I heard about this book from colleagues long before it was published. They talked about the power of the story and how well it was written. This book has now struck a chord with readers across North America and is landing on bestseller lists from coast-to-coast. Behind the Beautiful Forevers tells the story of families living in Annawadi, a makeshift settlement right near the luxury hotels of Mumbai. Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Katherine Boo has a gift for sharing the inside story of these people’s lives while remaining an outside observer. These people, and their stories, are very powerful and not easily forgotten.

International Women’s Day has been celebrated since the early 1900s. Now, thousands of events are held annually on March 8 to recognize the important role that women play in our past, present, and future world. They are “Connecting Girls, Inspiring Futures” as one of their themes for 2012.

What better way to carry on this tradition than teaching our daughters about some of the historical women who have made contributions to our society in all walks of life?

If you would like to inspire a young girl’s future, any of these books would make for great mother-daughter book club discussions:

Scribbling Women: True Tales from Astonishing Lives by Marthe Jocelyn
Ages 14+
In 1855, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote to his publisher, complaining about the irritating fad of “scribbling women.” Whether they were written by professionals, by women who simply wanted to connect with others, or by those who wanted to leave a record of their lives, those “scribbles” are fascinating, informative, and instructive.

Condoleezza Rice:A Memoir of My Extraordinary, Ordinary Family and Me by Condoleezza Rice
Ages 11+
Her life began in the comparatively placid 1950s in Birmingham, Alabama, where black people lived in a segregated parallel universe to their white neighbors. She grew up during the violent and shocking 1960s, when bloodshed became a part of daily life in the South.

Laura Secord: A Story of Courage by Janet Lunn
Ages 8+
One day in the spring of 1813, American officers took over the Secord home, demanding food. Laura heard them boasting about a plan that would give them an easy victory over the British Lieutenant FitzGibbon. It fell to the gentle Laura to make the grueling trip that would alert FitzGibbon of the impending danger.

Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart by Candace Fleming
Ages 8-12
This is the thrilling story of America’s most celebrated flyer, Amelia Earhart. In alternating chapters, Fleming deftly moves readers back and forth between Amelia’s life (from childhood up until her last flight) and the exhaustive search for her and her missing plane. Did you know Amelia liked to eat tomato soup while flying?

Wheels of Change:
How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (With a Few Flat Tires Along the Way) by Sue Macy
Ages 10+
Take a lively look at women’s history from aboard a bicycle, which granted females the freedom of mobility and helped empower women’s liberation. Through vintage photographs, advertisements, cartoons, and songs, Wheels of Change transports young readers to bygone eras to see how women used the bicycle to improve their lives.

In the Bag! Margaret Knight Wraps it Up by Monica Kulling
Ages 5-8
Margaret Knight devoted her life to inventing, and is best known for the clever, practical, paper bag. When she died in 1914, she had ninety inventions to her name and over twenty patents, astounding accomplishments for a woman of her day.

March 8 is International Women’s Day — a day to celebrate the global achievements of women. The theme in Canada for the 2012 International Women’s Day is “Strong Leadership. Strong Women. Strong World: Equality.”

Having greater numbers of women in positions of leadership is just one measure of equality, but it is an important one. As more women take on leadership roles and add their perspectives to the conversation, the more well-rounded our country and world will become.

Here are some great books that tell the stories of women in roles of leadership in several different fields in Canada and throughout the world:

Grace and Grit: My Fight for Equal Pay and Fairness at Goodyear and Beyond by Lilly Ledbetter

In 1979, Lilly Ledbetter got her dream job at the Goodyear tire factory — she was one of the first women hired at the management level. When, nineteen years later, Lilly received an anonymous note revealing that she was making thousands less per year than the men in her position she began a long fight for equal pay. And fight Lilly did, becoming the namesake of President Barack Obama’s first official piece of legislation. Today, she is a tireless advocate for change, traveling the country to urge women and minorities to claim their civil rights.

