are you following the Who Was She Project?

For the last several years, every March, I’ve done some kind of project for Women’s History Month, like Women’s History Reads or Read 99 Women. This year my project is taking place on social media instead of the blog, and I’m keeping it brief: one book recommendation per day, based on a woman from history whose name I think you should know. They range from civil rights pioneers and early feminist writers, to scientists and inventors, to self-made millionaires and Prohibition-era brewing company CEOs (really!)

On Twitter, you can follow me at @theladygreer or search for the tag #WhoWasShe; on Instagram, same handle, with the slightly longer #WhoWasSheProject tag.

And! Best of all, you can hop over to Bookshop and buy any of the books listed, and you’re benefiting indie bookstores without losing the convenience of ordering online. Win/win!

#read99women: Aimee Agresti

And here we are, number 99! I started the #read99women series back in January as a way to celebrate the paperback release of WOMAN 99, and boy, could I not have foreseen just how many years long these few months would feel! Thank you for reading along with this fun little project. I’m working on an index-plus of all the books mentioned, but as you might imagine, it’s taking some time. Until then, stay tuned to the blog for other fun stuff, including news about my next book THE ARCTIC FURY, which comes out in trade paperback in December 2020. (Add it to your to-read shelf on Goodreads by clicking here!)

And please join me in welcoming our 99th guest (!!!) for #read99women!

Aimee Agresti is a novelist and entertainment journalist. A former staff writer for Us Weekly, she penned the magazine’s coffee-table book INSIDE HOLLYWOOD. Her work has also appeared in People, Premiere, DC magazine, Capitol File, the Washington Post, Washingtonian, the Washington City Paper, Boston magazine, Women’s Health and the New York Observer. Aimee has made countless TV and radio appearances, dishing about celebrities on the likes of Access Hollywood, Entertainment Tonight, E!, The Insider, Extra, VH1, MSNBC, Fox News Channel and HLN. The author of THE SUMMER SET (on sale May 12!), CAMPAIGN WIDOWS, and THE GILDED WINGS Trilogy for young adults, she graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in journalism and lives with her husband and two sons in the Washington, DC, area.

Aimee Agresti

Aimee’s #read99women pick is LAST TANG STANDING by Lauren Ho, on sale June 9. (Preorder here!)

“Imagine Bridget Jones as a high-powered attorney in Singapore! Lauren Ho's sparkling, hilarious romantic comedy about a career woman searching for love and trying to have it all is an absolute charmer! I fell head over heels for Ho's heroine and this is one of those delicious books that I couldn't put down and didn't want to end! A frothy and fabulous pageturner full of laughs and warmth, this is exactly what we all need right now!”

#read99women: Linnea Hartsuyker

Number 98, believe it or not! Wow! Today’s guest, Linnea Hartsuyker, writes absorbing, adventure-packed historical novels that transport readers into a vividly drawn, unfamiliar world: the Viking Age of Exploration. Linnea and I will be two of four guests at a virtual Historical Fiction Happy Hour on Friday, May 29 — check out the details here!

Linnea Hartsuyker can trace her ancestry back to Harald Fairhair, the first king of Norway, her inspiration for the trilogy consisting of THE HALF-DROWNED KING, THE SEA QUEEN, and THE GOLDEN WOLF. She grew up in the middle of the woods outside Ithaca, New York, and studied Engineering at Cornell University. After a decade of working at internet startups, and writing in her spare time, she attended NYU and received an MFA in Creative Writing. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband.

Linnea Hartsuyker

Linnea’s pick for #read99women: “Before fairy-tale-based novels became a fashionable sub-genre, in 1978, the heyday of second-wave feminism, Angela Carter wrote THE BLOODY CHAMBER, a collection of fairy tales, almost exclusively centering a woman's point of view. The prose is a delight, full of fantastical detail that creates beautiful pocket worlds for the reader to explore. No lover of fairy tales should pass this book by.” 

