Kidd takes an audacious approach to history and imagines the story of a young woman named Ana.  Raised in a wealthy family with ties to the ruler of Galilee, she is rebellious and ambitious, with a brilliant mind and a daring spirit.  She engages in furtive scholarly pursuits and writes narratives about neglected and silenced women.  Ana is expected to marry an older widower, a prospect that horrifies her.  An encounter with eighteen-year-old Jesus changes everything.

Their marriage evolves with love and conflict, humor and pathos in Nazareth, where Ana makes a home with Jesus, his brothers, and their mother, Mary.  Ana's pent-up longings intensify amid the very turbulent resistance to the Roman occupation of Israel, partially led by her brother, Judas.  She is sustained by her fearless aunt Yaltha, who harbors a compelling secret.  When Ana commits a brazen act that puts her in peril, she flees to Alexandria, where startling revelations and greater dangers unfold, and she finds refuge in unexpected surroundings.  This inspiring account shows one woman's struggle to realize her passion and potential, while living in a time, place, and culture devised to silence her.

Three of Sue Monk Kidd's books are among my ten/ten books that I couldn't put down ~ The Secret Life of Bees and The Dance of the Dissident Daughter and The Invention of Wings.  One became a group book discussion on Book Buddies ~ Traveling with Pomegranates: A Mother-Daughter Story.

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Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts
Book Beginnings on Fridays.
Click this link for book beginnings
shared by other readers.
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Thursday Thoughts ~ tagging some books

This "Rapid Fire Book Tag" meme was created by Kate at Girl Reading.  While I wasn’t tagged directly, Helen at Helen's Book Blog and Deb of Readerbuzz extended open invitations.

This meme is supposed to be quick bookish questions with quick bookish answers.  Fair warning:  I couldn't watch all of Kate's YouTube presentation as her constant hand waving was too distracting.  Following her YouTube video were several other young people doing "Rapid Fire Book Tag" videos, and I could not watch all of theirs, either.  I should have rearranged some of the questions because the order seemed way too random and illogical to me.  I also added reasons why I made some choices, so my answers aren't exactly quick or rapid.  On the other hand, the videos weren't rapid, either; Kate's original was 4.5 minutes, longer than it takes to read my answers below.  Other video answers ran even longer:  6 minutes, 11 minutes, 7.5 minutes, etc.  Okay, let's try it.

1.   E-book or physical book?

I prefer the physical book, unless I'm traveling.  Traveling is easier with my Kindle because I can take several books with me.

2.  Paperback or hardback?

Sometimes one, sometimes the other, according to how I'm using it.  I don't like holding heavy books when I read in bed.

3.  Online or in-store book shopping?

Online, because I can do it from home and I no longer have a car.

4.  Trilogies or series?

Neither.  I prefer stand-alone novels.  The original questions were composed by someone who apparently reads only fiction.  I read a lot of nonfiction:  memoirs, history, philosophy, theology, science.

5.  Heroes or villains?

Memoirs and nonfiction rarely have either of these.  I read for the ideas in book, not looking for heroes or villains.

6.  A book you want everyone to read?

My friends read different kinds of books, so I recommend favorites in various genres:

Social Science

• Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande, 2014

Fiction

• Evensong by Gail Godwin, 1999

Memoir

• Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio by Peg Kehret, 1996

Speculative Fiction (SF)

• Time and Again by Jack Finney, 1970

Theology

• The Heart of Christianity: Rediscovering a Life of Faith by Marcus J. Borg, 2003

Children's Book

• Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney, 1982

YA Fiction

• A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle, 1962

Fiction (women's studies)

• Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, 1915

Memoir

• The Dance of the Dissident Daughter: A Woman's Journey from Christian Tradition to the Sacred Feminine by Sue Monk Kidd, 1996

7.  Recommend an underrated book?

I have no idea what is "underrated."  I recommend books I consider worth reading.

8.  The last book you finished?

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, 1868-1869  (in two parts:  Little Women in 1868 and Good Wives in 1869)

9.  The last book you bought?

Chair Yoga: Sit, Stretch, and Strengthen Your Way to a Happier, Healthier You by Kristin McGee, 2017.  I bought this exercise book for my Kindle.  I've been reading library books and books from my own shelves for the Mount TBR Reading Challenge.

10.  Weirdest thing you’ve used as a bookmark?

My Kindle, maybe?

11.  Used books:  Yes or No?

Sure, I was once co-owner of a bookstore selling used books.

12.  Top three favorite genres?

Literary fiction, memoirs, philosophical nonfiction

13.  Borrow or buy?

Buy, when I can.  Usually, I buy my nonfiction, but borrow fiction because I rarely re-read those.  Why waste money?  If I own a book, I can mark it up.  Or not.

14.  Characters or plot?

A novel needs both, but I especially look for interesting characters.

15.  Long or short books?

I prefer shorter novels that get into the story and keep moving.

16.  Long or short chapters?

Shorter ones, generally, though I am really tired of novels that follow different characters in alternate chapters.  That or alternating the main character in the present in one chapter and in an earlier time in the next chapter.  It's like trying to juggle two different novels at the same time.

