Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett 389 pages

If you've ever read any Pratchett, I don't need to tell you that you'll enjoy this book.  With his usual wit and vivid writing, he tells the story of Polly.  Polly is a young woman who lives in a war torn country.  Not many people are left to join the army, Polly's brother joined up some time ago and has never returned.  Many of the men who do return, don't come back whole.  It's a real mess and Polly is very worried about her brother.  There's nothing for it but to pretend to be a man and join the army herself.  Remarkably, there's a whole set of new recruits lining up the day she goes to sign up.  It becomes less surprising how there were so many young "men" still around to join pretty soon, though.  If you liked Mulan, you'll love this!  Pratchett does an excellent job of writing female characters with depth and range, too.  It's so refreshing!  

Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, 133 pages

This is a little philosophy book written by Anne Morrow Lindbergh in 1955.  Each of the chapters is titled for a different shell and she uses that shell to muse about different stages and times in a marriage and a woman's life.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh (yes, the wife of the aviator Charles) may have written this book in 1955 but I had no problem applying it to my life in 2015.  What a beautiful book.  The only thing that would have made it better would have been to read it while I was at the ocean.

This is one of those books that I could read over and over again and I'm going to go out on a limb and say one of these days I will read it at the ocean and that will be bliss.

Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler, 289 pages

The Downtown Library's book club read "Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict" this year, Laurie Viera Rigler's first Jane Austen Addict book.  This is book #2 and one of the book club members recommended reading it too.  I wouldn't necessarily recommend this book to someone who hadn't read book #1, but it was a delight to read soon after I finished that first book.

This book is the story of Jane Mansfield, who is an upper class young woman from England in 1813.  She wakes up after a fall to find herself in the life of Courtney Stone, a woman in Los Angeles in 2009.  The modern world is overwhelming, but Jane finds herself enjoying many aspects, including showers, electricity, more Jane Austen stories (and even televised!) and freedom from her mother.  However, Courtney's life is a mess and Jane uses her Regency Period sensibilities to try to straighten it out.  Ahh, summer escapist fiction.

Everyday Sexism by Laura Bates 384 pages

This book took me a very long time to read.  It was one I had to step away from and read another title before coming back to read more.  On the one hand, I recognized my own stories in some of the stories written in this book.  On the other, more thankful hand, I did not see myself in the more terrifying stories.  There were some really horrific accounts of things people (mostly girls and women) have suffered at the hands of others.  It made me think about how I do view my place in this world.  Even as a strong, self-confident woman, I make choices that will ensure my safety.  One of the most powerful arguments is the fact that young women are taught how to avoid dangers, to try to prevent assault and rape, but young men are not being taught in the same forums that assault and rape are never okay.  It is a topic that rarely comes up.  Laura Bates started a movement to bring feminism to the forefront, to try to stop sexism as a norm in all societies, and was targeted loudly and aggressively.  She was threatened with rape, maiming, any number of things.  Why?  None of the men in my life would ever treat any woman in this fashion, thankfully, but once your eyes are open, you can't help but see how women are treated very differently in our world.  I would recommend this book to everyone.  Men who have been open to the everyday sexism blog and project comment about how they had no idea the impact of their "harmless" wolf whistling, etc.  Women, in fact people of all genders, need to know they have a voice. We should never have to feel like we can't walk down the street, go to work, see a movie alone, whatever we want to do without feeling at risk.  We can only bring about change by shouting back.  I can't say that I liked this book, because it was so heartbreaking, but I certainly feel more empowered on this side of its pages.