5 Books to Celebrate the Women in Our Lives
We all have women in our lives who show up with strength, love, and grace, sometimes quietly, sometimes boldly, but always in ways that matter. If you’re celebrating a special woman or simply want to reflect on the beauty of womanhood, these five books are for you. They’re full of warmth, wisdom, and real-life encouragement—the kind of reads that feel like a deep breath or a good conversation with a friend.
From the #1 New York Times bestselling writer and author of How to Love an American Man comes a memoir that inspires us to remember the special teachers in our lives and reflect on the change we create when we share our stories.
Mrs. Korthaus has always been ahead of her time—an educator who inspired her students to dream bigger, think deeper, and live boldly. For decades, she led an English classroom with caring and conviction, but it’s not until she’s retired, and then fighting cancer, that she begins to share her story: long ago marching with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., building a corporate career, and overcoming heartbreak before “accidentally” becoming a teacher and forever shaping the lives of countless young adults—including bestselling author Kristine Gasbarre.
In Show, Don’t Tell, Kristine reflects on her thirty-year friendship with this extraordinary teacher who shaped her life so significantly. She shares the profound lessons Mrs. Korthaus taught her and other students on self-discovery, resilience, strength, and showing up fully for life. It shines a spotlight on the power of sharing our lives and our stories with each other as it moves between tragedy, awe, and the heartwarming relationship forged over decades between two women from different generations. Above all, it delivers a moving reminder about the elders who’ve believed in us—and a call to thank them for the lives they influenced us to lead.
Lucy and Ethel. Laverne and Shirley. Dorothy, Sophia, Blanche, and Rose. Chicken-Fried Women is a celebration of them: the women who raised us, taught us to cook and clap back. The ones who prayed for us, raged at us and humbled us a notch or two when we needed it. These are the women who have encouraged us, teased us, chastised us, and mortified us. And as they fill up the seats around our table, we realize we wouldn’t have it any other way.
They’re our Chicken-Fried Women—battered on the outside, tender on the inside. Some are salty and a couple are Nashville Hot. Filled with a hilarious cast of larger-than life women, this book explores why no one messes with Southern women and their hair, why the whole family comes along when you go bra shopping, why true crime and aquarobics brings us together, and how faith shapes us through it all.
Insightful, big-hearted and laugh-out-loud funny, Chicken-Fried Women is a celebration of friendship, kinship and the women who shaped us.
A testament to the indomitable human spirit and the power of a mother's love, this story of a wrongfully incarcerated woman's fight for freedom and her family will inspire all.
Judy Henderson was a single mother with a successful small business of her own when she was arrested and convicted of a crime she did not commit. Sentenced to life in prison, Henderson faced the untenable: leaving her young children as she entered the brutal prison system. Even as she faced violence, mistreatment, Henderson persevered with hope and determination. She never lost sight of her innocence—or her deeply held role as a mother. She also gained new purpose, fighting for her clemency and for the rights of incarcerated women, especially mothers. As the years passed, Henderson experienced hope through serendipitous events and calls, letters, and too infrequent visits with her children and other family. With the support of the prosecutor who once sought her conviction and the Missouri governor, Henderson was granted clemency and received a full pardon after nearly thirty-five years behind bars.
When the Light Finds Us is a gripping narrative that explores the depths of human resilience and the transformative power of hope. Henderson's story will inspire readers to persevere through their own struggles, reminding us of the strength of the human spirit and the unbreakable bond of a mother's love. In a world often filled with darkness, Judy Henderson's journey is a beacon of light, illuminating the path to redemption and the triumph of justice.
“This book will change your life! If you're wrestling with disappointment, heartache, or the curveballs life throws at you, Jessica Turner's story will speak right to your soul.”
- Mel Robbins, bestselling author and host of The Mel Robbins Podcast
Learn how to recover from life’s disappointments and rebuild a life you love.
What happens when you look at your life and think, I thought it would be better than this? You know you can’t stay where you are, but have no idea what to do next.
When Jessica N. Turner, a mom of three, lost her 16-year-marriage after her husband came out as gay, her life shattered. With grit and determination, she picked up the pieces, chose hope and courageously rebuilt a beautiful next chapter.
During this process, Jessica discovered universal tools that can support you, no matter what you’re facing. Using thoughtful reflections and exercises, vulnerable storytelling, and practical takeaways, Jessica will help you:
·Evaluate your disappointments, heartaches, and unmet expectations so that you can move forward in healing.
·Talk candidly about your feelings to forge healthier and more meaningful relationships.
·Practice forgiveness and empathy for yourself and others so that you live with more love and less pain.
·Regain control over the parts of life where you have agency instead of passively waiting for things to happen to you.
·Discover creative practices to cultivate daily satisfaction and contentment.
· Learn to love yourself and the characteristics that make you unique so that you can be more confident and content.
I Thought It Would Be Better Than This is a manifesto of hope that will empower you to transform your circumstances and move forward with intention and purpose.
Uncover the true story of courageous American Christian women who confronted and aimed to reform the patriarchal structures and abusive practices within their churches and religious communities.
A generation of American Christian girls was taught submitting to men is God’s will. They were taught not to question the men in their families or their pastors. They were told to remain sexually pure and trained to feel shame if a man was tempted. Some of these girls were abused and assaulted. Some made to shrink down so small they became a shadow of themselves. To question their leaders was to question God.
All the while, their male leaders built fiefdoms from megachurches and sprawling ministries. They influenced politics and policy. To protect their church’s influence, these men covered up and hid abuse. American Christian patriarchy, as it rose in political power and cultural sway over the past four decades, hurt many faithful believers. Millions of Americans abandoned churches they once loved.
Yet among those who stayed (and a few who still loved the church they fled), a brave group of women spoke up. They built online megaphones, using the democratizing power of technology to create long-overdue change.
In Disobedient Women, journalist Sarah Stankorb gives long-overdue recognition for these everyday women as leaders and as voices for a different sort of faith. Their work has driven journalists to help bring abuse stories to national attention. Stankorb weaves together the efforts of these courageous voices in order to present a full, layered portrait of the treatment of women and the fight for change within the modern American church.
Disobedient Women is not just a look at the women who have used the internet to bring down the religious power structures that were meant to keep them quiet, but also a picture of the large-scale changes that are happening within evangelical culture regarding women’s roles, ultimately underscoring the ways technology has created a place for women to challenge traditional institutions from within.
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