Books to read along with "Lean In"

February 28, 2014 10:58 AM

Our book club is doing a "Lean In free swim" -- everyone will read Lean In* plus one other book of their choice on the topic of gender and work. What would be some good choices for the second book?

We're open to anything from alternative career advice for women (previously) to critiques of Lean In itself to old-school feminist classics -- anything that's a good read and will broaden the discussion. Hard-but-worth-it and easy-and-fun options would be nice. Something that actually changed the way you think about the world would be perfect.

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* Or, realistically, watch the TED talk.

posted by jhc to Society & Culture (18 answers total)

If you want a REALLY great compare and contrast by generation, plus it's an incredibly insightful and awesome book, Games Mother Never Taught You.

Get the one from 1987 for the full impact of "how far we've come."
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 11:01 AM on February 28, 2014

The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work by De Botton; or, Stet, although i cannot recall the author.
posted by parmanparman at 11:03 AM on February 28, 2014

It's an online magazine rather than a book, but you might appreciate Model View Culture's Lean Out issue. (Disclosure: I know one of the contributors.)
posted by dorque at 11:06 AM on February 28, 2014 [2 favorites]

Women Don't Ask: The High Cost of Avoiding Negotiation--and Positive Strategies for Change.

Chapter 9 of Brazen Careerist by Penelope Trunk.

If you want a critique of "Lean In," there's this article from a few days ago:

Recline, don’t ‘Lean In’ (Why I hate Sheryl Sandberg)
posted by John Cohen at 11:09 AM on February 28, 2014 [4 favorites]

Feminism is for Everybody

Difficulty level: no ebook version
posted by xueexueg at 11:18 AM on February 28, 2014

The Second Shift by Arlie Hochschild.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 11:21 AM on February 28, 2014 [7 favorites]

One Dimensional Woman
posted by perhapses at 11:26 AM on February 28, 2014

The Second Shift, absolutely. It's crucial to this topic.
posted by thegreatfleecircus at 11:54 AM on February 28, 2014 [2 favorites]

The Orange Line

Takes a very different approach from Lean In.
posted by zizzle at 12:17 PM on February 28, 2014

Nthing Second Shift.
posted by Hop123 at 12:27 PM on February 28, 2014

Flux: Women on Sex, Work, Love, Kids and Life in Half-Changed World by Peggy Orenstein. It is based on around 250 interviews the author conducted and is in three sections: "The Promise," about women in their 20s exploring relationships and beginning working life; "The Crunch," about women in their 30s confronting issues of children and family; and "The Reconsideration," about women in their 40s reassessing what they want for themselves.
posted by AnnaRat at 1:06 PM on February 28, 2014 [1 favorite]

Vanity Fair by Thackeray.
posted by Ideefixe at 1:07 PM on February 28, 2014

Composing a Life by Mary Catherine Bateson.
posted by brookeb at 1:26 PM on February 28, 2014

This recent book is terrific: What Works for Women at Work. By a mother-daughter pair who identify 4 patterns women encounter at work and how to handle them. I'm halfway through-- it's terrific!
posted by enzymatic at 1:56 PM on February 28, 2014

The End of Men by Hanna Rosin
posted by obviousresistance at 4:28 PM on February 28, 2014 [1 favorite]

Second Shift is a good book.
posted by salvia at 6:02 PM on February 28, 2014

All Joy and No Fun. Disclaimer: I know the author, Jennifer Senior, from high school. But it's great, new, a best seller, and relevant to Lean In -- some of the excellent reviews it's gotten have even compared it to The Feminine Mystique.
posted by daisyace at 5:10 AM on March 1, 2014

The Price of Motherhood by Ann Crittenden.
posted by Lirp at 7:11 PM on March 4, 2014