Tag Archives: women

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Posted on February 25, 2017 by smellincoffee

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings© 1969 Maya Angelou304 pages I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is an autobiography in the form of a novel, following a young woman’s coming of age as she journeys from a small … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Katherine of Aragon

Posted on October 12, 2016 by smellincoffee

Katherine of Aragon: The True Queen© 2016 Alison Weir624 pages Mention the Tudor court, and invariably people think of Henry VIII and his famed mistress, Anne Boleyn. But the wife Henry abandoned came from a far more interesting family. Catherine … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Jane Eyre

Posted on April 11, 2016 by smellincoffee

Jane Eyre© 1847 Charlotte Bronte525 pages   Years ago an online quiz declared to me that of all the characters in English literature, I was most like…Jane Eyre. It may have been a quiz intended for women, but I had … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Equal of the Sun

Posted on February 28, 2016 by smellincoffee

Equal of the Sun© 2012 Anita Amirrezvani431 pages When Javaher came to the Iranian court, he did so with a secret mission: he intended to find out who murdered his father, and then return the favor.  So intent was he … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

We Band of Angels

Posted on December 12, 2015 by smellincoffee

We Band of Angels© 2001 Elizabeth M. Norman325  pages When Japan invaded the Philippines and besieged the Bataan peninsula,  the Filipino-American army wasn’t the only entity enduring months of dwindling supplies and attritive warfare. Stationed alongside soldiers and sailors were … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Called to Serve

Posted on October 14, 2015 by smellincoffee

Called to Serve: A History of Nuns in America© 2013 Margaret McGuinness277 pages Long before the suffrage and feminist movements allowed women to assume a more publicly active role within society,  women religious were taking an active role in shaping … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

More Work for Mother

Posted on May 5, 2014 by smellincoffee

More Work for Mother: the Ironies of American Housework © 1985 Ruth Cowan            288 pages        Throughout the 20thcentury,  households were transformed by a new abundance of labor-saving devices, from washing machines to toaster ovens, and processed … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Astronaut Wives Club

Posted on September 7, 2013 by smellincoffee

The Astronaut Wives Club© 2013 Lily Koppell288 pages When a gang of test pilots joined the Mercury program, they and those who followed them didn’t have an inkling of what was to come– and their wives, their unwitting partners in … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Reviving Ophelia: A Reading

Posted on March 22, 2013 by smellincoffee

“Most preadolescent girls are marvelous company because they are interested in everything — sports, nature, people, music, and books. Almost all the heroines of girls’ literature come from this age group — Anne of Green Gables, Heidi, Pippi Longstocking and … Continue reading →

Posted in quotations, Reviews | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Something from the Oven

Posted on June 24, 2012 by smellincoffee

Something from the Oven: Reinventing Dinner in 1950s America 306 pages © 2004 Laura Shaprio      The latter half of the 20th century saw the United States convulsed with social change. Millions of women and blacks who found their … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment