Hey guys! Welcome to March’s Book Rec Lottery post!

The Book Rec Lottery is a feature run by myself and Michaela @ A Novel Idea where we get reading recommendations from you, the lovely book community, based around a different theme each month. We then randomly pick five to highlight and hopefully find you a new favourite book!

If you want to know more about The Book Rec Lottery check out THIS PAGE!

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For March, we picked the theme ‘Books With Badass Ladies‘. Here are our five randomly generated books (and don’t forget the rest of the recs can be found at the end!!):

Jenny says: She’s sweet & caring whilst also being tough & badass. She makes difficult sacrifices to help her friends and she’s an amazing healer. She’s so young and she’s had it tough but stays headstrong. One of my favourite female characters ever.

Esmé says: I have to agree with everything Jenny says! Viola is one tough lady who goes through a ton of hardship throughout the series. Even before the first time we meet her, she is struggling, lost on a new world with nobody beside her, but that doesn’t stop her from taking everything in her stride. She is compassionate and balanced, always willing to hear all the facts before she makes a decision, unlike Todd who throws himself in headfirst. She’s an absolutely phenomenal young woman and at several points, simply the thought of her name gives Todd the strength to to withstand anything – if that isn’t a sign of how incredible she is, I don’t know what is!

Michaela says: Viola is favourite character of mine, and also another who made an appearance in my Fierce Females post. Everything about the Chaos Walking series absolutely blows my mind, and having seen him talk and met him twice, I have such an incredible amount of respect for Patrick Ness – his world building, his character development, and his own progressive outlook are among some of the most captivating and endearing qualities within his person and his books. In a world that is so very clearly a dystopian future, he manages to reflect some of the genuine struggles of modern society; namely the treatment of women and the depiction of powerful men undervaluing us and considering us the lesser, weaker sex. Viola is such an incredible contrast to many of the antagonists within this series, men and women alike, as she proves that it is possible to stick to your morals and actually be true to yourself, all while making tough decisions and doing right by yourself and the people that you love. She’s a fiercely intelligent girl and I could wax lyrical about her for days on end, so I think it’s pretty fair to say that I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment that she is, indeed, a badass lady, and deserves to be celebrated as such!

Me and Ink says: She is a knife-wielding queen who is capable of inflicting a lot of damage. You would not want to mess with her. Also she has been through a lot emotionally and I think it makes her all the more stronger and inspiring to read about.

Esmé says: It’s been a while since I read Six of Crows, but I remember Inej really resonating with me. She’s a very strong young girl who has been through a lot of issues. She channels her pain into her strength and skill as a fighter and is a vital member of Kaz’s team. Without her, I can imagine a lot of their plots would have gone terribly wrong. I love that her loyalty is tested but she also learns to question when her latent moral compass comes into play. She really comes into herself throughout the novel and I seriously need to get around to the sequel!

Michaela says: I’ve never actually read Six of Crows, but it has been on both my TBR and my physical shelf for a really long time. I’ve heard such an abundance of wonderful things about it, as well as a lot of hype surrounding Inej in particular! I have a massive soft spot for female characters who prove that they can be both badass in a physical way, as well as in an emotional aspect, so I have an inkling that I’ll absolutely adore her whenever I do get around to reading it.

Nathalie says: Eleanor is socially awkward, has a difficult past, is lonely and stuck in her routines, yet her voice is so true, brave and honest. Her journey made me cry, laugh, was sad but also empowering and positive. I loved everything, I already read it twice and will read it again soon!

Esmé says: Ugh, this book! It was one of my favourites from last year and I love how much appreciation Eleanor gets. Eleanor is a beautifully intricate character which is hidden by her routines and straight forward thinking – you have to dig deeper into the book to see her dig deeper into herself and discover her own strength. The plot follows her attempt to make herself into a new person, but I think it becomes clear that who she was to begin with is actually pretty phenomenal. She starts off being so unlikeable, but by the end your heart is hers.

