March 11, 2020
Happy Women’s Month! 5 great reads by women, about women
by Amelia Stymacks
Happy Women’s Month! Get inspired by these incredible books by women, about women.
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A Woman Like Her: The Story Behind the Honor Killing of a Social Media Star
by Sanam Maher
The murder of Pakistani social media star Qandeel Baloch exposed a culture divided between accelerating modernity and imposed traditional values. Author Sanam Maher, a respected Pakistani journalist, depicts a society at a crossroads and teases apart the intrigue and myth-making of the Qandeel Baloch story.
Witches: The Transformative Power of Women Working Together
By Sam George-Allen
Where women gather, magic happens. Female farmers change the way we grow our food. Online beauty communities democratize skin-care rituals.
A refreshing, funny, and relateable new voice in feminist literature, Tasmanian author Sam George-Allen celebrates the potential of women working with other women, making a powerful statement about myths like the “cool girl” and the “catty workplace.”
Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers: Monstrosity, Patriarchy, and the Fear of Female Power
by Sady Doyle
Sady Doyle takes readers on a tour of the female dark side, from the biblical Lilith to Dracula’s Lucy Westenra to the T-Rex in Jurassic Park.
These monsters embody the patriarchal fear of women—and speak to the primal threat of a woman who takes back her power. In a dark and dangerous world, Sady asks women to look to monsters for the ferocity we all need to survive.
Kathy Acker: The Last Interview
Kathy Acker was a punk-rock counter-cultural icon, and innovator of the literary underground.
From Acker’s earliest interviews—filled with playful, evasive, and counter-intuitive responses—to the last interview before her death, where she reflects on the state of American literature, these interviews capture the writer at her funny and surprising best.
by Juliet Escoria
It’s 1997 and 14-year-old Juliet has it pretty good. But over the course of the next two years, she rapidly begins to unravel, finding herself in a downward trajectory of mental illness and self-destruction.
An explosive portrayal of teenage life, Juliet the Maniac is a bold, stylish breakout book from an author already crackling on the indie scene.
Bonus! This upcoming memoir is available 4/14/2020
by Ellen O’Connell Whittet
With a promising career in classical ballet ahead of her, Ellen O’Connell Whittet was devastated when a misstep in rehearsal caused a career-ending injury. Forced to reconsider her future, she also began to reconsider what she had taken for granted in the past.
In this raw and redemptive debut memoir, Ellen O’Connell Whittet explores the silent suffering of the ballerina—and finds it emblematic of the violence that women quietly shoulder every day.
Amelia Stymacks is the director of digital marketing at Melville House.