Book Recommendations for the Modern Woman

The summer reading season has officially arrived, and many blogs, magazines, and other media outlets are offering their recommendations.

Here on Page & Pairings, we’re recommending titles that may be of interest to the multidimensional Modern Woman. Woman who may want to read about how to balance their career, creativity, relationships, and self-growth, as well as lose herself in a gripping thriller or mystery. She may even want to become enchanted with family sagas and stories featuring strong heroines and passionate romance.

With that in mind, we’re recommending a host of what’s new in memoirs and biographies, novels that book clubs will devour, self-help and women’s health guides, exciting travel books, titles for cooks and crafters, and books for fans of true crime!

Biography / Memoirs

A Woman Among Wolves: My Journey Through Forty Years of Wolf Recovery

by Diane K Boyd - Douglas H Chadwick

In her debut memoir, one of the first women biologists in the United States to study wild wolves in their natural habitat takes readers on a wild ride from the early days of wolf research to the present-day challenges of wolf management across the globe.

"This is a book about a courageous woman…informative, fascinating, and beautifully written."—Dr. Jane Goodall

The Friendship Bench: How Fourteen Grandmothers Inspired a Mental Health Revolution

by Dixon Chibanda

As one of only six psychiatrists in all of Zimbabwe, Dr. Chibanda realized that millions there were suffering from mental illness with no hope of receiving care. He saw that the only way to narrow this care gap was to leverage existing resources in the community, and one such resource was the compassion and understanding of grandmothers.

With fourteen of these wise elders as partners, Chibanda pioneered the Friendship Bench program, a community-driven initiative addressing loneliness, depression, substance abuse, and suicide by fostering intergenerational connectedness. Women are sure to find guidance and inspiration from the grandmothers behind this initiative and learn how to reach out to those who are struggling.

Firstborn Girls: A Memoir

by Bernice L McFadden

From an award-winning author and creative writing professor at Tulane University comes an intimate and powerful memoir exploring inherited trauma, family secrets, and the enduring bonds of love between mothers and daughters—an extraordinarily moving portrait of a life shaped by family, history, and the drive to be something more.

This American Woman: A One-In-A-Billion Memoir

by Zarna Garg

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

An award-winning comedian turns her astonishing life story into a hilarious memoir—from narrowly escaping an arranged marriage and homelessness in India to carving her own path in America and launching a dazzling second act in midlife. “[A] touching story of a brilliant and brave woman who defied all odds to make it in America. Her memoir will inspire you, make you cry, and laugh so hard it hurts.”—Mindy Kaling, award-winning actress and producer

Dreaming of Home: How We Turn Fear Into Pride, Power, and Real Change

by Cristina Jiménez

A MacArthur “Genius” shares her inspiring story, from undocumented newcomer to leader in a powerful immigrant youth movement. Through personal stories and historical truth telling, Cristina invites us to acknowledge the America that never was and to imagine the America that could be when everyday people build power and fight for change. And she reminds us that home is more than a physical place on the map, offering each of us a roadmap for finding the home within even when the world around us seems to be crumbling.

I'll Have What She's Having

by Chelsea Handler

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

In her #1 New York Times bestseller filled with hilarious and tender stories, comedian and TV host Handler shares her unforgettable story of becoming the woman she always wanted to be.

"A raw and raucous exploration of Handler's ongoing search for self…[She's] disarming us with humor to get at our softest selves and meeting us with her own."—Oprah Daily

Cooking & Entertaining

The White Lotus Official Cocktail Collection

by Sarah Gualtieri - Berne Berne

With this official cocktail guide, fans of the acclaimed, Emmy-winning HBO series The White Lotus can bring the elegant resort experience to their home and savor the sophistication and elegance with each drink filled with a hint of tropical paradise and fantasy. This volume offers recipes for 60 cocktails to take you from Hawaii to Sicily to Thailand, where an exotic escape awaits you in every glass.

