Women Writing Women - Book Recs for International Women's Day

 Happy International Women's Day!

I think we've all read books that include a women so terribly written that we roll our eyes throughout the entire book or quit reading it - for good reason. We don't need to encourage authors to write useless, wimpy women, who make terrible decisions at every turn and are shocked when things go badly. Instead, let's support authors and books that have such fantastic, resilient, strong women that make the entire story more impactful and amazing. 

Those are the books I've chosen to feature today, March 8th, aka International's Women's Day! Whether the main character or not, these characters each exude their own type of power.

The characters in the books below are written by women and are fantastic characters that I loved for a variety of reasons and made me sad to close the book, and not get to see the rest of their adventure play out. If you haven't picked up the books below, you're missing out on meeting some wonderful women!

This is not an exhaustive list by any means - that would be ridiculously long - but some of my absolutely favourite characters are included below, and I hope when you pick these books up you'll enjoy getting to know them as much as I did.

So - onto the characters!

Elsa written by Kristin Hannah

If you've read a book by Kristin Hannah, I'm without doubt that you would be able to include someone from the book on this list. But I have to spotlight Elsa from The Four Winds. She is so resilient, so incredibly strong, and the character development that we see from her goes to show the talent that Hannah has in bringing characters to life. Elsa is born to hateful parents, married to a useless husband, and is mother to two children when the Great Depression rolls through and she is forced to make some tough decisions basically alone. Elsa will have you cheering her on from the very first chapter and you will be sad to say bye when the book closes. 

Pictured: The Four Winds & Kristin Hannah (author)

Honourable mentions also go to Hannah's other characters: Leni in The Great Alone, Vera in The Winter Garden, Isabelle and Vianne in The Nightingale, and Jolene in Homefront. All of these women come alive off the page and show so much strength in a variety of tough situations (war, depression, loss, etc.). 

Grace written by B. A. Paris

B. A. Paris has multiple domestic thrillers and I've found most of her books include great women as well, but Grace in Behind Closed Doors easily takes the top spot! She is resilient, strong, and consistently fierce throughout the book. She has reason to curl up in a ball and stop fighting, knowing she is such an underdog in this terrible situation she's in, but she keeps fighting and I loved this! This book was fantastic and Grace was a big part of the reason why!

Pictured: Behind Closed Doors & B. A. Paris (author)

Eva written by Kristin Harmel

I have loved many books by Kristin Harmel, but my favourite of hers - and an all-time favourite read of mine - is The Book of Lost Names. Harmel takes us to WWII Nazi-occupied France, and our main character Eva (inspired by a true woman and story) is a Jewish woman who puts all her effort toward helping Jewish children escape a terrible fate. This book is extremely emotional - obviously - and I found Eva was an amazing character, so resilient in the face of war and horrific events. You will be cheering her and others on from the first page, but keep a tissue box close for this one!

Pictured: The Book of Lost Names & Kristin Harmel (author)

Mila written by Kate Quinn

Kate Quinn also writes historical fiction and has a variety of books, mostly showing WWII from the perspective of different countries. Quinn bases most of her books around real women from history, bringing them to life and bringing awareness to their successes through a fictional tale. Lyudmila Pavlichenko was a Russian sniper in WWII, and Quinn brings her to life as Mila in The Diamond Eye. This incredibly skillful woman is extremely intriguing - but don't spoil this book! Make sure to read The Diamond Eye before doing your googling! This book pulled me in and became an all-time favourite read when I flipped the last page, and I'd hate for you to spoil anything before reading this outstanding story.

Pictured: The Diamond Eye & Kate Quinn (author)

The second book I want to highlight by Quinn, is The Alice Network. We have two characters that I absolutely loved - for very different reasons. Lily and Eva were both such great characters and the two timelines, showing us the war firsthand and modern day worked so well to discuss the various events. This book started a bit slow and took me a little while to get into, but once I was hooked, I didn't put it down, and you won't want to either! What I loved about Lily and Eva is that they showed a situation where being underestimated can be taken advantage of for a good reason.

Saffron written by Kate Khavari

Going further back in history, in a different fictional world, we have Saffron, written by Kate Khavari in The Botanist's Guide to Parties and Potions. I loved how Saffron took things by the reigns and really ran with her ideas and ways to help solve this historical murder by using her academic specialty - botany! This is a cozy historical mystery, featuring a character well worth the spotlight!

Pictured: A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons & Kate Khavari (author)

Ada written by Anna North

Anna North sets Outlawed at a time when women's main purpose was homemaking and child rearing, and so Ada, being barren, is outcasted in her village, for reasons well outside her control. I loved Ada's mother in this one as well, but Ada really shone. She was a great character and I loved this western setting for a feminist book. This book remains a unique read that I think of quite often - and I read this years ago!

