Brilliant books by brilliant writers

And all these writers are women.

I spotted this list of 30 books by women in my Facebook newsfeed — the always-glorious Lidia Yuknavitch shared it — and I loved the first line of the intro:

“Let’s be real: You should be reading books, and books by women, every month of the year.”

Amen!

But yes, it’s Women’s History Month here in the states, and while Emily Temple, author of this listicle, claims, “That women have contributed just as much to our literary culture as men doesn’t even need to be said,” I think, sadly, it does. We need to say it again and again, not just this month but every month.

So read a bunch of books by women. And the ones you don’t finish? Well, there’s always next month, and the month after that, and the rest of the year.

Need a hint of where to start? There are a bunch of great books on Temple’s list: Dear Life, the latest collection from Alice Munro; Toni Morrison’s stunning Beloved; Ruth Ozeki’s A Tale for the Time Being, a book my wife is reading soon and I’m eager to read next; the seminal The Second Sex, by Simone de Beauvoir; the super-excellent The Secret History of Wonder Woman, by Jill Lepore; Margaret Atwood’s obligatory The Handmaid’s Tale; and of course Dora: a Headcase, by Lidia Yuknavitch herself.

And so many more.

But hey, I wanted to add some books to the list, too, because we can never have too many. So here are a few beautiful books I’ve read the past couple of years that have crawled inside and lived with me ever since:

• Blood Gravity, by Gayle Towell
• Every Kiss a War, by Leesa Cross-Smith
• Glaciers, by Alexis M. Smith
• Landfall, by Ellen Urbani (actually forthcoming later this year, but I’ve read an advanced copy, and it’s great — you can read my blurb for it on the publisher’s promotional page)
• Leaving Clean, by Natalie Giarratano
• Longbourn, by Jo Baker
• My Only Wife, by Jac Jemc
• We Take Me Apart, by Molly Gaudry

And here are some books I’ve recently bought/been given and plan to read soon:

• Boneland, by Nance Van Winkel
• Excavation, by Wendy C. Ortiz
• A Little Mormon Girl, by Eva Hunter
• Sisters, by Raina Telgemeier
• Things to Make and Break, by May-Lan Tan 
• What Came Before, by Gay Degani
• What Happened Here, by Bonnie ZoBell

And there’re plenty more books, too! If you missed my post yesterday about The Great 2015 Indie Press Preview, you can check it out now or just click straight over to that massive list of the forthcoming titles this year and add all the women to your list. Well, add all the books, really.

And, okay, I’m a guy, but my publisher would probably love it if I reminded you that my novel Hagridden focuses on the lives of two women. So, for Columbus Press’s sake, go ahead and grab that, too.

Happy reading, gang!