In 2021, one of my New Year’s Resolutions was to read more. Through numerous trips to The Book Loft of German Village and several online purchases on Amazon, I quickly grew a book collection too large to consume in one calendar year. Since last year flew by, most of my purchases had to sit, collect dust, and wait to be opened until 2022. Three of my favorite reads from this year so far were all written by females and captivated my attention from cover to cover. Here’s a quick summary of each book.
“Mozart in the Jungle: Sex, Drugs, and Classical Music” by Blair Tindall
If you have Amazon Prime, you may recognize this title from a four-season show that ended too quickly. The Amazon original “Mozart in the Jungle” is loosely based upon this memoir by oboist Blair Tindall. You won’t read about Hailey Rutledge, Warren Boyd, Bob the Union, or Betty Cragdale, but you will see parallels between the show’s characters and real musicians in Tindall’s account. She exposes the scandalous lifestyles of a multitude of musicians across the world that she met throughout her travels. Being a woman in the music industry isn’t as glorious as it seems. As a classically trained musician, I was fascinated with all the stories and couldn’t stop reading.
“We Should All Be Feminists” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Several years ago, Nigerian novelist and activist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie delivered a TEDx Talk at TEDxEuston titled “We Should All Be Feminists.” This powerful speech was later transcribed and printed in a small book that a dear friend of mine gifted to me for Christmas. I had watched the YouTube video three years prior and had seemingly forgotten its message, so I thoroughly enjoyed re-visiting its content through text. Chimamanda clarifies the definition of a feminist as “a person who believes in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes.” I felt both empowered and educated by the time I set this one down.
“The Vagina Monologues” by Eve Ensler
According to the Chicago Tribune, this collection of monologues is “a compelling rhapsody of the female essence.” I purchased the 20th Anniversary Edition from 2018, which features six never-before-published V-Day Monologues, a new foreword by National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson, a new introduction by the author herself, and a new afterword by One Billion Rising director Monique Wilson. Written in 1996, this episodic play was first premiered in New York. To this day, it has been performed tens of thousands of times in over 70 countries. Instead of Galentine’s Day, I will now be celebrating V-Day every February 14th, which demands that all violence against all women, girls, and the planet must end.