Here are 100 books that The Power of the Positive Woman fans have personally recommended if you like
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When I went to law school, so many of the stories we heard in class treated menâs experiences as the ordinary baseline and womenâs experiences as something to skip over or briefly mention as a footnote. This narrow perspective warps our understanding of the past, present, and future, and helps perpetuate womenâs inequality. I have been studying and writing about sex discrimination for more than two decades. I wanted to write a book that included women in the center of American law and history. In the process, I learned about scores of fascinating women who Americans know too little about or forget entirely.
Another common misconception is that the Nineteenth Amendment extended the vote to all American women. In fact, many womenâespecially women of colorâremained disenfranchised after the Amendmentâs ratification in 1920.
Jonesâs engaging book tells the story of the black women who continued to fight for enfranchisement and equal rights for decades after the Amendment.
âAn elegant and expansive historyâ (New YorkTimes)of African American womenâs pursuit of political powerâand how it transformed America   InVanguard, acclaimed historian Martha S. Jones offers a new history of African American womenâs political lives in America. She recounts how they defied both racism and sexism to fight for the ballot, and how they wielded political power to secure the equality and dignity of all persons. From the earliest days of the republic to the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and beyond, Jones excavates the lives and work ofBlackwomenâMaria Stewart, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Fannie Lou Hamer, andâŚ
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa storiesâall reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argueâŚ
When I went to law school, so many of the stories we heard in class treated menâs experiences as the ordinary baseline and womenâs experiences as something to skip over or briefly mention as a footnote. This narrow perspective warps our understanding of the past, present, and future, and helps perpetuate womenâs inequality. I have been studying and writing about sex discrimination for more than two decades. I wanted to write a book that included women in the center of American law and history. In the process, I learned about scores of fascinating women who Americans know too little about or forget entirely.
Catt led the largest woman suffrage organization in the United States during the final push for the Nineteenth Amendment, which prohibited sex-based denials of the franchise. Too often, dominant accounts of how women got the vote describe the Nineteenth Amendment as a gift from men to women.
Cattâs 1923 book makes clear that winning the Nineteenth Amendment was a multigenerational battle that required mobilized women to overcome ferocious opposition.
"A political combat memoir like no other, suffrage leader Carrie Chapman Catt takes us to the front lines of the Votes for Women battlefields â in the states and in Congress â as American women fight for the franchise. With candor and flashes of wry humor, Catt offers sharp insights into the social, political, and economic forces arrayed against her cause, revealing the strategies that finally brought the suffragists' seven-decade campaign to dramatic victory. Woman Suffrage and Politics is not only a fascinating firsthand account of a major civil rights struggle, but a valuable guidebook for todayâs political activists." ââŚ
When I went to law school, so many of the stories we heard in class treated menâs experiences as the ordinary baseline and womenâs experiences as something to skip over or briefly mention as a footnote. This narrow perspective warps our understanding of the past, present, and future, and helps perpetuate womenâs inequality. I have been studying and writing about sex discrimination for more than two decades. I wanted to write a book that included women in the center of American law and history. In the process, I learned about scores of fascinating women who Americans know too little about or forget entirely.
Johnson was Jack Kerouacâs girlfriend, before and after On the Road (1957) made Kerouac a Beatnik star. I love Johnsonâs memoir because she expands the story of the writers and artists in the so-called Beat Generation to include women who mainstream accounts either ignore or treat as âminor characters.â
In my view, Johnson also demonstrates that she is a better writer than Kerouac, who tended to ramble. Some of her passages have stuck in my head for decades.
Named one of the 50 best memoirs of the past 50 years by The New York Times
Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award
âAmong the great American literary memoirs of the past century . . . a riveting portrait of an era . . . Johnson captures this period with deep clarity and moving insight.â â Dwight Garner, The New York Times
In 1954, Joyce Johnsonâs Barnard professor told his class that most women could never have the kinds of experiences that would be worth writing about. Attitudes like that were not at all unusual at a timeâŚ
AcClaim is a dark, high-society romance about Beatrix Winslow-Hale, a successful romance author who believes desire can be negotiated and controlledâuntil enigmatic billionaire Dorian Wolker crosses the line between consensual surrender and violation. Publicly humiliated and emotionally shattered, Beatrix turns to Manon de Rochemaure, her fiercely loyal best friend andâŚ
When I went to law school, so many of the stories we heard in class treated menâs experiences as the ordinary baseline and womenâs experiences as something to skip over or briefly mention as a footnote. This narrow perspective warps our understanding of the past, present, and future, and helps perpetuate womenâs inequality. I have been studying and writing about sex discrimination for more than two decades. I wanted to write a book that included women in the center of American law and history. In the process, I learned about scores of fascinating women who Americans know too little about or forget entirely.
What if Hillary Rodham had not married Bill Clinton? In Sittenfeldâs reimagining of American history, Bill never becomes president, but Hillary does.
