A to Z blog challenge starts with Awesome Lady Authors

The A to Z blog challenge starts today, and I’ve chosen the theme of Awesome Lady Authors to keep this thing rolling. By my rules, I’m looking for authors with corresponding last names, but will cheat by using a first name that matches if I’m really stuck. (X Lady Author, you are still up in the air. Paging lady authors with last names that start with X…)

Okay, so A is a pretty easy one to start with. You’ve got your Jane Austen, your Margaret Atwood, your Maya Angelou, your Kathy Acker. Apparently you’ve also got Frau Ava, who was the first female writer in the German language, which is pretty hot.

But I decided to highlight a childhood favorite author with my first post (which also counts toward another blog challenge, woohoo!): Louisa May Alcott.

Most ladies will understand me when I say that Alcott was a favorite writer during my childhood. I’m pretty sure I read Little Women at least once a year, or whenever I couldn’t find something else to occupy my reading addiction. Jo, the headstrong sister who wants to be a writer, was everybody’s favorite. Laurie, the boy with a girl’s name, was a confusing character not only because of his odd name, but because he pursued Jo passionately, yet was content to marry any one of these “little women” just to be a part of their tight-knit family. Talk about drama!

If you haven’t read Louisa May Alcott’s book (which you can download for free from Girlebooks), you may consider yourself too old for it now. You’d be wrong, but never fear: the 1994 movie version, featuring an all-star cast including Winona Ryder as Jo and Christian Bale as Laurie, is also an excellent substitute (though the 1933 version with Katherine Hepburn is also amazing).

An Alcott quote I fully endorse:

“Life is my college. May I graduate well, and earn some honors!”

Who’s your favorite A author?

5 Comments

  • Sabrina A. Fish

    Great post! I LOVED Little Women so much, that my grandma bought me a gold edged, collector’s edition. It is still one of my most treasured pieces to this day.

    New follower. Checking in from the A to Z Challenge. SabrinaAFish

  • Kathy S. Collier-Mehl

    Checking in from the A to Z Challenge. This is my first time, and I didn’t totally understand what to do, and you’ve set such a wonderful example. Thanks. I love Louisa May Alcott. Growing up, she was my favorite. I did a term paper on her in my Sophomore year.

  • RADesilets

    When I was younger, this was really high up on my to-be-read list, but has since faded out into the background. But I still have it, dusty, on my shelves. I should take it down and read it, especially with your recommendation. :)

    Great first A to Z post!