Top Ten Tuesday: Classic Female Writers 101

It would be my dream to take a class composed of solely female writers. I have talked about the lack of diversity on my required reading lists as an English major many times here on the blog. So today I have composed a reading list that I would love to see in a female writers class. I have read all these and will link you to my reviews. 

Hosted by: The Broke and the Bookish

There are many improvements I would love to make to this list and many books by women I need to read yet. You will notice that there is only one woman of color on this list, which of course means I need to get to my giant TBR pile of books by women of color. 

 

1.  Persuasion by Jane Austen- 1817

Of course Austen had to make this list, this is one of my favorite Austen's and after studying it in class, I have really come to appreciate it and think about it quite often. This is a great Austen to start with, but of course I recommend all of her other works as well. 

2. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley- 1818

The only word to describe this novel is masterpiece; Shelley wrote this when she was only nineteen and it is one of the most brilliant novels I have ever read. The themes in this novel are so in-depth but the writing and plot are so easy to follow. This is a must read.

3. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte-1847

Jane Eyre is one of the most resilient characters in all of literature. I love this character-study novel and Jane's bravery. This is the only Charlotte Bronte I have read so far, but of course I have plans to read more.  

 

4. The Awakening by Kate Chopin- 1899

Kate Chopin is my home-girl. Her short stories will blow you away, and The Awakening is such a brave piece of writing for its time. I first read it in high school and hated it because I couldn't connect to it at the time, but reading it again while in my early-twenties blew me away. 

5. Trifles by Susan Glaspell- 1916 (Scroll to the bottom of the post for thoughts on this one)

This is a brilliant one act play that I am itching to reread. It has the cutting wit that great feminist pieces often have.

6. A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf- 1929

This classic essay touches on the struggles of the woman artist and scholar. Trust me, it will have you nodding your head along in agreement the entire way through. 

 

7. Passing by Nella Larson-1929

This is a book that doesn't get enough love! This is a novel about race and women and has a great ending. I was so engaged the entire time I read this. 

8. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath- 1963

One of my all-time favorite novels and one of my all-time favorite authors, Plath is a must read. If you are a young female student, this book will save your life. The brunt honestly that Plath writes with shocks and pleases me oh-so-much. 

9. Memoirs of a Beatnik by Diane di Prima- 1969

This is the memoir that di Prima was asked to write by her male publisher and not her real memoir (read my review for more info. on this because it's so interesting and infuriating.) This novel is a must read because of the commentary it makes on what is considered "interesting" from women writers. I'm really eager to read di Prima's real memoir, and make sure you check out her poetry too because its great.

10. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood- 1985

Atwood is a modern staple in women writers, and this novel is disturbing and so important. If I could put one book in the hands of every human, it would be this one. 

What books did I miss? What did you think about any of these reads? 

Have a great school year if you're headed back to school! 

End of the Summer (Hopeful) TBR

AH! August is the beginning of the end for summer vacation. At the end of August I start my last semester of classes before student teaching, which means my reading time for the next year (or really the rest of my life) will be limited. So here's a quick list of books that I want to squeeze in before the end of the summer in between finishing my online class and studying for certification tests (big sad/stressed face.)

 

Trying to knock a couple of books off on my Classics Club Women's Lit event TBR with these two. I haven't made a lot of progress with this list this year as last semester was so much busier than I expected, but I want to keep going and carry over whatever I don't get done to next year. George Elliot's essay Silly Novels by Lady Novelists caught my attention when I came across it while writing a paper on the Domestic Novel for a lit class last fall and Elizabeth Bowen is an author I really think I'm going to like.

 

I still haven't gotten to this much beloved sequel, A Court of Mist and Fury, because I forgot pretty much everything about book one. I think this will be a great book to end the summer with (after I find a recap of the first book) as it's a fun series with a kick-butt female and some sexy times. I've heard over-and-over that this is way better than book one. Bone Gap won the Printz award recently and is magical realism. That's really all I need to hear to want to pick it up.

What are you trying to squeeze in before the end of the summer?

