#BlogHer Book Club
and Amanda Lederman
join Our #blogher creators Community to contribute to our book club!
Whether you’re looking for a light read, business advice, or tactical learnings — suggestions from our staff and community will have you buried in books you simply can’t put down!
MARCH 2020 EDITION
Happy Women’s History Month, y’all!
Here at #BlogHer, we’re in the business of celebrating salient female voices — not just this month, but every month. We’ve put together another round of excellent reads you won’t want to put down. You’ll find a little bit of everything in the recommendations below — from fiction to non-fiction, laugh-out-loud funny to poignant and gritty, grow-your-business books and grow yourself books. Whatever you’re looking for, we’ve got you covered.
Like our picks? Want more or less or somewhere in between? We want to hear from you! Comment below and let us know what you think.
Books to Inspire You
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We simply can’t get enough of this badass #BlogHer speaker. Jen Gotch is a true heroine and inspiration for anyone struggling with mental illness. In her book, “The Upside of Being Down,” Jen shares the empowering story of her winding path to creator and CCO of a multimillion-dollar brand. She offers her readers the beautiful, hilarious, soulful story of embracing her flaws, coming to understand the influence of her mental illness on her creativity, and how those things in tandem led her to her greatest successes in business and in life.
“The Good Fight” by Jana Kramer and Mike Caussin
In The Good Fight, #BlogHer20 Parenting speaker Jana Kramer and husband Mike Caussin explore the raw and real moments of their marriage — what it means to love, to fight, and to forgive — in this emotionally powerful, honest, and heartfelt book that offers transparent storytelling, spiritual guidance, and practical advice for any couple.
With more couples cheating and more young people opting out of commitment altogether, The Good Fight is a much-needed exploration of one couple’s decision to honor their forever love by battling it out and staying together, told from both sides. With honesty, warmth, and humor, Jana and Mike reveal the painful yet important details of the most complicated fights of their past and offer tips and guidance for readers rooted in their rich experience. They show readers how they’ve prayed, communicated, forgiven, and radically embraced each other to live their happiest, most fulfilling lives possible, and offer lessons any couple can use to strengthen their own loving bond.
Available for pre-order now — and look out for their cover reveal, coming soon!
“This Will Only Hurt a Little” by Busy Phillips
There’s no stopping Busy Philipps. From the time she was two and “aced out in her nudes” to explore the neighborhood (as her mom famously described her toddler jailbreak), Busy has always been headstrong, defiant, and determined not to miss out on all the fun. These qualities led her to leave Scottsdale, Arizona, at the age of nineteen to pursue her passion for acting in Hollywood. But much like her painful and painfully funny teenage years, chasing her dreams wasn’t always easy and sometimes hurt more than a little. In this stunningly candid memoir, the recent #BlogHer20 Health speaker opens up about chafing against a sexist system rife with on-set bullying and body shaming, being there when friends face shattering loss, enduring devastating personal and professional betrayals from those she loved best, and struggling with postpartum anxiety and the challenges of motherhood.
Parenting Books You’ll Love
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”All Joy and No Fun” by Jennifer Senior
Filled with meticulous research and emotional intelligence, All Joy and No Fun creates a space for us to question some of our culture’s fundamental beliefs about parenthood while illuminating the many ways that children enrich our lives and add purpose to them. By focusing on parenthood rather than parenting, Jennifer Senior’s book is original and essential reading for mothers and fathers of today — and tomorrow.
“The Second Shift: Working Families and the Revolution at Home” by Arlie Hochschild and Anne Machung
More than twenty years ago, sociologist and University of California, Berkeley, professor Arlie Hochschild set off a tidal wave of conversation and controversy with his bestselling book, The Second Shift. In it, she examined what really happens in dual-career households. Adding together time in paid work, child care, and housework, she found that working mothers put in a month of work a year more than their spouses. Updated for a workforce now half female, this edition cites a range of new studies and statistics and includes a new afterword in which Hochschild assesses how much-and how little-has changed for women today.
