Library Spotlight: Posts

International Women's Day Reading List

International Women's Day is celebrated globally on March 8th. Humber Libraries has brought together a collection of library resources which highlight the achievements of women in business, STEM and healthcare, as well as highlighting the challenges and achievements of Canadian, Black and Indigenous women and the history of the women's movement. 

The Internet of Women - Accelerating Culture Change by Nada Anid (Editor), 2022.

Female scientists, technologists, engineers, and mathematicians worldwide are making historic contributions to their fields. The modern workforce is closer to gender-equal than it has ever been, and many efforts are in place to support further progress. The Internet of Women provides an exciting look at personal narratives and case studies of female leaders and cultural shifts around the globe that illustrate this promising trend – Provided by the publisher.

 

 

 

Breaking Barriers, Shaping Worlds: Canadian Women and the Search for Global Order by Campbell-Miller, Jill ; Donaghy, Greg ; Barker, Stacey, 2021. 

Where are the women in Canada’s international history? Breaking Barriers, Shaping Worlds answers this question in a comprehensive volume that explores the role of women in Canadian international affairs. Foreign policy historians have traditionally focused on powerful men. Though hidden, forgotten, or ignored, this book shows that women have also shaped Canada’s relations with the world over the past century – whether as activists, missionaries, aid workers, diplomats or diplomatic spouses. Breaking Barriers, Shaping Worlds examines the lives and careers of professional women working abroad as doctors, nurses, or economic development advisors; women fighting for change as anti-war, anti-nuclear, or Indigenous rights activists; and women engaged in traditional diplomacy – Provided by the publisher.

The Book of Awesome Black Women by M. J. Fievre; Becca Anderson, 2022. 

Author and educator M.J. Fievre, BS Ed, and bestselling author Becca Anderson have teamed up in The Book of Awesome Black Women. In it, they share an uncensored history of the power of Black women like Sojourner Truth, Anita Hill, Wangari Maathai, Aretha Franklin, Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka and so many more, whose stories embody strength, perseverance, and talent – Provided by the publisher.

 

 

 

My Life in Full by Indra Nooyi, 2021.

The first woman of color and immigrant to run a Fortune 50 company, Nooyi transformed PepsiCo with a unique vision, a vigorous pursuit of excellence, and a deep sense of purpose. Now her memoir offers a firsthand view of a legendary career-- and the sacrifices it so often demanded. From her childhood and early education in 1960s India, to an inside look at PepsiCo, Nooyi makes a clear, actionable, urgent call for business and government to prioritize the care ecosystem, paid leave and work flexibility, and a convincing argument for how improving company and community support for young family builders will unleash the economy's full potential – Provided by the publisher.

 

Women and Leadership by Julia Gillard; Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, 2021. 

In conversation with some of the world's most powerful and interesting women, Women and Leadership explores gender bias and explores the barriers to women's participation in politics – Provided by the publisher.

 

 

 

 

In Good Relation: History, Gender, and Kinship in Indigenous Feminisms by Sarah Nickel (Editor); Amanda Fehr (Editor), 2020.

Over the past thirty years, a strong canon of Indigenous feminist literature has addressed how Indigenous women are uniquely and dually affected by colonialism and patriarchy. Indigenous women have long recognized that their intersectional realities were not represented in mainstream feminism, which was principally white, middle-class, and often ignored realities of colonialism. As Indigenous feminist ideals grew, Indigenous women became increasingly multi-vocal, with multiple and oppositional understandings of what constituted Indigenous feminism and whether or not it was a useful concept – Provided by the publisher.

 

The Women's Movement and the Rise of Feminism by Nicole Horning, 2019. 

What is feminism? How has the global fight for women's rights changed from the time of suffragettes to the women's marches held around the world in 2017? As readers explore the answers to these questions, they discover the challenges women have faced in their quest for equality. With annotated quotes, sidebars, and primary sources enhancing the engaging main text, readers are given a comprehensive look at how women in various countries have fought for equal rights. A detailed timeline highlights crucial dates in feminist history, helping provide context as readers gain a deeper appreciation for this timely topic – Provided by the publisher.