Recently Read: Memoirs of a Beaknik (Or what happens when a woman writes about sex)

Author: Diane di Prima
Genre: Classic/Memoir (kinda)
Publication Date: 1968
Page Count: 194
Rating: 3/5

Add on Goodreads

More about the Beats:
Literary Look: The Beatnik Movement
On the Road by Jack Kerouac Review 
The Beats: Graphic Novel Review

Buckle you seat-belts, it's going to be a wild ride of sexism and bohemianism. 

If you are unaware, Diane di Prima is a poet who wrote during the Beatnik movement in America. For more information on the movement you can read my Literary Look linked above, but it took place during the late 50s to early 60s. The Beats are comparable to modern day hipsters, expect they did a lot of drugs and couch surfing. They were the ultimate bohemians and wrote about their real experiences, many were drug induced, and their real lives. Their works may be embellished or slightly changed, but most of them are based on true stories and true people. This movement was famously dominated by men and it was very hard for women to gain any popularity or critical respect in the movement. di Prima was one of the few women to do this, and is often recognized as the leading female poet of the Beat era. 

The Beats are pretty controversial; you either love them or hate them. I love them, but I can understand why people hate them.They do a lot of drugs and creating and not much else, but I find them endlessly fascinating because of their lack of care or worry. If you are not a fan of the Beat movement and all that rejection of society and responsibility, you will not enjoy this one. Just like most works from this movement, this book contains an ungodly amount of drugs, sex, and carelessness. 

First of all, it is important to understand that this is not di Prima's real memoir. That came in the form of recollections of My Life as a Woman: The New York Years published years later in 2001. This is the edition of her memoirs that her publisher thought would sell best. di Prima was asked to put as much sex as possible in the book and that's just what she did. In the afterword of the book di Prima states, 

"Gobs of words would go off to New York whenever the rent was due, and come back with “MORE SEX” scrawled across the top page in Maurice’s inimitable hand, and I would dream up odd angles of bodies or weird combinations of humans and cram them in and send it off again. Sometimes I’d wander the house looking for folks to check things out with: “Lie down,” I’d say, “I want to see if this is possible.”" 

 I know a lot of people are not aware of this, but as I was reading the reviews of this book on Goodreads I couldn't help but notice something strange that happens when women write about sex. If you know anything about the Beats, you will know that the "founders" (Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, and Neal Cassidy) had sex with everyone, including each other. They write about this in all of their works, the number of women Kerouac has sex with in On the Road is over ten at the least, but no one bats an eye. Not many would label On the Road as pornographic but you bet your last dollar they labeled di Primas's novel pornographic and question its literary value.

Women write about fictional sex in numerous romance novels and make billions of dollars, but once it is suggested that the sex is not fictional but the real experience of the author (which the word memoir does in this case) forget about it, this isn't literature, it's obscene.

Did di Prima have sex with every human she met? No. Did her male editor disregard the value of her true experience of being a woman writer in an all-male literary scene and latch on to the suggestive scenes as a way to provide entertainment and make money off of a woman's story? Probably.  

I'm really glad that I read this before di Prima's real memoir, as this was such a thought provoking read. I'm really excited to read her real memoir to get a better sense of what her experience in the movement was like. Reading classics can be very frustrating at times because women were so often excluded or pushed under the rug, but it is so rewarding to experience and examine women's experiences through the angle of literature, and the story of this novel's publication says so much more about the experience of di Prima in the literary scene than the words inside her novel. The way that we view this novel and the frankness with which di Prima writes about her sexuality and sexual encounters continues to provide a lens through which we can view the double standards and expectations we place on women vs. men when it comes to sexuality.

Read some of di Prima's poetry here.

Summer Reading Priorites

Hi all! I thought I would start off my return to the blog with a quick post about my top priorities for summer reading. I have stacks of unread books everywhere in my room, and they are taking over. So here's some of the books that are highest of my TBR. If you have already read them, let me know what you thought about them!

 

 

 

 

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books on my Spring TBR

I have not had a lot of extra reading or blogging time this semester, so I have a huge pile of books I really want to get to. I know I probably won't get to all of these before the semester ends and my summer semester begins, but these are ten books that I'm really hoping to read this season. 

