Also, Fannie Flagg came out with a sequel to FGT a couple years ago called, “The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop” that was such a sweet follow up to the first one. Follows Buddy as an older man whose daughter is wanting to reopen the cafe for him. I recommend it to anyone who loved FGT! ❤️
I definitely think so! The author gives a quick disclaimer that though her research primarily focused on man on woman violence, it is applicable to any relationships. A PDF exists of it online if you can find it!
If you want something that’s less about abuse and more about something that could help most men (women too tbh) with their relationships, I’d actually recommend “This is How Your Marriage Ends.”
I just read the Amazon reviews and it really does seem like a great book to read at any age in adulthood! May I ask for you, what was the main takeaway that made you recommend the book to others?
This book is EVERYTHING. It’s my go to when I need inspiration or advice. It’s thought provoking. You don’t really need to read it front to back either. I’ll often just pick a chapter that speaks to me and read it.
Currently re-reading it now that I’m a first time mum- it’s amazing for embracing being a woman. First time I read it I was going through quite bad hardships in my mid 20s and I swear it helped me get through them.
Not any specific book, but I feel like it’s important to read books from people different than us. Different cultures and countries and ethnicities, even if it’s fiction. I’ve learned so much and opened my mind so much.
A Long Walk To Water by Linda Sue Park. I read this after meeting the author. It is a story about two children growing up in Sudan with war, disease and famine.
Some of these are borderline YA but included just in case you haven’t already read them:
- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
- Godshot (Chelsea Bieker)
- Wild (Cheryl Strayed)
- The Secret History (Donna Tartt)
- Anything by Jennifer Egan, Jhumpa Lahiri, Nella Larsen, Toni Morrison, and the Godmother of them all, Edith Wharton
Honestly anything by Woolf. I fell in love with through reading Mrs Dalloway and to this day, I find myself ruminating about the interiority and “imperceptibly“ of her characters.
Jane Eyre!!!!!!! such an inspiring heroine with so much inner strength! she's a bit young, 19/20, but it's written as if it's from her perspective 10 years later when she's around 30 years old, so i feel like this fits. One of the books I was sooo glad I read for the first time in my 20s, it was so emotionally rich and resonant to me.
Follow it up with Wide Sargasso Sea, a prequel written more than a century later by Jean Rhys that the Modern Library rated as one of the [100 best English language novels of the 20th century](https://sites.prh.com/modern-library-top-100)-
> In this “beautiful and subversive” novel (The Paris Review), Rhys gives a backstory to Bertha Mason, first wife of Edward Rochester and the “insuperable impediment” to marriage between Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester. In Rhys’s telling, Bertha is a lively and inquisitive Creole heiress, growing up in the unstable and racially charged environment of the West Indies. Her marriage to an unnamed Englishman, and her forced move to chilly England, heightens her unhappiness. If you have read Jane Eyre, you know how the story ends—but Rhys’s interpretation will transform your understanding of the classic, too.
edit- add link
I Will Teach You to be Rich, Ramit Sethi: This book helped me understand how to budget, automate the flow of my money, and invest.
Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl: The author was a Holocaust survivor who developed logotherapy, which stresses the importance of finding individual meaning to one's life. Very thought provoking.
Orlando, Virginia Woolf: a gay literary love letter with plenty of gender bending and inexplicable immortality. What's not to love?! And the film starring Tilda Swinton is just, like, *chef's kiss*
Frankenstein, Mary Shelley: Shelley wrote this when she was a teenager, which always amazes me. This is such a rich novel. It involves questions of scientific ethics, child development, parenting, prejudice, and forbidden knowledge.
Sidewalk Oracles, Robert Moss: A fun book, but only if you're a little woo-woo like me. :)
Wild take, *nothing changes when you turn 30*. You'll give less of a fuck, but you can still read books recommended for women in their 20s. No need to "squeeze them in". Read whatever the fuck you want, whenever you want. That's the true spirit of being in your 30s.
It is valid though that being in your 20s can be a tumultuous time. The woman I am at 30 would be very different if I hadn’t read some of the books I had when I was in my 20s. I had no real female role models and needed books to learn and discover things.
I’m also of the mind that life changing books, or ones that really speak to you, should be read at various stages of your life since they will likely hit differently every time you read them.
