Sunday, June 13, 2010

Women's Writing Book Shopping

I'm off on another round of book shopping online.  This time I'm looking into lesser-known "classic" works.  Things that look good, so far:
The Enchanted April About four women who don't know each other but rent a villa together.  I'm wondering how much of this book will be like all these modern works with four female characters interacting with each other (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Sex and the City, etc.)
Belinda It's a feminist book that makes fun of the upper crust of England.  That's really all I needed to hear. 
Silas Marner  About some old man who finds redemption in raising a child.  I'm interested in it because it has such a silly name and because it's by George Eliot. 
Captivity and Restoration The authoress chronicles her time being captured by Native Americans.  This could be used in a both a historical or literary interpretation. 
A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains  Again, a woman talking about her experience that is both historical and literary.  The only problem with this one is that I can only find it via Kindle, which I don't have. 
The Circular Staircase Another Kindle-only one that I'm going to have to try to scout out elsewhere.  I'm interested in this one because it's plot is similar to The Turn of the Screw.  I'd like to write a comparison of them. 
Selected Stories of Katherine Mansfield Because I haven't got short story collections on this list yet. 
The Upas Tree One of the many things I look for with books is the possibility to write about them academically, and this book, about a (almost certainly white) man who experiences the magic of an African tree.  Probably an easy book to consider race under.  
The Life of Charlotte Bronte  I actually don't like Jane Eyre strictly as a reader, but I like it as a work to analyze.  I've heard that this Bronte was particularly interesting, so I want to read about her. 
Wuthering Heights  Saw a film version of it, thought it was trash-licious.  Want to read, again, because I'm a feminist. 
Ruth Hall About a woman who loses her husband and is forced to write to support herself.
Night and Day I've read A Room of One's Own a couple of times now.  I like what she says, but I've never been impressed by her writing.  Maybe trying another book will change my mind?  Also, look at the cover of the book on the link.  That is the most ridiculous cover I've ever seen for a Woolf book.  Someone had no idea what they were doing when they designed that. 
The Laughing Cavalier It's by a Hungarian woman.  So it's a must read for me. 
The Slyph  I had no idea that the Duchess of Devonshire was also a writer.  I'm curious now to see how good of a writer she was. 
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl See above explanations about literature and history and non-white characters. 
Curse you Amazon, curse you Internet for making it so easy for me to see that yes, there are even more books out there that I want to read.  Because God knows I don't have a huge pile in my room right now.  

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