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864 results found for "strong women"

  • Review of The Briar Club by Kate Quinn

    This historical fiction novel from Quinn is a departure from much of my favorite Quinn fiction--brave women who initiates weekly makeshift attic-apartment dinner parties and builds bonds between the disparate women But none of the women is precisely as she seems on the surface. The ladies exhibit broadening horizons, and over the course of the story, each of the women stretches

  • Review of Deadly Waters by Dot Hutchison

    of her fellow female students have to put up with from young men who won't hear no and don't treat women She's known for getting into tussles with men trying to prey upon women. The women are becoming less afraid--but the young men who have behaved abominably and often criminally The college friends have strong bonds of loyalty; they sometimes behave impulsively; and they are appropriately to attacks by men, and the women's primary concern is keeping themselves and each other safe.

  • Bossy Holiday Book Gift Ideas: Sports and Recreation Nonfiction

    Randy Savage by Jon Finkel (2024) Better Faster Farther: How Running Changed Everything We Know about Women I feel powerful, strong. Hare shares the mental fortitude, grueling physical challenges, and how she became a middle-aged woman

  • Review of Unsinkable by Jenni L. Walsh

    later timeline takes place in the time of World War II as Daphne, an intelligent and educated young woman protagonists are explicitly linked within the story, although the reader will know of their bond before the women Walsh is also the author of Becoming Bonnie, Side by Side, A Betting Woman, and The Call of the Wrens

  • Review of The Child Finder (Naomi Cottle #1) by Rene Denfeld

    have felt overused from use in other stories (a tough, closed-off investigator, broken by her past; a strong

  • Six Spooky, Gothic Tales

    She's asked to play the role of maid to an unassuming, wealthy young woman in a dastardly plot to take the woman's inheritance and leave her to rot in an insane asylum. Bridie is a strong female protagonist, and Things In Jars offers solid historical fiction details of Montague; an unorthodox woman with an open mind and brave disposition, Theodora; a young woman who has be cruel, ruthless, and he's Wren's sworn enemy, a deadly force who has destroyed her countrymen and women

  • November Wrap-Up: My Favorite Reads of the Month

    But as the wedding week goes on, each woman is surprised by what she discovers about herself and the Blaylock celebrates tough women, stand-up men, and never-ending hard work. The mountain justice that's carried out by the women was thrillingly shocking. released after 22 months' imprisonment for the drunk-driving accident in which she killed an older woman Harriet's fraternizing with the imprisoned women--both in and out of jail--seems particularly ill-advised

  • Six More Books about Brave Female Spies

    Tough women, secrets and smarts, and sneaky spying! If you like stories about brave women during wartime, you might also like the titles I listed on the recent Greedy Reading List Six Great Stories about Brave Women During World War II. 01 Miss Graham's makes the urgency of World War II code breaking come alive through the stories of three young women The Rose Code is a wonderfully spun historical fiction story of three very different women who answer

  • Newer Romantic Novels Perfect for Savoring Summer's Last Gasp

    01 Sunny Side Up by Katie Sturino I loved Sunny's body positivity and her self-made-woman status. shake off the fact that nothing in the Bergdorf Goodman swimsuit section comes even close to fitting a woman Handles It and makes her dreams come true--thereby also taking care of fashion-conscious plus-sized women I loved Sunny's independence, savvy abilities, strong will, and, of course, her fashion sense.

  • Three Books I'm Reading Now, 11/13/23 Edition

    invincible--who has dropped out of sight and settled down to raise her young daughter alongside her strong-willed Amina soon finds herself tangled in a dangerous ocean quest to rescue a young woman, while facing complicated

  • January Wrap-Up: My Favorite Reads of the Month

    Bossy Favorites of the Month I've had a strong Bossy reading month. to find support and to function more fully in the present, she decides to refuse to be shamed as the woman The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan Cate Kay is a bestselling author--and a pseudonym used by a woman Stone Yard Devotional concerns a woman who leaves her Sydney life behind to live among nuns as an unbeliever and Violet Thistlewaite is determined to shed her identity as the Thornwitch, Shadowfade's right-hand woman

  • Review of Maddalena and the Dark by Julia Fine

    Julia Fine's Maddalena and the Dark is a gothic story set in 1700s Venice in which two young women's Yet she desperately yearns for some measure of independence, which is not easily available to the women But a young woman in that time has little say over her destiny.

