Happy New Year from Ms Informed!
We're late but we have mega book recommendations and inspiration for 2026. Will we see you at one of our bookclub gatherings this year?
Goodbye 2025, and what seemed like a very transitional and transformative year. Rina had a baby. Madhvi moved apartment, plus we had many creative and work challenges too.
But through it all, we were sustained by our monthly book club meetings. It was great to commit to reading and discussing one feminist book a month, but let’s face it, it wasn’t just about the reading — in fact even we didn’t manage to read every single book fully.
In a world that seems to be becoming more extreme, absurd, and unpredictable, it was nice to meet the warmth, intelligence, and understanding of feminists on a regular basis. What we can forget, if we feel isolated or doom-scroll, is that many people are trying to lead their lives with integrity. Mutual support is a key part of this.
The Ms Informed feminist bookclub is a place where we can have our debates and differences and feel heard and held. If you are a woman or a non-binary person who would like to join, reply to us here or at msinformed.podcast@gmail.com to be added to our email list. Meetings take place monthly, and are hosted in members’ homes in Berlin. If you’re a member already, we’d like to say thank you for being a glimmer of light in our monthly calendars.
This week’s distraction
This week’s distraction is our mega 2026 booklist!
Every year, we gather reading suggestions from our feminist bookclub members, and then we vote on them. Here’s the list for your reading inspiration:
If you are on our bookclub mailing list, voting will take place very soon.
This week Madhvi watched
This week Madhvi watched Tampopo on Mubi, a classic Japanese film from 1985. Have you ever had the urge to squish fluffy loaves of bread in a supermarket? Then this film is for you!
It’s food porn at its finest — featuring an obsessive quest to make the most perfect ramen ever and peppered with scenes about food culture. It’s bizarre, and light and funny — and let’s face it, there are not enough light films on Mubi. Don’t watch when hungry though.
This week Rina read
This week Rina read The coin by Yasmin Zaher. One of the weirdest but best books I have read. It’s about a Palestinian woman living in NYC and working as a teacher. She swallows a coin. Sounds absurd. So worth reading — I can’t stop thinking about it.
This week’s inspiration
This week’s inspiration is you, and your creative energy. Madhvi is facilitating some fun, feminist creative writing courses in 2026.
In February, you can join Your Erotic Story: An Online Creative Writing Course. This one is for all people, of all writing levels and genders and takes place over 4 weeks. Find out more or book via Eventbrite here.
Or if a weekend workshop in a small, cosy group of women and non-binary people in Berlin suits you better, come to this workshop in May. Find out more at Eventbrite here.
Message Madhvi at unleashcreativemagic@gmail.com if you have questions or want to book without the Eventbrite fee, or if you have financial hardship.