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Feminist reads that aren't boring
16
items These are the books that cracked something open in me. Smart, fiery, sometimes funny, sometimes devastating, but always worth reading. No dry lectures, no gatekeeping, just feminist theory, memoir, fiction, and essays that actually mean something. If...
Sections
4
Quick, Accessible Feminism
Memoir + Personal Essay
Theory + History
Fiction with Feminist Teeth
Quick, Accessible Feminism
Your intro to feminism in under an hour. Small book, big impact. Great for gifting or keeping in your bag to reread.
We Should All Be Feminists by Adichie
A hilarious and smart collection of essays on race, gender, and pop culture. You'll laugh, nod, and maybe want to highlight every other line.
Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay
Brilliant essays about being a woman online, in capitalism, and in our own heads. If you've ever spiraled over your digital self, this is for you.
Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino
Clear, compassionate, and radically inclusive. This is the feminist 101 manual you actually want to read. Short, powerful, and filled with love.
Feminism Is for Everybody by Bell Hooks
A bold little anthology of essays and speeches by modern feminists around the world. Easy to flip through and perfect for highlighting on the go.
The Future Is Feminist by Sara Rahnama
Memoir + Personal Essay
Reads like poetry and truth-telling at the same time. It's about power, desire, shame, and surviving girlhood with your spirit intact.
Girlhood by Melissa Febos
More than you expect. It's about ownership, image, and navigating fame and womanhood. Beautiful writing from someone who's been both object and observer.
My Body by Emily Ratajkowski
Feminism that's rooted in survival, not aesthetics. A powerful read that calls out what mainstream feminism gets wrong and who it leaves out.
Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall
Deeply moving and sharply written memoir by the woman behind the Stanford assault case. It's not just a story of survival, it's a reclaiming.
Know My Name by Chanel Miller
Experimental, haunting, and honest. A memoir about queer abuse and the structures that silence it. Told through shifting genres. Unforgettable.
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
Theory + History
A classic collection of essays and speeches blending poetry, identity, and radical intersectional feminism. Fierce, heartfelt, and foundational.
Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
A radical look at how witch hunts helped enforce capitalist patriarchy. Dense but incredibly eye-opening and important.
Caliban and the Witch by Silvia Federici
Myth, psychology, and feminism collide in this exploration of the wild feminine. Poetic, transformative, and empowering.
Women Who Run with the Wolves by Estés
Fiction with Feminist Teeth
What if girls had the power to kill with a touch? It's sci-fi, it's feminist, and it's a page-turner with teeth. Kind of like The Handmaid's Tale flipped upside down.
The Power by Naomi Alderman
Greek mythology reimagined from a woman's point of view. Powerful, lonely, and utterly enchanting. Circe is soft and dangerous, and the prose is pure magic.
Circe by Madeline Miller
Explores identity, race, and the performance of womanhood through the story of twin sisters who choose radically different lives. Gorgeously written and deeply feminist at its core.
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett