Patron Picks: Revolutionary Women at Open Book Hour

What are you reading? Every month at our Open Book Hour at Mid-Manhattan Library at 42nd Street, readers meet to trade fiction and nonfiction book recommendations. If you'd like to join us, Open Book Hour meets the second Friday of every month at 2 PM in Room 67A at the Mid-Manhattan Library.

Next up: On Friday, April 12 at 2 PM, we'll talk about migration and peregrination in literature. You can see information on upcoming discussion themes, and check out our past reading lists (and printable versions.)

March Open Book Hour: Revolutionary Women

At our March session, Open Book Hour readers shared reading recommendations that featured rebels, trailblazers, innovators, and iconoclasts. Books included biographies, fiction, poetry, and other writing by and about women who've changed the world.

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (2016)

Homegoing is the powerful story of two sisters living at the dawn of British colonization and slavery in Ghana. Open Book Hour reader Salome notes that Gyasi’s 2016 novel is well-written and educational.

Susan B. Anthony: A Biography of a Singular Feminist by Kathleen Barry (1988)

Joan describes Barry’s biography of suffragist Susan B. Anthony as "an engaging book about the feminist movement." The book reveals Anthony’s complex politics and how one person can make a significant impact on a political movement.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Singsby Maya Angelou (1969)

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan (1989)

Marie enjoys the intergenerational comparisons of the characters in The Joy Luck Club. She also appreciates how Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings speaks to the lived experiences of women in an imperfect world.

My American Dream: A Life of Love, Family, and Food by Lidia Bastianich (2018)

Helen found Bastianich’s memoir, which recounts the author and chef’s story from first-generation immigrant to successful restauranteur, as "inspiring and interesting." 

Sex and the Single Girl by Helen Gurley Brown (1962)

Janet has returned to the work of pioneering writer Helen Gurley Brown, longtime editor of Cosmopolitan magazine, many times over the years. She enjoys her blend of practical advice, humor, and awareness of the struggles faced by women during the sexual revolution in the U.S. in the 1970s.

My Mother My Self by Nancy Friday (1977)

Susan also enjoys writing from the 1970s, including the pivotal memoir/study My Mother My Self, which explores relationships between mothers and daughters through personal experience and social science research.

Who are your favorite revolutionary women to read about? Please share your recommendations in the comments section below.