women read

Name: Isha Reading: Mirrors in the Earth, Asia Suler Why did you want to read this? I discovered this book earlier this year while reading an article on intuitive plant medicine. The language had a vivid nature imagery, an openness and a tenderness that made me feel extremely safe and held. The book reads like a healing salve on a burning wound. I would usually read an essay and then keep the book...

Name: Assunta Reading: The Arcane of Reproduction: Housework, Prostitution, Labor and Capital, Leopoldina Fortunati Why did you want to read this? I wanted to read this text to understand it more deeply and to be able to listen to it on my commute. How did you record yourself? I recorded the chapter with my mobile phone.

Name: Fathima Reading: Traces of Enayat, Iman Mersal Why did you want to read this? This was one of my favourite reads from last year. I had the chance to hear Iman read and talk about her work, and she read an excerpt from the first chapter. I was really struck by the story of Enayat, Iman’s search for her and the questions it poses about who gets to be remembered, being a writer and trying to ma...

Name: Julia Reading: The Dud Avocado, Elaine Dundy Why did you want to read this? Throughout the book, I enjoyed the frivolity and openness of the protagonist. I have an affinity with Sally Jay in the way she strives to feel things and live her life, even though at some points her naïvety and impatience bring nothing but a series of misfortunes. This is a story to be read with flush on your cheeks...

Name: Anusuya Reading: The Dispossessed, Ursula Le Guin Why did you want to read this? I first read The Dispossessed during a family vacation when I was in my mid-teens. By that point, I was an avid Sci-Fi reader, and the vaguely alien-looking spaceship on the cover convinced me that it would be decent for the week. However, it took hold of me in a way no book had before, made me consider things I...

Name: Jaya Reading: The Temple of My Familiar, Alice Walker Why did you want to read this? I partly wanted to connect with my 21-year-old self—just finishing college, already into meditation, and amazed by how this book transmitted a shamanic, transformative atmosphere. I bought copies for many friends, and even the mother of a friend, although I had very little money—and these gifts were hardcove...

Name: Rosa Reading: Tell Them I Said No, Martin Herbert Why did you want to read this? When you invited me to contribute, my first instinct was to say no. Gathering myself, I turned to one of my favourite books about artists refusing. We can learn so much from artists and how they approach work and the world. How did you record yourself? Using my boyfriend's setup in our old house in Nottingha...

Name: Caitlin Reading: Rubyfruit Jungle, Rita Mae Brown Why did you want to read this? I was a bit hesitant to read this actually. It’s definitely a product of its time, and in some ways hasn’t aged well. But it is also hilarious and heartbreaking and hard to put down. It's about staying true to yourself and your dreams from the first page to the last, even in the face of hate and judgement. H...

Name : Jesse Reading : Middlemarch, George Eliot Why did you want to read this? When I was invited my first thought was, "Well, I can't read  Middlemarch  because the podcast is probably already 30 women reading the first chapter of  Middlemarch ." But then it turned out, no one had read  Middlemarch ! So obviously I had to read  Middlemarch . How did you record yourself? On my lapto...

Name: Eleanor Reading: Small: On Motherhoods, Claire Lynch Why did you want to read this? It’s a really beautifully written book about queer motherhood, something that rarely gets talked about. I’ve found myself wanting to read a lot about motherhood recently, and it’s been so refreshing and reassuring to be able to read about it from a queer perspective. How did you record yourself? I recorded my...

Name: Jamie Reading: Lucy, Jamaica Kincaid Why did you want to read this? I loved this book - Jamaica Kincaid is deft and smart and her wryness made so many passages worth smirking at. She's unapologetic about how messy relationships can be, which I appreciate not being tidied into something that makes people feel like relationships exist for happy endings. And she's never afraid to...

Name: Flora Reading: Looking to Sea, Lily Le Brun Why did you want to read this? I chose to read Looking to Sea because it is a thoughtful, insightful reflection on 100 years of modern art in Britain, written by the brilliant Lily Le Brun. As the daughter of an artist and a painter myself, the work of many of the artists in this book is intrinsic to the fabric of who I am. Le Brun's exploration of...

