For me, the summer break means an opportunity to read more – and I love end-of-year lists of book recommendations that help me craft my choices for the next few weeks. If you’re the same, here are my recommendations for five books I read in 2024 that have evolved my thinking about gender equity:

“Consent Laid Bare” – Chanel Contos

This is the book I wish had existed when I was a teenager growing up. Not just for me, but for my friends – of all genders. We can’t separate sex from sexism – so how can we evolve the paradigm of sex to value empathy over entitlement?

“Sister Girl” – Jackie Huggins

Jackie Huggins is a Murri historian, author, advocate and activist and “Sister Girl” is a collection of her work (essays, speeches, transcripts) reflecting on many important topics like identity, reconciliation and feminism. The chapter, “Are All the Women White?” was particularly impactful for me, and a good reminder of the limitations of white feminism and how we must all strive to continue to do better.

“Small Things Like These” – Claire Keegan

Short in pages, sure, but each of them packs a punch in a story that I read in one afternoon, but that will stay with me for years. Set in a small Irish town in the mid-1980s, the story follows Bill Furlong as he is challenged to be a good ally in a difficult situation.

“Wifedom” – Anna Funder

Part biography, part historical fiction, and part memoir/self-reflection, Wifedom takes the few details that we know about George Orwell’s first wife, Eileen O’Shaughnessy, and builds a searing and insightful exploration about the role of wives and women in the lives of the men we admire.

“The Angry Women’s Choir” – Meg Bignell

A book that proves that you don’t just need to read non-fiction to learn about the world, and that feminism doesn’t just look one certain way. This book made me both laugh and cry, and its overwhelming heart gave power to its message that together, we can create real change.