in which i recommend books like the netflix algorithm
you wanted it, you got it, babes! caveat: this list is long (seriously, sorry about the length) and i can’t write blurbs for everything, but i highly recommend going and looking at anything that sounds interesting. some books will fall under multiple headings, so i’m listing them twice. i am linking to their purchase pages on bookshop.org, because amazon sucks and bookshop helps support indie booksellers, but if your local indie bookstore offers delivery or curbside pickup, buy it there. and i’m trying to keep this list confined to pretty recent titles, so even though a few older ones might slip in there, it’s definitely centered on releases from the past few years. okay let’s do this.
if you want a book that feels like a primal scream:
godshot by chelsea bieker
the book of joan by lidia yuknavitch
girl, woman, other by bernadine evaristo
her body and other parties by carmen maria machado (short stories)
trust exercise by susan choi
my dark vanessa by kate elizabeth russell
the rehearsal by eleanor catton
the answers by catherine lacey
the mars room by rachel kushner
the love affairs of nathaniel p. by adelle waldman
if you want clever social commentary and/or hilarious female protagonists:
you too can have a body like mine by alexandra kleeman
the new me by halle butler
queenie by candice carty-williams
prep by curtis sittenfeld
the idiot by elif batumen
my year of rest and relaxation by ottessa moshfegh
oksana, behave! by maria kuznetsova
where’d you go, bernadette by maria semple
convenience store woman by sayaka murata
nothing to see here by kevin wilson
made for love by alissa nutting
the pisces by melissa broder
if you want to start reading the unhinged women canon (not all recent):
mrs. dalloway by virginia woolf
the awakening by kate chopin
we have always lived in the castle by shirley jackson
gone girl by gillian flynn
rebecca by daphne du maurier
white oleander by janet fitch
cousin bette by honore de balzac
wide sargasso sea by jean rhys
play it as it lays by joan didion
the piano teacher by elfriede jelinek
valley of the dolls by jacqueline susann
postcards from the edge by carrie fisher
if you liked the secret history:
if we were villains by m.l. rio
social creature by tara isabelle burton
the basic eight by daniel handler
the incendiaries by r.o. kwon
hex by rebecca dinerstein knight
if you like speculative/dystopian fiction:
the dreamers by karen thompson walker
the book of joan by lidia yuknavitch
gold fame citrus by claire vaye watkins
followers by megan angelo
the power by naomi alderman
the glass hotel by emily st. john mandel
if you want a book that reads like a good fanfic:
normal people by sally rooney
fame adjacent by sarah skilton
stay up with hugo best by erin somers
the seven husbands of evelyn hugo by taylor jenkins reid
the nobodies by liza palmer
evvie drake starts over by linda holmes
if you like dark stories about complex relationships between women:
my sister, the serial killer by oyinkan braithwaite
eileen by ottessa moshfegh
social creature by tara isabelle burton
the worst kind of want by liska jacobs
oligarchy by scarlett thomas
devotion by madeline stevens
baby by annaleese jochems
necessary people by anna pitoniak
if you like stories about complicated families:
red at the bone by jacqueline woodson
the care and feeding of ravenously hungry girls by anissa grey
mostly dead things by kristen arnett
bee season by myla goldberg
bowlaway by elizabeth mccracken
everything i never told you by celeste ng
the nest by cynthia d’aprix sweeney
the grammarians by cathleen schine
ask again, yes by mary beth keane
if you like smart and thoughtful books about relationships between women:
my brilliant friend and the neapolitan novels by elena ferrante
such a fun age by kiley reid
gingerbread by helen oyeyimi
the female persuasion by meg wolitzer
the burning girl by claire messud
the animators by kayla rae whitaker
if you want something queer that isn’t YA:
my education by susan choi
permission by saskia vogel
mostly dead things by kristen arnett
real life by brandon taylor
after dolores by sarah schulman
patsy by nicole dennis-benn
wilder girls by rory power
enter the aardvark by jessica anthony
less by andrew sean greer
exciting times by naiose dolan
you just want something good and are willing to take a chance on one of these books i love (these are not all recent, i just like them a lot):
dept. of speculation by jenny offill
the interestings by meg wolitzer
godshot by chelsea bieker
play it as it lays by joan didion
the bonfire of the vanities by tom wolfe
wolf in white van by john darnielle
things you would know if you grew up around here by nancy wayson dinan
sex and rage by eve babitz
wise blood by flannery o’connor
leading men by christopher castellani
saint x by alexis schaitkin
the cosmopolitans by sarah schulman
lake success by gary shteyngart
odds against tomorrow by nathaniel rich
the great believers by rebecca makkai
good citizens need not fear by maria reva (short stories)
