Community Books

The Girls Write Now community has a body of work as diverse in inspiration, subject matter, and voice as our mentees’ own portfolios. This regularly-updated list of our favorite books can be used as a reading list or a resource — whether you fell in love with an author you saw at one of our events, want to explore what our mentors do when they’re not working with their Girls Write Now mentees, or are just looking for a juicy read for your next vacation.

And when you shop with any of our affiliates — Amazon, Barnes & Noble or IndieBound — through the Girls Write Now website, our organization will receive a percentage of your total purchase. Just click on the link for the book you’d like to buy and proceed through the company’s checkout system. Thank you for supporting our organization and our amazing community of authors!

Featured Authors

Catherine Greenman, Hooked
Buy from:
Amazon  

Nancy K. Miller, What They Saved: Pieces of a Jewish Past
Buy from:
Amazon

Emma Straub, Other People We Married
Buy from:
FiveChapters Press

Tayari Jones, Silver Sparrow
Buy from:
Amazon

Kate Christensen, The Astral: A Novel
Buy from:
Amazon

Eric L. Mott & Kelly Jo Eldredge featuring Andrea Juncos, More Than Me: Step Out of Yourself and Into Humanity
Buy from:
Amazon

Léna Roy, Edges
Buy from:
Amazon

Ruiyan Xu, The Lost and Forgotten Languages of Shanghai: A Novel
Buy from:
Amazon

Renée Watson, A Place Where Hurricanes Happen
Buy from:
Amazon 

Renée Watson, What Momma Left Me
Buy from:
Amazon

Maggie Pouncey, Perfect Reader: A Novel
Buy from:
Amazon

N. K. Jemisin, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, Book 1
Now in paperback!
Amazon

Nana Brew-Hammond, Powder Necklace
Buy from:
Amazon

Alphabetical by Author

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, The Thing Around Your Neck
Buy from:
Amazon
(We also love: Half of a Yellow Sun and Purple Hibiscus) 

Tara Betts, Arc & Hue
Buy from:
Amazon

Judy Blundell, What I Saw and How I Lied
Buy from:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Indiebound

Annie Choi, Happy Birthday or Whatever: Track Suits, Kim Chee and Other Family Disasters
Buy from:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
IndieBound

Lynda Curnyn, Killer Summer
Buy from:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
IndieBound
(We also love: Confessions of an Ex-Girlfriend)

Phoebe Damrosch, Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavedropping Waiter
Buy from:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
IndieBound

Janice Erlbaum, Girlbomb: A Halfway Homeless Memoir
Buy from:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
IndieBound
(We also love: Have You Found Her: A Memoir)

Judy Goldschmidt, Will the Real Raisin Rodriguez Please Stand Up?
Buy from:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
IndieBound

Annette Gordon-Reed, The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family
Buy from:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
IndieBound

Lisi Harrison, The Clique Series
Buy from:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
IndieBound

Marlon James, The Book of Night Women
Buy from:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
IndieBound

Tayari Jones, The Untelling
Buy from:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
IndieBound
(We also love: Leaving Atlanta: A Novel) 

Melissa Kirsch, The Girl's Guide to Absolutely Everything
Buy from:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
IndieBound

Anne Landsman, The Rowing Lesson
Buy from:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
IndieBound

Pooja Makhijani, Mama's Saris
Buy from:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
IndieBound

Courtney E. Martin, Perfect Girls, Starving Daugthers: How the Quest for Perfection is Harming Young Women
Bur from:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
IndieBound

Kelly McMasters, Welcome to Shirley: A Memoir froman Atomic Town
Buy from:
Amazon
Indiebound

Marie Mutsuki Mocket, Picking Bones from Ash
Buy from:
Amazon 

Nami Mun, Miles From Nowhere
Buy from:
Amazon

Anna North, America Pacifica: A Novel
Buy from:
Amazon

Micol Ostow, Emily Goldberg Learns to Salsa
Buy from:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
IndieBound

Dolen Perkins-Valdez, Wench
Buy from:
Amazon 

Cheryl A. Pientka, Paris For Dummies
Buy from:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
IndieBound 

Nahid Rachlin, Persian Girls: A Memoir
Buy from:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
IndieBound

Victoria Redel, The Border of Truth: A Novel
Buy from:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
IndieBound
(We also love: Loverboy)

Amy Richards, ManifestA: Young Women, Feminism and the Future
Buy from:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
IndieBound
(We also love: Opting In: Having A Child Without Losing Yourself)

Karen Russell, St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves
Buy from:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
IndieBound

Sarah Saffian, Ithaka: A Daughter's Memoir of Being Found
Buy from:
Amazon
Indiebound

Lisa Sandell, Song of the Sparrow
Buy from:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
IndieBound

Lisa Sandell, A Map of the Known World
Buy from:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
IndieBound

Amy Sewell, She's Out There! 35 Women Under 35 Who Aspire to Lead
Buy from:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
IndieBound

Deborah Siegel, Sisterhood, Interrupted: From Radical Women to Grrls Gone Wild
Buy from:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
IndieBound

Lizzie Skurnick, Shelf Discovery
Buy from:
Amazon 

J. Courtney Sullivan, Commencement: A Novel
Buy from:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Indiebound

Kathleen Sweeney, Maiden USA: Girl Icons Come of Age
Buy from:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
IndieBound

Jean Thompson, Do Not Deny Me: Stories (Available June 9)
Buy from:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
IndieBound

Hannah Tinti, The Good Thief
Buy from:
Amazon
Indiebound

Jessica Valenti, The Purity Myth: How America's Obsession with Virginity is Hurting Young Women
Buy from:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
IndieBound  

Aleksandra Wagner with Carin Kuoni, Considering Forgiveness
Buy from:
Amazon
Inidebound

Linda Winston, The Tree That Time Built
Buy from:
Amazon

Lila Zemborain, Mauve Sea-Orchids
Buy from:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble