FYI - 2009 Best Books of the Year in Paperback

A Short History of Women and Half Broke Horses, both in the 10 Best Books of the Year list from the NYTimes, are out this summer in paperback - perfect for your summer travels.

What each book brings is a fresh perspective of strong women from the past - and how strong women of the past paved the way for the women of today.




A Short History of Women, by Kate Walbert, brings multi-generational perspectives of women - all the women a long line of decendents from a famous suffragette - one who starved herself in the name of women's rights. Each character grapples with her place in the history of women - and in what role she plays (or doesn't) in standing up for her rights. But its not all about politics and history - the characters everyday lives, emotions, and beliefs seem to be the kind of thoughts that swim around in your head too. And the writing itself is superb. The NYTimes states:

"The trouble is that each chapter is like a slice of exquisite cake. But the reviewer’s predicament is the reader’s pleasure. I found myself going back time and again to reread whole paragraphs, not because they’d been obscure, but in the way one might press a finger to the crumbs littering an otherwise cleaned plate: out of a desire to savor every morsel."



For Half Broke Horses the main character is strong in the no-nonsense, depression-era mindset of i-don't-have-time-to-be-frivolous-or-worry-too-much-about-my-feelings sort of way. Yet throughout the story you do get to the heart of the character when, small or large, tragedy strikes from time to time - never keeping her down for too long. Always moving, growing, and dealing with what life throws her way. But its not just that she becomes a sort of champion of getting through life, its also that she generally deviates from what was expected of her at the time. She doesn't have the time or the inclination to follow cultural sanctions or expectations. She just has to figure out the best way to survive and enjoy her life when possible. What's more is that this character is based off of Jeannette Walls' own grandmother (her picture above). Walls' first book, The Glass Castle, was the story of her childhood - and Half Broke Horses acts as a prequel to the first book - showing the history of her grandmother and glimpses of her Mother's upbringing. This is as close to a real-life generational history of women that you can get. As the NYTimes review points out "In an author’s note, Walls writes that she considers “Half Broke Horses” less a novel than an 'oral history, a retelling of stories handed down by my family through the years.'"


Half Broke Horses
Jeannette Walls
Out in paperback Sept 7th

Short History of Women
Kate Walbert
Out in paperback June 15th


Click the title for review and excerpts.