The Captive Reader

Happy International Women’s Day!  Forget the lilies of the valley or mimosa today.  Instead, give books to both the women and men in your life that will help raise awareness of the both the history of women’s struggles for equality and the challenges we are still facing today.  Here are some new and upcoming releases to help inspire us all (and if you want further ideas, check out my list from 2018 as well):

The Home Stretch by Sally Howard – Housework is still too often women’s work and there are signs that the gap is actually worsening in some countries compared to where it was a few decades ago.  Howard investigates what is going on.

Double Lives by Helen McCarthy – Subtitled “a history of working motherhood”, McCarthy looks at how women in the UK have gone from being excluded from the workforce after having children to being a vital part of it.  For bonus reading, don’t miss McCarthy’s earlier book Women of the World, about the rise of female diplomats.

Ladies Can’t Climb Ladders by Jane Robinson – Robinson, author of several social histories focused on women’s experiences and struggles, returns with a look at British women who embraced professional careers following the First World War.

Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener – After leaving a publishing job in New York for a tech industry role in Silicon Valley, Anna Wiener discovered a world of immense egos and entitlement and shockingly casual sexism.

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo – this South Korean bestseller has raised a lot of controversy in its portrayal of an average woman’s struggles in a deeply sexist and conservative culture.  It’s sparked a difficult debate in Korea about feminism and gender equality and is now finally available for the English-speaking world to read.

Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez – If you only read one book off this list, make it this one.  Frankly, if you only read one book this year, make it this one.  Newly released in paperback, Invisible Women looks at how data bias harms women around the world, with examples ranging from drug trials with no female test subjects to relief efforts following national disasters that ignore women’s needs for safe toilets or forget to provide cooking spaces.  In the spirit of the day, it is a book that should make you mad and determined to do you bit to change the world.