The Editor’s Picks

As a voracious reader, I have walked in the shoes of so many different people, mostly women because the female psyche fascinates me. When we read books, we can get different perspectives and stand on the shoulders of others to learn and grow from their life experiences. It can enable us to see past the limitations of our own perspectives to gain invaluable knowledge, understanding and love for both ourselves and others.

Here are just ten recommendations out of an infinite number of books that I think every young woman should read.

1. You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay

Louise explains how limiting beliefs and ideas can often cause illness and explains how we can change our thinking and improve the quality of our lives.

Waterstones 5/5

2. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Pecola Breedlove, an 11-year-old African American girl from an abusive home, equates beauty and social acceptance with whiteness; she therefore longs to have “the bluest eye.”

Goodreads 4.1/5

3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

A coming-of-age story from the acclaimed writer, poet and Civil Rights Activist, Maya Angelou. It touches on race, sexuality, love, and identity which shows how strength of character, and a love of literature can help overcome racism and trauma.

Waterstones 5/5

4. Yes She Can by Molly Dillon

10 stories of hope and change from young female employees of the Obama White House.

Goodreads 4.2/5

5. We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Adapted from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TEDx talk of the same name, this essay offers a definition of feminism for the twenty-first century, one rooted in inclusion and awareness.

4.4/5 Goodreads

6. Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski

You think you know how women’s sexuality works? Mindfulness, desire, pleasure… explore the science of female sexuality in this mind-opening and life-changing book about sexuality and desire.

4.3/5 Goodreads

7. Dear Bully by Megan Kelley Hall, Carrie Jones

70 authors get together to tell their stories about bullying - as bystanders, victims and as the bullies themselves.

4.1/5 Goodreads

8. Queer, There and Everywhere by Sarah Prager

The first-ever LGBTQ history book of its kind for young adults that delves deep into the lives of 23 people who created, fought for, and loved on their own terms.

4.2/5 Goodreads

9. The Evolution of a Girl by L. E. Bowman

The Evolution of a Girl is a collection of poetry and prose taking the reader on a journey from girl to woman. It delves into heartbreak, anger, transformation, and rebirth. It speaks of the strength we find when we accept ourselves and practice self-love.

Waterstones 5/5

10. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid's Tale is a dystopian novel first published in 1985. It is set in the near-future in a strongly patriarchal, totalitarian theonomic (a hypothetical Christian form of government where a society is ruled by divine law) state, known as the Republic of Gilead, that has overthrown the United States government. The central character and narrator is a woman named Offred. She is one of the group known as "handmaids", who are forcibly assigned to produce children for the "commanders" – the ruling class of men. The novel explores the subjugation of women in a patriarchal society and the different ways they resist. The most harrowing part is that most of the unbelievable things that happen in this book are based on real events in history, and some were a scarily accurate foretelling of events to come by Atwood.

Waterstones 4.5/5