Falise Platt of
the 24/8
Book Club shares her top picks in new books. A voracious
reader with diverse interests, Falise chooses the best from
fiction and nonfiction alike, creating a selection that is both
fun and intelligent.
 In
honor of Women’s History Month, we’ve rounded up our
picks of new books for women, by women. Be sure to celebrate
and reflect on how far we’ve come, and how far there is still
to go.
 Note
to Self
Edited by Andrea Buchanan
Simon Spotlight Entertainment, 2009
Buchanan introduces this collection by recalling her father’s
habit of leaving notes all over the house with nuggets of
wisdom. Thus inspired, she shares thirty women’s thoughts
on things like humiliation, heartbreak and hardship.
Contributors include author Ruth Andrew Ellenson, Maile M.
Zambuto of Joyful Heart, singer Sheryl Crowe, and spiritual
activist and humanitarian Marianne Williamson. Each writer
focuses on a challenge she has faced, and the triumph that
came with moving forward.
 The
List
By Gail Belsky
Seal, 2008
Need a way out of your comfort zone? How about 100? Belsky
shares some energizing and creative ideas to feel reinvigorated,
with each item including a brief description, a real life
story and resources and tips for getting it done.
Some highlights: Activity #40, “Create a Sacred Space”
is a good place to start without leaving the home. Activity
#9, “Audition for Something Nerve Racking” will
pump energy to the whole body. Activity #86, “Read the
Classics” is an activity near and dear to us and is always
a must.
 Delicate
Edible Birds and other Stories
By Lauren Groff
Voice, 2009
Nine stories make up this disturbing, fascinating, and dark
collection. The characters are hard to embrace, and there
is more than enough helplessness and sadness to go around-still,
strong female characters and imagery fill the pages.
Each story feels as complete as a novel, with a complex and
layered touch that’s reminiscent of storytellers Annie Proulx,
Alice Hoffman and Anne Tyler.
 Confessions
of an Introvert
By Meghan Wier
Sphinx, 2009-03-02
For those of us who prefer a quieter place in the world,
Wier’s guide is chock full of tools to better navigate the
public spaces of our lives, especially in terms of the workplace
and networking.
Wier offers strategies to overcome some of the obstacles
inherent in being shy, as well as permission to accept who
we are. In a nutshell: introverts and extroverts interact
differently with the world. Extroverts gain energy from others,
whereas an introvert might have to build some time in before
and after group activities to manage their thoughts and emotions.
Simply stated by Wier: “Being an introvert is not something
to change but something to be aware of and to manage.”
 One
True Theory of Love
By Laura Fitzgerald
New American Library, 2009
After Meg Clark’s husband left her alone to raise their
son Henry, Meg swore off dating and love altogether. Everything
in Meg’s life has been about Henry—until now, when
a chance meeting (or is it?) brings Ahmed Bourani into the
picture.
Many women will identify with Meg’s journey and with the
social issues that increasing globlization creates. Throughout
this novel Fitzgerald shares the pain, and the joy, of love.
 The
Secrets of Simplicity
By Mary Carlomagno
Chronicle Books, 2008
Explore these exercises and spiritual messages if you’re
looking for more motivation to declutter your life. Carlomagno
suggests we reinvent the diet—for our stuff—by identifying
the things that really matter and honoring them by reducing
the chaotic environment in which they are found.
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* The Good Reads Girl was drawn by
Denise Simon, a Chicago-based freelance illustrator.
Check out her work at deniseannsimon.com.
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