Several books on women have crossed my reading path in the past few months.

After moving Rocket Girl: the Story of Mary Sherman Morgan, America's First Female Rocket Scientist, by George D. Morgan back and forth between a few 'trails' I finally put it here since it's mostly a biography, and about a woman. Because his mother's job was top secret the author actually knew very little of what she did so some of this book is conjecture and re-creations of what happened. Since he tells the reader he is doing so, it did not bother me, and it was a tale that needed to be told. Mary's early life was hard, but she managed to escape and go on to college. She was good at math, and chemistry and was recruited (to make bombs in WWII) before she had a chance to finish her degree. She went on to be the only woman (amongst 900 men) at North American Aviation and was the one who invented Hydyne, the fuel that powered the Jupiter C rocket (the one that put the Explorer 1 into orbit). Because of all the secrecy surrounding her work, her projects, and her life, she was almost forgotten by history (and the credit for her work going to a man). Hopefully now she'll be remembered for the amazing person she was.

Starting with the time when a woman needed her husband's signature to get a credit card and ending with Hilary Clinton's run for President, When Everything Changed: the Amazing Journey of American Women From 1960 to the Present, by Gail Collins is a great romp through (fairly) recent history. It covers politics, fashion, family life, and birth control ... and education .... law schools, medical schools, vet schools opened their admissions to include women (there were a few early pioneers, of course). From 'Father Knows Best' to 'Roseanne' this is a great review of the changing roles of women.

Sex With Kings: Five Hundred Years of Adultery, Power, Rivalry and Revenge, by Eleanor Herman. I used to chuckle when someone told me they were related to royalty but after reading this book, they just might be telling the truth. The kings of the title were certainly a randy bunch! (It would have been nice to have a spread sheet to keep up with all the comings and goings)! At this time it was expected, and accepted, that a King would have a mistress. Being a mistress was hard work, and with little or no security such as a royal wife had. (Well, sometimes). Some became involved in the politics of the day, some were spies for another country. Most of them would be sought out and welcomed, until they fell out of favor with the King, others were shunned and on occasion even killed.

When I mentioned the above book to Char, she recommended a book she'd read a few years ago: A History of the Wife, by Marilyn Yalom. It turned out to be much more than I expected! A thoughtful, well-researched and detailed, almost text book that starts with Adam and Eve and ends in the 2000's. From chattel (it was okay for a husband to beat his wife as long as the branch was smaller than the size of his thumb) to equal partner (well, we're working on it, at least) (!) this was an engrossing book. It takes a while to read, but it's worth it, and there's no test at the end!

I found this 'side-trail' from Sex With Kings while I was reading 'Wife': The Time Traveler's Guide to Elizabethan England, by Ian Mortimer. This is an excellent place to start before you climb into the Wayback Machine (or TARDIS, or ....) ;-) You will learn what you need to know to fit in, such as how to greet people (complicated); what to wear (layers and layers of clothing) for your position in society; what, and how, to eat and so on. Mortimer has done a wonderful job of explaining the era from the richest (the queen) to the poorest and what that life was like. It will be very quiet (no planes or cars yet), the roads will be narrow and either dusty or muddy. Oh, and Don't Drink the Water!

Reading Hermit With Dog