Why I’m Reading 52 Books by Women this Year and How You can Join Me
Even as women become increasingly prevalent in the publishing industry, their work remains invisible and unrecognized. In 2015, books authored by men made up 61 percent of traditionally published titles among Amazon’s 100 top books and outright dominated lists like 100 Novels Everyone Should Read and 100 Greatest Novels of All Time. It’s not that women aren’t writing great books, they’re just not being recognized for them. And for women of color, gender non-conforming folks, queer women, and women with disabilities getting their voices heard is even rarer. The lack of women getting recognized for their work means that women continue to be disadvantaged economically (most writers don’t earn their advance back let alone earn a living from their books) and the rest of us are missing out on perspectives that are absent from prevalent discourse. That’s why I’m committed to reading 52 books by women this year.
I’m lucky enough to have access to a lot of books from big and small presses, but not everyone shares that privilege. I encourage you to join me in reading more diverse books, but if you’re in a rural area or strapped for cash, accessing quality but under-recognized books might be a challenge. If that’s you, check out your local library’s interlibrary loan program- this will take some planning and research on your part, but if you talk to your librarian about the titles you’d like to read, there’s a good chance they can get them for you from another library in their network. You can also find more marginalized voices in zines that are put out by activist communities all over the country- often free of charge. Check out anarchist bookstores, college campuses, and queer centers for these community-published anthologies.
As an activist, I’ll be focusing on the American right, Christian fundamentalism, sexism and feminism, socioeconomic issues, and other types of religious extremism, but I also plan to add some fiction titles and books that cover other areas including environmental justice, queer rights, and world history. I encourage you to adapt your own list to fit your interests and tell me about it in the comments!
Every week I’ll update this page with a new title and link to a post about the previous week’s book.
Good Girls Revolt by Lynn Povich
The Witches by Stacy Schiff