Spirited Women: Makers, Shakers, and Trailblazers in the World of Cocktails

by Sammi Katz - Olivia McGiff

Joyfully raising a glass to the dame and the dram, this gorgeously illustrated cocktail book celebrates centuries of women's contributions to spirits and cocktail culture, from the invention of distilling to today's innovative bar programs. Perfect for anyone in search of drinking gifts for women, this comprehensive bartender book illuminates the often-overlooked stories of women who have revolutionized every aspect of the spirits industry.

Farm-Fresh Charcuterie Spreads: Over 40 Boards to Enjoy with Family and Friends

by Lana Stenner

From the author of The Grace-Filled Homestead Cookbook comes this collection of more than 40 recipes for creative and delicious charcuterie spreads featuring fresh, wholesome ingredients. More than just a foodie trend, charcuterie boards fit the way we cook and eat today. These popular platters offer variety, style, convenience, and flavor for home cooks looking to share some delicious food with their friends and family. You’ll discover holiday-themed recipes; specialty boards for butter, cheese, and even edible flowers; and step-by-step instructions for Lana’s famous Grace-Filled Homestead grazing table.

The Simplified Cookbook: Delicious Meals with Effortless Prep (60 Recipes + 60 Assembly Meals) - The Perfect Gifts for Busy Moms and Dads

by Emily Ley

Crazy-busy with hungry people in your house? Learn how to simplify mealtimes without losing your cool. Plan, cook, and assemble satisfying meals with guidance from award-winning Simplified® brand founder and mom of three Emily Ley in this easy guide to getting food on the table without sacrificing your to-do list, your relationships, or your sanity.

The ideas and recipes in The Simplified Cookbook will help your life and your kitchen run more smoothly while satisfying even the heartiest—and pickiest—of appetites.

Crafts & Hobbies

Bella Coco's Crochet Stitch Card Deck: A Pocket Stitch Library in 52 Cards

by Sarah-Jayne Fragola

From the YouTube sensation and bestselling creator of Bella Coco Crochet comes this perfect on-the-go tool for every crochet enthusiast: a deck of 50 different stitches in an elegant card format, designed to accompany you on all your crochet adventures. Wherever you crochet, you’ll have Bella Coco’s friendly and informative guidance in the palm of your hands.

Black Girls Gardening: Empowering Stories and Garden Wisdom for Healing and Flourishing in Nature

by Amber Grossman

A unique gardening book profiling women who demonstrate how a gardening practice has the power to heal, empower, educate, and connect. Offering 31 compelling personal stories about creating backyard, flower, and vegetable gardens, participating in community gardens, and gardening with kids, this book is perfect for aspiring and practicing Black women gardeners, first-time homeowners, parents who garden with their kids, and women of all ages who enjoy sinking their hands into the soil.

Self-Help / Personal Growth

Activate Your Future Self: The Secret to Effortlessly Becoming the Happiest, Healthiest and Wealthiest You

by Mimi Bouchard

Finally get everything you want out of life! In this transformative book, the founder of the revolutionary Activations app offers simple but powerful strategies to shift every aspect of your life—from your health and relationships to your career and finances—and help you become the happiest, most successful, most abundant version of yourself.

**Life Is a Lazy Susan of Sh*t Sandwiches**

by Jennifer Welch - Angie Sullivan

The beloved hosts of the blockbuster podcast I've Had It deliver an honest, irreverent, and inspiring guide to overcoming life's unexpected challenges and finding joy, stability, and humor through today's chaotic world. From infidelity, addiction, and sobriety to economic instability, struggles with self-worth, and brushes with fame, they've seen it all, and they're here to guide you on your own journey, showing how we too can center our lives around humor, hope and connection, and let go of the rest.

Perfect for fans of Big Friendship and The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck.

The Gifts of Imperfection: 10th Anniversary Edition: Features a New Foreword and Brand-New Tools

by Brené Brown

For over a decade, Brené Brown has found a special place in our hearts as a gifted mapmaker and a fellow traveler. She is both a social scientist and a kitchen-table friend whom you can always count on to tell the truth, make you laugh, and, on occasion, cry with you. And what’s now become a movement all started with this #1 New York Times bestseller. What transforms this book from words on a page to effective daily practices are the 10 guideposts to wholehearted living.

