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Next Event - January 19th
Book Club
 As a follow-up to the successful Lunch Club event "What Every Woman Should Read", members have started a Book Club which is held the 3rd Tuesday of each month.
The Book Club meets at Laniakea from noon to 1pm (brown bag). All members interested are invited to attend and bring a book or a suggestion for a future club selection.
Next Event
January 19th
 Our first selection in 2010 is Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan.
In his first collection of stories, Say You're One of Them, Akpan brings to life the issues facing children in one of the most beleaguered places on earth, so that their voices will no longer go unheard.
In five separate narratives, each told from the perspective of a child from a different African country, Say You're One of Them vividly portrays the horror and beauty to be found in both the history-altering events and the mundane details of everyday life. In these stories of family, friendship, betrayal and redemption, Akpan highlights the tenacity and perseverance of his young protagonists.
Read more
For more information about the Book Club email Judy Allen or call 695-2629.
See photos from Book Club
Watch the video that started the conversation!
"What Every Woman Should Read" Video
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favorite reads
Members Share Their Top 5 Books
Can a book change your life? Our members believe they can and they have shared their "what every woman should read" top picks.
In response to our recent Lunch Club event "Top 5 Books Every Woman Should Read," our member panelists Meda Chesney-Lind and Maile Meyer have also included their list of top 5 books below. You can also click here to watch the video of the event.
Check back often to know what other women in your community are reading.
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Next Book Club Event January 19th
All members welcome.
Learn more
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A Room of One's Own
by Virginia Woolf
 A Room of One's Own is an extended essay by Virginia Woolf. First published during 24 October 1929,[1] it was based on a series of lectures she delivered at Newnham College and Girton College, two women's colleges at Cambridge University in October 1928. The essay examines whether women were capable of producing work of the quality of William Shakespeare, amongst other topics. In one section, Woolf invented a fictional character Judith "Shakespeare's Sister", to illustrate that a woman with Shakespeare's gifts would have been denied the same opportunities to develop them because of the doors that were closed to women. Woolf also examines the careers of several female authors, including Aphra Behn, Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters and George Eliot. The author subtly refers to several of the most prominent intellectuals of the time, and her hybrid name for the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge-Oxbridge-has become a well-known term, although she was not the first to use it.
A Room of One's Own
Meda-Chesney Lind, Member |
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A Thousand Splendid Suns
by Khaled Hoseini
 Both this and Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson & David Pelin are fascinating stories set in areas that are of deep concern & in the new right now - Afghanistan & Pakistan. They bring understanding to the situations there without being a dull history approach. The lives of women in these areas should be of concern to all of us. These books bring us a little insight of what they are having to deal with.
A Thousand Splendid Suns
Jean Rolles, Member |
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A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
by Mary Wollstronecraft
 Published in 1792, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman was the first great feminist treatise. Wollstonecraft preached that intellect will always govern and sought "to persuade women to endeavour to acquire strength, both of mind and body, and to convince them that the soft phrases, susceptibility of heart, delicacy of sentiment, and refinement of taste, are almost synonimous [sic] with epithets of weakness."
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
Meda-Chesney Lind, Member
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Beloved
by Toni Morrison
 Beloved (1987) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Nobel laureate Toni Morrison. The novel, her fifth, is loosely based on the life and legal case of the slave Margaret Garner, about whom Morrison later wrote in the opera Margaret Garner (2005). The book's epigraph reads: "Sixty Million and more," by which Morrison refers to the estimated number of slaves who died in the slave trade.
Beloved
Meda-Chesney Lind, Member
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Change We Must
by Nana Veary
 Beloved kupuna Nana Veary spent her life in search of truth and universal lessons. This book from the Zen Institute includes the readers in her exploration. Stunning photographs from Franco Salmoiraghi set a tone of reflection.
Change We Must
Maile Meyer, Member |
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Don't Sweat the Small Stuff for Women
by Kris Carlson
 This reading put life in perspective of what is important and what is not. That there are tradeoffs in every decision and that its okay. AND disappointments in myself are often the outcomes of having unrealistic expectations.