King Peggy:An American Secretary, Her Royal Destiny, and the Inspiring Story of How She Changed an African Village by Peggielene Bartels and Eleanor Herman

King Peggy chronicles the astonishing journey of an American secretary who suddenly finds herself king to a town of 7,000 souls on Ghana’s central coast. Peggy’s first two years as king of Otuam unfold in a way that is stranger than fiction. In the end, a deeply traditional African town has been uplifted by the ambitions of its headstrong, decidedly modern female king.

A Train in Winter: An Extraordinary Story of Women, Friendship and Survival in World War Two by Caroline Moorehead

On January 24, 1943, 230 women were placed in four cattle trucks on a train in Compiegne, in northeastern France, and the doors bolted shut for the journey to Auschwitz. They were members of the French Resistance, ranging in age from teenagers to the elderly, women who before the war had been doctors, farmers’ wives, secretaries, biochemists, schoolgirls. With immense courage they had taken up arms against a brutal occupying force.

Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch by Sally Bedell Smith

From the moment of her ascension to the throne in 1952 at the age of twenty-five, Queen Elizabeth II has been the object of unparalleled scrutiny. Drawing on numerous interviews and never-before-revealed documents, acclaimed biographer Sally Bedell Smith pulls back the curtain to show in intimate detail the public and private lives of Queen Elizabeth II, who has led her country and Commonwealth through the wars and upheavals of the last sixty years with unparalleled composure, intelligence, and grace.

Allah, Liberty & Love: The Courage to Reconcile Faith and Freedom by Irshad Manji

The New York Times bestselling author to whom Oprah gave her first ever Chutzpah Award, Irshad Manji has written a book that equips all of us to develop moral courage. Allah, Liberty & Love is ultimately a book about how to become a gutsy global citizen working for both personal and world peace. Manji has faith not just in Allah, but also in her fellow human beings.

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

With Pulitzer Prize winners Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn as our guides, we undertake an odyssey through Africa and Asia to meet the extraordinary women struggling there. Through these stories, they help us see that the key to economic progress lies in unleashing women’s potential. They make clear how so many people have helped to do just that, and how we can each do our part. Unleashing that process globally is not only the right thing to do; it’s also the best strategy for fighting poverty. Deeply felt, pragmatic, and inspirational, Half the Sky is essential reading for every global citizen.

For more information on events in your area and how to participate in international women’s day go to the website: www.internationalwomensday.com. But before you go, tell us: Who are your favourite strong women?

Unique in an age when stories are gleaned from headlines and tweets, Jeanette Winterson’s memoir is a deeply personal account of a life spent challenging the question Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?

In 1985, Winterson’s semi-autobiographical book, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit was published and won the Whitbread Award for Best First Novel. Twenty-six years later, Winterson gives readers an intimate look at the story behind the story. She relates what has driven her brilliant career and fuelled her quest for identity and belonging.

Many chapters of Winterson’s life are unbelievably grim but the autobiography—like its sardonic title—is also cuttingly funny and filled with emotional acuity. As a contemporary Scheherazade, Winterson inspires us to have the courage to shape and share our stories. What I loved about this book is that it is more than a memoir, it is also about our will to love and the tough decisions we make along the way.

If you like Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? check out Evelyn Lau’s memoir Inside Out.

I have discovered recently that so many people I know are affected by pain on a regular basis. If you or someone you know is struggling with pain of any kind, we’ve just published a fascinating book that hopefully can help. It is called Meals that Heal Inflammation by Julie Daniluk and it sheds light on the countless ways the food we eat can impact many different types of pain we feel with practical solutions on how food can help. Packed full of information related to many different ailments and complete with a number of recipes, I hope Meals that Heal Inflammation can help someone in your life.

And, while I’m writing, I also have to recommend Ru by Kim Thuy. It won a Governor General’s Award when it was originally published in French, earning this praise from the jury:

“This is an exemplary autobiographical novel. Never is there the slightest hint of narcissism or self-pity. The major events in the fall of Vietnam are painted in delicate strokes, through the daily existence of a woman who has to reinvent herself elsewhere. A tragic journey described in a keen, sensitive and perfectly understated voice.”

