Looking for some good books to read? Check out our reviews by EL editors and readers.
As a nod to International Women’s Day, we’re focusing our March recommendations on stories with strong female characters. More and more (yippee!), there seem to be new novels coming out with a strong central woman, joining old standbys such as Atlas Shrugged, Anna Karenina and Gone with the Wind. Here are a few of our new favourites.
EDUCATED: A Memoir | Tara Westover
This is the true story of self-invention about a girl born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, and who spent her childhood preparing for the end of the world, living off the land. Tara taught herself enough mathematics and grammar to be admitted to Brigham Young University, where she studied history, learning for the first time about important world events such as the Holocaust. Her drive to know more truly changed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge, to only then wonder if she could ever go home again.
WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING | Delia Owens
This beauty topped the New York Times for 27 weeks and sold more print copies in 2019 than any other adult title, fiction or non-fiction on Amazon.com. Wow. That’s saying something. Owens’ first book has many layers; it’s a coming-of-age story wrapped around a murder mystery set in the marshlands of North Carolina with a young, abandoned girl named Kya as the central character.
THE NIGHTINGALE | Kristin Hannah
An incredible tale set in Nazi-occupied France during World War II, The Nightingale follows two sisters who navigate the horrors of war the best they can. The dropline for the book says it all: “In love, we find out who we want to be. In war, we find out who we are.”
GIRL, STOP APOLOGIZING | Rachel Hollis
Subtitled “A shame-free plan for embracing and achieving your goals”, this Goodreads Choice Award Winner of 2019 is a powerful collection of writings aimed to help women navigate life in today’s world. Hollis preaches that women can change the world, but not until they stop living in fear of : judged for who they are.
DEAR GIRLS: INTIMATE TALES, UNTOLD SECRETS & ADVICE FOR LIVING YOUR BEST LIFE | Ali Wong
Another Goodreads Choice Award 2019 winner, this book from funny girl Ali Wong is written as a series of letters to her daughters, with insights that “bounce from funny to filthy to profound”.
For more great reading, head to our Living in Singapore section.
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