”Like a Mother: A Feminist Journey Through The Science and Culture of Pregnancy” by Angela Garbes
In Like a Mother, Garbes offers a rigorously researched and compelling look at the physiology, biology, and psychology of pregnancy and motherhood, informed by in-depth reportage and personal experience. With the curiosity of a journalist, the perspective of a feminist, and the intimacy and urgency of a mother, she explores the emerging science behind the pressing questions women have about everything from miscarriage to complicated labors to postpartum changes. The result is a visceral, full-frontal look at what’s really happening during those nine life-altering months, and why women deserve access to better care, support, and information.
Books by Badass Femme Entrepreneurs
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In this book, Carrie Green shows you how. Carrie started her first online business at the age of 20 — she knows what it’s like to be an ambitious and creative woman with big dreams and huge determination… but she also knows the challenges of starting and running a business, including the fears, overwhelm, confusion, and blocks that entrepreneurs face. Based on her personal, tried-and-tested experience, she offers valuable guidance and powerful exercises.
A masterclass and look book in one, The Home Edit is filled with bright photographs and detailed tips, from placing plastic dishware in a drawer where little hands can reach to categorizing pantry items by color (there’s nothing like a little ROYGBIV to soothe the soul). Above all, it’s like having your best friends at your side to help you turn the chaos into calm. Definitely check out this read from #BlogHer20 Parenting speaker Clea Shearer!
66 individual, powerful, successful women share their stories, tips, and word of wisdom for any lady out there ready to harness her full potential and build the business, brand, or organization of their dreams.
Fiction Reads with Female Leads
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The spellbinding new novel from one of our most fearless chroniclers of the female experience, Bunny is a down-the-rabbit-hole tale of loneliness and belonging, friendship and desire, and the fantastic and terrible power of the imagination. Named a Best Book of 2019 by TIME, Vogue, Electric Literature, and The New York Public Library.
”The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls” by Anissa Gray
The Butler family has had their share of trials — as sisters Althea, Viola, and Lillian can attest — but nothing prepared them for the literal trial that will upend their lives. Althea, the eldest sister and substitute matriarch, is a force to be reckoned with and her younger sisters have alternately appreciated and chafed at her strong will. They are as stunned as the rest of the small community when she and her husband, Proctor, are arrested, and in a heartbeat the family goes from one of the most respected in town to utter disgrace. The worst part is, not even her sisters are sure exactly what happened. One of Vogue’s most anticipated reads of the year, this is a book you don’t want to miss.
“Normal People” by Sally Rooney
Connell and Marianne grew up in the same small town, but the similarities end there. At school, Connell is popular and well liked, while Marianne is a loner. But when the two strike up a conversation — awkward but electrifying — something life changing begins. Normal People is the story of mutual fascination, friendship and love. It takes us from that first conversation to the years beyond, in the company of two people who try to stay apart but find that they can’t.
FEBRUARY 2020 EDITION
This month, we’re focusing on books that boost self-love, self-care, and most importantly, are written by black authors!
must-read memoirs
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More Than Enough by Elaine Welteroth
Part-manifesto, part-memoir, from the revolutionary editor who infused social consciousness into the pages of Teen Vogue, an exploration of what it means to come into your own—on your own terms. Elaine Welteroth has climbed the ranks of media and fashion, shattering ceilings along the way. In this riveting and timely memoir, the groundbreaking journalist unpacks lessons on race, identity, and success through her own journey, from navigating her way as the unstoppable child of an unlikely interracial marriage in small-town California to finding herself on the frontlines of a modern movement for the next generation of change makers.
Ordinary Light by Tracy K. Smith
In Ordinary Light, Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Tracy K. Smith tells her remarkable story, giving us a quietly potent memoir that explores her coming-of-age and the meaning of home against a complex backdrop of race, faith, and the unbreakable bond between a mother and daughter. Here is the story of a young artist struggling to fashion her own understanding of belief, loss, history, and what it means to be black in America.
Black Is The Body: Stories From My Grandmother’s Time, My Mother’s Time, and Mine by Emily Bernard
In these twelve deeply personal, connected essays, Bernard details the experience of growing up black in the south with a family name inherited from a white man, surviving a random stabbing at a New Haven coffee shop, marrying a white man from the North and bringing him home to her family, adopting two children from Ethiopia, and living and teaching in a primarily white New England college town. Each of these essays sets out to discover a new way of talking about race and of telling the truth as the author has lived it.
Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina by Misty Copeland
With an insider’s passion, Misty opens a window into the life of an artist who lives life center stage, from behind the scenes at her first classes to her triumphant roles in some of the world’s most iconic ballets. A sensational memoir as “sensitive” and “clear-eyed” (The Washington Post) as her dancing, Life in Motion is a story of passion, identity and grace for anyone who has dared to dream of a different life.
fiction reads with female leads
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What We Lose by Zinzi Clemmons
Raised in Pennsylvania, Thandi views the world of her mother’s childhood in Johannesburg as both impossibly distant and ever present. She is an outsider wherever she goes, caught between being black and white, American and not. She tries to connect these dislocated pieces of her life, and as her mother succumbs to cancer, Thandi searches for an anchor—someone, or something, to love.
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
This bestselling novel comes from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – award-winning author of We Should All Be Feminists and Dear Ijeawele. The beautiful, poignant story of two Nigerians making their way in the U.S. and the UK, raising universal questions of race and belonging, the overseas experience for the African diaspora, and the search for identity and a home.
A renowned surgeon and failed husband, Kweku Sai dies suddenly at dawn outside his home in suburban Accra. The news of his death sends a ripple around the world, bringing together the family he abandoned years before. Moving with great elegance through time and place, Ghana Must Go charts their circuitous journey to one another and, along the way, teaches us that the truths we speak can heal the wounds we hide.
A striking and surprising debut novel from an exhilarating new voice, Such a Fun Age is a page-turning and big-hearted story about race and privilege, set around a young black babysitter, her well-intentioned employer, and a surprising connection that threatens to undo them both.
books teeming with realness
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Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay
With the bracing candor, vulnerability, and power that have made her one of the most admired writers of her generation, Roxane explores what it means to learn to take care of yourself: how to feed your hungers for delicious and satisfying food, a smaller and safer body, and a body that can love and be loved—in a time when the bigger you are, the smaller your world becomes.
The Path Made Clear: Discovering Your Life’s Direction and Purpose by Oprah Winfrey
In The Path Made Clear, Oprah shares what she sees as a guide for activating your deepest vision of yourself, offering the framework for creating not just a life of success, but one of significance. The book’s ten chapters are organized to help you recognize the important milestones along the road to self-discovery, laying out what you really need in order to achieve personal contentment, and what life’s detours are there to teach us.
Gathering in one place for the first time previously unpublished work, as well as already classic essays, such as, “Joy,” and, “Find Your Beach,” Feel Free offers a survey of important recent events in culture and politics, as well as Smith’s own life. Equally at home in the world of good books and bad politics, Brooklyn-born rappers and the work of Swiss novelists, she is by turns wry, heartfelt, indignant, and incisive–and never any less than perfect company. This is literary journalism at its zenith.
and last but not least… podcasts?
I know, I know – podcasts are NOT books. But there are so many amazing ‘casts out there by women with #BlackGirlMagic, we’d be remiss if we didn’t include them in this month’s haul. Check ‘em out!
Looking for more podcasts? Read our piece on The Best Podcasts for Influencers, Entrepreneurs, and Bloggers.
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The Glow-Up Podcast with Lené Hypolite
Stories of the grind before the shine, and how you can glow up in your business or career. Host Lené Hypolite is on a journey to find out what it takes by interviewing boss women and men who are successful in their own right. The Glow Up Podcast highlights the part that you won’t see on social media. Guests will share the roadblocks, challenges, and struggles that they went through to get where they are today.
Gettin’ Grown with Jade and Keia
Keia and Jade are two happy and hard working (Blackity) Black Women who are just trying to learn how to adult, for real. They put out episodes once a week with segments like “Kitchen Table Talk”, “Petty Peeves” and “Lessons in Black Women Self Care”. Sweet and oh-so-good to one another, tune in as this dynamic duo navigates life as 30-somethings.
Black Girl Podcast with Gia Peppers, Scottie Beam, Alysha P., Saphira Martin And Bex Francois
After these five media phenoms met and became friends at hip hop’s most iconic station, Hot 97, they decided to make their hilarious conversations about life issues, sisterhood, pop culture, love, growth, and the pursuit of their dreams to the public. Listen every week as their differing opinions and life experiences lead them to understand themselves, and the world around them, a little bit better. Hopefully, you’ll laugh, argue, and learn something about yourselves, too.
