Like many of you, I’m missing the library and browsing the shelves since the closure. Luckily, we still have access to Overdrive and Hoopla to fill our book cravings! Since we’ve been closed, I’ve been reading a mix of genres, but I did notice that I’ve read a lot of books where women have taken charge of their destinies! Here are a few of them:
Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey
This is a futuristic version of the Wild West, where librarians are a gang of their own, racing through the desert to deliver information. Esther stows away on the Librarians book wagon, running away from her life, and wishing to be brought in to the fold. These librarians are not the quiet, shushing type. They ride fast, guns wielded, defending their wagon load of information from nefarious characters, while picking up other stowaways along the way.
The Chelsea Girls by Fiona Davis
The Chelsea Hotel is home to many artists and creatives, but in particular home to friends playwright Hazel and actress Maxine. The two met during WWII, both working in a theater guild that performed for soldiers all around Europe. When they return to New York City, they begin working their way up Broadway. But, with the rise of McCarthyism after the war, some of their close friends around them begin getting blacklisted. This brings ruin to many around them, and their friendship is tested during this time. If you’ve never read a Fiona Davis novel, she always centers her books around a real building, so if you enjoy the novel, you can research the Chelsea Hotel after you finish reading!
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
The narrator, who is never named in the story, is a young woman in New York City who has it all. Wealth, good schooling, a great job at an art gallery, yet she isn’t happy. This book follows her journey through depression and her experiment to “sleep” for a year. This is admittedly not an uplifting book, but it is gripping as you read her thoughts as she struggles to find a solution to her issues. I found myself unable to stop reading because I wanted to know what happened to her.
