Inspiring Books by Women for International Women’s Day

March 8 2023 is International Women’s Day, and this year’s theme is #EmbraceEquity is aiming to further equality for women by ending gender-based bias and discrimination.

We celebrate books by amazing women every day at Better Reading, as our community knows well. This International Women’s Day, we’ve put together a list of empowering reads written by inspiring, talented women. From recent releases to classics, fiction to memoir, these female-led narratives are an absolute must-read.

Unknown: A Refugee’s Story by Akuch Anyieth

A moving, confronting and ultimately uplifting story about a young girl’s escape, with her family, from war-torn South Sudan to Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya, and then to Australia. Akuch Kuol Anyieth’s Unknown is a remarkable memoir.

Buy a copy of Unknown: A Refugee’s Story here.

Violeta by Isabel Allende

Literary and feminist icon Isabel Allende’s latest novel, Violeta, is a sweeping, powerful story of one woman’s journey through one hundred years of life, love and global upheaval.

Buy a copy of Violeta here.

The Good Wife of Bath by Karen Brooks

Karen Brooks’ clever, picaresque retelling of Chaucer’s ‘Wife of Bath’ is a cutting assessment of what happens when male power is left unchecked. It’s a rich, rollicking yet ultimately important read that finally allows this maligned character to tell her own (mostly) true story.

Buy a copy of The Good Wife of Bath here.

Daughter of the River Country by Dianne O’Brien

Aunty Di’s memoir is eloquently told and powerfully written. The courage and strength behind her words is palpable throughout. Daughter of the River Country is a must-read for all Australians.

Buy a copy of Daughter of the River Country here.

Before You Knew My Name by Jacqueline Bublitz

This is not just another novel about a dead girl. From the very first page, we know that the protagonist Alice Lee has been murdered. But Before You Knew My Name doesn’t ask whodunnit. Instead, this powerful, hopeful novel asks: Who was she? And what did she leave behind? The answers might surprise you.

Buy a copy of Before You Knew My Name here.

The Hush by Sara Foster

The Hush is a new breed of near-future thriller, an unflinching look at a society close to tipping point and a story for our times, highlighting the power of female friendship through a dynamic group of women determined to triumph against the odds.

Buy a copy of The Hush here.

The Bass Rock by Evie Wyld

Winner of the 2021 Stella Prize for fiction, The Bass Rock is an exquisitely written multi-generational story, weaving together the lives of three women across four centuries. Each woman’s choices are circumscribed, in ways big and small, by the men in their lives. But in sisterhood, there is the hope of survival and new life.

Buy a copy of The Bass Rock here.

All That’s Left Unsaid by Tracey Lien

This is a novel that pulls apart the intricate bonds of friendship, family, culture and community that produced a devastating crime. All That’s Left Unsaid is both a study of the effects of inherited trauma and social discrimination, and a compulsively readable literary thriller that expertly holds the reader in its grip until the final page.

Buy a copy of All That’s Left Unsaid here.

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

The #1 book in our 2021 Top 100, Where the Crawdads Sing is an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder. In this story of the “marsh girl” Kya, Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were.

Buy a copy of Where the Crawdads Sing here.

Emotional Female by Yumiko Kadota

Yumiko Kadota’s memoir Emotional Female is a passionate account of the toxic culture of bullying and overwork that junior doctors can experience in the workplace as part of their training. If the punishing hours in surgery weren’t hard enough, she also faced challenges as a young female surgeon navigating a male-dominated specialty.

Buy a copy of Emotional Female here.

This is What a Feminist Looks Like by Emily Maguire

In this passionate and timely account, Emily Maguire charts a course through the history of Australian feminism – from the First Wave to the Fourth, from suffragists to Riot Grrrls, from equal pay to #metoo. Along the way, she pays tribute to those who’ve spoken up and taken action in the face of ridicule, dismissal and violence.

Buy a copy of This is What a Feminist Looks Like here.

Women and Leadership by Julia Gillard and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Women and Leadership is an inspirational and practical book written by two high-achieving women, sharing the experience and advice of some of our most extraordinary women leaders, in their own words.

Buy a copy of Women and Leadership here.

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Masterfully conceived and executed, this haunting vision of the future in which women are reduced to sexual servitude places Margaret Atwood at the forefront of dystopian, feminist fiction. Its enduring popularity is evident through the award-winning TV adaptation and its place on our Top 100 list year after year.

Buy a copy of The Handmaid’s Tale here.

Horse by Geraldine Brooks

Horse is a not just a piece of sweeping historical fiction. It is moving, inspiring and vividly told – all things we have come to expect from one of our greatest homegrown writers. Geraldine Brooks truly is in a league of her own.

Buy a copy of Horse here.