Read Linnea’s full review on Goodreads.

#read99women: Kristin Harmel

Kristin Harmel is the #1 international bestselling author of a dozen novels including The Book of Lost Names, The Winemaker’s Wife, The Room on Rue Amélie, and The Sweetness of Forgetting. Her work has been featured in People, Woman’s Day, Men’s Health, and Ladies’ Home Journal, among many other media outlets. She lives in Orlando, Florida. Her new historical novel The Book of Lost Names, which recently received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, is forthcoming in July 2020 — read more about it here.

Kristin Harmel

“Releasing a book in the middle of a national shutdown is a pretty difficult thing to do, especially when you're accustomed to touring, but bestselling author Kristy Woodson Harvey (who also happens to be my friend) makes it look easy. It helps that her latest, FEELS LIKE FALLING, is exactly the kind of book we all need right now--a wonderfully escapist beach read that also deals with persevering in tough times. You'll be swept away by this story of two women from different walks of life who learn to rely on each other--and you'll be reminded of the power we all have within ourselves to survive the challenges life throws at us. Elin Hilderbrand calls Kristy ‘the next major voice in Southern fiction’, and I couldn't agree more; she's a master of the perfect blend of beach and heart, and her star is most definitely on the rise.”

#read99women: Jennifer J. Chow

Happy Friday! I’m both pleased and a little bit sad to announce that #read99women has almost run its course — I’ll post the last handful of entries next week! It has been a fabulous run and not only do I have a boatload of new recommendations on my TBR pile, I’ve gotten to connect with lots of writers whose future work I now plan to follow.

Jennifer J. Chow’s new novel MIMI LEE GETS A CLUE, the first in a new cozy mystery series, was recently recommended for #read99women by Kellye Garrett, and I asked Jennifer if she’d share a recommendation as well — so happy she agreed!

Jennifer J. Chow writes multicultural mysteries and fantastical YA. Her newest book, MIMI LEE GETS A CLUE, is the first in the Sassy Cat mystery series. Other Asian-American novels include DRAGONFLY DREAMS (a Teen Vogue pick), THE 228 LEGACY, and the Winston Wong cozy mystery series.

Jennifer J. Chow

Her short fiction has most recently appeared in the STEM anthology, Brave New Girls: Tales of Heroines who Hack, Hyphen Magazine, and Yay! LA Magazine. Learn more at www.jenniferjchow.com and find her on social media @jenjchow.

Jennifer’s pick is THE NINJA DAUGHTER by Tori Eldridge, “A fast-paced novel that feels like reading a film.” She says it “offers a whirlwind ride through Los Angeles, especially the more dangerous locations… Overall, an enjoyable and energetic story with a ferocious ninja lead.” 

Read the full review on Goodreads.

#read99women: Tara Laskowski

I’ve been enjoying getting to know the DC writers’ scene better lately, even without leaving my house, and today’s guest is one of the great local crime writers our area seems to be particularly rich in. E.A. Aymar recommended her debut suspense novel One Night Gone earlier in the #read99women series, calling it “a taut, character-driven read, the kind of book that begs to be read slowly.”

And just a few days ago, One Night Gone brought home an Agatha Award! Great news! As you’ll see in her bio below, Tara’s been racking up awards and prizes and honors galore.

Tara Laskowski is the author of the suspense novel One Night Gone, which won the Agatha Award for Best First Novel and was a finalist for the Lefty Award and the Simon and Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award. She has also written two short story collections, Modern Manners for Your Inner Demons and Bystanders. She has had stories published in numerous magazines and anthologies such as Mid-American Review, Barcelona Review, and the Norton anthologies Flash Fiction International and New Micro: Exceptionally Short Fiction, among others. Her Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine story, “The Case of the Vanishing Professor,” won the 2019 Agatha Award and her Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine story, “The Long-Term Tenant,” is a finalist for the 2020 Thriller Award. Tara was the winner of the 2010 Santa Fe Writers Project’s Literary Awards Prize, was the longtime editor of the popular online flash fiction journal SmokeLong Quarterly, and is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and International Thriller Writers. She and her husband, writer Art Taylor, write the column Long Story Short at the Washington Independent Review of Books. She earned a BA in English with a minor in writing from Susquehanna University and an MFA in creative writing from George Mason University. She grew up in Pennsylvania and lives in Virginia. Follow her on Twitter, @TaraLWrites.

