This March East Sussex Libraries are celebrating Women’s History Month (WHM) with special International Women’s Day themed storytimes. Help your little one’s learn about some of the incredible achievements of real-life women from around the globe.
How else can you support WHM in our libraries?
Unfortunately, Period Poverty affects 1 in 7 girls and women in the UK with many missing work and school because they cannot afford period products. Periodbank at East Sussex libraries is helping to tackle period poverty by providing donated period and hygiene products to anyone who needs them. We need your help to tackle period poverty, and are asking for donations of tampons, pads, and reusable period products at all our libraries.
Back to books…
This month our librarian Nicola has selected some speculative feminism, a history of the roots of misogyny and a children’s introduction to women’s suffrage to mark Women’s History Month.
Top fiction
The Lion’s Den by Iris Mwanza
Rookie lawyer Grace Zulu does not give up easily. She escaped an arranged marriage to put herself through university. Now she’s got her first case. Her client is young Willbess ‘Bessy’ Mulenga, who has been arrested for offences ‘against nature’. Bessy works in a men-only bar, loves to dance, to wear dresses and live freely. But in 1990s Zambia, following your own identity can get you beaten, jailed or even worse.
Grace must take on powerful enemies at the highest levels – even risk her own safety – to get to the truth. The whole truth.
This book deals with heavy themes, it is fast paced and enjoyable to read.
Reserve the paperback book of ‘The Lion’s Den’
Julia by Sandra Newman
This is a retelling of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four from the perspective of Julia Worthing, bringing a brilliantly evoked feminist narrative to an established literary classic.
Seventy-five years after Orwell finished writing his iconic novel, Sandra Newman has tackled the world of Big Brother in a truly convincing way, offering a dramatically different, feminist narrative that is true to and stands alongside the original. For the millions of readers who have been brought up with Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, here, finally, is a provocative, vital and utterly satisfying companion novel.
Reserve the paperback book of ‘Julia’
Top non-fiction
I belong Here: A Journey Along the Backbone of Britain by Anita Sethi
Anita Sethi was on a journey through northern England when she became the victim of a race hate crime. After the event Anita experienced panic attacks and anxiety. A crushing sense of claustrophobia made her long for wide open spaces; the Pennines – the ‘backbone of Britain’ – called to Anita with a magnetic force.
Although a racist had told her to leave, she was intent on travelling freely and without fear. Anita’s journey through the landscapes of the North is one of reclamation, a way of saying that she belongs in the UK as a brown woman, as much as a white man does. Her journey transforms what began as an ugly experience of hate into one offering hope and finding beauty after brutality. Every footstep is an act of persistence. Every word written against the rising tide of hate speech is an act of resistance.
Reserve the paperback book of ‘I Belong Here’
Women & Power: A Manifesto by Mary Beard
Historian and national treasure Mary Beard presents a bold manifesto for women’s liberty, exploring the deep roots of misogyny and offering a plan for change. A revolutionary manifesto for our time, exploring women in power from Medusa to Merkel and presenting a new feminist roadmap. Hard-hitting, unapologetic and wise.
With personal reflections on her own experiences of the sexism and the gendered aggression she has endured online, Mary asks: if women aren’t perceived to be within the structures of power, isn’t it power that we need to redefine?
Reserve the paperback book of ‘Women & Power’
Reserve the eBook of ‘Women & Power’
Top Audiobook
Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy
Often compared to Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Naomi Alderman’s The Power – Woman on the Edge of Time has been hailed as a classic of speculative science fiction.
Connie Ramos has been unjustly incarcerated in a mental institution with no hope of release. The authorities view her as a danger to herself and to others. Her family has given up on her.
But Connie has a secret – a way to escape the confines of her cell. She can see the future…
Reserve the eAudio of ‘Woman on the Edge of Time’
Top children’s fiction
Opal Plumstead by Jacqueline Wilson illustrated by Nick Sharratt
Fourteen-year-old Opal’s family falls on hard times when her accountant father foolishly forges a cheque to support his family. When he is arrested, they are reduced to penury, and feisty Opal, a clever scholarship girl at school, has instead to find work in a local factory. Here she encounters both bullying and friendship, an introduction to women’s suffrage, and ultimately love.
Reserve the paperback book of ‘Opal Plumstead’
Top Children’s Non-fiction
Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World by Kate Pankhurst
Discover fascinating facts about some of the most amazing women who changed the world. Fly through the sky with the incredible explorer Amelia Earhart, read all about the wonderful adventures of Mary Seacole and many more inspiring women.
A double page spread for every woman features an overview of her main achievement with additional ‘Did you know?’ facts alongside irreverent illustrations of the women, acting as a great starting point for further research.
Reserve the paperback book of ‘Fantasticallu Great Women Who Changed the World’
What book are you reading for Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day? Let us know in the comments below!
Looking for more book recommendations?
Check out our ‘Get in our good books’ articles last month where writer Sarah Driver shared her top reads with us!
