#readwomen2014: My favourites

Because I've been ridiculously caught up in organising the Valentine's Ninja Book Swap I somehow missed out on the #readwomen2014 thing that's been going on on Twitter. Not sure how I did that, but anyway I've done a little reading about it and it sounds brilliant! I know I read a fair amount of books by women anyway, but I feel that lately I spend a lot of time talking about sexism and inequality and that this would be something active to do. I came up with a little twitter list off the top of my head of female authors I'd recommend, but it got me wanting to go and look at my keeper shelf and see which women I actually love too much to part with.

The twitter list was as follows: Scarlett Thomas, Charlotte Bronte, Margaret Atwood, Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott, Erin Morgenstern, Angela Carter.

Here's what my shelves say are my favourites:

1. Louisa May Alcott - no surprises here but I think everybody should probably read at least Little Women, if not the three sequels. Personally I love them all but I know that other people (hi Laura!) disagree! Little Women is the most comforting of all the books I own and I will never stop loving it. Her other books - that I've read so far anyway! - are also generally pretty good :-) 
2. Sarah Addison Allen - a discovery I made since I started blogging. Her books are lovely - full of magic and food and recipes (love a book with recipes) and women who are generally fairly awesome. They're kind of just about things that happen to people every day, but with a bit of magic thrown in, and gorgeous covers.
3. Kate Atkinson - just the Jackson Brodie books at the moment, but I'm sure that will change! I read Behind The Scenes at the Museum and although I can't now tell you what it was about I remember it being totally brilliant, because I found it on the 'literary fiction' shelf in my then local bookshop around the time when everybody was talking about how literary Ian McEwan (whose books I mostly hate, sorry) was and she is so much more accessible than him!!
4. Margaret Atwood - I have a lot on my TBR and have read a lot from the library, but The Handmaid's Tale and Alias Grace I had to go out and buy after I'd read them because they were just so good. I think Margaret Atwood might be the queen of clever, complex female characters and of exploring social issues through her fiction without making you feel like she's pushing her own agenda. 
5. Joanne Harris - again, lots of food and magic and generally awesome characters. I love her writing, and how strong but also flawed her female characters are. Vianne is great. 
6. Zoe Heller - I read Notes on a Scandal after seeing the film and immediately went and got her other books, because she is a writer who tells not so beautiful stories in a beautiful way. Definitely worth reading. 
7. Harper Lee - If you've read To Kill a Mockingbird I probably don't have to explain why she's here. If you haven't, go and do it now.
8.Jodi Picoult - In all honesty the reason I've kept so many of her books is because a lot of them have incredibly gripping storylines. Of late I've felt a bit like she gets carried away with whatever issue it is she's addressing in her books, but in the past the storyline was the thing. Particularly Plain Truth, Salem Falls and Mercy. 
9. J.K Rowling - she has a place on this list at the moment thanks to the awesome genius of Harry Potter. I've not yet read The Casual Vacancy or the other one (whose name currently escapes me) she published under a pen name, but I've heard mixed things about both of them. I will read them at some point, though, because I've always wondered if she's actually a good writer or just a woman who had a bloody brilliant idea. 
10. Scarlet Thomas - Scarlet Thomas is the writer I constantly recommend to people. If I had to pick one woman writer to recommend to people for the rest of all time, it would probably be her. I adore her books (except Bright Young Things which was only ok) because I relate so much to her characters and I love how they all have a science/maths/mystery type twist to them. She writes very clever fiction for the most part, and I look forward to everything she publishes. 
11. The Brontes - I know it's kind of awful and cheaty to put three great writers into one sentence, but actually I've only read one book by each of them (obviously there is only one book by Emily, but you know) at the moment, and of course I love Jane Eyre, but The Tenant of Wildfell Hall was so much better than I expected it to be and actually hilarious in places. Probably my favourite classic I've read recently. 
12. Erin Morgenstern - shouldn't probably be on here yet as she's only written one novel, but it was far and away the best novel I've read in the last two years. The Night Circus is brilliant and stunning and full of amazing magic. It makes you want to go and live there, no matter how many times you read it, and her description is so vivid you can almost smell the popcorn. 
13. J. Courtney Sullivan - I wasn't sure about putting her on here, but in the end I loved Maine so much I have to. She writes about relationships really, but generally the ones that get overlooked. Her latest novel, The Engagements was about a woman in advertising who writes the adverts for diamond engagement rings, while never actually getting married herself. Her stories are interesting, and usually not quite what you're expecting. 
14. Jane Austen - Because she has to be on here, really. I've enjoyed, at varying levels, all of her books, and Pride and Prejudice is probably one of my favourites. Unexpectedly I also really liked Emma. She isn't the greatest or my favourite, but she is undoubtedly a great female writer. 
15. Catherynne M. Valente - So far I've only read The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making and The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There but just wow. Such cool, quirky 'Alice in Wonderland' style stories, and I love September. I can't think of a stronger, cooler girl role model in kids fiction in recent years. 