Side Hustle Pro with Nicaila Matthews Okome
Side Hustle Pro is the first and only podcast to spotlight bold, black women entrepreneurs who have scaled from side hustle to profitable business. Since launch, It’s has been named “the perfect entrepreneurship podcast” by Mashable, featured on the TODAY show, earned over three million downloads, and amassed a loyal social media following of aspiring entrepreneurs.
Have a book (or podcast) suggestion? We wanna hear it! Drop the title and author in our comments, and it may appear in next month’s edition of the #BlogHer Book Club! Our community shares great ideas (books and otherwise) every day, so be sure to join BlogHer Creators as well!
december 2019 edition
Hey #BlogHer Community!
It’s our last book club of the year! We’ve selected a collection of delicious, motivating, and inspiring reads to help you end 2019 with a bang. The best part? They’re all written by women, for women. Whether for business or pleasure, these books have been cherry-picked with our smart, savvy, entrepreneurial, content-creating, totally amazing community of winning women in mind! We hope you enjoy them as much as we do.
inspirational books by (and for) entrepreneurs
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Becoming Super Woman: A Simple 12-Step Plan to Go from Burnout to Balance
Recommended by: Literally everyone at #BlogHer.
In her third book, Nicole Lapin (#BlogHer19 Biz Speaker!) lays out an actionable, 12-step plan to guide you in taking control and becoming the she-ro of your own story, with the skills it takes to be a real super woman—skills we should (but often don’t) learn growing up, from emotional regulation and boundary setting to interpersonal effectiveness and self-care. Reading this book is like getting a pep talk from your whip-smart, no-nonsense best friend (who also happens to be a mega-successful businesswoman).
Also – check out Nicole’s article on learning to overcoming stress at work.
Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand in The Sun And Be Your Own Person by Shonda Rhimes
This poignant, intimate, and hilarious memoir explores Shonda’s life before her “Year of Yes”—from her nerdy, book-loving childhood to her devotion to creating television characters who reflected the world she saw around her. The book chronicles her life after her “Year of Yes” had begun—when Shonda forced herself out of the house and onto the stage; when she learned to explore, empower, applaud, and love her truest self. As fun to read as Shonda’s TV is to watch.
In Mistakes I Made at Work, a Publishers Weekly Top 10 Business Book for Spring 2014, Jessica Bacal interviews twenty-five successful women about their toughest on-the-job moments. These innovators across a variety of fields – from the arts to finance to tech – reveal that they’re more thoughtful, purposeful and assertive as leaders because they learned from their mistakes, not because they never made any. Mistakes I Made at Work is ideal for millennials just starting their careers, for women seeking to advance at work, or for anyone grappling with issues of perfectionism.
In What I Told My Daughter, a powerful, diverse group of women reflect on the best advice and counsel they have given their daughters either by example, throughout their lives, or in character-building, teachable moments between parent and child. Empower yourself and the latest generation of girls with this collection of inspiring reflections from notable, highly accomplished women in politics, academia, athletics, the arts, and business, including Madeleine Albright, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and more.
books for a Healthy 2020
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Hallelujah Anyway by Anne Lamot
In Hallelujah Anyway: Rediscovering Mercy Lamott ventures to explore where to find meaning in life. We should begin, she suggests, by “facing a great big mess, especially the great big mess of ourselves.” It’s up to each of us to recognize the presence and importance of mercy everywhere—”within us and outside us, all around us”—and to use it to forge a deeper understanding of ourselves and more honest connections with each other. While that can be difficult to do, Lamott argues that it’s crucial, as “kindness towards others, beginning with myself, buys us a shot at a warm and generous heart, the greatest prize of all.”
The Vagina Bible: The Vulva and the Vagina: Separating the Myth from the Medicine by Jennifer Gunter
So many important questions, so much convincing, confusing, contradictory misinformation! In this age of click bait, pseudoscience, and celebrity-endorsed products, it’s easy to be overwhelmed—whether it’s websites, advice from well-meaning friends, uneducated partners, and even healthcare providers. So how do you separate facts from fiction? OB-GYN Jen Gunter, an expert on women’s health—and the internet’s most popular go-to doc—comes to the rescue with a book that debunks the myths and educates and empowers women.
