Transform Your Perspective: Books on Respecting Women
Dive into these insightful reads that will help reshape your understanding of women and promote kindness and respect. Each book offers simple yet profound lessons that can guide you towards a more compassionate view. Start your journey towards empathy and understanding today!
Know My Name
386 pages
A powerful and personal memoir from a sexual assault survivor that offers deep insights into society.
The Mental Load
218 pages
This collection of comics tackles a variety of issues, making complex concepts about gender easily digestible and accessible.
For the Love of Men
338 pages
An engaging read that explores how patriarchy impacts men, highlighting the harm done to them while also acknowledging its effects on women.
Little Fires Everywhere: Reese's Book Club
354 pages
This book is gripping and easy to read, featuring a range of three-dimensional, realistic female characters.
Such a Fun Age: Reese's Book Club
369 pages
This book is gripping and easy to read, featuring a range of three-dimensional, realistic female characters.
Are We the 99%?
205 pages
This book is a concise 70 pages that uses accessible language to tackle the structural issues women face, making it a powerful read for anyone, especially those who may hold misogynistic views.
Men Explain Things to Me
93 pages
This book helps to understand the condescending attitudes that some men exhibit towards women.
The Second Sex (Vintage Feminism Short Edition)
123 pages
This book is considered the foundation for western feminism, offering essential insights into women's experiences.
We Should All Be Feminists
65 pages
This book is short and perfect for beginners, making it an accessible introduction to feminist ideas.
The Handmaid's Tale
333 pages
A powerful dystopian novel that explores themes of gender roles and oppression, it's a must-read for understanding societal issues.
Wolf Hall
786 pages
Inglaterra, década de 1520. Henry VIII ocupa o trono, mas não tem herdeiros. O cardeal Wolsey, o seu conselheiro principal, é encarregue de garantir a consumação do divórcio que o papa recusa conceder. É neste ambiente de desconfiança e de adversidade que surge Thomas Cromwell, primeiro como funcionário de Wolsey e, mais tarde, como seu sucessor. Thomas Cromwell é um homem verdadeiramente original. Filho de um ferreiro cruel, é um político genial, intimidante e sedutor, com uma capacidade subtil e mortal para manipular os outros e as circunstâncias. Impiedoso na perseguição dos seus próprios interesses, é tão ambicioso na política quanto na vida privada. A sua agenda reformadora é executada perante um parlamento que atua em benefício próprio e um rei que flutua entre paixões românticas e acessos de raiva homicida. Escrito por uma das grandes escritoras do nosso tempo, Wolf Hall é um romance absolutamente singular.
Pride and Prejudice
442 pages
On the verdant plains of 18th-century England, in the heart of the Hertfordshire countryside, a timeless story of passion, pride and prejudice unfolds. Elizabeth Bennet, a lively, intelligent young woman, is the second of five sisters in a family of modest means. Her sharp mind and independent spirit set her apart in a society where propriety and matrimonial alliances are central concerns.When she crosses paths with Mr. Darcy, an aristocrat as wealthy as he is arrogant, Elizabeth is immediately struck by his coldness and pride. However, as her encounters and misunderstandings progress, she discovers that beyond first impressions lies a man far more complex and vulnerable than she could have imagined.Jane Austen's masterpiece "Pride and Prejudice" is a subtle and poignant exploration of social dynamics and human relationships. Through brilliant dialogue and incisive narration, Austen paints a fascinating picture of the struggle between social classes and the barriers of love. It's a story where true love triumphs over prejudice, and pride is transformed into humility.Immerse yourself in the rich, captivating world of a classic that has lost none of its relevance or charm. A must-read for anyone wishing to understand the power of love and the strength of personal conviction.
Normal People
289 pages
NOW AN EMMY-NOMINATED HULU ORIGINAL SERIES • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE • “A stunning novel about the transformative power of relationships” (People) from the author of Conversations with Friends, “a master of the literary page-turner” (J. Courtney Sullivan). “[A] novel that demands to be read compulsively, in one sitting.”—The Washington Post ONE OF ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY’S TEN BEST NOVELS OF THE DECADE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: People, Slate, The New York Public Library, Harvard Crimson Connell and Marianne grew up in the same small town, but the similarities end there. At school, Connell is popular and well liked, while Marianne is a loner. But when the two strike up a conversation—awkward but electrifying—something life changing begins. A year later, they’re both studying at Trinity College in Dublin. Marianne has found her feet in a new social world while Connell hangs at the sidelines, shy and uncertain. Throughout their years at university, Marianne and Connell circle one another, straying toward other people and possibilities but always magnetically, irresistibly drawn back together. And as she veers into self-destruction and he begins to search for meaning elsewhere, each must confront how far they are willing to go to save the other. Normal People is the story of mutual fascination, friendship, and love. It takes us from that first conversation to the years beyond, in the company of two people who try to stay apart but find that they can’t. WINNER: The British Book Award, The Costa Book Award, The An Post Irish Novel of the Year, Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times, The New York Times Book Review, Oprah Daily, Time, NPR, The Washington Post, Vogue, Esquire, Glamour, Elle, Marie Claire, Vox, The Paris Review, Good Housekeeping, Town & Country
Queenie
352 pages
With "fresh and honest" (Jojo Moyes) prose, this novel is a relatable exploration of what it means to be a modern woman searching for meaning and for love in today's world.
