About us
Our Feminist Book Club is where great books meet bold ideas, with plenty of laughter and shenanigans! Each month, we gather to swap stories, share hot takes, and laugh while we plot the quiet overthrow of the patriarchy. Whether you read every page, skim the back cover, or just came for the snacks, you’re welcome here. We celebrate joy, hold space for the heavy stuff, and believe listening is its own kind of revolution!
Get all the news about events and what to read by subscribing to our newsletter:
https://feministbookclublausanne.substack.com/ and following us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/feminist.bookclub.lausanne/
Upcoming events
11
Book Club 9: The Beauty Myth
Books Books Books - Feminist Book Club, Rue du Valentin 1, Lausanne, CHCo-hosted by Janine & Laura + rotating community co-hosts
Our June book club pick is The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf, a groundbreaking feminist classic that examines how beauty standards are used as a tool of social control, shaping women’s bodies, confidence, work, and worth. Written in the early 1990s and still unsettlingly relevant, the book asks why pressures around appearance intensify just as women gain more rights — and who really benefits from that pressure.
🤷♀️ Didn’t finish the book? Haven’t started? Only here for feminist hot takes, collective unlearning, and good vibes? Perfect. We’re a no-pressure, no-expectations book club. Come exactly as you are.
⚠️ Content note: This book discusses eating disorders, body image, and misogyny. Please take care of yourself and feel free to step out or skip this session if needed.
📍 Where: Books Books Books, Lausanne
⏰ When: Thursday, June 25th at 18:30
(about 1.5 hours + optional post-book-club hangout!)You can grab the book through our lovely host BooksBooksBooks, or listen to the audiobook if that feels more accessible right now.
Sign up for our newsletter to know which parts we’re focusing on — or simply show up and wing it. Bring your thoughts, your questions, your complicated feelings about mirrors, magazines, and the male gaze. We can’t wait to unpack this one together 💜📚✨
### What to Expect
- A 90-minute guided conversation led by Laura, Janine, and a rotating community co-host
- A warm, welcoming, non-judgmental space
- Thoughtful discussion, honest sharing, and room for complexity
- A mix of regulars and first-timers — everyone truly is welcome
- Time afterward to browse, chat, and connect
### Who This Is For
Anyone who wants to:
- read more feminist books,
- have meaningful conversations,
- meet new people in Lausanne,
- interrogate beauty, power, capitalism, and self-worth,
- or sit with thoughtful humans for an hour and a half (in English).
### RSVP Etiquette
Space is limited. Please adjust your RSVP if your plans change so someone else can join.
We’re looking forward to reading feminist books with you!
Your co-hosts,
Janine & Laura30 attendees
Book Club 10: Powerful
Books Books Books - Feminist Book Club, Rue du Valentin 1, Lausanne, CHCo-hosted by Janine & Laura + rotating community co-hosts
Our June book club pick is Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility by Patti McCord.
When it comes to recruiting, motivating, and creating great teams, Patty McCord says most companies have it all wrong. McCord helped create the unique and high-performing culture at Netflix, where she was chief talent officer. In her new book, Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility, she shares what she learned there and elsewhere in Silicon Valley.
McCord advocates practicing radical honesty in the workplace, saying good-bye to employees who don’t fit the company’s emerging needs, and motivating with challenging work, not promises, perks, and bonus plans. McCord argues that the old standbys of corporate HR―annual performance reviews, retention plans, employee empowerment and engagement programs―often end up being a colossal waste of time and resources. Her road-tested advice, offered with humor and irreverence, provides readers a different path for creating a culture of high performance and profitability.
Powerful will change how you think about work and the way a business should be run.
🤷♀️ Didn’t finish the book? Haven’t started? Only here for feminist hot takes, collective unlearning, and good vibes? Perfect. We’re a no-pressure, no-expectations book club. Come exactly as you are.
📍 Where: Books Books Books, Lausanne
⏰ When: Thursday, June 25th at 18:30
(about 1.5 hours + optional post-book-club hangout!)You can grab the book through our lovely host BooksBooksBooks, or listen to the audiobook if that feels more accessible right now.
Sign up for our newsletter to know which parts we’re focusing on — or simply show up and wing it. Bring your thoughts, your questions, your complicated feelings about mirrors, magazines, and the male gaze. We can’t wait to unpack this one together 💜📚✨
### What to Expect
- A 90-minute guided conversation led by Laura, Janine, and a rotating community co-host
- A warm, welcoming, non-judgmental space
- Thoughtful discussion, honest sharing, and room for complexity
- A mix of regulars and first-timers — everyone truly is welcome
- Time afterward to browse, chat, and connect
### Who This Is For
Anyone who wants to:
- read more feminist books,
- have meaningful conversations,
- meet new people in Lausanne,
- interrogate beauty, power, capitalism, and self-worth,
- or sit with thoughtful humans for an hour and a half (in English).
### RSVP Etiquette
Space is limited and RSVPs will close 1 day before. You must
Please adjust your RSVP if your plans change so someone else can join.We’re looking forward to reading feminist books with you!
