Part memoir, part history, this book weaves the author's struggles with misogyny in academia into an account of four historical women philosophers. I enjoyed learning more about these pioneering women. The audio narration was well done.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC.

A non-fiction book about women and philosophy is a little outside my norm, but I was intrigued by the cover and the synopsis.

What worked for me was learning more about the philosophers, even all the men we all have heard of before.

The memoir aspect sometimes worked and sometimes didn't. She made a lot of broad claims about gender, and at times these reflected her personal experience and others reflected research. It also took awhile a while for the book to mention any women philosophers, too.

This is the perfect read for #womenshistorymonth 💪 Penaluna writes about her life in academia, as a philosophy student and teacher, and reflects on how female philosophers and their contributions are simply not talked about.

The author was able to write a book that not only explores interesting themes, but it is written in a way that is accessible for all readers. I believe that even people who don’t usually read nonfiction will enjoy this book. I would recommend the audiobook narrated by Angie Kane as I simply could not put it down (or pause it, I guess 😅)!

Thank you to @netgalley and @dreamscape_media for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Regan Penaluna's How to Think Like a Woman is an interesting mash-up of memoir and philosophical history and criticism. Penaluna chronicles her life as a philosophy student and teacher along with exploring the lives and thoughts of four historical female philosophers - Mary Astell, Damaris Cudworth Masham, Mary Wollstonecraft and Catherine Cockburn.

Much of the book is about the erasure of female philosophers in academic circles. Penaluna reached graduate school without once learning about a female philosopher. Those in academia will also recognize the struggle women have of being heard and accepted. Penaluna writes about her own struggles and the toll they took on her self-worth and her marriage. The book is definitely not dry but is told in a rambling way - and I mean that in the best sense of the word.

I really enjoyed learning about the four female philosophers as well as the other philosophers Penaluna mentions. I'm not a fan of memoirs so the more personal parts were not my favourite. I think this could be my first non-fiction audiobook and I really enjoyed listening to it - Angie Kane does an excellent job narrating it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the advanced audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This is a mix of a history lesson on philosophy as well as the authors experiences and life while learning and working in the field.

It had some really interesting parts and while not something I would normally read, I’m glad I read it.

Thank you to NetGalley for access to this audiobook 

I do read some philosophy but not a lot (mainly the stoics) but I did find this an interesting look at female philosopher's overtime. At times blending the past thoughts with the authors memoir worked well and at others I found it hard to see the correlation. I am glad I listened to this but would struggle to find anyone in my immediate circle to recommend it to

Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the audiobook ARC.

How to Think Like a Woman taught me a lot about the 'secret' history of women who rarely get recognized in the history of philosophy. And, an argument can be made, as the author does compellingly, in the present discipline of philosophy as well. I learned a lot from this book, not just about how women have influenced philosophy, but about philosophy in general

This was a very informative book. Showed the history of the lack of women participants in this field. I hope with this book it will bring to light the importance of women, philosophers and their contributions to society. Highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in that topic.

~ARC provided through NetGalley~

"How to Think Like a Woman" was a fascinated collection of women philosopher's across time with references to Regan Penaluna's life in academia. It was totally enraging that it seems like not much has changed when it comes to the treatment and devaluing of women; however, I appreciated the hopeful notes in Penaluna's musings--especially on how these women weren't lost even when they weren't listened to in their time. This is a super interesting and engaging non-fiction text that I couldn't stop listening to.

History and memoir come together to create ‘how to think like a woman.’ a thought provoking book that sheds light on forgotten female philosophers. The author narrates her life, while seamlessly weaving it into the stories of these women. really great read, I listened to the audio and preferred that. Thank you Netgalley for an arc!

How to Think Like a Woman by Cherry Penaluna is a book that explores the differences in thinking patterns between men and women. The author argues that by understanding the ways in which women think, we can all benefit from a more diverse and inclusive approach to problem-solving and decision-making.

One of the strengths of this book is that it is grounded in research, with the author drawing on a range of studies to support her claims. This adds credibility to the argument and makes it more compelling. Penaluna also writes in an engaging and accessible style, making complex concepts easy to understand. Another positive aspect of the book is its focus on practical advice. The author provides a range of strategies for thinking like a woman, such as developing empathy and using intuition. These strategies are backed up with real-life examples and case studies, which help to illustrate how they can be applied in practice.

However, one potential weakness of the book is that it can be somewhat reductionist in its approach. The author sometimes makes sweeping generalizations about men and women, which may not always be accurate or helpful. Additionally, some readers may find the focus on gender differences to be limiting, as it overlooks the importance of other factors such as culture, ethnicity, and individual personality.

Overall, How to Think Like a Woman is a thought-provoking book that challenges traditional ways of thinking about gender and encourages a more inclusive approach to problem-solving. While there are some limitations to the argument presented, the book provides valuable insights and practical advice for anyone looking to broaden their thinking and develop a more diverse perspective

Certainly the most vital and present philosophy book I've ever picked up.

