Feminist Literature + TBR

One of the things that I've most enjoyed in my reading throughout 2017 is this exploration into other types of literature outside of YA.  I love YA, I'll always love YA, but there's so much fun and excitement in reading other types of literature too.  One of the ways in which I've broadened my reading this year is by reading more feminist non-fiction.

I think I've always had an interest in reading more feminist types of books and narratives but it's only been during this year that I've really made a concerted effort to educate myself a little bit more and to find the types of books that I wanted to read on this subject.  I'm not vastly knowledgeable nor have I read everything I possibly can so far ... but what I do want to do is continue reading more.  Here are some of the books that I have read this year and also some of the books I'd like to read in the near future.

Read

Men Explain Things To Me by Rebecca Solnit

Eat Sweat Play by Anna Kessel

We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Nasty Women by 404 Ink

Everyday Sexism by Laura Bates

If You Could See Me Now by Keris Stainton


I've really enjoyed the books I've read this year.  All of the above are non-fiction books apart from the adult novel by Keris Stainton but which I've included because it is such a feminist and empowering novel.  I started off the year reading essays by Rebecca Solnit and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie which I found really inspiring and which I believe ultimately kick-started this whole idea.  The strength of the words in Rebecca Solnit's essays in particular were absolutely fascinating and really spurred me on to reading more.  And I just think Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is just a goddess in general and I need to read every word she's written. The book by Anna Kessel was such a huge surprise to me, because I didn't really think I'd enjoy it as much as I did.  It's a book about women and sport and I've always been the sort of person who felt like 'it doesn't count' my interest in sport but Anna Kessel really changed my mind while reading her book.  I found reading Nasty Women to be interesting but like with any anthology with an array of contributors I liked some essays better than others.  And Everyday Sexism just broke my heart with statistics and personal experiences in the modern day.

TBR

(I've only included books on this list that I already own in a physical copy or digitally on my Kindle)

Girls Will Be Girls by Emer O'Toole

The Power by Naomi Alderman

Girl Up by Laura Bates

The Geek Feminist Revolution by Kameron Hurley

Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu

Things A Bright Girl Can Do by Sally Nicholls

I Call Myself A Feminist by Victoria Pepe

Asking For It by Louise O'Neill

Whereas my 'Read' section felt very samey in that they were mostly all non-fiction, my feminist TBR pile has a little more variety to it.  I feel like I'll be more comfortable reading the YA books: Moxie has been garnering lots of positive feedback having been chosen for the Zoella book club, I'm looking forward to (continuing to) reading Things A Bright Girl Can Do about suffragettes, and I've put off reading Asking For It for way too long that I'm almost embarrassed. The Power is, of course, a dystopian story about women having the power to kill at their fingertips but it's a little outside my comfort zone.  The Geek Feminist Revolution and I Call Myself a Feminist are both collections of essays so should be easy to dip in and out of.  And I know very little about Girls Will Be Girls or Girl Up.

I like the idea of continually reading more feminist stories. I'll definitely be looking for suggestions of what other titles to read or look out for.  Do let me know!

What are some of your favourite feminist reads lately?