Your co-hosts,
Janine & Laura7 attendees
Book Club 11: Die, My Love **IN THE PARK**
Parc de L'Elysee, Av. de l'Elysée 18, 1014 Lausanne, Lausanne, CHCo-hosted by Janine & Laura + rotating community co-hosts
Our August book club pick is Die, My Love by Ariana Harwicz.
From Goodreads:In a forgotten patch of French countryside, a woman is battling her demons, embracing exclusion yet wanting to belong, craving freedom whilst feeling trapped, yearning for family life, but at the same time wanting to burn the entire house down. Given surprising leeway by her family for her increasingly erratic behaviour, she nevertheless feels ever more stifled and repressed. Motherhood, womanhood, the banality of love, the terrors of desire, the inexplicable brutality of 'another person carrying your heart forever': Die, My Love faces all this with a raw intensity.
It's not a question of if a breaking point will be reached, but rather when and how violent a form will it take? -- from Goodreads
🤷♀️ Didn’t finish the book? Haven’t started? Only here for feminist hot takes, collective unlearning, and good vibes? Perfect. We’re a no-pressure, no-expectations book club. Come exactly as you are.
⚠️ Content note: This book discusses eating disorders, body image, and misogyny. Please take care of yourself and feel free to step out or skip this session if needed.
📍 Where: *** Special location ***
Parc de l'Elysée, Av. de l'Elysée 18, 1014 Lausanne⏰ When: Thursday, August 27th at 18:30
(about 1.5 hours + optional post-book-club hangout!)You can grab the book through our lovely host Books Books Books, or listen to the audiobook if that feels more accessible right now.
Sign up for our newsletter to know which parts we’re focusing on — or simply show up and wing it. Bring your thoughts, your questions, your complicated feelings about mirrors, magazines, and the male gaze. We can’t wait to unpack this one together 💜📚✨
### What to Expect
- A 90-minute guided conversation led by Laura, Janine, and a rotating community co-host
- A warm, welcoming, non-judgmental space
- Thoughtful discussion, honest sharing, and room for complexity
- A mix of regulars and first-timers — everyone truly is welcome
- Time afterward to browse, chat, and connect
### Who This Is For
Anyone who wants to:
- read more feminist books,
- have meaningful conversations,
- meet new people in Lausanne,
- interrogate beauty, power, capitalism, and self-worth,
- or sit with thoughtful humans for an hour and a half (in English).
### RSVP Etiquette
Space is limited. Please adjust your RSVP if your plans change so someone else can join.
We’re looking forward to reading feminist books with you!
Your co-hosts,
Janine & Laura5 attendees
Book Club 12: Greater than the Sum of our Parts
Books Books Books - Feminist Book Club, Rue du Valentin 1, Lausanne, CHCo-hosted by Janine & Laura + rotating community co-hosts
Our September book club pick is: Greater than the Sum of Our Parts: Feminism, Inter/Nationalism, and Palestine by Nada Elia.
About this book:
An inspiring and intersectional re-imagining of the path to liberation in Palestine 'An inspiring call to action that deconstructs the many oppressive systems we currently find ourselves struggling against' - Adam Horowitz, Mondoweiss How is the struggle for Palestinian freedom bound up in other freedom struggles, and how are activists coming together globally to achieve justice and liberation for all? In this bold book, Palestinian activist Nada Elia unpacks Zionism, from its hyper militarism to incarceration, its environmental devastation, and gendered violence. She insists that Palestine's fate is linked through bonds of solidarity with other communities crossing racial and gender lines, weaving an intersectional feminist understanding of Israeli apartheid throughout her analysis. She also looks deeper into the interconnectedness of Palestine with Black, migrant, and queer movements, and with other indigenous struggles against settler colonialism, including that of Native Americans. Greater than the Sum of Our Parts is a powerful and hopeful account, highlighting the role of the Palestinian diaspora, youth, and women, and inspired by activists across the world.
-from Goodreads🤷♀️ Didn’t finish the book? Haven’t started? Only here for feminist hot takes, collective unlearning, and good vibes? Perfect. We’re a no-pressure, no-expectations book club. Come exactly as you are.
📍 Where: Books Books Books, Lausanne
⏰ When: Thursday, June 25th at 18:30
(about 1.5 hours + optional post-book-club hangout!)You can grab the book through our lovely host BooksBooksBooks, or listen to the audiobook if that feels more accessible right now.
Sign up for our newsletter to know which parts we’re focusing on — or simply show up and wing it. Bring your thoughts, your questions, your complicated feelings about mirrors, magazines, and the male gaze. We can’t wait to unpack this one together 💜📚✨
### What to Expect
- A 90-minute guided conversation led by Laura, Janine, and a rotating community co-host
- A warm, welcoming, non-judgmental space
- Thoughtful discussion, honest sharing, and room for complexity
- A mix of regulars and first-timers — everyone truly is welcome
- Time afterward to browse, chat, and connect
### Who This Is For
Anyone who wants to:
- read more feminist books,
- have meaningful conversations,
- meet new people in Lausanne,
- interrogate beauty, power, capitalism, and self-worth,
- or sit with thoughtful humans for an hour and a half (in English).
### RSVP Etiquette
Space is limited. Please adjust your RSVP if your plans change so someone else can join.
We’re looking forward to reading feminist books with you!
Your co-hosts,
Janine & Laura3 attendees
Past events
8
