… Okay, probably not all of it but I've pretty much emptied my local library for fiction books. I've read a lot of classics and modern bestsellers, "everything" from Orwell to Rooney to Steinbeck to Murakami. I enjoy most of it and I'm open for almost anything, I just want some new inputs – books I wouldn't have found just by googling 'books for teenage girls', and preferably something that made a lasting impression on you when you were young.
I don't do well with very heavy themes (A Little Life is the only book I haven't been able to finish) and a heavy and slow pacing; please don't recommend me a 800-page multi-generational Indian family chronicle – I have the attention span of someone who grew up in the era of the iPad, which is to say, barely any.
So yeah, your take on a rare must-read fiction book for young women! Thanks in advance 🙂
by combiendejours_
12 Comments
Is there a specific work or genre you’ve really enjoyed?
I began reading Tamora Pierce’s books in middle school and still read them annually as a 30-year-old. Female-driven fantasy author who has been writing since the 1980s. Her characters really influence who I am today and definitely made a lasting impression.
How extensive is your local library’s collection? I discovered LA Meyer, another young adult author I still enjoy, at my library growing up. The Bloody Jack series follows a London orphan as she disguises herself as a boy to travel on a royal navy ship in the 1800s. An action-adventure style. It is longer than Pierce’s works, but if you’ve enjoyed classic fiction then you may enjoy that.
If there’s a work you really really enjoyed, see if you can find it in a different format. There are manga editions of a lot of classics now. I have the Anne of Green Gables edition and it’s interesting to see how much emphasis is/is not given to different parts. (And if you haven’t, the Anne books are wonderful. Not very long, they start with Anne at 10 and follow her through her life.) you could also do this with books that were made into TV shows/movies and compare the two/look for different formats. A series of unfortunate events, Little Fires Everywhere, tons of classic works.
I would recommend Wild Seed by Octavia E Butler. It made a lasting impression on me when I was younger. It’s a sci-fi book about the immortal Anyanwu who has the ability to shape shift and her power struggle against Doro, a fellow immortal who has the ability to inhabit other people’s bodies and is a rather ruthless, calculating man. It has a lot to say about relationship dynamics and power dynamics from a feminine perspective, among many other themes. It’s not terribly long, but it’s very impactful.
My favorite books as a voraciously-reading teen that I still love as an adult:
The Cat Who series. They’re short, impeccably written, and generally delightful.
All Creatures Great and Small series. Wonderful books.
Do you like books that are a little silly? The Hitchhiker’s Guide series or Terry Pratchett’s discworld series are really fun. I also love the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde.
Dorothy Must Die series by Danielle Page – it’s a retelling of the Wizard of Oz, reimagined as if Dorothy went back to Oz as an evil ruler (not as dark as it sounds, it is YA).
The Glass Library series by C.J. Archer – not YA, but it is a lighter adult series that is like historical magic fiction with a very light romantic sub plot.
Among the Beasts and Briars – YA fantasy about a girl trying to lift a curse from her kingdom.
Never After: the Thirteenth Fairy – this one is middle reader, but I thought it was a cute, fun read as an adult. Smashed together fairytales that live in a real, alternate universe that a girl from California gets pulled into to help.
The Sand Chronicles by Hugh Howey – a dystopian fantasy about people who live in sand deserts and have to go sand diving to collect artifacts from what used to be Denver in order to survive. It is a little sad because it’s dystopian, but I didn’t think it was too heavy. Two books and it’s a good lead in to his Wool series (which is great, but a lot longer).
Maureen Johnson has some good mystery/murder mysteries for YAs. And check out Liz Braswell and T. Kingfisher for more kinda-dark reimagining stories of fairytales/Disney stories.
hey girl this is a reading list coming from a young girl who has read pretty much everything as well
1. The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson: A comedic fiction novel that talks about surprisingly topics such as wars, 20th history and politics.
2. Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer: I finished this novel in one night cause the storytelling is insanely good. I had so much raw emotion reading this, from anger to happiness, from sadness to excitement. Def a classic one!
3. Life or Death by Michael Robotham: i love myself a good thriller lol, dont see many people talking about this one. This one is about a man who escapes from prison the day before his release, the rest you can figure out by yourself.
4. Anatomy of a Misfit by Andrea Portes: Someone said this book is the result of a meeting between “Mean girls” and “The perk of being Wallflowers” and I find it so true. This is not mind-blowing or heart-wrenching or anything. Just a great comfort book in my opinion.
5. Shoe Dog by Phil Knight: I got myself into biography because of this book. I literally had no idea about this guy (the founder of Nike) before reading this but his storytelling is truly one of a kind. I think this is the righr age to read biography cause you sometimes come across hints and guidance for your next step in life
6. Slumdog Millionaire by Vikas Swarup: I read this when I was 16 and I fell in love. The plot itself is so unique and the way the author narrates it in a simple yet beautiful way. Trust me you are missing out if you havent read this one!
I can probably write more but Im too lazy for that lol hope you find smt you like from my list xoxo
annie bot
Have you tried Russian literature? Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov… although it *is* a bit heavy, especially Dostoevsky. How about Franz Kafka?
More Japanese literature? Natsume Soseki? Dazai Osamu? (Those are only my personal favorites)
Maybe tried more English literature like Orwell? Jane Austen is great, Charles Dickens, Emily and Charlotte Brontë, Virginia Woolf is also incredible, one of my favorite…
There are still many to read and discover! Tell me if you’ve read any of those authors or not!
If you want something to chew on for a bit, I recommend “Small Things Like These” by Claire Keegan.
I loved A Tree Grows in Brooklyn when I read it at about that same age.
I think you might like any books by Dolly Alderton. Really great contemporary lit for twenty-something women
Check out the genre of African Speculative Fiction. A lot of really wonderful ya / early adult novels in that space and a smaller library might not have them.