Book It: 13 Best Books By Women You Will Love To Read and Give This Year
Consider any, many or all of these 13 great books to read before the year ends, to give yourself or close friends as gifts this holiday.
Treat yourself before the holidays or treat a close friend as a gift for the holidays with one or many of these new books from authors you have grown to revere and perhaps a few whose work is new to you.
Before the year ends, you will want to dive into this curated collection of the latest fiction, nonfiction, business, leadership books that offer lessons in life, work and more. This sterling, diverse selection of essays, novels, memoirs, biographies and instructional guides span a range of interests and deliver the immense talents of writers we already know and those we want to know better.
“You will want to dive into this dazzling collection of #fiction, #nonfiction #books for lessons in life, work, #leadership: #GreatReads @dawnturnertrice @TShawnTaylor @tamronhall @ammichaud @lisanapoli @TinaMcElroyAnsa @MGMEditor @mindaharts @denisethriving @itskryss @jessnordell @megwclayotn @IamTabithaBrown”
And if you are someone who would prefer to curl up with a good book on a weekend, you are not alone. According to Business Insider, “a recent national survey revealed intriguing insights into the reading and dating patterns of Americans and the fascinating similarities between them. More than 60% of women would rather spend a Friday night with a new book than on a date.”
The popularity of books for women is the impetus behind Melinda French Gates starting a “ new nonfiction book imprint dedicated to publishing titles that advance equity for women and girls,” reports BizWomen. It will be called Moment of Lift Books, named after her January 2021 book, The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World.
For now, Take The Lead recommends this delicious lucky 13 books, delivered alphabetically because we could not play favorites
Tina McElroy Ansa, co-editor, Meeting At The Table African American Women Write on Race, Culture & Community. This collection of essays is by “a diverse group of women whose stories will inform, enlighten and educate readers who have some knowledge about race and culture and other readers who are looking for well-written and instructive ways to engage in the path toward social justice.” Contributors include Atlanta Mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms; hip-hop scholar, Regina Bradley; established businesswoman, Sheila Brooks; executive producer and deejay, Nicole Childers; media executive, Tatia Adams Fox; activist and journalist, Karen Hawkins; AME Church Bishop, Vashti Murphy McKenzie; writer and editor, Jasmin Pittman Morell; novelist, Dolen Perkins-Valdez; scholar, Imani Perry; CEO, Khadijah Robinson; actress, Anika Noni Rose; law professor, Njeri Rutledge; and activist and mother of a rap legend, Peachie Wimbush-Polk.
Ansa is a former journalist and author of five award-winning novels, including Baby of the Family, The Hand I Fan With, Ugly Ways and You Know Better. Founder of the Sea Island Writers Retreats, Ansa is also founder and publisher of DownSouth Press, which published her fifth novel, Taking After Mudear. Ansa and her co-editor, Wanda Lloyd are also co-hosts/co-executive producers of the podcast "2 Old Chicks Who Know a Lot of Sh*t" on Spotify.
Tabitha Brown, Feeding the Soul: Finding Our Way to Joy, Love and Freedom. Who doesn’t need a way to find joy, particularly after the past two years of cultural and economic chaos? And who, better than the effusive and charismatic author, social media influencer and actress, Tabitha Brown, to show us the way? According to MSN Insider, “Brown has been a working actress since the early 2000s, but she became well known in 2017 after posting a viral video of herself reviewing Whole Foods TTLA (tempeh bacon, tomato, lettuce, and avocado) sandwich. She was subsequently hired as a brand ambassador for the company because her sheer enjoyment of the sandwich inspired others to post videos of themselves trying it out.” Her book is a guide to wellness through food, faith, family, actions and lifestyle choices. She tells stories about her career and offers advice as well as recipes.
““Feeding the Soul: Finding Our Way to Joy,” Love and Freedom by @IamTabithaBrown is a guide to #wellness through food, faith, family, actions and #lifestyle choices. She tells stories about her career and offers advice as well as #recipes. #BestBooks”
Meg Waite Clayton, author, The Postmistress of Paris. Clayton is a New York Times and USA Today bestseller and book club favorite as the author of eight novels. This new book has been named a Publisher’s Weekly notable book for Fall/Winter 2021. Clayton writes, “The Postmistress of Paris, like most of my novels, is inspired by the acts of real women who have paved the way for us—in this case a Chicago heiress who helped rescue writers and artist from France during WWII—and who doesn't need inspiration?”
“@MegWClayton, author, “The Postmistress of Paris.” Clayton is a @Nytimes and @USATODAY bestseller and book club favorite as the author of eight novels. This new book has been named a Publisher’s Weekly notable book for Fall/Winter 2021. #Bookrec”
Her earlier novel, the Jewish Book Award finalist The Last Train to London, is a national and international bestseller, and is published or forthcoming in 20 languages. Her screenplay for the novel was chosen for the prestigious Meryl Streep-and Nicole Kidman-sponsored The Writers Lab. Meg’s prior novels include the #1 Amazon fiction bestseller Beautiful Exiles; the Langum Prize honored The Race for Paris; The Wednesday Sisters, named one of Entertainment Weekly’s 25 Essential Best Friend Novels of all time; and The Language of Light, a finalist for the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction. She has written more than 100 shorter pieces for the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Runner’s World and public radio. She is a mentor for The OpEd Project and is a member of the National Book Critics Circle and the California bar.
