Since this is a newspaper devoted to women, our struggles and our ultimate victories, I thought you might find it interesting to consider books that embrace this theme--both as autobiographical (real life) and as historical fiction(those books whose main character is real, but the events surrounding her are not necessarily authentic). Here goes:

1)"Personal History" by Katharine Graham. In this critically acclaimed memoir, the woman who piloted the Washington Post through the crises of the Pentagon Papers, Watergate, and a pressmen's strike and turned it into a great newspaper now tells her story with courage, candor and dignity.

2)"Lazy B: Growing Up on Cattle Ranch in the American Southwest" by Sandra Day O'Connor. The first female justice of the Supreme Court describes her experiences growing up on a cattle ranch in the southwest and how the land, people and values shaped her. We cannot omit the lives of the following two women. I chose books written by the same author to see if she, in fact, compares and contrasts their destinies.

3)"America's Queen: The Life of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy" by Sarah Bradford. From her introduction to the world in 1947 as "debutante of the year", to her untimely death in 1994, Jackie has truly remained America's answer to royalty. In this book, the acclaimed biographer of Queen Elizabeth and Princess Grace reveals Jackie in a sympathetic but frank portrait.

4)"Diana" by Sarah Bradford. With the authority missing from previous accounts as well as remarkable new sources and firsthand accounts, acclaimed royal biographer, Sarah Bradford, delivers a complex and explosive study of one of the most popular figures of the twentieth century.

5)"The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls. A remarkable memoir of resilience and redemption and a look into a family deeply dysfunctional and uniquely vibrant.

6) Leading the current best sellers list, "Eat Pray Love One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia" by Elizabeth Gilbert. More than an autobiography, this writer has chronicled a candid and eloquent account of her pursuit of worldly pleasure, spiritual devotion and what she really wants out of life.

7)"Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank. Possibly the quintessential story of daily life for a family and several others living together in hiding during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. Anne, born in 1929, spent two years of her life hiding from the Nazis in a small attic before she and her family were sent to a concentration camp. Her diary tells what daily life was like under these astonishing circumstances, yet, within it, a tender love story slowly unfolds.

8)"The Story of My Life" by Helen Keller. A remarkable account of overcoming debilitating challenges of being both deaf and blind has made Helen Keller one of the most inspirational figures in history. Originally published in 1903, Keller's fascinating memoir narrates the events of the earlier part of her life.

As I mentioned, historical fiction is a technique authors use when the main character is real but some of the events surrounding her life make for a "good read." Recently included in this category:

9)"The Other Boleyn Girl" by Philippa Gregory. A compelling novel of love, sex, ambition and intrigue, this book introduces us to a woman of extraordinary determination and desires who lived at the heart of the most exciting and glamorous court in Europe and survived following her heart.

10)"Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette" by Sena Jeter Naslund. Here, the author manages to make Marie Antoinette's story (by the way she was 14-years-old when sent to marry the king) of a young queen relatable to modern times. We know how the story ends, but the journey is quite fascinating.