17.  Name the first three books you think of:

Being Mortal by Atul Gawande .................... see all of
Time and Again by Jack Finney .................... these in my
The Heart of Christianity by Marcus Borg......... list above

18.  Books that make you laugh or cry?

Excellent books may do both.  Why should I choose?

19.  Our world or fictional worlds?

See?  The originator of this meme is thinking only of fiction.  Is it other-worldly to enjoy Jack Finney's Time and Again and travel into the past?  Or is that still "our world"?

20.  Audiobooks:  Yes or No?

No, I'm a visual person, and it's too much work to listen to an audiobook.

21.  Do you ever judge a book by its cover?

Sure, to warn me which books are too flighty to waste my time with.

22.  Book to movie or book to TV adaptations?

Not interested.

23.  A movie or TV-show you preferred to its book?

Not interested.

24.  Series or stand-alones?

Stand-alones.

I’m tagging anyone and everyone.  If you want to do this, consider yourself tagged.

Thursday Thirteen ~ food and other stuff

1.  Donna (sitting at the right) and some of my other friends attended the "Bagels and Schmears" workshop on June 6th.

2.  Crown Center regularly has workshops in our culinary kitchen, which shares space with our library.

3.  Here's a look at some of the finished bagels the attendees got to sample.

4.  Speaking of food ... Celery May Help Bring Your High Blood Pressure Down.  This article also mentions the DASH diet.

5.  Donna says this is the best article she's read in years:  I Don't Know How to Explain to You That You Should Care About Other People.  I agree with Donna.  Here's a taste of the article:

"Personally, I’m happy to pay an extra 4.3 percent for my fast food burger if it means the person making it for me can afford to feed their own family.  If you aren’t willing to fork over an extra 17 cents for a Big Mac, you’re a fundamentally different person than I am.

"I’m perfectly content to pay taxes that go toward public schools, even though I’m childless and intend to stay that way, because all children deserve a quality, free education.  If this seems unfair or unreasonable to you, we are never going to see eye to eye."

6.  When I first started blogging in 2007, I joined the Something About Me Reading Challenge.

7.  Each of us chose five books that say "something about me."  Then we read and reviewed books chosen by the other bloggers.

8.  Here are the five books I chose to tell something about me:

* Evensong ~ by Gail Godwin, 1999, fiction
* On Tap ~ by J. Frances Alexander, fiction
* Booked to Die ~ by John Dunning, 1992, mystery
* Go Out in Joy! ~ by Nina Hermann Donnelley, 1977, memoir
* The Dance of the Dissident Daughter ~ by Sue Monk Kidd, 1996, memoir

9.  I listed these five books on this blog, too, when I posted that I'd joined my first ever reading challenge:  Something about me.

10.  I discovered a list of 50 Underrated American Towns, which I looked through because the first photo showed a bridge that reminds me of the Walnut Street Bridge in Chattanooga, my hometown.  Click the link, and see that this is a bridge in New Jersey over the Delaware River.  I love the flowers.

11.  It's been over ten years since I met John Dominic Crossan, and I heard him speak again the following year.  I recommend his books on theology, if you are interested.

12.  Take a look at The Enoch Factor: The Sacred Art of Knowing God by Steve McSwain, 2010.  This quote is from page 30:

I am sometimes asked, "If there are many ways to God, how do you understand Jesus' instruction to 'Go and make disciples' (Matt 28:19-20)?"  When Jesus said, "Go and train everyone . . . in this way of life" (Matt 28:19), he meant, as it is correctly paraphrased here in The Message, that we are to teach people his way of life, his way of thinking and living.  Jesus did not say, as most Christians have mistakenly thought, "Go and train everyone to believe in me," or worse, "Go and train others to believe as you believe."  Jesus said to spread around his "way of life."  The world around you will never change until the world within you does.  That's the message Christians know as the good news.

13.  Seems like there was something else I wanted to add.  Hmm, I lost my train of thought.  I think it has something to do with old age.

The only rule for Thursday Thirteen is to write about 13 things.  The New Thursday 13 is hosted by Country Dew and Colleen.  If you want to read lists by other people or play along yourself, here's the linky for this week.

Sunday Salon ~ what's up?

READING

FINISHED

The Invention of Wings ~ by Sue Monk Kidd, 2014, fiction (South Carolina), 10/10

I told you about this one when I got it from the library, so click the title to read about it.  The story was inspired by the historical figure of Sarah Grimke, an abolitionist.  This isn't a review, but I rate the book 10 of 10, my highest rating.  Some of the women from my church met Saturday morning to start a book club, and I praised not only this book, but the author.  I also especially like her The Dance of the Dissident Daughter (nonfiction) and The Secret Life of Bees, her highly acclaimed novel (which I also rated 10 of 10).

CURRENTLY READING

The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic ~ by John Shelby Spong, 2013, religion

I'm studying this one with a clergywomen's group on Facebook, and I'm already way behind in my reading.  I should focus on one thing or the other, but I'm studying with too many groups of people!  Like the next book.

