Happy International Women's Day 2016!

It's no secret that the entire D+Q crew loves to read women, and our customers clearly do too. Books by women consistently top our bestseller lists, and we are proud that the offsite events we have hosted featuring women authors (Roxane Gay, Margaret Atwood, Kate Beaton, Gloria Steinem, and Carrie Brownstein to name but a few recent guests) have been overwhelmingly popular, with sold out crowds. In celebration of this year's installment International Women's Day, we would like to shine a spotlight on five of our favourite books of 2016 written by women:

Filles Missiles - Hiver 2016 (collectif) 

For women, by women, Filles Missiles is a new biannual publication providing a vision of the contemporary literary scene in Quebec. Through the biannual print-format magazine, website, public performances and lectures, Filles Missiles showcases the work of women artists, and provides a space for creative collaboration, exchange, and distribution. Bonus: several D+Q staffers are featured in the first issue!

13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl (Mona Awad)

A novel composed of 13 interconnected vignettes which can also be read as standalone short stories. The stories chronicle, as the title implies, the life of "fat girl" Elizabeth as she struggles with her body image and ever-fluctuating weight. By showing us snippets of Elizabeth's life over time and her various sizes, Awad's novel cuts deep into the effects of dieting on a woman’s mental and physical health. Lucky for us, Mona Awad will be at Librairie Drawn and Quarterly tonight at 7:00 p.m. to launch 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl.

The Complete Wimmen's Comix (Trina Robbins)

The alternative comics scene of the late 1960s and early 1970s was largely male-dominated, that is until a group of ten women cartoonists got together to intervene. The result was all-women comics anthology Wimmen's Comix, which gave rise to many of the most renowned cartoonists in America, and addressed subject matter that was largely ignored by the "boys club" school of underground cartoonists. This new edition collects all of the long out of print issues in a beautiful slip case format.  

What is Not Yours is Not Yours (Helen Oyeyemi)

Helen Oyeyemi's previous novels, Boy Snow Bird and Mr. Fox have been store favourites for years, so we're quite excited about her first collection of short stories. These 9 ethereal tales are heavily influenced by fairy tales and folklore. There is a literary conceit in that each story involves a key, metaphorical or literal, which provides cohesiveness to the collection. Oyeyemi's sharp humour and imaginative prose flourish in the short story format.

Birdie (Tracey Lindberg)

Everyone should pick up a copy of this 2016 Canada Reads contender! Bernice, a.k.a. Birdie, a “big, beautiful Cree woman” who uproots herself from Northern Alberta and moves to Gibson’s B.C. (of Beachcombers fame) is an immanently likeable character: funny, kind, resilient and smart. Despite leaving her home behind, her troubled past refuses to let her be, and she goes into an extended “sleepwake” state to process the traumatic memories of her past, while 3 women keep vigil. An essential read from a brilliant new voice in fiction.

Happy International Women's Day, everyone. Let's keep reading women today and every day!