We are celebrating International Women’s Day all month at the library. We have a wonderful display with art by our volunteer Maddy, and a selection of hand picked books for you to discover. Here’s a closer look at a few of the titles.
The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See
Mi-ja and Young-sook, two girls living on the Korean island of Jeju, are best friends who come from very different backgrounds. When they are old enough, they begin working in the sea with their village’s all-female diving collective, led by Young-sook’s mother. As the girls take up their positions as baby divers, they know they are beginning a life of excitement and responsibility – following generations of women haenyeo – but also danger. The haenyeo free dive, holding their breath as they swim to the rocky sea bottom in pursuit of their quarry. Both will experience tragedy in the water, further deepening their bond. Despite their love for each other, Mi-ja and Young-sook’s differences are impossible to ignore.
We say: This book is a testament to the power of women’s communities when they come together when faced with tragedy.
Available at the library, click here to order further copies
Atalanta by Jennifer Saint
When a daughter is born to the King of Arcadia, she brings only disappointment. Left exposed on a mountainside, the defenceless infant Atalanta is left to the mercy of a passing mother bear and raised alongside the cubs under the protective eye of the goddess Artemis. Swearing that she will prove her worth alongside the famed heroes of Greece, Atalanta leaves her forest to join Jason’s band of Argonauts. But can she carve out her own place in the legends in a world made for men?
We say: this Greek myth retelling has a strong, inspiring, female main character who can match anyone she‘s with.
Available at the library, click here to order further copies
The Women by Kristin Hannah
Raised on California’s idyllic Coronado Island and sheltered by her conservative parents, twenty-year-old nursing student, Frances ‘Frankie’ McGrath has always prided herself on doing the right thing, being a good girl. But in 1965 the world is changing, and she suddenly imagines a different path for her life. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she impulsively joins the Army Nurses Corps and follows his path. As green and inexperienced as the young men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is about to discover the true value of female friendship and the heartbreak that love can cause.
We say: this book highlights how much women give to wars, and how it is often overlooked.
Not currently available at the library, click here to order a copy
Crying in H Mart: a memoir by Michelle Zauner
In this story of family, food, grief, and endurance, Michelle Zauner proves herself far more than a dazzling singer, songwriter, and guitarist. With humour and heart, she tells of growing up the only Asian-American kid at her school in Eugene, Oregon; of struggling with her mother’s particular, high expectations of her; of a painful adolescence; of treasured months spent in her grandmother’s tiny apartment in Seoul, where she and her mother would bond, late at night, over heaping plates of food. As she grew up, moving to the east coast for college, finding work in the restaurant industry, performing gigs with her fledgling band – and meeting the man who would become her husband – her Koreanness began to feel ever more distant, even as she found the life she wanted to live.
We say: this is a powerful, and sad memoir. Michelle cares for her mother as she succumbs to cancer, and finds comfort in her Korean heritage.
Available in the library, click here to order further copies
Narborough and Littlethorpe Community Library 