For the Global Bookclub, Our Shared Shelf
It’s a few months now since we brought you the news that Emma Watson was launching a feminist bookclub. The club is hosted on Goodreads and features books, recommended by Emma that show strong female characters, or have a feminist theme.
Our Shared Shelf got off to a really positive start, and now seven months in, we went to see how it was going!
Well to date Our Shared Shelf has more than 140,000 members, and the seven books that have featured so far are all excellent recommendations! You can take the recommendations whether you’re part of the book club or not, and so here are the 7 feminist books Emma has recommended to date.
My Life on the Road – Gloria Steinem
My Life on the Road kicked the book club off earlier this year and it’s a candid account of Steinem’s life as a traveller, a listener and a catalyst for change.
The Color Purple – Alice Walker
Emma said this was recommended to her by someone she trusts, and this one comes highly recommended in literary circles too! The Color Purple is an epistolary novel that focuses on the lives of African-American women in the southern US states, and was Pulitzer Prize winner in 1983.
All About Love: New Visions – Bell Hooks
This is the first one on the list that I haven’t heard of, but it comes highly recommended having been personally recommended by Maya Angelou!
How to Be a Woman – Caitlin Moran
How to Build a Girl has been one of my favourite reads this year, and How to be a Woman is on my own TBR. Caitlin is an English hero, rewriting the feminist agenda.
The Argonauts – Maggie Nelson
Following the fantastic recommendations, Our Shared Shelf moved onto The Argonauts. It’s not an easy read but it’s well worth it, and takes an interest look at inclusion and the powers and shortfalls of language.
Persepolis – Marjane Satrapi
Satrapi is an Iranian hero, and that’s no understatement, growing up in Iran during the Islamic revolution this is her memoir. It’s graphic fiction, a lot of fun, but serious and complex too.
Hunger Makes me a Modern Girl – Carrie Brownstein
And as we head into August we’re right up to date with the current book, Hunger Makes me a Modern Girl. This is Carrie Brownstein’s personal memoir and it’s candid and deeply personal.
Hunger Makes me a Modern Girl US
Hunger Makes me a Modern Girl UK
So that’s it, the seven books covered by Emma Watson’s book club to date. Even if you don’t want to join in the discussions, it still makes a great reading list for any modern woman, or man!
Feminism isn’t just for girls, you know, that’s kind of the point!
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