'Book Recommendations'

It's National Poetry Month. Whether you read, write, rap, or listen, may the Muse be with you.

Everyone has a book to recommend, right? Teenagers are no different. As an adult, I love to read a YA book every once in awhile, and I appreciate hearing about which books teens are enjoying, too. Read today's blog post for book recommendations from area teens. 

Women’s History Month  

In honor of Women’s History Month, Lewis & Clark Library staffers offer a few of their favorite nonfiction books that fall into the category of women’s history.  

April recommends . . . Pioneer Doctor: The Story of a Woman’s Work
by Mari Graña 

A captivating biography about a Helena woman, Dr. Mollie Atwater, who after attaining her medical degree in Chicago, fled her controlling husband and came to Bannack, Montana as a physician for the Golden Leaf Mining Company, transferring to Marysville in the 1890s, and ultimately relocating to Helena.  A true pioneer of women's rights and community medical care-encompassing the 1918 Flu epidemic! An inspiring read! 

Find Pioneer Doctor in the library catalog Here 

  When Women Ruled the World: Six Queens of Egypt
by Kara Cooney 

A fascinating look at six women who rose to the pinnacle of power in a patriarchal world.  Author Kara Cooney analyzes not just the who but how the system worked and what was happening in Egypt at each of the six women's reign. How are women in power viewed? Then? Now?  What are their strengths? Perceived weaknesses?   How were these Women remembered - or not? Also, the audiobook is expertly read by the author. 

Find When Women Ruled the World in the library catalog Here
Also available in digital format:
Hoopla eBook and eAudiobook 

 A Woman of No Importance:  The Untold Story of the American Spy  
Who Helped Win World War II 
by Sonia Purnell 

Could a woman operate an undercover spy organization in Nazi occupied France? The general thought in Europe during the 1930's was--hardly! Women don't have what it takes. However, American Virginia Hall did have what it took! A woman of stunning good looks and physical endurance, despite having a prosthetic leg, she coordinated many air drops, counter operatives as well as transmitting enemy intelligence back to United Kingdom for more than seven years. A true American woman of grit and charm. 

Find A Woman of No Importance in the library catalog Here
Also available in digital format:
Montana Library2Go/Libby eBook and eAudiobook 

Suzanne recommends . . .  Why We Cook: Women on Food, Identity and Connection 
by Lindsay Gardner 

Why We Cook: Women on Food, Identity and Connection by Lindsay Gardner is fantastic. Inspiring in so many ways! Essays, interviews, recipes and more from 112 women in food. You want to just hang out with these women, cooking and eating and talking. 

Find Why We Cook in the library catalog Here
Also available in digital format:
Hoopla eBook 

Andrea recommends . . .  The Ride of Her Life 
by Elizabeth Letts 

For a wonderful book about a piece of American women's history, I recently read The Ride of Her Life: The True Story of a Woman, Her Horse, and Their Last-Chance Journey Across America by Elizabeth Letts. Annie Wilkins set across the country on horseback at the age of sixty-three and has many wonderful and horrific adventures. I've enjoyed all of the titles I've read by Elizabeth Letts. 

Find The Ride of Her Life in the library catalog Here
Also available in digital format:
Montana Library2Go/Libby eBook
Read more about the author Here 

 Bretagne recommends . . . My Own Words
by Ruth Bader Ginsburg 

You can listen to RBG making historic speeches recorded from when they happened. She also speaks about her life as a Supreme Court Justice. Her husband, Marty, also makes a very moving speech. 

Find My Own Words the library catalog Here
Also available in digital format:
Montana Library2Go/Libby eAudiobook 

Brazen: Rebel Ladies who Rocked the World
by Pénélope Bagieu 

This graphic novel is a compilation of information about brazen women throughout history who overcame overwhelming adversity in making a change. Some women are very well-known and others are lesser so, but not any less amazing. 

Find Brazen in the library catalog Here 

Follow this investigation of a company that destroyed the lives of so many women exposed to radium and the history of how it all came to light. 

Find Radium Girls in the library catalog Here
Also available in digital format:
Montana Library2Go/Libby eBook and eAudiobook
Hoopla eBook and eAudiobook 

Rachel recommends . . . Queen of the World
by Robert Hardman 

I am obviously a huge fan of the current Queen Elizabeth II and Queen of the World by Robert Hardman is a fascinating book! and What I find most intriguing about it is that it's not a biography per se, it's more about her place in the world and all she's seen and been a part of! 

I am also a very, very big fan of female historians and two of my favorites right now are Suzannah Lipscomb (who has a fabulous podcast called "Not Just the Tudors") and Tracy Borman (who has my dream job as chief curator of historic royal palaces). Dr. Borman has a new book coming any day now called Crown and Sceptre which is a new history of the British monarch meant to coincide with the Queen's platinum jubilee. 

Find Queen of the World in the library catalog Here
Also available in digital format:
Hoopla eBook 

We hope you check out some of these great titles and find others to inspire you about women's history.
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