International Women’s Day is this Wednesday, March 8. Although you should always be doing this, it’s an important reminder to uplift women in our communities and continue the fight for equality and equity. If you’re looking to be inspired by incredible women this year, support and listen to one of these powerful audiobooks to celebrate International Women’s Day.
All synopses and images have been shared by Audible.
Audiobooks to get around this International Women’s Day
POWER by Kemi Nekvapil
Kemi Nekvapil knows the feelings of fear, vulnerability and powerlessness. Growing up in foster care, many times she had the doors to validation and opportunity closed to her because of her race and gender. Learning to make her own choices and use her voice without apology were her first steps towards a bold, purpose-filled life.
Now a highly respected executive and personal coach, Kemi has created a five-step process to guide other women to build their power and transform their lives through the principles of Presence, Ownership, Wisdom, Equality and Responsibility. Drawing from her personal lived experience and work with clients, Kemi deconstructs traditional power paradigms; explores why, as women, we so readily give our power away and shows us how to reclaim our power, and all that’s possible when we build a power-fuelled life. Blending inspiring stories with reflective coaching practices, POWER provides the tools to navigate the challenges that impact who we are, from discrimination and burnout to trauma and self-doubt.
I’m Glad my Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
Jennette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother’s dream was for her only daughter to become a star, and Jennette would do anything to make her mother happy. So she went along with what Mom called “calorie restriction,” eating little and weighing herself five times a day. She endured extensive at-home makeovers while Mom chided, “Your eyelashes are invisible, okay? You think Dakota Fanning doesn’t tint hers?” She was even showered by Mom until age sixteen while sharing her diaries, email, and all her income.
In I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette recounts all this in unflinching detail—just as she chronicles what happens when the dream finally comes true. Cast in a new Nickelodeon series called iCarly, she is thrust into fame. Though Mom is ecstatic, emailing fan club moderators and getting on a first-name basis with the paparazzi (“Hi Gale!”), Jennette is riddled with anxiety, shame, and self-loathing, which manifest into eating disorders, addiction, and a series of unhealthy relationships. These issues only get worse when, soon after taking the lead in the iCarly spinoff Sam & Cat alongside Ariana Grande, her mother dies of cancer. Finally, after discovering therapy and quitting acting, Jennette embarks on recovery and decides for the first time in her life what she really wants.
The Ninth Life of a Diamond Minor by Grace Tame
Grace Tame has never walked on middle ground. From a young age, her life was defined by uncertainty—by trauma and strength, sadness and hope, terrible lows and wondrous highs. As a teenager she found the courage to speak up after experiencing awful and ongoing child sexual abuse. This fight to find her voice would not be her last.
In 2021 Grace stepped squarely into the public eye as the Australian of the Year, and was the catalyst for a tidal wave of conversation and action. Australians from all walks of life were inspired and moved by her fire and passion. She was using her voice and encouraging others to use theirs too. The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner is Grace’s story, in Grace’s words, on Grace’s terms. Here she returns, again and again, to the things that have driven and saved her: love, connection and radical, unwavering honesty. Like Grace, this book is sharply intelligent, deeply felt, wildly unexpected and often blisteringly funny. And, as with all her work, it offers a constructive and optimistic vision for a better future for all of us.
Different, Not Less by Chloé Hayden
Growing up, Chloé Hayden felt like she’d crash-landed on an alien planet where nothing made sense. Eye contact? Small talk? And why are you people so touch-oriented? She moved between 10 schools in 8 years, struggling to become a person she believed society would accept, and was eventually diagnosed with autism and ADHD. When a life-changing group of allies showed her that different did not mean less, she learned to celebrate her true voice and find her happily ever after.
This is a moving, at times funny story of how it feels to be neurodivergent as well as a practical guide, with advice for living with meltdowns and shutdowns, tips for finding supportive communities and much more. Whether you’re neurodivergent or supporting those who are, Different, Not Less will inspire you to create a more inclusive world where everyone feels like they belong. Chloé Hayden is an award-winning actor and disability advocate, motivational speaker and social media influencer whose story of being ‘different, not less’ has attracted a worldwide following. She stars as Quinni in Heartbreak High, the Netflix remake of the iconic Australian series.
My Dream Time by Ash Barty
It’s a tennis story. It’s a family story. It’s a teamwork story. It’s the story of how I got to where and who I am today. I’m only in my mid-twenties, and some might think that’s young to write a memoir. Who does that, right? But for me and my team it’s always been important to reflect on every part of the journey, especially the end. In that context, the timing is perfect to share my story, the first time I picked up a racquet as a 5-year-old girl in Ipswich to the night I packed up my tennis bag at Melbourne Park after winning the 2022 Australian Open. This book gives me a chance to look back at every moment of the 20 years in between, and to think carefully through the highs and lows, the work and the play, the smiles and the tears.
