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Book recommendations for when you’re feeling self-assured, silly, sexy, scholarly, or serene.
Has your inner diva been lobbying for more airtime? Your fearless dial turned all the way up to ferocious? Or, maybe you have been riding a wave of calm—or very much want to be. Whatever your current inner state (or let’s be honest, states, because who really has one emotion at a time?), use this as a guide to find your next great read filled with characters who inspire, comfort, and defy.
Self-Assured
For when you want to take on the world or are in search of some inspiration to face it.
We Can Do Hard Things: Answers to Life’s 20 Questions
By Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach, and Amanda Doyle
Created as “guidebook for being alive,” the soon-to-be-released We Can Do Hard Things: Answers to Life’s 20 Questions comes from the popular We Can Do Hard Things podcasting trio and includes life wisdom from Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, Brandi Carlile, Cheryl Strayed, Sonya Renee Taylor, and Ina Garten among many others who affirm that we have, can, and continue to take on life’s challenges.
The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel
By Amy Hempel
Touching on everything from marriages and minor disasters to moments of revelation, Hempel’s short stories leap off the page. A masterclass in writing and storytelling, this collection is filled with a range of female characters and emotions that remain long after the moment you finally manage to put the book down.
By Louisa May Alcott
Jo March lives close to the hearts of generations of readers for good reason. It’s hard to think of a more self-assured—and beloved—female character in literature, making Little Women a book worth revisiting at all stages of life. Pair it with the reading of Pulitzer Prize-winning March by Geraldine Brooks, a work of historical fiction that imagines the story of Mr. March who is away at war for the majority of Little Women.
Silly
For when you want and need to laugh.
By Nora Ephron
The one and, sadly, only novel ever published by the late great Nora Ephron, Heartburn is filled with the When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle trademark brand of smart humor. And although Heartburn is more than 40 years old, the semi-autobiographical book still holds up, as does the food writer protagonist’s famous vinaigrette—one of several recipes sprinkled throughout the story.
By Maria Semple
Sharply smart and funny, Where’d You Go, Bernadette doesn’t disappoint, be it your first time on the journey to find the titular character who unexpectedly disappears from her life or if you’re dipping into Semple’s page-turner yet again for another chance to laugh and think.
Let’s Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir
By Jenny Lawson
Let’s Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir is Jenny Lawson’s (aka The Bloggess) hilarious and hilariously honest literary debut from 2012 that set in motion a string of funny follow-up books like Broken (in the best possible way) and Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things. Reach for any one of them, all New York Times best-sellers, when you need a smile and an escape.
Sexy
For when you crave something spicy.
By Ada Calhoun
Typically thought of as the romantic stomping grounds for schoolgirls and ingénues, a crush rarely takes center stage when it comes to the storyline for older women. Enter Ada Calhoun, author of Why We Can’t Sleep: Women’s New Midlife Crisis, and her much-anticipated debut novel, which follows what happens when the hot flash set enters this emotional turf of desire.
I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I’m Trapped in a Rom-Com
By Kimberly Lemming
The latest from “romantasy” writer Kimberly Lemming, I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I’m Trapped in a Rom-Com is filled with humor, steamy scenes, and, of course, aliens.
By Erica Jong
Unzip the novel that broke conventions and pushed boundaries—and made some clutch their pearls—when it first was published for its portrayal of female sexuality. Now in its fabulous fifties, the book has plenty of zest left to share.
Scholarly
For when you thirst for knowledge.
Jane Austen’s Bookshelf: A Rare Book Collector’s Quest to Find the Women Writers Who Shaped a Legend
By Rebecca Romney
Rebecca Romney takes to the page in Jane Austen’s Bookshelf to discover and highlight the overlooked women writers who inspired Austen and shaped her writing—and to celebrate literature and reading.
By Karen Valby
The story of the original Dance Theatre of Harlem ballerinas, Karen Valby’s The Swans of Harlem gracefully leapt to the top of many a notable book list when it first was published last year and is a story that shines light on an important slice of history, as well as female friendship.
By Julia Park Tracey
Julia Park Tracey’s journey to writing The Bereaved, a work of fiction, began by researching her grandfather’s adoption story and her ancestor’s experience of loss in connection to the Orphan Train. Set in 1859, the heartbreaking and beautiful novel introduces readers to the Orphan Train and its lesser-told dark side, as well as the power of hope.
Serene
For when you want to exhale.
Written and Illustrated by Amy Tan
After just a few minutes with The Backyard Bird Chronicles, it’s easy to see why this volume has been flying off shelves (pun very much intended) since it was released in the spring of 2024. Tan, the critically acclaimed and best-selling author of The Joy Luck Club among many others, fills The Backyard Bird Chronicles with the sketches, observations, and insights she created when she began a regular practice of birding in her own backyard. Charming, tender, and fun, The Backyard Bird Chronicles is a reminder to look outside, to be curious, and to wonder.
Wise Women: A Celebration of Their Insights, Courage, and Beauty
By Joyce Tenneson
Joyce Tenneson’s Wise Women is a gorgeous collection of portraits of accomplished and everything-but-stereotypically-frail women ages 65 to 100, along with their insights about aging and life. Done in sepia tones, the photographs have a timeless quality about them that’s at once soothing and inspiring and is a study on inner and outer beauty. Jane Goodall, Cicely Tyson, Odetta, Helen Gurley Brown, Gloria Steinem, Coretta Scott King, and Lily Tomlin are a few of the women who grace the pages of Wise Women.
By Mary Oliver
Time spent with Mary Oliver’s words is time well spent. A balm to the mind and a way to find or reaffirm your inner calm, read one at a time or take in the entire volume at once of this collection that is indeed as stunning as a blue iris.
No matter how you’re feeling—fierce, flirty, frazzled, or free—there’s a book that gets it. What’s your mood today?
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