IMHO, some of the earliest Marxian feminist novels came from Sweden’s Moa Martinson, who wrote stories, many of which that were deeply personal, of poverty and life in Sweden around the turn of the last century. Since my great grandmother was born around this time in Sweden, I love getting this perspective on life and culture. Martinson’s social commentary is almost entirely shown instead of told, and so it’s particularly powerful. I am always amazed to see people break new ground, and Martinson does that in her novels. Women and Appletrees is particularly good.

I used to write more like Little Weirds by Jenny Slate. Maybe I still do. This work is quirky and literary, emotional and smart, and quirky. Did I say quirky? This is a woman who has been given (given herself?) permission to fly with the little weird thoughts and experiences that make up life. The books vacillates between deep heartache and desperate loneliness and also accounts of companionship, unexpected life-affirming experiences, and good people (mostly women), who have stepped in and made her life better, even if only for a short time. There are little weird encounters or weekends or trips that are healing. You can tell that Slate is a reader and surrounded by art and has a literary eye. Her bio says her dad is a poet, and you can tell. This isn’t the type of book that usually gets published. I’m glad it did.

Through the Children’s Gate: A Home in New York by Adam Gopnik is one of the best books on parenting I’ve read. This book is about life, so non-parents will enjoy it too. Fans of the New Yorker will like it for the beautiful writing and deep insights it offers. But, I think parents may appreciate this book the most.

This book reads like a series of connected essays. I can almost see the influence of an editor, trying to thread the themes more intentionally throughout to make this seem more like a novel than separate essays. It really reads like a collection of connected essays though, and it works. Of course it works.

I found Lives of Girls and Women by Alice Munro at a blessed Little Free Library after I was on hour two of watching my kids play at a local park. The cover says “novel,” but it really reads like a series of connected short stories. There’s no question that Munro is an excellent writer, especially of short stories. The first story is “The Flats Road,” and the subtle, yet profound sense of place and character development truly puts Munro in a class of her own. That said, and probably because I was expecting a novel, I had a hard time sticking with the stories. I came expecting a cohesive whole, but the novel isn’t that. If you read it, expect a collection of (good!) shorts.

I cannot tell you how important these books that are written by driven women who are coming of age during the dawn of feminism are to me. With all of the sensitivity and emotional intelligence she’s known for in her acting, Sally Field, adeptly shares her life and insights in her memoir, In Pieces.

Trigger warning, Field shares a good deal of trauma in this book, which she experiences throughout her childhood. However, there’s a deep sense of honesty and insight in the book that makes the message feel important for a broad audience.

With the wisdom of hindsight, Field is able to see how she repeatedly lost herself to men–to her intimate relationships with men and to her sometimes troubled relationships with movie makers. I felt that in my bones. But, Field ends triumphant. It seems she is self-possessed. She knows herself now. She is the main character in her life. That change and realization is possible.

Her relationship with her mother (and the other women in her family) is also interesting. I’m finding that familial relationships and friendships are so rich with emotional fodder and context and potential for story, and Field’s insights here are so moving!

Selfishly, I wanted this book to be more about her role in Forrest Gump, which I found to be stunning and immaculate, but it barely gets mentioned. Instead, more attention goes to her role as Mary Todd Lincoln, which was of course a role that was more recent and seemed more consequential. I guess now I should watch it!

Overall, this is a tough book, but a good one. The reader watches Field gain self awareness and confidence over the course of her career, and it’s really inspiring!

I’m not sure if I’ve ever read anything by Malcolm Gladwell. This book, Blink, came up recently for me, so I decided this was the one. I heard that the book has been pretty widely criticized, but I didn’t know why. It’s one of his older books. Now that I’ve read it, I think I know why it’s been criticized. And, I think most of the problem could have been avoided if Gladwell had used more tentative language. Instead of “X people are Y,” a simple, “Many X people experience Y.” This approach is less essentialist and more accurate. However, whether Gladwell thought the more essentialist approach was stronger, or whether an editor pushed him into that so-called “stronger” language (I could see either being the case), the outcome is a language and an approach that simply hasn’t aged well. Most of this problem wasn’t noticeable to me until the last part of the book, but then he really doubles down. I think the book is interesting and entertaining, but may not have a whole lot of value beyond that. Now I’m very curious to read another one of his books to see how his writing has evolved. I assume it has. Like the rest of us.