Sira
The charismatic protagonist from María Dueñas's international bestseller The Time In Between returns in a sweeping novel of love and intrigue set against the tumultuous aftermath of World War II. Former seamstress turned couturier turned spy Sira Quiroga is finally ready to embrace serenity with her British diplomat husband, Marcus, and the upcoming prospect of motherhood. But tranquility proves elusive. Fate has other plans for Sira. Installed in Jerusalem under the British Mandate, and enmeshed in the murky world of shady operators, political menace, and catastrophic violence, Sira finds her future with Marcus put to the ultimate test. Forced to reinvent herself again, Sira travels to England and adopts a new identity as a journalist dispatched to Spain. But as her skills at cunning duplicity are put into play, the ghosts of her past follow, bent on wreaking havoc in her life. Moving from turbulent Jerusalem and austere London to Franco's Madrid and colonial Tangier, and peopled with formidable real-life historical figures, Sira cuts an unforgettable path through the danger, stratagems, chaos, and promise of some of the most momentous events of the postwar era.
Frankenstein
212 pages
Originally written as a response to a challenge from Lord Byron? Frankenstein still haunts our minds with images of the dead brought back to hideous life. Mary Shelley's nineteenth-century masterpiece begins with a fateful rescue in the Arctic and slowly evolves into a gripping story of horror'a contest of wills between Victor Frankenstein and the monster he creates. Wandering through Europe? the confused creature searches for a father figure in the tortured scientist who stitched him together with body parts stolen from the grave. Themes of revenge? the philosophical limits of science? and forbidden knowledge are deeply explored in the greatest Gothic novel ever written. This Prestwick House Literary Touchstone Edition includes a glossary and reader's notes to help the modern reader contend with Shelley's complex vocabulary and references.
The Story of My Teeth
217 pages
“Luiselli follows in the imaginative tradition of writers like Borges and Márquez, but her style and concerns are unmistakably her own. This deeply playful novel is about the passion and obsession of collecting, the nature of storytelling, the value of objects, and the complicated bonds of family. . . Luiselli has become a writer to watch, in part because it’s truly hard to know (but exciting to wonder about) where she will go next.”—The New York Times I was born in Pachuca, the Beautiful Windy City, with four premature teeth and my body completely covered in a very fine coat of fuzz. But I'm grateful for that inauspicious start because ugliness, as my other uncle, Eurípides López Sánchez, was given to saying, is character forming. Highway is a late-in-life world traveler, yarn spinner, collector, and legendary auctioneer. His most precious possessions are the teeth of the "notorious infamous" like Plato, Petrarch, and Virginia Woolf. Written in collaboration with the workers at a Jumex juice factory, Teeth is an elegant, witty, exhilarating romp through the industrial suburbs of Mexico City and Luiselli's own literary influences. Valeria Luiselli was born in Mexico City in 1983 and grew up in South Africa. Her work has been translated into many languages and has appeared in publications including the New York Times, Granta, and McSweeney's. Her novel, The Story of My Teeth, is the winner of the LA Times Book Prize in Fiction.
Becoming
482 pages
Now in paperback—the intimate, powerful, and inspiring memoir by the former First Lady of the United States, featuring a new introduction by Michelle Obama, a letter from the author to her younger self, and a book club guide with 20 discussion questions and a 5-question Q&A #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • WATCH THE EMMY-NOMINATED NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY • OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • NAACP IMAGE AWARD WINNER • ONE OF ESSENCE’S 50 MOST IMPACTFUL BLACK BOOKS OF THE PAST 50 YEARS In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America—the first African American to serve in that role—she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives, and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments. Along the way, she showed us a few dance moves, crushed Carpool Karaoke, and raised two down-to-earth daughters under an unforgiving media glare. In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her—from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it—in her own words and on her own terms. Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations—and whose story inspires us to do the same.
Mrs Dalloway
177 pages
On a perfect June morning, Clarissa Dalloway – fashionable, worldly, wealthy, an accomplished hostess – sets off to buy flowers for the party she will host that evening. She is preoccupied with thoughts of the present and memories of the past, and from her interior monologue emerge the people who have touched her life. On the same day, Septimus Warren Smith, a shell-shocked survivor of the Great War, commits suicide, and casual mention of his death at the party provokes in Clarissa thoughts of her own isolation and loneliness. Bold and experimental, Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway is a landmark in twentieth-century fiction and a book that gets better and better with every reading. This elegant Macmillan Collector’s Library edition of Virginia Woolf's modernist classic features an afterword by editor and publisher Anna South. Designed to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure.
Ghana Must Go
289 pages
A “buoyant” and “rapturous” debut novel (The Wall Street Journal) about the transformative power of unconditional love Electric, exhilarating, and beautifully crafted, Ghana Must Go introduces the world to Taiye Selasi, a novelist of extraordinary talent. In a sweeping narrative that takes readers from Accra to Lagos to London to New York, it is at once a portrait of a modern family and an exploration of the importance of where we come from to who we are. A renowned surgeon and failed husband, Kweku Sai dies suddenly at dawn outside his home in suburban Accra. The news of his death sends a ripple around the world, bringing together the family he abandoned years before. Moving with great elegance through time and place, Ghana Must Go charts their circuitous journey to one another and, along the way, teaches us that the truths we speak can heal the wounds we hide.
