I love any book that carries me away into a different world, allows me to feel new possibilities, and makes me think. That is what I call magic. This creative magic has filled all aspects of my life. In addition to writing, I am a theatre artist, a mentor, an advocate for women and girls, and a creativity facilitator. In other words, I believe in the creative powers of people to make a more just and enriched world. My goal is always to inspire others to find their own voice, and to use it to make a difference. Thatâs what guides my reading, and my book recommendations. Enjoy!
This might seem like a strange book to include in a list that has a touch of magic, but in many ways this book sparked my first novel. I am a firm believer that women can (and should) do whatever they want. I also accept that there are differences between men and women based on things like brain structure and biology. These differences are not limitations, but rather things to celebrate.Â
As I read, I began to ask questions. What if women have more access to their brainâs abilities than men? What if our connection with creative power were seen as more important than physical strength? My characters became my answers. That, in itself, is magicâbecause magic is simply answering the question âwhat if,â with âanything is possible.â
Since Dr. Brizendine wrote The Female Brain ten years ago, the response has been overwhelming. This New York Times bestseller has been translated into more than thirty languages, has sold nearly a million copies between editions, and has most recently inspired a romantic comedy starring Whitney Cummings and Sofia Vergara. And its profound scientific understanding of the nature and experience of the female brain continues to guide women as they pass through life stages, to help men better understand the girls and women in their lives, and to illuminate the delicate emotional machinery of a love relationship.
I was an adult before I realized I had ADHD. Getting a diagnosis was like getting glasses; so many things in my life immediately became clear to me, including that I wasnât simply a sloppy, lazy, scattered person. And I also learned, like many others, that ADHD can be a challenge and a strength.
My friend Vanessa gave me this part memoir/part investigation of how, why, and to what end neurodiversity is often misunderstood or overlooked in women. (I wonder why? Just kidding. I know why.)
I so appreciate how Nerenberg approaches neurodiversity not as a problem, but as, at core, simply a difference. And difference, as well know, can be difficult, but it can also be rad.
This is a must-read if you kind of suspect you might be neurodiverse and want to learn more, or if you know youâre neurodiverse and are looking for a book that will make you feel less alone, as well as will offer a hopeful and empowering perspective. Thanks, Vanessa!
A paradigm-shifting study of neurodivergent women-those with ADHD, autism, synesthesia, high sensitivity, and sensory processing disorder-exploring why these traits are overlooked in women and how society benefits from allowing their unique strengths to flourish.
As a successful Harvard and Berkeley-educated writer, entrepreneur, and devoted mother, Jenara Nerenberg was shocked to discover that her "symptoms"--only ever labeled as anxiety-- were considered autistic and ADHD. Being a journalist, she dove into the research and uncovered neurodiversity-a framework that moves away from pathologizing "abnormal" versus "normal" brains and instead recognizes the vast diversity of our mental makeups.
While a history student at the University of Washington I became aware that courses never included more than a paragraph on the important contributions of women, such as Eleanor Roosevelt or Jane Addams. I longed to know more. What gave some women motivation to defy conventions and use their talents? When I first learned that Helga Estbyâs audacious achievement was silenced for over 100 years, it launched me into over 15 years of research trying to recover this forgotten womanâs story. As a writing professor for twenty years, I saw how assigning papers that led to exploring and understanding the women in oneâs family background deeply enriched college students' lives.
Olsenâs landmark book (1994) sheds light on how the writings and creativity of marginalized women and working-class people are often disenfranchised and the circumstances and forces that seek to silence them. I discovered her seminal ideas while in the midst of writing my Ph.D. dissertation at Gonzaga University on Helga Estby that emerged later as Bold Spirit. I was trying to figure out why her family burned hundreds of the pages Helga secretly wrote of her audacious journey across America. This evolved into my closing chapter in Bold Spirit on âthe silencing of family stories,â which prompts readers to consider their own family silences. She raises important questions, especially for writers, on what nurtures creativity.Â
A study of the crucial relationship between circumstances - of sex, economic class, colour, the times and climate into which one is born - and creativity. The book draws on the lives, letters, diaries and testimonies of writers such as Melville, Hardy, Blake and Rimbaud. Tillie Olsen focuses on the financial and cultural pressures which obstructed, or silenced, their work. She then turns to those who have lost most: women writers, their energies deflected into domesticity and motherhood; black American writers, only 11 of whom published more than two novels from 1850-1950.
