5 Spring Book Releases By Women, For Women On Empowerment, Enlightenment And More

The 11th annual Independent Bookstore Day will be commemorated on April 27 to celebrate independent bookstores across the country, both in-store and online. Bookstores will be hosting author talks, “book crawls” and book sales across the U.S.

To celebrate, we have pulled together a list of newly released books by women, for women, on empowerment, enlightenment and more.

Coming Home By Brittney Griner

Nine-time women’s basketball champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner was arrested in Moscow in February 2022 after she was accused of having vape cartridges containing hashish oil, which is illegal in Russia. She was held in detention until December 2022 after pleading guilty to drug charges. The U.S. government classified her case as “wrongfully detained,” according to ABC News. Her her fiance, as well as WNBA and NBA athletes, began to raise awareness about her case and rally for her release.

In her new book, Griner shares the details of her arrest and isolation as “the first American woman” to endure a Russian penal colony. She also shares how the love of her wife and her family’s support helped her through the most difficult moments and her resolve to become an advocate for other Americans who have been wrongfully detained overseas.

First Love: Essays On Friendship By Lilly Dancyger

This collection of essays celebrates women’s friendships as love stories, sparked by the murder of author Lilly Dancyger’s cousin and her subsequent devotion to the women in her life. Throughout her essays, Dancyger explores cultural assumptions about identity and desire and the ways women create space for each other.

In an interview with Lit Hub, Dancyger said the book is about “the richness of the worlds created within friendships, the love and closeness and even the precariousness.”

Do It Anyway: Don’t Give Up Before It Gets Good By Tasha Cobbs Leonard

In her debut book, Grammy-winning gospel singer Tasha Cobbs Leonard shares her experience of following her dreams even when they don’t make sense and offers advice on living a bolder life. The book explores Leonard’s secret to perseverance: when saying yes to God doesn’t make sense, do it anyway.

In an interview with Essence, Leonard said the book explores the obstacles she has overcome while living “in the limelight,” juggling a career and family and the expectations of fans.

“So, it’s not necessarily just about those difficult seasons or when it looks like it’s not going to happen for you, but would you choose to do it anyway, even when your promises are coming to pass?” she told Essence. “Because it gets hard.”

Undue Burden: Life and Death Decisions in Post-Roe America By Shefali Luthra

Award-winning journalist Shefali Luthra investigates the experience of seeking an abortion after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, following stories from patients faced with making the most important decisions of their lives. Luthra has covered the intersection of gender and healthcare and national healthcare and policy for The 19th* and Kaiser Health News, reporting on topics such HIPAA abortion records updates, federal abortion restrictions, and HIV prevention.

One of Our Kind By Nicola Yoon

This thriller by New York Times best-selling author Nicola Yoon explores race and privilege in an all-Black gated community. In a conversation with The Bookseller, Yoon said, “One of Our Kind is a book I felt called to write. It’s the culmination of years of thinking about what freedom means when you’re Black, and the ways in which that freedom is complicated by the presumptions we make about ourselves and each other.”