Wuthering Heights
437 pages
Wuthering Heights is a moody 19th-century triumph, lauded for its dark imagery, austere setting, and depiction of fraught romance. Wuthering Heights is Emily Bronte’s account of the tormented love story between orphan Heathcliff and the daughter of his benefactor, Catherine Earnshaw. Troubled, stark, and violent, Wuthering Heights was hugely controversial at its publication in 1847, but has since become a classic of English literature. This Essential Classics edition includes a new introduction by Professor Vivian Heller, Ph.D. in literature and modern studies from Yale University. Emily Bronte was an English novelist and poet, best known for her only novel, Wuthering Heights. Silent and reserved, Bronte wrote using the pen name Ellis Bell, and was one of the Bronte siblings. Vivian Heller received her Ph.D. in English Literature and Modern Studies from Yale University. She is author of Joyce, Decadence, and Emancipation(University of Illinois Press) and of The City Beneath Us (W.W. Norton & Company), a history of the building of the New York City subway system. She is an associate at Columbia’s School of Professional Studies and is the writing tutor for the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College. She is also a long-standing member of the non-fiction committee of the PEN Prison-Writing Committee, which awards prizes to inmates from across the country. Essential Classics publishes the most crucial literary works throughout history, with a unique introduction to each, making them the perfect treasure for any reader’s shelf.
Just Kids
321 pages
A prelude to fame, Just Kids recounts the friendship of two young artists--Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe - whose passion fueled their lifelong pursuit of art. In 1967, a chance meeting between two young people led to a romance and a lifelong friendship that would carry each to international success never dreamed of. The backdrop is Brooklyn, Chelsea Hotel, Max's Kansas City, Scribner's Bookstore, Coney Island, Warhol's Factory and the whole city resplendent. Among their friends, literary lights, musicians and artists such as Harry Smith, Bobby Neuwirth, Allen Ginsberg, Sandy Daley, Sam Shepherd, William Burroughs, etc. It was a heightened time politically and culturally; the art and music worlds exploding and colliding. In the midst of all this two kids made a pact to always care for one another. Scrappy, romantic, committed to making art, they prodded and provided each other with faith and confidence during the hungry years--the days of cous-cous and lettuce soup. Just Kids begins as a love story and ends as an elegy. Beautifully written, this is a profound portrait of two young artists, often hungry, sated only by art and experience. And an unforgettable portrait of New York, her rich and poor, hustlers and hellions, those who made it and those whose memory lingers near.
The Hill We Climb
34 pages
The instant #1 New York Times bestseller and #1 USA Today bestseller Amanda Gorman’s electrifying and historic poem “The Hill We Climb,” read at President Joe Biden’s inauguration. “Stunning.” —CNN “Dynamic.” —NPR “Deeply rousing and uplifting.” —Vogue On January 20, 2021, Amanda Gorman became the sixth and youngest poet to deliver a poetry reading at a presidential inauguration. Taking the stage after the 46th president of the United States, Joe Biden, Gorman captivated the nation and brought hope to viewers around the globe with her call for unity and healing. Her poem “The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country” can now be cherished in this special gift edition, perfect for any reader looking for some inspiration. Including an enduring foreword by Oprah Winfrey, this remarkable keepsake celebrates the promise of America and affirms the power of poetry.
The Vanishing Half
The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. Inseparable as children, they ultimately choose to live in two different worlds, one black and one white. An exploration of the American history of passing.
Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express
90 pages
Just after midnight, a snowdrift stops the Orient Express in its tracks. The luxurious train is surprisingly full for the time of the year, but by the morning it is one passenger fewer. An American tycoon lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside. Isolated and with a killer in their midst, detective Hercule Poirot must identify the murderer – in case he or she decides to strike again.
I Know why the Caged Bird Sings
301 pages
Author's memoir of growing up black in the 1930's and 1940's.
The Cancer Journals
98 pages
Moving between journal entry, memoir, and exposition, Audre Lorde fuses the personal and political as she reflects on her experience coping with breast cancer and a radical mastectomy. A Penguin Classic First published over forty years ago, The Cancer Journals is a startling, powerful account of Audre Lorde's experience with breast cancer and mastectomy. Long before narratives explored the silences around illness and women's pain, Lorde questioned the rules of conformity for women's body images and supported the need to confront physical loss not hidden by prosthesis. Living as a "black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet," Lorde heals and re-envisions herself on her own terms and offers her voice, grief, resistance, and courage to those dealing with their own diagnosis. Poetic and profoundly feminist, Lorde's testament gives visibility and strength to women with cancer to define themselves, and to transform their silence into language and action.
The Perfect Nanny
290 pages
For fans of The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante and the Netflix movie adaptation directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal and starring Olivia Colman One of the 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR of The New York Times Book Review The # international bestseller by the author of Adèle, Sex and Lies, and In the Country of Others “You won't move until you reach the last page.” —People She has the keys to their apartment. She knows everything. She has embedded herself so deeply in their lives that it now seems impossible to remove her. When Myriam decides to return to work as a lawyer after having children, she and her husband look for the perfect nanny for their son and daughter. They never dreamed they would find Louise: a quiet, polite, devoted woman who sings to the children, cleans the family’s chic Paris apartment, stays late without complaint, and hosts enviable kiddie parties. But as the couple and the nanny become more dependent on one another, jealousy, resentment, and suspicions mount, shattering the idyllic tableau. Building tension with every page, The Perfect Nanny is a compulsive, riveting, bravely observed exploration of power, class, race, domesticity, motherhood, and madness—and the American debut of an immensely talented writer.
