Wishlist #1 - Celebrating Women

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International Women's Day has been celebrated worldwide since the early 1900's, and this past week on the 8th March, we once again came together to inspire and celebrate women's achievements, and to fight for equality in a male dominated world.

In the literacy world many female authors are having to hide their gender in order to make their books more marketable. J.K Rowling choose to use her initials, instead of printing Joanne, when releasing Harry Potter, and even changed gender when using a pseudonym, going by Robert Galbraith to release The Cuckoos Calling. 

In March 2013, shockingly, only 8.7% of books reviewed in the London Review of Books were by Female Authors. I feel its safe to say that the book industry, just like many others, is still very male dominated.

The Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction is awarded every year to celebrate excellence, originality, and accessibility in women's writing from throughout the world, and on the 9th of March this years long list of 20 female written books was announced. Click here to see which books have made the long list.

Inspired by International Women's Day and the announcement of the BWPFF 2015 long list, i've compiled a short wish list of books by only female authors. Now obviously i can't give a great description of what each of these books is about since i haven't yet read them, but I will try to give you an idea of the story.

To begin with i've chosen 2 books which have made the BWPFF long list, and that I have been longing to get my hands on for some time now.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
This book follows a band of actors and musicians travelling through territories that have survived a pandemic, which had a mortality rate of over 99%, performing concerts and shakespeare. 


Elizabeth Is Missing by Emma Healey
Maud is trying to solve the seventy one year old mystery about where her friend Elizabeth has gone. This story is told from a very unreliable narrator, as Maud is unable to remember almost anything, and everyone else seems to have forgotten about Elizabeths disappearance.


Moving on from the BWPFF long list (make sure you check it out), I have listed some more books in fiction written by female authors that have intrigued me.

All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
All The Bright Places follows Theo, a boy who is fascinated by death, and Violet, a girl who can't wait to leave town, as an unlikely bond forms. 
From what i've heard about this book, reading it will pull on your heart strings and take you through an emotional roller-coaster, so make sure to prepare yourselves before picking this books up.


I Was Here by Gale Forman
The newest book by Gale Foreman follows Cody Reynolds through her search for answers as to why her best friend killed herself and along the way begins a journey of self discovery.


Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
If you haven't yet heard of Red Queen I don't know where you have been. This book is the latest obsession of the online book world, and until I get my hands on it I will be jealously watching/reading every person wrap up and TBR featuring it.
In the world written by Victoria Aveyard, there are two classes of people - red blood, who are commoners, and silver blood, the elite with god like super powers. However one girl of red blood possess some her own deadly power and works with the red bloods to take down the silver elites.


The Art Of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson
This books tackles the issues of sexuality. David, who many think is gay, actually wants to be a girl. His secret is at risk following an unlikely friendship with Leo who wants to be invisible, but has the interest of the most attractive girl in school.
Ive never read a book like this before, so when I seen it in Waterstones I had to add it to my wish list.


The last book i am going to include in this wish list is a non fiction book written by one of my idols, and a very influential and important feminist in todays entertainment industry.

Yes Please by Amy Poehler
Yes Please features personal stories, wise advice, and funny titbits on sex and love told by Amy herself.


These are just a few of the female written books that have caught my eye, there are many many more that i am hoping to read and support.

Which female written books are you most excited to read? let me know in the comments.

Thanks for reading
Lisa
x

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