The guideposts not only help us understand the practices that will allow us to change our lives and families, but they also walk us through the unattainable and sabotaging expectations that get in the way.

Career Break Compass: Navigating Your Path to a Balanced Life Through Intentional Time Off

by Laura Nguyen

Are you overwhelmed by the relentless demands of your job, parenthood, and life? Craving a chance to pause, reflect, and grow? Career Break Compass is your indispensable guide to navigating the transformative journey of a sabbatical. Authored by a recovering workaholic, this book offers strategies to shed chronic pressure, propel your career, explore hidden passions, and craft a purpose-driven existence.

Never Date a Broke Dude: The Financial Freedom Playbook

by Pattie Ehsaei

The definitive playbook for women navigating love and money to secure their financial freedom forever—from licensed attorney, finance expert, and TikTok powerhouse Pattie Ehsaei. In her real-world, big-sister tone, Pattie spills the tea on everything—from the secrets of trapped trophy wives and her dating missteps to ayahuasca-induced revelations and even murder-suicide, while transforming each jaw-dropping story into simple, actionable life advice. A juicy, seamless, game-changing manual designed for reality!

Women’s Health

Floored: A Woman's Guide to Pelvic Floor Health at Every Age and Stage

by Sara Reardon

The definitive guide to the pelvic floor, including tips and resources on maintaining pelvic health at every stage from menstruation to menopause, written by a doctor of pelvic floor physical therapy and the creator of the Instagram sensation, the Vagina Whisperer. With clear and engaging guidance, Dr. Reardon demystifies the complexities of pelvic floor care and provides everything you need to ensure your pelvic well-being.

Normalize It: Upending the Silence, Stigma, and Shame That Shape Women's Lives

by Jessica Zucker

In her critically acclaimed, groundbreaking book I Had a Miscarriage, Jessica Zucker boldly exposed the silence, stigma, and shame that surround pregnancy loss and demonstrated the need to normalize conversations around painful reproductive events that too often go unspoken. In Normalize It, Zucker expands her lens to address a multitude of challenges women face—from girlhood, body image, motherhood, reproductive choice, sexual trauma, menopause, and more—that so often incite shame and overwhelming cultural pressure to stay silent.

Perimenopause & Prosecco

by Erin Kimbro

Helping women to laugh and cry through the trials and tribulations of perimenopause and just life in general, this book is their go-to space for tracking symptoms, venting frustrations, and celebrating small wins—all with a splash of humor and maybe a glass of prosecco! With daily wellness check-ins, anxiety trackers, funny survival tips, and plenty of space to reflect (or rant), this is the perfect companion for any woman tackling perimenopause head-on.

Travel

The Bucket List Eco Experiences: Traveling the World, Sustaining the Earth

by Juliet Kinsman

A new era of sustainable travel is dawning. More than ever, vacationers are seeking experiences that are sustainable for the environment, sensitive of other cultures, make a positive impact, and above all, do no harm. Focusing on sustainable travel, this bucket list guide features 1,000 vacation ideas that are eco-friendly, respectful of local cultures, and highlight opportunities to give back.

100 Beaches of a Lifetime: The World's Ultimate Shorelines

by Freda Moon - Ashley Harrell

From the boho surf culture of Australia’s Bondi Beach to Costa Rica’s dreamy Playa Blanca, rich in white sand and wildlife, discover the 100 of the world’s most breathtaking coastlines, riverbanks, and lakefronts in this exquisitely illustrated collection compiled by two award-winning writers. Perfect for those seeking a restful escape to a relaxing paradise.

Lonely Planet Women Travel Solo: 30 Inspiring Stories of Adventure, Curiosity and the Power of Self-Discovery

by Lonely Planet

Packed with candid first-person accounts from brilliant women—including a retired nomad, a keen cyclist, a circus artist, a woman celebrating sobriety, a college graduate, and many others—this is the ultimate book of courage to inspire budding female globetrotters to embrace the transformative power of travelling solo.

