Laura Bates shares her favourite feminist books
The writer and campaigner chooses works by Malorie Blackman, Louise O’Neill and Madeline Miller
The writer and founder of the Everyday Sexism Project chooses her favourite feminist books. She will speak about her new book, "The New Age of Sexism", at the Hay Festival on 26 May.
Noughts and Crosses
Malorie Blackman, 2001
A love story set against the backdrop of a racially segregated world, with light-skinned "noughts" systemically oppressed by the ruling, dark-skinned "crosses". Stirring and inspiring, it remains one of the most powerful examples of how children's literature can convey the devastating impact of prejudice and inequality.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Asking For It
Louise O’Neill, 2015
A fictional but all-too-familiar story about the aftermath of the rape of a young woman in a small town. This searing YA novel explores themes of complicity, victim-blaming and the devastating legacy of sexual violence, and portrays how both the media and our communities can play a role in the miscarriage of justice.
Circe
Madeline Miller, 2018
A brilliant retelling of Greek mythology through a feminist lens. Not just a delicious novel, but also a comforting reminder that it is never too late to correct the erasure of women from the narrative.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
My Life on the Road
Gloria Steinem, 2015
This memoir from the legendary campaigner is a vital primer for any feminist activist. Steinem powerfully conveys the importance of collective voice, intersectionality and solidarity in the quest for a better world.
It’s Not About the Burqa
Edited by Mariam Khan, 2019
A moving, eye-opening and often hilarious collection of essays by Muslim women, covering everything from misogyny to Islamophobia.
Nesting
Roisín O’Donnell, 2025
Fleeing with her children from the coercive control of her abusive husband, Ciara must navigate an inhumane and broken housing system. This debut novel reads like a thriller, but for thousands of women the story it spotlights is all too real.
Titles in print are available from The Week Bookshop
-
Sudoku hard: November 13, 2025The Week's daily hard sudoku puzzle
-
Codeword: November 13, 2025The Week's daily codeword puzzle
-
Who were the ‘weekend snipers’ of Sarajevo?Under the Radar Italian authorities launch investigation into allegations far-right gun enthusiasts paid to travel to Bosnian capital and shoot civilians ‘for fun’ during the four-year siege
-
‘Paper Girl: A Memoir of Home and Family in a Fractured America’ and ‘Unabridged: The Thrill of (and Threat to) the Modern Dictionary’feature The culture divide in small-town Ohio and how the internet usurped dictionaries
-
6 homes with fall foliagefeature An autumnal orange Craftsman, a renovated Greek Revival church and an estate with an orchard
-
Bugonia: ‘deranged, extreme and explosively enjoyable’Talking Point Yorgos Lanthimos’ film stars Emma Stone as a CEO who is kidnapped and accused of being an alien
-
The Revolutionists: a ‘superb and monumental’ bookThe Week Recommends Jason Burke ‘epic’ account of the plane hijackings and kidnappings carried out by extremists in the 1970s
-
Film reviews: ‘Bugonia,’ ‘The Mastermind’ and ‘Nouvelle Vague’feature A kidnapped CEO might only appear to be human, an amateurish art heist goes sideways, and Jean-Luc Godard’s ‘Breathless’ gets a lively homage
-
Book reviews: ‘Against the Machine: On the Unmaking of Humanity’ and ‘Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice’feature An examination of humanity in the face of “the Machine” and a posthumous memoir from one of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, who recently died by suicide
-
The dazzling coral gardens of Raja AmpatThe Week Recommends Region of Indonesia is home to perhaps the planet’s most photogenic archipelago
-
Salted caramel and chocolate tart recipeThe Week Recommends Delicious dessert can be made with any biscuits you fancy