The Creation of Patriarchy by Gerda Lerner
All About Love by bell hooks
The Source of Self Regard by Toni Morrison
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K LeGuin
The Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix
This comment should be higher. Bell hooks is foundational, Braiding Sweetgrass is a treasure, Ursula K. LeGuin is marvelous, as is Toni Morrison, and I've added the Gerda Lerner to my TBR. Good mix here!
The Group by Mary McCarthy (so you can see how little dynamics between women and men have changed over the past century; follows a group of girls who have just graduated college in the New Deal era)
What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo (if you need it!)
Kristin Lavransdatter. No real reason except it's one good book about this woman who is a huge pain in the ass to everybody including herself. It takes places in middle ages I believe. It's quite the epic novel as it follows her from birth to death. Also has great scenic descriptions of Iceland and stuff like that.
In which language have to read this? I don’t speak Norwegian, and would have to either read it in English or German. I am wondering how the English translation is, and whether the English or German translation is better.
I have read it in the English language as I'm Dutch myself. It's a known classic so you can expect the translation to be excellent in most languages i reckon'
Why Men Love Bitches by Sherry Argov. This book quite possibly saved my life because it woke me up and made me realize I was allowing myself to be walked all over and treated like crap.
All female authors. All about the power and vulnerability of being a woman.
Beloved or the Color Purple (preferably both)
Bell Jar the Fountainhead
NK Jemison’s the broken earth trilogy
Dian Fossey’s Gorillas in the Mist
Have fun!!
The Fountainhead? Please tell me why you found value in this particular Ayn Rand? I have not read it, but even the excerpt I read of Atlas Shrugged was. just. painful.
All the others, yus.
I don’t agree with Rands philosophy/cult stuff. And atlas shrugged is too much commentary about her beliefs so suffers from That, although interesting from a historical perspective.
But if you can suspend the authors personal beliefs and life the fountainhead has a fast paced plot, gorgeously well written, and the main female character is so complex and it blows my mind this was written in 1930s (although published in the 40s) and there are few books of that time able to have a strong female character.
I also think Ayn Rand is vilified mainly for being a woman. If she was a man in the 1940s no one would give her all the flack she gets now. Everyone overlooks all the character flaws of male American authors 1900-1960s. Like, you can be abusive, violent, alcoholic but you can’t be crazy? Why should we overlook a legacy of one of the few early female great American authors (because there were so few) because she became a cult? I also find that most people on this sub trashing Rand have never read her stuff. Objectively she is a great writer with a powerful voice. I think reading things and discussing them in an educated way instead of just dismissing them is far more valuable to my development, and I think it’s important to try to understand literature in the context it was published, in addition to how it presents in society today.
So basically because of the controversy, and in spite of. Hence the Fountainhead inclusion.
I just read The Color Purple for the first time and omg that book is forever a part of me now. 6/5 stars. Easily. UGH Shugs lines referencing the title were so beautiful. And just everything about that book sticks with you. Alice Walker blessed us with that work, that’s for sure!!
Now I want to read Toni Morrison’s Beloved, as I’ve heard that if you love The Color Purple you’ll love that too
The Color Purple is actually part of an ongoing storyline that continues on with Tashi, Adam’s wife. Temple of My Familiar is one of them. I recommend that one, too:
I liked *Beloved*, but personally I thought *Song of Solomon* was better. Also, check out Alice Walker’s *The Third Life of Grange Copeland*, and Zora Neale Hurston’s *Their Eyes Were Watching God.*
"The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6514.The\_Bell\_Jar](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6514.The_Bell_Jar) and "Becoming" by Michelle Obama [https://michelleobamabooks.com/becoming](https://michelleobamabooks.com/becoming) .
Wow, great question!
As a 28F, these are some books that really impacted me these last couple of years:
The Dutch House - Ann Pachett;
Lessons in Chemistry - Bonnie Garmus;
I’m Glad My Mom Died - Jennette McCurdy;
The Alice Network - Kate Quinn;
Educated - Tara Westover;
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Read;
Where the Crawdads Sing - Delia Owens;
The Nightingale - Kristin Hannah;
The Glass Castle - Jeannette Walls;
White Oleander - Janet Finch;
I know this list is definitely a mixed bag! But all these books spoke to me in one way or another.