I have a PhD in sociology but know almost as much about anthropology. I am a comparative sociologist specializing in the study of the entire range of human societies. This gives me an advantage in knowing which social practices are universal, which are only common, and which are uncommon or not found at all. This is critical in being able to assess the basic features of human nature. For over thirty years I have been studying the literature on Darwinian approaches to human behavior, especially sociobiology and evolutionary psychology. I am one of the leading sociologists in the world today studying the biological basis of social behavior.
The author challenges the prevailing orthodoxy that the differences between men and women, and their respective roles in the work world, are the result of differential socialization. His view is that there are important biological differences between the sexes that lead them to choose different kinds of work. Women, for example, prefer jobs that involve working with people whereas men prefer working with things. Women also frequently choose part-time work because this allows them to spend more time with their children. Men are more likely than women to compete for high-status jobs because they are naturally more competitive than women. Male-female differences have been shaped over hundreds of thousands of years by evolution.
Does biology help explain why women, on average, earn less money than men? Is there any evolutionary basis for the scarcity of female CEOs in Fortune 500 companies? According to Kingsley Browne, the answer may be yes.
Biology at Work brings an evolutionary perspective to bear on issues of women in the workplace: the "glass ceiling," the "gender gap" in pay, sexual harassment, and occupational segregation. While acknowledging the role of discrimination and sexist socialization, Browne suggests that until we factor real biological differences between men and women into the equation, the explanation remains incomplete.
I became interested in primatology after writing a
childrenâs book about a primatologist, Mireya Mayor, and reading about her life
story.
In my quest for information, I read books and articles, watched many
videos, and even drove to hear Jane Goodall speak in person. When I read a
review of Frans de Waal and his book based on his work with primates,
specifically, chimpanzees and bonobos, our closest relatives, I bought the book.
It is a fascinating and truly balanced account.
He moves from chimpanzee to
human behavior with ease, making the reader aware that we have a lot in common
with these primates, especially as it applies to gender differences. Iâm a big
nonfiction reader because I love learning new things, especially things Iâve
only recently become interested in. I enjoy a really fluent and easy-to-read
book, which this one was.
I learned so much about chimpanzees and bonobos,âŚ
In Different, world-renowned primatologist Frans de Waal draws on decades of observation and studies of both human and animal behavior to argue that despite the linkage between gender and biological sex, biology does not automatically support the traditional gender roles in human societies. While humans and other primates do share some behavioral differences, biology offers no justification for existing gender inequalities.
Using chimpanzees and bonobos to illustrate this point-two ape relatives that are genetically equally close to humans-de Waal challenges widely held beliefs about masculinity and femininity, and common assumptions about authority, leadership, cooperation, competition, filial bonds, and sexual behavior.âŚ
When I was a kid, I knew that my gender was different. I didnât feel like a boy or a girl, but I didnât know the word ânonbinary.â There were no kidâs books about people like me. I grew up with a lot of questions, which drove me to become a doctor of Womenâs and Gender Studies and an expert on transgender history. Now Iâm passionate about writing the kind of picture books that I needed as a child. If you want the kids in your life to understand transgender identity and feel loved whatever their gender may be, youâll enjoy the books on my list.
When we talk about transgender pride, the voices of Native people are often nowhere to be heard. 47,000 Beads is an exception. This beautiful book tells the story of Peyton, a pow-wow dancer who has stopped feeling comfortable wearing a dress. This book helped me understand more about Indigenous children who are Two-Spirit â a pan-Native term for people whose genders are sacred in their tribal nation, but unintelligible to the white people who colonized the United States. Iâm so glad I was able to read it and I hope you will be too.Â
Peyton loves to dance, and especially at Pow Wow, but her Auntie notices that sheâs been dancing less and less. When Peyton shares that she isn't comfortable wearing a dress anymore, Auntie Eyota asks some friends for help to get Peyton what she needs.
After a decade writing advertising for airlines and beer, I found myself working as a freelance radio producer for thousands of radio broadcasts for Chuck Colson, Josh McDowell, Fathers.com, Heritage Foundation, and Voice of the Martyrs. Later, I reinvented myself as a national speaker and best-selling author of 25+ books including 52 Things Kids Need from a Dad, Donât Take the Bait to Escalate, and What If God Wrote Your Bucket List? with sales approaching one million copies. My wife Rita and I live near Chicago, where we raised five awesome kids, loved on ten foster babies, and are cherishing grandparenthood.
