March 8th is International Women’s Day. I am very aware that I live in one of the best times and places to be a woman. No, it’s not perfect and there is much work left to be done, but I’m also very, very fortunate.
In honour of this day, I thought I would share with you the women who grace my bookshelves. I own a fair number of books but I only hold on to the ones I really love. The ones I want to go back and re-read over and over again. These are the female authors whose books I’ve kept. I left out non-fiction and children’s books and I’ve only listed one title from each woman (my personal favourite), though for some of them I may own a few. And, since it is International Women’s Day, I’ve listed them below by country.
(And, since there have been a lot of herons in front of our place lately, here is a picture of them)
Canada
Lorna Crozier – Everything Arrives at the Light
Esi Edugyan – Half Blood Blues
Carla Funk – The Sewing Room
Mavis Gallant – Selected Stories
Dorothy Livesay – The Self-Completing Tree
Anne Michaels – Fugitive Pieces
Alice Munro – Selected Stories
Deborah Willis – Vanishing
England
Charlotte Bronte – Jane Eyre (read my review here)
Romania
Herta Muller – The Appointment
United States of America
Barbara Kingsolver – The Poisonwood Bible
Lorrie Moore – Birds of America
Sylvia Plath – The Bell Jar
Betty Smith – A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (read my review here)
Those are the fine women in my home right now. Who’s in yours? Who should I invite into mine?
Here are some of my favourite women authors…Sue Monk Kidd several books and Joyce Rupp Dear Heart, Come Home
I haven’t read either of those but have definitely seen them on your shelves!
Andrea MacPherson “When she was Electric” and “Beyond the Blue”. Amazing Vancouver author.
Ooh, thanks! I don’t think I know her; I’ll add it to the list!