Don't Sweat the Small Stuff for Women
Marlo Nishimoto, Member |
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 Eat Pray Love
by Elizabeth Gilbert
It's a fabulous book to just get away from it all and to fantasize that it's you living her life.
Eat Pray Love
Lindsey Carry, Member |
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Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen
by Queen Liliu'okalani
 Written by the last monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom, this autobiography puts you into this time of change and transition for the Hawaiian Islands. Lili'uokalani was at the center of this change, and her perspective offered invaluable insights.
Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen
Maile Meyer, Member |
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Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen
By Julie Powell
 Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen is the story of Julie Powell's attempt to revitalize her marriage, restore her ambition, and save her soul by cooking all 524 recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume I, in a period of 365 days. The result is a masterful medley of Bridget Jones' Diary meets Like Water for Chocolate, mixed with a healthy dose of original wit, warmth, and inspiration that sets this memoir apart from most tales of personal redemption.
Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen
Linda Fong, Member |
 
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Life's Golden Ticket
by Brendon Burchard
 Stirred my soul and reminded me that nothing is written in stone. Amazing journey of loss, love and redemption. It is a story about overcoming obstacles, especially our largest obstacles, ourselves.
Life's Golden Ticket
Karen Weikert, Member
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Na Kuaina
by Davianna MacGregor
 Hawaiian ways were preserved by the "country Hawaiians', or na kua'aina. Those who never forgot who they were. Davianna's insightful book recounts the ways of Hawaiians that never lost their cultural continuity. She references communities that still contain an unbroken link to Hawaiian ways.
Na Kuaina
Maile Meyer, Member |
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Sisterhood is Powerful
by Robin Morgan (ed)
 (ISBN 0-394-70539-4), published in 1970, was one of the first widely available anthologies of early Second Wave radical feminist writings. The collection was edited by Robin Morgan, a feminist poet and founding member of New York Radical Women and W.I.T.C.H.
The compilation included classic feminist essays by activists such as Naomi Weisstein, Lucinda Cisler, Kate Millett, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Flo Kennedy, Frances Beale, and Mary Daly, as well as historical documents including the N.O.W. Bill of Rights, excerpts from the SCUM Manifesto, the Redstockings Manifesto, and historical documents from W.I.T.C.H.
Sisterhood is Powerful
Meda-Chesney Lind, Member
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The Feminine Mystique
by Betty Friedan
 The Feminine Mystique, published 19 February 1963 is a book written by Betty Friedan which brought to light the lack of fulfillment in many women's lives, which was generally kept hidden. According to The New York Times obituary of Friedan in 2006, it "ignited the contemporary women's movement in 1963 and as a result permanently transformed the social fabric of the United States and countries around the world" and "is widely regarded as one of the most influential nonfiction books of the 20th century."[1]
The Feminine Mystique
Meda-Chesney Lind, Member
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The Left Hand of Darkness
by Ursula K. Leguine
 You have to appreciate science fiction but the interesting thing is, the author could not get published under her real name and she refused to use a male pen name, as many women did in her time, so her books were published as children's books. They clearly are the deep and thoughtful works meant for adults, masquerading as children's fiction.
The Left Hand of Darkness
Charmaine Damon, Member
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The Epic Tale of Hiiakaikapoliopele
Translated by Puakea Nogelmeir
 Available in Hawaiian and English, this is a translation of a profound and moving tale of the travels, trials and triumphs on Pele's youngest sister, the healer Hi'iaka. This is her coming of age quest, as she travels to Kauai to fetch her older sister's lover. Fabulous read!
The Epic Tale of Hiiakaikapoliopele
Maile Meyer, Member |
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Then There Were None
by Martha Noyes
 This extremely personal and moving history of the Hawaiian people is based on a documentary of the same title by Elizabeth Lindsey. Martha Noyes' style brings the reader into the depth of pain of the Hawaiian people, and at the same time, offers a model of hope on how to continue as a people with hope and compassion.
