CBA Record March-April 2025

THE CALCULATING STARS: A LADY ASTRONAUT NOVEL by Mary Robinette Kowal In 2012, Mary Robinette Kowal wrote a great short story called The Lady Astronaut of Mars , introducing us to an older version of Elma York 30 years after York led the first expedition to Mars. Kowal wrote this book in 2018 to tell an alternate history of what could have happened to the space program in the 1960s if women had been astronauts all along. Those who are aware of history will know that the space program almost really did have female astronauts, but this book tells a compelling tale of how this unfolded in that alternative universe. It deservedly

won the Hugo and Nebula awards for Best Novel in 2019. Recommended by Kevin Thompson, Partner, Levin Ginsburg

THE LAST DREAMWALKER by Rita Woods This novel weaves together an engrossing story of a family’s history and a woman’s understanding of herself, explaining lesser-told portions of U.S. history related to the slave trade and the Civil War. Concepts related to the juxtaposition of current urban and small-town life create a setting that will resonate with everyone and perhaps reopen your eyes to want to explore more of our nation’s history. Recommended by Clare McMahon, Partner, Reed, Centracchio & Associates, LLC

A NORTHERN LIGHT IN PROVENCE by Elizabeth Birkelund In this quiet, beautiful novel, Ilse Erlund, a translator from Greenland, translates French authors yet has never been to France. When offered the chance to translate a book of poetry from the last living troubadour in Provence, she negotiates with her publisher for a trip to visit him. In Provence, Ilsa finds the beautiful scenery, and the aged poet, enchanting. As the poet’s ill health pushes back her return date, Ilsa wonders whether she should stay in the warmth of Provence or return to the life she lived in Greenland. Recommended by Meredith Geller, Clinical Professor of Law, Director of the Writing Lab, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law

THE UNEXPECTED ABIGAIL ADAMS: A WOMAN NOT APT TO BE INTIMIDATED by John L. Smith Jr. The cover gracing The Unexpected Abigail Adams: A Woman “Not Apt to Be Intimidated, ” shows Abigail Adams as the embodiment of genteel comfort. It could not be more misleading. A prolific letter writer (she wrote more than 2,000 letters from the 1760s to her death in 1818), Adams reveals startlingly personal views about a life balanced on the head of a pin, where any malevolent twist of fate could send it spiraling into ruin. During a time when women had little legal protection to own property or a business, receive a formal education, or vote, Adams relies on her extraordinary will, wit, and perseverance to sustain herself, her home, and her family, while her husband, John Adams, is largely away serving in the Continental Congress. Recommended by Cliff Gately, Senior Business Development Manager, Quarles & Brady LLP

MY OWN WORDS by Ruth Bader Ginsburg Through an assortment of her speeches and writings, placed in context by short introductions, Justice Ginsburg highlights issues of importance to her. These include gender equality, the workings of the Supreme Court, being Jewish, the law, and the value of looking beyond U.S. shores when interpreting the U.S. Constitution. This book’s authorized biographers, Mary Hartnett and Wendy W. Williams, introduce each chapter and provide biographical

context and quotes gleaned from hundreds of interviews they conducted. Recommended by Nina Fain, General Counsel, LG Segovanio R.E.I.T

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