40 feminist books every twenty-something woman should read (2024)

An incredible story of survival which spans forty years of Celie's life: a black girl who is born into poverty and segregation. After suffering at the hands of her father and being trapped in an unhappy marriage, Celie discovers the power and joy of her own spirit while holding onto the hope of being reunited with her sister.

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This 6,000-word short story reads as a collection of journal entries written by a woman whose lack of stimulation (her husband forbids her to work) begins her descent into madness, making a poignant point about women's health, both physical and mental.

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If you've got questions about men, this book will have the answers. Written by the same man who had input on Sex And The City, it's as honest and brutal as it is playful and fun, and should hopefully help you understand why things play out the way they do. If it doesn't, it's a lighthearted read anyway.

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The dark novel, which has glimpses of parallels with Sylvia Plath's own life, follows Esther Greenwood's internship on a New York fashion magazine in 1953. She finds herself spiralling into serious depression when people refuse to take her aspirations seriously.

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A personal and powerful essay from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie which offers a 21st century definition of feminism while exploring what it means to be a woman today.

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Naomi Wolf's bestselling book looks at the every day pressure on women to conform physically is a constant and all-pervading ideal of what 'beauty' is, touching on the potential oppressive and tyrannical impact it can have.

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In a series of sharp, funny and insightful essays, Roxane Gay touches on everything from the state of feminism today, how the culture we consume changes who we are and why we all need to do better, while simultaneously reflecting on her own journey of evolution as a woman.

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A candid (and sometimes silly) look at what it feels like to age as a woman and experience the trials and tribulations of menopause, having children, men, and life in general. Accurate, yes, but not overly depressing.

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Following a family tragedy, 26-year-old Cheryl Strayed makes the impulsive decision to walk eleven-hundred miles of the west coast of America on her own, despite having no experience of hiking. An inspiring, touching tale that will probably make you want to do something similar.

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Inspired by a real World War II heroine, Lilac Girls follows women on a quest to change history for love, for freedom, and for second chances.

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Caitlin Moran's part memoir/part rant is full of titbits and tales from her own life as well as advice for your own, while asking all the questions we want to know the answers to. Examples include, 'Why are we supposed to get Brazilians?' 'Do men secretly hate us?' 'And why does everyone ask you when you're going to have a baby?'

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Regarded as an incredibly clever and big-hearted novel, White Teeth deals with everything from friendship and love to multiple cultures and war, while following three families over three generations.

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The book that inspired the term 'mansplaining', Solnit's collection of essays includes 'Men Explain Things To Me', as well her fierce opinions on rape culture, sex scandals and issues that a patriarchal culture may not even acknowledge as issues at all.

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Hidden Figures is the never-before-told true story of NASA’s African-American female mathematicians who played a crucial role in America’s space program during the civil right's movement.

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Immerse yourself in Calliope Stephanides and the truly unique family secret which sees her turn into Cal: the narrator of this intersex, inter-generational epic of immigrant life in 20th century America. Complicated, but it's excellent.

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The Hunger Games crossed with The Handmaid's Tale, The Power explains what happens when women all over the world begin to discover they can inflict terrible pain with the flick of their fingers, sometimes even resulting in death. Men lose the control.

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Sophia Amoruso went from high-school dropout to founder of Nasty Gal, one of the fastest-growing retailers in the world. Here's her story.

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The five Lisbon sisters are gorgeous, mysterious, eccentric and obsessed over by everyone around them - so why did they all take their own lives? The boys that once loved them from afar are now grown men determined to understand the tragic events that shaped their adolescence in this dark coming of age tale.

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Malala Yousafzai's extraordinary journey has taken her from a remote valley in northern Pakistan to Oxford University, and this non-fiction book tells of the Tuesday in October 2012 when she was shot at point-blank range for fighting for her right to an education.

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On the surface, Elizabeth Gilbert had the perfect life for a while, but a bitter divorce and whirlwind love affair later, she left it all behind to pursue her own journey in search of three things she has been missing: pleasure, devotion and balance. Cue a journey of self discovery to Rome, India and Bali as she learns to discover happiness again.

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