“Books are a uniquely portable magic”
There are days when all you want to do is jump into your jammies, sip some hot chocolate and sink into a book which helps you escape into a more empowering world. Here are some books recommended for women, age no bar. Remember! Women who read are dangerous.
1. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
“Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents, grumbled Jo, lying on the rug.
It’s so dreadful to be poor! Sighed Meg, looking down at her old dress.
I don’t think it’s fair for some girls to have plenty of pretty things, and other girls nothing at all, added little Amy, with an injured sniff.
We’ve got Father and Mother, and each other, said Beth contentedly from her corner.”
This is how it begins…
The heart-warming story of the March sisters is set in the period of Civil War in America. The story revolves around the beautiful life of Meg, Jo, Amy, and Beth around their mother when the father is at war. Little Women is full of love, courage, and life!
Genre: coming-of-age, sentimental
2. I know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Mary Angelou
The story is about the writer Mary Angelou who shares her life’s early years’experience till her adolescent phase. Mary and her brother are sent away to live with their grandparents and the siblings have to live with the pain of abandonment and separation from parents. It’s a beautiful must-read story which has changed people’s perspective about life.
Genre: Autobiography
3. Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay
“Abandon the cultural myth that all female friendships must be bitchy, toxic, or competitive. This myth is like heels and purses–pretty but designed to SLOW women down.”
Roxane has in a very creative and humorous way described feminism in the world today. Through funny and insightful essays, Roxane has precisely targeted our society and culture depending on who women are portrayed today and how women are expected to behave and train in the 21st Century.
A must read for anyone who wishes to explore what “modern feminism” implies.
Genre: Feminism, non-fiction
4. Bossypants by Tina Fey
“Do your thing and don’t care if they like it.”
Popular for her Liz Lemon role in 30 Rock, this hilarious woman tells about her funny childhood dreams, her clumsy life and let me tell you they the book is damn funny!
Genre: autobiographical comedy
5. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
The debut novel of Indian author Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things is a heart-wrenching story of fraternal twins living in a family-wreck in a small town of Kerala. The book has a lot of structure and has been crafted in a language of its own.
From what could have been just another tragic incident, Arundhati Roy weaves a cutting story about the loss of innocence and how one tragic event can ruin things for you in the long run.
Genre: Fiction
6. Room by Emma Donoghue
Emma Donoghue’s remarkable new novel, “Room,” is built on two intense constraints: the limited point of view of the narrator, a 5-year-old boy named Jack; and the confines of Jack’s physical world, an 11-by-11-foot room where he lives with his mother. We enter the book strongly planted within these restrictions.- NY Times
The story is about Jack for whom the room is his home, his world. But for his mother, it’s the deadliest place to be, because this is exactly where she was raped and hence brought Jack to the world.
Genre: Novel
7. What I Know For Sure by Oprah Winfrey
Here’s a book by one of the most powerful, influential and extraordinary women- Oprah Winfrey. A glimpse into the life of the woman, these set of essays is a means of uplifting the readers and the right guide to help them be themselves.
Genre: Autobiographical Essays
8. To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee
One of my favourite books, To Kill a Mocking Bird is a book which achieved immediate success and also won a Pulitzer Prize. The book has touched upon some very sensitive issues like rape and racial inequality. The novel is renowned for its innocence, warmth and sweet humour and the narrator’s father- Atticus Finch has proved to be a role model for many, given his stand on moral grounds.
Genre: Novel
9. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
As Good Reads has aptly described it: Here’s a story of three extraordinary women who are about to do something different and plunge on an extraordinary journey. A story involving the life of a 22 year old girl called Skeeter, a black maid Aibileen and her best friend- a shot, fat, sassy woman named Minny.
Genre: Historical Novel
10. The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
A great philosophical novel, Milan Kundera tells about a young woman who is in love with a man stuck between his love for her and his incorrigible womanizing and one of his mistresses and her loyal lover.
Genre: Philosophical Fiction
