Around the Ms. Office: Our Favorite Feminist Reads

As the weather chills and sweaters make their annual reappearance, it’s the perfect time to grab a book and hunker down. Following our post on children’s books for budding feminists, we’ve compiled a list of the Ms. office’s favorite books for a slightly older crowd. Here’s what our editors and interns had to say about their most memorable reads.

Michele Kort, senior editor

Most Feminist Read: Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women by Susan Faludi
Favorite Book by a Woman: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
A Classic Book You Hate: An American Dream by Norman Mailer

Michel Cicero, managing editor

Most Feminist Read:The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir; This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color edited by Cherríe Moraga and Gloria E. Anzaldúa; Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women by Susan Faludi
Favorite Book by a Woman: The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Stephanie Hallett, research editor

Most Feminist Read: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Favorite Book by a Woman: A Hero of Lesser Causes by Julie Johnston
A Classic Book You Hate: The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

Anita Little, associate editor

Most Feminist Read: Assata: An Autobiography by Assata Shakur
Favorite Book by a Woman: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
A Classic Book You Hate: The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Rachel Kassenbrock, rights and permissions; jill-of-all-trades

Most Feminist Read: Memoirs of a Beatnik by Diane DiPrima; The Madwoman in the Attic by Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar
Favorite Book by a Woman: All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews

Abeni MorenoMs. intern

Most Feminist Read: Desert Blood: The Juarez Murders by Alicia Gaspar De Alba
Favorite Book by a Woman: The Book of Dead Birds by Gayle Brandeis

Corinne GastonMs. intern

Favorite Book by a Woman: Wild Seed and Kindred by Octavia Butler; Dreaming the Dark by Starhawk; The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente; Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie; Nine by Kima Jones

A Classic Book You Hate: The Help by Kathryn Stockett; The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger; Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy

Brianna KovanMs. intern

Most Feminist Read: “Imitation and Gender Insubordination” by Judith Butler (PDF)
Favorite Book by a Woman: Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf; Beloved by Toni Morrison; Daniel Deronda by George Eliot
A Classic Book You Hate: On the Road by Jack Kerouac

Kitty LindsayMs. intern

Most Feminist Read: The Awakening by Kate Chopin; The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler
Favorite Book by a Woman: Bossypants by Tina Fey; Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit
A Classic Book You Hate: The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Make a beeline to your nearest library or bookstore and let us know which titles are your favorites. Happy reading!

Photo courtesy of David Goehring licensed under Creative Commons 2.0.

 

Tagged:

About

Brianna Kovan is a reader and writer from the Midwest. She graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.A. in English.