Book Buzz: National Women’s History Month

Lihu‘e Library has many good historical resources available to the public on the subject of women in history including Marilyn French’s four-volume set “A History of Women in the World,” “A History of the Wife” by Marilyn Yalom, and “Her Story: A Timeline of Women Who Changed America” by Charlotte Waisman.

There are also biographical references such as “50 Women Artists You Should Know” by Christiane Weidemann, “Women in Science: Then and Now” by Vivian Gorhnick, “Superwomen: 100 Women, 100 Sports” by Jodi Buren or “The Most Evil Women in History” by Shelley Klein.

But perhaps the most compelling books about women, the most interesting or inspiring stories, are those of individual lives. This month is the 90th anniversary of women in the United States winning the right to vote which is celebrated as National Women’s History Month. In honor of women’s history, Book Buzz suggests some new titles featuring women’s voices.

Happy reading!

By Susan Wels

629.13092 We

This most recent Earhart biography is an irresistible book rich in photographs and intriguing documents. The author’s engaging narrative hits the main points of the aviator’s career, provides insight into her personal life and captures Earhart’s adventurous spirit.

Beloved Disciple: The Misunderstood Legacy of Mary Magdalene, The Woman Closest to Jesus

By Robin Griffith-Jones

226.092 Gr

A beautifully written and scholarly account of one of history’s most fascinating women, this illustrated book will be as interesting to lay people as it is welcomed by theologians and historians. It gives insight into Magdalene’s importance in the New Testament and the Gnostic writings, and traces her image down to the present day.

By Shelley Emling

560.92 Anning Em

Readable and journalistic, the author brings to life the fascinating story of Mary Anning, one of the central figures in the early golden age of paleontological discovery — a scavenging, destitute pre-teen, and a woman of great diligence, and passion. The amply footnoted book skillfully puts Mary Anning’s work on marine and flying reptile fossils into the scientific and sociological context.

I’m Still Standing: From Captive U.S. Soldier

Shoshana Johnson

True American hero Shoshana Johnson survived ambush, injury, captivity, and colleagues’ deaths in the early days of the Iraq conflict with grit, dignity, and reflective grace. She endured her captivity with courage and emerged with honor. She also gained national attention as America’s first black female prisoner of war. Here she vividly and unpretentiously tells her story. But what makes Johnson’s inspiring tale required reading for Americans, in and out of uniform, is her great heart. Its triumphant beat is felt on every page. See also The Virgin Warrior: The Life and Death of Joan of Arc by Larissa Juliet Taylor and The Mysterious Private Thompson: The Double Life of Sarah Emma Edmonds by Laura Leedy Gansler.

The Muse of the

By Nancy Stuart Rubin

973.3092 Warren Ru

Playwright, poet, and historian, Mercy Otis Warren is one of the unsung heroes of the American Revolution who, unlike many others, brandished a mean pen in place of musket or sword. Mrs. Warren’s provocative writing made her an exception among the largely voiceless women of the eighteenth century. And in 1805 she published the first history of the American Revolution in four volumes. To read about more modern women politicians look for Patsy Mink: Ahead of Her Majority (DVD) or Going Rogue: An American Life by Sarah Palin.

The Pecan Orchard:

By Peggy Vonsherie Allen

This true story of the struggle, survival, and ultimate financial success of a large black family in south Alabama is creatively told with a very distinctive African American voice and shows how traditional aspects of rural life remained visible even amidst the trappings of modern life.

Savage Summit: The True Stories of the First Five Women Who Climbed K2, The World’s Most Feared Mountain

Jennifer Jordan

796.522 Jo

Author Jordan scales a summit of her own to share a posthumous glimpse of mountaineers Wanda Rutkiewicz, Liliane Barrard, Julie Tullis, Chantal Mauduit and Alison Hargreaves, plus others who accompanied, aided and tried to thwart them as they attempted to climb K2, a mountain on the Pakistan-China border. Each woman’s story explores her passion for mountaineering and her own brand of controversy: flirtation, reckless motherhood, lack of practice. Jordan uses journal entries, letters, published biographies, and interviews with fellow climbers, family and friends to distill five divergent lives into one narrative. For more athletes check out The Climb of My Life: Scaling Mountains with a Borrowed Heart by Kelly Perkins or Age is Just a Number; Achieve Your Dreams at Any Stage in Your Life by Dara Torres.

The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of

By Jack Weatherford

The Mongol queens of the thirteenth century ruled the largest empire the world has ever known, fostering trade, education, and religion throughout their international reign and creating an economic system that stretched from the Pacific to the Mediterranean. In the wake of the great Khan’s death and in-fighting among his successors Queen Mandhuhai led her soldiers through victory after victory to rescue the tattered shreds of the Mongol Empire, by putting on her quiver and picking up her bow. In her thirties she married a seventeen-year-old prince, and she bore eight children in the midst of a career spent fighting the Ming Dynasty of China on one side and a series of Muslim warlords on the other. Despite efforts to suppress their renown, the Mongol queens inspired great artists from Chaucer and Milton to Goethe and Puccini, and so their stories live on today.

Socialism is Great:

By Lijia Zhang

951.05092 Zhang

Current China literature is heavy with victim memoirs, but this literary gem is a true tale of aspiration: a young woman coming of age in a nation desperately trying to do the same. The vivid memoir recounts Lijia Zhang’s rebellious journey from disillusioned factory worker to organizer in support of the Tiananmen Square demonstrators, to eventually become a writer and journalist. Zhang deftly crafts the journey of a whole generation, desperately yearning to break away from the ropes of tradition and illuminating the sweeping historical forces at work in China after the Cultural Revolution as the country moved from stark repression to a vibrant, capitalist economy.

Women Sailors

By David Cordingly

910.45 Co

A surprising number of women went to sea during the age of sail, and here the author writes back into naval history women who were smuggled aboard, some as the wives or mistresses of captains, and some dressed in men’s clothing, working undiscovered. Set out in the form of a voyage, the author’s historical narrative begins at the seaports; follows stories of women sailors and sailors’ women, examines the mystic relationship between women and water; moves on to adventures in foreign ports; and returns with a brief investigation of lighthouses and female lighthouse keepers to the seaports.

• Carolyn Larson, head librarian at Lihu‘e Public Library, brings you the buzz on new, popular and good books available at your neighborhood library. Book annotations are culled from online publishers’ descriptions and published reviews.