250 books by women all men should read

Absolutes are usually over the top but I thought this list is worth a look. This list was generated in response to Esquire's magazine list of books for men, of which included only one female author.

Excellent Women by Barbara Pym

Our book for June is Excellent Women by Barbara Pym.

The Barbara Pym Society seems to be the place to go to find everything you need to know about Barbara Pym.

Wikipedia on Barbara Pym

The Guardian on Barbara Pym, 'Very Barbara Pym'.

She wrote about worlds of genteel poverty and longing with great warmth and wit. Excellent Women is one of the 20th century's most endearing and amusing novels, writes Alexander McCall Smith

Amazon site

A blogger on Barbara Pym

Quotes by Barbara Pym . Here's one choice quote:

"Of course it's alright for librarians to smell of drink."

What was Charles Darwin's illness?

AP on recent speculations about the connections between Darwin, his travels and his illnesses.

Junot Diaz on disaster, Haiti, globalization and more

Junot Diaz's essay in the Boston Review.

Book for May

Our next book will be Amongst Women written by John McGahern.

What wiki says about the book
NYTimes book review
Amazon link
Penguin.com has a list of discussion questions
Novelist Coim Toibin writes about how he was first introduced to this book by the author, John McGahern

Screening of "There once was..."

At the Museum of Tolerance, May 9th, 7 PM.
More info at their site.

Q&A following the screening with flimmaker Gabor Kalman and the subject of the film Gyöngyi Mago

There Once Was tells the inspiring story of Catholic school teacher, Gyöngyi Mago’s fight to have her town’s Jewish history officially acknowledged and to chart a new course of tolerance in conflict-riddden Hungary, where the Nazi party is presently growing an alarming rate.

David Mitchell's The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet

First off, enjoyed reading this book. One thing I was curious about: what was the reaction to his novel by Japanese and Dutch readers? Unfortunately, I had no success in finding anything via google. If you have more luck than me, please feel free to send any info along.
Update: Here's one: a writeup from the Japan Society in the UK

Interview with David Mitchell
Discussion questions on Litlover's site
Facebook site for The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet

I found the following reviews of David Mitchell's book offering some criticism, unlike the bulk of the reviews out there.

The reviewer in the New Statesman was not impressed.
Speculation on why this book did not win a Booker Prize nomination for David Mitchell.
The Spectator seemed to be quite critical.

Background for his book
Wikipedia, Henrik Doeff, the Dutchman in Dejima who wrote a memoir about his time in Japan
Wikipedia, Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
Dejima in Wikipedia
The Phaeton incident

Carlos Fuentes on KCRW

So it turns out I ran across this bit: Mr. Fuentes has a new book out called Destiny and Desire.  Here he is on KCRW's Bookworm program.

The great Mexican writer modestly confides that yes, he has completed a new novel but it's really the same story, just with new characters. He elaborates: all stories are the same — the same global myths illustrating the same human truths

Pamuk fined for insulting 'Turkishness'

Via Bookslut, we find news that Nobel prize-winning Orhan Pamuk, we read his book Snow last year, has been fined.

...pay 6,000 liras (about 4,000 USD) to six individuals—1,000 liras each—in compensation for insulting their “Turkishness” after citing the number of Kurds and Armenians killed in Turkey.

The Desert of Forbidden Art documentary

The LA Times covers the documentary called the Desert of Forbidden Art about an Uzbekistan museum filled with quality Russian avant-garde art. I'm posting this because Shelley has been recommending this documentary to us.

"The Desert of Forbidden Art" tells a tale that is stranger than fiction several times over. Viewers of this remarkable documentary will be astonished at not only what this art looks like and why it's forbidden, but also where it is and how it got there.

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell

Our next book will be The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell. Posting a quick collection of links, definitely not all encompassing, so please pass along your links to me, especially if you have a favorite site.

The website of the book
Amazon link

nytimes review by david eggers

telegraph review

guardian review

the review in the independent
something David Mitchell wrote about his book

reviews by bloggers

at bibliokept

at savidge reads

at reading fuelled by tea

at written nerd

The Death of Artemio Cruz by Carlos Fuentes

For March, we are reading The Death of Artemio Cruz by Carlos Fuentes. I've collected a few links related to this book. I have no doubt there are many many more sites and links regarding this book. If you'd like, please send the links to me or write a comment.

What wikipedia has on the book
Bookrags has a study guide for this book
A page on Fuentes with links
Amazon on the Death of Artemio Cruz
A summary and study guide on enotes
There's even a facebook site for this book
A salon piece
Something at the booker tea reading group
psri's book blog has a book review

New section: Visit our sites

To make it easy to access our members' sites, we've got a brand new section, now placed in the upper left corner of our blog.


First up: Shelley Adler's website. She specializes in the genre of California realistic painting but brings to it her unique perspective. In her words:

My intention is to recreate within the small framework, the specific moment caught by the camera. I attempt to express the personality of the person(s) through their body language and the way they are positioned in relationship to each other and to express the feeling of the time or era in which they exist with atmosphere and color. Some of these elements may be present in the black and white snapshot, but they are not always obvious. I enhance the image by using my intuitive sense of the scene to imagine the colors that were there as the photo was snapped, and to bring to life the black and white image.

I feel that I am having a conversation with the images of the people as I paint them. They open up to me as I study the photograph and see the subtleties of their expressions and bearing. I then try to make that revelation part of the painting.

Currently, she's showing her work in several galleries in the area. Please visit her site for more information.
Shelley's link on ArtSlant
Tag Gallery interviews Shelley

Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee

We will be reading J. M. Coetzee's book, Disgrace, winner of the Booker and Commonwealth Prizes. I've gathered some links about the book and the novelist, posted below. Please feel free to send along any other items of interest.

Salon review in 1999
What wikipedia says about Disgrace
The Guardian review of Disgrace
The Amazon page on Disgrace
Book review on Hackwriters.com
Tony D'Souza writes an essay about Disgrace
Complete Reviews page


As you probably all know, Coetzee won the Nobel prize in 2003. Here's his biography on the Nobel web site.
What wiki says about Coetzee