The Left Hand of Darkness
369 pages
50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION—WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY DAVID MITCHELL AND A NEW AFTERWORD BY CHARLIE JANE ANDERS Ursula K. Le Guin’s groundbreaking work of science fiction—winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards. A lone human ambassador is sent to the icebound planet of Winter, a world without sexual prejudice, where the inhabitants’ gender is fluid. His goal is to facilitate Winter’s inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the strange, intriguing culture he encounters... Embracing the aspects of psychology, society, and human emotion on an alien world, The Left Hand of Darkness stands as a landmark achievement in the annals of intellectual science fiction.
The Joys of Motherhood
230 pages
...a graceful, touching, ironically titled tale. - John Updike A new edition of her classic novel to coincide with the publication of her other works in the African Writers Series. Nnu Ego is a woman devoted to her children, giving them all her energy, all her worldly possessions, indeed, all her life to them -- with the result that she finds herself friendless and alone in middle age. This story of a young mother's struggles in 1950s Lagos is a powerful commentary on polygamy, patriarchy, and women's changing roles in urban Nigeria.
Interpreter of Maladies
202 pages
Navigating between the Indian traditions they've inherited and a baffling new world, the characters in Lahiri's elegant, touching stories seek love beyond the barriers of culture and generations.
The Fifth Season
479 pages
At the end of the world, a woman must hide her secret power and find her kidnapped daughter in this "intricate and extraordinary" Hugo Award winning novel of power, oppression, and revolution. (The New York Times) This is the way the world ends. . .for the last time. It starts with the great red rift across the heart of the world's sole continent, spewing ash that blots out the sun. It starts with death, with a murdered son and a missing daughter. It starts with betrayal, and long dormant wounds rising up to fester. This is the Stillness, a land long familiar with catastrophe, where the power of the earth is wielded as a weapon. And where there is no mercy. Read the first book in the critically acclaimed, three-time Hugo award-winning trilogy by NYT bestselling author N. K. Jemisin.
The Cuckoo's Calling
475 pages
Published under a pseudonym, J. K. Rowling's brilliant debut mystery introduces Detective Cormoran Strike as he investigates a supermodel's suicide in "one of the best books of the year" (USA Today), the first novel in the brilliant series that inspired the acclaimed HBO Max series C.B. Strike. After losing his leg to a land mine in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike is barely scraping by as a private investigator. Strike is down to one client, creditors are calling, and after a breakup with his longtime girlfriend, he's living in his office. Then John Bristow walks through his door with a shocking story: His sister, the legendary supermodel Lula Landry -- known to her friends as the Cuckoo -- famously fell to her death a few months earlier. The police ruled it a suicide, but John refuses to believe that. The case plunges Strike into the world of multimillionaire beauties, rock-star boyfriends, and desperate designers, and it introduces him to every variety of pleasure, enticement, seduction, and delusion known to man. You may think you know detectives, but you've never met one quite like Strike. You may think you know about the wealthy and famous, but you've never seen them under an investigation like this.
The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson
788 pages
This comprehensive and authoritative collection of all 1,775 poems by Emily Dickinson is an essential volume for all lovers of American literature. Only eleven of Emily Dickinson's poems were published prior to her death in 1886; the startling originality of her work doomed it to obscurity in her lifetime. Early posthumous published collections -- some of them featuring liberally "edited" versions of the poems -- did not fully and accurately represent Dickinson's bold experiments in prosody, her tragic vision, and the range of her intellectual and emotional explorations. Not until the 1955 publication of The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, a three-volume critical edition compiled by Thomas H. Johnson, were readers able for the first time to assess, understand, and appreciate the whole of Dickinson's extraordinary poetic genius. This book, a distillation of the three-volume Complete Poems, brings together the original texts of all 1,775 poems that Emily Dickinson wrote. "With its chronological arrangement of the poems, this volume becomes more than just a collection; it is at the same time a poetic biography of the thoughts and feelings of a woman whose beauty was deep and lasting." --San Francisco Chronicle
Half of a Yellow Sun
562 pages
With her award-winning debut novel, Purple Hibiscus, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was heralded by the Washington Post Book World as the “21st century daughter” of Chinua Achebe. Now, in her masterly, haunting new novel, she recreates a seminal moment in modern African history: Biafra’s impassioned struggle to establish an independent republic in Nigeria during the 1960s. With the effortless grace of a natural storyteller, Adichie weaves together the lives of five characters caught up in the extraordinary tumult of the decade. Fifteen-year-old Ugwu is houseboy to Odenigbo, a university professor who sends him to school, and in whose living room Ugwu hears voices full of revolutionary zeal. Odenigbo’s beautiful mistress, Olanna, a sociology teacher, is running away from her parents’ world of wealth and excess; Kainene, her urbane twin, is taking over their father’s business; and Kainene’s English lover, Richard, forms a bridge between their two worlds. As we follow these intertwined lives through a military coup, the Biafran secession and the subsequent war, Adichie brilliantly evokes the promise, and intimately, the devastating disappointments that marked this time and place. Epic, ambitious and triumphantly realized, Half of a Yellow Sun is a more powerful, dramatic and intensely emotional picture of modern Africa than any we have had before.