I am including this work of fiction both because the novel is a page-turner and because there is no nonfiction book featuring a female president of the United States. More than a century after the Nineteenth Amendment, our line of male presidents remains unbroken.
BY THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF ROMANTIC COMEDY, AMERICAN WIFE and PREP
'This addictive novel is the SLIDING DOORS of American politics. Gripping' Stylist
'Startlingly good. One of my favourite writers' KATE ATKINSON ---------------------- 'Awfully opinionated for a girl' is what they call Hillary as she grows up in her Chicago suburb.
Smart, diligent, and a bit plain, that's the general consensus. Then Hillary goes to college, and her star rises. At Yale Law School, she continues to be a leader - and catches the eye of driven, handsome and charismatic Bill. But when he asks her to marryâŚ
As a veteran business and finance journalist, Iâve always been amazed at the huge gender gap that still exists in so many parts of the economy and society despite all the strides weâve ostensibly made. When I became a mother, it became even clearer to me that gender norms are still so entrenched in culture and still have a huge bearing on womenâs economic and professional lives. Iâve written about this topic for a whole host of publications, from the BBC to The Washington Post. I have an MBA from Columbia Business School and am an associate Instructor in the Strategic Communications program at Columbiaâs School of Professional Studies.
I was fascinated by Susan Faludiâs book as a haunting explanation of why womenâs empowerment has stalled so dramatically over the past few decades.
Faludi does an amazing job of weaving a narrative that is as rich in information as it is absorbing, and I think this book is as important to read today as it was in 1991, when it was first published.
Itâs enraging and inspiring, but more than anything, itâs a critical book to read for anyone who wants to understand the complex and ever-changing dynamics between gender, power, and money.Â
A new edition of the feminist classic, with an all-new introduction exploring the role of backlash in the 2016 election and laying out a path forward for 2020 and beyond
Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award ⢠âEnraging, enlightening, and invigorating, Backlash is, most of all, true.ââNewsday
First published in 1991, Backlash made headlines and became a bestselling classic for its thoroughgoing debunking of a decadelong antifeminist backlash against womenâs advances. A Pulitzer Prizeâwinning journalist, Susan Faludi brilliantly deconstructed the reigning myths about the âcostsâ of womenâs independenceâfrom the supposed âman shortageâ to the âinfertility epidemicâ to âcareerâŚ
Iâve been obsessed with politics and social justice since I was a kid, have been writing professionally for over a decade, and have twice interviewed Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. I wroteThe Rise of a New Left because I was covering a new generation of political candidates who were challenging old orthodoxies, and I was curious about the leftward shift in U.S. politics: where it came from, who was driving it, how deep it went, and how durable it might be. I try to convey a broader and more nuanced view of the American left and give young women and people of color the credit they deserve for reinvigorating it.
Crispin is funny, acerbic, trenchant, and a little bit mean. Her 2017 polemic takes contemporary feminism to task for what she sees as its feckless devolution from fervent, world-changing force to toothless irrelevancy. Itâs a challenging read, especially for anyone who is, like me, a longtime feminist. But Crispinâs voice is fresh and compelling, and whether or not you agree with her entirely, her critique is impossible to ignore.
Outspoken critic Jessa Crispin delivers a searing rejection of contemporary feminism . . . and a bracing manifesto for revolution.
Are you a feminist? Do you believe women are human beings and that they deserve to be treated as such? That women deserve all the same rights and liberties bestowed upon men? If so, then you are a feminist . . . or so the feminists keep insisting. But somewhere along the way, the movement for female liberation sacrificed meaning for acceptance, and left us with a banal, polite, ineffectual pose that barely challenges the status quo. In this bracing,âŚ
"A profound and often affecting story of resilience." âKirkus Reviews
The Silent Women, an extraordinary novel inspired by the real women of Oak Ridge, Tennesseeâthe Manhattan Projectâs âSecret City," where thousands kept the deadliest secret of World War IIâis a sweeping, absorbing, and deeply human story about chosenâŚ
I am a writer and an internationally recognized communications expert who grew up poor, homeless, and oppressed by fear and violence. I am a woman who crashed through the glass ceiling and had an exciting career with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency where I became a leader on the international stage. During my troubled times growing up, I fantasized about being an elite operative who got the bad guys and traveled the world. Thatâs why I wrote about one. I know how hard it is to be a strong woman. Thatâs why I celebrate them.Â
The diversity in this feminist collection pushed me to open my mind. It didnât allow me to accept there is only one way to be a feminist. Through the brave unconventionality of the stories, I saw how women see their connection to society, to the world, in different ways. I heard strong voices: creative, brilliant, and courageous ones. One of my favorite stories was L. Timmel Duchampâs "The Forbidden Words of Margaret A". It kept me gripped and fascinated by what it didnât say.Â
Sisters of the Revolution gathers a highly curated selection of feminist speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, horror, and more) chosen by one of the most respected editorial teams in speculative literature today, the award-winning Ann and Jeff VanderMeer. Including stories from the 1970s to the present day, the collection seeks to expand the conversation about feminism while engaging the reader in a wealth of imaginative ideas.
