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International Women’s Day Book Recs!

The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is #BeBoldForChange – to help women and girls achieve their ambitions; challenge conscious and unconscious bias; call for gender-balanced leadership; value women and men’s contributions equally; and create inclusive flexible cultures.

Here are my top fiction and non-fiction feminist picks, as well as some of my favourite feminist YouTube videos.

Only Ever Yours Book Cover

Review: Only Ever Yours

eves are designed, not made. The School trains them to be pretty. The School trains them to be good. The School trains them to Always be Willing. All their lives, the eves have been waiting. Now, they are ready for the outside world. companion… concubine… or chastity? Only the best will be chosen. And only the Men decide.

4* Read!

Hot Feminist Book Cover

Review: Hot Feminist

Polly Vernon, Grazia columnist, Times feature writer (hair-flicker, Brazilian-waxer, jeans obsessive, outrageous flirt) presents a brave new perspective on feminism.

Drawing on her dedicated, life-long pursuit of hotness – having dismissed many of the rules on ‘good’ feminism at some point in the early 90s – she’ll teach you everything you ever wanted to know about being a feminist when you care about how you look. Hot Feminist is based on a principle of non-judgement (because there’s enough already), honesty about how often we mess this up, and empowerment through looks. Part memoir, part road map, it’s a rolling, raucous rejection of all those things we’re convinced we shouldn’t think/wear/feel/say/buy/want – and a celebration of all the things we can. It is modern feminism, with style, without judgement.

4* Read!

#NotAskingForIt

I recently read Asking For It by Louise O’Neill, and while putting together my review, I realised I had a lot more to say about the content of the book. I was originally intending to do a joint review and discussion post, but it ended up being far too long, so I’ve decided to write my discussion […]

Asking For It Book Cover

Review: Asking For It

It’s the beginning of the summer in a small town in Ireland. Emma O’Donovan is 18 years old, beautiful, happy, confident. One night, there’s a party. Everyone is there. All eyes are on Emma. The next morning, she wakes on the front porch of her house. She can’t remember what happened, she doesn’t know how she got there. She doesn’t know why she’s in pain. But everyone else does. Photographs taken at the party show, in explicit detail, what happened to Emma that night. But sometimes people don’t want to believe what is right in front of them, especially when the truth concerns the town’s heroes…

4.5* Read!

So. Much. Yes!

It’s not often I talk about my job, or other interests, on this blog. But recently, I’ve been compelled to share something, and I thought there was no better place to do it. My job, work, interests and passions usually overlap somewhere along the way – I don’t know many people who consider what they do […]

Bad Feminist Book Cover

Review: Bad Feminist

A collection of essays spanning politics, criticism, and feminism from one of the most-watched young cultural observers of her generation, Roxane Gay. In these funny and insightful essays, Gay takes us through the journey of her evolution as a woman (Sweet Valley High) of color (The Help) while also taking readers on a ride through culture of the last few years (Girls, Django in Chains) and commenting on the state of feminism today (abortion, Chris Brown). The portrait that emerges is not only one of an incredibly insightful woman continually growing to understand herself and our society, but also one of our culture.

4.5* Read!