Remember when you were in school and there was a prescribed reading list to delve into over the summer? Back then, you might have viewed that list as a chore (homework for the entire summer), but now that you’re a bit older and wiser, you realize diving into a great story can enhance your vacation. Here are just a few literary adventures to embark on this season:

Pack in Your Beach Bag
Commencement
J. Courtney Sullivan

Whether you’ve just graduated or those fond college memories are a bit further in the distance, Sullivan’s debut novel will have you reconnecting with former classmates. The story follows four young women who meet their first year at Smith College as they undergo the ups and inevitable downs of academia as well as its real-world aftermath. Far from standard chick lit, this book has a serious side thanks to compelling, educated leading ladies who still have a lot to learn.

In-Flight Reading
Requiem for a Paper Bag: Celebrities and Civilians Tell Stories of the Best Lost, Tossed, and Found Items from Around the World
Davy Rothbart

This treasure trove may inspire you to sift through finds at the local thrift store once you reach your destination. The publisher of the magazine Found, which prints notes and letters people find on the street, delivers this anthology of musicians, writers, entertainers and artists as they detail unique items they’ve come across. The compilation is a bit of a scavenger hunt but there are several hidden gems from the likes of Chuck D, Andy Samberg and Sarah Vowell.

Experience the Book before Seeing the Movie
My Sister’s Keeper
Jodi Picoult

Sure it’s up on the big screen with stars like Cameron Diaz, Jason Patric and Abigail Breslin, but this moral odyssey is worth contemplating in print. Thirteen-year-old Anna Fitzgerald was born with a unique birthright — she was designed by her parents to save her sister Kate who has been battling leukemia since she was two. In an effort to have a say in her destiny, Anna seeks to be medically emancipated from her parents. It might get a bit overly melodramatic, but the tale of a family simultaneously torn apart and brought together by a devastating illness is worth the read. You can always see it in the theater or rent it later.

Just for Kicks
What Would Keith Richards Do?: Daily Affirmations from a Rock and Roll Survivor
Jessica Pallington West

Have you ever found yourself in a tricky situation and wondered what would the legendary Keith Richards do? Probably not, but it’s still entertaining to take in the Rolling Stones guitarist’s musings enclosed in the pages of this affirmative guide. We can only hope someone comes out with a What Would Joan Jett Do? counterpart in the near future.

photo by margo conner

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Japanese writers have been doing it for years: creating novels by uploading 140 character texts from cell phones. There are hoards of websites specifically created to house these updates, where readers can comment on the story, even ultimately directing the twists and turns of the final plot. The first keitai shosetsu (directly translated as mobile fiction), Deep Love, was written in 2003—and if this title elicits notions of gaudy or drippy romantic writing, then you would be right.

One interesting facet of this trend is who’s driving it: adolescent girls. Young girls are reading and writing these works in droves (Mika’s Love Sky was read by 20 million people, staggering numbers for any writer). Unwanted pregnancy, eternal love, rape, and prostitution are all popular themes. In a country where women are definitely considered an unequal gender, such a tool is giving more women a voice. With 20 million readers, you can bet that people are talking about these works.

In many ways, this trend is evidence of Japanese youth culture defining themselves, carving out their own genre, in the way that comic books, pop music and Facebook have for Americans. Traditional novels do not reach the younger demographic in Japan, but still they have found a way to tell stories that are relevant to them and, in some ways, rather important. While the genre has been questioned for its simplistic writing and lack of originality, at some point, writing becomes most important as a tool in relating one’s experience, even creating empathy.

So then, is the U.S. next? Using twitter is one possible medium, and quillpill.com has also capitalized on the trend.  American author Matt Ritchel gave the genre a twirl, using twitter to compose his own version, which he labeled twiller (that is, a twitter thriller).

