The Book of Gutsy Women Review

Hello Interwebs!

So here's a review for The Book of Gutsy Women by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton. I listened to this as an audio book that I rented from the library using the Libby App. For me this book really worked great as audio, read by both of the authors. It's a collection of stories about real women grouped into sections such as education and environment. I gave it a solid 4/5 stars.

I really really enjoyed this book. It was great with the way I listen to audio books, short bursts in the car to and from work, during my half hour lunch, or when I'm relaxing at home doing other things. I could listen to one or two of the stories at each setting and didn't feel like I was leaving off in the middle of something.

There were stories of women I recognized: Maria VonTrapp, the real life inspiration for The Sound of Music; Helen Keller, the deaf, blind woman and her teacher Annie Sullivan who taught her to communicate; Malala Yousafzai, a young girl who was shot in the head for speaking out against the Taliban and advocating for education for girls. There were also plenty I didn't know about like Rigoberta Menchu Tum, a Guatemalan activist and politician who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 for her work promoting Guatemalan Indigenous people's rights; Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, a nun in 17th century Mexico who advocated for education for girls; Elizabeth Peratrovich, who advocated for Alaskan natives around the time of WWII; and Wilma Mankiller, the first woman elected Principle Chief of the Cherokee nation.

This book was so good. It had stories about everyday women who were thrust into extraordinary roles either by happenstance such as Margaret Chase Smith who took over her late husband's House of Representatives seat before running for her own positions in her own right, or design such as  Maria Tallchief, America's first prima ballerinas who aspired to greatness in dance for her entire life.

The book is divided into eleven sections each with the stories of about ten women in them. The categories are Early Inspirations, people who inspired Hillary Rodham Clinton and/or Chelsea Clinton when they were girls; Educational Pioneers; Earth Defenders; Explorers and Inventors; Healers; Athletes; Advocates and Activists; Storytellers; Elected Leaders; Groundbreakers; and Women's Rights Champions. It tells the stories of women you know and women you don't and they're all important stories that need to be remembered.

In short it was a wonderful book with fascinating stories and I highly recommend listening or reading it to anyone.

Happy Reading!