I’ve read over 50 books this year, but only 5 by women. What are the best books of ever genre/century/nation by women?
What are the best books by women in sci-fi? in fantasy? in romance? in fiction and non-fiction? in the 19th century? the 20th century? What is the best book by an African woman? by a South American woman? by a Chinese woman?
Wuthering Heights is one of the best books ever, and is also by a woman. Middlemarch is another one of the best books ever, and by a woman.
BernardFerguson1944 on
*The Tale of Genji* by Murasaki Shikibu.
*The Journey of Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca and His Companions from Florida to the Pacific: 1528-1536* by Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca. Fanny Bandelier, trans.
*Longitude* by Dava Sobel.
*Understanding Catholicism* by Monika K. Hellwig.
*A History of God* *: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam* by Karen Armstrong.
*Plague and the Poor in Renaissance Florence* (Cambridge Studies in the History of Medicine) by Ann G. Carmichael.
*Medieval Technology and Social Change* by Lynn White Jr.
*The Cavalry Maiden: Journals of a Russian Officer in the Napoleonic Wars* by Nadezhda Andreyevna Durova.
*The Road to Disappearance: A History of the Creek Indians* by Angie Debo.
*The Reason Why: The Story of the Fatal Charge of the Light Brigade* by Cecil Woodham-Smith.
*Complicity: How the North Promoted, Prolonged, and Profited from Slavery* by Anne Farrow, Joel Lang, and Jenifer Frank.
*Lincoln and Black Freedom: A Study in Presidential Leadership* [by LaWanda Cox.]()
*Copperheads: The Rise and Fall of Lincoln’s Opponents in the North* by Jennifer L. Weber.
*The Chessboard of War: Sherman and Hood and the Autumn Campaigns of 1864* by Anne J. Bailey.
*Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglalas* by Mari Sandoz.
*The Battle of the Little Bighorn* by Mari Sandoz.
*Ishi in Two Worlds, 50th Anniversary Edition: A Biography of the Last Wild Indian in North America* by Theodora Kroeber.
*A Short History of China* by Hilda Hookam.
*The Manchus* by Pamela K. Crossley.
*Brave, Bold First Lady Lou Hoover: Survivor of China’s Boxer Rebellion* by Sarita Mirador.
*The Last Voyage of the Lusitania* by A. A. Hoehling and Mary Hoehling.
*The Guns of August* by Barbara Tuchman.
*The Zimmermann Telegram* by Barbara Tuchman.
*A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century* by Barbara Tuchman.
*First Salute: View of the American Revolution* by Barbara Tuchman.
*Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-45* by Barbara Tuchman.
*Wings, Women, and War: Soviet Airwomen in World War II Combat* by Reina Pennington.
*Diary of a Nightmare: Berlin, 1942-1945* by Ursula von Kardorff.
*Three Came Home* by Agnes Newton Keith.
*Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl* by Anne Frank.
*Tears in the Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath* by Michael and Elizabeth M. Norman.
*The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II* by Iris Chang.
*Ploesti: The Great Ground-Air Battle of 1 August 1943* by James Dugan and Carroll Stewart.
*Blind Man’s Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage* by Sherry Sontag, Christopher Drew, and Annette Lawrence Drew.
*First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers* by Loung Ung.
*I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings* by Maya Angelou.
*The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou* by Maya Angelou.
*Beloved* by Toni Morrison.
*The Good Earth* by Pearl S. Buck.
*To Kill a Mockingbird* by Harper Lee.
*The Giver* by Lois Lowry.
*Interview with the Vampire* by Anne Rice.
*The Vampire Lestat* by Anne Rice.
*The Queen of the Damned* by Anne Rice.
*The Tale of the Body Thief* by Anne Rice.
