Women in Clothes by Sheila Heti, Heidi Julavits, Leanne Shapton et al. Blue Rider Press, 2014 528 pages I have an ambivalent relationship to fashion. I love clothes. I love expressing myself through what I wear. I love the idea that, by picking out an outfit, I can give people a piece of the code … Continue reading Women in Clothes
The Secret Lives of Codebreakers: The Men and Women Who Cracked the Enigma Code at Bletchley Park by Sinclair McKay Plume, 2012 352 pages Near the beginning of our marriage, my husband and I read the book A Man Called Intrepid. It's the story of Sir William Stephenson, a Canadian airman who became the … Continue reading The Secret Lives of Codebreakers
Dare the Wind: The Record-Breaking Voyage of Eleanor Prentiss and the Flying Cloud by Tracey Fern; ill. by Emily Arnold McCully Farrar Straus Giroux, 2014 40 pages I was prowling around the Internet today, searching for content to share on the Read Like a Girl Facebook page, when I came across an interview with Merline … Continue reading Dare the Wind
The Librarian of Basra: A True Story From Iraq by Jeanette Winter Harcourt, 2005 32 pages Alia's Mission: Saving the Books of Iraq by Mark Alan Stamaty Alfred A. Knopf, 2004 32 pages When the United States, Britain, and George W. Bush's "coalition of the willing" invaded Iraq in 2003, the human toll of the … Continue reading The Librarian of Basra and Alia’s Mission
A Train in Winter: An Extraordinary Story of Women, Friendship, and Resistance in Occupied France by Caroline Moorehead Harper, 2011 374 pages I don't really remember when I first learned about World War II. Probably very early in childhood, since I grew up with a grandfather who often told stories of his time in "The … Continue reading A Train in Winter
Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth Penguin, 2012 3 volumes I love BBC TV. Even the old shows, with their fuzzy camera work and costumes that look as if they came out of a long-neglected dress-up bin. I don't have cable, however, and can't get PBS over my TV antenna, so I have to make … Continue reading Call the Midwife
Mama Miti: Wangari Maathai and the Trees of Kenya by Donna Jo Napoli; ill. by Kadir Nelson Simon & Schuster, 2010 40 pages I've written before about my desire to raise my daughter with a nuanced view of Africa, one that's more multi-dimensional than the depressing and patronizing portrayal in popular media. Part of what … Continue reading Mama Miti