  • My Six Favorite Reads of the First Half of 2025

    01 Isola by Allegra Goodman Isola , based upon the story of a real-life sixteenth-century woman, shifts When she sees an ad seeking for the first women scientists to join NASA’s space shuttle program, Joan becomes obsessed with being part of the 1980s training and with becoming one of the first women in space The women's fights to fully be part of a traditionally male-dominated field and the various ways in which When a mysterious woman washes up half-dead on the remote island of Shearwater, home of the world's largest

  • Review of The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton

    , Opal cuts a striking figure, and I loved witnessing her growth from a young, vibrant, unsure, but strong-willed icon of fashion, an outspoken speaker of uncomfortable truths about race and gender, and a determined woman story's early, painful tragedy, she shies away from facing difficult realities for a time before standing strong

  • Review of Harrow the Ninth (Locked Tomb #2) by Tamsyn Muir

    The strong, ruthless, intelligent women in Harrow the Ninth absolutely steal the show--which is saying

  • Three Books I'm Reading Now, 8/29/22 Edition

    a recently published historical fiction story that spans World War I and the 1970s, when the first women real-life stories of the first female volunteer librarians during World War I, as well as the first women The story shifts between 1918, when a young woman at the Dead Letter Office bravely embarks on a dangerous to France to serve as a librarian near the front lines of World War I, and 1976, when another young woman Each women's secrets could be their undoing, and they must each fight harder for their rightful places

  • Three Books I'm Reading Now, 2/12/24 Edition

    Powerful with divine blood, yet largely powerless because she is a woman, Medea is full of contradictions abound of foxes, which are believed to have the magical ability to transform into beautiful men and women Bao, a detective set on uncovering the mystery of the woman's identity and death, has long been fascinated

  • Review of The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

    situation of trapped girls who devolve into paranoia, mayhem, fury, and destruction--with a wonderfully strong The teen girls’ “magic” and its perception by the girls themselves (and especially by the men and women This book brought to mind another young adult dystopian book in which the power of young women is brought

  • Review of The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn

    Those urging me to write my memoir will want a patriotic young woman who fought to defend her country , a heroine to root for with a story clean and simple as a full moon—and I was that young woman, but Russia and the Ukraine, Mila, along with so many others, enlists to fight alongside countrymen and -women the Nazis, Mila forges an unexpected friendship with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, another formidable woman contrast between active female roles in the Russian military and the supportive, more peripheral positions women

  • November Wrap-Up: My Favorite Reads of the Month

    For my full review, check out The Marriage Portrait. 02 A Study in Scarlet Women (Lady Sherlock #1) by irresistible heroine, but a fascinating examination of gender in Victorian society--and what happens when women A Study in Scarlet Women, the first in her Lady Sherlock series, presents Charlotte Holmes, a clever, forward-thinking, independent woman trapped in the Victorian age, a time in which women have little Click here for my full review of A Study in Scarlet Women. 03 True Biz by Sara Nović True Biz is a coming-of-age

  • Review of Missing Sam by Thrity Umrigar

    As Sam's disappearance stretches on, Ali, a gay culturally Muslim woman, is excoriated in the press for Much of the energy of the story centers around the women's reconciliation with each of their estranged

  • July Wrap-Up: My Favorite Reads of the Month

    Then Bridget falls for a fellow "sporting woman," and when the Buffalo Queen is threatened, she must Bridget is strong and no-nonsense yet also inexperienced and far from worldly. Julia Fine Julia Fine's Maddalena and the Dark is a gothic story set in 1700s Venice in which two young women's But a young woman in that time has little say over her destiny.

  • Review of Revelations by Mary Sharratt

    Women’s stories never are. I read Mary Sharratt's Revelations over the course of this "school year" with my women's group. (To say that producing this publication was a groundbreaking feat for a medieval woman who was stifled Our main protagonist puzzles and angers those around her by challenging the limitations of what women or say in the year 1400, and the Church is particularly galled and upset by the audacity of such a woman

  • Review of The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd

    exploration of gender roles, reimagining a rigid faith, marriage/child/parental/educational expectations for women , adventure, strong female loyalty and friendship, love, and lots of fascinating details of life at the

  • Review of The Last Bookshop in London: A Novel of World War II by Madeline Martin

    The young women's wartime experiences take Viv to glamorous Harrod's, settle Grace in a dusty old bookshop We see Grace become won over by the creaky old store and by her gruff boss, the shifting role each woman You might also like the books on the Greedy Reading List Six Great Stories about Brave Women During World

  • Six More Contemporary Novels I Loved in the Past Year

    seemingly insurmountable complications; chosen family; and the healing power of love--in this atmospheric, strange The novel flits between the stories of three women from disparate backgrounds, drastically different The concept is mentioned in a conversation between a frightened young trans woman and a mentor of sorts ; later in the novel the young woman realizes that "woodworking" wasn't meant to be a handbook, but a

  • Review of The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri

    Simran is a strong female knight sworn to the queen, and Vina is a witch of the woods.

