BookExpo: Females As Strong As Hell Edition
The yearly book convention Book Expo has come and gone, and we are left with that perennial question: WHAT new books about kickass ladies are coming out this year? Which females as strong as hell do we get to read about this year? Here’s your breakdown on upcoming non-fiction feminist books for the fall (and summer!):
American Eclipse: A Nation’s Epic Race to Catch the Shadow of the Moon and Win the Glory of the World by David Baron (June 6, 2017)
A rare total solar eclipse is about to occur. The year is 1878, and three scientists — Maria Mitchell, Thomas Edison, and James Craig Watson — are racing to the moon’s shadow in the American West to make what will hopefully be the greatest scientific discoveries of their time.
Surpassing Certainty: What My Twenties Taught Me by Janet Mock (June 13, 2017)
Feminist and trans rights advocate Janet Mock’s follow-up to her first memoir, Redefining Realness.
Jane Austen’s Transatlantic Sister: The Life and Letters of Fanny Palmer Austen by Sheila Johnson Kindred (Oct 1, 2017)
The story of Jane Austen’s sister-in-law Fanny Palmer and her influence on Austen’s fiction, particularly the female naval characters in her last completed novel, Persuasion.
The Hormone Myth: How Junk Science, Gender Politics, and Lies about PMS Keep Women Down by Robyn Stein DeLuca (Aug 1, 2017)
Tired of having your emotions blamed on your period? Learn why that’s a load of bunk.
A Brief History of Feminism by Patu and Antje Schrupp (Aug 18, 2017)
An illustrated history of feminism from Mary Magdalene to present day, this work takes you through not just the heavy hitters we all know, but lesser known figures and their contributions to getting us where we are today.
Girls Who Code: Learn to Code and Change the World by Reshma Saujani (Aug 22, 2017)
The founder of the site Girls Who Code’s illustrated coding guide. Girls Who Code is not only a manual for coding, but intersperses its lessons with empowering stories of women who made a difference.
Cra
sh Override: How Gamergate (Nearly) Destroyed My Life, and How We Can Win the Fight Against Online Hate by Zoë Quinn (Sept 5, 2017)
In 2014, an online post by Quinn’s ex-boyfriend sparked Gamergate, a controversy dealing with sexism & progressivism in video game culture, and almost ruined her life. In her memoir, she recounts her experience and journey beyond it with the creation of the online abuse resource Crash Override Network.
From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death by Caitlin Doughty (Oct 3, 2017)
Mortician Caitlin Doughty’s second book has her going all over the world to see how cultures from Indonesia to Bolivia care for their dead. Illustrated with Edward Gorey-esque drawings, From Here to Eternity is your go-to book on worldwide death rituals. Appropriately coming out in October.
Code Girls: The Untold Story of the Women Code Breakers of World War II by Liza Mundy (Oct 10, 2017)
The hidden army of World War II women cryptographers, sworn to secrecy for decades, is now being brought to light. More than 10,000 women were recruited from around the United States to use their wits to save lives and help end the war. This is their story.
Black Dahlia, Red Rose: The Crime, Corruption, and Cover-Up of America’s Greatest Unsolved Murder by Piu Eatwell (Oct 10, 2017)
One of the most notorious murders of the 20th century, the gruesome killing of Elizabeth Short, aka the Black Dahlia, has remained unsolved since 1947. After extensive research and new evidence coming to light, author Piu Eatwell offers a “definitive theory” via a cinematic retelling of the tragedy.
Oriana Fallaci: The Journalist, the Agitator, the Legend by Cristina de Stefano (Oct 17, 2017)
She has interviewed movie stars, directors, and international political figures. Oriana Fallaci, the Italian journalist who created the “La Fallaci” style of interviewing, is a polarizing figure whose life is as fascinating as her interviews.
Dorothy Brooke and the Fight to Save Cairo’s Lost War Horses by Grant Hayter-Menzies (Nov 1, 2017)
The story of Scottish aristocrat Dorothy Brooke’s fight to save the malnourished, suffering British war horses abandoned in Cairo.
The Extra Woman: How Marjorie Hillis Led a Generation of Women to Live Alone and Like It by Joanna Scutts (Nov 14, 2017)
Marjorie Hillis was Vogue’s assistant editor in the 1930s and author of books for single independent women like How to Live Alone and Like It, and Orchids on Your Budget: Live Smartly on What You Have. Hillis believed in “making your own choices, mixing your own cocktails, and learning to enjoy the company of men while not being afraid of losing it.”
And make sure you don’t miss the great books already out, like All Day: A Year of Love and Survival Teaching Incarcerated Kids at Rikers Island by Liza Jessie Peterson, published April of this year, and Kate Moore’s Radium Girls, as well as great women-centered non-fiction coming out all the way into 2018 like Ecco’s Visionary Women, which discusses women who made a difference like Rachel Carson, Jane Goodall, and Alice Waters.