The Age of Innocence
372 pages
Edith Wharton’s acclaimed novel of love, duty, and half-known truths in Gilded Age New York society, with a foreword by bestselling author Elif Batuman Dutiful Newland Archer, an eligible young man from New York high society, is about to announce his engagement to May Welland, a suitable match from a good family, when May’s cousin, the beautiful and exotic Countess Ellen Olenska, is introduced into their circle. The Countess brings with her an aura of European sophistication and a hint of perceived scandal, having left her husband and claimed her independence. Her worldliness, disregard for society’s rules, and air of unapproachability attract the sensitive Newland, despite his enthusiasm about a marriage to May and the societal advantages it would bring. Almost against their will, Newland and Ellen develop a passionate bond, and a classic love triangle takes shape as the three young people find themselves drawn into a poignant and bitter conflict between love and duty. Written in 1920, Edith Wharton’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about a time and place long gone by—1870s New York City—beautifully captures the complexities of passion, independence, and fulfillment, and how painfully hard it can be for individuals to truly see one another and their place in the world. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
The Guest List
342 pages
A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BEST THRILLERS OF THE YEAR “I loved this book. It gave me the same waves of happiness I get from curling up with a classic Christie...The alternating points of view keep you guessing, and guessing wrong.” — Alex Michaelides, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Silent Patient "Evok[es] the great Agatha Christie classics…Pay close attention to seemingly throwaway details about the characters’ pasts. They are all clues.” -- New York Times Book Review A wedding celebration turns dark and deadly in this deliciously wicked and atmospheric thriller reminiscent of Agatha Christie from the New York Times bestselling author of The Hunting Party. The bride – The plus one – The best man – The wedding planner – The bridesmaid – The body On an island off the coast of Ireland, guests gather to celebrate two people joining their lives together as one. The groom: handsome and charming, a rising television star. The bride: smart and ambitious, a magazine publisher. It’s a wedding for a magazine, or for a celebrity: the designer dress, the remote location, the luxe party favors, the boutique whiskey. The cell phone service may be spotty and the waves may be rough, but every detail has been expertly planned and will be expertly executed. But perfection is for plans, and people are all too human. As the champagne is popped and the festivities begin, resentments and petty jealousies begin to mingle with the reminiscences and well wishes. The groomsmen begin the drinking game from their school days. The bridesmaid not-so-accidentally ruins her dress. The bride’s oldest (male) friend gives an uncomfortably caring toast. And then someone turns up dead. Who didn’t wish the happy couple well? And perhaps more important, why?
The Poppy War
292 pages
One of Time Magazine’s 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time “I have no doubt this will end up being the best fantasy debut of the year...I have absolutely no doubt that [Kuang’s] name will be up there with the likes of Robin Hobb and N.K. Jemisin.” -- Booknest From #1 New York Times bestselling author of Babel and Yellowface, the brilliantly imaginative debut of R.F. Kuang: an epic historical military fantasy, inspired by the bloody history of China’s twentieth century and filled with treachery and magic, in the tradition of Ken Liu’s Grace of Kings and N.K. Jemisin’s Inheritance Trilogy. When Rin aced the Keju—the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies—it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard—the most elite military school in Nikan—was even more surprising. But surprises aren’t always good. Because being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the south is not an easy thing at Sinegard. Targeted from the outset by rival classmates for her color, poverty, and gender, Rin discovers she possesses a lethal, unearthly power—an aptitude for the nearly-mythical art of shamanism. Exploring the depths of her gift with the help of a seemingly insane teacher and psychoactive substances, Rin learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive—and that mastering control over those powers could mean more than just surviving school. For while the Nikara Empire is at peace, the Federation of Mugen still lurks across a narrow sea. The militarily advanced Federation occupied Nikan for decades after the First Poppy War, and only barely lost the continent in the Second. And while most of the people are complacent to go about their lives, a few are aware that a Third Poppy War is just a spark away . . . Rin’s shamanic powers may be the only way to save her people. But as she finds out more about the god that has chosen her, the vengeful Phoenix, she fears that winning the war may cost her humanity . . . and that it may already be too late.
Hunger
241 pages
From the New York Times bestselling author of Bad Feminist: a searingly honest memoir of food, weight, self-image, and learning how to feed your hunger while taking care of yourself. “I ate and ate and ate in the hopes that if I made myself big, my body would be safe. I buried the girl I was because she ran into all kinds of trouble. I tried to erase every memory of her, but she is still there, somewhere. . . . I was trapped in my body, one that I barely recognized or understood, but at least I was safe.” In her phenomenally popular essays and long-running Tumblr blog, Roxane Gay has written with intimacy and sensitivity about food and body, using her own emotional and psychological struggles as a means of exploring our shared anxieties over pleasure, consumption, appearance, and health. As a woman who describes her own body as “wildly undisciplined,” Roxane understands the tension between desire and denial, between self-comfort and self-care. In Hunger, she explores her past—including the devastating act of violence that acted as a turning point in her young life—and brings readers along on her journey to understand and ultimately save herself. With the bracing candor, vulnerability, and power that have made her one of the most admired writers of her generation, Roxane explores what it means to learn to take care of yourself: how to feed your hungers for delicious and satisfying food, a smaller and safer body, and a body that can love and be loved—in a time when the bigger you are, the smaller your world becomes.
