Reading List
Emma Watson
Actress & Activist
Emma Watson is a British actress and activist who grew up on screen as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films and has since built a career spanning studio hits and independent roles. Beyond acting she is a prominent advocate for gender equality, serving as a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador and launching the HeForShe campaign. In 2016 she founded Our Shared Shelf, a feminist book club that chose and discussed a book with hundreds of thousands of readers every two months.
Butterfly
From Refugee to Olympian, My Story of Rescue, Hope and Triumph
by Yusra Mardini · Memoir
Recommended via Book Club, July 2019
Cinderella Liberator
by Rebecca Solnit · Children's
“I hope you enjoy these Our Shared Shelf picks for November/December.” — via Book Club, November 2019
Solito, Solita
Crossing Borders with Youth Refugees from Central America
by Steven Mayers, Jonathan Freedman · Nonfiction
Recommended via Book Club, July 2019
The Things I Would Tell You
British Muslim Women Write
by Sabrina Mahfouz · Anthology
Recommended via Book Club, January 2019
Good and Mad
The Revolutionary Power of Women's Anger
by Rebecca Traister · History
Recommended via Book Club, November 2018
Eloquent Rage
A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower
by Brittney Cooper · Nonfiction
Recommended via Book Club, November 2018
Sister Outsider
Essays and Speeches
by Audre Lorde · Essays
Recommended via Book Club, November 2018
The Radium Girls
The Dark Story of America's Shining Women
by Kate Moore · History
Recommended via Book Club, May 2018
Sex and World Peace
by Valerie M. Hudson, Bonnie Ballif-Spanvill, Mary Caprioli, Chad F. Emmett · Nonfiction
“In my continuing search for answers, I feel very grateful to have encountered Sex & World Peace.” — via Book Club, March 2020
Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl
A Memoir
by Carrie Brownstein · Memoir
“Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl, by Carrie Brownstein” — via Book Club, July 2016
Whose Story Is This?
Old Conflicts, New Chapters
by Rebecca Solnit · Essays
“I hope you enjoy these Our Shared Shelf picks for November/December.” — via Book Club, November 2019
Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars
A Dangerous Trans Girl's Confabulous Memoir
by Kai Cheng Thom · Fiction
“But you wouldn't try and gender a unicorn, would you?” — via Book Club, March 2019
Milk and Honey
by Rupi Kaur · Poetry
“pick for Our Shared Shelf is our first poet, Rupi Kaur” — via Book Club, July 2018
The Beauty Myth
How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women
by Naomi Wolf · Nonfiction
“A myth this month, by Naomi Wolf. Hope you enjoy, E xx” — via Book Club, July 2017
Heart Berries
A Memoir
by Terese Marie Mailhot · Memoir
“I love her suspicion of words.” — via Book Club, March 2018
Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race
by Reni Eddo-Lodge · Nonfiction
“I am not supposed to have favourites, however this was the most important book for me this year.” — via Book Club, January 2018
The Power
by Naomi Alderman · Fiction
“The book asks a question we might have all asked at one time: what would the world be like if women were in charge?” — via Book Club, November 2017
Hunger
A Memoir of (My) Body
by Roxane Gay · Memoir
“What struck me the most about the book is Roxane's searing honesty.” — via Book Club, September 2017
The Handmaid’s Tale
by Margaret Atwood · 1985 · Dystopian
“is a gripping read, but it won't make you feel comfortable” — via Book Club, May 2017
Women Who Run With the Wolves
by Clarissa Pinkola Estes · Nonfiction
“Wolves and women share many qualities: playfulness, strength, curiosity, bravery.” — via Book Club, March 2017
The Vagina Monologues
by Eve Ensler · Drama
“This book isn't strictly just a book - it's a play that became a political movement that became a world-wide phenomenon.” — via Book Club, January 2017
Mom & Me & Mom
by Maya Angelou · Memoir
“This book is one I have read before and is one of my favourites.” — via Book Club, November 2016
Half the Sky
Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide
by Nicholas D. Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn · Nonfiction
“I've chosen a book that tackles inequality and women's rights head-on.” — via Book Club, September 2016
The Complete Persepolis
by Marjane Satrapi · Graphic Novel
“It's about a bold and brave young woman and her experiences in 1980s Iran.” — via Book Club, June 2016
The Argonauts
by Maggie Nelson · Memoir
“I've been searching high and low for our next book.” — via Book Club, May 2016
How to Be a Woman
by Caitlin Moran · Memoir
“This month I am choosing a book which I confess I have already read.” — via Book Club, April 2016
All About Love
New Visions
by Bell Hooks · Nonfiction
“This month's book choice is in honor of bell hooks who interviewed me for Paper magazine this month.” — via Book Club, March 2016
The Color Purple
by Alice Walker · Fiction
“Just an FYI - the books I am suggesting I haven't read myself.” — via Book Club, February 2016
