FICTION
Circe, by Madeline Miller
Miller retells the story of the minor goddess Circe, who finds herself banished by Zeus to a lonely island, pitted against Olympus, and forced to choose whether immortality is a gift or a curse.
Pachinko, by Min Jin Lee
An epic tale chronicling four generations of an Korean family of immigrants in Japan who face poverty and discrimination, with particular focus on the struggles and strength of a young woman named Sunja.
The Mountains Sing, by Nguyẽ̂n Phan Qué̂ Mai
A multigenerational saga that covers almost a century of Vietnamese history, from French colonialism through war and revolution, through the stories of three generations of Vietnamese women.
My Brilliant Friend, by Elena Ferrante
The first in a four-book series about the complicated friendship between reserved and intellectual Elena and dazzling and defiant Lila, as they endure the narrowed choices and sexualized brutalities of their working-class neighborhhod in postwar Naples. Read all four of these resplendent novels.
Code Name Verity, by Elizabeth Wein
A brilliantly-plotted YA novel about British best friends Maddie and Queenie, pilot and spy, whose plane goes down during a mission in Nazi-occupied France. As captured "Verity" writes her forced confession, a twisty story of friendship and valor unfolds.
NONFICTION
Slow Noodles, by Chantha Nguon with Kim Green
This is one woman's memoir of survival and resilience, using skills passed on through generations of women. But it's also the story of how female strength manifests in times of war, hunger, and upheaval. (Yes, of course we put ourselves on this list!)
I Am Malala, by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb
The memoir of a courageous Afghan girl who spoke out against the Taliban about girls' right to an education. She survived a retaliatory assassination attempt and was later nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.
The Girl Who Smiled Beads, by Clemantine Wamariya and Elizabeth Weil
The story of a lost childhood: young Clemantine and her older sister Claire fled the Rwandan genocide, survived a series of hardships as refugees all over Africa, and faced new difficulties in their lives as immigrants in the United States.
Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People, by Imani Perry
In this collection of essays on the color blue and its prevalence in Black culture, images of women's strength and suffering emerge again and again, swathed in blue: Coretta Scott King's wedding dress. A vivid hue in Perry's grandmother's house, a place of refuge in the Jim Crow South. A Liberian folk tale about a mother who devours the sky. And the word "blue" itself, which came to embody sadness and a musical form born of Black endurance in America.
Whisky Tender, by Deborah Jackson Taffa
The searing memoir of a woman born to mixed-heritage Native parents raised on reservations, who left their families seeking assimilation and economic security. In researching her family history and the story of indigenous people's treatment in the Americas, Taffa tells a story of identity, hope, and survival.