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
8
Book Club 8: I Who Have Never Known Men
Books Books Books - Feminist Book Club, Rue du Valentin 1, Lausanne, CHCo-hosted by Janine & Laura + rotating community co-hosts
Our May book club pick is I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman, a quiet, unsettling, and deeply philosophical novel about a woman raised in captivity, cut off from the world, language, and history. Spare and hypnotic, the book explores isolation, freedom, memory, and what it means to be human when identity is formed without comparison, desire, or inherited roles.
🤷‍♀️ Didn’t finish the book? Haven’t started? Only here for thoughtful conversation, collective wondering, and good vibes? Perfect. We’re a no-pressure, no-expectations book club. Come exactly as you are.
đź“Ť Where: Books Books Books, Lausanne
⏰ When: Wednesday, May 21st 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.
Sign up for our newsletter to know which parts we’re focusing on — or simply show up and wing it. Bring your curiosity, your questions, your quiet thoughts. We can’t wait to sit with 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,
- explore themes of isolation, freedom, humanity, and resilience,
- or sit quietly and thoughtfully with others 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 & Laura 🤍29 attendees
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.
đź“Ť 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 & Laura7 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
This Month’s Book: Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility by Patty McCord
About this book: 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 this book, 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.
đź“š Find it at Books Books Books and enjoy 10% off when you mention it's for Feminist Book Club.
🤷‍♀️ Didn’t finish the book? Haven’t started? Only here for feminist hot takes, collective brain expansion, and good vibes? Perfect. We’re a no-pressure, no-expectations book club. Come exactly as you are.
đź“Ť Where: Books Books Books, Address: Rue du Valentin 1, 1004 Lausanne
⏰ When: 18:30–20:30 (plan for 2 hours + optional post-book-club hangout)
What to Expect
- A 90-minute guided conversation led by Laura, Janine, and a rotating 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,
- explore identity, justice, joy, rage, desire, friendship, and community,
- or sit with other 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 & Laura4 attendees
Book Club 11: Die, My Love
Books Books Books - Feminist Book Club, Rue du Valentin 1, Lausanne, CHCo-hosted by Janine & Laura + rotating community co-hosts
This Month’s Book: Die, My Love by Ariana Harwicz
About this book: 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?
đź“š Find it at Books Books Books and enjoy 10% off when you mention it's for Feminist Book Club.
🤷‍♀️ Didn’t finish the book? Haven’t started? Only here for feminist hot takes, collective brain expansion, and good vibes? Perfect. We’re a no-pressure, no-expectations book club. Come exactly as you are.
đź“Ť Where: Books Books Books, Address: Rue du Valentin 1, 1004 Lausanne
** Please note that due to the summer holiday, we might meet at a different location for this meeting **⏰ When: 18:30–20:30 (plan for 2 hours + optional post-book-club hangout)
What to Expect
- A 90-minute guided conversation led by Laura, Janine, and a rotating 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,
- explore identity, justice, joy, rage, desire, friendship, and community,
- or sit with other 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 & Laura4 attendees
Past events
7
