browsed several bookstores recently, and found some interesting, new books. i prefer reading books by women, about women but i found one edited by a gentleman that i will surely purchase:

empty without you: the intimate letters of eleanor roosevelt & lorena hickok / roger streitmatter

no bio of eleanor roosevelt even touches the work of blanche weissen cooke (hey--when will the second edition come out? anyone have her email address?), who detailed eleanor's friendships & love affairs with women & men (undoubtedly infuriating the roosevelt family).

also i recently read a book which i must recommend:

my year of meats / ruth ozeki

the book traces a bi-racial (euro-amer & japanese) woman's oddessey through the heartland of america in search of the perfect, "typical" american wife--and more importantly, her meat recipe--for a weekly japanese program. gradually, she begins chaffing under her sponsor (the beef industry), and in response, she pursues diversity, filming "alternate" american families. also there is several powerful sub-plots: the effect of hormones in the meat industry; DES poisoning; pregnancy; domestic violence. this is not a depressing novel--it moves quicky and is funny & poignant in the same phrase. as a vegetarian (10 yrs!) i can't recommend this book enough. as a reader--i must raveRaveRAVE about this book.

other books which i read this year that really had an impact:

storming heaven's gate: an anthology of spirtual writings by women / amber coverdale sumrall & patricia vecchione (kept me sane during a difficult time)

the soul of politics: beyond "religious right" and "secular left" / jim wallis (great politics but i found him a bit problematic on choice & g/l/b/t)

all saints: daily reflections on saints, prophets, and witness for our time / robert ellsberg (butler's lives of the saints it ain't! i include the daily reading as part of my evening prayer ;-)

self portrait in letters 1916-1942 / edith stein (like thomas merton, edith sought refuge in monasticism only to be confronted w/ a mountain of correspondence)

your money or your life / joe dominguez & vicki robin (gave several to my friends & brow-beat the others into reading the book--we love it!)

at the root of this longing : reconciling a spiritual hunger and a feminist thirst / carol lee flinders (much better that i thought it would be!)

the best spritual writing of 1998 / philip zaleski (great selection)

***
fiction:

blue jelly: love lost & the lessons of canning / debby bull

by the light of my father's smile / alice walker

cloud mountain / aimee liu

collector of hearts: new tales of the grotesque / joyce carol oates

compass of the heart / priscilla logan

ex libris: confessions of a common reader / anne fadiman

flamboyant / elizabeth swados

flora's suitcase / dalia rabinovich

flying iguanas: an all-girl road novel thing / erika lopez

hunger / lan samantha chang

mama stalks the past / nora de loach

mission child / maureen mc hugh

my year of meats / ruth ozeki

point of orgin / patricia cornwell

shakespeare's champion / charlaine harris

something to declare / julia alvarez

the angels of galilea / laura restrepo

the course of honor / lindsey davis

the evolution of jane / cathleen schine

the love of a good woman / alice munro

they call me mad dog / erika lopez

welcome to the world, baby girl! / fannie flagg

willing spirits / phyllis schieber

***
non-fiction:

a shining thread of hope: a history of black women in america / darlene clarke hine & kathleen thomson

almost a women / esmerelda santiago

anne frank / melissa muller

best friends / sharon wohlmuth & carol saline

bodily harm: breakthrough healing program for self-injurers / karen conterio & wendy cader

book of shadows: a modern women's journey into the wisdom of witchcraft & the magic of the goddess / phyllis turott

complete / patti smith

desiring italy: women writers celebrate the passions of a country & culture / susan cahill

empty without you: the intimate letters of eleanor roosevelt & lorena hickok / roger streitmatter

eudora: a writer's life / ann waldron (eudora welty!)

glimpses of grace: daily thoughts and reflections / madeleine l'engle

in a spiritual style: the home as sanctuary / laura cerwinske

journey to beloved / oprah winfrey

linda mc cartney on tour: over 200 meat-free dishes from around the world / linda mc cartney

medicine women: the story of early american women doctors / cathy luchetti

paradise, piece by piece / molly peacock

quintessence / mary daly

raise the roof: the inspiring inside story of the tennesse lady vols' undefeated 1997-1998 season / pat summit

release 2.1: a design for living in the digital age / esther dyson

season in hell: a memoir / ann blackman

season of her life: a biography of medeleine korbel albright / ann blackman

sister wendy's nativity / sister wendy beckett

something more: excavation of your authentic self / sarah ban breathnach

tale of a blue dress / thylias moss

the power of glamour: the women who defined the magic of fashion / annette tapert

vegetarian cooking for everyone / deborah madison

we are out mother's daughters / cokie roberts

woman artists / the national museum of women in the arts

***

so many books, so little time!

jennifer

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"We are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation."

-- From Abigail Adams to John Adams, 31 March, 1776
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