Hosted by: The Broke and the Bookish

 

1. Blue Lilly, Lilly Blue by Maggie Stiefvater 

I have been trying to get to this one forever, but haven't found the time yet. Hopefully I can get to it before the fourth book is released!

2. These Vicious Masks by Kelly Zekas and Tarun Shanker 

I just picked this one up the other day and I think it will be a really fun and fast read. It's advertised as a mix of x-men and Jane Austen, which I'm all about. 

3. A Tyranny of Petticoats Edited by Jessica Spotswood

I just picked this one up the other day as well. I have been waiting for this one to come out. It's a short story collection where all the stories involve women heroines in historical settings. There are some really great authors in here and I can't wait to pick this one up. 

 

4. The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy

I treated myself to this one for my birthday and I'm excited to get to it. I think it's going to be a quick and entertaining read. 

5. The Heat of the Day by Elizabeth Bowen

This is one of my Women's Lit. Classic's Club picks. I think I am really going to enjoy Bowen's works once I get into them, and I want to start ASAP.

6. A Study in Charlotte by  

I have this one out from the library right now and I'm hoping I can get to it before it has to go back.

 

7. Silly Novels by Lady Novelists by George Elliot

This essay is also on my Women's Lit list. I'm interested to get into this one because I'm not sure what stance Elliot is going to take on the women novelist of her time. 

8. The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

Of course I waiting right alongside the rest of the world for this one to come out. Love that cover! 

For School 

9. Bletchley Park Research

Still Reading and organizing research on my women codebreakers paper. I'm hoping to outline it today, right after this post which I'm using as a procrastination technique. 

10.  One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams Garcia

This is the last novel I will be reading this semester for school and it's a middle grade so I'm looking forward to it. I have never read it, but it has earned tons of awards and praise. 

What are you reading right now? What's on your TBR? I'm so out of the loop because of the small amount of blogging I've been doing; fill me in! 

Recently Read: Gigi and The Cat

Author: Colette
Genre: Classic- Novellas
Publication Date: 1953
Page Count: 156
Rating: 4/5

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This is my first experience with Colette, who I have been wanting to read for quite some time. This edition contains two short novellas, both of which are translated from French. I have never seen the movie Gigi, so I was unfamiliar with the both stories in this edition.

I really enjoyed both of these stories, but I think I enjoyed The Cat a bit more. Both stories take an interesting look at women's rolse in love and marriage, and I really enjoyed the writing. I'm interested to see the movie Gigi now, and I'm definitely searching out more of Collette's works. I would also love to read more about her as a person, as what I know so far is pretty interesting. A lot of her works seem to deal with women, love, and sexuality in interesting ways. 

Gigi is the story of a young women being groomed to be a courtesan by her grandmother and mother. I found this story to be pretty enjoyable and I read it in one sitting. Of course, because it is only sixty pages I felt like it could have been more fleshed out and the characters more developed, but I really enjoyed it for what it was. I know the movie is pretty watered down and contains a lot of singing so I would love to compare the two.

The Cat is about a young and newly married man's love for his pet cat and his reluctance to give up the cat once he is married. This story was a bit odd, but really interesting. The young couple were both fully developed characters, as well as the cat. I thought the themes and ideas in this one were pretty interesting and the way it looked at marriage was interesting as well. I know Colette had a bad marriage in her lifetime, which could be why her ideas on love and sexuality are so interesting for her time. 

I think these two stories are a really good introduction to Colette and I'm really glad I put them on my Classics Club Women's Literature list! 

You can see all the posts I've done in the series so far here.

Recently Read: Frankenstein

Author: Mary Shelley
Genre: Classic- Gothic Horror
Publication Date: 1818
Page Count: 201
Rating: 5/5

Add on Goodreads

You might also like:
Literary Look: The Romantics
Literary Look: The Gothic Novel

I recently read Frankenstein for the first time for my British Literature class and I really enjoyed it. I had read Gris Grimly's graphic novel adaptation of it last year and absolutely loved it (his art style matches the story and tone perfectly) but this was my first time reading the original. I will be writing a paper about this and making a unit plan of lessons for a high school classroom based on this one so I will be working with it quite a bit this semester. Any thoughts or insights about this novel are welcome as usual! 

I'm fascinated by the origin story of this novel, and I would love to read more about Shelley and the Romantics in her circle. Shelley started writing this story when she was only 18 years old when she was stuck in Switzerland due to weather with a number of other Romantic writers. She says the idea for the story came to her in a waking dream and she composed the story as part of a bet the authors made to see who could write the best piece while stuck. At the time, Shelley was married to the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (who was still married to his first wife when they began their romance, they did not wed until his first wife had committed suicide) with whom she had a rather tremulous marriage; Shelley gave birth to four children, but only one survived. Shelley was not faithful to her, and he died in a drowning accident when Shelley was only twenty four. After his death, Shelley wrote to support herself and her son and worked to preserve her husband's work and place in literary history. She died of brain cancer at the age of fifty three.  

She first published Frankenstein under anonymous, and many thought that her husband had wrote it. Additionally, Mary Shelley's mother is the famous early feminist Mary Wollstonecraft who wrote A Vindication for the Rights of Women.   

Mary Shelley 

This novel has so many themes and ideas to explore. There is the idea of dangerous knowledge and science, ostracizing people for their appearance, responsibility of the creator, and man attempting to act as God. This is not a long novel, my copy is two hundred pages, but it is such a meaningful and thought provoking work that has fascinated and horrified readers for almost two hundred years. This novel is still extremely reliant as we are still grappling with the idea of dangerous knowledge and scientific advances to this day. 

Victor Frankenstein is horribly whiny, and in Shelley's eyes, an irresponsible creator (that idea can be applied to a creator of art or knowledge.) I really loved the contrast between the monster's "monsterly appearance" and eloquent language use and human emotions. In short, this novel is quite brilliant and something that you should experience. It is often considered one of the first science fiction works (if not the first) which is now a genre dominated by male authors, but started by a female author.  

See my other posts for the Classics Club Women's Literature Event 

Recently Read: The Lamplighter-- Classics Club Women's Literature Event

Author: Maria Susanna Cummins
Genre: Classic
Publication Date: 1854
Page Count: 480
Rating: 4/5

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Gertrude is a young orphan living with a mean old woman, until an incident leads her to be adopted by the lamplighter of the town, and older but soft-hearted gentlemen. Gertrude then builds herself a small family as she grows from an orphan child into a young woman.

I have to write a paper on this novel and create a presentation on it, so my review may be brief so I don't get tired of writing about this novel before I even begin my school writing on it. You know how it goes.

Maria Susanna Cummins was quite successful financially for her writing in 1800's America, and this book sold thousands of copies. Now, like many women writers, she is mostly forgotten. This novel is very hefty. I read it over a couple of months in class, but I got the majority of it done via audiobook driving home and back to school. This book really reminded me of an American Jane Eyre. Gertrude is not conventionally beautiful, but she is exceptionally kind-hearted. She is a great character and quite resilient. If you liked Jane Eyre, I think you would really enjoy this. The religious themes are quite heavy since it was mid-1800's America, but I really enjoyed this novel I lot more than I thought I would, and I loved that I got to discover a new-to-me and forgotten women author.

This book was considered a domestic novel when it was released, as was pretty much any book written by a female author about a female character, and was therefore dismissed by the literary critics and never made it into the cannon. There is an extreme lack of diversity in the American Lit class I am taking right now, and my blood has been boiling all semester for all of the women and people of color that have been left out of this class. We have read ten Hawthorne stories, and excerpts of two women's works. We have read one page bios of all of these important and leading feminist writers, but none of their works. I can't stress enough how much we STILL need to widen the cannon to let in authors that are not white, middle class, Christian men! That's part of the reason why I am so excited about this event. Women had to be twice as good as men to get any literary respect and if they did get it, it was more-than-likely because they published under a male or gender neutral pseudonym.

