home button About the Book Button Appearances & Exhibits Button Join the Celebration Button Festival Directory Button Behind the Scenes Button Press Button Contact Us Button
Join the Celebration - Read a Fiction or Nonfiction Book
young woman in doorway with newspaper glued on the wall

These wonderful books include stories, reports and research by and about women
around the world. (P.S. There are even more in the bibliography of
Celebrating Women
and Women Who Light the Dark.)

 
Fiction
 

 

A Secret for Julia. Mercedes, imprisoned as a dissident during Argentina's "dirty war," was raped and fled, pregnant, to London. Twenty years later, her torturer reappears.
This mystery, a psychological coming-of-age tale for her daughter, won the prestigious Premio La Niacin prize. The novel provides a profound, beautiful examination of the effects of a period in Argentina's history
known for the 30,000 who "disappeared," whose mothers and grandmothers (the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo) refuse to forget.
MORE

confetti

Interpreter of Maladies. Some of these 9 short stories are set in India, others in the United States. All are about people of Indian heritage but the situations that Jhumpa Lahiri's characters face, from
unhappy marriages to civil war, transcend
ethnicity. They will resonant for everyone
who has grown up, left home, fallen in or
out of love, and, above all, experienced
what it means to be a foreigner, even within one's own family.
MORE

confetti

 

 

 


The Color Purple. Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning classic describes an abused, uneducated black woman's struggle. Celie’s letters tell the story of 20 years of her life. At age 14, she is abused and raped by her father; during her marriage to Mister, a brutal man who terrorizes her, she attempts to protect her sister from the same fate. Celie eventually learns that her husband has been keeping her sister's letters from her; the rage she feels--combined with an example of love and independence provided by her friend Shug --pushes her toward the awakening of her creative, loving self.
MORE

confetti

confetti

Green Cane and Juicy Flotsam: Short Stories by Caribbean Women. Women from Trinidad, Jamaica, Haiti, Cuba, The Dominican Republic, Surinam, Puerto Rico, Antigua, Guadeloupe and
Dominica tell 27 stories that are poetically written (and translated) yet sword-sharp with anger at being born victims thanks to their sex, race and class. Some of these talented writers are unknown outside their countries.
MORE

Annie John is a haunting, provocative story of a young girl growing up on the island of Antigua. Kincaid’s novel focuses on a universal, tragic, and
sometimes comic theme: the loss of childhood. Readers will not soon forget Annie’s voice— urgent, demanding to be heard.
MORE

confetti

 

 

confetti

 

Caetana’s Sweet Song. Set in 1970 in a small provincial town in Brazilian, Polidoro, a wealthy cattle baron, grants his aging former mistress her heart's desire, just as he promised when they were young lovers. Caetana wants to be Maria Callas for one night; Polidoro, still smitten, sets out to provide her with a theater and an audience while his wife does everything possible to sabotage her rival's performance.
MORE.

Caramelo is the multi-generational story of a Mexican-American family whose voices create a dazzling mix of humor, passion and poignancy. The novel opens with the family’s annual car trip from Chicago to Mexico City. Studs Terkel calls it “A crazy, funny folk saga.” He’s right.
MORE

confetti

 

The God of Small Things. To quote the USA Today review: “Offers such magic, mystery and sadness that, literally, this reader turned the last page and decided to reread it. Immediately. It’s that hauntingly wonderful.”
MORE

confetti

The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. The first book in Alexander McCall Smith’s engaging series about Mma Ramotswe, founder and owner of Botswana’s only detective agency for the “concerns of both ladies and others.”
MORE

 

Namako/Sea Cucumber. Linda Watanabe McFerrin writes, “I came at last to namako, a word that in the Japanese combination of characters means both ‘sea cucumber’ and “raw child,’ a symbol for the simplicity and vulnerability that I feel is at the root of the Japanese and perhaps all psyches.”
MORE

confetti

The Palace of Tears, Alev Lytle Croutier writes of a man who dreams of a woman while she dreams of him. He leaves his native France to find her in Istanbul. This is a small book, but an epic adventure of the heart, a grown up fairy tale with breathtaking descriptions and spellbinding storytelling.
MORE

Nonfiction
Catalyst’s research reports are unique resources for companies. Titles include:
Passport to Opportunity: US Women in Global Business; Women in Leadership,
A European Business Perspective; Breaking
Barriers, Women in Management in the UK.
Catalyst also looks at issues related to women on US corporate Boards as well as women in management in law, finance, science, sales
and high tech.
MORE

 

When I Was a Puerto Rican. In a triumphant coming of age novel, Esmeralda Santiago
writes lyrically about being a girl in rural Puerto Rico, then about being a bewildered, transplanted teenager in New York City. This
is the first of her three-part memoir, the newest sequel, The Turkish Lover, was published in 2004.
MORE

 

confetti

Familes As We Are. UN Consultant, Peace Corps Regional Director and journalist Perdita Huston spent over four years interviewing generations of families of all socioeconomic backgrounds in Bangladesh, Egypt, China, Thailand, Japan, Brazil, Uganda, Mali, Jordan, El Salvador and the United States. Besides traditional families, Hustons includes prostitutes who live together to provide childcare, and street children who band together for protection. Her interviews describe the profound issues that face families everywhere: imbalance of wealth, changing communities, gender inequality, childhood, environment, health, and education.
MORE

 

Expat, Women’s True Tales of Life Abroad, is an anthology of essays by 21 American women who lived (permanently or briefly) in other countries. As they put down roots in Bangladesh and Brazil, Turkey and Tokyo,
Indonesia and Italy, their experiences remind us that the visitor’s eagerness to move to a favorite country may result in something quite different from the dream.
MORE

confetti

 

