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Culture September 29, 2016
Every time we walk into a bookstore, we are reminded that there is an entire world out there filled with books that we will never get a chance to read. But while we might never be able to finish all the books on our library’s shelves, there are a few novels and stories that every woman – or man – should read at least once. These are 50 novels that definitely need to be on your list of good books to read.
Walls writes about her deeply dysfunctional family and her story of resilience and redemption. With a drunk but loving father and a mother who rejects domesticity, the Walls children learned how to take care of themselves at a young age. This is an inspirational read for anyone wanting a peek at the diversity in people’s family lives.
“Bad Feminist” provides much-needed commentary on what it’s like being a woman of color, as well as the implications in feminism. In her collection of essays, Gay examines how she has grown to understand herself, society and culture. She talks about the evolution of feminism during her lifetime and the state it has reached today.
If Dara was there, so was Nick. These two sisters were inseparable until the bond between these two sisterly soulmates begins to unravel. Their stories unfold in alternating parts and you will have difficulty pulling them apart. As Nick searches for the missing nine-year-old Madeline Snow, she might just learn something about her sister.
This collection of essays spans Fey’s life from childhood to adolescence to adulthood. Fey tackles topics such as being a funny woman on TV, photoshop, breastfeeding, one-sided romance and a catastrophic honeymoon. You never have to search for a reason to laugh when reading this book about this (comedic) business woman!
She made a choice to change. After her mother died and her marriage ended, Cheryl picked up and decided to hike one thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail, from California to Washington. Whether you’re a couch potato or a marathon runner, you’ll love reading about her inspirational adventure.
This is the story of the bond brothers share, and what happens when they don’t agree. Subhsah must return home to pick up the broken pieces of their family, including the heart of his brother’s wife. Four people’s stories come apart as they deal with love, loss and the price of idealism.
Funny girl Amy Poehler offers up some useful and some not so useful advice about sex, love, friendship and parenthood. She remains perfectly candid about her life, giving us words to live by. If you can’t read it all, sit down and at least read the chapter, “I’m So Proud of You.”
Seethe escaped one form of slavery and entered into another. She is now haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died without even receiving a name. She struggles to reconcile the beautiful home she grew up with and the terrible things that happened there.
In this literary world, women are no longer allowed to read. Their only value is derived from their ability to get reproduce. However, Offred remembers the prior years when she made love to her husband and protected her daughter.
From Nin’s original journals, we read about her exodus from Paris at the start of World War II, where she would leave her banker husband. When she returned to the United States, she met “the one,” a lover who was able to satisfy her appetite. Published after her death, her diaries appear unedited for the first time.
A coming of age story in the form of a love song to L.A., this novel tells the story of Weetzie Bat, her best friend, Dirk, and their search for the soulmates of their dreams. They’re granted three wishes by a genie, but as everyone knows, these wishes come with some strings attached. Block talks about blended families, premarital sex, homosexuality and the AIDS crisis.
This graphic novel about growing up in revolutionary Iran tells the story of Satrapi’s loneliness as a student in Germany. She thought she would find her place when she went to continue her education in Europe, but found she never quite belonged. Satrapi beautifully tells her story through simplistic images, showing the reader her love and loss.
This funny business woman brought you “When Harry Met Sally,” but now Nora Ephron looks at what happens when you get older. She tackles anything from hair dye to all of the lotions and creams you’re supposed to use to hide your age. Written as a collection of stories, in the style of journal entries, Ephron hilariously tells her best story, her own.
Moran is not your prim and proper Brit. She questions the ways of women: Why are we supposed to get Brazilians? Why do bras hurt? And why do we always talk about babies? Moran draws from her own experiences growing up, getting married and having kids. You won’t look at female culture and gender roles the same way again.
LeBlanc takes us into the world of the ghetto, exposing the truth behind the headlines that permeate society. This is the story of young people trying to outrun their destinies. LeBlanc highlights two love stories, and the ride-or-die emotions that accompany it.
Tartt catalogs a group of misfits’ descent from obsession into corruption, betrayal and evil. Inspired by their professor, the misfits discover a new way of thinking, but is it really as it seems? Everything must end at some point, and when the misfits fall, the don’t go down quietly.
Beauvoir challenges the idea of the traditional “western” woman by exploring inequality and otherness in this book. As important as it was more than 60 years ago, Beauvoir challenges the traditional role of women in society, and is hailed as a “feminist manifesto.”
This book features interviews with 25 successful women about their hardest on-the-job moments. Some lessons learned include that it’s okay to not be perfect, and that you can only get better by learning from your mistakes. This book is a must read for millennials as they make their way into the work force for the first time.
“The Vagina Monologues” is an honest play about what women think of their vaginas. It turns out that once women started talking, they couldn’t stop. Ensler interviewed women across the country seeking out their honest opinion about what having a vagina means to them.
This is an angsty story about the feeling of dislocation and isolation while searching for human connection. It’s a collection of short stories, transitioning from male and female perspectives, exploring themes of sexuality, sex work and sadomasochism in New York City.
Amoruso is the rags-to-riches story that we love. She catalogs her journey from dumpster diving to becoming the founder, CEO and creative director of clothing company Nasty Gal. She offers advice about channeling your passion into hard work, all the while keeping the insecurities at bay. Talk about an inspirational business woman!
Isadora Wing has a big decision to make. Should she stay with her husband or get a divorce? When they travel to Europe together, she strikes out on her own. But are liberation and happiness the same thing? Jong offers one of the foremost conversations about sex and feminism, and four decades later her novel hasn’t lost any of its insight.
In this classic story, four sisters use humor, courage and love to survive poverty and the absence of their father during the Civil War. Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy learn how to love in a time where there is little to be found.
