Musings on...The League of Extraordinary Gentle(women)
A Women's History Month Reading List and Why it Matters
I’ve always been bookish, and I had a habit of writing reports on books and topics I loved. I actually assigned myself the task of writing book reports for no grade or recognition. In my free time, for fun! As an adult, I turned my teenage habit into its modern iteration- a book blog. Let’s be honest: a book blog is just a book report with SEO. After some technical issues beyond my coding ability, my website imploded. I was dragging my feet deciding if I should have it redesigned, when I thought of this Substack. Since I’m always musing about books, I’ll just house it here alongside my other miscellany and revisit the archives from time to time. Substack is also free, so my decision may have been heavily influenced, but thanks for nothing GoDaddy Tech Support.
Last week, a co-worker said Happy International Women’s Day as she passed me in the hall. I stopped in my tracks as I realized that March was doing what March always does: coming in slowly on the back of a sleepy February and then accelerating into spring with lightning speed.
A few years ago, I committed to highlight a book about women, or by a woman, for every day of Women’s History Month. The task was daunting-so many wonderful books and stories about phenomenal women and in light of my occasional disdain for posting regularly, I wasn’t sure if I had put myself into a bind. I’m pleased to say that I did prevail and gathered an exceptional list of books that I am still happy to recommend. I never planned on the list being evergreen, but upon review, it is an exceptional list of books about exceptional women. A few of my favorites…
Dress Like a Woman: Working Women and What They Wore
This book is a compilation of the fashion and style of women working. Just as our roles have varied in the workplace, so has our fashion. Men still look predominately the same throughout the history of work, but women, as we always do, raise the temperature and making even the mundane beautiful. Written by Vanessa Friedman, the fashion journalist I am always saving in my New York Times account, it is a great history lesson with a side of style.
Tastemakers: Seven Immigrant Women Who Revolutionized Food In America
I adore food: cooking, not so much, but I am obsessed with cookbooks, cooking shows and the artistry of those who enjoy cooking. I also appreciate food as the great equalizer and teacher. We all eat and most foods from any table, are usually recognizable in any other culture. We all eat some form of chicken noodle soup, every culture has a dumpling or roll of some kind. Bread graces tables around the world. Learning to eat from another’s table is the act of learning and understanding another world and the people within in. This book is exceptional in introducing us to the woman that brought new cultures into the mainstay of the American food lexicon despite being ignored by the male-dominated food scene kingmakers. Rarely applauded, these seven women turned the perceived female duty of feeding others into the realm of artistic expression and cultural exploration.
Behind Every Great Man: The Forgotten Women Behind the World’s Famous and Infamous
A great look at the women that lived and loved many of the men that are household names, yet we don’t know their names at all. We quote Oscar Wilde, but what bon mots did he take out of his wife Constance’s mouth? What is the character of a woman that watched her lover kill a nation of people or one that lived lavishly with the spoils of her husband’s orchestrated ponzi scheme? Hitchcock was known to have a secret love for every one of his leading ladies, but how did the lady who shared his bed reconcile that within herself? Not offering any sugar-coating, Author Margaret Wagner-Geller fills each chapter with the interesting and often shameful stories of women that remained in the dark shadows of their husbands as they enjoyed the spotlight.
Read this book, then watch Glenn Close in The Wife
Shine Bright: The Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop
Some books are timely, other books are prescient. When I read Danyel’s part memoir, part music history lesson the first time, I posited that if you connected the dots, you can see the blueprint of Beyonce’s Renaissance Tour. I meant that in that one tour, I recognized the culmination of all the unsung and unknown musical careers of women that weren’t always given their just due in the music annals (particularly pop) finally getting a little shine through a mega popstar like Beyonce. After reading this book, I felt that I could almost pinpoint the shoulders she was standing on from the stage of those sold-out crowds.
Now that I have some distance from my first reading, I won’t take back that statement, but seeing Beyonce’s entree into the country arena and the rumor that the trilogy will end with a album dedicated to rock, I add to my assertion that there is a visible fingerprint on all genres of music from this list of women Danyel so lovingly explored in her book. I think it’s worth a re-read. She is a true fan of music and I am a true fan of her unbeatable breadth of knowledge on the subject. You can follow her musical genius on Substack at
.Side note: I’m still waiting on the coffee table book about the Renaissance Tour fashion. Just trying to keep it out there: Rizzoli, Abrams, Assouline, Momma Tina, Blue Ivy, Bueller, anyone?
Julia Morgan: The Intimate Biography of a Trailblazing Architect
At the time, I chose this book because I remembered learning of the Hearst Castle on a trip to San Francisco. Julia was the trailblazing architect that worked with Hearst, so down the rabbit hole I was happy to go. Then, on a visit, my stepmother made an off-hand remark that pierced my heart and made this book resonate with me on a more personal level. She was in town for my daughter’s high school graduation and as grandparents do, they were talking about choosing a career in life. She said that as a high school student, she wanted to be an architect or engineer, but her uncle, who was paying for her education, told her “There is no way they will let a Black women build or design a bridge. I will pay for you to go to college to be a teacher.” She was obedient and went into education. She recently retired from an excellent tenure as a teacher and administrator, but hearing her say those words made me very sad. That wasn’t her dream, that was what she was allowed. I could not imagine someone, anyone, saying such a blunt and harsh thing to a child just on the cusp of adulthood. I am from a generation that was told I could be whatever I wanted to be, but I am only one generation removed from women that were told exactly what they could NOT be. I have never felt that I had a restraint, I have never had anyone tell me no, I have never had anyone question, qualify or diminish any of my dreams.
That’s why books like this matter. I read predominantly non-fiction because I believe that the truth is stranger, and more inspiring than fiction. Biographies and memoirs are blueprints for little girls and young women that can override and hopefully silence negative voices. The stories of all people, and especially women, are light posts in the darkness that some little girl may need to make the path to her dream a little easier to navigate. My stepmother’s story made me realize that my list of recommended reading is not just my vain little social media project: it might be a lifeline of inspiration that a women needs for her next step forward. That makes me even prouder that I completed the list and will continue to sound the horn for more inspiring stories.
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