*W;t* by Margaret Edson. It’s a one act play: “The action of the play takes place during the final hours of Dr. Vivian Bearing, a university professor of English, dying of ovarian cancer.”
albufarisnear on
Fantasy, Robin Hobb
ohshannoneileen on
Science Fiction for sure Anne McCaffrey!
lyd_the_kid on
Every book by Taylor Jenkins Reid
povertychic on
Wuthering Heights for 19th century
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler for Sci-fi
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath for 20th century
AzizLiteHalfCalorie on
Becky Chambers Wayfairers series
Stefanieteke on
A biography written by a woman about a woman: Lady of the Army: The Life of Mrs. George S. Patton.
LikesOtters on
Kristin Hannah in Fiction is amazing; in my opinion.
PandaDisastrous9354 on
Here are my top books from female authors from around the world
-Kintu novel by Ugandan author Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
-the Radiant Emperor Duology by Shelley Parker-Chan a non-binary, Australian fantasty novelist. Takes place in ancient china
-Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
-on Fragile Waves by E Lily Yu, takes place in Afghanistan and beyond
-Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead Olga Nawoja Tokarczuk, Polish
A couple other mentions are Barbara Kingsolver, Margaret Atwood, and Hanya Yanagihara
ryancharaba on
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
DazzleCrab on
Barbara Kingsolver – most of her books but my favorites are Prodigal Summer, Flight Behavior, and the Poisonwood Bible
Feb-2024 on
jane austen, agatha christie, barbara kingsolver
kjwjr85 on
The Sword of Kaigen by ML Wang. Fantasy, and fucking awesome.
EuphoricDisastrous12 on
Not exhaustive by any means, but these are some I’ve read in the past couple years that were really enjoyable.
Nonfiction: Stiff & Fuzz by Mary Roach, Invisible Women by Caroline Perez, Butts: A Backstory by Heather Radke, Poverty for Profit by Anne Kim, They Were Her Property by Stephanie Jones-Rogers, Unequal Childhoods by Annette Lareau
Fantasy: Circe & The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, The Women’s War by Jenna Glass, A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
Other: Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica, My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
Mountain-Mix-8413 on
Half of a Yellow Sun and Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie are both incredible. As is Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi.
Some other favourites:
I Who Have Never Known Men.
Pachinko.
My Brilliant Friend.
The Great Believers.
The Island of Sea Women.
19 Comments
Science fiction. Ursula K Leguin.
Murder mysteries. Agatha Christie
Wuthering Heights is one of the best books ever, and is also by a woman. Middlemarch is another one of the best books ever, and by a woman.
*The Tale of Genji* by Murasaki Shikibu.
*The Journey of Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca and His Companions from Florida to the Pacific: 1528-1536* by Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca. Fanny Bandelier, trans.
*Longitude* by Dava Sobel.
*Understanding Catholicism* by Monika K. Hellwig.
*A History of God* *: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam* by Karen Armstrong.
*Plague and the Poor in Renaissance Florence* (Cambridge Studies in the History of Medicine) by Ann G. Carmichael.
*Medieval Technology and Social Change* by Lynn White Jr.
*The Cavalry Maiden: Journals of a Russian Officer in the Napoleonic Wars* by Nadezhda Andreyevna Durova.
*The Road to Disappearance: A History of the Creek Indians* by Angie Debo.
*The Reason Why: The Story of the Fatal Charge of the Light Brigade* by Cecil Woodham-Smith.
*Complicity: How the North Promoted, Prolonged, and Profited from Slavery* by Anne Farrow, Joel Lang, and Jenifer Frank.
*Lincoln and Black Freedom: A Study in Presidential Leadership* [by LaWanda Cox.]()
*Copperheads: The Rise and Fall of Lincoln’s Opponents in the North* by Jennifer L. Weber.
*The Chessboard of War: Sherman and Hood and the Autumn Campaigns of 1864* by Anne J. Bailey.
*Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglalas* by Mari Sandoz.
*The Battle of the Little Bighorn* by Mari Sandoz.
