Tell ME Which Book To Buy For International Women's Day!

Tonight, on the eve of International Women's Day, I decided to turn to my own bookshelves and take some inventory. (First problem: I need to buy more bookshelves.) I knew I wasn't understocked when it came to books by women writers, but I suspected my shelves were predominantly stocked with books written in English, or, at their most exotic, works translated from European languages.

As it turns out, predominantly doesn't begin to cover it. I am a certified bookaholic, but tonight I was dismayed to discover that my addiction has primarily consisted of devouring books written almost exclusively by Western writers. (I am currently enraptured by Elizabeth Jane Howard's Cazalet Chronicles) Given my deeply held belief that we are not only the stories we tell, but the stories we read, this represents nothing less than a gaping hole in my understanding of this world. I need to read more books written by women who live in places other than Europe and the U.S. And I need you to help me get started.

So today, in honor of International Women's Day, please post your favorite book written by a woman writer from a country other than your own on your She Writes page, and help me write my shopping list. (I'm going to start be revisiting Jean Casella's fabulous blogpost, "Lost (and Found) In Translation: Top Ten Books by International Wom...," and by picking up the anthology co-edited by new She Writer Elizabeth Nunez, Stories from Blue Latitudes: Carribbean Women Writers At Home and A...). Tag it "international women", include it in your "what brings you here" feed, Tweet it, Facebook it, and through your example inspire everyone in your world to do the same.

Most powerful of all, however, if you can, do one, wonderful thing more: join me in buying a book, or borrowing a book (or a whole bunch of books) written by a woman from a country different from your own. She Writes has members from more than thirty countries, including Egypt, Columbia, Mexico, Iran, the Netherlands, Germany and Qatar. We are international in our membership, and tomorrow we should be international in our spirit and our actions. I know that many other actions will be taking place tomorrow to honor the day -- please share your participation in them with our community, too. Days like tomorrow are good days. They are days that raise our consciousness and call us to act. I, for one, am looking forward to connecting with women around the world by supporting their efforts as writers, and learning from their stories. I hope you will, too.

Tags: #things we care about, reading

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Comment by Victoria Dixon on March 8, 2010 at 6:45am: "Escaping the Tiger" by Laura Manivong. The author is American, but the story is written about her husband and his family's escape from Laos and it's breathtaking.

Comment by Kathleen Guler on March 8, 2010 at 6:36am: Just finished Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende.

Comment by Katherine Macnaughton-Osler on March 8, 2010 at 6:36am: One of my favourite women writers is Gioconda Belli, from Nicaragua. Her novel La Mujer Habitada (The Inhabited Woman) is extraordinary, in my opinion.

Comment by Minal Bopaiah on March 8, 2010 at 6:34am: Shirin Ebadi, human rights lawyer and Nobel peace prize laureate from Iran, has a memoir called Iran Awakening that'll open your eyes to what Iranians are really thinking and feeling. It's co-written by a Time magazine reporter, who in turn has two memoirs called Lipstick Jihad and Honeymoon in teharn. All great reads.

Comment by Heather Proctor on March 8, 2010 at 6:15am: Revelations, Diaries of Women, edited by Mary Jane Moffat and Charlotte Painter.

Comment by Stephanie Bird on March 8, 2010 at 6:14am: Wangari Maathai Kenyan feminist, activist, environmentalist, tree planter wrote "The Green Belt Movement" which describes the movement she created to educate the public, employ women and aid in the environmental sustainability of Kenya. I loved that book--more people should read it and become inspired!

Comment by BookPRGirl on March 8, 2010 at 6:06am: A must read: The Blue Sweater by Jacqueline Novogratz
http://www.acumenfund.org/bluesweater/

Comment by Lady Simone on March 8, 2010 at 5:52am: The Last Castle in Brooklyn, author from Trinidad& Tobago, West Indies, Visit the castle and buy book at http://www.zioncastle.blogspot.com, receive a signed copy and support a great cause. Thank you.

Comment by Lady Simone on March 8, 2010 at 5:51am: A great and inspiring novel, The Last Castle in Brooklyn by Lady Simone who is from the Caribbean and represents the Caribbean diaspora to America. The book is about an old castle in Brooklyn New York. Part proceeds go to transforming n old building into a home for veterans and their families. Check it out at