The Vagina Bible: The Vulva and the Vagina: Separating the Myth from the Medicine by Jennifer Gunter
So many important questions, so much convincing, confusing, contradictory misinformation! In this age of click bait, pseudoscience, and celebrity-endorsed products, it’s easy to be overwhelmed—whether it’s websites, advice from well-meaning friends, uneducated partners, and even healthcare providers. So how do you separate facts from fiction? OB-GYN Jen Gunter, an expert on women’s health—and the internet’s most popular go-to doc—comes to the rescue with a book that debunks the myths and educates and empowers women.
new year, new recipes to try!
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The Defined Dish Cookbook by Alex Snodgrass from the SHE Media Partner Network
After two years, the Defined Dish Cookbook is finally here! The Whole30 endorsed, paleo-friendly book of recipes features dishes suitable for all dietary restrictions, and is accessible to all culinary skill-levels. And the best part? They’re all weeknight meals. Never stress about pulling together a quick and delicious meal again! Recipes like Chipotle Chicken Tostadas with Pineapple Salsa or my Black Pepper Chicken stir-fry are easy to prepare even after a busy day at work.
Interested in joining the SHE Media Partner Network just like Alex? Click here!
Ruffage: A Practical Guide to Vegetables by Abra Berens
Author Abra Berens—chef, farmer, Midwesterner—shares a collection of techniques that result in new flavors, textures, and ways to enjoy all the vegetables you want to eat. From confit to caramelized and everything in between—braised, blistered, roasted and raw—the cooking methods covered here make this cookbook a go-to reference. You will never look at vegetables the same way again.
Nothing Fancy: Unfussy Food for Having People Over by Alison Roman
For Alison Roman, it’s not “entertaining” – it’s “having people over.” The social media star, New York Times columnist, and author of Dining In helps you nail dinner with unfussy food, unstuffy vibes, and the permission to be imperfect. Both a New York Times Bestseller and named a “Best Cookbook of the Year” by NPR, this book meets chefs of all skill-levels exactly where they are!
FROM AUTHORS JOINING US AT #BLOGHER20 HEALTH
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The AstroTwins 2020 Horoscope by Ophira & Tali Edut
The stars have really aligned for us since the AstroTwins joined our SHE Media Partner Network.
Launch into a new decade with a powerful, complete roadmap–and starmap–for every zodiac sign! The most comprehensive yearly horoscopes book available, written by world-famous astrologers The AstroTwins, known for their accurate readings, whose horoscopes are seen in Elle Magazine, Elle.com and MindbodyGreen.com. From love to career to wellness, plan and prepare for 2020 and never miss an important moment or opportunity. Navigate the must-know astrology trends with confidence, including new and full moons, eclipses and planetary retrogrades. Each chapter features a handy monthly “hotspots” calendar to help guide your way through all aspects of your life.
Energy Medicine: The Science and Mystery of Healing by Jill Blakeway, DACM, LAC
In Energy Medicine, Jill invites us on her global journey to better understand, apply, and explain this powerful healing force. Moving from her own clinic to the halls of academia, she talks to top healers, researchers, and practitioners. Lively, entertaining, and informative, told in Jill’s funny, relatable, and wholly grounded voice, Energy Medicine bridges the gap between science and spirituality and offers a persuasive, evidence-based case that advances this ancient healing practice. Lucky for us, Jill will be joining us at #BlogHer20 Health to impart some energetic wisdom – you don’t wanna miss it!
A Woman Makes a Plan: Advice for a Lifetime of Adventure, Beauty, and Success by Maye Musk
In A Woman Makes a Plan, Maye shares experiences from her life conveying hard-earned wisdom on career (the harder you work, the luckier you get), family (let the people you love go their own way), health (there is no magic pill), and adventure (make room for discovery, but always be ready for anything). You can’t control all that happens in life, but you can have the life you want at any age. All you have to do is make a plan.
Maye will also be joining us at #BlogHer20 Health – and we couldn’t be more excited!! Click here to see a list of our other amazing speakers.
Have a book suggestion? We wanna hear it! Drop the book title and author in our comments, and it may appear in our next #BlogHer Book Club Edition! Our community shares great ideas (books and otherwise) every day, so be sure to join BlogHer Creators as well!
