|
BEST LOVED STORIES
I invited friends to recommend their favorite stories by and
about women. Add these to your reading list.
Recommend a book you love for Best
Loved Stories. Novels, biographies, memoirs about women’s
lives written by women authors. Send title and author. We’ll
add your recommendations periodically.
Recommend@DonnaMayAvery.com
Bold Spirit by Linda Lawrence Hunt
“The story of a 19th century woman who faced unbelievable
hardships to try to win enough money to save the family farm.
A thoughtful discussion of the social and psychological
factors that often silence family stories. I often think of
Helga and what she sacrificed for her family.”
Gloria Morningstar,
Director of Employment, YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago
www.ymcachgo.org
Galileo’s Daughter by Dava Sobel
“This beautifully researched book allows the reader to enter a
world where great love transforms the life of a woman who had
no options. Suor Maria Celeste transformed her deadly
difficult existence as a nun, forced upon her and her sister
by their father, into a shining ark of stability and mutual
support for herself and her beloved and famous father.”
Carol Hamilton,
Author, Educator, Storyteller
www.carolhamilton.org
Note: Check out Carol’s new book about early women
photographers, Shots On, at
amazon.com
or
www.finishinglinepress.com (see Book Store page). That’s Evelyn
Cameron standing on the horse.
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
“Jhumpa Lahiri gave me an incredible experience, both
emotionally and intellectually, of being a first generation
American. She takes you one step further breaking down
barriers of nations and generations. As a young writer, she
shows how much we can learn from women of any age when we keep
ourselves open.”
Barbara Stankus,
Director of Finance
Illinois Restaurant Association
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
“I love this book about mothers, daughters and friendship
between women. It shows the hopes and dreams these women had
for their daughters, and how they tried to make their
daughters lives better than their own. Trying to balance
traditional culture with modern values – without losing
yourself.”
Maria Jossey Owen
Founding Director
Girls to Women Program
Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago
Refuge by Terry Tempest Williams
"The personal journey of a naturalist studying the rise and
fall of Salt Lake while helping her mother through
chemotherapy. The way she weaves her feelings about her
mother's illness with her love of nature is full of wisdom for
every woman."
Theresa May, Theatre Arts Department
University of Oregon
Small Island by Andrea Levy
“A work of great imaginative power based in post war London.
It captures the most American of experiences – the immigrant’s
life. This epic book, told in four voices, is a great history
lesson about an era when England changed forever as migrants
braved bitter racism to flood her shores. Skillful, thoughtful
and honest.”
Abha Pandya, Chief Executive Officer
Asian Human Services
The Girl In The Tangerine Scarf by Mohja Kahf
“The story of a Muslim girl growing up in Indianapolis in the
1970’s. She grows up, marries, returns briefly to Syria, her
family’s homeland. Required reading for our senior nursing
students. It presents a slice of everyday life for this
Midwest, middle class family.“
Dr. Mary Tarbox, Chair
Department of Nursing
Mount Mercy College
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
“This story is about a young girl in South Carolina in the
60’s who seeks to find the truth about her dead mother. Her
search takes her into the home of three black women, their
lives and the bees they keep. The story is really one of women
finding and giving forgiveness. And the intertwining of how
bees live is fascinating and enlightening. I’m not sure if
it’s a quick read because the book is small or because it’s so
engaging.”
Sharon Bennett, Executive Director
American Academy of Implant Dentistry
Encourage others to read stories of women’s lives. A
special book is always the perfect gift. |