CURRENTLY STUDYING

Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life ~ by Karen Armstrong, 2010

The goal of this study is not to "learn about" compassion, but to PRACTICE compassion.  Karen Armstrong shares concrete methods to help us cultivate and expand our capacity for compassion and provides a reading list to encourage us to “hear one another’s narratives.”  She teaches us that becoming a compassionate human being is a lifelong project and a journey filled with rewards.

CURRENTLY FINISHING

Living Buddha, Living Christ ~ by Thích Nhất Hạnh, introduction by Elaine Pagels, 1995, religion

I never finished it when I started in 2012, and now it fits in with my Monday Mindfulness posts on this blog and with my study of compassion with Book Buddies during all of 2014 (as I mentioned above).  I'll probably quote from this book a time or two, possibly even tomorrow.

CHALLENGES

I'm "working on" a couple of challenges, sort of.  The main reason I even signed up was curiosity about letters and numbers.  Neither of them will make me read more books, and I only occasionally think to update my lists.

The 2014 Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge is to read one book with a title starting with each letter of the alphabet.  I imagine some letters may be harder to find than others, but I've already got 8 of the 26 letters.

I've been doing A Century of Books since the beginning of 2012.  Since there didn't seem to be any ending date, I'll keep adding to my list until I've read a book for every year.  Obviously, I'm reading more from this century than the last, so I decided to have two lists and include two centuries:

20th century (1900-1999) ~ I've read 18/100
21st century (2000-2014) ~ I've read 14/15

NEW BOOK CLUB

I mentioned above that I am helping to start a book club with other women of my church.  The only problem is that I'm planning to move.  I met with them yesterday anyway, discussed books the group might read, and shared ideas about what to name the group.  Two possibilities that came up were Bookworms and Mind Benders.  Do you like either of those?  What does your discussion group call itself?

From The Sunday Salon's original website:

"Every Sunday the bloggers participating in that week's Salon get together — at their separate desks, in their own particular time zones — and read. And blog about their reading. And comment on one another's blogs."

Beginning ~ in a Greek museum

Traveling with Pomegranates: A Mother-Daughter Story ~ by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor, 2009, memoir (Greece, Turkey, South Carolina, France)

"Sitting on a bench in the National Archaeological Museum in Greece, I watch my twenty-two-year-old daughter, Ann, angle her camera before a marble bas-relief of Demeter and Persephone unaware of the small ballet she's performing -- her slow, precise steps forward, the tilt of her head, the way she dips to one knee as she turns her torso, leaning into the sharp afternoon light.  The scene reminds me of something, a memory mayvbe, but I can't recall what.  I only know she looks beautiful and impossibly grown, and for reasons not clear to me I'm possessed by an acute feeling of loss."

In a comment on another blog, someone said, "I just read Sue Monk Kidd’s The Dance of the Dissident Daughter."  I thoroughly enjoyed reading that book, which has this subtitle:  A Woman’s Journey from Christian Tradition to the Sacred Feminine.  When I mentioned I'm about to read Traveling with Pomegranates, she said it's on her TBR list as well.  I was very impressed with The Secret Lfes of Bees.

Some of us have talked about starting an online book club to discuss Traveling with Pomegranates.  Are you interested?  If so, go here to sign up.  Here's a synopsis:

In this intimate dual memoir, the #1 New York Times bestselling novelist and her daughter, Ann, offer distinct perspectives as a fifty-something and a twenty-something, each on a quest to redefine herself and to rediscover each other.  Between 1998 and 2000, Sue and Ann travel throughout Greece and France.  Sue, coming to grips with aging, caught in a creative vacuum, longing to reconnect with her grown daughter, struggles to enlarge a vision of swarming bees into a novel.  Ann, just graduated from college, heartbroken and benumbed by the classic question about what to do with her life, grapples with a painful depression.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays.
Click here for today's Mister Linky.

I write like ...

I write like
Neil Gaiman

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

When I read about this site on Helen's Book Blog this morning, I thought I'd go ahead and let it analyze my writing.  I had, after all, seen it posted on several blogs.  Not expecting much and totally prepared to be disappointed, I chose my review of Garden Spells because it feels especially like the way I write.  Leaving out the two quotes from the book, I pasted it into the box that analyzes writing.  Wow, it says I write like Neil Gaiman!

Having analyzed the apple tree post, I tried a more recent one -- about a book I didn't like.  Now I write like Stephen King!  Okay, how about this post about Dance of the Dissident Daughter, one of my favorite books?  Now I write like Dan Brown.  Another review, another disliked book (leaving out the quote), and the analyzer tells me again that I write like Stephen King.  (I tried it again, leaving the quote in place, and I'm still a Stephen King write-alike.)  Using a long paragraph I wrote four years ago, I discovered I write like James Joyce.  However, using all of that same review, I'm told I write like Edgar Allan Poe.

