Headscarves and Hymens: Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual Revolution/Mona Eltahawy/240 pgs.

Readers of "I am Malala" will want to read this book! Egyptian journalist Mona Eltahawy explains the treatment of women in the Middle East, using her own experiences and those of others, to show how deplorable conditions for women still are today: child marriage, genital mutilation, rapists marrying their victim, etc. The United States isn't presented in the best light, and rightfully so. It's quite eye-opening and disturbing. Highly recommended.

The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II / Denise Kiernan / 373 p.

This title is one of the district's book discussion titles and even though I couldn't make it to the discussion I had planned on attending, I found it well worth reading.


The author focused much of the book on the MAJOR and often overlooked contributions of women in the making of the atomic bomb. But the book is also about the sheer enormity of the project. And the amazing ability to keep the building of a small city in the hills of Tennessee camouflaged from most of the world. Some of it makes me proud of our country and what it can accomplish. Other parts of it make me ashamed at what is viewed as acceptable behavior in order to reach the goal. And between reading this, part of the book Area 51 and watching the TV series Manhattan,  I have to admit to feeling just a tad bit of paranoia about just what all our government can pull off.

I'll Be Seeing You / Suzanne Hayes & Loretta Nyhan / 313 pages

  Set in the later years of World War II, two women forge a friendship through their letter writing. Glory Whitehall lives in New England and has seen her husband march off to war. Rita Vincenzo lives in Iowa and has seen her husband and son head off to save the world. These women have just this one thing in common when they begin writing to each other. We see their loneliness eased by the growing friendship, recipes passed to help with food shortages, and sage advice involving love, neighbors, and what their future will hold.
   I loved The Guersney Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society when it was published and was curious to see if this could stand up to the comparison. In a world where letter writing is a lost art, I enjoyed rediscovering the excitement of waiting for the arrival of the mail man. Rita and Glory have to figure out their new friend's strengths and weaknesses and that creates an underlying tension through the book. A perfect book to curl up with while a fire is roaring and a steaming mug of tea. Get lost in a world where the war hits close to home every day and yet these women are determined to face it's challenges with all their combined strength.

Six Degrees of Reading: The Guersney Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson, Letters From Skye by Jessica Brockmole.

The Lion Is In/Delia Ephron/282 pages

Tracee and Lana are running away from their lives when they meet Rita, also a runaway woman. A car accident strands them on a rural highway in North Carolina, and they seek shelter in what appears to be an abandoned building. In fact, it is a nightclub that features Marcel, a retired circus lion. They start working at the nightclub to make enough money to repair the car and be on their way. As we learn about their different reasons for running, they start to rebuild their lives and face truths about themselves.

This was my book club selection for October. It has a slow start, but then picks up and is fairly entertaining. It's not a must-read but if you're in between books and waiting for a reserve, then this could fill the void nicely.

The Last Summer: A Novel by Judith Kinghorn. 433 pages

Clarissa Granville is a young woman who has been born into money and knows where her life is headed. She is to marry and hopefully marry well. The summer of 1914 is where it all changes. She meets the only son of the housekeeper, Tom Cuthbert. Her pre-planned life isn't a sure thing anymore. Against the wishes of her mother, Clarissa begins a friendship and the two of them fall in love over the course of the summer. But the whispers of war changes the lives of the Granvilles and also the relationship between Clarissa and Tom. The two of them swear eternal love but that love will be tested again and again in the following years.
This is what I call an epic saga book. One of those that follows many characters for a large portion of their lives. The novel starts a few months before the beginning of World War I and will eventually end in 1930. There is some romance in the book but there are other social issues intertwining with the characters: Women's rights such as voting, independence from conventions, the fraying of the class structures are some of the issues that are touched on. I highly recommend this because the main heroine isn't always likeable. She is willful and some of her actions are downright questionable. But this is good. A cookie cutter female character isn't a good fit for this novel. Clarissa is a challenge to root for sometimes and the ending has a twist I didn't see coming. Excellent read for those hot summer evenings.
  6 Degrees of Reading: Summerset Abbey by T.J. Brown, The Lavender Garden by Lucinda Riley, Ashenden by Elizabeth Wilhide.

Thunder over Kandahar / Sharon E. McKay 260 p.

Fourteen-year old Yasmine only knows Britain when she and her Western educated academic Afghan parents return to Afghanistan. Rather naively they ignore their country's customs. After Yasmine's mother is brutally attacked for travelling out-of-doors without a male family member, they flee to their grandfather's country home. There Tamanna and Yasmine become best friends "sisters of the heart". Thrilled they attend a near by school for boys and girls. The Taliban burn down the school and threaten the teacher and students with death. The village believes this Western educated family to be spies. With Tamanna facing an arranged marriage to an older man and Yasmine and family targets of the Taliban, the girls must flee unaccompanied. They face land minds, suicide bombers, Taliban bands.
This emphasizes how hard life is in Afghanistan, especial for women.

2012 Notable Children's Recordings