Strong Girls and Strong Women in Literature

Okay, I don't know if it's really a genre, but let's spend today thinking about books with strong girls and strong women as leads in the story. 

You've probably already thought of Hunger Games and Pippi Longstocking. Well, here are a few of my other favorites:

The Good Earth

Does any woman have it harder than O-lan? She's not pretty and her husband treats her as little more than a slave. Her family comes close to starvation. She kills a daughter during the famine so the child will avoid horrific suffering. When the family finally comes into money, her husband takes a new wife.

Gone With the Wind

"As God is my witness...I'll never be hungry again."

Parvana's Journey

Parvana sets off in search of her family in war-ravaged Afghanistan.

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

You have to love an African woman detective who declares herself "a woman of traditional build."

Anne of Green Gables

Anne can face down anything.

A Wrinkle in Time

The first book I called my favorite. 
I still adore it, and Meg is most of the reason.

Love is a Wild Assault

Historical fiction about an early Texas pioneer woman who faced trouble in buckets. 
A huge part of the story takes place in the county where I live.

Mrs. Mike

A woman who comes from privilege goes to live in the wilderness of Canada.

The Whale Rider

Kahu is destined to be the leader of her people, but will they accept a girl as leader?

Memoirs of a Geisha

Nitta tells the story of her life, sold into servitude as a geisha when she was only nine.

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

Need a Powerful Panacea, Cure-All, Elixir, Wonder Drug? How About...Reading a Book?

I love to read. Reading is a wonderfully fun thing to do.

But reading is more than than fun. It's important, folks: Reading changes us. Dramatically. For the better.

I'm probably preaching to the choir, but I've recently done a little research and here's a list of all the fabulous, somewhat arcane benefits of reading....


People who read live longer.

People who read have a slower rate of cognitive decline.

People who read lower their levels of stress.

People who read boost their vocabulary.

People who read have more empathy for others.

People who read sleep better.

People who read have higher self esteem.

People who read have better relationships.

People who read are happier.

People who read work to improve the world.

People who read are smarter.

People who read focus better.

People who read are more creative.

People who read have better communication skills.

People who read make better decisions.


What else is going to give you this list of amazing benefits?

What I Finished This Week Darby comes to New York City's Barbizon Hotel for Women to stay while she attends classes to become a secretary. It's 1952 and Darby doesn't have much...more Twelve-year-old Florian has moved again and, to cope, puts into play the technique he calls TOAST, Theory Of All Small Things, looking closely at all...more Good grief, it's about time I read this book. The author has since written ten more in this series, and has started a new (oh-so-similar) series with...more So I just finally got around to reading Dork Diaries, and then I move on to this new series, Max Crumbly. It's by the same author as Dork Diaries, and...more A group of Parisian women got together to write this book, a collection of essays and photo essays and stories and quotes, all aimed at getting to wha...more Great quotes. Clever illustrations. A haiku here seems appropriate. Completely worth your time. What I'm Reading Now Honestly, I don't know. I went crazy over Labor Day and requested right and left from my library. Here's what came in for me.  What should I read first?

What are you reading today? Have you read any of these? Any recommendations?

What is the Sunday Salon? Imagine some university library's vast reading room. It's filled with people--students and faculty and strangers who've wandered in. They're seated at great oaken desks, books piled all around them,and they're all feverishly reading and jotting notes in their leather-bound journals as they go. Later they'll mill around the open dictionaries and compare their thoughts on the afternoon's literary intake....That's what happens at the Sunday Salon, except it's all virtual. Every Sunday the bloggers participating in that week's Salon get together--at their separate desks, in their own particular time zones--and read. And blog about their reading. And comment on one another's blogs. Think of it as an informal, weekly, mini read-a-thon, an excuse to put aside one's earthly responsibilities and fall into a good book. Click here to join the Salon.

The Sunday Post is a meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It's a chance to share news and recap the past week.

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at The Printed Page. We share books that we found in our mailboxes last week. 

 It is now being hosted here.

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews in which you can share the books you've acquired.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week…. and anything in between!  This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from! I love being a part of this and I hope you do too! It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is now being hosted at The Book Date.

Pilgrimage

 I went on my first pilgrimage. We went to Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle.

We'd expected rain. It held off.

Such beauty.

On the way home, a rainbow.

For more wordless photos, go to Wordless Wednesday.

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. To participate in Saturday Snapshot: post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken and then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky at West Metro Mommy Reads.

TV Shows I Watch Even After I Gave Up TV

I gave up tv in 2003. Honestly, it's one of the best things I ever did.

I didn't give up tv completely, though. From time to time, people have recommended shows and I've given them a try. Here are some of the tv shows that I've watched even after I gave up tv:

Lost

How I Met Your Mother

Big Bang Theory

Bored to Death

Northern Exposure

Firefly

Downton Abbey

Seinfeld

The Twilight Zone

Star Trek (All of them)

Are there any folks out there who are crazy about tv? I could use your advice. Given that I have watched and loved these shows, could you recommend a few tv series to me?

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

My Week in Reading: Back to the Library Edition

It's Queen of the Library Time Again! Is there anything more fun than wearing a crown all week and  welcoming 700 kids into the most magical place in the world? What I Read This Week cover title author review The After Party DiSclafani, Anton  Cece and Joan have been fast friends since childhood. Joan is the charismatic one, the beautiful one, the troubled soul, and Cece is the loyal friend, ...more The Littlest Bigfoot Weiner, Jennifer  Alice never seems to fit in at any of the many schools she's attended in her young life. Other girls find Alice too big and too gawky to befriend. The ...more Still a Work in Progress Knowles, Jo Eighth-grader Noah deals with friend troubles, school troubles, and girl troubles. None of these compare, however, to the Thing We Don't Talk About, h ...more Lucy Cecil, Randy Lucy is a stray. Each day she must search, desperately, for something to eat. Eleanor is a little girl who would love to have Lucy for her own. Eleanor' ...more Call the Midwife: Shadows of the Workhouse Worth, Jennifer I've read all three Call the Midwife books by Nurse Jenny now, and I'd say that I loved three and one and I liked this one. Most of book two centers o ...more My Mailbox Floweth Over This Week... A Modern Way to Cook by Anna Jones Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life The Misadventures of Max Crumbly: Locker Hero Framed! A T.O.A.S.T. Mystery Hey, That's My Monster! My Grandparents Love Me

What are you reading today? Have you read any of these? Any recommendations?

What is the Sunday Salon? Imagine some university library's vast reading room. It's filled with people--students and faculty and strangers who've wandered in. They're seated at great oaken desks, books piled all around them,and they're all feverishly reading and jotting notes in their leather-bound journals as they go. Later they'll mill around the open dictionaries and compare their thoughts on the afternoon's literary intake....That's what happens at the Sunday Salon, except it's all virtual. Every Sunday the bloggers participating in that week's Salon get together--at their separate desks, in their own particular time zones--and read. And blog about their reading. And comment on one another's blogs. Think of it as an informal, weekly, mini read-a-thon, an excuse to put aside one's earthly responsibilities and fall into a good book. Click here to join the Salon.

The Sunday Post is a meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It's a chance to share news and recap the past week.

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at The Printed Page. We share books that we found in our mailboxes last week. 

 It is now being hosted here.

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews in which you can share the books you've acquired.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week…. and anything in between!  This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from! I love being a part of this and I hope you do too! It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is now being hosted at The Book Date.