7 Books To Read If You Love The Bold Type

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, by Ann Brashares
I can’t think of a book series more devoted to the power of female friendship, with no drama, no competition, and no dragging each other down. Carmen, Lena, Tibby, and Bridget are dedicated to each other and feel like real people, because, while they get into fights and fall in and out of touch with each other, ultimately they understand that real friendship means as much as hanging out together and staying in touch over the summer, but also so much more. Likewise, while Jane, Sutton, and Kat depend on their fashion closet hangouts and knowing their besties are just a text message away, they also lead fulfilling lives outside of their relationships.

#scandal, by Sarah Ockler
As social media manager, Kat gets herself into more than a few tight situations on Twitter, and big boss Jacqueline is surprisingly understanding. In a less realistic show, this might lead to everything being recanted, undone, or forgiven. But in The Bold Type, as in this book, going viral has a lot of consequences. Lucy’s poorly timed kiss with her friend’s boyfriend leads to slut shaming and viral photo sharing that spins out of control.

The Lightning Dreamer, by Margarita Engle
Jane struggles with what to write next, and when she finally comes up with something political or hard-hitting, she’s often written off as someone who writes for a “women’s magazine.” This historical novel in verse is about a young woman who similarly defied gender roles to write about something that really mattered: slavery in Cuba.

Smart Girls Get What They Want, by Sarah Strohmeyer
At the core of the TV show is ambition. Not the kind that has you knocking down everyone in your path on the way to success, the kind that speaks to the drive Jane, Sutton, and Kat each have inside them, along with the smarts to get them where they want to go. The three friends in Strohmeyer’s book learn together that they shouldn’t have to sacrifice what’s special about themselves to get boys to like them, and along the way they achieve a lot, from skiing to student council.

How To Make A Wish, by Ashley Herring Blake
Kat had no idea she liked girls, and it seems like she’s still working through whether that makes her a lesbian or bisexual or whether labels matter at all. In this book, Grace and Eva are also working through their thoughts on sexuality as they fall for each other. The book also deals with Grace’s strained relationship with her mother, and from what we’ve seen so far, Bold Type‘s Sutton could use some help with that.

Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy, by Bil Wright
I loved seeing Sutton land her dream job, because a) hooray for her! b) fashion! and c) some hard realism about how ambition pays off, but not everything is magical, especially not when it comes to salary. The star of this book, Carlos, is fashion-obsessed and money-strapped, but that doesn’t keep him from landing the makeup job of his dreams.

The Truth About Forever, by Sarah Dessen
One thing I really love about this show is Jacqueline’s tough love and mentorship of her employees, particularly Jane and Kat. YA isn’t exactly known for its positive adult characters, but this novel has a great one: Delia. The owner of Wish Catering, she hires protagonist Macy—dealing with grief over her father’s death and the prospect of a long, empty summer—and shows herself to be a thoughtful, loving adult, if also a little forgetful.