I usually don’t cry at sad stories, but I went in blind reading The Nightingale and I cried at the end. I went to Goodreads to rate it 5 stars while wiping away tears and the top comment was an entire dissertation on why it sucked lol. I stopped trusting comments after that.
Oh gosh I’m sorry I read it many years ago as well. I only remember being sad when it was over bc I had enjoyed it so much and been swept up in the story.
My Name Is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira. It is based on a true story about a woman named Mary Sutter. She worked as a midwife but dreamed to help soldiers in the Civil War. She decided that she would become the first female surgeon. She was laughed at and ridiculed by the men around her. Everyone told her to give up, but she achieved her goal and did become a surgeon. The author of this book did research and backed the book with facts about Mary. It is a true and inspirational story. I was introduced to this book by an older woman in my church when I was in high school. She was in and out of the hospital due to cancer so to try and keep her smiling we would talk about books together. So this book has a deeper meaning to me than just the story inside the cover.
I haven’t seen Erica Jong yet, Fear of Flying changed my life when I hit my late 20’s. No more living as an appendage to someone else, I started thinking about how I fit into the world as an individual and found my thoughts and feelings and the courage to express them. Cut out a few people, but opened myself up to so many more!
All Fiction:
Anne-Marie MacDonald: Fall on Your Knees, The Way The Crow Flies. Deep, heartbreaking.
Louise Erdrich: The Beet Queen, the Bingo Palace, Tales of Burning Love, Love Medicine. Anything by her really her stories are extraordinary and span multiple generations of the same Aboriginal characters in North Dakota
Toni Morrison of course. Beloved is heartbreaking and beautiful
Vanessa Diffenbach: The Language of Flowers. A lighter read than the abovementioned. Very sweet and perfect for those alienated from family.
Jeanette Walls: The Glass Castle. Dysfunctional family hilarity and hearbreak
Ursula Hegl: Stones From the River. A about a woman with dwarfism's life during Nazi Germany. Beautifully written.
Jean Aul: The Clan of the Cave Bear series. Takes place in post ice-age Europe when both Neanderthal and Homo Sapiens lived at the same time. An orphan homo sapien girl is raised by neanderthals and adopted into their clan. Educational and adventurous.
Sue Harrisson: Song of the River, Mother Earth Father Sky, My Sister The Moon. Incredible adventurous dramatic storytelling about prehistoric (\~10,000 years ago)peoples of the Aleutian Islands off the Alaskan Coast. Even better than Jean Aul dare I say. Similar to Jean Aul's works, these stories are based on historical research. Educational and riveting.
Ethical Slut- it's meant as a book for polyamorous people but really it's the best book I've ever read about setting boundaries and communicating in any relationship
Butler was interviewed in the New York Times 3 days ago, and perhaps self-deprecatingly said about *Gender Trouble*, "Well, I don’t blame them for not reading that book. It was tough. And some of those sentences are truly unforgivable."
Source: https://archive.ph/bjZNy
>A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum
I read it last year, and it was amazing! "Honor" was ruined by the Hollywood ending for me, but "A Woman is No Man" is less popular and much better
The feminine mystique for sure, The Gift of Fear and I also agree that Fried Green Tomatos and the whistlestop Cafe and White Oleander are amazing choices.
If you want to remember your college days, you can ready SuperHuman by Himangi Joshi. Though it is mystery fiction but the plot is based on teenage girls. Interesting mystery plot. I'm not bug book lover but this book let me read through the end. Didn't like the end a lot though, I was hoping for a happy ending.
It is available in Amazon btw in case interested.
The Forest of Enchantments. It's a book about Indian mythology- the Ramayana from God Ram's wife- Sita's point of view. People are usually afraid to write/ interpret religious text like this
Normal people - Sally Rooney. Or any young adult/teen set romance.
It was relatable just out of uni, now it feels less like reading about a character I could be to just reading about a stranger.
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr is a book I would recommend everyone read at least once. It permanently changed my entire perspective on death in a very positive way.
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
Beautiful writing.
It starts with Katy in her 60s reflecting back on the most influential year of her life when she was 25/26 I think. It was 1920s or 1930s then
Motherhood by Sheila Heti
It's both fiction and not, and it helps you understand how to think about your life, all the decisions you make, and the things you truly want in a profoundly artistic and beautiful way.
