Recently a friend asked me to recommend to them some books to read. I replied:
Anything by Pratchet, Iain M Banks, Peter F Hamilton, Neal Stephenson
Looking at the list on the screen it occurred to me that I all the authors I’d listed are male. Surely there must be some female authors I could recommend instead. Then it hit me. I don’t read enough books by female authors. With 2017 rapidly looming, I thought I’d set myself a challenge: Read 17 books in 2017 by female authors. That works out at 1 every 3 weeks. Should be achievable.
Challenge goal decided upon, I now need to work out which books to read.
Looking at my current To-Read list, it contains only 2 books by female authors –
- Storm in a Teacup – Helen Czerski
- Desert Snow – Helen Lloyd
Gonna need 15 more… But which… Amazon hardly has a “give me books by female authors” option to it’s search. So I’ve turned to twitter and asked my followers for recommendations. They haven’t disappointed.
As I write this my mentions column on tweetdeck is awash with recommendations flashing past. Including:
- Linda Barnes
- Lindsey Davis
- Laurie R King
- Ellis Peters
- M J Engh
- Mary Gentle
- Elizabeth Moon
- Tanya Huff
- Robin Hobb
- Helen Garner
Author Emmi Itäranta replied on twitter recommending Meg Elison, Jennifer Marie Brissett, Aliette de Bodard, N.K. Jemisin and Nnedi Okorafor.
The problem I hit now was that many of these authors have published a number of books, often as multi-part series, and working out where to start is a bit daunting. Tanya Huff was good enough to reply suggesting I start with The Silvered. But this didn’t help me with the other authors. So I rephrased the question asking for recommendations for books rather than authors. This has given me even more to choose from, including:
- Lightning Rods – Helen DeWitt
- Dare Me – Megan Abbott
- The lathe of Heaven – Ursula Le Guin
- The Great Fire – Shirley Hazzard
- The Sword of Rhiannon – Leigh Brackett
- The Invention of Nature – Andrea Wulf
- Shikasta – Doris Lessing
- A tale for the time Being – Ruth Ozeki
- Poison Kiss – Ana Mardoll (First book of Earthside series)
This certainly gives me something to be going on with, as well as proving that my twitter followers seem to be able to quickly give me a recommendation for something to read.
To finish up this blog post it seems only right to include my own list of recommendations for anyone else who fancies having a go at this challenge. Books I have recently enjoyed by women, include the following:
- Memory of Water – Emmi Itäranta
- City of Woven Streets – Emmi Itäranta
- A year lived Danishly – Helen Russel
- Dare to Do – Sarah Outen
- What goes around – Emily Chappel
- Everything belongs to the Future – Laurie Penny
- Anything by Robin Hobb
If you fancy giving this challenge a go, let me know on twitter if you find any good books you think I should read. I’m looking forward to reading some great books in the year to come. Bring on 2017.
Disclaimer – Whilst I’ve given links to books on amazon, it’s because this a simple option that works internationally. However in the interests of full disclosure, If you click a link and then purchase a book, I get a small commission (about 5% of the cost of the book) at no extra cost to you. Other booksellers are available. Don’t forget to support your local book shop