Celebrating Women’s Power

I realized that Women’s Equality Day had passed. It celebrates the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which gave American women the right to vote. It inspired me to create a book list that celebrates the many facets of women. We are not just one thing. Many moments make us into the women we are today.

Women Are Never Too Old For A Second Act

The Extraordinary Dreams of Cynthia Peabody by Lynne Marshall

Cynthia Peabody has plans with the love of her life. They were to grow old together and live out their remaining years in a senior living community. However, Cynthia’s husband dies, and now she is swirling around in the emotion of grief everywhere she turns. Not being able to sleep anymore, she decides to do meditation. However, the meditation leads her to a weird dream where she finds an abandoned dog chained to a fence and looks miserable. Wanting to help the dog, she releases him and then wakes up. Baffled by her dream, she continues with her day-to-day routine until she goes into the backyard and discovers the dog from her dream waiting there for her. Are Cynthia’s dreams becoming real, or is her grief causing her to lose her sense of reality?

Why Read:  It focuses more on the subject of grief and growing older. Despite losing her husband and being elderly, Cynthia gradually realizes that her life isn’t over and she has more things to explore. Even if her health is becoming worse, hiding from it won’t help. She strives to make each day count, which is something we should all aspire to do. 

Women Are Survivors 

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

Leni’s childhood is in a constant state of upheaval. Her father, Ernt, hasn’t been the same after coming home from the Vietnam War. His erratic behavior and his inability to hold down a job have the family moving from place to place, not staying long enough to call a city home. One day, Ernt reveals he has lost another job, but found a great opportunity: the wilderness of Alaska. He sees it as an opportunity to be his own man, living off the land, and not having to report to anyone. Leni is forced to follow her father on his new far-fetched adventure. She wonders whether the move will make their family better, or will isolation intensify the darkness they already had.

Why Read: It illustrated not only how domestic violence was handled with the characters of Leni and Cora during the early 1970s, but also how terrifying PTSD can be, especially during that time frame since there was no diagnosis for it then. It is a real eye-opener that the changes in laws to protect women and veterans are fairly new, and I hope that we learn from history to never fall back to the awfulness of that period again. 

How To Sell A Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

Louise is a single mom and lives with her daughter, Poppy, out west. Finding out that her parents died in a car crash, Louise leaves Poppy with her ex and flies out east to deal with her family estate. When Louise decides to clean out her parents’ house, she notices weird things: the vent is ripped out, and the attic entrance is boarded up haphazardly. Her dad left his cane behind, and her mom left her purse behind, even though they never would leave the house without them. There are her mother’s dolls everywhere throughout the house. Louise tries to ignore them, but she feels like they are constantly watching her. It doesn’t help that they move from places that she has previously set them. Plus, the TV keeps coming on by itself. Louise begins to wonder if these are all coincidences, or if there is something more sinister roaming around the house. 

Why Read:  The book teaches that attaching emotions to objects is not necessarily a good thing, and it can give the object more control over us than we like. Louise’s mother’s emotions gave power to the dolls, which constantly targeted her children. The book also talks about not letting the troubles of our family’s past dictate our future. Louise sad that her mother’s trauma passed down to her and she passed it on to her daughter Poppy. Louise realizes that she has the power to break the generational trauma so that it doesn’t be passed down to future generations. 

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

Addie LaRue is a peasant girl in a small village in France. She doesn’t want to marry and lose her freedom, so she flees the village. She makes a desperate plea for any god that is listening to her to set her free. Strangely enough, a god answers her wish in exchange for her soul when she is ready to die. With her wish granted, Addie is overjoyed, but with wishes come unexpected consequences. 

Why Read: All Addie wanted to do was to escape the rules of society. Instead, a higher power decided to strip her of everything. In a sense, it is an allegory of what is going on with society right now. People are losing their agency left and right in the U.S.: women losing the rights over their own bodies, immigrants being deported, a ban on books and certain subjects being taught in school, and so much more. However, I like that Addie doesn’t live a small life because of her circumstances. She knows that the god is trying to break her spirit, but she continues to live on, enjoying one moment after another to spite him. 

Women Can Be Misunderstood

Someone You Can Build A Nest In by John Wiswell

Shesheshen is a shapeshifting monster living in an abandoned manor. She feeds on the villagers of Underlook. While hibernating, three human monster hunters attack her. Shesheshen eats the leader of the group, while his minions run off. Injured, Shesheshen disguises herself as a human to try to sneak into Underlook and feed among unsuspecting victims. However, the monster hunters from before spotted her and caused the villagers to chase her into the night. She lost her footing and fell off a cliff. She awakes to find a woman, Homily, taking care of her by offering her food and tending to her wounds. Will Shesheshen resort to killing her newfound savior, or will she learn that humanity might be the greatest monster of all?

Why Read: It asks the question of whether Shesheshen should be judged for her nature. Her species is a predator that hunts mostly humans. If other mammals like lions, tigers, and bears can hunt without repercussion and are expected to be the top of the food chain, then why doesn’t Shesheshen get that same level of acknowledgement? It makes you wonder if Shesheshen should be the monster of the story or if there is a greater threat than her. 