My own analysis indicates:

• If I have fun writing a review, I write like Neil Gaiman,
• If I don't like a book, my reviews sound like Stephen King.
• Otherwise, I write like Dan Brown, James Joyce, or Edgar Allan Poe, maybe all rolled into one.

For my last experiment, I decided to plug in quotes from these writers and see if they sound like themselves.  I used admittedly rather short selections, which you can see at the bottom of this post:

1. Neil Gaiman writes like Rudyard Kipling (or Dan Brown or Cory Doctorow, when I plug in different quotes)
2. Stephen King writes like Margaret Atwood
3. Dan Brown writes like Dan Brown (this must be significant)
4. James Joyce writes like Arthur Conan Doyle
5. Edgar Allan Poe writes like H. P. Lovecraft (using only the last verse, Poe writes like Charles Dickens)

Very interesting, especially that last one.  I plugged in Poe's whole poem about "The Raven," which is arguably one of the most famous things he ever wrote.  And Poe comes out sounding like H. P. Lovecraft?  Aw, come on!  In *MY* final analysis, I think that I, along with these particular famous writers, all use English words; therefore, we write like each other!

Just for curiosity's sake, try it yourself:  I Write Like.
__________

QUOTES used above

1.  Neil Gaiman, Anansi Boys (quoted in my review):  "It begins, as most things begin, with a song. In the beginning, after all, were the words, and they came with a tune. That was how the world was made, how the void was divided, how the lands and the stars and the dreams and the little gods and the animals, how all of them came into the world. They were sung."

2.  Stephen King, Different Seasons:  "I have to remind myself that some birds aren't meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright. And when they fly away, the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up DOES rejoice. Still, the place you live in is that much more drab and empty that they're gone. I guess I just miss my friend."

3.  Dan Brown, Angels and Demons:  "Whether or not you believe in God, you must believe this: when we as a species abandon our trust in a power greater than us, we abandon our sense of accountability. Faiths … all faiths … are admonitions that there is something we cannot understand, something to which we are accountable. With faith we are accountable to each other, to ourselves, and to a higher truth. Religion is flawed, but only because man is flawed. The church consists of a brotherhood of imperfect, simple souls wanting only to be a voice of compassion in a world spinning out of control."

4.  James Joyce:  “I've put in so many enigmas and puzzles that it will keep the professors busy for centuries arguing over what I meant, and that's the only way of insuring one's immortality.”

5.  Edgar Allan Poe, "The Raven":

"Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door —
Only this, and nothing more."

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; — vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow — sorrow for the lost Lenore —
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore —
Nameless here for evermore.

And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me — filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating,
Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door —
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; —
This it is, and nothing more."

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
Sir," said I, "or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you"— here I opened wide the door; —
Darkness there, and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, "Lenore?"
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, "Lenore!" —
Merely this, and nothing more.

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
Surely," said I, "surely that is something at my window lattice:
Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore —
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore; —
'Tis the wind and nothing more."

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore;
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door —
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door —
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore.
Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven,
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the Nightly shore —
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

Much I marveled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning— little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blest with seeing bird above his chamber door —
Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as "Nevermore."

Neighborhood book club

We have a listserv for the folks in my neighborhood, and one woman has sent out a call for anyone interested in starting a book club in the 'hood, as she put it.  I've never thought of myself as living in a 'hood, but I do live in books.  So I wrote back expressing my interest, asking what she likes to read, and naming some of the books I have enjoyed.  I had in mind the kinds of books that would, in my opinion, probably be good for discussing in a group.  Have you read -- and maybe discussed -- any of these?  Which books would you suggest for a new book club?  I've led many, many discussions, but I'm also open to new ideas.  Here's the list I sent to the woman in my neighborhood (F = fiction, NF = nonfiction, and links are to the books I have reviewed or written about):

Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible (F) and Prodigal Summer (F);

Gail Godwin's The Good Husband (F) and Evensong (F);

Masha Hamilton's The Camel Bookmobile (F);

Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper (F);

Tracy Chevalier's Remarkable Creatures (F) and Girl with a Pearl Earring (F);

Jennifer Donnelly's The Tea Rose (F);

Elizabeth Berg's The Pull of the Moon (F) and Talk Before Sleep (F);

Anne Tyler's Ladder of Years (F) and Digging to America (F);

Gail Tsukiyama's The Samurai's Garden (F);

Sarah Addison Allen's Garden Spells (F);

Geraldine Brooks's People of the Book (F), Year of Wonders (F), and Nine Parts of Desire (NF);

Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake (F);

Valerie Martin's Property (F);

Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees (F) and The Dance of the Dissident Daughter (NF);

Lisa See's Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (F);

Dee Dee Myers's Why Women Should Rule the World (NF);

Kris Radish's Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral (F);

Gail Collins's When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present (NF).

