#47: 2022 - A year with female authors
Happy International Women's Day!
This email is coming to you early this week (and in the middle of the day!) because I’m looking for your ideas and I hope you’ll indulge me. Also, it is International Women’s Day and the spirit of the day aligns with the subject of the email.
I’ve been tracking the books I read for at least 5 years now using Goodreads. What I notice as I scroll through my books is that only a handful are authored by women. Let’s look at the numbers:
That’s pretty bad.
I also notice as I look at lists of prolific female authors or “must read” books penned by females that I haven’t read most of them.
I’d like to change that sooner rather than later.
So in 2022, my plan is to read only* female authors. What I need from you are the books or authors that I’d be crazy to overlook. Which ones have meaning in your life? Which ones do you consistently revisit? What female-penned literature do you consider essential?
Thank you for your suggestions and to all you ladies out there, Happy Women’s Day!
Kyle
*Footnote: By “only” I really mean predominantly. I don’t want to be too rigid about it. I plan to continue reading The Expanse series and allowing myself a male-authored book here and there especially if selected by a book club. The intent is to finish the year with roughly 90% female-authored, 10% male.
Oooo! Love this challenge. Here are some of my faves across the board.
The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver (fiction)
Invisible Women - Caroline Criado-Perez (NF/pop science)
Homegoing - Yaa Gyasi (literary fiction) (her second novel is also great)
Station Eleven - Emily St John Mandel (literary sci-fi)
Educated - Tara Westover (memoir)
The Vanishing Half - Britt Bennet (historical fiction)
The Guest List - Lucy Foley (mystery)
Eleanor and Park - Rainbow Rowell (YA)
Burning (Megha Majumdar)
Not That Bad - Roxane Gay (anthology, rape culture)
She Said - Jodi Kantor (NF, breaking of Weinstein story)
Severance - Ling Ma (literary fiction)
The Merciful Crow - Margaret Owen (high fantasy)
The Leavers - Lisa Ko (contemporary fiction)
The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas (YA)
The sixth extinction - Elizabeth Kolbert (NF)
Also Edith Wharton and Jane Austen. The Hiding Place is also a must read.