Denise Padin Collazo, author, Thriving in the Fight: A Survival Manual for Latinas on the Front Lines Of Change. Her new book recently won two Gold medal awards and one Silver medal award at the International Latino Book Awards. Thriving in the Fight was praised as 'required' reading by the ILBA judges. Collazo writes, “What a true honor and such an exciting moment, not just for myself, but for Latinas and Women of Color fighting for social justice everywhere.” Senior advisor for external affairs and director of institutional advancement at Faith In Action, (formerly PICO National Network), the nation’s largest faith-based, progressive organizing network, Collazo is an inspiring leadership expert and social justice advocate with the mission to encourage women of color to lead with vision and to thrive.
In the foreword, Dr. Stacy Blake-Beard, Visiting Professor, Tuck School of Business Dartmouth College, writes, “Thriving in the Fight speaks directly to and about the experiences and lives of Latinas. Our sisters have been ignored; more than that, they have been made invisible in the larger discourse. This book fills an important gap, shines a light on a space that many didn’t know existed.”
“@DeniseThriving, author of, “Thriving in the Fight: A Survival Manual for Latinas on the Front Lines Of Change.” In the foreword, Dr. Stacy Blake-Beard, Visiting Professor at @TuckSchool writes, “’Thriving in the Fight’ speaks directly to and about the experiences and lives of #Latinas.” #BooksToRead”
Read more in Take The Lead on Denise Padin Collazo
Gloria Feldt, author, Intentioning: Sex, Power, Pandemics, and How Women Will Take The Lead for (Everyone's) Good. The co-founder and president of Take The Lead takes on the necessities of intention and creates a verb to tackle the power demons within and to make good on the promises we make to ourselves. In her latest book, Intentioning: Sex, Power, Pandemics, and How Women Will Take The Lead for (Everyone's) Good, demonstrates an indisputable case for creating the future framed by your mission with specific tools to maximize the possibilities and potential of your authentic self.
Read more in Take The Lead from Gloria Feldt on Intentioning
“@GloriaFeldt author, “Intentioning: Sex, Power, Pandemics, and How Women Will Take The Lead for (Everyone’s) Good.” The co-founder and president of @Takeleadwomen takes on the necessities of #intention and creates a verb to tackle the power demons within. #MustRead”
Tamron Hall with T. Shawn Taylor, co-authors, As the Wicked Watch: The First Jordan Manning Novel. Partnering with longtime Chicago journalist Shawn Taylor, Hall, popular talk show host and former Chicago journalist debuts a crime novel featuring Chicago journalists. Parade reports, “As the Wicked Watch introduces readers to a character who appealingly reads a lot like Hall herself: She’s a crime reporter who’s just moved from her native Texas (Hall hails from the teeny Lone Star State town of Luling) to Chicago (where Hall worked at a TV station for 10 years). In the Windy City, where she finds herself to be one of the few women of color working in her field, she investigates the grisly deaths of two young Black women murdered by a mysterious serial killer.”
Minda Harts, author, Right Within: How To Heal From Racial Trauma In the Workplace. With her second book in just two years, the CEO of The Memo, LLC, is out with a new book that is authentic, warm, insightful and generous offering “strategies for women of color to speak up during racialized moments with manager and clients, work through past triggers they may not even know still cause pain, and reframe past career disappointments as opportunities to grow into a new path.” Unilaterally praised and revered for her candid and thoughtful approach, Harts, who hosts the Secure The Seat podcast, offers not just advice and overview, but specifics at the close of each chapter with “Time To Unpack and Reassess,” that list steps and inspiration. Following her enormous success with The Memo: What Women of Color Need To Know To Secure A Seat At The Table, Harts is once again delivering what millions of women of color need in this moment and forever.
“@MindaHarts, author, “Right Within: How To Heal From Racial Trauma In the Workplace.” The CEO of #TheMemo, LLC, offers not just advice and overview, but specifics at the close of each chapter with “Time To Unpack and Reassess,” that list steps and inspiration. #GreatReads”
Read more in Take The Lead on Minda Harts
Wanda Smalls Lloyd, author, Coming Full Circle: From Jim Crow to Journalism. A retired newspaper editor and former chair and associate professor in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communications at Savannah State University, Lloyd is also co-editor with Ansa on Meeting At The Table: African American Women Write on Race, Culture & Community. Her touching memoir recounts her journalism career including editing roles at seven daily newspapers, from The Washington Post, USA Today to the Miami Herald. The founding executive director of the Freedom Forum Diversity Institute at Vanderbilt University, Lloyd was inducted into the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame. Kirkus Reviews writes, “Her memoir is thus a window on the intersection of race, gender, culture and the media’s role in our uniquely American experiment in democracy. How Lloyd excelled in a profession where high-ranking African American women were rare is a memorable story that will educate, entertain, and inspire. Coming Full Circle is a self-reflective exploration of the author’s life journey from growing up in coastal Savannah, Georgia, to editing roles at seven daily newspapers around the country, and circling back to her retirement in Savannah, where she now teaches journalism to a new generation.”