  • Review of Maame by Jessica George

    Maame (ma-meh) has many meanings in Twi but in my case, it means woman. The issues of race and of young-woman Maddie making her way in the world in London in Maame reminded me somewhat of Girl, Woman, Other, Bernardine Evaristo's interconnected stories about Black women in

  • My Very Favorite Bossy 2023 Reads

    That's some strong summer reading!) If you've read any of these, I'd love to hear what you think! Yet Kingsolver keeps Demon's voice strong even as he falters and as everything he has counted on seems As always, her main characters are richly layered, struggle with terrible circumstances, retain strong Check out my reviews of So Late in the Day: Stories of Women and Men and the short story collection Antarctica she pokes fun at her fellow writer in a sketch about talented but average-looking men dating gorgeous women

  • My Six Favorite Book Club Books of 2022

    attention to unspoken bonds, deep and unorthodox friendships, makeshift families, legendary dogs, and strong Kimmery Martin's Doctors and Friends begins with a group of seven women, friends since medical school For my full review, check out Doctors and Friends. 05 Our Woman in Moscow by Beatriz Williams Williams's In Beatriz Williams's historical fiction, Our Woman in Moscow it's 1948 and Iris Digby, her American Click here for my full review of Our Woman in Moscow. 06 Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr Doerr's Cloud

  • Review of Death at the Sign of the Rook (Jackson Brodie #6) by Kate Atkinson

    Brodie's quiet little town, he's tediously searching for a stolen painting when he stumbles across a string something to hide, and he begins to look independently into the provenance of the painting he calls Woman as well as her fondness for old-fashioned mystery novels--begin to sound similar to that of a young woman

  • September Wrap-Up: My Favorite Reads of the Month

    Bossy Favorites of the Month Here are my six favorite reads of September, with a strong literary fiction This story felt smart, strange, and intriguing. I can't wait to read more books by this author. sometimes testy, often incisive, and at other times diminished--a product of the limitations of single women

  • Six Fascinating Books about Immigrants' Experiences

    bright points: some rare friendships emerge, sisters build intense loyalty to each other, girls and women find joy in secret reading and in books, women find strength and demand truth rather than secrecy, and thread throughout the book of the food, spices, and meals that create much of the structure of the women --but also many other real-life women in comparable situations--to write a new history, one in which For my full review of this book, please see A Woman Is No Man.

  • Review of None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell

    successful podcaster Alix Summer is celebrating her forty-fifth birthday at the local pub when she meets a strange woman, Josie, also celebrating her birthday. Her "birthday twin" begins popping up where Alix is, and she's got a strange, disturbing life story to

  • Review of Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel

    The retelling swirls with family drama, intrigue, bravery--all centered around a young woman determined autonomy, for a voice, for strength, for knowledge--and she is determined to secure these for other women The people of Bharat have often blamed my father for my sins, as if a woman cannot own her actions. Kaikeyi endlessly reinvents herself--as a warrior, a queen, an advisor, and a voice for powerless women

  • Review of One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London

    about the unrealistic body images of the stars of Main Squeeze (a reality TV show in which a single woman comments from petty characters or online trolls, and her self-esteem flags briefly at times, but she is strong , resilient, and appealingly her own woman, not reliant on men for her self-worth. fully into the romance, fashion, and reality television ups and downs--while allowing room for the strong young woman's emotional growth, stumbles, and her creation of a new version of a happy ending.

  • Three Books I'm Reading Now, 3/18/24 Edition

    science-fiction novel Those Beyond the Wall; I'm listening to Kristin Hannah's historical fiction about women who served in the Vietnam War, The Women; and I'm listening to Dolly Alderton's contemporary literary Micaiah Johnson is also the author of The Space Between Worlds, a book I loved. 02 The Women by Kristin Kristin Hannah's The Women shines a light on the women who served pivotal roles in the Vietnam War--but I'm listening to The Women as an audiobook. 03 Good Material by Dolly Alderton Andy and Jen were in love

  • Three Books I'm Reading Now, 3/10/25 Edition

    Sara is detained along with other women who are desperately asserting their innocence. The center's managers keep changing the rules so that he women's stays are prolonged--until a new inmate shakes up everything and becomes the women's biggest hope of escape.