Pictured: Outlawed & Anna North (author)

Tierney written by Kim Liggett

Jumping into a dystopian world designed by Kim Liggett, she uses Tierney, a sixteen year old girl, as the focus of The Grace Year. And wow! Probably my favourite teenaged character ever. She has a rebellious side I enjoyed watching play out, balanced with critical thought and mature competency in most regards. The way this story revolves around Tierney, she was really a make or break character for the story and she made it! 

Pictured: The Grace Year & Kim Liggett (author)

There are so many incredibly female authors writing so many incredible female characters, but I will end my list with a book I read last month that absolutely has to be included.

Adunni written by Abi Dare

Abi Dare wrote The Girl with the Louding Voice and it is not one you will forget. Adunni is a fourteen year old girl, that will draw you in immediately, have you empathizing and astounded by her courage through tough and almost impossible situations. She shows a strength and resilience that will leave you in awe and Abi Dare will leave you wanting to know more about Adunni than we get to see. Great story featuring a powerful woman.

Pictured: The Girl with the Louding Voice & Abi Dare (author)

I will repeat that this is not an exhaustive list by any means. These are only 8 of the dozens of characters that could be on this list, but they are a solid 8 and I highly recommend all of these books.

Stay tuned for a follow-up post, because there are so many more women I would like to include!

I hope you all have a wonderful International Women's Day! Comment below if there are any characters you recommend that would fit in this category!

If you're interested in individual reviews, following along with my reading updates or chatting about books, check out my Instagram page @reading.with.t !  

February Newsletter '23

February Reading Wrap-Up!

Happy March my fellow readers! We have made it through two months of 2023, and hopefully the worst of the winter weather - although the cold does make for good indoor reading conditions! 

I spent the last 28 days mostly inside avoiding the snow and cold weather, curling up with a book, blanket and cup of tea. I made some adjustments to my reading room to really be able to commit to a night of reading, which came in quite handy all month.

I had a goal of reading 12 specific books this month (pictured below), a combination of borrowed books, library books, and an ARC from NetGalley. I ended up picking up more library books that came in off my hold list throughout the month as well, which just provided more reason to stay curled up in my reading room - and I am not complaining about that! 

My February hopefuls were:

So how did I do? I succeeded and then some! I read 14 books (6,051 pages) in February, which I am really happy with - for reference, in February 2022 I read 8 books (2,966 pages), so this was a big improvement! And these 14 books include every single one off my hopefuls stack (except for one DNF) - which is probably a first for me as I can never stick to a reading plan.

Onto the book wrap-up!

Book 1: For the Throne - Hannah Whitten

I started the month with For the Throne, the second and final book in the Wilderwood duology by Hannah Whitten. I read the first one, For the Wolf, in January and had to pick the second one up as soon as it came in from the library - and I am glad I did! This was a wonderful follow-up to the first book, continuing the characters' journeys and really diving into the different worlds Whitten started to introduce throughout the first half of the adventure.

Book 2: The Girl with the Louding Voice - Abi Dare

I then continued with my library books and picked up The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare. Set in 2010's rural Nigeria, this was a great story, drawing attention to important topics that continue to need awareness in society today, such as: literacy of women, equal rights, education, political corruption, and abuse. I felt the story being written in broken English did result in many topics being discussed in less depth, but that could just be my want of diving into these topics pretty thoroughly, and not a comment on the story itself. This book is popular - for good reason!

Book 3: The Damage - Caitlin Wahrer

I switched gears and picked up a thriller next, having a craving for something quicker. The Damage by Caitlin Wahrer quickly draws you into a family dynamic and has the reader empathizing and emotional, right off the bat. Although the story was slower than I was expecting, it balanced two timelines well and showed the lesser-explored perspective of a male sexual abuse victim and the actions his family will take, to get justice.

Book 4: Snowflake - Louise Nealon

I picked up Snowflake next, and this left me with an overall feeling of "meh". I haven't thought about it since and probably won't. The story was slow moving, the character development was negligible and the 330 pages felt like twice that. It was written with a dreamy feeling, creating vague scenes and a disconnect from chapter to chapter.

Book 5: Love & Other Words - Christina Lauren

Since Valentine's Day was coming up, I picked up Love & Other Words by Christina Lauren and quite enjoyed the easy-going, quick flow of the novel. The reader views a dual perspective in the main character's life, as a teenager and eleven years later, and both timelines were captivating and moved the story along well. When it came to the crux of the issue the story builds up to, things were skimmed over a bit quickly to wrap-up, but a small complaint in the grand scheme of things. Up to that point, thoughts and actions were explained well!

