October Recommendations Roundup

What are all the badass women reading, watching and listening to this month? I’ve got lots of recs for you! I think this first one might make a nice companion read to our October book, You Were Always Mine…

Jasmine Yang arrives in New York City from her rural Chinese village without money or family support, fleeing a controlling husband, on a desperate search for the daughter who was taken from her at birth—another female casualty of China’s controversial One Child Policy. But with her husband on her trail, the clock is ticking, and she’s forced to make increasingly risky decisions if she ever hopes to be reunited with her daughter. Meanwhile, publishing executive Rebecca Whitney seems to have it all: a prestigious family name and the wealth that comes with it, a high-powered career, a beautiful home, a handsome husband, and an adopted Chinese daughter she adores. She’s even hired a nanny to help her balance the demands of being a working wife and mother. But when an industry scandal threatens to jeopardize not only Rebecca’s job but her marriage, this perfect world begins to crumble and her role in her own family is called into question. The Leftover Woman finds these two unforgettable women on a shocking collision course. Twisting and suspenseful and surprisingly poignant, it's a profound exploration of identity and belonging, motherhood and family. It is a story of two women in a divided city—separated by severe economic and cultural differences yet bound by a deep emotional connection to a child. You can read more and get your copy here.

National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward is back with a powerful new novel…

Let Us Descend is a reimagining of American slavery, as beautifully rendered as it is heart-wrenching. Searching, harrowing, replete with transcendent love, the novel is a journey from the rice fields of the Carolinas to the slave markets of New Orleans and into the fearsome heart of a Louisiana sugar plantation. Annis, sold south by the white enslaver who fathered her, is the reader’s guide through this hellscape. As she struggles through the miles-long march, Annis turns inward, seeking comfort from memories of her mother and stories of her African warrior grandmother. Throughout, she opens herself to a world beyond this world, one teeming with spirits: of earth and water, of myth and history; spirits who nurture and give, and those who manipulate and take. While Ward leads readers through the descent, this, her fourth novel, is ultimately a story of rebirth and reclamation. You can read more and get your copy here.

Former Badass Women’s Book Club author Roxane Gay (Bad Feminist) also has a new book out…

Since the publication of the groundbreaking Bad Feminist and Hunger, Roxane Gay has continued to tackle big issues embroiling society—state-sponsored violence and mass shootings, women’s rights post-Dobbs, online disinformation, and the limits of empathy—alongside more individually personalized matters: can I tell my co-worker her perfume makes me sneeze? Is it acceptable to schedule a daily 8 am meeting? In her role as a New York Times opinion section contributor and the publication’s “Work Friend” columnist, she reaches millions of readers with her wise voice and sharp insights. Opinions is a collection of Roxane Gay’s best nonfiction pieces from the past ten years. Covering a wide range of topics—politics, feminism, the culture wars, civil rights, and much more—with an all-new introduction in which she reflects on the past decade in America, this sharp, thought-provoking anthology will delight Roxane Gay’s devotees and draw new fans. You can read more and get your copy here.

And of course, who can resist a new Dolly Parton book?

In Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones, global superstar Dolly Parton shares, for the first time, the full story behind her lifelong passion for fashion, including how she developed her own, distinctly Dolly style, which has defied convention and endeared her to fans around the world. Featuring behind-the-scenes stories from Dolly Parton’s life and career, and the largest reveal of her private costume archive, this gorgeously photographed book spotlights her most unforgettable looks from the 1960s to now. Filled with candor, humor, and lots and lots of rhinestones, Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones is a shining tribute to one of the most beloved musicians in history, a treasured keepsake for anyone who loves Dolly Parton, and an indispensable guide to forging your own path to beauty and confidence. You can read more and get your copy here.

Attention Shirley Jackson fans!

Holly Sherwin has been a struggling playwright for years, but now, after receiving a grant to develop her play Witching Night, she may finally be close to her big break. All she needs is time and space to bring her vision to life. When she stumbles across Hill House on a weekend getaway upstate, she is immediately taken in by the mansion, nearly hidden outside a remote village. It’s enormous, old, and ever-so eerie—the perfect place to develop and rehearse her play. Despite her own hesitations, Holly’s girlfriend, Nisa, agrees to join Holly in renting the house for a month, and soon a troupe of actors, each with ghosts of their own, arrive. Yet as they settle in, the house’s peculiarities are made known: strange creatures stalk the grounds, disturbing sounds echo throughout the halls, and time itself seems to shift.  All too soon, Holly and her friends find themselves at odds not just with one another, but with the house itself. It seems something has been waiting in Hill House all these years, and it no longer intends to walk alone. You can read more and get your copy here.

This looks like a great Books to Badass read…

I’m Speaking is every woman’s guide to creating a clear, confident voice that is authentically hers and then using it fearlessly. Full of effective, efficient, brain-science-based ways to make positive changes to your voice, in your head and coming out of your mouth, I’m Speaking also teaches the reader how to fearlessly use that voice, personally and professionally: ask for what you want and get what you need, speak up against toxicity, communicate everything better, have the difficult conversations, and cultivate resilience. You can read more and get your copy here.

Is there a cultural moment from your past that looks different in retrospect?  Each week, Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett (author of previous Badass Women’s Book Club pick, Feminist Fight Club) revisit a pop culture moment from the 80s and 90s that shaped them – to try to understand what it taught us about the world, and a woman’s place in it. You can check it out here.

Just in time for spooky season is the new thriller, Totally Killer. Starring Kiernan Shipka and Julie Bowen, the movie follows Jamie (Shipka), whose mom, Pam (Bowen), is coming to terms with some seriously freaky stuff – the comeback of the Sweet Sixteen Killer, the creepy masked dude who went on a teenage girl slaying spree back in the '80s. Think Scream meets Back to the Future. You can watch the trailer here.

Jessica Knoll’s Bright Young Women has been picked up for a TV adaptation. You can read more about it here.

Enough about thrillers and killers!  Let me leave you with two positive stories…

U.S. History classes are mostly about men; two teachers are wanting to change that and are petitioning the College Board to create an AP Women’s History class. You can read about their efforts here.

And how much do I love this story of the first grader who goes door-to-door offering to read to seniors?  You can check it out here.