I have a post planned all about the forgotten women of American Lit, which I wrote a paper on earlier in the semester and really enjoyed researching for. I'll be working on re-tuning the paper soon, so I will be sharing the post soon as well.

Let me know what you have posted for the Women's Event, or if you have read any great posts for it lately!

  

Poetry Spotlight: Anne Bradstreet-- Classics Club Women's Literature

In my second year of college I took an Introduction to Poetry class and I fell in love with reading poetry. Before then, poetry was always a little intimidating and a medium that I didn't have much experience with. But after that class, I became addicted to reading poetry, and during the class I actually found myself thinking in and expressing myself in poetry- which I never would have guessed would happen in a million years. So, with this series I'm here to share some of my favorite poems in a way that I'm sure will turn out rambley and unorganized.

See my previous Poetry Spotlight posts HERE

Today, I'm spotlighting Anne Bradstreet, an early Colonial- American poet. 

Anne Bradstreet was born into a prominent Puritan family in 1612, which migrated from England to Massachusetts Bay in 1630. Her father would become governor of the colony, and years later her husband Simon Bradstreet and her brother Joseph would become governor as well. Anne was given the typical education of an aristocratic family, and was educated in the bible, literature, and languages. She was eighteen and two years married when she came to the colonies. She and her husband enjoyed a loving marriage and had eight children. Simon Bradstreet recognized and encouraged his wife's talents, and she wrote poetry that was published for the elite classes in the colonies and England. 

Bradstreet's poetry was published with slight political intentions by her brother-in-law to promote the necessity of continuing the Massachusetts colonies with the intentions of converting Native Americans. The poetry that was published publicly was religious and prestigious, but Bradstreet is now known for her private poetry that was not published during her lifetime and was addressed to her friends and family, particularly her husband. 

Bradstreet is often referred to as and considered to be the first American poet, and was very well-known and praised for her poetry during her lifetime.  

Poems 

Click the poem title to read it

The Author to Her Book: Perhaps Bradstreet's most well-known and anthologized poem, this poem discusses the love and frustration between an author and their creation. The metaphor of the book as a child works really well in this poem, and the idea of seeing all the flaws in something you have finished or turned over for public view is extremely realtable.  

Upon the Burning of Our House July 10th, 1666: The religious themes and influence is very clear in this poem. The poem presents the idea of the needlessness of earthly possessions and homes, because the speaker feels their real home will be in Heaven with God after they have died. It's quite a beautifully written poem, with a hint of emotion.  

Before the Birth of One of Her Children: This poem is Bradstreet's musings on death and a message to her loved ones if she should die during the birth of one of her children. Bradstreet's worries are very clear in this poem, and to see worries of death converted into art is quite a lovely thing.

To My Dear and Loving Husband: This poem is quite romantic and personal, and something that would have only been published after Bradstreet's death. It's a great example of a poem about devoted love, and quite lovely to read. 

Who are some of your favorite poets or poems? I'm also eager to discover new favorites. 

You can see the rest of my posts for the Classics Club Women's Literature Event HERE!    

   

The Classics Club: Women's Classic Literature Event

So. I'm not officially a member of the Classic's Club, but I am very familiar with the project and love reading the posts of those who are in the club. When I saw a few different bloggers (exhibit A, exhibit B) post their introduction post to this project, I decided to join in. You can read about the event here, but basically the event runs from now until the end of December 2016, and the goal is to read as many classics by women as you can. This event comes at a perfect time for me because I was just discussing my frustrations with a classmate about the lack of diversity on the reading list for my American Literature class this semester. 

I have decided to make a list of all of the classics I currently own by women authors, and I will try to get through as many as I can in the next year. I'm not setting a certain number to read because you guys know how overwhelmed I get with school sometimes, but I really want to make a dent in the books I own. I will be compiling a list and posting it in the next few weeks, and adding it as a page at the top of my blog. For now though, I will be answering the introductory questions for this event, as I think they are quite fun. 

I hope you join in, and if you do, please let me know so I can follow your progress! 

Introduce yourself. Tell us what you are most looking forward to in this event.

