Books for Women’s History Month

Books for Women’s History Month

 

There are many wonderful books, both fiction and nonfiction, that make for fantastic reading during Women’s History Month. I am featuring a few of my favorites from the past few years. The library has a current display of posters created by the Smithsonian titled “Picturing Women Inventors.” I encourage you to visit the library in March and read about women and their inventions.

Fiction

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

Lawhon gives a heavily researched, fictionalized account of the life of Martha Ballard, a midwife who lived in late 1700s Maine. Ballard is an intelligent, sympathetic main character. I was rooting for her as she navigates assisting with births, raising a large family, small-town politics and a rape/murder case. I love how Lawhon combines historical research with compelling storytelling. This is a stand-out historical novel, and would be a great book to get you out of a reading slump.

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

This is a hard-hitting novel about sexism in the 1950s and 60s. Elizabeth Zott is a fiercely intelligent chemist, a young widow raising her precocious daughter Madeline. Forced to resign from her all-male workplace, she starts hosting a cooking show, using chemistry to explain food science. This is a great selection for book clubs.

The Women by Kristin Hannah

Hannah’s latest novel is a tour-de-force. She follows Frankie, a 20-year-old nurse who has been raised on her father’s stories of the heroic men in their family. During the Vietnam War, Frankie joins the army. Hannah details Frankie’s time in country, working as a surgical nurse dealing with horrific injuries, and her struggles to acclimate when she returns home. I loved the lifelong friendships between Frankie and her two nurse roommates. Frankie’s post-war difficulties were well-researched and eye opening.

Circe by Madeline Miller

Circe is the daughter of a god. Growing up in her father’s halls she is considered the least of his children, and is disregarded by the gods and goddesses. It is only when Circe is banished to live on an island alone that she comes into her own, discovering her magic and finding her place in the world. Miller expands on the brief, incomplete glimpse we get of Circe in The Odyssey, giving us a full portrait of a nuanced woman. This is a stand out in the genre.

Nonfiction

A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa

In this memoir, Irish poet Ní Ghríofa weaves her personal experiences mothering four young children, with her research into 18th-century Irish woman Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill, and Eibhlin’s poem lamenting the murder of her husband. Ní Ghríofa clutches to Eibhlin and her poem like a life raft, trying to trace information about the historic poet’s erased life among the preserved stories of the men in her family. While slow paced, this book is beautifully written, and its message of the power of poetry rang true for me.

Empress of the Nile by Lynne Olson

This is the incredible story of Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt, a French woman who resisted the Nazis in occupied Paris during WWII and achieved great feats as an Egyptologist, saving many ancient artifacts and prompting UNESCO to start their World Heritage program. Desroches-Noblecourt was an incredible woman and I attended two wonderful book club discussions about this book. Know going into it that this book meanders a lot and is a slower, yet rewarding, read.

Unraveling Canada: A Knitting Odyssey by Sylvia Olsen

Olsen undertakes a cross-country road trip, traveling across Canada to lead knitting workshops and learn about knitting history across the region, focusing especially on indigenous history. This is a feel-good read enjoyable whether or not you knit.

Martha Washington: An American Life by Patricia Brady

This is a fascinating, enjoyable biography. Brady’s writing is informative but she doesn’t leave readers bogged down or bored. Rich with historic detail, I appreciated learning more about Martha Washington and the time she lived in.

We are always happy to recommend your next great read at the library.

Katelyn Boyer is the Adult Services Librarian at the Fergus Falls Public Library