Barbie fans will enjoy these Nonfiction and Fiction recommendations!
Love Like That by Emma Duffy-Comparone
The women in this wickedly funny collection of stories are often caught between desire and duty, and guilt and resentment as they discover what it means to get lost in love, and do what it takes to find themselves again.
Luisa Now and Then by Carole Maurel
Thirty-two, single, and having left behind her dream to become a renowned photographer, Luisa encounters and must guide her fifteen-year-old self in order to fully accept who she is.
Woman World by Aminder Dhaliwal
When a birth defect wipes out the planet’s entire population of men, it is up to the women of the world to rebuild civilization.
Barbie and Ruth by Robin Gerber
Traces the parallel lives of the Barbie doll and its creator, Ruth Handler, discussing the latter’s origins as a competitive business pioneer who drew on the lessons of her fight with breast cancer to become a respected humanitarian and entrepreneur.
The Male Gazed by Manuel Betancourt
Combining personal anecdotes with cultural criticism, a queer Colombian culture writer and film critic presents this memoir-in-essays in which he looks back over decades’ worth of pop culture’s attempts to codify and reframe what men can be, wear, do and desire, establishing that to gaze at men is still a subversive act.
Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband? by Lizzie Damilola Blackburn
A 30-something, Oxford-educated, British Nigerian woman with a high-paying job and good friends, Yinka, whose aunties frequently pray for her delivery from singledom, must find a date for her cousin’s wedding with the help of a spreadsheet and her best friend.
Toy Monster by Jerry Oppenheimer
Examines the inner workings of the world’s largest toymaker, discussing its eccentric management personalities, unethical business practices, litigation with rivals, and its 2007 scandalous recalls of toys made in China covered in lead-based paint.
The Barbie Chronicles by Yona Zeldis McDonough
A collection of witty, dire, idiosyncratic, and lighthearted commentary brings together the essays of Jane Smiley, Erica Jong, Anna Quindlen, Carol Sheilds, and a host of other Barbie lovers and haters.
