International Women’s Day: A Reading List

After Story by Larissa Behrendt    

When Indigenous lawyer Jasmine decides to take her mother Della on a tour of England's most revered literary sites, Jasmine hopes it will bring them closer together and help them reconcile the past.

Twenty-five years earlier the disappearance of Jasmine's older sister devastated their tight-knit community. This tragedy returns to haunt Jasmine and Della when another child mysteriously goes missing on Hampstead Heath.

As Jasmine immerses herself in the world of her literary idols including Jane Austen, the Bronté; sisters and Virginia Woolf Della is inspired to rediscover the wisdom of her own culture and storytelling. But sometimes the stories that are not told can become too great to bear.  

Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown  

Molly Bolt is a young lady with a big character. Beautiful, funny and bright, Molly figures out at a young age that she will have to be tough to stay true to herself in 1950s America . In her relationships with boyfriends and girlfriends, in the rocky relationship with her mother and in her determination to pursue her career, she will fight for her right to happiness.

Charming, proud and inspiring, Molly is the girl who refuses to be put in a box. 

Also available on BorrowBox as an audiobook. 

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo  

Bernardine Evaristo, is the award-winning author of eight books that explore aspects of the African diaspora. This novel made her the first black woman to win the Booker Prize in 2019, as well winning the Fiction Book of the Year Award at the British Book Awards in 2020, where she also won Author of the Year, and the Indie Book Award. She also became the first woman of colour and black British writer to reach No.1 in the UK paperback fiction chart in 2020. 

Teeming with life and crackling with energy; Girl, Woman, Other is a love song to modern Britain and black womanhood that follows the lives and struggles of twelve very different characters. Mostly women, black and British, they tell the stories of their families, friends and lovers, across the country and through the years. Joyfully polyphonic and vibrantly contemporary, this is a gloriously new kind of history, a novel of our times: celebratory, ever-dynamic and utterly irresistible.  

Also available as an audiobook on Libby, and as an eAudio and eBook on BorrowBox.  

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado  

A wife refuses her husband’s pleas to remove the green ribbon from around her neck. A woman recounts her sexual encounters as a plague slowly consumes humanity. A salesclerk in a mall makes a horrifying discovery within the seams of the store’s prom dresses. One woman’s surgery-induced weight loss results in an unwanted houseguest.  

This wicked collection of short stories blurs the borders between psychological magical realism and science fiction, comedy and horror. Exposing a dark and twisted slice of womanhood, Her Body and Other Parties explores the vast the realities of women's lives and the violence visited upon their bodies.  

Also available translated in Chinese here.  

Circe by Madeline Miller 

In the house of Helios, God of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. Circe is a strange child – not powerful and terrible, like her father, nor gorgeous and mercenary like her mother. Scorned and rejected, Circe grows up in the shadows, at home in neither the world of gods or mortals. But Circe has a dark power of her own: witchcraft. When her gift threatens the gods, she is banished to the island of Aiaia where she hones her occult craft, casting spells, gathering strange herbs and taming wild beasts.

Yet a woman who stands alone will never be left in peace for long – and among her island's guests is an unexpected visitor: the mortal Odysseus, for whom Circe will risk everything. So, Circe sets forth her tale, a vivid, mesmerizing epic of family rivalry, love and loss – the defiant, inextinguishable song of woman burning hot and bright through the darkness of a man's world. 

Shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2019.  

Also available as an eBook and audiobook.  

The Color Purple by Alice Walker  

Celie has grown up poor in rural Georgia, despised by the society around her and abused by her own family. She strives to protect her sister, Nettie, from a similar fate, and while Nettie escapes to a new life as a missionary in Africa, Celie is left behind without her best friend and confidante, married off to an older suitor, and sentenced to a life alone with a harsh and brutal husband.

In an attempt to transcend a life that often seems too much to bear, Celie begins writing letters directly to God. The letters, spanning 20 years, record a journey of self-discovery and empowerment guided by the light of a few strong women. She meets Shug Avery, her husband's mistress and a jazz singer with a zest for life, and her stepson's wife, Sophia, who challenges her to fight for independence. And though the many letters from Celie's sister are hidden by her husband, Nettie's unwavering support will prove to be the most breath-taking of all.  

Also available on BorrowBox as an audiobook. 

Where the Fruit Falls by Karen Wyld  

Brigid Devlin, a young Aboriginal woman, and her twin daughters navigate a troubled nation of First Peoples, settlers and refugees - all determined to shape a future on stolen land. Leaving the sanctuary of her family's apple orchard, Brigid sets off with no destination and a willy wagtail for company. As she moves through an everchanging landscape, Brigid unravels family secrets to recover what she'd lost - by facing the past, she finally accepts herself. Her twin daughters continue her journey with their own search for self-acceptance, truth and justice.

