ALL THE SINGLE LADIES: Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation

by Rebecca Traister
 
Neither my mom nor I read, or review much non-fiction, and for me part of my avoidance is that when I read non-fiction, I feel like I’m going to be tested.  I get stressed like I have to remember all the facts and figures being thrown at me.  But this book is incredible, and never once did I feel lost in a sea of statistics.
 
Covering a wide range of topics to do with single women in America and throughout history, Traister weaves facts with narrative, expertly including her own story along with stories from the hundreds of interviews she conducted. Single women now make up a huge proportion of the population in America, particularly in big cities, and Traister explores how that came to be and what the ramifications have been and may be in the future.
 
Traister's other particularly interesting angle is how we, as a society, stigmatize single women and how our institutions reward marriage. One aspect I liked most about the book is that Traister offers proposals for change and solutions to the problem.
 
I highly recommend this book to anyone in a sociological or feminist frame of mind! (Lily)