So that's my list, and because I'm obsessed with lists I'm now going in search of lists of awesome books by women so that I can make yet more lists of things to read! What are your favourites? 

A New (and slightly obscure) Challenge

So yesterday I was up in London with my fiance, and we found an amazing Oxfam bookshop, in which I was rummaging, when I came across a copy of one of my absolute favourite books growing up, 'The Growing Summer', by Noel Streafeild. Then I started thinking about how much I adored her books as a child, and how great it would be to reread them, and on doing a bit of digging I discovered that she's written a huge amount more than I had previously realised. Given my current addiction to challenges, I thought that I'd set myself a little bit of a trial and see how many I could read in 2011. (I think that this will include rereads, as it's been years since I read any really) I think that most people would know her primarily as the author of Ballet Shoes, but would be interested to hear if anybody else loved her books as a child!

Just as an aside, here is an awesome poem from 'The Growing Summer':

The Courtship of the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo
Edward Lear 1812-1888

On the Coast of Coromandel, Where the early pumpkins grow, In the middle of the woods Lived the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo. Two old chairs, and half a candle, One old jug without a handle, These were all his worldly goods: In the middle of the woods, These were all the worldly goods Of the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo. Of the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo. Once, among the Bong-trees walking Where the early pumpkins grow, To a little heap of stones Came the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo. There he heard a Lady talking, To some milk-white Hens of Dorking, "'Tis the Lady Jingly Jones! On that little heap of stones Sits the Lady Jingly Jones!" Said the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo. Said the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo. "Lady Jingly! Lady Jingly! Sitting where the pumpkins grow, Will you come and be my wife?" Said the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo. "I am tired of living singly, On this coast so wild and shingly, I'm a-weary of my life; If you'll come and be my wife, Quite serene would be my life!" Said the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo. Said the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo. "On this Coast of Coromandel, Shrimps and watercresses grow, Prawns are plentiful and cheap," Said the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo. "You shall have my chairs and candle, And my jug without a handle! - Gaze upon the rolling deep (Fish is plentiful and cheap) - As the sea, my love is deep!" Said the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo. Said the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo. Lady Jingly answered sadly, And her tears began to flow, "Your proposal comes too late, Mr. Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo! I would be your wife most gladly!" (Here she twirled her fingers madly) "But in England I've a mate! Yes! you've asked me far too late, For in England I've a mate, Mr. Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo! Mr. Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo!

"Mr Jones - (his name is Handel - Handel Jones, Esquire, & Co.) Dorking fowls delights to send, Mr Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo! Keep, oh! keep your chairs and candle, And your jug without a handle, I can merely be your friend! - Should my Jones more Dorking send, I will give you three, my friend! Mr. Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo! Mr. Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo! "Though you've such a tiny body, And your head so large doth grow, Though your hat may blow away, Mr. Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo! Though you're such a Boddy Doddy - Yet I wish that I could modi- fy the words I needs must say! Will you please to go away? That is all I have to say - Mr. Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo, Mr. Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo!" Down the slippery slopes of Myrtle, Where the early pumpkins grow, To the calm and silent sea Fled the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo. There beyond the Bay of Gurtle, Lay a large and lively Turtle; "You're the Cove," he said, "for me; On your back beyond the sea, Turtle, you shall carry me!" Said the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo. Said the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo. Through the silent-roaring ocean Did the Turtle swiftly go; Holding fast upon his shell Rode the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo, With a sad primaeval motion Towards the sunset isles of Boshen Still the Turtle bore him well, Holding fast upon his shell. "Lady Jingly Jones, farewell!" Sang the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo, Sang the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo. From the Coast of Coromandel Did that Lady never go; On that heap of stones she mourns For the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo. On that Coast of Coromandel, In his jug without a handle, Still she weeps, and daily moans; On that little heap of stones To her Dorking Hens she moans For the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo. For the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo.

The list of her books is here, and if anybody else wants to join in, feel free! :-)