Fiction

Gabriele

by Anne Berest - Claire Berest - Tina Kover

A May 2025 Indie Next List Great Read

The story of a passionate love affair that triggered a revolution. An atmospheric, exuberant, biographical novel from bestselling author Anne Berest (The Postcard) and her sister, Claire, about love and sex, art and revolution, experimentation and creativity, and three young people who changed the world.

Fifteen Wild Decembers

by Karen Powell

SHORTLISTED FOR THE NERO BOOK AWARDS 2023
A SUNDAY TIMES' BEST HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK OF 2023

In her dazzling second novel, acclaimed author Karen Powell delivers a stirring tale about English author Emily Brontë, her two sisters Anne and Charlotte, and their brother Branwell—their childhoods in the Yorkshire countryside, the devastating loss of two other sisters, and their relationship as each grows up. When the time comes for them to venture out into the world to earn a living, each of them struggles to adapt, but for Emily the change is catastrophic. Torn from the landscape to which she has become so passionately bound, she is simply unable to function. Perfect for fans of gothic literature and Regency-era history of England.

Bluebird Day

by Megan Tady

A Washington Post Noteworthy Book

In this hilarious, heartwarming tale set in a dreamy Swiss village with a colorful cast of characters, mother-daughter skiing champs face the bumps in their own relationship when an avalanche forces them together. Can this duo survive snow-buried regrets and family secrets and have the happy reunion they’re hoping for? “[A] a winsome dramedy about the fraught relationship between a five-time Olympic gold medalist and her resentful daughter. I loved the quirky cast of characters and Meg's stylish prose as she weaves heart and humor in this story of a mother and daughter striving to reconnect against all odds. This one takes the gold!"—Michelle Hoffman, author of The Second Ending

The Bombshell

by Darrow Farr

Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner

A young woman's radicalization sparks a widespread movement and media frenzy in this explosive novel from an extraordinary new talent, filled with seduction and fervor that explores the wonders and perils of youthful idealism, the combustibility of celebrity, and the sublime force of young love.

“A lush, cinematic and propulsive novel filled with sex, violence, glamor and a true revolutionary spirit. It's a towering literary achievement."—Adam Johnson

Where the Rivers Merge

by Mary Alice Monroe

Set against the evocative landscape of the American South of the 20^th century, this epic novel from New York Times bestseller Mary Alice Monroe is a dramatic and sweeping multigenerational family story of unyielding love, lessons learned, profound sacrifices, and the indomitable spirit of one intrepid woman who’s determined to persevere in the face of change in order to protect her family legacy and the land she loves.

"This is book club fiction at its finest!”—Lisa Wingate, #1 New York Times bestselling author

All the Other Mothers Hate Me

by Sarah Harman

Luckiest Girl Alive meets A Simple Favor in this voice-driven, stylish, and darkly comedic debut thriller about a former pop star turned bad mom who will do anything to save her young son after he becomes the prime suspect in his classmate's disappearance, from the winner of the Lucy Cavendish Prize for Fiction.

“A smirking thriller that never threatens to take itself too seriously."—NPR

The Perfect Divorce

by Jeneva Rose

The sequel to Rose’s New York Times bestseller The ~~Perfect~~ Marriage. It’s been 11 years since attorney Sarah Morgan successfully defended her husband, Adam, against the charge of murdering his mistress. Sarah has long since moved on, starting a family with her new husband, Bob Miller, and changing careers. Her life is back to being exactly how she always wanted…or is it?

“A riveting he said/she said thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat right from the very first page.”—Karin Slaughter, New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling author

Whether you love literary fiction, mysteries and thrillers, how-to guides, or selective nonfiction, celebrate your modern womanhood by picking up one of these recommended titles. We’d love to hear what books about modern womanhood you like to read. Please comment and share your favorites with us and share this blog on social media using #ModernWomanReads.

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