Are you intrigued? You can start reading from Ru here.

Happy Reading!

… that Michael Ignatieff and Bob Rae became friends at the University of Toronto in the 1960s, and spent a year as roommates in a flat above a shoe store near the campus?
—When the Gods Changed: The Death of Liberal Canada
by Peter C. Newman

Excerpt from When the Gods Changed:

They both graduated in 1969, and both applied for the Rhodes scholarship like their fathers before them; this time, Rae received it and Ignatieff didn’t. And thereby hangs a tale. The third mutual best friend of their college days was Jeff Rose (who later became president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees). He told me that so profound was the friendship between the two young men that Ignatieff stepped aside in favour of Rae. Since Rhodes scholarships are non-transferable, what must have happened was that either Ignatieff chose not to apply, improving Rae’s shot at the few spots allotted to Canada per year, or that Ignatieff did apply but dropped out for the same reason. Ignatieff went to Harvard instead, which was not without cachet, but at the time the Rhodes was the top prize. When I asked Ignatieff about it, he confirmed his intent but wouldn’t discuss the details. Read more.

Want to read the first chapter of When the Gods Changed? Click here.

Get more fun facts like this! Download our free Conversation Starters App from iTunes! Visit www.conversationstarters.ca to learn more.

One of my favorite television shows is The Office, so when I heard that Mindy Kaling, one of the main characters of the show had written a book of essays, I bumped her book Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me (And Other Concerns) to the top of my reading list. I’m so glad I did, because it was hilarious from start to finish.

Her wry and intelligent humor first got recognized when after moving to New York City with her best friend, they co-wrote a play called “Matt and Ben” that portrayed the lives and events of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. She tells us all about the jobs she had on her rise to fame, a nanny, a production assistant, a writer for one night on Saturday Night Live and then of course she landed the Office gig as a writer and an actress.

Mindy Kaling invites you into her world and she doesn’t hold back, she shares the rules and regulations to a solid friendship, the requirements of a good man and wrote an essay simply explaining the pictures she’s taken on her blackberry in the last couple of months.
She also has the best introduction to her book EVER and you can check it out here to get a taste of the book you’re about to embark in reading. You’ll laugh, you’ll nod your head in agreement and you’ll wish she was one of your best friends because you’re sure you’d never hang out without her!

… that when Don Cherry was brought in as a guest commentator on Hockey Night in Canada, he was rejected by CBC executives for his poor grammar?
—Wayne Gretzky’s Ghost: And Other Tales from a Lifetime in Hockey by Roy MacGregor

Excerpt from Wayne Gretzky’s Ghost:

When the stumbling Colorado Rockies fired him, Cherry stumbled into a new career when Molson Breweries began lining him up for banquets. He was a hit and soon Ralph Mellanby, who was then producing Hockey Night in Canada, began bringing Cherry on between periods to comment and entertain. The fans instantly fell in love, but Cherry was not an easy sell in the corporate offices of the CBC, where the new commentator was instantly under fire for his characteristic mangling of the English language. Read more.

Want to read the first chapter of Wayne Gretzky’s Ghost? Click here.

Get more fun facts like this! Download our free Conversation Starters App from iTunes! Visit www.conversationstarters.ca to learn more.

… that Michael Bublé’s first foray into music was learning to sing his home address as a young child? His father thought it would help him to remember it.
—Onstage Offstage: The Official Illustrated Memoir by Michael Bublé

Excerpt from Onstage Offstage:

It all began when I was a little kid, when I learned my family’s address. My father taught me to sing it, because he knew that by singing it, I’d remember it. I’ll never forget the little tune I composed to sing those four numbers and the name of the quiet street where I grew up in Burnaby, British Columbia. That little song was my first foray into music, and it came to me as naturally as shooting a hockey puck. Read more.

Want to read the first chapter of Onstage Offstage? Click here.

Get more fun facts like this! Download our free Conversation Starters App from iTunes! Visit www.conversationstarters.ca to learn more.