Infidel
369 pages
This book provides a compelling narrative on the struggles of a woman in a patriarchal society, making it an eye-opening read.
A Queer and Pleasant Danger
229 pages
Bornstein's memoir is a fascinating exploration of gender identity and the queer experience, making it a thought-provoking read.
Escape
442 pages
A gripping account of escaping a polygamous marriage, this book sheds light on the complexities of gender and freedom.
We Have Always Been Here
158 pages
This memoir offers a unique perspective on gender and identity, making it a crucial read for anyone looking to challenge their views.
The Awakening and Selected Stories
449 pages
Chopin's classic novel delves into themes of female autonomy and societal expectations, offering timeless insights into gender roles.
"A" is for Alibi
294 pages
These fun and easy books feature a female protagonist who is imperfect and relatable, making it easier to empathize with her journey without the plot revolving around a male character.
The Power
409 pages
This dystopic novel presents a shocking world where gender roles are inverted, highlighting the brutal realities women face even today.
Invisible Women
434 pages
This nonfiction book sheds light on the often-overlooked ways women are ignored or mistreated in various aspects of society, making it a crucial read for understanding gender disparities.
A Thousand Splendid Suns
380 pages
This book is heartbreaking and offers an eye-opening perspective that can deeply resonate with readers.
I Am Malala
334 pages
It's a powerful nonfiction book about Malala Yousafzai's fight for girls' rights to education, breaking your heart and then leaving you stronger.
Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982: A Novel
97 pages
This short novel powerfully addresses the injustices and unfair treatment that women face in Korea, making it a compelling read.
A Room of One's Own
488 pages
This book delves into the constraints that have historically limited women's contributions to history and the arts, making it a thought-provoking read for anyone interested in gender studies.
Pain and Prejudice
172 pages
This important book addresses the bias against women in the medical system, highlighting the negative effects on women's health and advocating for change.
Sisters in Spirit
184 pages
This book compares the lives of Native American women and white women in 19th century New York, revealing how the treatment of Native women inspired white women to fight for their rights.
Ask Me About My Uterus
312 pages
For any woman who has experienced illness, chronic pain, or endometriosis comes an inspiring memoir advocating for recognition of women's health issues In the fall of 2010, Abby Norman's strong dancer's body dropped forty pounds and gray hairs began to sprout from her temples. She was repeatedly hospitalized in excruciating pain, but the doctors insisted it was a urinary tract infection and sent her home with antibiotics. Unable to get out of bed, much less attend class, Norman dropped out of college and embarked on what would become a years-long journey to discover what was wrong with her. It wasn't until she took matters into her own hands -- securing a job in a hospital and educating herself over lunchtime reading in the medical library -- that she found an accurate diagnosis of endometriosis. In Ask Me About My Uterus, Norman describes what it was like to have her pain dismissed, to be told it was all in her head, only to be taken seriously when she was accompanied by a boyfriend who confirmed that her sexual performance was, indeed, compromised. Putting her own trials into a broader historical, sociocultural, and political context, Norman shows that women's bodies have long been the battleground of a never-ending war for power, control, medical knowledge, and truth. It's time to refute the belief that being a woman is a preexisting condition.
The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet
416 pages
This sci-fi book showcases strong female characters and presents a future where women face less oppression, offering readers a chance to empathize with well-written characters.
Walking in the Sacred Manner
252 pages
This book provides insight into the lives of women healers in Native American communities, featuring first-hand interviews that highlight cultures where women are viewed as sacred.
Wyrd Sisters - Playtext
178 pages
This fantasy novel features three independent women of different ages and is filled with humor, making it accessible and enjoyable for readers, including those who speak English as a second language.
Right-Wing Women
208 pages
With a new foreword by Moira Donegan, this long-awaited reissue of Dworkin’s iconic study of women in American conservatism is paired with a bold, modern package to match Dworkin’s visionary perspective and style. Andrea Dworkin wrote Right-Wing Women in 1983—a crucial and deeply illuminating analysis of the right’s position on abortion, homosexuality, antisemitism, female poverty, and antifeminism. Forty years later, the book feels more vibrant, clear-eyed, and visionary than ever, especially as these issues get relitigated in both legal and public forums. In addition to her revelatory and nuanced portraits of figures like Anita Bryant and Phyllis Schlafly, and an examination of the roots of a distinctly woman-led brand of American conservatism, Right-Wing Women will give readers the thrill of rediscovering the force and elegance of Dworkin’s arguments and her skill as one of our most adept and prophetic feminist thinkers.
