International Women’s Day 2023: Read These Books!

Longtime readers will know that we at The Geekiary usually try to do something for every International Women’s Day (March 8). In the past, we’ve highlighted real women and fictional women, superheroes and working professionals. This year, I’ve decided to capitalize on the fact that in addition to being Women’s History Month, March is also National Reading Month. As such, this is a list of books by female authors being published in March.

You all know I’m a big reader, even if Covid turned my brain to mush and I haven’t been able to really focus on it since the pandemic. I’m working on trying to get back to my pre-pandemic reading rate, and here are some of the books coming out this month that tickled my fancy!

Please keep in mind that list is in no way complete (it would take me ages to track down literally every book publishing this month written by a woman). I mostly tried to focus on books with female protagonists, because otherwise I might be here all night. If I’ve neglected to include a book you’re excited about, let me know in the comments!

The London Seance Society

Author: Sarah Penner
Publish Date: March 7
Genre: Historical, Literary, Mystery/Thriller, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Summary: May mercy be upon the man who finds himself the enemy of a vengeful medium…

1873. At an abandoned château on the outskirts of Paris, a dark séance is about to take place, led by acclaimed spiritualist Vaudeline D’Allaire. Known worldwide for her talent in conjuring the spirits of murder victims to ascertain the identities of the people who killed them, she is highly sought after by widows and investigators alike.

Lenna Wickes has come to Paris to find answers about her sister’s death, but to do so, she must embrace the unknown and overcome her own logic-driven bias against the occult. When Vaudeline is beckoned to England to solve a high-profile murder, Lenna accompanies her as an understudy. But as the women team up with the powerful men of London’s exclusive Séance Society to solve the mystery, they begin to suspect that they are not merely out to solve a crime, but perhaps entangled in one themselves…

Penner is the author of The Lost Apothecary, which I have not yet read but have in my to-read pile (which, granted, is very, very big). I used to read a lot of YA and I’m trying to move away from that, and of course, I tend to focus on Sci-Fi/Fantasy books. This sounds right up my alley.

The Mimicking of Known Successes

Author: Malka Older
Publish Date: March 7
Genre: LGBTQIA, Mystery/Thriller, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Summary: On a remote, gas-wreathed outpost of a human colony on Jupiter, a man goes missing. The enigmatic Investigator Mossa follows his trail to Valdegeld, home to the colony’s erudite university—and Mossa’s former girlfriend, a scholar of Earth’s pre-collapse ecosystems.

Pleiti has dedicated her research and her career to aiding the larger effort towards a possible return to Earth. When Mossa unexpectedly arrives and requests Pleiti’s assistance in her latest investigation, the two of them embark on a twisting path in which the future of life on Earth is at stake—and, perhaps, their futures, together.

This novella is described as a Holmesian murder mystery with a sapphic romance, and it’s set on Jupiter??? I’m 100% here for that. It sounds like it might be along the vein of Freya Marske’s A Restless Truth, which everyone should also read.

Bitter Medicine

Author: Mia Tsai
Publish Date: March 14, 2023 by Tachyon Publications
Genre: Romance, Urban Fantasy
Summary: In this xianxia-inspired contemporary fantasy, a Chinese immortal and a French elf navigate romance, family loyalty, and workplace demands. In her debut novel, Mia Tsai has created a paranormal adventure that is full of humor, passion, and depth.

As a descendant of the Chinese god of medicine, ignored middle child Elle was destined to be a doctor. Instead, she is underemployed as a mediocre magical calligrapher at the fairy temp agency, paranoid that her murderous younger brother will find her and their elder brother.

Using her full abilities will expose Elle’s location. Nevertheless, she challenges herself by covertly outfitting Luc, her client and crush, with high-powered glyphs.

Half-elf Luc, the agency’s top security expert, has his own secret: he’s responsible for a curse laid on two children from an old assignment. To heal them, he’ll need to perform his job duties with unrelenting excellence and earn time off from his tyrannical boss.

When Elle saves Luc’s life on a mission, he brings her a gift and a request for stronger magic to ensure success on the next job—except the next job is hunting down Elle’s younger brother.

As Luc and Elle collaborate, their chemistry blooms. Happiness, for once, is an option for them both. But Elle is loyal to her family, and Luc is bound by his true name. To win freedom from duty, they must make unexpected sacrifices.

This has apparently gotten some pretty rave reviews and author blurbs, not to mention I love a good xianxia drama. This sounds really exciting and exactly the sort of story I would love.