This book delivers solid ideas on a successful marriage from a manâs perspective. Johnsonâs approach may feel a little old-fashioned, where the man is the strong provider and the woman is the nurturer and she even has power over him because of her feminine wiles. But you know what? It works! Letâs face it, men and women have different world views and priorities. Johnsonâs style is sly, fun, and relatable.
It's no secret that men and women are different. And it's no secret that they don't always get along because of these differences, even when they love each other. But having a successful marriage is not about finding the perfect person to marry. It's about loving someone in an unselfish, Christlike manner. Whatever we want out of marriage--unconditional love, forgiveness, passion--that is what we have to give to our spouse. Rick Johnson shows couples how to go beyond merely tolerating each other's differences to using those God-given differences to add spice and passion to their relationship.
Christia Spears Brown is an author, researcher, and professor of Developmental Psychology. She is also the Director of the Center for Equality and Social Justice at the University of Kentucky. She earned her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology at The University of Texas at Austin. Brown began her academic career on the faculty of the University of California at Los Angeles. Her research focuses on how children develop gender and ethnic stereotypes, how children understand gender and ethnic discrimination, and how discrimination and stereotypes affect children and teensâ lives. As part of her research on discrimination, she also examines the perpetration and acceptance of sexual harassment and how children understand politics, public policies, and societal inequalities.
This book holds a magnifying glass up to the gender differences and stereotypes we see every day. Eliot describes in easy-to-understand language the neuroscience behind gender differences and details how small differences between boys and girls at birth become amplified over the course of childhood by parents, teachers, and the culture.Â
An important scientific exploration of the differences between boys and girls that breaks down damaging gender stereotypes and offers practical guidance for parents and educators.
In the past decade, we've heard a lot about the innate differences between males and females. As a result, we've come to accept that boys can't focus in a classroom and girls are obsessed with relationships. That's just the way they're built.
In Pink Brain, Blue Brain, neuroscientist Lise Eliot turns that thinking on its head. Based on years of exhaustive research and her own work in the new field of plasticity, Eliot argues thatâŚ
When asked to describe the nonfiction genre I work in, I often say âtrue crime-adjacent,â meaning that while there is crime in my books, Iâm more interested in the people, circumstances, and culture in which those crimes occur than the act itself. I love books that go deep into character analysis and motivation, as well as the authorâs inclination toward the subject. These true crime-adjacent books are all-absorbing, thought-provoking page-turners, with stories so wild you wonât believe theyâre completely real.
Women are the top consumers of true crime. But why, when the stories so often feature women as victims of violence? New Yorkerjournalist Rachel Monroe profiles four different women in the roles of Detective, Victim, Defender, and Killer to see what itâs all about. The reporting and context in this book are staggering, and Monroeâs writing is both critical and empathic.Â
A ânecessary and brilliantâ (NPR) exploration of our cultural fascination with true crime told through four âenthrallingâ (The New York Times Book Review) narratives of obsession.
In Savage Appetites,Rachel Monroe links four criminal rolesâDetective, Victim, Defender, and Killerâto four true stories about women driven by obsession. From a frustrated and brilliant heiress crafting crime-scene dollhouses to a young woman who became part of a Manson victimâs family, from a landscape architect in love with a convicted murderer to a Columbine fangirl who planned her own mass shooting, these women are alternately mesmerizing, horrifying, and sympathetic. A revealing study of womenâsâŚ
I
love, love, love fictional worlds that reimagine gender, but nothing can beat real
life!
The Invention of Women is an accessible and riveting description
of how the Yoruba people in West Africa organize a culture based on seniority
rather than Western binary genders. This is a mind-blowing book for anyone who
is interested in gender and how human beings donât have to be trapped in one
way of doing things.Â
The "woman question", this book asserts, is a Western one, and not a proper lens for viewing African society. A work that rethinks gender as a Western contruction, The Invention of Women offers a new way of understanding both Yoruban and Western cultures. Oyewumi traces the misapplication of Western, body-oriented concepts of gender through the history of gender discourses in Yoruba studies. Her analysis shows the paradoxical nature of two fundamental assumptions of feminist theory: that gender is socially constructed in old Yoruba society, and that social organization was determined by relative age.