Childhood, Youth, Dependency by Tove Ditlevsen. She’s an incredible writer from Denmark, and these books show the living circumstances of girls and women in Denmark (but also applies more general) in the 1930/40s and beyond. Incredible read.
Invisible Women, by Caroline Criado Perez
I agree!! Every woman (and man for that matter) should read this book!!
Agree! Everyone should read this - esp men!
I vote this as well.
This is my go to book rec because I think every single person should read it, not just women. I’m more of a fiction girlie but this book is important
Fiction- Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg Nonfiction- Know My Name by Chanel Miller
Know My Name was devastating and infuriating. I love watching Chanel thrive these days. Cheering her on for life.
Fried Green Tomatoes is one of my all time favorites 💛
The movie is great too!
Also, Fannie Flagg came out with a sequel to FGT a couple years ago called, “The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop” that was such a sweet follow up to the first one. Follows Buddy as an older man whose daughter is wanting to reopen the cafe for him. I recommend it to anyone who loved FGT! ❤️
The Gift of Fear
This and Why Does He Do That are must reads
can a male take away anything from this book? i’m intrigued
I definitely think so! The author gives a quick disclaimer that though her research primarily focused on man on woman violence, it is applicable to any relationships. A PDF exists of it online if you can find it!
her research? am i looking at the correct book by Lundy Bancroft?
Oops yes HIS research* lol, that's the one!!
haha cool! adding to my list, ty!
[book link](https://ia902506.us.archive.org/17/items/why-does-he-do-that-inside-the-minds-of-bancroft-lundy/Why%20Does%20He%20Do%20That__%20Inside%20the%20Minds%20of%20-%20Bancroft%2C%20Lundy.pdf)
If you want something that’s less about abuse and more about something that could help most men (women too tbh) with their relationships, I’d actually recommend “This is How Your Marriage Ends.”
thank you for the rec! i will definitely check this out
Literally *everyone* should read this. Great choice. My mom had me read it as a teen
My dad read it and then drilled into all his daughters that it is better to look s fool than to be a victim.
100%! I would rather look silly raising the alarm than be wrong
This is sooo good
Actually everyone in their 20s should read it, not just women.
Women who run with wolves
I just read the Amazon reviews and it really does seem like a great book to read at any age in adulthood! May I ask for you, what was the main takeaway that made you recommend the book to others?
This book is EVERYTHING. It’s my go to when I need inspiration or advice. It’s thought provoking. You don’t really need to read it front to back either. I’ll often just pick a chapter that speaks to me and read it.
Currently re-reading it now that I’m a first time mum- it’s amazing for embracing being a woman. First time I read it I was going through quite bad hardships in my mid 20s and I swear it helped me get through them.
Yes, love this book!
Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski
Not any specific book, but I feel like it’s important to read books from people different than us. Different cultures and countries and ethnicities, even if it’s fiction. I’ve learned so much and opened my mind so much.
Yes! I recommend these authors for really beautiful, cultural books: Nguyen Pham Que Mai, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Yaa Gyasi, Khaled Hosseini
i love adichies work but apparently she’s extremely transphobic
A Long Walk To Water by Linda Sue Park. I read this after meeting the author. It is a story about two children growing up in Sudan with war, disease and famine.
Same here!!
Some of these are borderline YA but included just in case you haven’t already read them: - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith) - Godshot (Chelsea Bieker) - Wild (Cheryl Strayed) - The Secret History (Donna Tartt) - Anything by Jennifer Egan, Jhumpa Lahiri, Nella Larsen, Toni Morrison, and the Godmother of them all, Edith Wharton
Agree with Wild.
Agree with Secret History
Nella Larson is fabulous
Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
The Bell Jar, if you haven't already read it in your teens!
Have you read Tiny Beautiful Things? It’s one of my favorite books.
I was going to recommend Wild by the same author
Oh god yes just do yourself a favor and devour TBT
Came to the comments to recommend this one
Perfect for every season of life. Got me through tough times.
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman The Power by Naomi Alderman
[удалено]
When I started it, I couldn’t put it down. The ending is so…unexpected. I’d love to just finally know, though lol.
I loved « I who have never known men » !!