Tara Laskowski

Tara’s recommendation: “I don't read a lot of poetry books, but when I find one I love I want to read it over and over again. This is how I feel about Catherine Pierce's The Tornado Is the World. Catherine's poetry is so vivid and relatable. I particularly love the themes in Tornado--motherhood, fear, nostalgia, hope. The ever-presence of the unyielding, uncaring force of the tornado is particularly poignant and unsettling. And it's relevant now, too, in these times, as we are reminded how brutal nature can be.”

#read99women: Layne Fargo

Ninety-some entries into #read99women and I have been blown away by all these amazing recommendations! My TBR pile is truly toppling. And hearing great things from sources I trust about new (some even not yet out!) books and old, thrillers and romances, romps and heartbreakers, that feels good deep in my lifelong reader’s heart.

If your curiosity was piqued by Kathleen Barber’s recommendation of Layne Fargo’s TEMPER, good news! TEMPER is now out in paperback. (Snag your copy from Bookshop!) And Layne is today’s guest, with a pick that sounds just as thrilling.

Bio first: Layne Fargo is the author of the thrillers TEMPER and THEY NEVER LEARN. She’s a Pitch Wars mentor, Vice President of the Chicagoland chapter of Sisters in Crime, and the cocreator of the podcast Unlikeable Female Characters. Layne lives in Chicago with her partner and their pets.

Layne Fargo

Her recommendation: TAKE ME APART. "Sara Sligar's debut novel is my favorite kind of thriller: subtle and psychological rather than action-packed (though trust me, it’ll make your heart pound all the same). TAKE ME APART is also packed full of stunning prose, and Sligar masterfully weaves in plenty of searing observations on art, sex, and power as her archivist heroine Kate's obsession with photographer Miranda Brand takes hold."

#read99women: Allie Larkin

Allie Larkin is the internationally bestselling author of the novels, Stay, Why Can’t I Be You, (Dutton/Plume) and Swimming for Sunlight (Atria/Simon & Schuster). Her short fiction has been published in the Summerset Review and Slice Magazine. Her nonfiction essays are included in the dog anthology, I’m Not the Biggest Bitch in This Relationship, alongside Chelsea Handler and Annabelle Gurwitch, and Author in Progress, a how-to guide for Writer’s Digest Books. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, with her husband, Jeremy, and their fearful, faithful German Shepherd, Stella.

Allie Larkin

Allie’s #read99women pick is Ann Mah’s THE LOST VINTAGE, “a gorgeous novel of French food, wine, and a mystery from the past rapidly unraveling.” Another highlight from her review: “It's beautifully written and expertly plotted. I couldn’t stop reading and wanted to savor every word.”

Read the full review on Bookbub here.

#read99women: Kaia Danielle

Remember when I said yesterday that some of the books in the #read99women series aren’t out yet? Today’s recommendation is like that, but when you read Kaia Danielle’s rave, you’ll be scrambling to pre-order! Some things are worth the wait.

Our guest’s bio first: Kaia is a comedy and fiction writer based out of coastal Georgia. Her recent publications include romantic comedy novella CALLING HER BLUFF and comics short stories in LADIES’ NIGHT ANTHOLOGY volumes 4 and 5. She has performed with Atlanta-based 2 Girls 3 Eyes improv group and is an alumna of Spelman College.