NOVEMBER 2019 EDITIOn
Are you in need of some holiday gift ideas for the content-creating, badass women in your life? Or are you just in need of good read yourself? Whatever your literary needs, you’ve come to the right place. Our BlogHer Book Club is back, and just in time for the holidays! Our office (with the help of our elves in our Facebook group, BlogHer Creators) have made you a list of the season’s hottest reads – one you won’t mind checking twice.
inspiring reads for self-improvement
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Super Attractor: Methods for Manifesting a Life Beyond Your Wildest Dreams by Gabrielle Bernstein
Recommended by: Jennifer Denton (Senior Vice President, Programming at SHE Media)
In her latest New York Times Best Seller, Super Attractor, Gabrielle Bernstein lays out the essential steps for living in alignment with the Universe–more fully than you’ve ever done before. This book is a journey of remembering where your true power lies. You’ll learn how to co-create the life you want. You’ll accept that life can flow, that attracting is fun, and that you don’t have to work so hard to get what you want.
In the Company of Women: Inspiration and Advice From Over 100 Makers, Artists, and Entrepreneurs
Recommended by: Elizabeth Kate (BlogHer Creators Community member)
Over 100 exceptional and influential women describe how they embraced their creative spirit, overcame adversity, and sparked a global movement of entrepreneurship. Media titans and ceramicists, hoteliers and tattoo artists, comedians and architects—taken together, these profiles paint a beautiful picture of what happens when we pursue our passions and dreams.
Everything Is Figureoutable by Marie Forleo
Recommended by: Jennifer Denton, SVP Live Media Operations
Another AMAZING #BlogHer former panelist, Marie Forleo’s new book gives her readers the confidence to figure things out. While most self-help books offer quick fixes, Everything is Figureoutable will retrain your brain to think more creatively and positively in the face of setbacks. In the words of Cheryl Strayed, it’s “a must-read for anyone who wants to face their fears, fulfill their dreams, and find a better way forward.” Whether you want to leave a dead end job, break an addiction, learn to dance, heal a relationship, or grow a business, Everything is Figureoutable will show you how.
How to Skimm Your Life by The Skimm Girls (Danielle Weisberg and Carly Zakin)
Recommended by: Literally everyone at BlogHer!
Recent #BlogHer19 Creators Summit panelists Danielle Weisberg and Carly Zakin have arrived with their debut book. With all the elements of theSkimm’s trademark mix of real talk, humor, and inspirational messaging, this book gives you the information you need to make informed and empowered decisions in your life. Covering everything from personal finance, to career, to stress management, global politics, and more, How to Skimm Your Life breaks down some of the less glamorous parts of adulting and answers questions that at this point, you might be too afraid to ask… it’s a judgement-free how-to for the modern woman.
READS FOR GROWING YOUR BIZ LIKE A BOSS
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Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez
Recommended by: Sophia Pelosi (Associate Manager of Live Media Operations, SHE Media)
Data is fundamental to the modern world. From economic development, to healthcare, to education and public policy, we rely on numbers to allocate resources and make crucial decisions. But because so much data fails to take into account gender, because it treats men as the default and women as atypical, bias and discrimination are baked into our systems. And women pay tremendous costs for this bias, in time, money, and often with their lives. This is a groundbreaking, unforgettable exposé that will change the way you look at the world.
Recommended by: Sophia Pelosi (Associate Manager of Live Media Operations, SHE Media)
In Stories That Stick, Kindra Hall, professional storyteller and nationally-known speaker, reveals and breaks down four unique types of stories you can use to differentiate and elevate your business to investors and customers alike: the Value Story, the Founder Story, the Purpose Story, and the Customer Story. Hall presents storytelling as the underutilized talent that separates the good from the best in business. She offers specific, actionable steps readers can take to find, craft, and leverage the stories they already have and simply aren’t telling.
Recommended by: Sophia Pelosi (Associate Manager, Live Media Operations at SHE Media)
In her newest book, Girl On Fire, Carla Alwill Leyba, (author of best-seller Girl Code) focuses on teaching women to blaze their own trails and reminds us of what we all so easily forget – you don’t need permission from anyone to live fearlessly and start living your dream. Leyba empowers her readers to trust their intuition, stop waiting for their big break, and to create their own opportunities – learn to publish your own books, start your own podcasts, and get after what you want.
Find Your Artistic Voice: The Essential Guide to Working Your Creative Magic by Lisa Congdon
Recommended by: Sophia Pelosi (Associate Manager, Live Media Operations at SHE Media)
This one-of-a-kind book helps artists navigate the influence of creators they admire, while honing and remaining true to their own distinct creative voice. Filled with interviews from some of the best creators and advice about how to fully develop your own creative style, this is a book that both creative and business minds can learn something from. An artist’s voice is what sets them apart, what distinguishes them from the masses – in this book, Congdon hands her readers the megaphone.
PLEASURE READS WITH FEMALE LEADS
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Where the Crawdads Sing: A Novel by Delia Owens
Recommended by: Jordan Emily (BlogHer Creators Network Member) and Sophia Pelosi (Associate Manager, Live Media Operations, SHE Media
You will not be able to put this book down. For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, Kya has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. A remarkable story of self-reliance and female resilience, Where the Crawdads Sing marks the blossoming of a young, lonely girl into a learned, self-sufficient woman – it’s a survival story for everyone.
Evie Drake Starts Over: A Novel by Linda Holmes
A New York Times Best Seller, Recommended by: Amandalyn Jones (Director, SHEMedia Live Media and Partnerships)
When former Major League pitcher Dean Tenney moves into the apartment behind the recently widowed Evie Drake’s home, the two form an unlikely friendship – one that quickly turns into something more. A joyful, hilarious, and hope-filled debut, Evvie Drake Starts Over will have you cheering for the two most unlikely comebacks of the year – and will leave you wanting more from Linda Holmes.
Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover
Recommended by: Sophia Pelosi, (Live Media Operations Associate Manager, SHE Media)
Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when one of Tara’s older brothers became violent. Tara decided to try a new kind of life. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University. Only then would she wonder if she’d traveled too far, if there was still a way home.
Little Fires Everywhere: A Novel by Celeste Ng
Named a Best Book of the Year by: People, The Washington Post, Bustle, Esquire, Southern Living, The Daily Beast, GQ, Entertainment Weekly, NPR, and many more!
A soon-to-be Hulu original series (starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington), Little Fires Everywhere follows a disruption of the lives of a suffocatingly normal suburban family when a mysterious single mother moves in next door, and a custody battle across town divides suburbia like never before. The book explores the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, and the ferocious pull of motherhood – and the danger of believing that following the rules can avert disaster.
Book club JULY 2019 EDITION
Welcome to the BlogHer Book Club! Looking to cool down this summer with a hot read? Our office is buzzing with the best books to put in your beach bag! We also ask our Facebook community group, BlogHer Creators, for their must-read recommendations.
From thrillers, to non-fiction, to bettering yourself and your business, and beyond, we hope you find a story you can’t put down! Whether for business or pleasure, we strive to recommend reads that will inspire and educate content creators, entrepreneurs, and winning women everywhere! – Amanda
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The Farm: A Novel by Joanne Ramos
Recommended by: Samantha Skey (CEO of SHE Media), Laura Valencia (Video Producer at SHE Media), and Jennifer Gaonach (Senior Vice President of Marketing at SHE Media)
Gripping, provocative, heartbreaking, The Farm pushes to the extremes our thinking on motherhood, money, and merit and raises crucial questions about the trade-offs women will make to fortify their futures and the futures of those they love.
Influencer: Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media by Brittany Hennessy
Recommended by: Amanda Lederman (#BlogHer Community Manager) and Nikita Sawlani (Member of The BlogHer Creators Network)
Whether you’re just starting out or you’re ready for bigger campaigns, Hennessy guides you through core influencer principles. From creating content worth double tapping and using hashtags to get discovered, to understanding FTC rules and delivering metrics, she’ll show you how to elevate your profile, embrace your edge, and make money—all while doing what you love.
Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek
Recommended by: Chloé Pauline Kaston (Member of The BlogHer Creators Network)
Sinek starts with a fundamental question: Why are some people and organizations more innovative, more influential, and more profitable than others? Why do some command greater loyalty from customers and employees alike? Even among the successful, why are so few able to repeat their success over and over?
