A journey to collect 500 20th century novels by women
I had known, or at any rate was capable of knowing, that Toni Morrison was our greatest living writer prior to reading Paradise. But certainly I am not capable of denying it now. As I had mentioned before in my prior post, I had been dragging my feet about finishing the remaining Morrison books I …
I’ve been sitting around for days pondering what to say about Zora Neale Hurston’s debut, Jonah’s Gourd Vine. What to say about the beginning of a dazzling literary journey? What to say about this spectacular, clever, frustrating, hysterical, singular writer at the start of her career? I knew that Jonah’s Gourd Vine was partly autobiographical, …
Today is a special day on the calendar for women’s literature: it is both Toni’s Morrison’s and Audre Lorde’s birthday. This year, Ms. Morrison is celebrating her 88th. If Ms. Lorde were still with us, she would be turning 85. Both 20th century icons; while my women’s library focuses more on fiction and novels (Toni …
Oh, Sybylla Melvyn! I adore you. You name is added my list of favorite literary young heroines, below Anne Shirley, Josephine March, and Elizabeth Bennett. My Brilliant Career, published in 1901 and written by Miles Franklin when she was, unbelievably, a teenager, is a perceptive coming-of-age tale partially set on Sybylla’s father’s austere dairy farm …
Most of the time, I am compiling books faster than I can read or blog about them. This may be the first time that I am reading them faster than I am writing about them. In January, I read five books from the my women's library (plus two bonus poetry books), and I’ve only blogged …
I know, I know. January is almost over and I’m just getting around to posting about my New Year’s book resolutions! I guess I’ve already blown it if I say that my first one is not to procrastinate about blogging, huh? KIDDING. Anyway, without further nonsense, here they are: To Finally Read Ellen Glasgow, Edna …
A few weeks ago, a Chicago poet and activist that I very much admire, Eve Ewing, tweeted out a picture of a typed letter from Gwendolyn Brooks with the caption “Your faves are problematic.” Immediately my heart sank. What had beloved writer Gwendolyn Brooks done? Did she espouse some awful belief that we didn’t know …
January 2nd is always tough – dragging yourself back into the grind of winter. I always find myself hanging onto the holidays for as long as I can. I still turn the lights of my tree on until Epiphany is over, darn it! I always related to Jo March’s sentimentality. She might have been the …
Warning: Little Women Spoilers Ahead for the next couple blog posts! Well, it’s Christmas break, so the week has been filled with caroling, candlelight services, delicious ham and lasagna (courtesy of my brother-in-law), and (I’m slightly abashed to say) cookies and shortbread for breakfast every day. This is also the week that, for most of …
My parents raised my sister and I with a love of live music – technically, my folks started going to concerts together before they really even started dating (my grandfather gave my dad and his then-girlfriend a ride to the Crosby, Stills, and Nash show that my mom was attending with her best friend - …
