Women Unbound Challenge

Eva from A Striped Armchair, Care from Care’s Online Book Club, and Aarti from Booklust are hosting this challenge dedicated to women.

The challenge runs from November 2009-November 2010 and participants are encouraged to read nonfiction and fiction books related to the rather broad idea of women’s studies. There are three levels that participants can target:

Philogynist: Read at least two books, including at least one non-fiction read
Bluestocking: Read at least five books, including at least two non-fiction reads
Suffragette: Read at least eight books, including at least three non-fiction reads

Initially I decided to go with the Bluestocking level and ran through my own TBR list for books that seem to fit. But after browsing some of the participants' blogs and checking out the books' availability in my library, I couldn't help adding more to my original list (and delaying my post in turn!) and realizing that I have plenty in my pool to go for the Suffragette level. Woohoo! Hopefully those on the list (especially the fiction picks) actually qualify for the challenge. In other words, my list is most likely to change.

My pool:
Fiction
The Female Man by Joanna Russ
Bastard out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison
The Scent of the Gods by Fiona Cheong
Then She Found Me by Elinor Lipman
Mary Reilly by Valerie Martin
Evelina by Frances Burney
The Painter from Shanghai by Jennifer Cody Epstein
Becoming Madame Mao by Anchee Min
Bone by Fae Myenne Ng (Vasilly's list)



Non-fiction
Polite Lies: On Being a Woman Caught Between Cultures by Kyoko Mori
Hope in a Jar: The Making of America's Beauty Culture by Katy Peiss
Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters: The Frightening New Normalcy of Hating Your Body by Courtney E. Martin
The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women by Naomi Wolf
Hungry: A Mother and Daughter Fight Anorexia by Sheila and Lisa Himmel
Foreign Correspondence: A Pen Pal's Journey from Down Under to All Over by Geraldine Brooks (from Eva's list)
When Heaven and Earth Changed Places by Le Ly Hayslip (from Eva's list)
Lakota Woman by Mary Crow Dog (Vasilly's list)
Letter to My Daughter by Maya Angelous (Eva's list)

Added:

Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil by Deborah Rodriguez

Food and Loathing: A Life Measured Out in Calories by Betsy Lerner

Jane Goodall: The Woman Who Redefined Man by Dale Petersen