Recommendations based on Our Bodies, Ourselves for the New Centuryby Boston Women's Health Book Collective

* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans

  1. The Elements of Style

    by William Strunk Jr.
    A practical guide to written English, providing guidance on grammar and style.

    This style manual offers practical advice on improving writing skills. Throughout, the emphasis is on promoting a plain English style. This little book can help you communicate more effectively by ... (Goodreads)

  2. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures

    by Anne Fadiman
    Exploring the cultural divide between the Hmong people and the medical establishment.

    Lia Lee was born in 1982 to a family of recent Hmong immigrants, and soon developed symptoms of epilepsy. By 1988 she was living at home but was brain dead after a tragic cycle of misunderstanding, ... (Goodreads)

  3. Grace

    by Anne Lamott
    A collection of essays on faith, doubt, and grace. Lamott's witty and honest writing explores the complexities of spirituality and the human experience.

    From the New York Times, bestselling author of, Dusk, Night, Dawn,, Bird by Bird, Hallelujah Anyway, and, Almost Everything, ,"Lamott has chronicled her wacky and (sometimes) wild adventures in faith ... (Barnes & Noble)

  4. On Death and Dying

    by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
    A look into the stages of grief, exploring the emotion and physical impacts of death.

    One of the most important psychological studies of the late twentieth century, On Death and Dying grew out of Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross's famous interdisciplinary seminar on death, life, and ... (Goodreads)

  5. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal

    by Eric Schlosser
    An exploration of the industrial food system and its effects on U.S. society.

    Fast food has hastened the malling of our landscape, widened the chasm between rich and poor, fueled an epidemic of obesity, and propelled American cultural imperialism abroad. That's a lengthy list ... (Goodreads)

  6. All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

    by Robert Fulghum
    A collection of essays that highlight the simple yet profound lessons we learn in childhood that are still relevant in adulthood.

    Robert Fulghum engages with musings on life, death, love, pain, joy, sorrow, and the best chicken-fried steak in the continental United States. The little seed in the Styrofoam cup offers a reminder ... (Goodreads)

  7. A People's History of the United States

    by Howard Zinn
    An examination of American history from a perspective of marginalized people.

    In the book, Zinn presented a different side of history from the more traditional "fundamental nationalist glorification of country". Zinn portrays a side of American history that can largely be seen ... (Goodreads)

  8. The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals

    by Michael Pollan
    Exploration of the modern food chain, examining the impact of food choices on our health and the environment.

    What should we have for dinner? The question has confronted us since man discovered fire, but according to Michael Pollan, the bestselling author of The Botany of Desire , how we answer it today, at ... (Goodreads)

  9. Nickel and Dimed: On

    by Barbara Ehrenreich
    A journalist's exploration of poverty in the U.S., exposing the struggles of low-wage workers.

    Millions of Americans work full-time, year-round, for poverty-level wages. In 1998, Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them. She was inspired in part by the rhetoric surrounding welfare reform, which ... (Goodreads)

  10. Feminism Is for Everybody: Passionate Politics

    by bell hooks
    Exploration of feminist thought and its applications to everyday life.

    Acclaimed cultural critic bell hooks offers an open-hearted and welcoming vision of gender, sexuality, and society in this inspiring and accessible volume. In engaging and provocative style, bell ... (Goodreads)

  11. Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise

    by Ruth Reichl
    A restaurant critic's journey to understand the art of food and dining, while hiding her true identity.

    Ruth Reichl, world-renowned food critic and editor in chief of Gourmet magazine, knows a thing or two about food. She also knows that as the most important food critic in the country, you need to be ... (Goodreads)

  12. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies

    by Jared Diamond
    Tracing the origins of human civilizations through the lens of geography, technology, and biology.

    "Diamond has written a book of remarkable scope ... one of the most important and readable works on the human past published in recent years." Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and a national bestseller: ... (Goodreads)

  13. The Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self

    by Alice Miller
    A psychoanalytic study of childhood trauma and its impact on adult life, exploring the search for the true self.

    The bestselling book on childhood trauma and the enduring effects of repressed anger and pain Why are many of the most successful people plagued by feelings of emptiness and alienation? This wise and ... (Goodreads)

  14. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

    by Mary Roach
    An exploration of the strange and often unknown history of cadavers, and their uses in science and medicine.

    Okay, you're thinking: ,"This must be some kind of a joke. A humorous book about cadavers?", Yup — and it works. Mary Roach takes the age-old question, "What happens to us after we die?" quite ... (Goodreads)

  15. Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table

    by Ruth Reichl
    A memoir of a food critic's childhood, filled with eccentric characters and culinary adventures that shaped her love for food and writing.

    At an early age, Ruth Reichl discovered that "food could be a way of making sense of the world. . . . If you watched people as they ate, you could find out who they were." Her deliciously crafted ... (Goodreads)

  16. The Autobiography of Malcolm X

    by Malcolm X
    A gripping account of one man's transformation from criminal to civil rights leader.