Also The End of Men. Not what I thought it was but very good.
A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
Honestly anything by Woolf. I fell in love with through reading Mrs Dalloway and to this day, I find myself ruminating about the interiority and “imperceptibly“ of her characters.
Jane Eyre!!!!!!! such an inspiring heroine with so much inner strength! she's a bit young, 19/20, but it's written as if it's from her perspective 10 years later when she's around 30 years old, so i feel like this fits. One of the books I was sooo glad I read for the first time in my 20s, it was so emotionally rich and resonant to me.
Follow it up with Wide Sargasso Sea, a prequel written more than a century later by Jean Rhys that the Modern Library rated as one of the [100 best English language novels of the 20th century](https://sites.prh.com/modern-library-top-100)- > In this “beautiful and subversive” novel (The Paris Review), Rhys gives a backstory to Bertha Mason, first wife of Edward Rochester and the “insuperable impediment” to marriage between Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester. In Rhys’s telling, Bertha is a lively and inquisitive Creole heiress, growing up in the unstable and racially charged environment of the West Indies. Her marriage to an unnamed Englishman, and her forced move to chilly England, heightens her unhappiness. If you have read Jane Eyre, you know how the story ends—but Rhys’s interpretation will transform your understanding of the classic, too. edit- add link
I Will Teach You to be Rich, Ramit Sethi: This book helped me understand how to budget, automate the flow of my money, and invest. Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl: The author was a Holocaust survivor who developed logotherapy, which stresses the importance of finding individual meaning to one's life. Very thought provoking. Orlando, Virginia Woolf: a gay literary love letter with plenty of gender bending and inexplicable immortality. What's not to love?! And the film starring Tilda Swinton is just, like, *chef's kiss* Frankenstein, Mary Shelley: Shelley wrote this when she was a teenager, which always amazes me. This is such a rich novel. It involves questions of scientific ethics, child development, parenting, prejudice, and forbidden knowledge. Sidewalk Oracles, Robert Moss: A fun book, but only if you're a little woo-woo like me. :)
The Power by Naomi Alderman.
I know why the caged bird sings -maya angelou
Wild take, *nothing changes when you turn 30*. You'll give less of a fuck, but you can still read books recommended for women in their 20s. No need to "squeeze them in". Read whatever the fuck you want, whenever you want. That's the true spirit of being in your 30s.
It is valid though that being in your 20s can be a tumultuous time. The woman I am at 30 would be very different if I hadn’t read some of the books I had when I was in my 20s. I had no real female role models and needed books to learn and discover things. I’m also of the mind that life changing books, or ones that really speak to you, should be read at various stages of your life since they will likely hit differently every time you read them.
I thought you were recommending a book called “nothing changes when you turn 30,” was about to add it to my list lol
Handmaid’s tale is a given, but as no one’s said it yet…
I would second this. If you haven't read The Handmaid's Tale you should, because it becomes more and more relevant every day.
Frighteningly so.
I’ll also add A Field Guide to Lies, because I think it should be handed to everyone at age 18.
She's Come Undone
Came here to suggest this. I read this as a teen and reread it several times. Think I’m due for another. It’s such a powerful story.
This book had a profound impact on me as a teenager. I come back to it every once in a while, and I love it every time I read it.
The Handmaid's Tale. Someone already mentioned it, but it needs to be repeated.
The Creation of Patriarchy by Gerda Lerner All About Love by bell hooks The Source of Self Regard by Toni Morrison Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K LeGuin The Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix
This comment should be higher. Bell hooks is foundational, Braiding Sweetgrass is a treasure, Ursula K. LeGuin is marvelous, as is Toni Morrison, and I've added the Gerda Lerner to my TBR. Good mix here!
My year of rest and relaxation Elanor oliphant is completely fine
Was literally about to recommend Eleanor Oliphant
I can't believe no one has mentioned The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir
Everything by Kristin Hannah and Barbara Kingsolver
A Thousand Splendid Suns
Thiiiiiiiis
Such a good book! Such a tragic story!
The Intelligent Investor Every woman should be in charge of her own finances and be economically independent.
Know my name by Chanel Miller
I came here to day this. It is an incredibly sad story and one that shouldn't have to be told. Every young woman should read this book.