  • April Wrap-Up: My Favorite Reads of the Month

    Click here for my full review of The Road to Tender Hearts . 03 This American Woman: A One-in-a-Billion I laughed out loud repeatedly while I was reading this charming memoir by this strong, funny woman. Please click here for my full review of This American Woman . 04 Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy When a mysterious woman washes up half-dead on the remote island of Shearwater, home of the world's largest And what on earth is her purpose in stringing along Hayden and Alice for a month--if she even intends

  • Review of A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

    Natalie Haynes's mythological retellings put women at the center of many scenes surrounding the Trojan These are the women left behind--often women who may have been able to change the course of events if anyone had listened to them or they'd been given some semblance of power--women rolling their eyes at men's foolishness, and women terrified by their imminent sacrifice, slavery, rape, or death because Haynes's women try to point out the absurdity of the Trojan Horse, they are vulnerable in order to try

  • Review of The Excitements by C. J. Wray

    in fighting the enemy in World War II offers lots of heart, sassy dialogue, and a showcasing of the women's It's part historical fiction with wonderful World War II details and part sassy modern-day tale about women I love the reveal on an underestimating-women scenario, and kind, unassuming Archie also exceeds expectations If you like books about World War II and women spies, you might also like the books on my Greedy Reading Lists Six Great Stories about Brave Women During World War II and Six Books about Brave Female Spies

  • Six More Backlist Favorites to Check Out

    are bright points: rare friendships emerge, sisters build intense loyalty to each other, girls and women throughout the book--the food, spices, and meals that are a framework for much of the structure of the women A Woman Is No Man explores the incredible drive and bravery required by Rum's female characters to write For my full review of this book, please see A Woman Is No Man. 06 In Five Years by Rebecca Serle This She goes to sleep one night feeling satisfied, but she wakes up in another life: in a strange apartment

  • Review of Chenneville: A Novel of Murder, Loss, and Vengeance by Paulette Jiles

    grave injuries, a US Marshal's determined search for John himself, the distraction of a clever, brave woman As always, her main characters are richly layered, struggle with terrible circumstances, retain strong

  • Review of The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden

    initially annoyed, then inexplicably drawn to Eva--and eventually a torrid love affair begins between the women the form of a detailed hand-written ledger of Isabel's household items) come to a head and cause the women For a resolution to their personal and romantic troubles, both women will need to be more brave and more

  • Review of A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America by Timothy Egan

    Stephenson was a con man and womanizer who had told enough enormous lies to reinvent himself into one He was no protector of women’s virtue, but a violent predator. But when he met a young woman and promised her career assistance, then abused his position, she threatened

  • Review of The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline

    Christina Baker Kline tells the story of three women's lives in the nineteenth century: Evangeline, a pregnant and is ultimately sent to prison in Australia, “the land beyond the seas"; Hazel, a savvy young woman The women's discoveries of their inner strength during their desperation are wonderful lights in the As strong as stone."

  • Three Books I'm Reading Now, 12/30/24 Edition

    development of her faith and beliefs, and her split with the Southern Baptist Church amid disagreement about women realizes that someone is plunging the party down through layers of reality, through echoes in which strange

  • Review of Family Family by Laurie Frankel

    India generally keeps her strong opinions about the world to herself (or shares them with her two kids This is your wide, strange, remarkable family in the world, she said.

  • Three Books I'm Reading Now, 4/22/24 Edition

    Strange things begin happening to Cassie and Izzy when Cassie takes possession of the book, and soon India generally keeps her strong opinions to herself (or shares them with her two kids or trusted agent

  • Six Historical Fiction Mysteries to Intrigue You

    Bridie is a strong female protagonist, and Things In Jars offers solid historical fiction details of Veronica to benefit from the author's own modern sensibilities in A Curious Beginning, but Veronica is a strong Abigail is clever, and her strong role in her partnership with the wonderfully odd Jackaby is satisfying Ji Lin speaks her mind and ruffles feathers even as she exploits assumptions about women, sexual attraction She doesn’t fit the mold of a typical woman from 1930s Malaysia or that of the British colonists living

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