Monday, March 2, 2009

Around The Globe- Women's History Month

March is Women's History Month and March 8th is International Women's Day. To kick off our month-long celebration, we're launching our Around the Globe Challenge.

We are asking you to read a work by a woman of color from around the globe. Send us your review and if we publish it, we'll enter your name in a drawing for a book from our Prize Bucket. We're providing a list to give you options, but the list compromises a fraction of the work that can be read.

*Nonfiction and poetry found here.

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie-Nigeria (YA)
Born Confused by-Tanuja Desai Hidier- America (YA)
Bliss by O.Z. Livaneli- Turkey (YA)
Beka Lamb by Zee Edgell- Belize (YA)
Skunk Girl by Sheba Karim- America (YA)
In The Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez- Dominican Republic (YA)
Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid- Antigua (YA)
Every Time A Rainbow Dies by Rita Williams Garcia- America (YA)
The Meaning of Consuelo by Judith Oritz Cofer- San Juan (YA)
Angel by Merle Collins- Grenada (YA)
Sadika's Way by Hina Haq- Pakistan (YA)
No Laughter Here by Rita Williams Garcia-America (YA)
Cybele's Secret by Juliet Mariller - Turkey (YA)
Sold by Patricia McCormick - Nepal (YA)
The Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu- Nigeria (YA)
A Stone In My Hand by Cathryn Clinton- Palenstine (YA)
The Road of Lost Innocence by Somaly Mam - Cambodia (YA)
Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah- Australia (YA)
Bound - Donna Jo Napoli - China (YA)
A Step From Heaven by An Na- America (YA)
Out of Bounds by Beverly Naidoo - South Africa (YA)
Tracks by Louise Erdrich- America
Snowflower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See - China
FreeFall by Anna Levine - Israel
Chu Ju's House by Gloria Whelan - China (YA)
When My Name was Keoko by Linda Sue Park - Korea (YA)
Who by Fire by Diana Spechler-Israel
Secret Keeper by Matilia Perkins- India (YA)
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie- Nigeria
Japanland: A Year in Search of Wa by Karen Mueller- Japan
In Another Place by, Not Here by Dionne Brand- Carribean
The Girl From The Coast by Pramoedya- Java
Kinky Gazpacho by Lori-Tharps- Spain
The Farming of Bones by Edwidge Danticat- Dominican Republic
Pillars of Salt by Fadia Faqir- Jordan
The Cry of the Dove by Fadia Faqir- Jordan
The Girl From The Coast by Pramoedya Ananta Toer- Indonesia
Unbowed by Wangari Maathai- Kenya
Mosquito by Roma Teane- Sri Lanka
Finding Nouf by Zoe Ferraris- Saudi Arabia
Ladies' Lunch by Glida Cordero-Fernando- Phillipines
Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu- Japan
The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende- Chile
The Kabul Beauty School the Art of Perms, friendship and Freedom by Deborah Rodriguez with Ohlson, Kristin- Afghanistan
Last Full Moon- Gilda-Cordero fernando- Philippines
Orange Mint and Honey by Carleen Brice- America
Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri-America
Moonlight on the Avenue of Faith by Gina Nahai -Tehran
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy- India
Beloved by Toni Morrison-America
Baby no-eyes by Patricia Grace- New Zealand
Dogside Story by Patricia Grace- NZ
Love in a Headscarf: Muslim Woman Seeks the On by Shelina Zahra Janmohamed
Women of the Silk by Gail Tsukuiyama- China

Have a suggestions? Leave us a comment.

15 comments:

Virginia said...

Hi,

first of all I would like to congratulate you for this blog, I'm a Spanish student of litetaturte written by women and I love this idea!
I wanted to make a suggestion, the author of your list Witi Ihimaera is a man, an amazing writer whose fiction is extremely powerful&intense. So maybe you would like to include another NZ female author, I can suggest you Patricia Grace, she's a Maori writer, Baby no-eyes, or Dogside Story are 2 of her best works.

Kind Regards, Virginia

Color Online said...

Hi Virgina,

Could you recommend other women of color. I would really like to include more Latin and Asian writers.

Thank you,
cora

Color Online said...

Ok, so in hindsight, I realize we don't list poetry and non-fiction. Stay tuned for a second recommended list.

Do share your recommendations. Thanks.

Ali said...

Let's see...

The Hemingses of Monticello, by Annette Gordon-Reid

anything by Louise Erdrich (Native American) (she has poetry, too)

anything by Amy Tan

American Chica, by Marie Arana (Peruvian)

Reading Lolita in Tehran (or Things I've Been Silent About) by Azar Nafisi

Color Online said...

Ali, thanks for the suggestions, can you give me the corresponding countries?

Ali said...

Sure. Annette Gordon-Reid is African American; Amy Tan is Chinese American (her parents emigrated from China), Azar Nafisi emigrated to the U.S. from Iran in the 90s but her books take place in Iran.

susan said...

I saw the interview with Annette Gordon-Reid on Newshour.

JS said...

Let me highly recommend Beka Lamb by the Belizean writer Zee Edgell (who now resides in the US).

It is a magnificent story of a teenaged girl who holds a one-person wake for her friend--the story of her growth and interior life is juxtaposed against the backdrop of the early days of the Belizean independence movement.

Color Online said...

Thank you, JS.

Thinking Aloud said...

My recommendation is:

Never in a Hurry: Essays on People and Places by Naomi Shihab Nye.
She is a Palestinian American who grew up in a Mexican Neighborhood, so you could just imagine that there would be stories to tell!

Doret said...

One book I loved was Women of the Silk by Gail Tsukuiyama. The authors characters and story are very well drawn, and it made me cry a lot at the end. A large part of the book is the friendship between the women.

Color Online said...

Thanks for the recommendation, Doret.
Friends, can we get some reviews? :-)

Send reviews to cora_litgroup@yahoo.com. On the subject line: Around The Globe.

Thanks,

Color Online said...

Okay, folks, this has been up for awhile. How's reading what? Can we get a review, a comment, any love, here?

Ali said...

You don't really want to know, do you?

OK, I'll tell you, but don't hit me. Returned to the library unread because they couldn't be renewed: The Hemingses of Monticello and A Mercy. Sitting on my shelf, figuratively underneath my stack of ARCs and review copies: Flygirl, The Boat, Sweet Mandarin...all by women of color. All of which I'm going to read and review, but probably not within then next hour, I'm afraid!

Color Online said...

Ali, if you saw my tbr you'd know I couldn't be madatcha. lol You're reading as much as you can when you can. Ask me how many how often I have to return for the same reason. :-)