Teaser ~ The Dance of the Dissident Daughter

In The Dance of the Dissident Daughter: A Woman's Journey from Christian Tradition to the Sacred Feminine (1996), Sue Monk Kidd says her awakening began on the day she overheard two men talking about her daughter Ann, down on her knees stocking a drugstore shelf. One man said, "Now that's how I like to see a woman -- on her knees." The men laughed, Ann looked stricken, and Kidd herself was enraged, telling them, "You may like to see her and other women on their knees, but we don't belong there. We don't belong there!" That episode began a period of intense searching that, in my opinion, deepened her writing. Look at the beautiful way she uses words:

"There had been a moment, many moments really, when truth seized me and I 'conceived' myself as woman. Or maybe I reconceived myself. At any rate, it had been extraordinary and surprising to find myself -- a conventionally religious woman in my late thirties -- suddenly struck pregnant with a new consciousness, with an unfolding new awareness of what it means to be a woman and what it means to be spiritual as a woman" (p. 7).

Don't you love that phrase "struck pregnant"? I do.

Women's Studies

When I decided to do the Women Unbound reading challenge, I needed to pick books related to feminism.  I started making a list and checking it twice -- well, probably checking it a half dozen times before I wrote about my eight choices (though I reserve the right to change my mind -- again).  This is my longer list, if anyone needs good ideas for books that fall under the "women's studies" label.

FICTION

• Diary of a Mad Housewife ~ by Sue Kaufman, 1967
  
• The Triumph of Deborah ~ by Eva Etzioni-Halevy, 2008
• Eleanor vs. Ike ~ by Robin Gerber, 2008
• Evensong ~ by Gail Godwin, 1999
• The Camel Bookmobile ~ by Masha Hamilton, 2007
• Staircase of a Thousand Steps ~ by Masha Hamilton, 2007
• The Secret School ~ by Avi, 2001
  
• One Thousand White Women ~ by Jim Fergus, 1998
• The Red Tent ~ by Anita Diamant, 1997
  
• Beachcombing for a Shipwrecked God ~ by Joe Coomer, 1995
• Herland ~ by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, 1915
• The Secret Life of Bees ~ by Sue Monk Kidd, 2002
  
• The Pull of the Moon ~ by Elizabeth Berg, 1996
• Prodigal Summer ~ by Barbara Kingsolver, 2000
• Possessing the Secret of Joy ~ by Alice Walker, 1992
• Mrs. Dalloway ~ by Virginia Woolf, 1925
• The Hours ~ by Michael Cunningham, 1998
• The Left Hand of Darkness ~ by Ursula K. Le Guin, 1969
• Rashi's Daughters: Joheved ~ by Maggie Anton, 2005
• Their Eyes Were Watching God ~ by Zora Neale Hurston, 1937
• The Awakening ~ by Kate Chopin, 1899
• The Women's Room ~ by Marilyn French, 1977
• Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen ~ by Susan Gregg Gilmore, 2008
  
• Some Days There's Pie ~ by Catherine Landis, 2002
• The Penelopiad ~ by Margaret Atwood, 2005
• Ahab's Wife ~  by Sena Jeter Naslund, 1999
  
• A Thousand Acres ~ by Jane Smiley, 1991

NONFICTION

• Cherokee Women ~ by Theda Perdue, 1998
• Why Women Should Rule the World ~ by Dee Dee Myers, 2008
  
• Mrs. Man ~ by Una Stannard, 1977
• The Feminine Mystique ~ by Betty Friedan, 1963
• Women's Ways of Knowing ~ by Mary Field Belenky, et al, 1986
• In a Different Voice ~ by Carol Gilligan, 1982, 1993
• Dance of the Dissident Daughter ~ by Sue Monk Kidd, 1996
• GirlDrive: Criss-Crossing America, Redefining Feminism ~ Nona Willis Aronowitz and Emma Bee Bernstein, 2009
• The Boundaries of Her Body: A History of Women's Rights in America ~ by Debran Rowland, 2004
• Feminism: The Essential Historical Writings ~ edited by Miriam Schneir, 1972
  
• We Are Our Mother's Daughters ~ by Cokie Roberts, 1998
• Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation ~ by Cokie Roberts, 2004
• The Silent Passage: Menopause ~ by Gail Sheehy, 1992
• A Year by the Sea: Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman ~ by Joan Anderson, 1999
  
• In Our Time: Memoir of a Revolution ~ by Susan Brownmiller, 1999
  
• In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose ~ by Alice Walker, 1983
• Out of Africa ~ by Isak Dinesen, 1938
• Lives of Our Own: Secrets of Salty Old Women ~ by Caroline Bird, 1995
• What We Know So Far: Wisdom Among Women ~ edited by Beth Benatovich, 1995
  
• Bookends: Two Women, One Enduring Friendship ~ by Leona Rostenberg and Madeleine Stern, 2001
• Sisterhood Is Powerful: An Anthology of Writings from the Women's Liberation Movement ~ edited by Robin Morgan, 1970
• A Room of One's Own ~ by Virginia Woolf, 1929
• Women Who Run with the Wolves ~ by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, 1992
• Reinventing Home: Six Working Women Look at Their Home Lives ~ by Laurie Abraham, et al, 1991

CHILDREN'S (because we're all children at heart)

• Blueberry Girl ~ by Neil Gaiman, 2009
• Miss Rumphius ~ by Barbara Cooney, 1982
  

Fifteen books ~ #10 ~ The Secret Life of Bees

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (2002) is #10 alphabetically in my continuing series on "fifteen books that will always stick with me."

