Every Girl’s Ultimate Summer Reading List: 30 Books By Women For Women
According to this website, reading makes you both interesting and attractive. Which is precisely why I devour books so voraciously.
One of the most common questions I get asked (second to, “what happened to your hair?”) by friends, acquaintances and strangers alike, is “what are you reading right now?” or “what should I read next?”
First, I tell them that my hair burnt off during a botched bleach job (long story), and then I rattle off like 12 books top of mind and they’re all like, “hold up, lemme get a pen.”
SO. To make things easier for everyone, I’ve compiled a list of 30 books, all by totally kicka$$ women authors (because #girlpower). In order to get through them all by summer’s end, you’ll have to read a new book every 3.1 days, which is why I’m giving you a head start and posting this now.
These are the books I’ve been reading while writing. These are the books I’ve turned to for inspiration, for a laugh, a cry, and even for wisdom. Some of these books have gotten me through some pretty hard times (read: my hair falling out, being uber lonely in a new city, and struggling with my reflection in the mirror). Others have inspired me to be vulnerable in my own writing, and to take chances in my career. All of them have made me proud to be a woman. I feel pretty confident saying, there is a book on this list for every girl and almost every circumstance.
Every Girl’s Ultimate Summer Reading List: 30 Books By Women For Women
Books For The Fiction Lovers
- THE WOMAN DESTROYED by Simone De Beauvoir
DIFFICULT WOMEN by Roxane Gay
BARBARA THE SLUT and Other People by Lauren Holmes
FOXFIRE: Confessions of a Girl Gang by Joyce Carol Oates
Books For Feminists & Critical Thinkers
- BAD FEMINIST by Roxane Gay
HOW TO BE A WOMAN by Caitlin Moran
WE SHOULD ALL BE FEMINISTS by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
MEN EXPLAIN THINGS TO ME by Rebecca Solnit
Books For Femme-Preneurs & Girl Bosses:
- #GIRLBOSS by Sophia Amoruso
BIG MAGIC: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert
THE ART OF MEMOIR by Mary Karr
THE WOMAN I WANTED TO BE by Diane Von Furstenberg
Books For a Light-Hearted LOL
- LIFE AS I BLOW IT: Tales of Love, Life & Sex...Not Necessarily in That Order by Sarah Colonna
CHELSEA CHELSEA BANG BANG by Chelsea Handler
LET’S PRETEND THIS NEVER HAPPENED by Jenny Lawson
THE GIRL WITH THE LOWER BACK TATTOO by Amy Schumer
For a Memoir That Will Make You Say, "Woah!"
- BLACKOUT: Remembering The Things I Drank to Forget by Sarah Hepola
HOW TO MURDER YOUR LIFE by Cat Marnell
WILD by Cheryl Strayed
For Essays on the Female Experience (That Will Also Make You LOL, Cry, & Feel Things)
NOT THAT KIND OF GIRL by Lena Dunham
I FEEL BAD ABOUT MY NECK and Other Thoughts on Being a Woman by Nora Ephron
YOU’LL GROW OUT OF IT by Jessi Klein
SEX OBJECT by Jessica Valenti
Books For Creative Spirits
SO SAD TODAY by Melissa Broder
IT by Alexa Chung
HOW TO BE PARISIAN WHEREVER YOU ARE by Anne Berest, Audrey Diwan, Caroline de Maigret, and Sophie Mas
MILK AND HONEY by Rupi Kaur
Books For The Self-Help Lovers and the Health Conscious
- MASTERING YOUR MEAN GIRL by Melissa Ambrosini
A MIND OF YOUR OWN by Kelly Brogan
THE BODY BOOK by Cameron Diaz
FACE VALUE by Autumn Whitefield-Madrano
