6 Books By Female Authors To Read ASAP
I’m trying to get better at reading. I really enjoy it when I’m doing it, but I just never give myself the time – but I’m working on that.
This list could have also been so much longer! But I wanted to share these 6 with you first and try and be realistic with what I will be able to read. I’m also usually drawn to interesting, bright, and colourful front covers – which you will see from the list below.
If you’re looking for some more reading suggestions – click here to read the 10 books that I read in 2020.
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
“This is Britain as you’ve never read it.
This is Britain as it has never been told.
From the top of the country to the bottom, across more than a century of change and growth and life, Girl, Woman Other follows twelve different characters on an entwined journey of discovery.
It is future, it is past. It is fiction, it is history.
It is a novel about who we are now” (source)
This is one of the books that I didn’t get round to reading last year – but it’s top of my list for this year (I know that it’s March…I’ve been focussing on catching up on TV shows instead of reading, but I’ll get there).
Becoming by Michelle Obama
“In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era.
As First Lady of the United States of America - the first African-American to serve in that role - she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world. She dramatically changed the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives, and stood with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments. Along the way, she showed us a few dance moves, crushed Carpool Karaoke, and raised two down-to-earth daughters under an unforgiving media glare.
In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her - from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world's most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it - in her own words and on her own terms” (source).
This book has been on my “to buy” list for too long now…I just need to get it. I did actually check in the supermarket when I did my weekly shop, but they only had the paperback and I would like to get it in the hardback version.
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
“The Republic of Gilead offers Offred only one option: to breed. If she deviates, she will, like all dissenters be hanged at the wall or sent out to die slowly of radiation sickness. But even a repressive state cannot obliterate desire – neither Offred’s nor that of the two men whom her future hangs (source).
I’m sure like many of you, I heard about this book after the release of the season. Personally, I prefer to watch the series/film first and then get more detail and learn more about it in the book. I haven’t got round to watching the series yet, so obviously I haven’t read the book yet – but it’s definitely on my list for this year!
Women Don’t Owe You Pretty by Florence Given
“The game changing book that every woman needs. Women Don’t Owe You Pretty is the ultimate book for anyone who wants to challenge the out-dated narratives supplied to us by the patriarchy. It will teach you how to protect your energy, tell you that you are the love of your own life, and that today is a wonderful day to dump them. Florence Given is here to remind you owe men nothing, least of all pretty” (source).
This is another book that’s been on my “to buy” list for a while – I just need to actually do it. But again, I plan to this year. I also love the design on the cover of this book and want to take loads of photos with it for my content!
Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
“For years, rumours of the "Marsh Girl" have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So, in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say.
Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life - until the unthinkable happens” (source).
I’ve been meaning to buy this for a while, so this weekend I got it from the supermarket during the food shop. I can’t wait to read it.
Side note: I am in the process of creating a monthly newsletter. Each update will include some of favourite things and recent reads – so keep an eye out for the link to sign up soon – you will also receive something for free (that I am also currently working on). I can’t wait to share it with you. Those that sign up to my newsletter will also be the first to hear about future exciting plans – so keep an eye out.
The Confessions Of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins
“’They say I must be put to death for what happened to Madame, and they want me to confess. But how can I confess what I don't believe I've done?'
1826, and all of London is in a frenzy. Crowds gather at the gates of the Old Bailey to watch as Frannie Langton, maid to Mr and Mrs Benham, goes on trial for their murder. The testimonies against her are damning - slave, whore, seductress. And they may be the truth. But they are not the whole truth.
For the first time Frannie must tell her story. It begins with a girl learning to read on a plantation in Jamaica, and it ends in a grand house in London, where a beautiful woman waits to be freed.
But through her fevered confessions, one burning question haunts Frannie Langton: could she have murdered the only person she ever loved?”
This book is one I discovered recently when looking at books on Amazon. As mentioned in the introduction I am drawn in by the front covers of books – and this is definitely one of them. But then the blurb completely sold it for me. So, I definitely need to order this soon.
Have you read any of these books? Or, if you have any other books by female authors that you think I should read - Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
Cerys x
