Top 10 from '23: Breathtaking Books for the Holiday Break
Let's start out with an asterisk: Yes, Lessons in Chemistry hit shelves in 2022, not 2023. But then Apple TV brought the story to the screen in 2023 and gave girls a brand new STEM hero to watch. I'm including it on this list because when Être girls asked author Bonnie Garmus what her main character, Elizabeth Zott, would tell curious girls today, her answer made my entire year. More about that at the end.
But this is a Top Ten List, so let's start at the top - here are ten books by epic women that illuminated and empowered our 2023:
1. 50 Years of Ms: The Best of the Pathfinding Magazine That Ignited a Revolution
More a bible than a book, this illustrated volume by Kathy Spillar and the editors of Ms. Magazine, with a foreword by Gloria Steinem, celebrates the magazine's articles and letters to the editor with such vibrancy that you want to read it standing up. With wisdom from Toni Morrison, Billie Jean King, Alison Bechdel, Brittney Cooper, Joy Harjo, Audre Lorde and more, the book makes the case for empowering the next generation of women with ringing clarity. Thinking back to May 2023 when Gloria Steinem sat in lively conversation with Être girls, this book tops our list.
2. Reimagine Inclusion: Debunking 13 Myths to Transform Your Workplace
Whether you are in or just eyeing the workplace, Mita Mallick has your back and your future. Confronting historic biases while simultaneously coaching up tomorrow's workforce, this DEI powerhouse brought a book into the world that every organization needs. I'm so proud to have her words in The Epic Mentor Guide answering questions about inclusion, and prouder still to see Reimagine Inclusion on so many high school and college bookshelves.
3. The First Ladies
When its a book about friends, in this case the extraordinary partnership between First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune, and is also written by friends (co-authors Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray), I'm already pulling it off the shelf and texting every friend the title. This author duo wowed us in 2021 with The Personal Librarian, and The First Ladies brought the house down again in 2023. Bonus: Marie Benedict's answer to Être girls who asked her how to write your first NYT best selling book still gives us goosebumps.
4. Maame
An instant NYT bestseller, a Today Show #ReadWithJenna Book Club pick and a 2023 Indie Next Pick, Maame is Jessica George's debut novel and its a stunner. Following the journey of 25-year-old Maddie (or Maame as her family calls her), the book puts us in the shoes of the ever-responsible, dependable young caretaker and then brings us with her as she takes off running. Family, friendship, culture and growth are themes that stretch gorgeously throughout - I can't wait to see what Jessica George brings us next.
5. Tom Lake
A novel about intergenerational storytelling, Tom Lake hooked me from the first chapter. When three daughters return to their family's orchard to pick cherries, they also want to pick through their mother's memories. Stories unfold, recollections resurface, and we watch a multi-layered conversation take place about what happened years ago in a theater company called Tom Lake. A quick vote for the audio version here too - Meryl Streep reads the audio book and she makes Ann Patchett's magnificent words sing even louder.
6. Trailblazers: The Unmatched Story of Women's Tennis
In celebration of the Women’s Tennis Association's 50th anniversary and 53 years after Billie Jean King and eight other female players launched their own pro tour, this updated edition of We Have Come a Long Way: The Story of Women's Tennis showcases hundreds of photos and decades of stories honoring women who inspire on and off the court. Co-authored by Billie Jean King and Cynthia Starr, Trailblazers notes that the game of tennis has never been as popular, diverse or inclusive, and keeps our eye joyfully on the ball.
7. Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic - and What We Can Do About It
Leading a mentorship platform for girls, I see the struggles faced by ambitious girls every day. Balancing AP classes, sports and other extracurriculars with family, friends and overall mental health has become more than a challenge - it's a cultural epidemic. Surveying close to 6,000 parents and continuing her research with educator and family interviews, award-winning reporter Jennifer Breheny Wallace looks closely at achievement culture and how we can guard against its encroachment. A must-read that will linger in your mind for long after the cover is closed.
8. Wonderhell: Why Success Doesn't Feel Like It Should...And What To Do About It
She had me at the title: Wonderhell. "Success is wonderful," Laura Gassner Otting tells us confidingly. "But it’s also kinda hell. It just might be that success is kinda wonderhell." Leading us through the idea that wonderhell is not as much a limitation as an invitation, this WSJ bestselling author arms us with insight from 100+ interviews she conducted and encourages ambitious goals for all of us. For the next generation, it's not too soon to see success clearly - and from all possible sides.
9. Hello Beautiful
Described as "[an] exquisite homage to Louisa May Alcott’s timeless classic, Little Women," Ann Napolitano's Hello Beautiful dives into friendship, luck, loyalty and family to make the reader come up smiling. You'll laugh, cry (a lot) and root for each character as they find their way through life and love. On everyone's list as a top 2023 pick, add it to your TBR stack over break.
10. Lessons in Chemistry
As my disclaimer at the top noted, Lessons in Chemistry is a 2022 book by Bonnie Garmus that took the literary world by storm and then became an Apple TV hit in 2023. When the main character Elizabeth Zott, a brilliant research chemist in the 1960's, becomes the unlikely star of a hit TV cooking show she shows women and girls everywhere that the status quo can be challenged and forever changed.
Être girls wanted to know more.
So we wrote to author Bonnie Garmus and asked her the following question: What do you think Elizabert Zott would want middle and high school girls who love STEM to know? If she had a mantra or screensaver for STEM girls to remember, what would it be?
Her answer made our entire year.
“Here is what I think Elizabeth Zott would tell young women in STEM: Some people will go out of their way to stand in yours. But that’s only because they can’t see your wings. They don’t know you can fly.”
And there it is.
If there is one thing I wish girls could take from an author in '23 into '24, that's it. Some people can't see your wings. They don't know you can fly.
But, so many people do - and they're called mentors. Role models. Champions and allies.
May the new year bring you bookshelves full of them so we can watch you soar.
Looking forward,
Illana
ÊXTRAS: Three next gen books coming in 2024 that you won't want to miss: A Young Innovator's Guide to Planning for Success: Developing an Authentic Personal Narrative for Students, Educators, and Parents, by MIT freshman Gitanjali Rao, HBCU Made: A Celebration of the Black College Experience by NPR journalist and host Ayesha Rascoe, and Private Equity by debut author Carrie Sun.