I'm Mallory, I'm an English Education major with a history minor. I love classic literature and I'm really looking forward to discovering new authors and pieces that are left out of the cannon that I am required to read for my degree. I often get fed up with the lack of diversity on my reading lists.

Have you read many classics by women? Why or why not?

Not as many as I would like to have read, but I'm hoping this event will help me with that. 

Pick a classic female writer you can’t wait to read for the event, & list her date of birth, her place of birth, and the title of one of her most famous works.

I'm really looking forward to reading more Edith Wharton for this event. I read and loved Ethan Frome a few years back, but haven't continued on with her works yet. She was born in New York. New York in 1862. She is the author of The Age of Innocence and The House of Mirth both of which I would love to read for this challenge.

 Think of a female character who was represented in classic literature by a male writer. Does she seem to be a whole or complete woman? Why or why not? Tell us about her. (Without spoilers, please!)

The last female character I read that was written by a male author was Tess from Tess of the D'urbervilles by Thomas Hardy. This book was pretty feminist for its time, and while Tess' life is full of tragedy, I do think she is a complete woman for her time. She has some moments in the book of full clarity and states that what has happened to her is unfair in every way. It's a really great novel, if you haven't read it I highly recommend it. 

Then there is also the women characters in the 1920's literature by prolific authors such as Fitzgerald and Hemingway. Those characters are not complete and are usually used as a plot device to cause ruin for a male character. Modernism was a tough time for women characters. 

Favorite classic heroine? (Why? Who wrote her?)

Lately I have been thinking a lot about Jane Austen's Emma. I think Emma is sassy and so unusual for her time. She is selfish and pretentious and imperfect, and that's exactly why I love her. 

We’d love to help clubbers find great titles by classic female authors. Can you recommend any sources for building a list? (Just skip this question if you don’t have any at this point.)

I know that Persephone Books is a publishing house that solely publishes female writers, and often time female writers that have been forgotten and pushed aside. They are beautiful books, but hard to get a hold of in the states.

Here's a list of 20th century female authors.
And here's a list of Overlooked Classics by female authors. (I have read and loved Passing by Nella Larson from this list.
And my previous Women Writers list may give you some inspiration.

Recommend three books by classic female writers to get people started in this event. (Again, skip over this if you prefer not to answer.)

Sylvia Plath's Ariel and The Bell Jar are fantastic.

Jane Austen is a must read; I've read, Emma, Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, and Sense and Sensibility (Emma is my favorite)

Kate Chopin's The Awakening and short stories are life changing.   

Will you be joining us for this event immediately, or will you wait until the new year starts?

I will begin now I think. I will just be gradually working on my list of novels and ladies, in fact I already have a list of women author's I made a year or so ago here that I want to read too. 

Do you plan to read as inspiration pulls, or will you make out a preset list?

Both, I'm making a list, but not strictly sticking to it, or aiming to complete it. 

Are you pulling to any particular genres? (Letters, journals, biographies, short stories, novels, poems, essays, etc?)

All of the above!

Are you pulling to a particular era or location in literature by women?

Nope!

Do you hope to host an event or readalong for the group? No

 worries if you don’t have details. We’re just curious!

Maybe something this summer when I have a little more free time for reading! I would love to participate in readalongs though, so let me know of any that are happening!

Is there an author or title you’d love to read with a group or a buddy for this event? Sharing may inspire someone to offer.

hmm I'm not sure. Perhaps Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston or Beloved by Toni Morrison.

Share a quote you love by a classic female author — even if you haven’t read the book yet.

"Let me live, love, and say it well in good sentences." 

-Sylvia Plath from The Journals of Sylvia Plath

Finally, ask the question you wish this survey had asked, & then answer it.

Have you found many women authors on your required reading lists?

I haven't! I read two books by women authors in high school, which is shocking because I took almost every English class offered. And my college course have pretty much stuck to the white-male cannon to my horror.


To keep up with me, you guys can follow on Bloglovin' and add me on Goodreads. Let me know if you are joining in so I can follow your progress, and check back for my list of female authors and novels soon!