Suggested reading from the Public Policy Committee

From time to time, the Public Policy Committee will have suggestions for your reading pleasure which have some bearing on important historical and/or current issues of interest. As we don’t all necessarily read the same books at the same time, we can see this list growing. We invite you to refer to it often. We invite you to share your favorite titles as well.

Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan nonfiction, true World War II story of the top secret town of Oak Ridge Tennessee. “Kiernan has amassed a deep reservoir of intimate details of what life was like for women living in the secret city…Rosie, it turns out, did much more than drive rivets.” —The Washington Post

Soldier Girls by Helen Thorpe “Thorpe follows three women, tracking their ups and downs withfaithful detail in a brilliant tableau of their overlapping lives for 12 years as they do multiple tours in Afghanistan and Iraq and readjust to civilianlife…Soldier Girls raises important questions about how men and women serve together and thedifferences in how they experience war, enabling us to see the subtle challengesfemale soldiers face — the hardships that don’t make easy headlines.” – The Washington Post

My Notorious Life by Kate Manning; Terrific character, witty writing, salty, honest, perfectly illustrates how we’re fighting much of the same fight in the 21st century that Axie Muldoon was subjected to in the last half of the 19th.

My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem: Gloria Steinem—writer, activist, organizer, and one of the most inspiring leaders in the world—now tells a story she has never told before, a candid account of how her early years led her to live an on-the-road kind of life, traveling, listening to people, learning, and creating change. She reveals the story of her own growth in tandem with the growth of an ongoing movement for equality.

Daring to be Ourselves: Influential Women Share Insights on Courage, Happiness and Finding Your Voice by Marianne Schnall. Marianne Schnall brings together the most inspiring and empowering quotes from her interviews with many of the world’s most interesting and influential women. The result is a compelling collection of insights and words of wisdom on a variety of important issues, including equality, overcoming adversity, aging, finding balance in life, taking care of the earth, and more. Thought provoking, enlightening, and even humorous at times, this book is a valuable resource for women and girls everywhere.