“A book, too, can be a star, ‘explosive material, capable of stirring up fresh life endlessly,’ a living fire to lighten the darkness, leading out into the expanding universe.” – Madeleine L’Engle
Mad Girl: A Happy Life With a Mixed-Up Mind by Bryony Gordon
Expertly infusing a candid discussion of mental illness with humor and poignancy, Bryony Gordon should be applauded for calling attention to the stigmas and inequities of care that still plague society’s treatment of mental health conditions. As someone who has personal experience with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), I felt much less alone thanks to Gordon’s uncensored approach to the realities of the disorder.
You Don’t Have to Like Me: Essays on Growing Up, Speaking Out, and Finding Feminism by Alida Nugent
You Don’t Have to Like Me had me hooked from the start. The beginning of Nugent’s memoir features a discussion of the ways in which sexism continues to rear its ugly head, including an anecdote that so, so many women will find deeply relatable – walking home late at night, hearing footsteps behind you, worriedly looking over your shoulder, and breathing an audible sigh of relief upon realizing your “follower” is simply another woman, also trying to make it home safely in a world that is all too often unsafe for women.
Sex Object: A Memoir by Jessica Valenti
The extent to which women are objectified is made painstakingly clear in Jessica Valenti’s Sex Object. From the outset of Sex Object, Valenti adopts a no-holds-barred approach, concerned more with relaying the (often harsh) reality of growing up female than she is with leaving the reader at ease. And if you needed yet another reason to support feminism, simply consult the chapter devoted to the always threatening and frequently violent online messages Valenti has received throughout her tenure as a public feminist figure.
Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan
A testament to human resilience and parental devotion, Brain on Fire forces the reader to confront all the little miracles we take for granted on a daily basis, particularly those at the most basic of levels – good health and mental cognizance. Susannah Cahalan’s story demonstrates just how quickly both can deteriorate, and with such little warning.
Bad Feminist: Essays by Roxane Gay
An incredibly insightful commentator on the intersection of culture and feminism, Roxane Gay covers an impressive array of contemporary topics in the pages of Bad Feminist. Continuously driving home the point that femininity and feminism need not be mutually exclusive, Gay writes with warmth and intelligence, undoubtedly inspiring her readers to constantly strive toward bettering the state of our society.
Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott
Anne Lamott’s Traveling Mercies is perfectly suited for the spiritual-but-not-religious generation. While Lamott herself does attend church, her faith is deeply personal, exemplifying religious traditions at their best – empathetic, inclusive, occasionally light-hearted, and always hopeful.