LOOK: These Books Investigate What It’s Like to Be a Woman

The feminine experience is vast, multi-faceted, and ever-changing. While it’s impossible to capture its full breadth, this list of 16 books offers a glimpse into its depth and complexity — exploring its nuances, challenges, and richness.

Here, you’ll get acquainted with different female characters at diverse life stages: some who are struggling with adolescence or dealing with society’s stifling expectations. Some are grappling with becoming a parent, losing a parent, and women in transition or between two worlds. For others, it is coming to grips with middle age and the loss of beauty, the loneliness of being elderly, embracing her wild side, and everything in between. It is our hope that you find a story to relate or connect with, enrich your life, and inspire you in the most surprising ways.

Anne of Green Gables Series by LM Montgomery

Anne of Green Gables is a series of books about growing up — exploring the joys, heartbreaks, and discoveries of adolescence. At its heart is its heroine Anne Shirley, a spirited, red-haired orphan whose charm and imagination have captured the hearts of readers through generations.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

One of the most outstanding works of 19th-century American literature, Little Women follows the joys and pains of the four March sisters as they learn, grow, and discover their identities. A timeless classic that resonates across generations, it teaches women to follow their hearts and fight for their dreams.

Pet by Akwaeke Emezi

Set in the near future, Pet follows Jam, a teenage trans girl living in the utopian town of Lucille, which has supposedly eradicated all “monsters.” But when a strange creature named Pet emerges from one of her mother’s paintings, Jam is forced to confront an unsettling truth—monsters still live among them. Worse, Pet has come to hunt a monster hiding in the home of Jam’s best friend. A brilliant genre-bending novel by a non-binary author, Pet dares to ask: how do you fight monsters when no one will admit they exist?

Girlhood by Melissa Febos

A beautiful work of non-fiction, Girlhood is a collection of essays that powerfully dissect and examine the experiences of women, from childhood to adolescence and adulthood. With prose that pulses with raw honesty and vivid detail, Febos unflinchingly unpacks the narratives women have unconsciously absorbed since girlhood—about their bodies, identities, and worth—and explores how to break free from them and reclaim their stories.

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

A semi-autobiographical novel about a young woman’s mental breakdown, The Bell Jar has been widely considered a seminal coming-of-age and feminist text. Sharp, smart, and poignant, Sylvia Plath’s first and only novel ruthlessly questions the contradicting and stifling social expectations on women, akin to a life suffocated in a bell jar.

Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Psychoanalyst Clarissa Pinkola Estes calls on women to embrace their wild and intuitive selves through this collection of myths and folk tales that have been passed down through generations and told all over the world. An empowering reminder for women to live boldly.

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo

Published in 2017, Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 is a gripping tale of a woman’s struggle with gender discrimination, driving her to psychosis, which she exhibits by impersonating the voices of other women—living and dead. The novel ignited widespread public debate and became a catalyst for the #MeToo movement in South Korea.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

“I am not a piece of clay to be moulded by hand.” Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre is many things: it is a love story, gothic fiction, and a social criticism. At its heart is the moving journey of intelligent and perceptive Jane Eyre and her pursuit of freedom and equality.

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo

Girl, Woman, Other weaves 12 interconnected stories in 12 chapters that raise timeless questions about feminism and race. Showing a side of Britain we rarely see, this 2019 Booker Prize-winning novel teems with energy, humor, and lots of heart.

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters

An irresistible novel about the messy corners of womanhood, Detransition, Baby revolves around three compelling characters who navigate taboos around gender, sex, and relationships–especially when an unexpected pregnancy upends their lives.

Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto

Kitchen is about a young woman’s passion for food and her vast love for her grandmother, who passed away. Struggling with grief, she finds solace in an unexpected place—living with Yuichi, a friend of her grandmother, and his warm, unconventional transgender mother, Eriko. In this offbeat yet deeply moving story, Banana Yoshimoto explores the ways women navigate love, death, and mourning.

Woman Enough and Other Essays by Carmen Guerrero Nakpil

Carmen Guerrero Nakpil, a columnist and journalist in the 1950s, speaks with candor and humor in this collection of essays that she wrote as newspaper columns during the hot and heady years of post-World War II Manila, tackling a broad range of topics from politics to womanhood, often examining the gender roles expected from a Filipina.

Devotions:  Selected Poems by Mary Oliver

Devotions is a collection of poetry by the late Mary Oliver, spanning her work from her early years as a young poet to her reflections as a senior citizen, culminating in her final collection published in 2015 before her passing. This is the kind of book that fills you with wonder about the world—no matter which page you open. Oliver, who writes poignant verses about nature and the full spectrum of human emotions, reminds us to pause, pay attention, and not take anything for granted.

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

Crying in H Mart is a warm and clear-eyed memoir about the writer’s grief over her mother’s cancer diagnosis, as well as her struggle with her identity as a Korean-American. Filled with vivid descriptions of food, Zauner copes with her loss by visiting a Korean store—tasting, and recalling the dishes her mother once made. Crying in H Mart is a rich broth of flavors and emotions, capturing the deep bond between mothers and daughters.

All Fours by Miranda July

Bold, shocking, and darkly funny, All Fours follows a 45-year-old semi-famous artist who sets off on a road trip — and unexpectedly stumbles into a raw, unapologetic sexual awakening. Written with July’s signature wit and luminous prose, All Fours explores midlife crises, marriage, desire, and the unexpected ways we find ourselves again.

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

In life, friends come and go, but some are indeed one for the books. This is one such story, about an unlikely friendship between an octopus, Marcellus, and Tova, a 70-year-old widow who cleans the aquarium where Marcellus lives. The story deepens when Marcellus, ever a keen observer, solves the disappearance of Tova’s son Erik, who vanished without a trace over 30 years ago. With only his wits and a few tricks up his tentacles, can Marcellus help Tova find the answers she’s been searching for?

Disclaimer: Article used with permission from Fully Booked

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