I tend to steer clear of reading challenges these days. They always sound so tempting, but I usually fizzle out somewhere near the middle and by the end it's generally long forgotten (except for Carl's annual RIP Challenge, which I always look forward to even if I don't finish on time). But I think I'm going to give in to temptation for this one--the Women Unbound reading challenge that's being hosted by Eva, Aarti and Care. I tend to read mostly women's authors anyway, so joining this particular challenge really appealed to me. And it helps that it runs from this November to next, so there should be plenty of time to finish eight books.
I'm going to go all out and try to read eight and aim for the Suffragette level. I don't always stick to a set reading list, but since I like to make lists these are the books I have in mind at the moment. I'll have a look at my bookshelves and note down a few alternative titles as well. I'd like to read four novels and four nonfiction titles.
- My Antonia, Willa Cather (I will read her yet!)
- Angel, Elizabeth Taylor
- The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton
- Undecided--maybe a novel by Dorothy Whipple or Margaret Atwood or Margaret Laurence. Or perhaps The Convert (this last one is about the British Suffrage movement).
I'm not sure that the novels I chose are really "feminist" but I think they all have strong (even if flawed) protagonists. I had lots to choose from in terms of nonfiction, which makes narrowing things down difficult.
- A Very Great Profession, Nicola Beauman (I've wanted to read this one for so long--I've now got my "excuse" to pick it up.
- Aristocrats: Caroline, Emily, Louisa and Sarah Lennox, 1740-1832, Stella Tillyard (the BBC adaptation of this book was wonderful).
- America's Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines, Gail Collins (I've got several books like this--surveys of women's history--not sure which I'll end up reading).
- Deb's at War, Anne de Courcy
Of course these are the books I want to read today. A month from now my list may change drastically, but all these books are on my shelves and I've wanted to read most of them for some time now. Whichever books I end up reading, this is a topic I greatly enjoy, so perhaps I'll stick with the challenge.