Inevitably, I found myself comparing this to At the Existentialist Café by Sarah Bakewell, which another woman's melding of memoir and philosophy. However, Penaluna uses her autobiographical content to illustrate how philosophy has an immediate, practical impact on real life.

Unlike the four women she profiles, Penaluna isn't trying to create a new understanding of our reality but to cement a bedrock of feminine thought. This book can help mitigate the idea that women are under-representated in philosophy because, historically, they haven't had anything to contribute.

I really found this book boring. I think it was just not something I would usually be interested in.

How to Think Like a Woman, Regan Penualuna

Awe struck as to the message of this book! Recommended reading, powerful! Ms Penualuna pulls back the curtain of four women philosophers whose lives are a testament to their courage, intellect and passion for philosophy. Regan Penualuna opens herself up, weaving her journey as a modern-day voice for both her and for the remarkable women philosophers she introduces us to. “How to Think Like a Woman” is a book to pay attention to, one you will not forget, powerful.
Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to in audio, well done!

Thank you for granting this audiobook arc.

I thought this book was great but not exactly what I expected from the title. I found the author's exploration of her of women philosophers throughout history to be interesting. I like how she weaves her personal experiences with each woman she is researching. Every person is flawed and is not put on some kind of pedestal. She challenged some of their opinions and how they affected different women of racial and economic backgrounds in the past and present.

I haven’t studied philosophy, in part because female and BIOPOC thinkers are not really present in the cannon of philosophical thought. Enter, How to Think Like a Woman.

This book offers great insight into, primarily, four female philosophers essentially forgotten to time. However, many others are mentioned in passing. Penaluna relates the philosophical thought of these many women back to her own, and explains how she applies them to her own life as a woman in academia.

To be honest, it was mostly a relief to hear the thoughts of so many women discussed, validated, and interpreted. So much of the accepted mode of thought, in all aspects of modern life, is influenced and dictated by a few, white, privileged, cis-male voices. To hear stories of women who broke with tradition and defended their right to live as thinking persons and not just baby-making machines made me well up several times. To know that each time a woman, non-binary or trans-feminine person defends our right to be heard and respected, we are joining a tradition of femmes who, while not perfect and influenced by their times, believed our voices to be equally important to a man’s.

Penaluna has done important work and I will be waiting to purchase a physical copy of this book to annotate and keep on my shelf for easy reference and reassurance.

As I listened to the audiobook, I should also mention Angie Kane’s narration was wonderful!

the memoir part of this book is poignant! this is yet another book highlighting the injustice of the way women have been seen and treated as less than.

This is a story about a female psychologist's experience with sexism in academia. I loved the cover, the title, and the description. I was engaged the first 30%, and was enjoying the framework. The writing was good. Eventually, it felt like a pretentious memoir and really awkward history lesson. I doubt I will recommend this book.
Thank you Netgalley for the arc, in exchange for an honest review.

I appreciate that this work was able to teach me more about women philosophers that should have been much more than a few lines in my history textbooks and women I’d never come across before in high school or college.

The cannon of philosophy clearly needs to be expanded to include many more voices and this book is a wonderful step in that direction.

Thanks to Dreamscape Media through Net Galley who allowed me to listen to the audiobook version of “How to Think Like a Woman”.

This book draws striking parallels between the author’s life and experiences and those of several women philosophers who lived hundreds of years before her. First, Regan Penaluna tells the story of her journey as a philosopher. Even before college, she loved philosophy. But her undergraduate years were difficult being one of the only women in her philosophy program. She dealt with feeling like she didn’t belong. One her professor openly doubted that women were intelligent enough to succeed in philosophy. But while working on her dissertation, Penaluna was shocked to discover several women philosophers from the 18th century. Some of these women were Mary Astell, Damaris Cudworth Masham, Catharine Cockburn, and later, Mary Wollstonecraft. For the rest of the book, Penaluna switches between the stories of their lives and thoughts and her own.

Since the book is called “How to Think Like a Woman”, I kept waiting for a systematic and “objective” description of how women think and how I (as a man) could learn to think like a woman. But Penaluna argues that my thinking is limited by the male concept of “real” philosophy. “Real” philosophy is devoid of emotion, personal experience, and mostly focused on epistemology. Penaluna believes that legitimate philosophy also includes fighting the misogynistic beliefs that still hold sway over both philosophy and our society.

The women philosophers’ lives in this book are inspiring and very different from my normal conceptions of women’s lives during the 18th century. I now want to learn about more women philosophers throughout history. I also want to hear more of Regan Penaluna’s philosophy.

I listened to the audiobook version of this book narrated by Angie Kane. Kane did an excellent job bringing this book to life through her voice.