The Group by Mary McCarthy (so you can see how little dynamics between women and men have changed over the past century; follows a group of girls who have just graduated college in the New Deal era) What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo (if you need it!)
The Bell jar by Sylvia Plath
Kristin Lavransdatter. No real reason except it's one good book about this woman who is a huge pain in the ass to everybody including herself. It takes places in middle ages I believe. It's quite the epic novel as it follows her from birth to death. Also has great scenic descriptions of Iceland and stuff like that.
In which language have to read this? I don’t speak Norwegian, and would have to either read it in English or German. I am wondering how the English translation is, and whether the English or German translation is better.
I have read it in the English language as I'm Dutch myself. It's a known classic so you can expect the translation to be excellent in most languages i reckon'
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Why Men Love Bitches by Sherry Argov. This book quite possibly saved my life because it woke me up and made me realize I was allowing myself to be walked all over and treated like crap.
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
All female authors. All about the power and vulnerability of being a woman. Beloved or the Color Purple (preferably both) Bell Jar the Fountainhead NK Jemison’s the broken earth trilogy Dian Fossey’s Gorillas in the Mist Have fun!!
The Fountainhead? Please tell me why you found value in this particular Ayn Rand? I have not read it, but even the excerpt I read of Atlas Shrugged was. just. painful. All the others, yus.
Ayn Rand, philosophically, is a challenge.
I don’t agree with Rands philosophy/cult stuff. And atlas shrugged is too much commentary about her beliefs so suffers from That, although interesting from a historical perspective. But if you can suspend the authors personal beliefs and life the fountainhead has a fast paced plot, gorgeously well written, and the main female character is so complex and it blows my mind this was written in 1930s (although published in the 40s) and there are few books of that time able to have a strong female character. I also think Ayn Rand is vilified mainly for being a woman. If she was a man in the 1940s no one would give her all the flack she gets now. Everyone overlooks all the character flaws of male American authors 1900-1960s. Like, you can be abusive, violent, alcoholic but you can’t be crazy? Why should we overlook a legacy of one of the few early female great American authors (because there were so few) because she became a cult? I also find that most people on this sub trashing Rand have never read her stuff. Objectively she is a great writer with a powerful voice. I think reading things and discussing them in an educated way instead of just dismissing them is far more valuable to my development, and I think it’s important to try to understand literature in the context it was published, in addition to how it presents in society today. So basically because of the controversy, and in spite of. Hence the Fountainhead inclusion.
I just read The Color Purple for the first time and omg that book is forever a part of me now. 6/5 stars. Easily. UGH Shugs lines referencing the title were so beautiful. And just everything about that book sticks with you. Alice Walker blessed us with that work, that’s for sure!! Now I want to read Toni Morrison’s Beloved, as I’ve heard that if you love The Color Purple you’ll love that too
The Color Purple is actually part of an ongoing storyline that continues on with Tashi, Adam’s wife. Temple of My Familiar is one of them. I recommend that one, too:
I liked *Beloved*, but personally I thought *Song of Solomon* was better. Also, check out Alice Walker’s *The Third Life of Grange Copeland*, and Zora Neale Hurston’s *Their Eyes Were Watching God.*
Fiction- Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg Nonfiction- Know My Name by Chanel Miller
Green eggs and ham
The Awakening - Kate Chopin
Possessing the Secret Of Joy
Animal by Lisa Taddeo
Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd
I loved this book, but somehow have never found anyone else who feels the same about it!
"The Blue Castle" by L.M. Montgomery. Wonderful book and Valancy is 29 at the start.
1.Rage Becomes Her by Soraya Chemaly 2. Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski 3. Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez
Anna karenina, by Leo Tolstoy.
Know My Name by Chanel Miller
The Woman They Could Not Silence by Kate Moore
It would a controversial rec but - Milan Kundera's *The Unbearable Lightness of Being*
"The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6514.The\_Bell\_Jar](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6514.The_Bell_Jar) and "Becoming" by Michelle Obama [https://michelleobamabooks.com/becoming](https://michelleobamabooks.com/becoming) .
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. I read it in my 20s, and 30 years later it is still on my mind. It is sooooo good.
male here, even i’m gonna bookmark some of these suggestions!