From the literary heft of Angela Carter to the searing power of Octavia Butler, Sisters of the Revolution gathers daring examples of speculative fictionâs engagement with feminism. Dark, satirical stories such as Eileen GunnâsâŚ
After bumping around newspaper journalism in my 20s, I wandered into a Ph.D. and then landed a great job at the University of Texas at Austin. Being a professor allowed me to explore any subject that seemed interesting, which resulted in books on environmental collapse, sexism and pornography, racism, foreign policy and militarism, religion, journalism and mass media, and critical thinking. Throughout this work, radical feminism has remained at the core of my philosophy. Andrea Dworkin captures this politics in a line from her novel Ice and Fire, â'I am a feminist, not the fun kind.â Such feminism may not always be fun, but itâs always important.
Many women continue to embrace a radical feminist perspective, and one of the important feminist writers today is the UK journalist and organizer Julie Bindel. Her reporting on sex trafficking has been essential to understanding the worldwide exploitation of women and girls.
She published this book in 2021 to restate the liberatory goals of feminism and critique the impediments created not only by conservatives but also by liberals. Bindel pulls no punches and takes no prisonersâsheâs never afraid to confront the powerful and respond to her critics. One of the great experiences of the past year was being interviewed by Bindel for her podcast on men and feminism. Finally, Bindel reminds us that one of the biggest lies about feminists is that they have no sense of humor.Â
'[This book is] guaranteed to remind us what we have still to fight for. I can't think of a single person who wouldn't benefit from reading it' Observer
'Bindel is a rock star of second-wave feminism . . . an important, courageous book' The Times
'Bindel delivers a robust call to arms in every chapter . . . this book could not be timelier . . . As a young feminist who has finally seen the light, I consider it essential reading' The Critic
Feminism is a quest for the liberation of women fromâŚ
My work over the past four decades has been to promote womenâs rights, end violence against women, promote social justice, and positively transform the lives of men. Iâve worked extensively with the United Nations; presidents, prime ministers, and governments; companies and unions; NGOs and educators in fifty countries. I continue to be inspired by the many incredible people I get to meet. In addition to my talks to communities, companies, and universities, my activism, and my books on this subject, I also write fiction, most recently my mystery The Last Exit.
I always get pissed off when I hear some guy ranting that feminists are anti-male. In fact, I think feminists are the most pro-male humans on the planet: in spite of 8,000 years to prove the contrary, they believe that men can be peaceful and loving, and can be equal and equitable partners with women. Liz Plank is one such woman. Her book shows exactly that.
A nonfiction investigation into masculinity, For The Love of Men provides actionable steps for how to be a man in the modern world, while also exploring how being a man in the world has evolved.
In 2019, traditional masculinity is both rewarded and sanctioned. Men grow up being told that boys donât cry and dolls are for girls (a newer phenomenon than you might realizeâgendered toys came back in vogue as recently as the 80s). They learn they must hide their feelings and anxieties, that their masculinity must constantly be proven. They must be the breadwinners, they must be theâŚ
Broken Boots, Redeemed Soul: A Veteranâs War with Sin and Salvation
by
Brian Lofton,
Broken Boots, Redeemed Soul: A Veteranâs War with Sin and Salvation, is a raw and faith-centered memoir about life after military serviceâand the internal battles many never see. Brian Lofton shares his journey through addiction, shame, identity loss, and spiritual distance, revealing how the hardest struggles often begin afterâŚ
Almost all of my books have been historical novels, but this one is the one most dear to me, an attempt to understand the fault line that the Vietnam War laid across American society, leaving almost every man of my generation with scars physical or psychic. My picks are all books that illuminate the multiple upheavals of that time.
The societal changes brought by the movements of the sixties had a different effect on women.
The sexual revolution promised freedom but didnât plan for jealousy or conflicting ideas of âfree.â The anti-war movement and even the civil rights movement saw womenâs role as making the sandwiches and lettering the placards.Â
Rosen chronicles womenâs rising fed-up-ness from the 1950s to the unfinished business left at the bookâs publication in 2000.
In this enthralling narrative-the first of its kind-historian and journalist Ruth Rosen chronicles the history of the American women's movement from its beginnings in the 1960s to the present. Interweaving the personal with the political, she vividly evokes the events and people who participated in our era's most far-reaching social revolution. Rosen's fresh look at the recent past reveals fascinating but little-known information including how the FBI hired hundreds of women to infiltrate the movement. Using extensive archival research and interviews, Rosen challenges readers to understand the impact of the women's movement and toâŚ
