I know what you’re thinking: there can’t possibly be more books than the 5 she recommended two years ago that are worthy and women-written? Worry not, dear reader, because not to brag but I’ve read enough of those to last for A BUNCH more IWDs, because there have been some pretty incredible books written in this world, in case you were wondering, and to everybody’s surprise, some of them might have even been written by women. I’m not recommending these books because of that, though: I recommend you read them because they’ve changed the way I look at the world, the way a good novel should, and I hope they can change yours, too.
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The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, Arundhati Roy
The Washington Post review calls this ‘A great tempest of a book’, and I am inclined to agree. Set between Delhi and Kashmir, this novel intersects gender, ethnicity, politics through the eyes of an intersex hijra, Anjum, creating a safe haven for all who need it in Delhi, and a Kashmiri love affair (this is really all I can say without unveiling major plot lines, sorry!). The stories interweave beautifully and Roy’s dreamy, magical style makes every word a striking toll. Get ready to stay stuck to your book for all 438 pages of it.
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Educated, Tara Westover
There are lives you can’t even imagine being lived right now. Westover’s autobiography is one of them, recounting her childhood in a survivalist Idaho family that, suspicious of the entire outside world, home schooled its seven children, most of which didn’t even have birth certificates. A modern coming-of-age story like you’ve never seen one before, poignant, infuriating, terrifying in its casualness but with so much hope throughout.
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Slouching Towards Bethlehem: Essays, Joan Didion
Joan Didion could write about two pigeons fighting over a piece of bread and I would still want to read it. But this collection of essays, while perfectly showcasing her incredible narrative prowess, also touches on some incredibly powerful themes: drug abuse in 1960s California (including with a preschool-age kid), the monstrousness of Hollywood culture, morality and its extremes. Each essay is worth reading, and you’ll find yourself wishing it wouldn’t stop.
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The Unwomanly Face of War: An Oral History of Women in World War II, Svetlana Alexievich
I’m not really going out on a limb by telling you to read this incredibly tough, at times downright scary, recounting of the Second World War through the eyes of the women who fought it, because it earned Svetlana Alexievich a Nobel Prize. This is both an important testimony of the women’s lives in an unimaginable time and a powerful work of historical journalism that should be studied for its breadth, its humanity, its cool eye on an oft-forgotten facet of war.
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Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Gail Honeyman
I’ll be completely honest and say that I went into this book extremely skeptical of its value, mainly because it was one of those highly-praised books that had the potential of being devastatingly disappointing. Lucky for me, it was one of the good ones - written with a touching, quiet honesty that grips you at the throat, this story of unexpected friendship and blossoming hit me where it hurt and had me crying like a baby by the end. A poignant, emotional read.
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