Women Are Protectors

Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett

After her cat shelter is destroyed in 1920s Montreal by two rogue magicians, Agnes quickly finds a new building that is willing to house her cats. However, things change when she finds out her new landlord is Havelock Renard, a powerful magician who nearly caused the apocalypse. He is using Agnes’ shelter as a front so that the police can’t find his workshop or the clients he caters to. Will Agnes and her clowder of cats be able to survive the magical machinations of their new landlord?

Why Read: At the beginning of the book, people think Agnes is crazy for running a charity for stray cats. They thought it was better to give money and support to human causes. I love that Agnes rejects that notion and continues to provide shelter to every cat that she finds on the street and searches for them new homes. She goes above and beyond to help the cats. Despite her hatred for magic, Agnes reluctantly works with Havelock to help find her cats new homes.

Suburban Hell by Maureen Kilmer

We follow Amy and her group of friends: Melissa, Jess, and Liz. They have been the best of friends for several years, having met at the school their kids attend. They consider themselves the outsiders among the moms in their neighborhood because they are not obsessed with all the pageantry that their neighborhood subscribes to. One day, Amy, Melissa, and Jess watch in horror as a supernatural presence possesses Liz’s body. Liz’s friends are determined to get her back. However, whatever is possessing Liz is not going out without a fight.

Why Read: The women’s friendships illustrate how far they are willing to go to save their friend despite not knowing exactly how to accomplish that. It illustrates what happens in real life. Sometimes we have friends who are going through things harder than we imagine. However, it is important to just be there for them even if you have no clue how to help. 

Obstetrix by Naomi Kritzer

After being acquitted for performing the last abortion in North Dakota, Liz is trying to find a job as a doctor still. She applies to a posting that she sees online. However, when she meets her potential employers, they drug and kidnap her. When she wakes up, she discovers that her kidnappers are part of a cult and want her to be their OB/GYN. While exploring the cult’s campgrounds, she discovers how repressed women are in the group. Liz wants to find a way to save the women and herself from the cult’s grasp, but will she be able to find an opportunity to flee?

Why Read: The book is very appropriate considering what is happening right now with women being stripped of their own autonomy regarding their bodies with no recourse. It makes you wonder if more will be taken away from women as policy changes in society. 

Women Can Defy The Odds

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Despite her deceased father’s wish for Violet to become a scribe, her mother forces her to become a dragon rider, a profession with the strongest military personnel but also the highest mortality rate.

However, Violet is not the best candidate. She is short, weak, and prone to broken bones because of her constitution. Violet accepts her fate, knowing that if she tries to join the Scribe section of the military, her mother will just drag her back. Before Violet goes to register with the riders, her sister, Mira, warns Violet about forming alliances and to watch out for the children of executed rebellion leaders since their mom was responsible for their executions. Their children would have no qualms about making Violet suffer for their tragic loss. With a weak constitution and an automatic target on her back, will Violet be able to become a rider and rise through the ranks?

Why Read:  Violet didn’t think that she could compare to the accomplishments that her mother, older brother, and sister had as riders. Instead of complaining about the forced situation, Violet decided to embrace it. She focused instead on how she could be a rider like everyone else by finding training partners to spar with her, lifting weights to increase her strength, and using her knowledge to outsmart her opponents. As she grows stronger, she realizes that she can be a good rider despite others’ expectations.

Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa

Hunchback follows Shaka and her daily life with myotubular myopathy, which is a severe congenital muscle disorder. She has an extreme spinal curvature that causes pressure on her internal organs. However, one of the attendants in the group home where she lives discovers Shaka’s secret Twitter account where she writes her depraved fantasies and trolls people online. Will the attendant’s knowledge of her online activities come back to haunt her?

Why Read: Despite all the difficulties Shaka has with her disability, she participates in online classes, donates to local charities, and has a job writing erotic fiction. She is a good example of how people with a disability can lead a fulfilling life despite the odds. 

Women Defy The Norms Of Society

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

Have you ever wondered what happens to the person the protagonist leaves in the dust for their new small-town love? Nora in Book Lovers doesn’t have to guess. She is currently living it. Heavily driven in her career and in city life, she notices the last several relationships ended the same: boyfriend goes to a small town for work or other reasons, falls in love with the locals and their new true love, and dumps Nora, claiming that she is cold and only cares about work. However, when Nora’s younger sister begs her to go on vacation to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina, for a month, she begins to wonder not only if her former boyfriends were right about small town living, but if their perception of her being cold and work-focused is true.

Why Read: Nora is admirable because she doesn’t follow the norms of society when it comes to romance. She falls for someone who interests her instead of seeking out romantic tropes to find a romantic relationship. 

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

Viv, an orc, decides to hang up her sword and become a proprietress of her own coffee company. As Viv starts her new business adventure, she begins to wonder how to advertise to people who have never heard of coffee before, and how to protect her business from people who want to see her fail.

Why Read: Despite living a life of fighting like most orcs do, Viv decided to follow her passion and create her own business. Orcs are not known for owning businesses. Viv has to pivot her way of thinking and change the stereotypes that people have about her species in order to make her business successful. 

That is it for my list of books that celebrate women. Each of these stories has rich characters that you want to follow and learn from. What books did you think I missed in the above categories? Let me know in the comments.