One day's withdrawal into Half the Sky

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It happens without me realizing it is happening.  Today is New Years Day and instead of trekking to the Rose Parade, I am keeping Jeff company today at the tail end of his week-long cold.  We are still in bed at 9 am and I am reviewing all the "Tivo saves" on my list.  One is an Oprah episode with Pulitzer Prize winning authors  Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn discussing their book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide.  The story is compelling as they chronicle the plight of women and children worldwide.  I leave the bedroom and go to the family room to first check Amazon;  a Washington Post excerpt entices me further:

"Women hold up half the sky," the Chinese saying goes, and in fact -- the authors argue -- one of the reasons China has emerged as such an impressive power in the past decades may be because of the "Girl Effect," the millions of girls who have flocked to factories, sparking a revolution in that country. (Yes, those factories are no picnic, but they're better than the alternative: hobbling about on bound feet, as WuDunn's grandmother did.) But in other countries, women may be gang-raped if they leave the house; they're beaten daily, sold into brothels or married off as little children. They're stoned to death in the Middle East for infringements on the family honor or burned to death in India over dowry spats. Acid is thrown in their faces; they endure genital cutting and ghastly fistulas or internal ruptures from botched births. The authors handle this grim material by telling us just a handful of horrible stories at a time, based on their own extensive interviews. Then they leaven these sad tales with profiles of women who have endured rape, beatings or medical afflictions but have managed to found a school or a hospital or a small business that lifted them and those around them out of poverty and despair. These stories are electrifying and have the effect of breaking down this enormous problem into segments the reader can focus on. Suddenly, these horrendous problems begin to seem solvable. -- Carolyn See's review in the The Washington Post

It is only one day into this new adventure...and really, it is available "at additional 5% off Amazon.com's  everyday low price."  I wonder if my library has purchased it...surely it has...  Can I resist the urge to underline and highlight pages I want to remember?  Can I wait?  

Title:  Half the sky : turning oppression into opportunity for women worldwide
Author: Kristof, Nicholas D., 1959-

Other Author(s): WuDunn, Sheryl, 1959-
Publisher: New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2009.
ISBN: 9780307267146 (alk. paper)
0307267148 (alk. paper)
Subjects: Women's rights--Developing countries--Case studies.
Women--Crimes against--Developing countries--Case studies.
Women--Developing countries--Social conditions--Case studies.
Location: Third Floor
Call Number: 305.42 K 2
Status: Available

The first book on my New "To Read" List.  It is a book for another time and place.
Worldcat