Then There Were None
Maile Meyer, Member |
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Three Cups of Tea
by Greg Mortenson & David Pelin
 Both this and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hoseini are fascinating stories set in areas that are of deep concern & in the new right now - Afghanistan & Pakistan. They bring understanding to the situations there without being a dull history approach. The lives of women in these areas should be of concern to all of us. These books bring us a little insight of what they are having to deal with.
Three Cups of Tea
Jean Rolles, Member |
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| Read member reviews below. |
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| To suggest a book or write a review click here |
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Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen
by Julie Powell
Book Club Selection - August 09
Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen is the story of Julie Powell's attempt to revitalize her marriage, restore her ambition, and save her soul by cooking all 524 recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume I, in a period of 365 days. The result is a masterful medley of Bridget Jones' Diary meets Like Water for Chocolate, mixed with a healthy dose of original wit, warmth, and inspiration that sets this memoir apart from most tales of personal redemption.
When we first meet Julie, she's a frustrated temp-to-perm secretary who slaves away at a thankless job, only to return to an equally demoralizing apartment in the outer boroughs of Manhattan each evening. At the urging of Eric, her devoted and slightly geeky husband, she decides to start a blog that will chronicle what she dubs the "Julie/Julia Project." What follows is a year of butter-drenched meals that will both necessitate the wearing of an unbearably uncomfortable girdle on the hottest night of the year, as well as the realization that life is what you make of it and joy is not as impossible a quest as it may seem, even when it's -10 degrees out and your pipes are frozen.
Powell is a natural when it comes to connecting with her readers, which is probably why her blog generated so much buzz, both from readers and media alike. And while her self-deprecating sense of humor can sometimes dissolve into whininess, she never really loses her edge, or her sense of purpose. Even on day 365, she's working her way through Mayonnaise Collee and ending the evening "back exactly where we started--just Eric and me, three cats and Buffy...sitting on a couch in the outer boroughs, eating, with Julia chortling alongside us...."
Inspired and encouraging, Julie and Julia is a unique opportunity to join one woman's attempt to change her life, and have a laugh, or ten, along the way. --Gisele Toueg
Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen
Book Club Selection
A Book Club Review
By Linda L. Fong, Member
 What do you do when you are depressed with your relationships and frustrated at work? Get BUSY and challenge yourself with a new a hobby! That is exactly what Julie did in her book “Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen” as she engaged herself in cooking through Julia Childs cookbook, “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”, and braved the world of cyberspace by posting and writing a blog about her experiences.
The newly formed YWCA Book Club had mixed reviews about this book. Over all it was thumbs up for the funny challenges and successes that Julie Powell met in her year of cooking and blogging. One thumb sideways, (ok, but would not recommend) for the “reality show” feel of the book, and one thumbs down (didn’t like enough to finish the book, and strongly would not recommend) for the use of vulgar language and writing style.
“Bon Appetit!” (Enjoy a good book!)
Book Club
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Lost Generations: a Boy, a School, a Princess
by J. Arthur Rath
Book Club Selection - July 09
The author, Mr. Rath, attended and joined the discussion. See photos
In 1944, J. Arthur Rath, a part-Hawaiian boy from a broken home, entered the Kamehameha School for Boys as an eighth-grade boarder. Thus began Rath's love affair with an institution that he credits with turning his life around, with giving him and other disadvantaged children of native ancestry -- Hawai'i's "lost generations" -- the confidence and support necessary to make something of themselves.
J. Arthur Rath spent his early childhood shuttled between relatives and foster parents in Hawai‘i and the mainland while his single mother, Hualani, struggled to make a living. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, his grandparents sent him to the Big Island and Konawaena School, where he heard the Kamehameha Schools boy choir at a school assembly. The performance made a deep impression on Rath, and a year later, in 1944, he entered Kamehameha as an eighth-grade boarder. Thus began Rath’s love affair with an institution that he credits with turning his life around, with giving him and other disadvantaged children of native ancestry—Hawai‘i’s "lost generations"—the confidence and support necessary to make something of themselves. This is the story of that love affair. It is also the story of Rath’s recent battle, together with other alumni, for the integrity of his beloved Kamehameha against the school’s trustees and their organization, the powerful Bishop Estate.
