Home Sweet Own Book 19

For Bestseller I read Caitlin Moran’s How to Be a Woman. Combination memoir and feminist nonfiction, this was unlike most books I’ve read. A huge hit in the UK, it made its debut stateside a couple of years ago. I didn’t get all the cultural references but I always caught the gist of it.

Reading Moran wasn’t like reading feminist theories or lectures or calls to arms. It was like listening to one of your delightfully crazy friends. She speaks her mind with the candor of someone who doesn’t care what anyone thinks, ever, and does it in a way that is relatable. I never felt preached to or called upon to ‘fight for sisterhood.’ Moran made feminism fun although some of the her childhood stories felt especially awkward at times.

One of my favorite chapters was hearing her talk about abortion. She kept the politics minimal and focused on her reasons and reactions. I am so grateful for her voicing an attitude so rarely heard. I have mad respect for this woman. I liked how she ended on a princess vs. real woman note.

1) Fiction 

2) Nonfiction – The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett

3) Sci-Fi – Redshirts by John Scalzi

4) Fantasy 

5) Mystery – Book of Lies by Brad Meltzer

6) Horror 

7) Memoir/Biography – Data, A Love Story by Amy Webb

8) Chick Lit – Me and Mr. Darcy by Alexandra Potter

9) Feminist – Commencement by J. Courtney Sullivan

10) Teen – What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

11) Holiday 

12) Essays – What Was I Thinking? ed. by Barbara Davilman & Liz Dubelman

13) Short Stories 

14) Library 

15) Animal 

16) Book about Books – Judging a Book By Its Lover by Lauren Leto

17) New – Pitch Perfect by Mickey Rapkin

18) Old – Dark and Stormy Knights edited by P. N. Elrod

19) Pop Science – Why Men Fake It by Abraham Morgentaler, MD

20) Near 

21) Far 

22) Graphic Novel – Love and Capes: Do You Want to Know a Secret? by Thomas F. Zahler

23) Reread – Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

24) Wild Card 

25) Otherworldly Creature 

26) Free – Point Your Face at This by Demetri Martin

27) Noteworthy 

28) Bestseller – How to Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran

29) Themed Anthology – Red edited by Kris Goldsmith

30) Steampunk 

31) Movie-Book 

32) Media – Doctor Who: Touched By an Angel by Jonathan Morris

33) Travel 

34) Food 

35) Classic 

36) Humor 

37) Poetry 

38) Past – Stasiland by Anna Funder

39) Future 

40) Dystopia/Post-Apocalyptic 

41) Zombie 

42) Sports

 

Music: Eleanor Rigby by The Beatles