    Alternate cover for ISBN 9780345350688 Through a life of passion and struggle, Malcolm X became one of the most influential figures of the 20th Century. In this riveting account, he tells of his ... (Goodreads)

  17. Naked

    by David Sedaris
    Collection of humorous essays exploring the absurdities of everyday life.

    Welcome to the hilarious, strange, elegiac, outrageous world of David Sedaris. In Naked , Sedaris turns the mania for memoir on its proverbial ear, mining the exceedingly rich terrain of his life, ... (Goodreads)

  18. One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter

    by Scaachi Koul
    A collection of personal essays exploring identity, culture, and family, with humor and honesty.

    A collection of essays about growing up the daughter of Indian immigrants in Canada, "a land of ice and casual racism," by the cultural observer, Scaachi Koul. In One Day We'll All Be Dead and None ... (Goodreads)

  19. The History of Sexuality, Volume 1: An Introduction

    by Michel Foucault
    Examination of the power dynamics and social constructions of sexual behavior.

    Michel Foucault offers an iconoclastic exploration of why we feel compelled to continually analyze and discuss sex, and of the social and mental mechanisms of power that cause us to direct the ... (Goodreads)

  20. Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years

    by Sarah L. Delany
    Two African American sisters recount their lives spanning over a century, from slavery to the civil rights movement.

    In their 200+ combined years, Sadie and Bessie Delany have seen it all. They saw their father, who was born into slavery, become America's first black Episcopal bishop. They saw their mother–a woman ... (Goodreads)

  21. Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness

    by Susannah Cahalan
    A journalist's journey of survival and recovery from a rare autoimmune disorder.

    An award-winning memoir and instant New York Times bestseller that goes far beyond its riveting medical mystery, Brain on Fire is the powerful account of one woman’s struggle to recapture her ... (Goodreads)

  22. I'm with the Band: Confessions of a Groupie

    by Pamela Des Barres
    Memoir of a rock groupie in the 1960s and 70s, detailing her experiences with famous musicians and the wild lifestyle of the era.

    The stylish, exuberant, and remarkably sweet confession of one of the most famous groupies of the 1960s and 70s is back in print in this new edition that includes an afterword on the author's last 15 ... (Goodreads)

  23. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life

    by Barbara Kingsolver
    A family's journey to eat locally grown, sustainable food.

    Author Barbara Kingsolver and her family abandoned the industrial-food pipeline to live a rural life—vowing that, for one year, they'd only buy food raised in their own neighborhood, grow it ... (Goodreads)

  24. Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone

    by Deborah Madison
    A comprehensive cookbook, inspiring home cooks to explore a variety of vegetarian dishes.

    The tenth anniversary edition of this landmark cookbook, with more than 325,000 copies in print, includes a new introduction from Deborah Madison, America’s leading authority on vegetarian ... (Goodreads)

  25. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

    by Maya Angelou
    Autobiographical account of a Black woman's journey to find her identity in a prejudiced society.

    Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide. Her life story is told in the documentary film And Still I Rise, as seen on PBS’s American Masters. Here is a book as ... (Goodreads)

  26. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

    by Mary Wollstonecraft
    A pioneering work advocating for the political, social, and educational rights of women.

    In the present state of society, it appears necessary to go back to first principles in search of the most simple truths, and to dispute with some prevailing prejudice every inch of ground. To clear ... (Goodreads)

  27. Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year

    by Anne Lamott
    An intimate diary of a mother's journey of joy and struggle raising her son.

    The most honest, wildly enjoyable book written about motherhood is surely Anne Lamott's account of her son Sam's first year. A gifted writer and teacher, Lamott ( Crooked Little Heart ) is a single ... (Goodreads)

  28. The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother

    by James McBride
    A memoir of a black man's journey to understand his white mother's past and how it shaped his own identity.

    Touches readers of all colors as a vivid portrait of growing up, a haunting meditation on race and identity, and a lyrical valentine to a mother from her son. Who is Ruth McBride Jordan? A ... (Goodreads)

  29. Taking Charge of Your Fertility: The Definitive Guide to Natural Birth Control, Pregnancy Achievement, and Reproductive Health

    by Toni Weschler
    Guide to understanding a woman's menstrual cycle, fertility awareness, and reproductive health.

    Celebrating 10 years of helping hundreds of thousands of women achieve pregnancy, avoid pregnancy naturally, and gain better control of their health and lives, the 10th Anniversary Edition of the ... (Goodreads)

  30. The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

    by Sylvia Plath
    An intimate look into the life of the poet, documenting her struggles with mental health and creativity.

    First U.S. Publication A major literary event–the complete, uncensored journals of Sylvia Plath, published in their entirety for the first time. Sylvia Plath's journals were originally published in ... (Goodreads)