But there are some inherent differences in Japanese culture that seem to be behind its popularity abroad. Japanese is a high context language, making cell phone novels conducive to the language. Sentences can be as short as one syllable in Japanese with subjects and articles often inferred. A two-hour train commute in Japan is common, whereas we Angelinos are more likely to try to sneak in a text when there are no cops around. Also, the cell phone is the primary form of internet access in Japan, while computers are more commonly used in America.

After reading a translated excerpt from Mika’s Love Sky and reading Matt Ritchel’s twitter history, I found there is something that is definitely different about this form. There is no flow to it; instead, it reads like small pops of electricity, each with a short burst of plot. It takes some adjustment but it doesn’t deserve to be written off.

What is definitely exciting is the embrace of new media to do new things, and to do them in different ways. Even if cell phone novels/twitter novels never catch on in the U.S, it is a sign of the diversification of such tools, and that people will continue to tell their stories.

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My basic criteria in compiling this list was choosing books that shared the female experience with unabashed honesty. There is simply no comparison to the feeling I get when I read literature that gives me pangs of internal harmony with a character. So without further ado, here is my incredibly biased list of must read books by female authors and their lovable characters.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, 1847
One of the strongest female characters in literature, you can’t help but fall for Jane as you read of how the nine year-old grows up, and stands up for herself over and over again.

The Awakening by Kate Chopin, 1899
A beautifully written story about walking away from expectations, about living your life the way you want to live it. Chopin writes with a great sensuality, drawing readers in to Edna Pontelier’s conflicted existence.

Cheri by Colette, 1920
Colette successfully reverses male and female stereotypes in her characters within the story of a Parisian love triangle. Also check out the sequel to the affair in The Last of Cheri.

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, 1925
Woolf thrusts her readers inside the minds of her characters for just one June day in London, but it is a powerful day to say the least. Her stream of consciousness writing style allows the reader to be intimate with Woolf’s characters, even against the setting of a restricting British society.

Cities of the Interior by Anais Nin, 1954
You might know Nin for her erotica, but check out this grandiose roman-flauve that contains five novels in one. Through four female characters, Nin explores the complexities of women, of love, desire and repression, sometimes even playing with surrealist themes.

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, 1963
Plath successfully explores issues of adolescents entering adulthood, ones that continue to ring true fifty years later. Esther’s self-destruction in the face of her struggling to become a writer and a woman is powerful and real.

Fear of Flying by Erica Jong, 1973
Jong is fearless when it comes to her blunt discussion of Isadora Wing’s sexual fantasies and desires. Spend a few days in Wing’s world, where Jong might even pull forth deep-seeded thoughts of your own that you may never have acknowledged.

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, 1985
Atwood explores a frightening, futuristic world in which a fascist government has taken over the US. It is a world where women are segregated, used and inferior. The implications of power, control and societal relations between men and women are compelling, even overwhelming.

The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler, 1996
The monologues presented here are raw, shocking, even humorous at times, but fully feminine. Whether you read the book or see the play, the voices will continue to ring in your ears.

Colors Insulting to Nature by Cintra Wilson, 2004
This is a humorous and vulnerable take on living in a dysfunctional family and going after an impossible dream. Wilson’s wit is sharp, and her prose pops with fiery sparks of energy.

photo by stefano corso

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Ahhh, winter break. No tests. No papers. No projects.  And a chance to catch up on some reading you actually enjoy!  So grab a book, and hit your favorite coffee shop for a little relaxation and a lot of entertainment.

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Who better to kick off your winter break reading with than Matilda Wormwood!?  Roald Dahl’s character, who we see as a 5-year-old child, is a brainy, independent, and strong girl with a sense of adventure.  She doesn’t have the greatest family.  In fact, her parents and brother seem not to care for her at all—but Matilda doesn’t let them stand in her way.  No one can intimidate Matilda, not even the headmaster at her new school, the big, daunting, forceful (and abusive) character of Miss Trunchbull.  Thank goodness for Matilda’s sweet and accurately named teacher, Miss Honey.