Stateless

Author: Elizabeth Wein
Publish Date: March 14
Genre: Historical, Mystery/Thriller, YA
Summary: When Stella North is chosen to represent Britain in Europe’s first air race for young people, she knows all too well how high the stakes are. As the only participating female pilot, it’ll be a constant challenge to prove she’s a worthy competitor. But promoting peace in Europe feels empty to Stella when civil war is raging in Spain and the Nazis are gaining power—and when, right from the start, someone resorts to cutthroat sabotage to get ahead of the competition.

The world is looking for inspiration in what’s meant to be a friendly sporting event. But each of the racers is hiding a turbulent and violent past, and any one of them might be capable of murder…including Stella herself. 

Oh man, you cannot go wrong with Elizabeth Wein. She has written some amazing books that have completely broken me, and if you haven’t already read Code Name Verity or The Pearl Thief, consider this your recommendation. I am really excited that she has a new book coming out.

Midnight Strikes

Author: Zeba Shahnaz
Publish Date: March 14
Genre: Romance, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, YA
Summary: Seventeen-year-old Anaïs just wants tonight to end. As an outsider at the kingdom’s glittering anniversary ball, she has no desire to rub shoulders with the nation’s most eligible (and pompous) bachelors—especially not the notoriously roguish Prince Leo. But at the stroke of midnight, an explosion rips through the palace, killing everyone in its path. Including her.

The last thing Anaïs sees is fire, smoke, chaos . . . and then she wakes up in her bedroom, hours before the ball. No one else remembers the deadly attack or believes her warnings of disaster.

Not even when it happens again. And again. And again.

If she’s going to escape this nightmarish time loop, Anaïs must take control of her own fate and stop the attack before it happens. But the court’s gilded surface belies a rotten core, full of restless nobles grabbing at power, discontented commoners itching for revolution, and even royals who secretly dream of taking the throne. It’s up to Anaïs to untangle these knots of deadly deceptions . . . if she can survive past midnight.

OK, I literally just said that I was trying to stay away from YA and this is already the second one on a not-very-long list, but this just sounds too interesting to ignore. I’ve not often seen time loops used as a plot device in regular fiction (just, you know, fanfics), so I’m really intrigued to see how Shahnaz handles something that can be very difficult to do well.

Lucha of the Night Forest

Author: Taylor Kay Mejia
Publish Date: March 21
Genre: LGBTQIA, Fantasy, Romance, YA
Summary: A scorned god.
A mysterious acolyte.
A forgetting drug.
A dangerous forest.
One girl caught between the freedom she always wanted and a sister she can’t bear to leave behind.
Under the cover of the Night Forest, will Lucha be able to step into her own power…or will she be consumed by it?

Yes, yes, I know, another YA book, but I love Taylor Kay Mejia and I will never say no to a queer romance fantasy, so this gets added to my ridiculously-long list.

Her Lost Words

Author: Stephanie Marie Thornton
Publish Date: March 28
Genre: Historical
Summary: 1792. As a child, Mary Wollstonecraft longed to disappear during her father’s violent rages. Instead, she transforms herself into the radical author of the landmark volume A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, in which she dares to propose that women are equal to men. From conservative England to the blood-drenched streets of revolutionary France, Mary refuses to bow to society’s conventions and instead supports herself with her pen until an illicit love affair challenges her every belief about romance and marriage. When she gives birth to a daughter and is stricken with childbed fever, Mary fears it will be her many critics who recount her life’s extraordinary odyssey…
 
1818. The daughter of infamous political philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft, passionate Mary Shelley learned to read by tracing the letters of her mother’s tombstone. As a young woman, she desperately misses her mother’s guidance, especially following her scandalous elopement with dashing poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Mary struggles to balance an ever-complicated marriage with motherhood while nursing twin hopes that she might write something of her own one day and also discover the truth of her mother’s unconventional life. Mary’s journey will unlock her mother’s secrets, all while leading to her own destiny as the groundbreaking author of Frankenstein.
 
A riveting and inspiring novel about a firebrand feminist, her visionary daughter, and the many ways their words transformed our world.

I’m always a little iffy when it’s fiction about real people, but these are two tremendous women in history and Mary Shelley basically invented science fiction, so there is no way I am not reading this.

P.S. I compiled this list using these ones, so if you want to see more March releases by female authors (or just in general), check those out!

Check out our International Women’s Day posts from previous years!

Author: Jamie Sugah

Jamie has a BA in English with a focus in creative writing from The Ohio State University. She self-published her first novel, The Perils of Long Hair on a Windy Day, which is available through Amazon. She is currently an archivist and lives in New York City with her demon ninja vampire cat. She covers television, books, movies, anime, and conventions in the NYC area.

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