This short (115 page) treatise comprises two lectures which noted Cambridge academic and classicist Mary Beard delivered in 2014 and 2017. In these lectures, “The Public Voice of Women” and “Women in Power,” Beard examines the classical roots of the silencing of women’s voices and its effect on women in the modern Western world. Ultimately, in considering how women might truly become “voices of authority,” Beard suggests a reconsideration of “power” itself. In the first essay, Beard takes the reader back 3,000 years to demonstrate […]
Learn from Women Who Dared
Working in an independent bookstore means you get to be exposed to many different genres, but I always go back to my favorite: children’s literature. Being a fiction gal means non-fiction is rarely fun. But Women Who Dared: 52 Stories of Fearless Daredevils, Adventurers, and Rebel is grand fun. Fifty-two women who have shaped the world by doing things “women are not supposed to do” are introduced with one page biographies. Most were women rarely (if ever) heard of. A few (such as Bessie Coleman) […]
My hands itched to knit as my feet itched to travel
In May 2016, a friend I met through Ravelry brought my attention to a Kickstarter for a book her friend Karie Westermann was writing called This Thing of Paper, with knitting designs inspired by Johannes Gutenberg and the printing press. Even with a planned publication date of April 2017, I knew I wanted this book. It’s a good thing I was patient because I didn’t receive it until December. Westermann divided the book into three sections, as she had layed out in her Kickstarter proposal. […]
Why, yes, I did Double Cannonball on a large book with tiny print that’s won lots of awards, why do you ask?
This book goes wide (not deep) on a very important topic, and should be required reading for everyone. That phrase gets thrown around a lot when talking about “important books”, but I’m seriously for serious here. Kendi has written THE comprehensive book about the history of racism in America, tracing it all the way from its roots in the 16th century through modern day, and he covers it from top to bottom, hitting on every major point you can probably think of along the way. It’s […]