She has studied writing with the Hurston/Wright Foundation, The Second City and Voices of Our Nation (VONA) workshop. When she isn't living her best Twitter life, Kaia spends her evenings worshipping all things Nora Ephron.

Kaia Danielle

Writes Kaia: “TIES THAT TETHER by Jane Igharo is a must read for fans of ‘Insecure’ and ‘Sex and The City.’ This romcom has it all. A meddling matchmaking mama. Blind dates from hell. A gorgeous ex who keeps showing up at the wrong-est of times. A fling who isn't satisfied with a one-night stand. And a promise made to her dying father that becomes harder and harder to keep. Azere's disaster of a life will keep you rolling in laughter and swiping away tears. Newcomer Jane Igharo blew me away with her Toronto-set debut.”

You can pre-order TIES THAT TETHER here.

#read99women: Hazel Gaynor

Most books in the #read99women series so far (80-some and counting!) have been books that are already available, but a few here and there—both the featured recommendations and new books by the series guests who are doing the recommending—aren’t yet out in the world. But we need something to look forward to, don’t we? It’s like a cheerful little preview of what’s to come, on some future Tuesday. (It’s almost always Tuesday.)

And here’s something else to look forward to on an upcoming Tuesday: Hazel Gaynor’s next historical novel, set in China during WW2. It’ll be published as THE BIRD IN THE BAMBOO CAGE in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand in August 2020, and as WHEN WE WERE YOUNG & BRAVE in the USA and Canada in October 2020. Wherever you are, the book is available to pre-order now!

Today’s guest Hazel Gaynor is an award-winning, New York Times, USA Today, Irish Times and international bestselling author. Her 2014 debut novel THE GIRL WHO CAME HOME won the 2015 Romantic Novelists’ Association Historical Novel of the Year, A MEMORY OF VIOLETS was a 2015 WHSmith Fresh Talent pick, THE GIRL FROM THE SAVOY was shortlisted for the 2016 Irish Book Awards, and THE LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER’S DAUGHTER was shortlisted for the 2019 Historical Writers’ Association Gold Crown Award.

LAST CHRISTMAS IN PARIS (co-written with Heather Webb) won the 2018 Women’s Fiction Writers Association STAR Award. Their second collaboration, MEET ME IN MONACO, was shortlisted for the 2020 Romantic Novelists’ Association Historical Novel of the Year.

Hazel Gaynor

Hazel writes: "I've found it really difficult to read over the past few weeks. I've picked up and put down so many books, nothing quite able to hold my wandering attention before I flick back to the news or bake another cake, so when I finally fell headfirst into a new book, I knew it was going to be one I would think about for a long time. It must be a year since I first heard about Maggie O'Farrell's novel HAMNET (called 'Hamnet & Judith' in the US), a novel inspired by Shakespeare's son, and I've been waiting for its release ever since. Of course, the release date happened to fall smack in the middle of a global pandemic, but my local indie bookshop managed to get my pre-order mailed to me just before everything was locked down. After waiting so long, and having failed to read anything recently, the pressure was on and I was not disappointed!”

“HAMNET is the most beautifully written, brilliantly imagined historical novel, which looks at Shakespeare's life in an entirely new way. Interestingly, the author never mentions him by name. He is never William, or Shakespeare, but a father, son, husband, glovemaker, playwright. He is more often in the wings of the narrative rather than centre stage as HAMNET is the story not just of a beloved young boy, but of his mother, Agnes (who we will all know as Anne), of a twin sister, of a husband and wife, and of the utter devastation and heartbreak that follow Hamnet's death. That I read this novel (which is set during a time of plague), while in the midst of a global pandemic, definitely lent something extra to the narrative. I walked every step with Agnes, sat with her beside the fire, followed her out to the woods, felt her anguish as if it were my own. Often, Maggie O'Farrell's writing is so beautiful that I had to stop and re-read a sentence or a paragraph. This is an amazing historical novel which has been hailed as the best of the author's career, and deservedly so."