Book 6: The Sugar Thief - Nancy Mauro

Keeping with a light theme, I picked up The Sugar Thief next, by Nancy Mauro. This book takes place in a small city on the North Shore of Lake Superior, and the local references sprinkled throughout (the Sleeping Giant, the Persian, and other landmarks) was a nice comfort for anyone who has lived in or visited Thunder Bay. That was about the only saving grace though. The characters were fairly annoying, quite petty, and marketing this book as a comedy was a mistake. This is a family drama, possibly family mystery - but not a funny story, nor does it contain humorous characters. This being deemed a "comedy" will probably lead to disappointment for fellow readers, as it did for me.

Book 7: The Judge's List - John Grisham

I picked up a John Grisham novel next, wanting to know I would experience a suspenseful, legal thriller, with small twists, that would keep me quickly turning pages. And that's what The Judge's List did! I found there was a bit of repetition in this story, but overall, I really enjoyed this one, and finished it within 24 hours of starting it - including a full workday and a solid sleep. A page-turner for sure! 

Book 8: A Promised Land - Barack Obama

I received two free audible credits this month - for reasons unknown - so I used one to finish a long overdue book: A Promised Land by Barack Obama. I was lent this book the fall of 2021 and got almost 300 pages in and then picked up other things and got distracted for 16 months (yes, 16 entire MONTHS) before picking it back up again, although this time, I listened to it. I enjoyed the insight and information Obama packed into every single page. This was a very thorough and detailed account of his two terms as President of the USA. This was a very dense book, and I only recommend picking this one up if government practices, policy and economic situations interest you. It was well-written and very good - just very thorough explanations and very few personal anecdotes.

Book 9: The Heart's Invisible Furies - John Boyne

On Valentine's Day it only seemed appropriate to pick up the pink library book from my shelf, appropriately titled, The Heart's Invisible Furies, by John Boyne. This book starts in 1945 rural Ireland, and continues over multiple decades. I enjoyed how Boyne explored many different themes, to varying degrees, and set a very clear picture of society's views and practices at the time. There were a lot of difficult parts to read - thank you history - but was a very impactful read for the same reason.

Book 10: In the Lives of Puppets - TJ Klune

Then I read In the Lives of Puppets by T J Klune, since I was lucky enough to get a copy from the publisher! This one really explored the idea of what it is to be human, to feel emotions and to be an imperfect and flawed being. This was wonderfully done, with a mildly suspenseful adventure unfolding throughout the pages of this book. I was lucky enough to get the ARC for this book, but you can get a copy soon, since it will be published April 25, 2023. Keep an eye out for this one!

Book 11: The Kind Worth Killing - Peter Swanson

I switched gears because I had to finish a library book by the deadline, so I read The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson. This had an interesting morally grey kind of character that I thought was written really well. For the first quarter of this one, I was kind of waiting for the story to get going, but then boom - unexpected plot turn - and I was hooked. The rest of the story was a suspenseful thriller, which I've come to expect and appreciate in Swanson's novels. I am looking forward to picking up the sequel.

Book 12: The Villa - Rachel Hawkins

I picked The Villa by Rachel Hawkins to read next, hoping for a quick, fast-paced thriller. Unfortunately, this one didn't deliver quite what I was hoping for. The story started and ended with quite a slow pace, hardly picking up in the middle. The suspense and intrigue you hope for in a thriller wasn't quite there either. This is a relatively short book, so I finished it and moved on.

Book 13: Uprooted - Naomi Novik

Uprooted by Naomi Novik was recommended to me by a couple people and I was nervous my expectations were too high going in, but wow! This one grabbed me with the first line and didn't let go. I absolutely loved this book, evidenced in that I devoured the 435 pages within 24 hours. This was a splendid fantasy, full of magic and adventure in a small valley village surrounded by woods. This was an amazing read and I will definitely be looking for more books by Novik.

The Book of Longings - Sue Monk Kidd

I was lent the Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd and wanted to finish it this month so I could return it. The good news is that I can return it, the bad news is that I quit reading it. I was not enjoying it, so I moved on to other books.

Book 14: The Queen of the Tearling - Erika Johansen

I unintentionally saved the best book for last this month. I picked up The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen and was blown away. I finished this one in 24 hours, and am upset that I didn't have book two on my shelf already. This was a phenomenal read, with great characters, an exciting plot, and a magical world unfolding. This was suspenseful, spoke to different societal issues through a fantasy perspective, and the main character was a great balance of youth and maturity. A five star read for sure that I will be recommending to everyone!

I finished The Queen of the Tearling, the last book on my hopefuls stack, on February 28th, meeting my goal for the month! Came close at the end, but we did it!

So all in all, a good month! Although the shortest month of the year, I made some great headway in my reading goals! I'm looking forward to seeing what March will bring!

If you're interested in individual reviews, following along with my reading updates or chatting about books, check out my Instagram page @reading.with.t !