What is it about this book that I like so much? Maybe it's the image of Rosaleen, a black woman in the South in 1964, spitting snuff on the shoes of a racist white man who is harrassing her. Maybe it's the strong character of August Boatwright (one of the "calendar sisters" of May, June, and August), who epitomizes a queen bee in this story about bee-keeping sisters who take in a 14-year-old white girl running away from her abusive daddy -- I think making her kneel on grits is abuse, don't you? Maybe it's the Black Madonna in Tiburon, South Carolina, that Lily runs to after she breaks Rosaleen out of custody. Maybe it's that this first novel was written after the author realized conventional goodness just wasn't enough.

In The Dance of the Dissident Daughter: A Woman's Journey from Christian Tradition to the Sacred Feminine (1996), Sue Monk Kidd says her awakening began on the day she overheard two men talking about her daughter Ann, down on her knees stocking a drugstore shelf. One man said, "Now that's how I like to see a woman -- on her knees." The men laughed, Ann looked stricken, and Kidd herself was enraged, telling them, "You may like to see her and other women on their knees, but we don't belong there. We don't belong there!" That episode began a period of intense searching that, in my opinion, deepened her writing. Look at the beautiful way she uses words:

"There had been a moment, many moments really, when truth seized me and I 'conceived' myself as woman. Or maybe I reconceived myself. At any rate, it had been extraordinary and surprising to find myself -- a conventionally religious woman in my late thirties -- suddenly struck pregnant with a new consciousness, with an unfolding new awareness of what it means to be a woman and what it means to be spiritual as a woman" (p. 7).

Don't you love that phrase "struck pregnant"? I do. By the way, she and Ann have a new book out, published this month, called Traveling with Pomegranates: A Mother-Daughter Memoir.

Click this link for an interview with the author and discussion questions about The Secret Life of Bees for your book club. To read even more, click here.

I'm going to rate both of these books:

(1) The Secret Life of Bees was a book I couldn't put down, so it rates 10 of 10.

(2) And because it's such an excellent book, The Dance of the Dissident Daughter rates 9 out of 10.  NOTE:  I also wrote about this book here, where I gave it a rating of 10/10.

Something About Me ~ books read previously

Books I had read before choosing what to read from the challenge's lists:

1. All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten (NF) by Robert Fulghum ~ chosen by Susan Miller
2. Anne of Green Gables (F) by L. M. Montgomery ~ chosen by Trish, TinyLibrarian, and EnnaVic
3. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl (AB) by Anne Frank ~ chosen by Pattie
4. Awakening (F) by Kate Chopin ~ chosen by Pattie
5. Bell Jar (F)~ by Sylvia Plath ~ chosen by Soleil
6. Booked to Die (Mys) by John Dunning ~ chosen by Bonnie
7. Charlotte's Web (JuvF) by E. B. White ~ chosen by 3M
8. Cheaper by the Dozen (NF) by Frank Gilbreth ~ chosen by Raidergirl3
9. Dance of the Dissident Daughter (NF) by Sue Monk Kidd ~ chosen by Bonnie
10. East of Eden (F) by John Steinbeck ~ chosen by Vasilly
11. Evensong (F) by Gail Godwin ~ chosen by Bonnie
12. Fahrenheit 451 (F) by Ray Bradbury ~ chosen by Faith
13. Fall On Your Knees (F) by Ann-Marie MacDonald ~ chosen by Chris and Christina
14. Five Quarters of the Orange (F) by Joanne Harris ~ chosen by Jill
15. Giver (F) by Lois Lowry ~ chosen by Susan Miller
16. Go Out in Joy! (NF) by Nina Hermann Donnelley ~ chosen by Bonnie
17. Gone with the Wind (F) by Margaret Mitchell ~ chosen by Bookworm
18. Grapes of Wrath (F) by John Steinbeck ~ chosen by Kookiejar
19. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone #1 (F) by JK Rowling ~ chosen by Bookworm
20. Harvesting the Heart (F) by Jodi Picoult ~ chosen by Heather
21. Heidi (JuvF) by Johanna Spyri ~ chosen by Heidijane
22. Iliad (F) by Homer ~ chosen by Alyson
23. Like Water for Chocolate (F) by Laura Esquivel ~ chosen by Maryanne
24. Little Women (F) by Louisa May Alcott ~ chosen by Alyson and Lucca
25. Lovely Bones (F) by Alice Sebold ~ chosen by Chasida
26. March (F) by Geraldine Brooks ~ chosen by Dewey
27. Mere Christianity (NF) by C.S. Lewis ~ chosen by 3M
28. My Name is Asher Lev (F) by Chaim Potok ~ chosen by Heather
29. My Sister's Keeper (F) by Jodi Picoult ~ chosen by Trish
30. Namesake (F) by Jhumpa Lahiri ~ chosen by Heidijane
31. Nothing But the Truth (JuvF) by Avi ~ chosen by Megan
32. Number the Stars (JuvF) by Lois Lowry ~ chosen by Booklogged
33. On Tap (F) by J. Frances Alexander ~ chosen by Bonnie
34. Other Boleyn Girl (F) by Phillippa Gregory ~ chosen by Margo
35. Peter Pan (F) by J.M. Barrie ~ chosen by Athena
36. Poisonwood Bible (F) by Barbara Kingsolver ~ chosen by Bookworm
37. Rebecca (F) by Daphne du Maurier ~ chosen by Christina
38. Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (JuvF) by Kate Douglas Wiggin ~ chosen by Stephanie
39. Red Tent (F) by Anita Diamante ~ chosen by Susan Miller
40. Screwtape Letters (F) by C. S. Lewis ~ chosen by Booklogged
41. Secret Life of Bees (F) by Sue Monk Kidd ~ chosen by EnnaVic
42. She's Come Undone (F) by Wally Lamb ~ chosen by Bookworm
43. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (F) by Lisa See ~ chosen by Juli
44. To Kill A Mockingbird (F) by Harper Lee ~ chosen by Janet and Stephanie
45. Tree Grows in Brooklyn (F) by Betty Smith ~ chosen by Becky
46. View from Saturday (JuvF) by E. L. Konigsburg ~ chosen by Susan Miller
47. Walk in the Woods (NF) by Bill Bryson ~ chosen by Wendy
48. Where the Red Fern Grows (JuvF) by Wilson Rawls ~ chosen by Janet
49. Winthrop Woman (F) by Anya Seton ~ chosen by Beachreader
50. World According to Garp (F) by John Irving ~ chosen by Chasida and Dewey
51. Wrinkle in Time (JuvF) by Madeline L'Engle ~ chosen by Juli