Invisible
242 pages
Featured in The Advocate, New York Times, Literary Hub, Autostraddle, and New York magazine's The Cut This is a vital exploration of the ways society overlooks—and fails—young women with disabilities and chronic illnesses Miriam’s doctor didn’t believe she had breast cancer. She did. Sophie navigates being the only black scientist in her lab while studying the very disease, HIV, that she hides from her coworkers. For Victoria, coming out as a transgender woman was less difficult than coming out as bipolar. Michele Lent Hirsch knew she couldn’t be the only woman who's dealt with serious health issues at a young age, as well as the resulting effects on her career, her relationships, and her sense of self. What she found while researching Invisible was a surprisingly large and overlooked population—and now, with long COVID emerging, one that continues to grow. Though young women with serious illness tend to be seen as outliers, young female patients are in fact the primary demographic for many illnesses. They are also one of the most ignored groups in our medical system—a system where young women, especially women of color and trans women, are invisible. And because of expectations about gender and age, young women with health issues must often deal with bias in their careers and personal lives. Not only do they feel pressured to seem perfect and youthful, they also find themselves amid labyrinthine obstacles in a culture that has one narrow idea of womanhood. Lent Hirsch weaves her own experiences together with stories from other women, perspectives from sociologists on structural inequality and inequity, and insights from neuroscientists on misogyny in health research. She shows how health issues and disabilities amplify what women in general already confront: warped beauty standards, workplace sexism, worries about romantic partners, and mistrust of their own bodies. By shining a light on this hidden demographic, Lent Hirsch explores the challenges that all women face.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
410 pages
Now an HBO(R) Film starring Oprah Winfrey and Rose Byrne. Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells--taken without her knowledge--became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first "immortal" human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years. If you could pile all HeLa cells ever grown onto a scale, they'd weigh more than 50 million metric tons--as much as a hundred Empire State Buildings. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb's effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions. Yet Henrietta Lacks remains virtually unknown, buried in an unmarked grave. Now Rebecca Skloot takes us on an extraordinary journey, from the "colored" ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s to stark white laboratories with freezers full of HeLa cells; from Henrietta's small, dying hometown of Clover, Virginia--a land of wooden slave quarters, faith healings, and voodoo--to East Baltimore today, where her children and grandchildren live and struggle with the legacy of her cells. Henrietta's family did not learn of her "immortality" until more than twenty years after her death, when scientists investigating HeLa began using her husband and children in research without informed consent. And though the cells had launched a multimillion-dollar industry that sells human biological materials, her family never saw any of the profits. As Rebecca Skloot so brilliantly shows, the story of the Lacks family--past and present--is inextricably connected to the dark history of experimentation on African Americans, the birth of bioethics, and the legal battles over whether we control the stuff we are made of. Over the decade it took to uncover this story, Rebecca became enmeshed in the lives of the Lacks family--especially Henrietta's daughter Deborah, who was devastated to learn about her mother's cells. She was consumed with questions: Had scientists cloned her mother? Did it hurt her when researchers infected her cells with viruses and shot them into space? What happened to her sister, Elsie, who died in a mental institution at the age of fifteen? And if her mother was so important to medicine, why couldn't her children afford health insurance? Intimate in feeling, astonishing in scope, and impossible to put down, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks captures the beauty and drama of scientific discovery, as well as its human consequences.
Persepolis
This autobiographical graphic novel is highly recommended for its powerful depiction of a woman's experience growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution and her journey back home.
Geisha
320 pages
This memoir offers a deeper insight into the world of geisha, showcasing the complexities of women's experiences in a male-dominated society, making it a must-read.
Sex Matters
208 pages
Get the right care for your body -- and avoid treatments that can endanger women -- with this important manual from a physician who is a leading expert on sex and gender medicine. Sex Matters tackles one of the most urgent, yet unspoken issues facing women's health care today: all models of medical research and practice are based on male-centric models that ignore the unique biological and emotional differences between men and women -- an omission that can endanger women's lives. The facts surrounding how male-centric medicine impacts women's health every day are chilling: in the ER, women are more likely to receive a psychiatric diagnosis with regard to opioid use, while men are more likely to be referred for detoxification; the more vocal women become about their pain, the more likely their providers are to prescribe either inadequate or inappropriate pain relief medication; women often present with nontraditional symptoms of stroke, which causes delays in recognition by both them and their health professionals; and a government accountability study found that 80% of drugs that are withdrawn from the market are due to side effects that happen to women (a result of testing drugs mostly on men). Leading expert on sex and gender medicine Dr. Alyson McGregor focuses on the key areas where these differences are most potentially harmful, addressing: Cardiac and stroke diagnosis and treatment in women Prescription and dosing of pharmaceuticals; Subjective evaluation of women's symptoms; Pain and pain management; Hormones and female biochemistry (including prescribed hormones); How economic status, race, and gender identity are additional critical factors. Not only does Dr. McGregor explore these disparities in depth, she shares clear, practical suggestions for what women can do to protect themselves. A work of riveting exposé with revelatory insights and actionable guidance for navigating the medical establishment, Sex Matters is an empowering roadmap for reinventing modern medicine -- and for self-care.
