Cupcakes and Courage is a memoir about women, politics and Ohio. In 2006 Jennifer Brunner was elected Ohio's first and only woman Secretary of State where no woman has yet been elected Governor or U.S. Senator. Brunner speaks to her experiences in public and private life-from death threats and 24-hour guards during the 2008 presidential election to receiving the prestigious John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for her work. In a tough U.S. Senate race in 2010 she fought the conventional political establishment with cupcake parties and a silver school bus bought on eBay named by her supporters, "The Courage Express." Brunner's compelling stories offer an inside look at the human side of state and national politics in the must-win battleground state of Ohio. Like the cherry on top, her stories make a quiet and poignant case for better politics in U.S. democracy in the twenty-first century.

In No Excuses, feminist icon Gloria Feldt argues that the most confounding problem facing women today isn't that doors aren't open, but that not enough women are walking through them. From the boardroom to the bedroom, public office to personal relationships, she asserts that nobody is keeping women from parity -- except themselves. Through interviews, historical perspective, and anecdotes, examines why barriers to gender equality still exist in American society and discusses how to break them down through organized efforts using movement-building principles. Feldt employs a no-nonsense, tough-love point of view to expose the internal and external roadblocks holding women back, but she doesn't place blame; rather, she provides inspiration, hope, and courage -- as well as concrete power tools to aid women in securing equality and justice for themselves -- articulated with personal warmth and humor. No Excuses is a timely and invaluable book that helps women equalize gender power in politics, work, and love.