Now you may be wondering what exactly is World Book Night? Well it’s all about celebrating books and sharing the benefits that it has on our lives. It’s an annual event by the charity the Reading Agency. You can join in the action by getting comfy and reading a book of your choice between the hours of 7-8pm on Saturday 23 April.
In need of some reading options? We’ve got you covered! As part of our TEDxLondonWomen event All Access Ticket holders were randomly sent one of five books that spread across the spectrum of literature and we hope you enjoy these recommendations, as much as we did reading them! Check out their blurbs below 👇
1. You Coach You by Helen Tupper and Sarah Ellis
Our careers are full of potential and possibilities, uncertainty and change. There is no such thing as a straight line to success and there are times when we get stuck, face obstacles, feel frustrated or want to explore new opportunities. In these moments the best place to start is by coaching yourself. No one can solve your problems better than you can, and learning to coach yourself will accelerate your self-awareness and help you take control of your career.
In You Coach You, you’ll learn the mindset, skillset and toolkit you need to coach yourself from our very own TEDxLondonWomen alumni!
2. Wahala by Nikki May
Everyday racism has never held them back, but now in their thirties, they question their future. Ronke wants a husband (he must be Nigerian); Boo enjoys (correction: endures) stay-at-home motherhood; while Simi, full of fashion career dreams, rolls her eyes as her boss refers to her urban vibe yet again.
When Isobel, a lethally glamorous friend from their past arrives in town, she is determined to fix their futures for them.
Cracks in their friendship begin to appear, and it is soon obvious Isobel is not sorting but wrecking. When she is driven to a terrible act, the women are forced to reckon with a crime in their past that may just have repeated itself.
3. Abolition. Feminism. Now. by Gina Dent, Angela Davis, Erica R. Meiners, Beth Richie
Abolition. Feminism. Now. is a celebration of freedom work, a movement genealogy, a call to action, and a challenge to those who think of abolition and feminism as separate-even incompatible-political projects.
In this remarkable collaborative work, leading scholar-activists Angela Y. Davis, Gina Dent, Erica R. Meiners, and Beth E. Richie surface the often unrecognized genealogies of queer, anti-capitalist, internationalist, grassroots, and women-of-color-led feminist movements, struggles, and organizations that have helped to define abolition and feminism in the twenty-first century.
4. Misfits by Michaela Coel
Michaela Coel’s MacTaggart Lecture touched a lot of people with her striking revelations about race, class and gender. But in the end, the person most impacted was Coel herself. Building on this speech, Misfits immerses readers in her deeply personal vision through powerful allegory and anecdotes – from her East London upbringing to her discovery of theatre and love for storytelling.
With inspiring insight and wit, she tells of her reckoning with trauma and metamorphosis into a champion for herself, inclusivity and radical honesty, and in telling her journey invites us to reflect on our own. By embracing our differences, she says, we can transform our lives. An artist to her core, Coel holds up the path of the creative as an emblem of our need to regard one another with care and respect – and transparency.
Misfits is a triumphant call for honesty, empathy and inclusion. This timely, necessary book is a rousing coming-to-power manifesto dedicated to anyone who has ever worried about fitting in.
5. The Girl and The Goddess by Nikita Gill
One girl’s wild journey of strength, beauty and growth as she discovers who she really is.
Lyrical wonder, spiritual revelation and revolution meet with epic mythical landscapes in this deeply intimate coming-of-age story, one that teaches us all, no matter how small we feel, to become the masters of our own destiny.
Meet Paro. A girl with a strong will, a full heart and much to learn. Born into a family reeling from the ruptures of Partition, follow her as she crosses the precarious lines between childhood, teenage discovery and realising her adult self.