Doing Harm
463 pages
Editor of the award-winning site Feministing.com, Maya Dusenbery brings together scientific and sociological research, interviews with doctors and researchers, and personal stories from women across the country to provide the first comprehensive, accessible look at how sexism in medicine harms women today. In Doing Harm, Dusenbery explores the deep, systemic problems that underlie women’s experiences of feeling dismissed by the medical system. Women have been discharged from the emergency room mid-heart attack with a prescription for anti-anxiety meds, while others with autoimmune diseases have been labeled “chronic complainers” for years before being properly diagnosed. Women with endometriosis have been told they are just overreacting to “normal” menstrual cramps, while still others have “contested” illnesses like chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia that, dogged by psychosomatic suspicions, have yet to be fully accepted as “real” diseases by the whole of the profession. An eye-opening read for patients and health care providers alike, Doing Harm shows how women suffer because the medical community knows relatively less about their diseases and bodies and too often doesn’t trust their reports of their symptoms. The research community has neglected conditions that disproportionately affect women and paid little attention to biological differences between the sexes in everything from drug metabolism to the disease factors—even the symptoms of a heart attack. Meanwhile, a long history of viewing women as especially prone to “hysteria” reverberates to the present day, leaving women battling against a stereotype that they’re hypochondriacs whose ailments are likely to be “all in their heads.” Offering a clear-eyed explanation of the root causes of this insidious and entrenched bias and laying out its sometimes catastrophic consequences, Doing Harm is a rallying wake-up call that will change the way we look at health care for women.
Sick
232 pages
A Best Book of the Year: Real Simple, Entropy, Mental Floss, Bitch Media, The Paris Review, and LitHub. Time Magazine's Best Memoirs of 2018 • Boston Globe's 25 Books We Can't Wait to Read in 2018 • Buzzfeed's 33 Most Exciting New Books • GQ Best Non Fiction Book of 2018 • Bustle’s 28 Most Anticipated Nonfiction Books of 2018 list • Nylon’s 50 Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2018 • Electric Literature’s 46 Books to Read By Women of Color in 2018 “Porochista Khakpour’s powerful memoir, Sick, reads like a mystery and a reckoning with a love song at its core. Humane, searching, and unapologetic, Sick is about the thin lines and vast distances between illness and wellness, healing and suffering, the body and the self. Khakpour takes us all the way in on her struggle toward health with an intelligence and intimacy that moved, informed, and astonished me.” — Cheryl Strayed, New York Times bestselling author of Wild A powerful, beautifully rendered memoir of chronic illness, misdiagnosis, addiction, and the myth of full recovery. For as long as author Porochista Khakpour can remember, she has been sick. For most of that time, she didn't know why. Several drug addictions, some major hospitalizations, and over $100,000 later, she finally had a diagnosis: late-stage Lyme disease. Sick is Khakpour's grueling, emotional journey—as a woman, an Iranian-American, a writer, and a lifelong sufferer of undiagnosed health problems—in which she examines her subsequent struggles with mental illness and her addiction to doctor prescribed benzodiazepines, that both aided and eroded her ever-deteriorating physical health. Divided by settings, Khakpour guides the reader through her illness by way of the locations that changed her course—New York, LA, Santa Fe, and a college town in Germany—as she meditates on the physiological and psychological impacts of uncertainty, and the eventual challenge of accepting the diagnosis she had searched for over the course of her adult life. A story of survival, pain, and transformation, Sick candidly examines the colossal impact of illness on one woman's life by not just highlighting the failures of a broken medical system but by also boldly challenging our concept of illness narratives.
Rejected Princesses
653 pages
This illustrated book celebrates overlooked women from history in a casual style, making it accessible and engaging, with illustrations that bring their stories to life.
Feminism Is for Everybody
138 pages
This book serves as a great introduction to feminism, making it accessible for everyone.
Why Does He Do That?
449 pages
This book is a must-read for women as it sheds light on the toxicity in abusive relationships, helping them recognize harmful behaviors and understand their worth.
The Will to Change
210 pages
A crucial book for understanding how patriarchy negatively impacts everyone, including men, and a great starting point for personal growth.
Manhattan Beach
456 pages
This novel is intriguing as it explores the dynamics of gender roles in 1943 NYC, showcasing how men must learn to respect women as individuals rather than objects. Egan's ability to delve into the minds of both male and female characters makes it a compelling read.
Pornography
248 pages
Though I haven't read it yet, this book is said to explore how pornography exploits women, making it a significant read for those interested in gender issues.
A Brother's Price
324 pages
This book offers a unique perspective on gender roles, flipping the script in a world where men are rare and women hold power. It's not just an adventure story; it also provides insight into the challenges faced by men in this society, making it a thought-provoking read.
Women Don't Owe You Pretty
96 pages
*** COMPANION EDITION ***Bringing you the record-breaking, bestselling Women Don't Owe You Pretty as a black and white modern classic.'THE BEAUTY MYTH' FOR THE INSTAGRAM GENERATIONWomen Don't Owe You Pretty is the ultimate book for anyone who wants to challenge the out-dated narratives supplied to us by the patriarchy.Through Florence's story you will learn how to protect your energy, discover that you are the love of your own life, and realise that today is a wonderful day to dump them.Florence Given is here to remind you that you owe men nothing, least of all pretty.WARNING: CONTAINS EXPLICIT CONTENT (AND A LOAD OF UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTHS). THE FEMINIST BOOK EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT.'An incredible mouthpiece for modern intersectional feminism.' - Glamour'A fearless book.' - Cosmopolitan 'A hugely influential young woman.' - Woman's Hour 'Rallying, radical and pitched perfectly for her generation.' - Evening Standard
The Making of a Man
212 pages
This book offers a subtle yet powerful perspective on women's experiences, allowing readers to connect with their stories and see the similarities in their own lives.