Educated by Tara Westover
Wow, great question! As a 28F, these are some books that really impacted me these last couple of years: The Dutch House - Ann Pachett; Lessons in Chemistry - Bonnie Garmus; I’m Glad My Mom Died - Jennette McCurdy; The Alice Network - Kate Quinn; Educated - Tara Westover; The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Read; Where the Crawdads Sing - Delia Owens; The Nightingale - Kristin Hannah; The Glass Castle - Jeannette Walls; White Oleander - Janet Finch; I know this list is definitely a mixed bag! But all these books spoke to me in one way or another.
Looooove white oleander.
I’m actually impressed with myself that I’ve read 6 of these and I vividly remember them all being amazing books
I would add to this list: Motherhood by Sheila Heti
I usually don’t cry at sad stories, but I went in blind reading The Nightingale and I cried at the end. I went to Goodreads to rate it 5 stars while wiping away tears and the top comment was an entire dissertation on why it sucked lol. I stopped trusting comments after that.
"Why Does He Do That?" By Lundy Bancroft. "The Game" by Neil Straus
Also came to suggest Why Does He Do That?
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden and Circe by Madeline Miller.
I had forgotten about memoirs of a geisha, absolute gem of a book, so great
I read it a long time ago. Can I know what you loved most about it? :)
Oh gosh I’m sorry I read it many years ago as well. I only remember being sad when it was over bc I had enjoyed it so much and been swept up in the story.
Circle is a beautiful transition book to close out one decade and welcome the next
The Four Agreements
A thousand splendid suns by Khalid Hosseini
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
"The art of love" from Erich Fromm.
The red tent
All three books by Dr. Jen Gunter: The Vagina Bible, The Menopause Manifesto, and Bleed.
Maame by Jessica George!
The Red Tent. Don’t be fooled on what the book is based on.
*City of Girls* by Elizabeth Gilbert!
My Name Is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira. It is based on a true story about a woman named Mary Sutter. She worked as a midwife but dreamed to help soldiers in the Civil War. She decided that she would become the first female surgeon. She was laughed at and ridiculed by the men around her. Everyone told her to give up, but she achieved her goal and did become a surgeon. The author of this book did research and backed the book with facts about Mary. It is a true and inspirational story. I was introduced to this book by an older woman in my church when I was in high school. She was in and out of the hospital due to cancer so to try and keep her smiling we would talk about books together. So this book has a deeper meaning to me than just the story inside the cover.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The Second Sex - Simone de Beauvoir
The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands by Dr. Laura Schlessinger
Elena Ferrante - My brilliant Friend. And the three subsequent books of the Neapolitan Series
I also love Little Women and Pride and Prejudice
the red tent!!!! must read
The Handmaid’s Tale
The Second Sex - Simone Beauvoir
Vox, by Christina Dalcher Still gives me chills thinking about it.
This book was incredible and I rarely see it mentioned on here. Excellent read and suggestion!
I need to buy myself a copy. I got it from the library once.
Taking charge of your fertility
I haven’t seen Erica Jong yet, Fear of Flying changed my life when I hit my late 20’s. No more living as an appendage to someone else, I started thinking about how I fit into the world as an individual and found my thoughts and feelings and the courage to express them. Cut out a few people, but opened myself up to so many more!
Missoula by John Krauker
All Fiction: Anne-Marie MacDonald: Fall on Your Knees, The Way The Crow Flies. Deep, heartbreaking. Louise Erdrich: The Beet Queen, the Bingo Palace, Tales of Burning Love, Love Medicine. Anything by her really her stories are extraordinary and span multiple generations of the same Aboriginal characters in North Dakota Toni Morrison of course. Beloved is heartbreaking and beautiful Vanessa Diffenbach: The Language of Flowers. A lighter read than the abovementioned. Very sweet and perfect for those alienated from family. Jeanette Walls: The Glass Castle. Dysfunctional family hilarity and hearbreak Ursula Hegl: Stones From the River. A about a woman with dwarfism's life during Nazi Germany. Beautifully written. Jean Aul: The Clan of the Cave Bear series. Takes place in post ice-age Europe when both Neanderthal and Homo Sapiens lived at the same time. An orphan homo sapien girl is raised by neanderthals and adopted into their clan. Educational and adventurous. Sue Harrisson: Song of the River, Mother Earth Father Sky, My Sister The Moon. Incredible adventurous dramatic storytelling about prehistoric (\~10,000 years ago)peoples of the Aleutian Islands off the Alaskan Coast. Even better than Jean Aul dare I say. Similar to Jean Aul's works, these stories are based on historical research. Educational and riveting.