Name: Freya Reading: Long Live the Post Horn!, Vigdis Hjorth translated by Charlotte Barslund Why did you want to read this? I couldn’t stop laughing hysterically when I first read this, and immediately wanted to share it and talk about it with other people. I think I was originally drawn to it as the premise of finding an old diary + defending the postal service made it seem made for me (a bad-di...

Name: Loré  Reading: Shmutz, Felicia Berliner Why did you want to read this? When contemplating what to read, this novel instantly came to mind. I discovered it during the summertime and felt utterly swept up by Raizl's inner life. From religion and familial belonging to sex and friendship to the tension of figuring out one's identity, there are so many themes to chew on. Also, I'm a ma...

Name: Amy Reading: The Shame, Makenna Goodman Why did you want to read this? ' The weight of motherhood is a backpack full of stones.'  This book messed me up -- but in a good way. I first read it very shortly postpartum. It felt like such consolation, after all the sentimentality and raw emotion of feeling motherhood suddenly happen  to my own life, to read this wild, complicated book abo...

Name: Yusra Reading: Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer Why did you want to read this? Braiding Sweetgrass is the last book I read. It's beautifully written and very tender, offering a different tone for discussing the climate and ecological emergency. Whilst reading, I found myself reflecting a lot about the phase of life I'm in right now, my relationship with the world and all that inhabit...

Name: Ratnadevi Reading: The Overstory, Richard Powers Why did you want to read this? The Overstory is the most absorbing, courageous, wise, compassionate and skilfully crafted book I have read in a long time, a gift to the beleaguered world, particularly the trees. The novel weaves people and trees from very different backgrounds and geographies together, like mycelium connects root systems and f...

Name: Lindsey Reading: The Girl Who Trod on a Loaf, Kathryn Davis Why did you want to read this? I read Kathryn Davis’s first novel, Labrador, earlier this year and felt like I was kicking the dirt off some kind of revelation I’d found in the ground. A few months later I was in my favorite used book store and saw this book, The Girl Who Trod On A Loaf; I read the back and though I’m not into opera...

Name: Tanvi Reading: The Island of Missing Trees, Elif Shafak Why did you want to read this? This book struck that evasive balance between the past and the present. It combines the ambition for a bright future with the yearning for a past we cannot seem to leave behind. It's told through the eyes of characters who are as captivating as they are diverse. It moved me to tears and then took me to new...

Name: Laura Reading: And Away..., Bob Mortimer Why did you want to read this? I think that Bob Mortimer is a lovely man. I’m not a huge reader. I sometimes (unfairly) think badly of myself because of this. I enjoy reading autobiographies of people that I admire because I feel like I already know some of the context, so I find it an easier starting point than some other books. This is, of course, a...

Name: Jane Reading: Trumpet, Jackie Kay Why did you want to read this? I wanted to read this because it remained in my memory so clearly. I loved the story and the clarity of the narrators voice, with the words and images falling like the notes of the trumpet. Her descriptions of the house by the sea and that whole locality, feel very familiar to me as of course do the parts set in Glasgow. How di...

Name : Grace Reading : Ninth Street Women, Mary Gabriel Why did you want to read this? I decided to read this book, as in my own art practice I am heavily influenced by women artists. It’s inspiring to hear the stories of how they challenged a very male-dominated art scene. This book gives an opportunity for these pioneering women artists' stories to be heard, something that is very necessary and...

Name: Andrea Reading: Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Joan Didion Why did you want to read this? This essay is a treasure trove of classic Didionisms: the devoted descriptions of roads and barren lands, the dire plot twists at the end of routine enunciations, profound human truths told with a crisp sense of humor. If you follow Didion to San Bernardino, she will take you to beguiling places...! How d...

Name: Lisa   Reading: Betty by Tiffany McDaniel  Why did you want to read this? This book touched me in so many ways, it’s brutal, beautiful and poetic all at once. It’s a coming-of-age story based on true events and different to anything I have ever read. I loved how Betty’s dad with his rich Cherokee history used his knowledge of nature and spirituality to sooth her. Betty will always...

Name : Jane Reading : How to Be Both, Ali Smith Why did you want to read this? I chose this book for my book group last year and I think without the group discussions I would have struggled with it. It is incredibly rich and beautiful and I couldn't fathom how it had been written. We all ended up loving this book.  How did you record yourself? In my kids room with the cat on a cold Monday whe...