Anne Michaud, author, Why They Stay: Sex Scandals, Deals and Hidden Agendas of Eight Political Wives. A veteran political journalist, Michaud is a reporter for The Wall Street Journal. She previously wrote a nationally syndicated op-ed column for Newsday and has won more than 25 writing and reporting awards. She was named “Columnist of the Year,” by the New York News Publishers Association. Her new book “reveals the inner lives of eight political wives as they fight to maintain a grip on power and pursue personal ambition. She dives into the relationships of Melania & Donald Trump; Hilary & Bill Clinton; Jackie & John F. Kennedy; Eleanor & Franklin D. Roosevelt; Marion Stein & Jeremy Thorpe; Wendy & David Vitter; Silda Wall & Elliot Spitzer; and Huma Abedin & Anthony Weiner. These political wives aren’t powerless pawns. They are shrewder than you expect. Why They Stay pulls back the curtain to reveal why women throughout history stand by their man … for better and for worse.”
Lisa Napoli, author, Susan, Linda, Nina & Cokie: The Extraordinary Story of the Founding Mothers of NPR. Extraordinary is right. Not only are these iconic heroines of American journalism seen in a light that is personal and revelatory, their achievements to set the foundations for broadcast history are astounding. The group biography of four beloved women who fought sexism, covered decades of American news, and whose voices defined NPR is one to cherish. Napoli, journalist and author of four nonfiction books, has done this magic before. Her first book, Radio Shangri-La, is about the impact of media culture on the mysterious Kingdom of Bhuta at the dawn of democratic rule. Her second book, Ray & Joan, about the late philanthropist Joan Kroc and her husband, the irascible founding chairman of the McDonald’s corporation, was sparked by an assignment while an arts reporter at KCRW. For her third and fourth books, she turned to media history. Up All Night: Ted Turner, CNN and the Making of 24-Hour News looks at the origin story of the world’s first all-news cable channel. A directory of documentaries, Napoli co-hosts a podcast for Biographers International Organization.
Jessica Nordell, author, The End of Bias A Beginning: The Science and Practice of Overcoming Unconscious Bias. The New York Times recently reports, that some book excerpts “might make ‘The End of Bias’ sound like an anodyne, standard-issue business book, but Nordell, a science journalist with a degree in poetry, is too reflective a thinker to make this just another well-meaning tribute to the importance of diversity training. In fact, when it comes to diversity training itself, ‘the results are often mixed,’ she writes. Managers can feel as if their autonomy is being undermined, with white men in some cases reacting to pro-diversity messages as if they’re being presented with a cardiovascular threat. Employees of color can feel as if they’re being made into a spectacle — expected to ‘teach’ white people and serve as “an instrument for others’ self-improvement.” No doubt as organizations, companies, foundations and industries do some well-needed examination surrounding the gaps in DEI, this book may well serve as a touchstone reference for a clearer path ahead.
“@Jessnordell, author, “The End of Bias A Beginning: The Science and Practice of Overcoming Unconscious Bias.” As organizations and companies examine the gaps in #DEI, this book may well serve as a touchstone reference for a clearer path ahead. #MustRead #workplace”
Kryss Shane, author of Creating an LGBT+ Inclusive Workplace: The Practical Resource Guide for Business Leaders. As companies and organizations practice due diligence to be better at fairness, equity and inclusion in the workplace, this book is a must manual for all. According to the book description, “Setting out best practices and professional guidance for creating LGBT+ inclusive workplaces, this approachable and easy to follow book guides current and future leaders of all industries toward appropriate and proven ways to create safer working environments, update company policies, enhance continuing education and training, and better support LGBT+ people in the workplace. Featuring real-life situations and scenarios, a glossary, and further resources, this book enables professionals to integrate foundational concepts into their everyday interactions with staff at all levels as well as within the community to create an overall workplace culture that nurtures a welcoming, inclusive, and affirming environment for all.” Shane, MS, MSW, LSW, LMSW, with 25 years experience consulting with business leaders and academics, “has been named by The New York Times and many national and international platforms as America's go-to Leading LGBT Expert.”
“@ItsKryss, author of “Creating an LGBT+ Inclusive Workplace: The Practical Resource Guide for Business Leaders.” As companies and organizations practice due diligence to be better at fairness, #equity and inclusion in the #workplace, this book is a must manual for all. #GreatBooks”
Dawn Turner, Three Girls From Bronzeville: A Uniquely American Memoir of Race, Fate and Sisterhood. Where, when, why and how do children who start at the very same place, end up with such completely different fates? The award-winning journalist, author and novelist, Turner, frames that confounding and vulnerable narrative in a way that is eloquent, heartfelt and authentic, even in its many heartbreaking moments. Already widely lauded and praised for this new work, Turner’s unapologetic approach is to tell her story and the stories of her younger sister and childhood best friend not for anyone to judge, but to better understand and embrace the realities of opportunities, choices, histories and systems that contribute to who we are and who we become.