Something about me

Well, I've done it ... joined my first challenge. Something About Me involves choosing five books that say something about me. Then during August-September-October-November, we'll read some of the books. How many is up to each person. In other words, if you read my books, you'll know me a little better. I've (tentatively) chosen five books, which should be posted on the site in a day or two. Lisa at Breaking the Fourth Wall came up with this great idea. Click HERE or on the picture to check out the challenge and consider joining us. It sounds like fun!

Here are five good books that say "something about me":

1. Evensong ~ by Gail Godwin ~ This novel's main character is the church's first woman pastor. She's Episcopalian and I'm not, but some of her experiences are like mine when I was ordained and went into a field where I was often the first woman churches had ever had in their pulpits. Rated 10/10.

2. On Tap ~ by J. Frances Alexander ~ Chattanooga, my hometown, is the setting for this novel about the vulnerability of America's supply of safe drinking water to the attack of terrorists. Can you tell I'm also interested in environmental issues? Rated 8/10.

3. Booked to Die ~ by John Dunning ~ A mystery involving bookstores that deal with rare and out-of-print books, this book was a learning experience for me when, after retirement, I worked for such a store. Later I was bookstore manager at a store in a small town south of Chattanooga, before opening my own bookstore. In none of these situations was there a bookstore murder to solve as in this book of fiction! Rated 9/10.

4. Go Out in Joy! ~ by Nina Hermann Donnelley ~ The author shares what it's like to work as a hospital chaplain. I first read this book while in seminary, when I too was struggling to learn how to deal with patients and their relatives, especially when parents were fearful for the health of their small children. My group of intern chaplains was assigned to a large hospital in Atlanta, and I prayed I would not get the pediatric ward. You did notice the word "children" above, right? Rated 10/10.

5. The Dance of the Dissident Daughter ~ by Sue Monk Kidd ~ This nonfiction book chronicles Kidd's religious awakening and transformation. Although we have arrived at somewhat different places, we both had to work through the patriarchy in our religious traditions. "Awakening" is a great word for what I felt when I reached a point in my life when I could articulate what I believed and why. Rated 10/10.

How many of these have YOU read?

Thanks for this bookshelf and this idea to list a hundred books to Stephanie, who got a list from Ms. Literary Feline, who got that list from Bookfool. I had read exactly 50 of the hundred on that list, but I decided to post 100 books that I chose myself. Tell me how many of these you have read:

