Shelf Sample: Between the Covers

When I first saw this book, I thought, the last thing I need is another reading list--they are usually predictable, and they induce guilt feelings about having not read the "right" books. But I was entranced by Between the Covers: The Book Babes' Guide to a Woman's Reading Pleasures (Da Capo, $16.95 paperback original, 9780738212296/0738212296, November 2008). Margo Hammond and Ellen Heltzel, the Book Babes, recommend more than 600 books based on their (highly scientific) system of following the rhythms of a woman's life. The 55 lists include as many of their unsung heroes as possible (Julie Otsuka, Floyd Skloot, Rachel Cusk) and cite well-known authors in new ways--highlighting so-called "lesser" works (Sara Gruen's Riding Lessons) or works outside the authors' usual genres. Given the authors' witty and intelligent criteria, it's gratifying to find your personal favorites, like Soldier's Heart by Elizabeth D. Samet. Part of the fun in Between the Covers is their exuberance; part is in discovering the unexpected:

I Should Be Extremely Happy in Your Company by Brian Hall. In this fictional retelling of the Lewis and Clark expedition, the Indian guide speaks to the reader in broken English. But don't let that fool you. Sacagawea is a kingpin--hey, why not queenpin?--who holds the trek together at a crucial moment. Kidnapped by another tribe as a girl, the nation's most famous woman trailblazer knew the language and terrain to get "big knife" and "red hair" through a scary patch. When she describes her reunion with a Shoshone brother, her words will melt your heart.

Murder of a Medici Princess by Caroline P. Murphy. Daddy's girl has a problem when Daddy dies, at least if she's a Medici. Isabella, member of the Florentine family whose taste for art fueled the Italian Renaissance, was a high-spirited 16th-century woman with a powerful and "instinctively paternal" papa. (One should hope: His wife gave him 11 children.) Her estranged hubby and resentful brother weren't so indulgent. Her father inadvertently laid the trap: Having grown up with immense privilege, Isabella didn't know how to play defense.--Marilyn Dahl