*Ishi in Two Worlds, 50th Anniversary Edition: A Biography of the Last Wild Indian in North America* by Theodora Kroeber.
*A Short History of China* by Hilda Hookam.
*The Manchus* by Pamela K. Crossley.
*Brave, Bold First Lady Lou Hoover: Survivor of China’s Boxer Rebellion* by Sarita Mirador.
*The Last Voyage of the Lusitania* by A. A. Hoehling and Mary Hoehling.
*The Guns of August* by Barbara Tuchman.
*The Zimmermann Telegram* by Barbara Tuchman.
*A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century* by Barbara Tuchman.
*First Salute: View of the American Revolution* by Barbara Tuchman.
*Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-45* by Barbara Tuchman.
*Wings, Women, and War: Soviet Airwomen in World War II Combat* by Reina Pennington.
*Diary of a Nightmare: Berlin, 1942-1945* by Ursula von Kardorff.
*Three Came Home* by Agnes Newton Keith.
*Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl* by Anne Frank.
*Tears in the Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath* by Michael and Elizabeth M. Norman.
*The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II* by Iris Chang.
*Ploesti: The Great Ground-Air Battle of 1 August 1943* by James Dugan and Carroll Stewart.
*Blind Man’s Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage* by Sherry Sontag, Christopher Drew, and Annette Lawrence Drew.
*First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers* by Loung Ung.
*I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings* by Maya Angelou.
*The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou* by Maya Angelou.
*Beloved* by Toni Morrison.
*The Good Earth* by Pearl S. Buck.
*To Kill a Mockingbird* by Harper Lee.
*The Giver* by Lois Lowry.
*Interview with the Vampire* by Anne Rice.
*The Vampire Lestat* by Anne Rice.
*The Queen of the Damned* by Anne Rice.
*The Tale of the Body Thief* by Anne Rice.
*W;t* by Margaret Edson. It’s a one act play: “The action of the play takes place during the final hours of Dr. Vivian Bearing, a university professor of English, dying of ovarian cancer.”
Fantasy, Robin Hobb
Science Fiction for sure Anne McCaffrey!
Every book by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Wuthering Heights for 19th century
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler for Sci-fi
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath for 20th century
Becky Chambers Wayfairers series
A biography written by a woman about a woman: Lady of the Army: The Life of Mrs. George S. Patton.
Kristin Hannah in Fiction is amazing; in my opinion.
Here are my top books from female authors from around the world
-Kintu novel by Ugandan author Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
-the Radiant Emperor Duology by Shelley Parker-Chan a non-binary, Australian fantasty novelist. Takes place in ancient china
-Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
-on Fragile Waves by E Lily Yu, takes place in Afghanistan and beyond
-Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead Olga Nawoja Tokarczuk, Polish
A couple other mentions are Barbara Kingsolver, Margaret Atwood, and Hanya Yanagihara
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
Barbara Kingsolver – most of her books but my favorites are Prodigal Summer, Flight Behavior, and the Poisonwood Bible
jane austen, agatha christie, barbara kingsolver
The Sword of Kaigen by ML Wang. Fantasy, and fucking awesome.
Not exhaustive by any means, but these are some I’ve read in the past couple years that were really enjoyable.
Nonfiction: Stiff & Fuzz by Mary Roach, Invisible Women by Caroline Perez, Butts: A Backstory by Heather Radke, Poverty for Profit by Anne Kim, They Were Her Property by Stephanie Jones-Rogers, Unequal Childhoods by Annette Lareau
Fantasy: Circe & The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, The Women’s War by Jenna Glass, A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
Other: Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica, My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
Half of a Yellow Sun and Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie are both incredible. As is Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi.
Some other favourites:
I Who Have Never Known Men.
Pachinko.
My Brilliant Friend.
The Great Believers.
The Island of Sea Women.
Some of my favourites by women are –
The Handmaid’s Tail by Margaret Atwood
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
The Harry Potter series – JK Rowling
How do you do that! Read 50!!!