I’m obsessed with the site Passerbuys, not only because it features great recommendations from real women—beauty, music, morning routines, and of course, books—but because it also shares gorgeous images of these women in their homes. I love to look at their art, their closets—but most of all, their bookshelves! Scroll down for lots of inspiration and awesome book recommendations from cool women around the world.
Angie Venezia
Publicist / East Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Angie’s favorite books
Women in Clothes by Sheila Heti, Heidi Julavits, et. al., Slow Days, Fast Company by Eve Babitz, The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara, Love and Trouble: A Midlife Reckoning by Claire Dederer
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Leta Sobierajski
Art director, designer / Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Leta’s favorite books
Matthew Barney: The Cremaster Cycle by Guggenheim Museum Publications, Erwin Wurm by Erwin Wurm, The Work of Ikko Tanaka by Katsumi Asada, TOILET PAPER by Maurizio Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari, Esprit: The Comprehensive Design Principle by Douglas Tompkins, Takashi Suzuki – Bau by Takashi Suzuki
Erin Allweiss
Entrepreneur / Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
Erin’s favorite books
Paris Views by Gail Albert Halaban, A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide by Samantha Power, Special Orders: Poems by Edward Hirsch, Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates by Tom Robbins
Molly Surno
Artist / Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Molly’s favorite books
Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity by David Lynch, Hollywood Babylon II by Kenneth Anger, Poems by Yvonne Rainer, Criterion Designs, Beauty and the Beast by Michael Taussig, The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante
Melissa Flashman
Literary agent / Clinton Hill, Brooklyn
Mel’s favorite books
Seduction and Betrayal by Elizabeth Hardwick, Let’s Talk About Love by Carl Wilson, The Company They Kept: Writers on Unforgettable Friendships by Robert B. Silvers, Sophie Calle: Take Care of Yourself
Shawana Grosvenor
Visual consultant / Hackney Downs, London
Shawana’s favorite books
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers by Leonard Koren, Play It As It Lays: A Novel by Joan Didion, The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Soraya Ahoubim
Lawyer / Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Soraya’s favorite books
On Love by Alain de Botton, A Philosophy of Loneliness by Lars Svendsen, The Way to Love by Anthony De Mello, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee, A Short History of World War II by James L. Stokesbury, Citizens by Simon Schama, Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 by Tony Judt
Stephanie Danler
Writer / Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles
Stephanie’s favorite books
Abandon Me by Melissa Febos, Playground of My Mind by Julia Jacquette, The Sewanee Review, Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov
Jenna Wortham
Writer / Bushwick, Brooklyn
Jenna’s favorite books
The Black Book by Middleton A. Harris, Ernest Smith, Morris Levitt, Roger Furman, & Toni Morrison, This Bridge Called My Back by Cherríe Moraga and Gloria Anzaldúa, Swing Time by Zadie Smith, Bluets by Maggie Nelson
Fariha Róisín
Writer / Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
Fariha’s favorite books
To look at the sea is to become what one is: An Etel Adnan Reader by Etel Adnan, A Breath of Life by Clarice Lispector, Look by Solmaz Sharif, and Don’t Call Us Dead by Danez Smith, The Architecture of Happiness by Alain de Botton, Fierce Attachments by Vivian Gornick, Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers by Leonard Koren
Natalie Fält
Filmmaker / Echo Park, Los Angeles
Natalie’s favorite books
Projections 13: Women Filmmakers on Filmmaking, Delta of Venus by Anaïs Nin, Woman to Woman by Marguerite Duras and Xaviere Gauthier, Anaïs Nin Observed by Robert Snyder, Reel to Real by bell hooks, Our Bodies Ourselves by Judy Norsigian
Laura Helms
Historian, archivist / Clinton Hill, Brooklyn
Laura’s favorite books
The Goddess and Other Women by Joyce Carol Oates, Modern Furniture and Decoration by Robert Harling, Blue Highways: A Journey into America by William Least Heat-Moon and Scruples by Judith Krantz
Nicole Najafi
Entrepreneur / Gramercy Park, Manhattan
Nicole’s favorite books
Liar’s Club by Mary Karr, What Happened by Hillary Rodham Clinton, Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi, The Stranger by Albert Camus, On Writing by Stephen King, The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
Molly Young
Writer / Chinatown, Manhattan
Molly’s favorite books
Tokyo Fiancee by Amelie Nothomb, What Do You Desire?: Vol. II: n+1 Anthology by Various Authors, London Fields by Martin Amis, Martian Dawn by Michael Friedman, Loving Sabotage by Amelie Nothomb, The Man Who Invented Saturday Morning by David Owen
Cassi Gibson
Art director, curator / Downtown Los Angeles
Cassi’s favorite books
Lost Body by Aimé Césaire, I Write What I Like: Selected Writings by Steve Biko, The Holy Qur’an Translated by Abdullah Yusuf Ali
Marjon Carlos
Writer / Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Marjon’s favorite books
Negroland by Margo Jefferson, Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Zami: A New Spelling of My Name – A Biomythography by Audre Lorde, Assata: An Autobiography by Assata Shakur
Angela Kohler
Director, photographer / Echo Park, Los Angeles
Angela’s favorite books
Some Memories of Drawings by Georgia O’Keeffe, American Portraits by Leon Borensztein, Schiele by Wolfgang Georg Fischer, Francesca Woodman by Cory Keller, The Complete Stories by Flannery O’Connor, A Manual for Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin
Images courtesy of Passerbuys and Clémence Polès