My Dream Time is about finding the path to being the best I could be, not just as an athlete but as a person, and to consider the way those identities overlap and compete. We all have a professional and a personal self. How do you conquer nerves and anxiety? How do you deal with defeat, or pain? What drives you to succeed–and what happens when you do? The answers tell me so much, about bitter disappointments and also dreams realised–from injuries and obscurity and self-doubt to winning Wimbledon and ranking number 1 in the world.
The Success Experiment by Lillian Ahenkan
How would our lives change if we set our goals based on what would actually fulfil us, instead of what feels easy or achievable? Lillian Ahenkan’s hypothesis: anyone can create a unique formula for their own personal success. The one-size-fits-all approach to ‘your best life’ is outdated – you can do better. You don’t have to be exceptional (or even the exception) to be successful. You just need to learn the algorithm.
Through her own success experiment, Lillian transformed herself from a two-time uni drop-out stuck in a career that paid in burnout, into highly sought-after media personality FlexMami. And here she shows that her experience hasn’t been a fluke. Instead of focusing on what you can’t change, spend your time hacking what you can – yourself. This formula combines what you know about yourself with what you know about society. The result? Getting what you really want.
Not Now, Not Ever by Julia Gillard
On 9 October 2012, Prime Minister Julia Gillard stood up and proceeded to make all present in Parliament House that day pay attention—and left many of them squirming in their seats. The incisive ‘misogyny speech’, as her words came to be known, challenged not only Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott, on his words and actions but, over time, all of us. How had we come to condone the public and private behaviours of some very public men? With contributions from Mary Beard, Jess Hill, Jennifer Palmieri, Katharine Murphy and members of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, Julia Gillard explores the history and culture of misogyny, tools in the patriarchy’s toolbox, intersectionality, and gender and misogyny in the media and politics.
Kathy Lette looks at how the speech has gained a new life on TikTok, as well as inspiring other tributes and hand-made products, and we hear recollections from Wayne Swan, Anne Summers, Deborah Mailman, Cate Blanchett, Brittany Higgins and more on where they were, and how they first encountered the speech. While behaviours may have improved since the misogyny speech, there remains a way to go and Julia Gillard explores the roadmap for the future with next generation feminists Sally Scales, Chanel Contos and Caitlin Figuerado to motivate us with that rallying cry: Not now, not ever!
Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton
The Sunday Times best seller with a new chapter on turning 30, winner of Autobiography of the Year at the National Book Awards 2018, a Waterstones Paperback of the Year 2019, a Sunday Times paperback of the year 2019, and selected for Stylist’s The Decade’s 15 Best Books by Remarkable Women.
Award-winning journalist Dolly Alderton survived her 20s (just about) and in Everything I Know About Love, she gives an unflinching account of the bad dates and squalid flat-shares, the heartaches and humiliations and most importantly, the unbreakable female friendships that helped her to hold it all together. Glittering with wit, heart and humour, this is an audiobook to press into the hands of every woman who has ever been there or is about to find themselves taking that first step towards the rest of their lives.
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
This is Britain as you’ve never heard it.
This is Britain as it has never been told.
From Newcastle to Cornwall, from the birth of the 20th century to the teens of the 21st, Girl, Woman, Other follows a cast of 12 characters on their personal journeys through this country and the last hundred years. They’re each looking for something – a shared past, an unexpected future, a place to call home, somewhere to fit in, a lover, a missed mother, a lost father, even just a touch of hope….
Michelle Obama: The Light Podcast by Michelle Obama
Upon the release of her new bestselling book, The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times, former First Lady Michelle Obama set out on a very special highly anticipated, six-city U.S. book tour. Inside intimate venues and in front of small audiences, Mrs. Obama held inspiring conversations with esteemed friends, like Ellen DeGeneres, Tyler Perry, Conan O’Brien, Oprah Winfrey, Gayle King, Hoda Kotb, David Letterman, and more. Though only a few thousand people were able to attend the events live, these remarkable conversations can now be heard by everyone. Michelle Obama: The Light Podcast goes beyond the book as Michelle Obama and her friends share personal stories and insights listeners won’t encounter anywhere else.
If you want to listen to more audiobooks, here’s a list of ones written by LGBTQIA+ people.
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