Our journey to shed light on women’s works in every form of media continues and this time we’re tackling the subject of literature. Do you love reading? Yeah, so do we! And we’ve been itching to recommend you some of our favorite books written by women. Young adult, mysteries, drama, biographies, we’ve got it all in the following six great books. Your search for your next read is over, you’re welcome!
- Leah On The Offbeat by Becky Albertalli
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Chances are you’ve heard of the name Simon Spier, maybe by watching the movie “Love, Simon”, or by reading the book “Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda”. But, did you know, that there’s a book all about Leah Burke, his best friend?
“Leah On The Offbeat” was published a month after the “Love, Simon” movie came out, in march of 2018, therefore, it’s the sequel that fans of Simon’s best friend were really excited about. While Simon’s story is being told, we see Leah on the background, trying to figure out life. And, most of the questions fans had after Simon’s story was told were about his best friend, about Leah’s feelings, family life, and, the main one, sexuality.
This is where “Leah On The Offbeat” comes in. In this book, Becky Albertalli manages to continue the narrative of these two characters in a subsequent timeline, but focusing on showing Leah’s life. Her love for playing the drums – hence the beat mention on the title – and the struggles she’s going through as a teenager. She needs to worry about college, prom, the tension that has been circling her friend group and, most importantly, her difficulty to come out as bisexual to her friends, specially Simon.
- The Secret History by Donna Tartt
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“The Secret History” has everything a person could possibly want: rich eccentric young adults in a fancy private college in New England, drama and, yes, murder. The book, published in 1992 (Tartt’s first novel), is dark academia at its prime.
The story follows Richard Papen as he arrives at Hampden College and it’s written from Richard’s point of view many years after his time at Hampden. There, he becomes obsessed with this group of elite greek scholars. The characters are very unique and, perhaps, a bit eccentric, which explains the narrator’s fascination with them. When he is accepted into their study group and joins their inner circle, he learns of the terrifying secret they’ve been keeping. And that’s when things go down. Like, downhill.
“The Secret History” is beautifully written. It’s a bit of a detective story because the novel starts with Richard telling us about the murder the group committed and then narrates all the circumstances that led to it and then how the characters struggle to deal with the consequences of this terrible act. It’s a dense read, but it’s that kind of book that you just can’t put down.
- Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
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In this novel, we get to meet Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder, while they mostly talk through work emails. The company they are a part of has a policy that states that every single email sent has to be monitored, and everyone knows this. But, the thing they don’t know, is that they hired someone specifically for this, Lincoln O’Neill. His job requires him to read through other people’s emails and file a report If they talk about anything that’s not work related.
Rainbow Rowell is a quite well known author, her most famous books are “Fangirl”, “Eleanor & Park” and “Carry On”. But what differs these ones from “Attachments” is the more mature point of view, that comes from adult characters, instead of teenagers. We discover more about these women’s lives, and so does Lincoln, but he actually gets to do something with the things he reads, so it’s almost like we get to live through him for a bit.
- Circe by Madeline Miller
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Circe is already a well known character, the witch that imprisoned Odysseus in her island for many years in Homer’s Odyssey. But we never knew much about her until Miller gave her a voice in her 2018 novel. The book starts with Circe’s birth and follows her journey for hundreds of years.
Daughter of the powerful titan Helios and the nymph Perse, Circe is considered neither powerful, nor beautiful, resulting in her living in relative isolation. When she finds out she’s able to practice witchcraft, Zeus, feeling threatened by her power, banishes her to the island of Aiaia, where she is supposed to live in exile for eternity. Throughout the narrative, she encounters many famous greek characters, like Hermes, Daedalus, Medea and Odysseus.
“Circe” is a powerful story in which we see a woman grow into her own person in her journey to find a place where she belongs. It’s truly delightful. And you should read it as soon as possible because HBO Max is adapting the novel into an 8 episodes miniseries.
- O Garoto do Cachecol Vermelho by Ana Beatriz Brandão
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Grab some tissues and get comfortable before reading this book, because you’ll probably cry, but we won’t give you any spoilers. Melissa seems like the stereotypical rich girl, pretty, confident, spoiled and impatient, but what happens when she meets a mysterious boy that’s always wearing a red scarf?
She’s adamant on pursuing her dream of becoming a professional ballerina. This is the only thing she focuses on, other than making everyone do whatever she wants them to. But, now, she has to decide whether she should keep practicing like her life depends on it, or if she should see where life, and this boy, takes her. In this book, we find out more about Melissa, and we see her explore more of life, while discovering more about Daniel, the mysterious guy that always shows up in her path somehow.
Important note, there’s a sequel to this book called “A Garota das Sapatilhas Brancas”, and it tells the story through Daniel’s eyes, plus some details that are told to us by other characters. There’s also a movie being made about the stories that happen in both of these books, and it’s probably going to be released at the end of this year or the beginning of 2020.
- Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
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This story is told through a series of interviews with members of the fictional band Daisy Jones & The Six as they recall their rise to stardom and their subsequent mysterious split at the absolute height of their popularity.
The novel starts telling two separate stories, one of Daisy Jones as she parties on the Sunset Strip and records a relatively good solo album and one about the band The Six, led by guitarist Billy Dunne. They’re both leading separate relatively successful careers, but when they get together (after a manager suggests it) to form Daisy Jones & The Six, it’s like magic. Daisy, Billy and the rest of the band start creating amazing songs and become one of the biggest bands in the world. So it gets everyone by surprise when they suddenly break up in the middle of a tour.
The author paints an incredibly accurate picture of the rock scene in the 1970’s: sex, drugs, rock n’ roll and all that. By the end of the book you’ll find yourself so invested in the story you’ll wish Daisy Jones & The Six and their songs were real. It’s a great read. And Reese Witherspoon thought so too, because she’s co-producing with Amazon a 13 episodes limited series adaptation of the book. Hey, we might get to listen to the band’s music someday after all!