Looking for Lovedu, A woman’s Journey Through Africa documents American feminist Ann Jones’ drive from Morocco to South Africa to visit the legendary Lovedu, a tribe
dedicated to “feminine” ideals, ruled by a great rainmaking queen. Exasperated by her mud-mired vehicle and crotchety traveling
companion, Jones’ expedition exemplifies the polar opposite of Lovedu tribal values (compromise, cooperation, toleration and
peace). You can’t help cheering her on.
MORE

confetti

Cuba Diaries was written by Isadora Tattlin,
a Californian who lives wherever her European
husband’s business takes them. When they moved
to Cuba in the early 1990’s, she kept a journal.
Though her family was provided with a mansion
and staff, and she gave a dinner party that included
Fidel Castro, she knew that outside, store shelves
were bare and beggars pleaded for soap.
MORE

confetti

 

Go Girl! The Black Woman’s Book of Travel and Adventure includes travel stories by 52
contemporary black women, including Alice Walker in Bali, Maya Angelou in Africa, and
Gwendolyn Brooks in Russia. The resource list in the back of the book ranges from travel
magazines to cruises for African American travelers. (The book was published in 1997, so the resource list is a bit out of date).
MORE

confetti

Safety and Security for Women Who Travel has valuable advice on how to stay centered
in all situations, to enjoy the pleasures, not the pitfalls, of travel. The collection covers
how to spot scam artists, choose safe travel companions, dress safely, employ trustworthy guides, and suggests things to pack (“pack
rubber doorstops.”) The book was published in 1998 so does not address post-2001 travel.
MORE

 

 

The Single Woman’s Travel Guide is a
resource for women traveling alone. It
tells about discounts for singles, offers
tips about where to find romance, and
gives suggestions for single mothers
traveling with children.
MORE

 

confetti

“As for this business of adventure being for men only…oh, moose poop! Women have been busy proving we can do anything
for decades now,” writes Jessica Maxwell
in the first chapter of
Femme d’Adventure,
Travel Tales from Inner Montana to Outer
Mongolia
, one of a popular line of books
from Adventura (Seal Press) that celebrates
the achievements and experiences of women
adventurers, athletes, travelers and naturalists.
The whole Adventura collection is tempting.
MORE

 

Women Travel, First-hand Accounts from More Than 60 Countries. Stories range from Sarah Beattie working to weld wheelchairs in Afghanistan —to Louisa Waugh’s drunken revelries and wild gallops across the steppes of Outer Mongolia. Includes a useful
bibliography with reviews of women travel writers’ anthologies and books. (Women Travel was published in 1999 so you may have more recent favorites).
MORE

confetti

 

Adventures in Good Company: The Complete Guide to Women’s Tours and Outdoor Trips is for women who dream of adventure but
don't want to go it alone. It features organized travel opportunities for snorkeling, scuba diving, rock climbing and bicycling, but also lists trips for the less athletic: spa vacations, spiritual retreats, leadership development opportunities, programs for disabled women, for mothers
traveling with children, lesbians, and older women. It was published 11 years ago, so
double-check the details.
MORE

confetti
confetti

Active Woman Vacation Guide: True Stories by Women Travelers, Plus 1001 Exciting
Adventure Trips
. True tales of women’s historic trips: "Tiger Hunt in India," 1848; "Bicycle Riding in Algeria," 1895;
"Preparing for the Himalayas" 1996. Fifty-four organizations are listed that offer contemporary adventure trips for women of all ages, backgrounds, and states of fitness. This book was published 8 years ago so check the data.
MOREl

confetti

 

Journey of One’s Own is a women’s
travel classic. The first edition (1992)
got lots of press; 68,000 copies sold; a
third edition came out in 2003. Thalia
Zepatos offers advice to women she hopes
will follow in her footsteps. She traveled by
camel across the Thar Desert, hitchhiked
along the Malay Peninsula, or trekked the
high country of Nepal. She sees the "global
sisterhood” as a positive, ready-made
opportunity for women to interact in all
cultures. Her practical suggestions include
how to bargain and communicate without
language.
MORE

Tales of a Female Nomad. Since 1986, Ruth Gelman has had no permanent address and no possessions except those she can carry. She travels without a plan, guided by instinct and serendipity. She tells fascinating stories about living in Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Israel, Ecuador and Indonesia.
MORE

confetti

 

 

confetti

 

Inuit Women Artists. Three writers and nine artists who create jewelry, sculpture and graphics, illuminate the experience of Inuit women in the modern world.
MORE

 

Female Buddhas. The role of the feminine is strong in Tibetan sacred art , in sharp contrast to most other Buddhist countries. Color illustrations are accompanied by stories, legends, mantras and mandalas.
MORE

confetti

The Women's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets. Twenty-five years in the making, this unique sourcebook focuses on mythology, anthropology, religion, and sexuality. Its 1,350 entries include goddesses, witchcraft,  and meanings of sun, moon, earth, sea, time, and space; ideas of the soul, reincarnation, creation and doomsday; ancient and modern attitudes toward sex, prostitution, romance, rape, warfare, death and sin.
MORE

confetti

 

The Futures of Women, Scenarios for The 21st Century. The “official version of the future” promises that women are gliding toward equality. But the facts suggest that true equality may never happen. This fascinating book outlines four possible scenarios (backlash; equality; status quo; sexual separatism) By understanding the trends, women can shape the future they want for themselves and their children.
MORE 

 

Like the photographs? See the book!
 
 
Music - Musical Instruments - Movies - Books/Illustrated - Books/Fiction & Nonfiction - Food/Restaurants - Food/Recipes
Food/Cooking Schools - Food/Cook Books - Classes - Travel - Neighbors - Crafts - Kid Stuff - Fashion
 
copyright © 2004 Paola Gianturco | Site Map