One of the goals I had when launching this blog was to establish a must-read list of books and a must-view list of movies for feminists and liberals/progressives. I’ll save movies for another time, today it’s all about the books.

And I have to admit that I am a total bookaholic. I can’t go into a bookstore and not buy books which means I actually had to set aside two shelves on one of my bookcases to house the books I’m waiting to read (and yes, there’s more than that because I keep finding out about great books to read – but I ain’t complainin’). My real junkie attack is when I go to Portland’s Powells Books.

I am by no means the expert on this but I’ll venture a few of my favs here and feel free to add your own in the comments. When I get a decent list going, I’ll post it permanently on the site on a seperate page. (And by the way, these lists are not in any kind of order, just the order I thought of them.)

Books:

1. The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan
2. The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir
3. Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
4. Women, Race & Class by Angela Davis
5. Fast Girls by Emily White
6. Our Bodies Ourselves
7. The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler
8. A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
9. A Handmaid’s Tale By Margaret Atwood
10. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
11. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
12. Valencia by Michelle Tea
13. anything by bell hooks
14. Wonder Woman: The Complete History by Les Daniels
15. Girl Culture by Lauren Greenfield

On my bookshelf (waiting):

1. Catfight by Leora Tanenbaum
2. Bitch by Elizabeth Wurtzell
3. Female Chauvanist Pigs by Ariel Levy
4. Full Frontal Feminism by Jessica Valenti
5. Pink Think by Lynn Peril
6. Self-Made Man by Norah Vincent
7. Pin-Up Grrrls by Maria Elena Buszek
8. The Bust Guide to the New Girl Order
9. Nickel and Dimed to Death by Barbara Ehrenreich
10. Rent Girl by Michelle Tea

And if you’re interested in reading some books together or just feeling nosy about what else is on my bookshelf (I got a degree in English Lit, so I’m pretty nerdy), you can check out my page on Shelfari – and join up, too. It’s free! I’m listed as Siren and you can become my “friend” and we can check out each others books, discuss books, etc.