Curated by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@ashley_dicksonellison)
For Women’s History Month, we’re spotlighting books that explore the strength, struggles, and resilience of women. From poetry that captures the essence of motherhood to retellings of Greek mythology that reframe women’s roles, these stories offer powerful perspectives on identity, history, and empowerment. We’ve gathered excerpts from our past reviews to showcase these unforgettable reads. Whether you’re drawn to historical fiction, contemporary tales, or YA, there’s something here to inspire and challenge you.
Kate J. Baer's WHAT KIND OF WOMAN - A Beautiful Poetry Collection about Being a Woman and a Mother (Ashley's review):
From the review: "Baer's poems strike at the essence of what it means to be a woman and a mother. She explores motherhood, sexuality, marriage, desire, women's bodies, and many other topics with a fearlessness I admire so much. She examines what relationships are like for partners with children, and she explores the expectations heaped upon women and mothers by society...These are the kind of poems that can keep you company in the dark. Kate J. Baer knows how to sit in the dark, how to settle into it, and how to still find something to celebrate."
Pat Barker's THE SILENCE OF THE GIRLS - The Cost of War (Ashley's review):
From the review: "The Silence of the Girls is a retelling of The Iliad from the perspective of Briseis, a queen of a kingdom near Troy who, after the sacking of her kingdom and murder of her brothers and husband, became enslaved as Achilles's war prize. When King Agamemnon takes Briseis as his own and insults Achilles, that brings about Achilles's decision to refuse to fight in the war, resulting in a mounting death toll and impending failure for the Greeks. It's only after Patroclus's brutal death and Achilles's resulting despair that Achilles at last decides to fight, which turns the tide of the war for the Greeks but costs Achilles his life."
From the review: "Daunis Fontaine is an athlete and former hockey player, Levi’s half-sister, bi-racial, an unenrolled member of the Ojibwe tribe, a daughter and granddaughter, a best friend. She’s also loyal and stubborn and tough, dedicated to learning her tribe’s history but equally committed to the other, white and wealthy side of her family, including her mother.
"Angeline Boulley’s YA novel Firekeeper’s Daughter is as multilayered as its protagonist. It’s an edge-of-your-seat thriller, a mystery novel, a coming of age story, a romance. It addresses the multifaceted nature of Daunis’s identity without simplifying her or the varied communities to which she belongs."
Taylor Jenkins Reid's THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO - Secrets Revealed After a Life of Fame (Ashley's Review):
From the review: "There are so many things I love about this book. I was immediately captivated by Evelyn, a reclusive woman in her seventies who had been an extremely famous lifelong actress but who had never revealed much about her personal life until she reached out to contact a relatively unknown journalist, Monique, with an offer to tell her whole life story. I also loved the framing of the novel. We only see Evelyn from Monique's perspective at first, which is a fascinating way to access Evelyn's story."
Jennifer Saint's ARIADNE - An Exploration of the Role of Women in Greek Mythology (Ashley's review):
From the review: "I think what I found so captivating about this one is the way that through exploration of several of the Greek myths, Jennifer Saint highlights the way that women in the stories pay for the faults of men, be they mortals or gods. Although this one does not spare the reader heartbreak, as the stories largely follow the inevitable outcomes of the original myths, there is solace in the sisterhood of women and the ways that they can carry on because of each other woven throughout the story centering on Ariadne's life."
Anna Solomon's THE BOOK OF V - Stunning and Thought Provoking (Jen's review):
From the review: "Anna Solomon’s The Book of V, out May 5th, is an astonishing and beautiful novel. Through three parallel stories, Solomon explores the ways that women can fight to define their identities, even in situations when they seem to be powerless.
"At the heart of the book is the biblical story of Esther, the second wife of the king. Solomon uses this story as the core of her book, telling it on page 1 and retelling it with different details and at different depths, until we come to consider both the truth of the story and the nature of storytelling in general. In the story of Esther, the king’s first wife, Vashti, descended from royalty (and, therefore, outranking her husband) disappeared under strange circumstances–the king had tested her by asking her to strip naked in front of a crowd of advisors. When she refused . . . well, no one knows because no one has seen her since her refusal."
(A note to our readers: click on the hashtags above to see our other blog posts with the same hashtag.)
Interested in what else we're reading? Check out our Featured Books page.
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