Michaela says: So, this book has been sitting on my book for quite some time now, and I keep intending on picking it up, and then forgetting entirely, which is an absolute shame on my part. I’ve heard nothing but wonderful things about this book, and Eleanor as a character in particular. I know that once I do get my bum in gear and give it a go, that I’ll find myself connecting to Eleanor on many different levels, and that she’s no doubt going to be the kind of character that sticks with me for a long time. I think stories that actively tackle mental health and focus on the affect it has on people and the way that it can shape our lives are so incredibly important and necessary, and even without having read it myself, I’m so positive that this book is one that everyone should be picking up.

Me and Ink says: I know this is a widely known book but I think Luna is a really inspiring bad ass female character because she is herself. She isn’t concerned with making people like her and doesn’t care if they don’t. She is resilient and reminds readers that being true to yourself is important!!

Esmé says: Luna is absolutely fantastic. She remains true to herself throughout the entire book series, never giving in to peer pressure or the constant bullying she goes through – that alone is a sign of her strength! On top of that, she is a great witch and she shines as a part of Dumbledore’s Army. She’s quirky and unusual and absolutely one of a kind. She’s also incredibly understanding, often the person who can put words to the complex emotions Harry is feeling without making it about herself at all. She’s a true friend whenever she is needed, whether that is taking down Voldemort’s followers in the ministry or needing a date for a Christmas party you don’t want to go to.

Michaela says: Anybody that knows me at all knows just how much I love Luna; she is my absolute favourite character from the HP universe, I named my cat after her, and I even dressed up as her once! I actually spoke about Luna briefly in my post for International Women’s Day, so I can only put even more emphasis on just how influential a character she’s been in my own life and what an impact she had on me growing up. As someone who spent a lot of my years being picked on and bullied for looking a certain way, or for being considered ‘weird’, there was nothing more validating and comforting than having a character who was so unimaginably ridiculous and strange, and entirely unapologetic about it. And, on top of that, she broke the trope of ‘weird girl who gets a makeover and is suddenly very popular’, and instead held her own and carried herself as she always wished to, and not as others expected her to be. She was accepted and celebrated for her quirks and her oddities, and still presented herself as a fierce and strong young woman intellectually, physically, and emotionally, and went on to surround herself with people who genuinely valued her friendship and would fiercely protect and support her just the same as she would for them.

Jenny says: She’s amazing, so inspirational, so read and also it’s a true story!

Esmé says: I don’t know a whole lot about Wild other than it inspired a lot of Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life (which admittedly I skipped a lot of) but I do know that Cheryl Strayed is one amazing woman. Her book had a massive impact across the world, with celebrities like Reese Witherspoon and Oprah endorsing it to their fans.

Michaela says: Shamefully, I’ve never heard of this book, nevermind read it! It’s definitely one I’ll be keeping my eye out for now that it’s officially on my radar. When Esme informed me of its connection to Gilmore Girls, everything sort of fell into place and I realised the correlation between the two, and that’s definitely endeared me to it all the more, and it’s evident that it’s a book that has received a pretty widespread positive response. Not to mention, it was a Goodreads Choice Winner back in 2012, adding to the already substantial pile of praise that it’s gotten.

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Don’t fancy any of these recommendations? No worries – here’s some more!

• Alina from The Shadow and Bone Trilogy recommended by Cat @ Pages & Plots
• Zaira from The Swords and Fire series recommended by Sifa Elizabeth
• Batgirl/Wonder Woman comics recommended by Alisha Valerie
• A Court of Thorn & Roses/Blue Blood/Ewilan recommended by Corinne
• Clementine Rivers from If Beale Street Could Talk recommended by Michaela @ A Novel Idea
• Madame Terror recommended by Silverchild1
• Jane Eyre recommended by Esmé @ Esmoogle Reads

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We hope you’ve enjoyed this month’s Book Rec Lottery and a big thank you to everyone who got involved! April’s theme will be launching very soon and we’ll be wanting your book recommendations – keep an eye out on Twitter and here on the blog for more info.

What do you think of this month’s recommendations? Do you agree with them? Have you read any of them? Let us know in the comments!