Last night I got to do something very fun–do a presentation for a Girl Scout troupe on extraordinary women in history, complete with costumes and dress-up time!  They had been doing a program on stereotypes that can hurt girls/women and constrain them in life, and I was asked to talk about how women in history were able to break those stereotypes.  I talked about Elizabeth I, Marie Antoinette, Jane Austen, and Queen Victoria, and also the ways ordinary people lived their own lives despite some strict expectations.  I hoped that this would tell them that, hey it used to be REALLY hard to be a girl, and we can’t take our freedoms for granted.

I’m not entirely sure the message got across, but the clothes sure did. 🙂  I took some of my own costumes with me and let them try them on, so they could see how constrained girls were by their everyday clothes.  I asked them to imagine doing all the things they do (playing soccer, riding horses, doing chores, school and lessons) while wearing corsets, petticoats, long skirts, and bonnets.  But mostly they wanted to twirl around and dance in flouncy skirts!

It was a lot of fun, and reminded me of when I was 9 years old and played dress-up.  I had just started to be fascinated by history (thanks to reading stuff like “Anne of Green Gables,” “Little Women,” and, yes, Barbara Cartland novels!  Her stories were pretty terrible, with all those teenaged stammering heroines and dark, glowering dukes, but I do credit her with feeding my history obsession…), and was reading everything I could get my hands on that dealt with women in history.  Just like now, I loved imagining what it was like to live in a different time period, to think differently and see things in a very different way.  I especially loved women who managed to be true to themselves and live in their own ways, despite all the pressure to do otherwise.

I hope those girls took some of that away from the talk as well, but I think mostly they’re just astonished women used to ride sidesaddle in dresses all the time….

What were some of your favorite books as a child?  Who were some of your childhood heroines??

It’s been a long time since I took off so much time from the dayjob, and I have the luxury of an entire week and two bits from work. Huzzah! I am actually getting some writing done. But enough of that.

I usually like to talk about books I’ve read this year and I’ve read a lot with the acquisition of a kindle. I’ve read a lot of forgettable books, sadly, but I do want to tell you about the book. You know, the one that has revolutionized women’s literary and sex lives worldwide. I thought I had to read it so I could be properly insulting about it. So I borrowed it from the library. I think I am the last person to discover that you can borrow ebooks from the library.

So how was it for me? Reader, I cannot lie. I have read many worse self-pubbed and traditionally-pubbed books. Was it as bad as everyone said? Yes. But it also has this quality that many other successful and beloved writers have (no I am not naming names) of setting you aboard an express train that you do not want to get off. Even if you’re not enjoying the ride and there are occasional stops you feel compelled, against your reason, to keep reading. Does it fail epically as a dirty book? Absolutely. Is it witty where it’s supposed to be? No. Is it well written? No. Will I read the other two books in the series? No, I have done my duty.

(Check out Ron Charles of the Washington Post on the phenomenon that is 50… here)

Onto happier moments. Books I read and enjoyed this year:

Some mysteries–Julia Spencer-Fleming’s series that I first read years ago so I had some catching up and rereading to do. Also Deborah Crombie’s books which I’m reading way out of order and which are brilliant (so far) when she sticks to London settings but fall apart when set elsewhere.

In the Woods by Tana French, a wonderful Irish police procedural. This was a reread.

City of Women by David Gillham, set in Berlin in the last days of WWII.

Floating Gold: A Natural (and Unnatural) History of Ambergris by Christopher Kent, a book that gave a new lease of life to a WIP.

The Great Stink by Clare Clark. Not for the tender-stomached, a novel about London’s old sewer system. EEEEW. But a great read.

My tentative on-off relationship with Georgette Heyer continued with A Civil Contract which I actually liked. In other romance reading, rather thin on the ground, I loved Miranda Neville’s books this year, I’m working my way through the brilliant Julie Ann Long’s Pennyroyal Series, and I am very much looking forward to a certain Vanity Fare by Megan Caldwell which appeared on my kindle yesterday. Go Megan!

What are you reading?

Hi, all! Susanna here, filling in for Elena who’s recuperating from the flu.

When Elena asked if I could post today, my first thought was to talk about my New Year’s resolutions. But when I checked out the blog and saw that would make three resolutions posts in a row, I decided to instead talk about my favorite reads from the past year. Granted, there have been several such posts recently, but I don’t think there’s much overlap in our lists, so here goes.

Note that few of them are 2012 releases. Except in a few cases, e.g. a new book by a favorite author in a series I love, I don’t always make it a priority to read books immediately after release.

Favorite Historical Romance (New)

My Fair Concubine, by Jeannie Lin (2012). My Fair Lady in Tang Dynasty China, and my favorite of Lin’s books to date.

Favorite Historical Romance (Old But Now Available as an Ebook)

The Wives of Bowie Stone, by Maggie Osborne (1994). The hero is the most heroic and admirable bigamist you’ll ever meet.

Favorite Contemporary Romance 

Doukakis’s Apprentice, by Sarah Morgan (2011). I’m not usually a Harlequin Presents reader–I’m just not into wildly rich, wildly alpha heroes outside of SF or history, and even then I want them to be extra-awesome, brave, honorable, and brainy–we’re talking Aral Vorkosigan or the Duke of Wellington here. But I’ve enjoyed Morgan’s medical romances, and this book came so highly recommended that I tried it anyway. And I’m glad I did, hence its placement on this list.

Favorite YA Romance/Debut Book

Catching Jordan, by Miranda Kenneally (2011). Just a well-written book all around, and I could tell Kenneally thoroughly knows and loves her some football.

Wildly Popular Book That Actually Didn’t Disappoint Me

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins (2008). No need to say more, since I figure y’all have already heard of this one…

Favorite Mystery Discovered Randomly When I Heard Its Author Interviewed on NPR

Bruno, Chief of Police, by Martin Walker (2009). Lovely, leisurely-paced mystery that will make you wish yourself in France.

Favorite New Entries in Long-Running Series

Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance, by Lois McMaster Bujold (2012). A lovely science fiction romance, albeit one that I doubt would have the same impact for readers lacking a long history with the characters and their world. Those readers should go grab Shards of Honor or The Warrior’s Apprentice and start building that history!

The Scottish Prisoner, by Diana Gabaldon (2012). I really appreciate how Gabaldon writes soldiers. Jamie Fraser and John Grey remind me of the officers in my family and the ones I meet in my historical research, which unfortunately isn’t always the case in my reading, whether in romance or other genres.

Most Useful Psychology/Self-Help Book

The Willpower Instinct, by Kelly McGonigal (2011). Explains why it’s so hard to change and ways you can make it easier.

Best Food for My Inner History Geek

Moscow 1812, by Adam Zamoyski (2004). Gripping tale of Napoleon’s invasion and retreat.

Guest of Honor, by Deborah Davis (2012). Race relations 100 years ago viewed through the lens of Teddy Roosevelt and Booker T Washington.

1493, by Charles C. Mann (2011). A history of the Columbian exchange and how it altered the course of the world in the past 500 years.

The Worst Hard Time, by Timothy Egan (2006). If you watched Ken Burns’ The Dust Bowl and want to learn more, go here.

Have you read any of my favorites? What books are you looking forward to for 2013?