In celebration of their first year podcasting, Reading Women debuted Reading Women Month to encourage everyone to read great books written by or about women throughout June.[*] As a member of the newly formed Women Writers Network, I love to see women’s writing being discussed and promoted. The latest VIDA count demonstrates that women writers still publish less than their male counterparts. Dedicating a month to reading women writers both brings more attention to their terrific works and fulfills Reading Women’s mission to reclaim half the bookshelf. You can show your support by using the hashtag #readingwomenmonth when you post about the books you’re reading on social media like Twitter and Instagram.[†]
If you need additional suggestions for your reading list, I’m recommending several books I’ve read:
- Alice Walker The Color Purple
- Han Kang The Vegetarian
- Laura Esquivel Like Water for Chocolate
- Virginia Woolf To the Lighthouse
- Margot Lee Shetterley Hidden Figures[‡]
- Amy Tan The Hundred Secret Senses
- Eowyn Ivey The Snow Child
- Velma Wallis Two Old Women: An Alaskan Legend of Betrayal, Courage and Survival
- Robin Black If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This: Stories
- Zadie Smith Swing Time[§]
Finally, check out these articles that list more amazing works by women writers:
- 10 Inspiring Female Writers You Need to Read by Marta Bausells
- 100 Books by Black Women Everyone Must Read
- 15 Books By Transgender Women You Need To Read Immediately by Erika Turner
- “There aren’t a lot of you out there”: What? Let’s Fix Our Female Asian-American Writer Blind Spot Now by Celeste Ng
- 10 Books by Queer Women That Will Change How You See the World by Lindsay King-Miller
- 22 Essential Women Writers to Read in Translation By Jonathon Sturgeon and Sarah Seltzer
- All Around the World: Women Writers from Every Continent by Alison Peters
- 6 Queer Women Short Story Writers You Have to Read by Jane Bradley
- Feminist YA Fiction by Anne Rouyer
Which women writers do you love to read? Share your favorites in the comment section below!
NOTES:
[*] The event includes both reading challenges and photo challenges, as well as giveaways. Details are here.
[†] Feel free to use the #women_writers and #readingwomen to increase exposure of your posts!
[‡] I discuss Hidden Figures here.
[§] You can read my review of Swing Time here.
Rita E. Gould: An Artful Sequence of Words 
A wonderful list, just finished reading Two Old Women and loved The Snow Child, in fact I was kind of lamenting that Eowyn Ivey’s follow up novel hadn’t been something more like Two Old Women rather than following a couple of male explorers (and the wife that stayed at home and learned photography), Han Kang is a legend already, Human Acts blew me away and The Vegetarian was good too. I’m happy to see Swing Time on your list, I shall read it this summer, I used to live in the same London neighbourhood as Zadie Smith, and I find her references to that area something quite unexpectedly delightful!
I know I have a preference for women writers and one of my favourite reading months is August, which for the past couple of years I’ve joined in and dedicated to reading #WomenInTranslation a wonderful initiative and way to discover some excellent and little known voices, my favourite book of 2016 in fact was a NYRB classic, translated from French to English called The Bridge of Beyond by Simone Schwarz-Bart, which I highly recommend.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks! They were great books. I’m a fan of #womenintranslation, having just heard about it last year. I’ll add The Bridge of Beyond to my reading list.
LikeLiked by 1 person