1. Half of a Yellow Sun ~ by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
2. The Measure of All Things ~ by Ken Alder
3. Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now ~ by Maya Angelou
4. The Battle for God ~ by Karen Armstrong
5. The Clan of the Cave Bear ~ by Jean M. Auel
6. Nothing but the Truth ~ by Avi
7. The Social Construction of Reality ~ by Peter L. Berger
8. Genesis ~ in the Bible (I could claim 66 books)
9. Memories of God ~ by Roberta C. Bondi
10. A Place to Pray ~ by Roberta C. Bondi
11. To Love as God Loves ~ by Roberta C. Bondi
12. The Mists of Avalon ~ by Marion Zimmer Bradley
13. Moloka'i ~ by Alan Brennert
14. Year of Wonders ~ by Geraldine Brooks
15. The Da Vinci Code ~ by Dan Brown
16. The Big Wave ~ by Pearl S. Buck
17. The Good Earth ~ by Pearl S. Buck
18. How the Irish Saved Civilization ~ by Thomas Cahill
19. The Artist's Way ~ by Julia Cameron
20. The Myth of Sisyphus ~ by Albert Camus
21. Our Endangered Values ~ by Jimmy Carter
22. Disgrace ~ by J. M. Coetzee
23. Ireland: A Novel ~ by Frank Delaney
24. The Genesis of Justice ~ by Alan M. Dershowitz
25. The Red Tent ~ by Anita Diamant
26. Great Expectations ~ by Charles Dickens
27. A Tale of Two Cities ~ by Charles Dickens
28. The Brothers Karamazov ~ by Fyodor Dostoevsky
29. The Grand Inquisitor ~ by Fyodor Dostoevsky
30. The River Why ~ by David James Duncan
31. The Breadwinner ~ by Deborah Ellis
32. From Time to Time ~ by Jack Finney
33. Time and Again ~ by Jack Finney
34. Cold Mountain ~ by Charles Frazier
35. Friedman's Fables ~ by Edwin H. Friedman
36. Evensong ~ by Gail Godwin
37. The Good Husband ~ by Gail Godwin
38. Forever ~ by Pete Hamill
39. A Brief History of Time ~ by Stephen Hawking
40. Stranger in a Strange Land ~ by Robert A. Heinlein
41. Catch-22 ~ by Joseph Heller
42. The Old Man and the Sea ~ by Ernest Hemingway
43. Go Out in Joy! ~ by Nina Hermann (reissued, by Nina Hermann Donnelley)
44. Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific by Raft ~ by Thor Heyerdahl
45. The Kite Runner ~ by Khaled Hosseini
46. Brave New World ~ by Aldous Huxley
47. A Prayer for Owen Meany ~ by John Irving
48. The Dance of the Dissident Daughter ~ by Sue Monk Kidd
49. Secret Life of Bees ~ by Sue Monk Kidd
50. Animal Dreams ~ by Barbara Kingsolver
51. High Tide in Tucson ~ by Barbara Kingsolver
52. The Poisonwood Bible ~ by Barbara Kingsolver
53. Prodigal Summer ~ by Barbara Kingsolver
54. The Fifth Book of Peace ~ by Maxine Hong Kingston
55. English Passengers ~ by Matthew Kneale
56. The View From Saturday ~ by E. L. Konigsburg
57. I Know This Much Is True ~ by Wally Lamb
58. To Kill a Mockingbird ~ by Harper Lee
59. The Altered I ~ by Ursula K. Le Guin
60. The Dispossessed ~ by Ursula K. Le Guin
61. Last Child in the Woods ~ by Richard Louv
62. The Giver ~ by Lois Lowry
63. Number the Stars ~ by Lois Lowry
64. Somewhere in Time ~ by Richard Matheson
65. Teacher Man: A Memoir ~ by Frank McCourt
66. A Canticle for Leibowitz ~ by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
67. A Fine Balance ~ by Rohinton Mistry
68. Humanity in God ~ by Jurgen Moltmann and Elisabeth Moltmann-Wendel
69. Animal Farm ~ by George Orwell
70. 1984 ~ by George Orwell
71. Gnostic Gospels ~ by Elaine Pagels
72. Crack in the Cosmic Egg ~ by Joseph Chilton Pearce
73. Amanda/Miranda ~ by Richard Peck
74. Keeping Faith ~ by Jodi Picoult
75. My Sister's Keeper ~ by Jodi Picoult
76. The Pact: A Love Story ~ by Jodi Picoult
77. Perfect Match ~ by Jodi Picoult
78. Second Glance ~ by Jodi Picoult
79. Songs of the Humpback Whale ~ by Jodi Picoult
80. Vanishing Acts ~ by Jodi Picoult
81. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance ~ by Robert M. Pirsig
82. The Chosen ~ by Chaim Potok
83. My Name Is Asher Lev ~ by Chaim Potok
84. Closed Circle: An Interpretation of the Arabs ~ by David Pryce-Jones
85. Ishmael ~ by Daniel Quinn
86. Honest to God ~ by John A. Robinson
87. Lovely Bones ~ by Alice Sebold
88. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan ~ by Lisa See
89. Train to Pakistan ~ by Khushwant Singh
90. Message in a Bottle ~ by Nicholas Sparks
91. The Notebook ~ by Nicholas Sparks
92. Three Weeks with My Brother ~ by Nicholas Sparks and Micah Sparks
93. East of Eden ~ by John Steinbeck
94. Grapes of Wrath ~ by John Steinbeck
95. Of Mice and Men ~ by John Steinbeck
96. The Pearl ~ by John Steinbeck
97. Agape Love ~ by John Templeton
98. Courage to Be ~ by Paul Tillich
99. Tao Te Ching ~ by Lao Tzu, translator Stephen Mitchell
100. Worlds in Collision ~ by Immanuel Velikovsky