Looking Back While Looking Forward

Women's History Month 

March is Women's History Month. The theme for 2025 is "Moving Forward Together! Women Educating and Inspiring Generations", which inspires us to once more look back at our Suffragette Sisters who fought for the women's right to vote, and looking forward to the positive effects our current activism will achieve. 

Questions folks are asking in the current political climate are, "How can I protest?" and "What actions can I take?". The Commons Social Change Library is a good place to start browsing helpful publications. The staff at Bluestocking Books is prepared to assist in finding just the right books for you, wherever you are in your activism. 

One book we recommend for the younger set is pictured below - "A is for Activist" is an ABC board book for ages 3-7. This is the perfect book for families who want their kids to grow up in a space that is unapologetic about activism, environmental justice, civil rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and everything else that activists fight for. Click on the image to purchase online or contact Bluestocking Books to place an order - +1 (619) 296-1424.

Writerfest Nashville

WriterFest Nashville is a women-owned creative gathering for aspiring writers, published authors, screenwriters, poets, and songwriters, established by Ami McConnell in 2018. WriterFest hosts events, salons, soirées, and fundraisers throughout the year. The organization's Dolly Good Time event last November in support of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library raised enough funds to cover 161 children for one year.

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is celebrating 30 years of building reading skills by gifting books free of charge to children from birth through age five in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Republic of Ireland. Dolly was inspired to create the library in 1995 due to her father's inability to read and write. Dolly's efforts began in her home county in East Tennessee and have expanded to five countries; which just goes to show that local efforts can benefit the world. Despite recent defunding threats, the Imagination Library abides. Your donation to the Imagination Library helps maintain and expand the program. Dolly and over 3,197,250 children appreciate your support!

Mark Your Calendars!

Along with being Women's History Month, March is filled with holidays and observances - Mardi Gras, St. Urho's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Cesar Chavez Day, the vernal equinox, and more celebratory days that open our hearts to welcome the freshness of spring. Scroll down to view our March holiday reading picks.

Cowbellion: Mother of Mystics: The Origin of America's Mardi Gras explores the origins of America's Mardi Gras traditions, beginning with the "Cowbellion" Society, the first mystic parading organization. Following the Krafft family from Pennsylvania to New Orleans and Mobile, Cowbellion explores the origins of America's Mardi Gras tradition and the world of slave traders and cotton merchants in Antebellum America.

The full history of St. Patrick's day is captured here for the first time in The Wearing of the Green. Illustrated with photos, the book spans the medieval origins, steeped in folklore and myth, through its turbulent and troubled times when it acted as fuel for fierce political argument, and tells the fascinating story of how the celebration of 17th March was transformed from a stuffy dinner for Ireland's elite to one of the world's most public festivals.

The Fight in the Fields: Cesar Chavez and the Farmworkers Movement is a well-documented account of the farmworker's movement and it's prime mover, Cesar Chavez, featuring essays by Carey McWilliams, Victor Villaseñor, Alfredo Véa, Jr., Peter Matthiessen, Rudolfo Anaya, and others. Illustrated throughout with black-and-white photographs.

Ostara - also known as the Spring Equinox - is a time of renewal, a time to plant seeds as the earth once again comes to life. Ostara: Rituals, Recipes, and Lore or the Spring Equinox is your guide to the history and modern celebrations of Ostara and shows you how to perform rituals and work magic to renew your power and passion for living and growing. 

One Book, One San Diego

Since 2007, One Book, One San Diego has been uniting communities by encouraging San Diego and Northern Baja residents to read and discuss the same book each year. Book nominations for the 2025 season are open until March 15, 2025.

The San Diego Book Crawl 2025

Independent Bookstore Day is on the last Saturday in April and the accompanying annual San Diego Book Crawl has become one of Bluestocking Books favorite events. Stay updated by following @sdbookcrawl