Today being International Women’s day, there is a whole range of gifts you can get for your loved ones be it your mother, girlfriend, fiancée you name them. Well, how about if you invested in a good book? Though books have been around for an incredibly long time, they have not lost their importance throughout the years. There are many benefits of reading, from improving mental health to improving physical health, to creating healthy habits, and it’s no wonder that books and reading are so high up on the list of personal entertainment. Reading has empowered women and female authors have also revolutionized the stories that we read because these stories tell a story of empowerment.
African female authors continue to establish themselves within the African continent and across the globe. With the likes of Chimamanda Ngozi, South African literary Angela Makholwa and more being feted for the creative storytelling, the life and times of the African woman is being reshaped, and told in different perspectives with nuances that are relatable and real. Here are seven must-read books by female authors:
‘Things I Will Tell My Daughter’ by Joan Thatiah
Kenyan writer Joan Thatiah is a features writer for Saturday Nation. Through a blend of personal narratives, social history, and hard-eyed wisdom, Joan in ‘Things I Will Tell My Daughter’ delves into life lessons she has lived and learned. Into the big things, the small things and the things that today’s young woman never imagines that she will have to deal with.
‘The Smart Money Woman’ by Arese Ugwu
‘The Smart Money Woman—An African girl’s journey to financial freedom’ (2016) by Nigerian writer Arese Ugwu. This book tackles, debt, spending, the consumerist culture of the African middle class, the fear and misconceptions surrounding money and the lack of it, love, friendships, cultural and societal pressures and the roles they play in success in the eyes of five women in different financial situations.
Phenomenal Woman’: Four Poems Celebratin
The late Maya Angelou was an American poet, singer, memoirist, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years.
’Becoming’ by Michelle Obama
Former USA First lady Michelle Obama, released her memoir ‘Becoming’ in 2018, it is a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling,
Unbowed’ by Wangari Maathai
The late Kenyan Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai recounts her extraordinary journey from her childhood in rural Kenya to the world stage in a book titled ‘Unbowed’. Maathai’s quest for freedom, justice for all and a greener Kenya is vividly captured in this memoir.
’Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions’ by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a Nigerian novelist. A few years ago, she received a letter from a dear friend from childhood, asking her how to raise her baby girl as a feminist. ‘Dear Ijeawele’ is Adichie’s letter of response. Here are fifteen invaluable suggestions compelling, direct, wryly funny, and perceptive for how to empower a daughter to become a strong, independent woman.
‘Red Ink’ by Angela Makholwa
Angela came into the literary scene in 2007 with ‘Red Ink’, the first crime fiction by a black author in South Africa.In Red Ink, the fictional detective, Lucy, a successful public relations writer is drawn into investigating horrifying series of rapes and murders.