She Writes Best Books of 2009

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Permalink Reply by Judaye Streett on November 7, 2009 at 8:39am

I am afraid I have not read many new books this year. I have been rereading some of my favorites and so I have only two books from 2009 that touched my heart and expanded my knowledge of the world.

I learned a lot about the importance of being aware of what is not be said and silence by reading Charlotte Gordon's The Woman Who Named God. The book examines the relationship between Hagar, Abraham, and Sarah from the perspective of woman's authentic reality, and discusses some of the traditional myths and beliefs surrounding their story. At least that is what I think it is about. The book changed the way I see the Bible and has made me interested in reading more of the scriptures using my own brain and interpretations of the meanings of the many stories within the human/sacred texts. The book also helped me to understand the importance of accurate research.

Usually, I do not enjoy Oprah's picks. I think I have read about one third of them, but Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan has affected me deeply. These stories can be gut wrenching. The book consists of five short stories all told from the perspective of children in Africa. Some of the stories are very painful to read because even though the stories are fictional, it is obvious to me that many real children suffer in the same way that the characters within these stories do.

Wish I had more to offer ladies, but that is all I have for 2009. I cannot wait to hear what everyone else has been reading.

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Permalink Reply by Erin Cramer on November 7, 2009 at 1:41pm

I loved Leanne Shapton's "Important Artifacts and Personal Property From the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion and jewelry. Original and a compulsive read.

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Permalink Reply by Katharine Weber on November 7, 2009 at 1:47pm

I would certainly include Kate Walbert's elegant A Short History of Women on any best books of 2009 list.

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Permalink Reply by Andrea Adams on November 7, 2009 at 1:55pm

I, too, haven't read an awful lot of books by women this year - for a while now I've been reading whatever the Amazon Vine program sends me, and some of those books aren't very good, whether by men or women - but I can unequivocally say that 'Catching Fire' by Suzanne Collins is the best book by a woman for young women published this year (and 'The Hunger Games' was the same, for 2008). I wish all YA authors could follow her lead and create a strong, compelling female teenage protagonist instead of the unending parade of milquetoast supplicants we seem to get nowadays. Not only is 'Catching Fire' an unusually written SF dystopia, it holds a great deal of the same energy and spirit I recall in YA classics by Madeline L'Engle and Ursula LeGuin (I know they weren't specifically 'YA' back then, but it seems that's the age most women are first exposed to these authors).

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Permalink Reply by Amy Jo Garner on November 7, 2009 at 2:16pm

My favorite by a woman this year was Barbara Brown Taylor's "An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith." I loved her willingness to be open about herself, and the way she gently challenges the reader to rethink how s/he approaches the spiritual side of life.

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Permalink Reply by Peggy Strawhorn Kass on November 7, 2009 at 2:20pm

I've read a lot of books this year but I am traveling and would have to look at the titles on my shelves to remember all of them. Most were not published this year. I can unequivocally add Elizabeth Strout's Olive Kitteridge to the list of best books. She is a remarkable writer and that story is beautifully crafted.

I stopped reading PW a long time ago.

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Permalink Reply by Nancy Kricorian on November 7, 2009 at 2:24pm

Malalai Joya, "A Woman Among Warlords," Simon & Schuster. Malalai Joya, an Afghan parliamentarian who was ejected from office because she spoke out against the warlords who are running her country and whom the BBC called "the bravest woman in Afghanistan," has written an awe-inspiring memoir about her work to bring true democracy to her battle-torn country. (True, her co-writer is a Canadian man, but if I were writing in a language other than my mother tongue, I'd need a co-writer too.) Her feisty character shines through the writing, and I was brought to tears several times reading about her bravery, tenacity and modesty. She currently has to live in hiding, moving from one safe house in Kabul to another every few days because of the death threats against her.

Here is a quotation:

"For me, telling the truth was not a choice. I did not want the fame or special recognition, but I had to speak out. It was my duty and my responsibility to the people who voted for me, who gave me their trust. I had promised them that I would never compromise with the enemies of human rights and so I had no other option."

I am tempted to cite the final lines of the book, which are extraordinary in their simplicity and passion. But you should read it yourself. Even if this doesn't make any top ten list, I want each of you to run to the store and buy this book right now!

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Permalink Reply by E. Thang on November 7, 2009 at 2:36pm

For best book.. I'd suggest Margaret Atwood's 'The Year of the Flood' and Douglas Coupland's 'Generation X'...

But then.. perhaps I'm biased... I love the work done by both authors.. :D

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Permalink Reply by Beverly Vines-Haines on November 7, 2009 at 2:38pm

My Top Ten of 2009 are: (in no particular order)

Smash Cut by Sandra Brown
Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks
Relentless by Dean Koontz
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Angel Time by Anne Rice
Letter to My Daughter by Maya Angelou
The Shack by William P Young
The Scarpetta Factor by Patricia Cornwell
Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan

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Permalink Reply by Meg Daly on November 7, 2009 at 2:41pm

Here are 10 on my "want to read when out in paperback" list. All 2009, all worthy of being on a Best Of list:

When Everything Changed by Gail Collins
Lit: A Memoir by Mary Karr
Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It by Maile Meloy
American Salvage by Bonnie Jo Campbell
Lark & Termite by Jayne Anne Phillips
The Bolter by Frances Osborne
A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore
The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Children’s Book by A.S. Byatt
Lavinia by Ursula K. LeGuin

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Permalink Reply by Susanne Dunlap on November 7, 2009 at 3:05pm

Well, I can't be objective about this, because I didn't read very many books by men this past year. Why is that? I think it's because the subject matter and types of books women write often appeal to me more. That doesn't mean I don't absolutely love certain books by men, and particular male authors (Kazuo Ishiguro comes immediately to mind).

And here's a shocking admission: between a day job, grandmotherhood, and trying to keep on top of my own fiction writing deadlines, I don't think I've actually read any books published in 2009. I'm still catching up on those from 2008, and many earlier ones that have been on my TBR pile for ages. And I've read one or two that won't come out until 2010.

That aside, I'd like to add some observations on this subject: Men who write books with strong romantic elements don't write romance, apparently, they write "love stories". Romance, an immensely popular genre that is a healthy economic engine in the publishing world is one of those "lesser" genres. I neither write nor very often read romance, but that's a matter of taste, not a value judgment. I don't read Stephen King and James Patterson either.

My genre, historical fiction (and lately YA historical fiction), has also been somewhat marginalized and devalued, possibly because so many of its practitioners are women. The late, great Anya Seton, for instance, whose impeccably researched, complex novels are just beginning to earn some respect (yet they have always been beloved by readers). When men happen to write historical fiction, they somehow avoid a label that diminishes them, and often aren't even identified as writers of historical fiction.

Finally, I'd like to remind all writers out there that the novel, in its beginnings, was seen as a lesser form of literary pursuit, primarily because it was practiced by women. Like certain genres of piano music in the nineteenth century. In order for the novel to have become a higher intellectual pursuit, it had to be hijacked by men. The literary world now agrees that Jane Austen achieved something remarkable with her novels-- nice, society romances, written from an unabashedly female perspective-- but it has taken a long time for her to be admitted to the canon.

We women writers are, alas, playing out prejudices that are so deep seated that even women critics can't always perceive how their judgments are biased toward the perceived "strength" or "virility" of male writing.

Thanks for the opportunity to vent about this.

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Permalink Reply by Renate Stendhal on November 13, 2009 at 9:20pm

So true. Thank you for shocking admissions and deep thoughts. I find it refreshing to hear that a woman hasn't read many books by men in a year. There was a period in my young life where I stopped reading male voices entirely: I needed to hear my own silenced voice for the first time.

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