Good Feminist Books to Read in 2021

Roxane Gay’s hilarious collection of essays, Bad Feminist, details her life as a feminist who also happens to love certain things that aren’t necessarily cause-friendly. It’s a reminder that at the heart of all of us is a woman looking to define herself — and that the word feminist can have many definitions — it doesn’t always have to mean marching with picket signs.

WHY WE COOK: Women on Food, Identity, and Connection is an inspiring celebration of the place where food meets feminism. Seeking to shine a spotlight on the perspectives and achievements of women in food, artist Lindsay Gardner was spurred to action, creating this collection of stirring profiles, recipes, and Gardner’s vibrant and gorgeous watercolor illustrations. Brimming with essays, kitchen profiles, interviews, recipes, and more, the book features more than one hundred women restaurateurs, activists, food writers, home cooks, and professional chefs. WHY WE COOK celebrates those who are dedicated not only to their craft, but to changing the world of food for the better.

Have you ever heard someone say “Girls can’t do that”? Get ready to put that idea to rest once and for all. Fantastic photographs and an eye-catching design pair with riveting, diverse tales of both famous and little-known women who made their mark in leadership, sports, the arts, the sciences, and more. Advice, calls to action, and exclusive interviews with great role models – such as Oprah Winfrey, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Roxanne Gay, Emma Gonzalez, Nancy Pelosi, Jane Goodall and more – will challenge you to be yourself and empower you to change the world, too! Get a glimpse of history, origins, and inaccuracies of outdated criticisms and gender myths, and learn how women across the world are making waves and shaping the future in every field.

The book will immensely change the way you see things and how you would react to them. It is about unity, courage, and connection. It is one of the most empowering books you can give to your wife, girlfriend or any woman you think deserves a moment of lift.

The winner of multiple prestigious awards since its publication in 2019, this eye opening book highlights the (often unconscious) gender bias ingrained in many areas of modern life: from healthcare, to city planning and the workplace. Perez provides data, research and anecdotes in this beautifully-written, well-structured book, to help unearth the roots and facts around gender inequality, and what we can do to change the current norm.

For most women, getting their period sucks. Bloating. Cramps. Acne. Aches. Moodiness. Messiness. No wonder we call it The Curse! For many, it’s not just an inconvenience—it’s a colossal life disruption, forcing them to miss work, school, appointments, or dates, and women have been systematically taught for generations that it’s just something they have to deal with. We’ve been encouraged to medicate away common period problems with birth control and ibuprofen, and just survive the mood swings as best we can. But as Nicole Jardim explains, periods aren’t a nuisance, they’re information. When women learn to decode their period (or lack thereof), they’ll be able to recognize the underlying hormone imbalances causing their period problems and know how to fix them naturally themselves with Nicole’s proven six-week protocol to resolve even the most challenging hormone imbalances and menstruation issues. Fix Your Period is a life-changing step-by-step natural protocol to ignite lasting hormone balance and improve everything from PMS, period pain, and heavy periods to irregular cycles and missing periods. A guide for women to take control of their own health instead of living painfully in the patriarchal shadows as expected.

Lex absolutely loves to read and tries to find ways to keep reading all day long. However, on her fifteenth birthday, her parents take away all her books because she has been cursed to get a paper cut from a book that will put her to sleep. While other princesses may be content to wait around and do nothing, Lex is not one of them. She sets off on a journey, with her trusty dog Prince, to find the fairy who cursed her and make her lift the spell. In Reading Beauty, Lex takes matters into her own hands and goes to find the fairy without waiting for a prince to save her! This picture book exudes girl power and showcases how young girls can go on their own quests to save the day.

Rowan is training to become queen and her brother Rhydd is training to become the Royal Monster Hunter. While these are their determined roles, the two would love to be able to switch places. When an accident causes the siblings to have to switch their roles, Rowan finds herself on a dangerous journey to hunt a gryphon. In A Royal Guide to Monster Slaying, Rowan is not your typical princess. She is brave, tenacious, and takes charge among her friends. While this middle-grade book does not explicitly address feminist themes, it instead internalizes them and creates a strong female character for young readers to read about.

The Night Sender is a fantastical, female-driven novel that explores the oppression – both sexual and otherwise – of women. Born to a society that imposes strict expectations on its female nobility, Rose Woodburn has always felt stifled. But when a secret coming of age rite awakens a part of her she never knew existed, Rose embarks on a harrowing path of self-discovery that forms unlikely alliances and exposes a side of Dover she knew nothing about, one in stark contrast to the Dover of today…