The Bookish Mindset

Books for the girls is an ode to the incredible women I’ve met in this space. It’s inspired by Monika Radojevic’s A beautiful lack of consequence, which looks at the experience of womanhood through many lenses and was just brilliant.

I love finding themes that spread across genres and authors and this short series will explore some of my favourites. First we had Books That will Break You, then we had some classic Feminine Rage and Love & Friendships, now we’ll end with continuous learning.

Today we’re talking about one of the most beautiful themes: books for the girls who love to learn. Learning doesn’t just come through non-fiction, it comes through brilliant fiction too. I’m excited to share this brilliant list of books that I’ve taken something from.

Here I’ve split them per genre so you pick something you fancy but I definitely recommend reading around your genres here.

Dark Academia

• Babel – R. F. Kuang
• Blood Over Bright Haven – M. L. Wang

Dystopian

• Chain-Gang All-Stars – Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

Fantasy

• Build Your House Around My Body – Violet Kupersmith
• Pet – Akwaeke Emezi
• The Moon Represents My Heart – Pim Wangtechwat

Literary

• A Woman is No Man – Etaf Rum
• Against the Loveless World – Susan Abulhawa
• All That We’ve Got – Jendella Benson
• All the Truths Between Us – Liz Amos
• Bellies – Nicola Dinan
• Brotherless Night – V. V. Ganeshananthan
• Dust Child – – Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai
• Evil Eye – Etaf Rum
• Fire Rush – Jacqueline Crooks
• Firekeepers Daughter – Angeline Boulley
• Ghost, Girl, Banana – Wiz Wharton
• Here Again Now – Okechukwu Nzelu
• No Small Thing – Orlaine McDonald
• Someday, Maybe – Onyi Nwabineli
• Sorrowland – Rivers Solomon
• The Final Revival of Opal & Nev – Dawnie Walton
• The Mountains Sing – Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai
• Warrior Girl Unearthed – Angeline Boulley
• Wandering Souls – Cecile Pin

Non-Fiction – Business

• Millennial Black – Sophie Williams
• The Glass Cliff – Sophie Williams
• The Vagina Business – Marina Gerner

Non-Fiction – Environment

• Braiding Sweetgrass – Robin Wall Kimmerer
• Consumed – Aja Barber

Non-Fiction – Essay

• It’s Not About the Burqa – Mariam Khan

Non-Fiction – Feminism

• Feminism, Interrupted – Lola Olufemi
• Hood Feminism – Mikki Kendall

Non-Fiction – Identity

• All About Love – Bell Hooks
• Don’t Touch My Hair – Emma Dabiri
• The Mixed Race Experience – Naomi & Natasha Evans
• The Transgender Issue – Shon Faye

Non-Fiction – Politics & History

• The Hundred Years War on Palestine – Rashid Khalidi

Non-Fiction – Memoir

• Calling Una Marson – June Saprong & Jennifer Obidike
• How to Say Baylon – Safiya Sinclair
• Minor Feelings – Cathy Park Hong
• We Have Always Been Here – Samra Habib

Non-Fiction – Sex

• Come As You Are – Emily Nagoski
• The Sex Lives of African Women – Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah
• This Book Will Make You Feel Something – Florence Bark

Romance

• Pride & Protest – Nikki Payne
• Say You’ll Be My Jaan – Naina Kumar

Sci-Fi

• Interstellar Megachef – Lavanya Lakshinarayan
• Lunar Boy – Jes & Chin Wibowo

Short Stories

• Never Whistle at Night – Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.

If you’d like to get yourself a copy of any of the above, you can support local bookshops while doing so on Bookshop.org with this link here.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this blog. If you like what you’ve read and would like to access more content, I’d love if you could take a look at my patreon and consider supporting my content on there too. You can also find more content on my Instagram here.

If reading more is something that you’re looking at doing this year then should check my reading challenge out here! Read nine books from nine prompts over the first six months of the year and be entered into a draw to win a bundle of bookish goodies.

And don’t forget to check out my other blogs and reviews – you can find books with similar themes in the same folder link below, or click back onto blogs to see the whole offering.

Last updated 09/04/2025