The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson, 2021. 

When Jennifer Doudna was in sixth grade, she came home one day to find that her dad had left a paperback, titled The Double Helix, on her bed. She put it aside, thinking it was one of those detective tales she loved. When she read it on a rainy Saturday, she discovered she was right, in a way. As she sped through the pages, she became enthralled by the intense drama behind the competition to discover the building blocks of life. Even though her high school counselor told her girls didn't become scientists, she decided she would. Driven by a passion to understand how nature works and to turn discoveries into inventions, she would help to make what the book's author, James Watson, told her was the most important biological advance since his codiscovery of the structure of DNA. She and her collaborators turned their curiosity into an invention that will transform the human race: an easy-to-use tool that can edit DNA. Known as CRISPR, it opened a brave new world of medical miracles and moral questions – Provided by the publisher.

Black Women As Leaders: Challenging and Transforming Society by Lori Latrice Martin, 2019.

This book examines how black women have identified challenges in major social institutions across history and demonstrated adaptive leadership in mobilizing people to tackle those challenges facing black communities. Most studies about black women and social justice issues focus on the responses of black women to racism within the context of the feminist movement and/or the responses of black women to sexism in black liberation movements. Such discussions often fail to explore the ways in which black women's commitment to negotiating their racial, gender, and class identities, while engaged in the practice of leadership, is discouraged and ignored. Black Women as Leaders analyzes the commitment of contemporary black women to social justice issues from the perspective of adaptive leadership. It shows how black women are often forced into the public practice of leadership due to violent attacks from people with whom they are in engaged in interpersonal relationships – Provided by the publisher.

Leapfrog: The New Revolution for Women Entrepreneurs by Nathalie Molina Niño; Sara Grace, 2018. 

For women entrepreneurs (and anyone launching a startup from scratch), this smart, snappy guide presents 50 proven ways to leapfrog over road blocks to growth and success Through her extensive experience in the startup world, Nathalie Molina Nino, a serial entrepreneur and CEO of BRAVA Investments, discovered that women entrepreneurs face unique hurdles in launching and scaling their businesses. Often deprived of the access to support, resources, and capital their male counterparts enjoy, they need simple, effective ways to "leapfrog" over these barriers to the success they deserve. Leapfrog offers 50 proven hacks to help women entrepreneurs (and anyone launching a startup from scratch) take their businesses to the next level. Based on the Athena Core 10, a unique set of leadership values Nathalie helped develop at Barnard, as well as anecdotes and advice from well-known trailblazers, this inspiring book lays out powerful strategies and shortcuts for business growth – Provided by the publisher.

 

Women's Health Movements by Meredeth Turshen, 2019.

This book follows the implications of the changing landscape for women's health and health care and their sexual and reproductive rights. In the latest national and international health policy developments, we are witnessing the effects of a series of concerted conservative attacks on women. Facing this onslaught, women's health movements are using the new technologies of the Internet and social media and finding other novel ways to advance their rights and protest against attempts to roll back the gains they made in the last four decades. Detailed country case studies and discussions of topics ranging from violence against women, disability, and birth control, as well as abundant examples of women's activism from all over the world make this account of women's health movements a lively, informative, and compelling read – Provided by the publisher.

 

The Women's Suffrage Movement by Sally Roesch Wagner (Editor, Introduction by); Gloria Steinem (Foreword by), 2019.

Comprised of historical texts spanning two centuries with commentary on each period by the editor, this book covers the major issues and figures involved in the women's suffrage movement with a special focus on diversity, incorporating race, class, and gender. The writings of such figures as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony are featured alongside accounts of Native American women and African American suffragists such as Sarah Mapps Douglas and Harriet Purvis – Provided by the publisher.

 

 

Curated by Sandra Herber, Liaison Librarian, Faculty of Media & Creative Arts, Lakeshore Campus. .