READING LIST
View our five stories of the month below! Our stories are always written by women and highlight female characters. We hope to promote stories across a variety of genres, and want stories that promote discussion and social change. Follow us on Instagram @worldinsanelitmag to comment your ideas and thoughts on the books! We hope you enjoy.
All old lists can be found at the bottom of the page and on our Instagram, and comment sections are always open.
*Blurbs from Goodreads and content warnings from Common Sense Media
MAY
Here are May's stories! We hope you enjoy.
1.
WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING by delia owens
Where the Crawdads Sing juxtaposes an exquisite ode to the natural world against a profound coming of age story and haunting mystery. Thought-provoking, wise, and deeply moving, Owens’s debut novel reminds us that we are forever shaped by the child within us, while also subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.
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*includes child abandonment, domestic abuse, and sexual assault
2.
THE JOY LUCK CLUB by amy tan
Amy Tan examines the sometimes painful, often tender, and always deep connection between mothers and daughters. As each woman reveals her secrets, trying to unravel the truth about her life, the strings become more tangled, more entwined. Mothers boast or despair over daughters, and daughters roll their eyes even as they feel the inextricable tightening of their matriarchal ties. Tan is an astute storyteller, enticing readers to immerse themselves into these lives of complexity and mystery.
*includes family expulsion and conflict, rape, child abandonment, parental death, spousal abuse (both physical and mental), and suicide.
3.
PERSEPOLIS by marjane satrapi
In powerful black-and-white comic strip images, Satrapi tells the story of her life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, years that saw the overthrow of the Shah’s regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of war with Iraq. The intelligent and outspoken only child of committed Marxists and the great-granddaughter of one of Iran’s last emperors, Marjane bears witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country.
4.
THE HANDMAID'S TALE by margaret atwood
The Handmaid's Tale is an instant classic and eerily prescient cultural phenomenon, from "the patron saint of feminist dystopian fiction" ( New York Times ) The Handmaid’s Tale is a novel of such power that the reader will be unable to forget its images and its forecast. Set in the near future, it describes life in what was once the United States and is now called the Republic of Gilead, a monotheocracy that has reacted to social unrest and a sharply declining birthrate by reverting to, and going beyond, the repressive intolerance of the original Puritans.
*includes strong language, emotional and physical violence, and a couple of graphic sex scenes.
5.
LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY by bonnie garmus
Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking (“combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride”) proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn’t just teaching women to cook. She’s daring them to change the status quo.
Laugh-out-loud funny, shrewdly observant, and studded with a dazzling cast of supporting characters, Lessons in Chemistry is as original and vibrant as its protagonist.​
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*includes sexual violence.
APRIL The Poppy War The Nightingale All My Rage Bright Young Women The Husband Stitch