Reading Lists

Fantasy Books with Female Protagonists

Nahoko Uehashi's The Beast Player is an epic YA fantasy about a girl with a special power to communicate with magical beasts and the warring kingdom only she can save.

Aristene are an order of mythical female warriors. Though heroes might be immortalized in legends, it's the Aristene who guide their paths to victory. They are the Heromakers. Raised by the order after being orphaned, Reed grew up surrounded by her future sisters-in-arms and the incredible stories of their quests. She's been counting the days until her initiation, and now one final test stands in her way: shepherding her first hero to glory on the battlefield. Succeed, and her place in the order is secured. Fail, and she'll be cast out of the only home she's ever known.

In a world where dragons and humans coexist in an uneasy truce and dragons can assume human form, Seraphina, whose mother died giving birth to her, grapples with her own identity amid magical secrets and royal scandals, while she struggles to accept and develop her extraordinary musical talents.

Sabriel, daughter of the necromancer Abhorsen, must journey into the mysterious and magical Old Kingdom to rescue her father from the Land of the Dead.

Iselia "Seelie" Graygrove looks just like her twin, Isolde...but as an autistic changeling left in the human world by the fae as an infant, she has always known she is different. Seelie's unpredictable magic makes it hard for her to fit in---and draws her and Isolde into the hunt for a fabled treasure. In a heist gone wrong, the sisters make some unexpected allies and find themselves unraveling a mystery that has its roots in the history of humans and fae alike. Both sisters soon discover that the secrets of the faeries may be more valuable than any pile of gold and jewels. But can Seelie harness her magic in time to protect her sister and herself?

In a world where the children of the gods inherit their powers, Io, a descendant of the Greek Fates, must solve a series of impossible murders to save her sisters, her soulmate, and her city.

"Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general--also known as her tough-as-talons mother--has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders. But when you're smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don't bond to "fragile" humans. They incinerate them. With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother's daughter--like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant. She'll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise. Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom's protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret."-- Provided by publisher.

As the daughter of the most powerful trader in the Narrows, the sea is the only home Fable has ever known. Four years ago she watched her mother drown during a storm-- and the next day her father abandoned her on a legendary island filled with thieves and little food. To survive she kept to herself, learned to trust no one and relied on the unique skills her mother taught her. Fable enlists the help of a young trader named West to get her off the island and across the Narrows to demand her rightful place beside her father. But his rivalries and the dangers of his trading enterprise have multiplied since she last saw him-- and Fable soon finds that West isn't who he seems.

After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants to escape. A residential programme for bright high-schoolers seems like the perfect opportunity – until she witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus . . . A flying demon feeding on human energies.

Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie's Reaper mother summoned forth souls. But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.

Plunge into the intimate history of cosmetics, and discover how, for centuries, women have turned to make-up as a rich source of creativity, community and resistance.

A graphic history of women's fight for their rights.

A charming picture book inspired by the true story of Mary Edwards Walker, a trailblazing 19th-century doctor who was arrested many times for wearing pants.

First presented as a TED Talk given in the United Kingdom at TEDxEuston, in 2012"

A love letter to those who have been minimized and forgotten, this collection repositions Black women's intellectual and political work at the center of today's liberation movements. Across thirteen original essays that explore the legacy and work of Black women writers and leaders.

A groundbreaking exploration of how to harness concepts from group therapy and the safety (and joy) of sisterhood to heal yourself and your relationships, from the licensed clinical psychologist who founded the award-winning podcast Therapy for Black Girls.

The only thing predictable about menopause is its unpredictability.

A deeply researched and incredibly entertaining guide to navigating the still-taboo topic of menopause

The Hormone Shift breaks down what is happening behind the scenes in a woman's body throughout her life, explains how to prepare for whatever is coming next, and offers plans to keep the body in balance and minimize unwanted symptoms.

A groundbreaking investigation of the uterus--from birth to death, in sickness and in health, throughout history and into our possible future--from a midwife and acclaimed writer Leah Hazard.

A trailblazing conversation-starting history of women's health-from Ancient Greece to hormones and autoimmune diseases-brought together in a fascinating sweeping narrative.

Based on years of immersive reporting, and told with astonishing frankness and immediacy, Three Women is a groundbreaking portrait of erotic longing in today's America, exposing the fragility, complexity, and inequality of female desire with unprecedented depth and emotional power.

The story of Dinah, a tragic character from the Bible whose great love, a prince, is killed by her brother, leaving her alone and pregnant. The novel traces her life from childhood to death, in the process examining sexual and religious practices of the day, and what it meant to be a woman.