START WITH WHY shows that the leaders who’ve had the greatest influence in the world all think, act, and communicate the same way — and it’s the opposite of what everyone else does. Sinek calls this powerful idea The Golden Circle, and it provides a framework upon which organizations can be built, movements can be led, and people can be inspired. And it all starts with WHY.
Recommended by: Jordan Boswell (Programming Manager, Live Media & Partnerships at SHE Media)
YES SHE CAN is an intimate look at Obama’s presidency through the eyes of some of the most successful, and completely relatable, young women who were there. Full of wisdom they wish they could impart to their younger selves and a message about the need for more girls in government, these recollections are about stepping out into the spotlight and up to the challenge-something every girl can do.
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Tell Me More: Stories About the 12 Hardest Things I’m Learning to Say by Kelly Corrigan
Recommended by: Jen Denton (Senior Vice President, Programming at SHE Media)
With the streetwise, ever-relatable voice that defines Corrigan’s work, Tell Me More is a moving and meaningful take on the power of the right words at the right moment to change everything.
Recommended by: Gianne Doherty (Member of The BlogHer Creators Network)
With dozens of case studies, practical, step-by-step advice, and his signature sense of humor, Michalowicz has the game-changing roadmap for any entrepreneur to make money they always dreamed of.
Recommended by: Amanda Lederman (#BlogHer Community Manager), Nikita Sawlani and Angel White (Members of The BlogHer Creators Network)
In this refreshingly entertaining how-to guide, bestselling author and world-traveling success coach, Jen Sincero, serves up 27 bitesized chapters full of hilariously inspiring stories, sage advice, easy exercises, and the occasional swear word, helping you to: Identify and change the self-sabotaging beliefs and behaviors that stop you from getting what you want, Create a life you totally love. And create it NOW, Make some damn money already. The kind you’ve never made before.
By the end of You Are a Badass, you’ll understand why you are how you are, how to love what you can’t change, how to change what you don’t love, and how to use The Force to kick some serious ass.
The Rocks: A Novel by Peter Nichols
Recommended by: Kate Moskowitz (Manager, Live Media and Event Partnerships at SHE Media)
Set against dramatic Mediterranean Sea views and lush olive groves, The Rocks opens with a confrontation and a secret: What was the mysterious, catastrophic event that drove two honeymooners apart so suddenly and absolutely in 1948 that they never spoke again despite living on the same island for sixty more years? And how did their history shape the Romeo and Juliet–like romance of their (unrelated) children decades later? Centered around a popular seaside resort club and its community, The Rocks is a double love story that begins with a mystery, then moves backward in time, era by era, to unravel what really happened decades earlier.
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Recommended by: Amanda Lederman (#BlogHer Community Manager), Reshma Gopaldas (Vice President of Video at SHE Media), Sheila Patel (Art Director at SHE Media), and Nikita Sawlani (Member of The BlogHer Creators Network)
In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her—from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it—in her own words and on her own terms. Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations—and whose story inspires us to do the same.
The Seasonaires Series (The Seasonaires and Malibu Bluff) by Janna King
Recommended by: Amandalyn Jones (Director, Live Media & Partnerships at SHE Media)
For a twenty-something, there is no summer job better than being a seasonaire. No responsibilities, college is barely a thought, and you’re surrounded by glamorous, beautiful people. Intoxicating and seemingly carefree, what could possibly go wrong? The Seasonaires is a fresh and stylish debut that perfectly captures today’s zeitgeist, promising to thrill until the very last page.
With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo
Recommended by: Nicole Howard (Member of The BlogHer Creators Network)
Ever since she got pregnant freshman year, Emoni Santiago’s life has been about making the tough decisions—doing what has to be done for her daughter and her abuela. The one place she can let all that go is in the kitchen, where she adds a little something magical to everything she cooks, turning her food into straight-up goodness.
Even though she dreams of working as a chef after she graduates, Emoni knows that it’s not worth her time to pursue the impossible. Yet despite the rules she thinks she has to play by, once Emoni starts cooking, her only choice is to let her talent break free.
Have a book suggestion? Drop the book title and author in our comments! It may appear in our next BlogHer Book Club Edition! Our community shares great ideas posted daily, so join BlogHer Creators as well!