Intelligent and impressionable, Rath spent an idyllic four years at Kamehameha. In a lively talk-story manner, he reminisces about campus life and his classmates, many of whom became lifelong friends and influential members of the Hawaiian community. Years later Rath, a successful retired businessman, would call on these same friends to hold Kamehameha’s trustees accountable for their mismanagement of Bishop Estate’s vast financial holdings and ultimately their failure to carry out founder Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop’s mandate to educate Hawaiian children. Rath draws on his many personal ties to the school and the estate to provide surprising revelations on the trustees and the "Bishop Estate Scandal," which made headlines daily throughout the mid-1990s.
Lost Generations: a Boy, a School, a Princess
Book Club Selection
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The Margarets by Sheri S. Tepper
Review by Maile Alau, Member
 Ever felt torn apart by choices? Every woman has made choices that have changed the course of her life – college or entering the workforce, marriage or exploring a challenging career that takes you away from your potential spouse, studying English or engineering. What woman hasn’t asked herself what could have been if she had made different choices in her life? What would have happened if you had’t gone to college and had taken that job straight out of high school? What if you hadn’t gotten married? What if you hadn’t had children.
Meet “The Margarets,” and intriguing and exciting exploration of the choices made by one woman, written by Sheri S. Tepper. Set in a future where alien races clash in culture and beliefs with humans, “The Margarets” follows one woman who “splits” at important junctures in her life – she chooses one path, and another Margaret is created, following the path she did not choose. Whether you’re a fan of science fiction or not, Ms. Tepper answers the question “what if” by allowing us to follow Margaret down 7 very different life paths.
As with all her books, Ms. Tepper explores the innate power of women that is based in her ability to change, adapt, and create a space for herself and those she loves in the world. If you have ever asked yourself the roads not taken in your own life, “The Margarets” will hold your attention to the very end. And if you have never thought of yourself as someone who reads science fiction, Ms. Tepper’s “The Margarets” might very well change your mind.
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Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Review by Cynthia Fisher, Member
 Wuthering Heights has often been called romantic, a tale of lovers, a journey of circumstances and, of course, a classic eighteenth century novel. What really makes this story so compelling is its ability to embrace these ideas while at the same time reject them, exposing a more realistic side, revealing the worst traits people have to offer. It is a tale of hurt, betrayal, self-absorption, and love so deep that it transcends typical boundaries and creates an explosion of events that effects generations to come.
The main story revolves around the relationship between Catherine Earnshaw, a well-off country girl who is dominated by her passionate nature and of Heathcliff, the mysterious orphan who is brought to live with the Earnshaws, whose love and borderline obsession with Catherine dominates his own life. Their lives are intertwined because of their own belief that they are part of the same person but it is still their own deep set tempers that continuously draws them apart. This in combination with the events brought about because of the eldest Earnshaw son, Hindley's, extreme hatred towards Heathcliff, and the nearby tenant of the high society Thrushcross Grange, Edgar Linton's, love for Catherine, as well as the emphasis on class difference imposed by society, lead Catherine and Heathcliff on different paths that continuously break apart and come together again. In the end it is a test of time, of circumstance, and, most importantly, of love to see if their feelings can remain and to how many lives and loves will be destroyed in the process. Wuthering Heights is a romantic, anti-romance gothic novel with themes of envy, betrayal, and revenge that in reality, we can all connect to our own lives.
In addition to the powerful plotline, the author's own story makes Wuthering Heights even more of a must-read. Emily Bronte wrote in a time when women were discouraged from being educated, when her ideas were considered risqué, and scandalous, even when written under the masculine pseudonym, Ellis Bell and when surviving to her thirtieth birthday was considered an accomplishment. The fact that Emily Bronte overcame all obstacles put in her path and wrote a novel that is still read, criticize, and emulated to this day should be an inspiration to us all to work hard to for what we want and not put limitations on our dreams.
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