If you haven’t read about Matilda before, you’ll have a blast experiencing her antics and pranks.  If you know Matilda already, there’s no time like the present to reacquaint yourself with an old friend.

Thank you, Mr. Dahl for this classic children’s novel and its priceless characters. It’s become an IATG favorite.

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Go from a fictitious, young woman to the real deal when you read about the life of Wangari Maathai in Unbowed.  This native Kenyan is the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, the first African woman to ever be awarded the prize.

With each chapter, Maathai’s environmentalism seeps through her words and will cause your heart to ache (though probably just a fraction of how much hers does).  Then, as the story progresses, you will find yourself reading with your jaw dropped.  How can one woman accomplish so much and seem so nonchalant about it?

Her environmentalism leads to political activism which leads to a self-dependency that demands action.  Year in and year out, Maathai is on her feet, using her voice, and planting her trees in the face of threats of violence and experienced violence.

If you have any desire to read a book that about someone who is inspirational and, at the same time, freezes you with reverence, pick up this book.

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A few years ago, the book to read on young girls was Reviving Ophelia by Mary Pipher.  Now that those  young girls have gotten a little older and have gone to college, it’s time to discover their modern lives and culture.  That’s where Laura Sessions Stepp’s book, Unhooked, comes in.  Subtitled “How Young Women Pursue Sex, Delay Love, and Lose at Both,” the book plunges in to the lives of several young women as Sessions herself forms relationships with them.  She discusses their sex and love lives with them and also observes their interactions.

It’s an amazingly interesting book on the sex culture of teens and twenty-somethings that offers fact and analyzes potential effects. Sections are sometimes relatable and sometimes shocking but always worth the time it takes to read them. If you read the title and subtitle of this book, there’s no way you could say no to turning its pages.

All books available in paperback online and in local bookstores.

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An entourage of PR and bodyguards flock around a bouncy, young blonde as she traipses down the corridors of the Barnes and Noble in Glendale. With all of this security, you’d swear that Meghan McCain was the pope. From the looks of the crowd, she might as well be.

Pampered young Republican mommies with their toddlers, some with McCain/Palin pins hooked onto their jumpers, have congregated on the second floor fortress (no one gets in without purchasing a book) for Meghan’s reading and signing of her newly released children’s book My Dad, John McCain.

The book release is just in time for the election, and the holidays. A woman behind me in the line for the signing purchased 12 copies, “one for each of her granddaughters.” Sarah Palin would have been proud.

It’s not what one would call the ideal bedtime story, as Meghan brings to light the reality of her father’s situation as a prisoner of war and the hardships of campaigning. But it’s composed of beautifully drawn illustrations of family photos and reads like a nursery rhyme.

The content of her book isn’t the only side of Meghan that’s slightly unconventional though. She’s a citizen journalist, and has hosted her own blog for several years. She talks about women’s issues, life on the campaign trail, and her dreams of becoming a designer. Everywhere she goes, her female documentary team follows, posting images and videos on her “blogette” while she wanders.

The Columbia grad projects an image that young women can aspire to be: independent, enterprising, and, naturally, well dressed. She wore a pair of black patent leather Mary Janes to the signing, which conveniently showed off the itsy-bitsy star tattoo on her left foot. Meghan’s dress was a patriotic navy blue cap sleeved number, falling just above the knee. She’s well dressed, well spoken, smiley, and full of life.

While getting a book signed, I asked Meghan what message she would want to send young women from the White House.  “I really want to focus on young women having a healthy body image.” She believes that “Mia Tyler is a beautiful role model.” Meghan looks forward to designing a line of clothing for more curvaceous young girls like her, steering away from the homogenized stick thin look of the high fashion world.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed that her tendency to think outside of the box runs in the family.

Stay up to date with Ms. McCain’s travels along the campaign trial by visiting her blog. http://www.mccainblogette.com/

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