Matilda is forgotten by her family, so she finds comforts in the confines of the library, where she can read and learn to her heart’s content. But Matilda is not just a curious young girl; she is extraordinarily gifted. When the right woman comes into Matilda’s life, she will find out how to use her powers to help others.
Anne Frank and her family fled their comfortable home in Amsterdam to avoid internment by the Nazis. Her true story is a reminder of the horrors of war and the unfailing hope she had throughout her time in hiding.
Angelou’s autobiography begins when she and her brother are sent to live with their grandmother. Maya navigates a sea of hurt, abandonment and the trauma of an attack by a man much older than herself. But she discovers the key to freedom is love for herself, the kindness of others and the ideas in the books she reads.
Walker’s story focuses on the lives of women of color in rural Georgia. Written in the form of letters, these women address the problems they face, including a largely low social standing in American society.
Unimpressed with the confines of Victorian morality, Edna pursues a passionate love affair outside of her marriage. Chopin provides an honest picture of female marital infidelity. Readers were shocked to see Chopin depict a woman trapped by marriage, seeking passion outside the confines that they understood.
Janie endures two stifling marriages before she runs away. When she meets the man of her dreams, she’s surprised to find that it’s not diamonds he offers her, but flower seeds. One of the great American novels of the 20th century, Hurston tells Janie’s dramatic story in a simplistic way.
Anna keeps four notebooks; black for her African experience, red for her political life, yellow for her novel and blue for her personal diary. Watch Anna try to bring the threads of each journal together as her mind is threatened with insanity.
Married life is far from the excitement that Emma Bovary yearns for. A life of luxury doesn’t always mean marital bliss. Her dull husband doesn’t give her the excitement she craves. So when she has the chance to take a lover, she does. But is a forbidden romance all she expected it to be?
Dorothea Brooke has the immutable conviction that life should be filled with heroism. This conviction has the potential to shape not only her own life, but her community as well. Eliot succeeded in depicting not just one character, but an entire town too. She reveals pockets of information about every layer of society.
Nin paints a lush, magical world where her characters possess universal desires and exceptional talents. As you read this book, explore the opium dens of Peru and the seductions of a Hungarian adventurer. Told through short stories, Nin saddled herself as the premier female erotica writer.
Three women will do whatever it takes to get to the top of the music industry. But what happens when they find out that the only place to go once you’re at the top is down? If you’ve ever wondered about the person growth women can experience when they “make it,” this is the book for you!
This novel is told from the perspective of wife Manon, who looks on her husband’s relationship with their slave Sarah with simultaneous horror and fascination. The story unfolds with the knowledge of an impending slave rebellion and will redefine your knowledge of the powerful and the powerless.
A preacher’s daughter and spinster living in the 1950s, Mildred is the woman that men take for granted. Pym offers snapshots into Mildred’s life, showing her to be a woman with much more to offer than society gives her credit for.
Ester Greenwood is smart, funny and beautiful, but she struggles to hold onto reality. A startling look into mental illness, Plath draws from her own struggles as she tells Ester’s unforgettable story. Beautiful, brilliant and burning, Esther finds herself trapped beneath the bell jar.
She only has one line in the Bible, but Diamant gives Dinah a narrative of epic proportions. Explore what it means to be a woman in Biblical times through the oral history of Dinah’s mothers and her own history.
Winter, living in a world where you can will yourself to change from woman to man and vice versa, meets a human emissary looking to incorporate this strange place into the intergalactic civilization. Can he bridge the gap between Winter’s dissimilar views and his own cultural understanding?
Twins, Esthappen and Rahel strengthen their bond as the rest of their family relationships deteriorate. They learn that nothing, especially the bonds of family, is ever set in stone. As the family members struggle with their own lives, Esthappen and Rahel cling to each other even more.
In her autobiography, Gellhorn catalogs her years as a war correspondent, beginning in Civil War Spain in 1937 and ending with Central American wars in the 1980s. Gellhorn has no qualms hiding her anti-war sentiments.
Three stories unravel in this novel: A southerner wants to write, a Jew and a beautiful Polish woman battle through their love-hate relationship and an old wound haunts a woman. These stories propel Sophie and Nathan towards imminent destruction.
Four Chinese immigrants begin their journey in San Francisco and are united by their shared loss of the past and hope for the future. Tan examines the tender connections between mother and daughter through eight different women.
Wollstonecraft attacks the idea of the docile female in “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.” Read this book to discover her take on the principles of emancipation from male standards, as well as to see one of the first public pieces of feminism.
As a group, these characters all graduated from Vassar and are just starting to live their lives. Some get married and some travel the world. They grow apart and they grow together, but death eventually brings them all back home to mourn.
One look, one smile, one kiss: that’s all it takes for Therese to fall for the enigmatic Carol. When they embark on a cross-country trip, Therese and Carol both lose and find themselves and each other along the way.
Elise, Brenda and Annie were all instrumental to their husbands’ careers until their husbands decide they no longer need them. How would you feel if your husband traded you in for a younger, hotter woman? See how far the First Wives Club women are willing to go to get revenge.
Jaffe follows the lives of five working-women of the late ’50s and all of the obstacles they encounter along the way. Their stories ring shockingly true even 50 years after the novel’s initial publication.
At thirteen years old, Dolores Price has her Mallomars, potato chips and Pepsi to help her navigate a new town. But when she learns about how unkind life can be, will Dolores give herself the chance she needs to get out before she goes under?
Past meets present meets future in this epic tale about the music industry. Egan masterfully reveals the inner lives of her characters through a story of self-destruction, redemption and personal growth.
