Reading List
Elizabeth Gilbert
Author
Elizabeth Gilbert was a National Magazine Award-winning journalist and a National Book Award finalist before Eat Pray Love made her one of the most widely read memoirists alive, selling more than twelve million copies. She has since written fiction (The Signature of All Things, City of Girls), a book about creative work called Big Magic, and a memoir of her friendship with Rayya Elias. Her recommendations run heavily to women who refused the size of the life they were handed, which is also the subject she keeps returning to in her own work.
Matrix
by Lauren Groff · 2021 · Fiction
“takes that banishment and turns it into might, becoming a leader who transforms her convent into a hidden world of creativity, prosperity, and autonomy for all women” — via Article
The Awakened Woman
by Tererai Trent · 2017 · Memoir
“Trent shows how she created that path for herself, with relentless drive and the guidance of her ancestors.” — via Article
The Little Locksmith
by Katharine Butler Hathaway · 1943 · Memoir
“Despite being literally tied down for all of childhood and in pain for all of adulthood, Hathaway lived a grand, artistic, and even sensual existence.” — via Article
Harley Loco
by Rayya Elias · 2013 · Memoir
“My new book tells the story of my friendship and love with Rayya Elias, but in this memoir, she tells her own harrowing story of immigration, alienation, drug addiction, music, and recovery. Raw and unflinching, her voice continues to shine long after her death.” — via Article
How to Say Babylon
by Safiya Sinclair
“Raised in the crushing patriarchy of contemporary Jamaica, Sinclair fought back against the limitations of her father and her Rastafarian culture to become a magnificent poet, traveler, and author. Sinclair essentially wrote her way out of poverty and oppression, and the result, this gorgeous memoir, is pure fire.” — via Article
The Summer Book
by Tove Jansson · 1972 · Fiction
“In this slim, magical novel, a wild young girl and her equally wild grandmother spend the summer on a remote Finnish island, using adventure and creativity to heal from loss. Never has childhood girl power been more eloquently expressed. I call this my favorite book nobody has ever read.” — via Article
