Books of 2010

1. Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond. This was a re-read; I first read this book as part of the honors program curriculum when I was in undergrad. It was fun to get back to this book, and nice to feel a little re-oriented in terms of, well, where everyone came from. A good way to start a year of history, biography, and women. Below are a few links (first to a documentary, then to reviews):

2. Broccoli and Other Tales of Food and Love by Lara Vapnyar.
It’s been on my Amazon.com wishlist for over a year – but I found it for sale at the public library for $1! A great deal on great stories about food and love, with some cheeky recipes included at the end. Only wish it was longer.

3. Women’s Work: The First 2,000 Years by Elizabeth Wayland Barber.

4. Abigail Adams by Woody Holton. My first biography of the year – I got interested in Abigail Adams because Frans watched the HBO John Adams documentary over and over, and I like it portrayed the relationship between the two of them. That and how Abigail is alway putting John in his place. Very good book, and I appreciated how Holton pointed out how Abigail challenged the notion of coverture (the idea that a woman was legally/financially invisible once she married) by making investments, going into trade for a little while, and, towards the end of her life, making her own will. Also fascinating was the huge amount of correspondence going on between Abigail and John, as well as Abigail and her other relatives and many friends and acquaintances. Many of the letters between Abigail and John are available digitally on the Massachusetts Historical Society’s Adams Family Papers Archive. I just picked up a copy of My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John Adams – not sure if I’m going to have time to read the whole things right now, but I’ll definitely browse through it.