Lindy West and Hari Kondabolu will discuss West’s new collection of essays, The Witches Are Coming, at PEN Out Loud on November 6. In anticipation of their upcoming conversation, here are 16 titles on the power of women’s rage. 

The Witches Are Coming, Lindy West 
Lindy West, the New York Times bestselling author of Shrill returns with a stunning follow-up that incisively critiques the climate following the #MeToo movement. Fiery and charming, The Witches Are Coming searches for the dark truth behind America’s mythos.

Shrill, Lindy West
In her boundlessly charming and razor-sharp debut, Lindy West explores what it means to be a woman who takes up space in a world that pushes against you. Brimming with humorous anecdotes and insight, Shrill takes on aesthetic excellence, sex-objecthood, and what it means to become self-aware.

Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture, Ed. Roxane Gay 
In a moving anthology of essays edited by widely praised cultural critic and author Roxane Gay, Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture confronts topics of violence, harrassment, and hostility towards women. Provocative and insightful, these essays reflects the world we live in and serve as an essential call to arms.

Thick: And Other Essays, Tressie McMillan Cottom
From award-winning professor and author Tressie McMillian Cottom, comes a series of provocative essays that analyze and challenge injustices affecting everyday women based on race and gender.

Three Women, Lisa Taddeo 
In this work of nonfiction Lisa Taddeo crafts a robust and reflective portrait of the desires of three women over eight years. Traversing the country to collect interviews, Taddeo writes a staggering and essential piece on female desire.

Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women’s Anger, Lisa Taddeo 
In Soraya Chemaly’s eye opening and dynamic debut, women’s anger becomes a catalyst for change rather than something that should be limited or eliminated entirely. Empowering and impactful, Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women’s Anger will make you angry and show you what to do about it.

Everything’s Trash, But It’s Okay, Phoebe Robinson
The New York Times bestselling author, Phoebe Robinson, delivers a witty and unabashed essay collection of cultural commentary and personal narrative. Unfiltered and engaging, Everything’s Trash, But It’s Okay is a powerful feminist take on our contemporary moment.

Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls, T Kira Madden 
From T Kira Madden comes a debut memoir that is unflinching and formidably truthful. Recounting her youth and the struggles of losing her father, Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls unearths the complexities of loss, family, and privilege.

Trick Mirror, Jia Tolentino 
Known for her witty cultural commentary in The New Yorker, Jia Tolentino’s Trick Mirror reflects on the contemporary state of selfhood and identity through a millennial lens.

In the Dream House, Carmen Maria Machado
From the acclaimed author of Her Body and Other Parties comes PEN Awards Finalist Carmen Maria Machado’s latest book, In the Dream House, a memoir of abuse in a queer relationship. In the Dream House deploys classic literary tropes and simultaneously subverts them, culminating in a piercing account that confronts shame and truth.

A Prayer for Travelers, Ruchika Tomar
In this highly anticipated debut, Tomar crafts a tale of longing through the character of Cale, a bookish girl raised by her aging grandfather in a desert ghost town. A geographical novel, Tomar maps elusive emotions onto earnest characters and the gripping, sometimes unsettling, topography.

I’m Afraid of Men, Vivek Shraya
This necessary and exacting memoir chronicles one artist’s journey as a trans woman. Shraya recounts her childhood absorbing the trauma of misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia, and how she has unlearned and released this trauma in adulthood. Eye-opening and vulnerable, this memoir re-evaluates gender and social interactions in the modern world.

The Body Papers, Grace Talusan
This memoir follows the author as she moves from the Philippines to a New England suburb and the painful trauma she endured as a victim of sexual abuse within her family. Poignant, brave, and deeply intimate, Talusan wrestles with the complexities of being an undocumented immigrant, family secrets, sexual abuse, and her racial identity.

An American Marriage, Tayari Jones 
Winner of the 2019 Women’s Prize for Fiction, An American Marriage presents a deeper look into the lives of an African-American couple whose lives together are ripped apart by a wrongful conviction of rape. A daring and tender novel, An American Marriage offers a contemporary perspective into injustice and sincere love.

Disappearing Earth, Julia Phillips 
A skilled and exciting debut novel by author Julia Phillips, Disappearing Earth traces the disappearance of two sisters in the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia. Pairing a rich cast of characters with a detailed and expansive setting, Disappearing Earth is a captivating and mysterious story.