The youngest female in one of the world’s youngest parliamentary systems, Malalai Joya recounts her life as an activist lauded, suppressed, and, finally, ousted from the infant Afghani government in A Woman Amongst Warlords: The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Who Dared to Raise Her Voice.

Weaving in and out of religious communities, a young girl searches for identity and acceptance in Nicole Markotic's novel Scrapbook of My Years as a Zealot.

Some of these essays from creative women who have dealt with depression feel unoriginal, but others bring a fresh perspective--and they all posit a hopeful message.

Helen Walsh's novel about an interracial couple struggling with the racist small-town England of the 1970s and ’80s courses with life but leaves us desensitized in the end.

This collection features stories about women facing doom in a male-dominated world. Unfortunately, the characters aren't compelling enough to make us care.