This evocative family saga celebrates the strength and resilience of First Nation women, while touching on deeply traumatic aspects of Australian history. Threads of magic realism shimmer throughout the story, offering a deeper understanding of reality and challenging the reader to imagine a kinder, more just, more humane world. This writing celebrates the agency of Indigenous women to traverse ever-present landscapes of colonisation and intergenerational trauma.

Country has an omniscient presence in the story lines, guiding the women across vivid desert and coastal landscapes. This book recognises both the open wounds of living histories of colonisation and the healing power of belonging to Country. 

Bad Feminist: Essays by Roxane Gay  

A collection of essays spanning politics, criticism, and feminism from one of the most-watched cultural observers of her generation, Roxane Gay. The portrait that emerges is not only one of an incredibly insightful woman continually growing to understand herself and our society, but also one of our culture.

Bad Feminist is a sharp, funny, and spot-on look at the ways in which the culture we consume becomes who we are, and an inspiring call-to-arms of all the ways we still need to do better. 

Also available on BorrowBox as an audiobook. 

Cultural Criticism & Transformation by bell hooks on Kanopy 

bell hooks is one of America's most accessible public intellectuals.

In this two-part video, extensively illustrated with many of the images under analysis, she makes a compelling argument for the transformative power of cultural criticism.  

It’s Not About the Burqa by Mariam Khan  

It's Not About the Burqa started life when Mariam Khan read about the conversation in which David Cameron linked the radicalization of Muslim men to the 'traditional submissiveness' of Muslim women. Mariam felt pretty sure she didn't know a single Muslim woman who would describe herself that way. Why was she hearing about Muslim women from people who were demonstrably neither Muslim nor women? Taking one of the most politicized and misused words associated with Muslim women and Islamophobia, It's Not About the Burqa has something to say: twenty Muslim women speaking up for themselves. Here are essays about the hijab and wavering faith, about love and divorce, about queer identity, about sex, about the twin threats of a disapproving community and a racist country, and about how Islam and feminism go hand in hand.  

Also available on BorrowBox as an eBook. 

Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde

Presenting the essential writings of black lesbian poet and feminist writer Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider celebrates an influential voice in twentieth-century literature.

In this charged collection of fifteen essays and speeches, Lorde takes on sexism, racism, ageism, homophobia, and class, and propounds social difference as a vehicle for action and change. Her prose is incisive, unflinching, and lyrical, reflecting struggle but ultimately offering messages of hope. 

My Tidda, my Sister: Stories of Strength and Resilience from Australian’s First Women by Marlee Silva  

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and society has existed on this continent for millennia. It's a culture that manifests itself as the ultimate example of resilience, strength and beauty. It's also a culture that has consistently been led by its women. My Tidda, My Sister shares the experiences of many Indigenous women and girls, brought together by author and host of the Tiddas 4 Tiddas podcast, Marlee Silva. The voices of First Nations' women that Marlee weaves through the book provide a rebuttal to the idea that 'you can't be what you can't see'. For non-Indigenous women, it demonstrates the diversity of what success can look like and offers an insight into the lives of their Indigenous sisters and peers. Featuring colourful artwork by artist Rachael Sarra, this book is a celebration of the Indigenous female experience through truth-telling. Some stories are heart-warming, while others shine a light on the terrible realities for many Australian Indigenous women, both in the past and in the present. But what they all share is the ability to inspire and empower, creating a sisterhood for all Australian women.  

The New Girl: A Trans Girl Tells it Like it Is by Rhyannon Styles 

A heart-wrenching, raw, frank, funny and utterly moving celebration of life. Imagine feeling lost in your own body.

Imagine spending years living a lie, denying what makes you 'you'. This was Rhyannon's reality. At the age of thirty Rhyannon began her transition, taking the first steps on the long road to her true self, and the emotional, physical and psychological journey that would change her for ever.

In a time when the world is finally waking up to transgender people, Rhyannon opens up to us, holding nothing back in this heartbreakingly honest telling of her life. Through her catastrophic lows and incredible highs, Rhyannon paints a picture of what it's like to be transgender in glorious technicolour. From cabaret drag acts, brushes with celebrity and Parisian clown school, to struggles with addiction and crippling depression, Rhyannon's story is like nothing you've read before.

Narrated with searing honesty, humour and poignancy, The New Girl is a powerful book about being true to ourselves, for anyone who's ever felt a little lost.