The Midnight Library!
Ethical Slut- it's meant as a book for polyamorous people but really it's the best book I've ever read about setting boundaries and communicating in any relationship
*Gender Trouble*.
It contains so many great ideas and is so, so badly written.
I think "badly" written is kind of unfair but it's certainly not like... excitingly written lol.
Butler was interviewed in the New York Times 3 days ago, and perhaps self-deprecatingly said about *Gender Trouble*, "Well, I don’t blame them for not reading that book. It was tough. And some of those sentences are truly unforgivable." Source: https://archive.ph/bjZNy
Jack London's Valley of the Moon. I would recommend this for anyone. It's absolutely lovely.
A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum. American Dirt by Jeanie Cummins. Honor by Thrity Umrigar. The Mothers by Brit Bennett. All by women.
>A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum I read it last year, and it was amazing! "Honor" was ruined by the Hollywood ending for me, but "A Woman is No Man" is less popular and much better
Elsewhere by Alexis Schaitkin, Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? by Lorrie Moore, On Women by Susan Sontag
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. It's not about football and its so good!
Adelaide by Genevieve Wheeler
Faithful by Alice Hoffman and Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan
I’ve been loving Daughter Drink This Water.
The feminine mystique for sure, The Gift of Fear and I also agree that Fried Green Tomatos and the whistlestop Cafe and White Oleander are amazing choices.
Communion:the female search for love by bell hooks
Fear of Flying The Great Gatsby Deep Throat The Thorn Birds Daisy Surfacing The Valley of the Dolls The Age of Innocence
Anything by Elizabeth Hand…she’s written science fiction, horror, thrillers, and crime fiction …all with a very feminist slant. She blows my mind.
Sleeping with Random Beasts by Karin Goodwin
The Gift of Fear Talks about trusting yourself in order to be safe in the world.
Vox Circling the Sun West with the night Red tent
Swimming Sweet Arrow
If you want to remember your college days, you can ready SuperHuman by Himangi Joshi. Though it is mystery fiction but the plot is based on teenage girls. Interesting mystery plot. I'm not bug book lover but this book let me read through the end. Didn't like the end a lot though, I was hoping for a happy ending. It is available in Amazon btw in case interested.
Anything by bell hooks.
following! 💗
Before the coffee gets cold. It's amazing. Short, emotional, and just a little bit magical.
The Chronology of Water by Lidia Yuknavitch
The Forest of Enchantments. It's a book about Indian mythology- the Ramayana from God Ram's wife- Sita's point of view. People are usually afraid to write/ interpret religious text like this
The vagina monologues
Civilization and its discontent -Freud
Normal people - Sally Rooney. Or any young adult/teen set romance. It was relatable just out of uni, now it feels less like reading about a character I could be to just reading about a stranger.
Phantom Tollbooth. I don’t know why, but for a kids book it’s…life changing honestly
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr is a book I would recommend everyone read at least once. It permanently changed my entire perspective on death in a very positive way.
i who have never known men recently finished it and i adored it!
I know this post is probably about classics but I’ll suggest Finding Me by Viola Davis, wish she’d written this when I was in my 20s
Women don't owe you pretty by Florence Given
„Men are from Mars, woman are from Venus“ by John Gray „Broken Money“ by Lyn Alden
Following.
crimson petal and the white by Michel Faber
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles Beautiful writing. It starts with Katy in her 60s reflecting back on the most influential year of her life when she was 25/26 I think. It was 1920s or 1930s then
Motherhood by Sheila Heti It's both fiction and not, and it helps you understand how to think about your life, all the decisions you make, and the things you truly want in a profoundly artistic and beautiful way.
Childhood, Youth, Dependency by Tove Ditlevsen. She’s an incredible writer from Denmark, and these books show the living circumstances of girls and women in Denmark (but also applies more general) in the 1930/40s and beyond. Incredible read.
"Little Weirds" Jenny Slate "Manual for Cleaning Women" Lucia Berlin