Books By Women That Every Man Should Read

A well-intentioned recent article raises the issue how many male readers primarily read books by men. I discuss the larger issue to do with masculinity and consider the books suggested. Click ‘Show More’ for info & links.

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Books discussed & purchase links:

Middlemarch by George Eliot

We Had to Remove This Post by Hanna Bervoets

Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Regeneration by Pat Barker

The Seasonal Quartet by Ali Smith

The Terrible by Yrsa Daley-Ward

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Cheri by Colette

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

The Last Widow by Karin Slaughter

The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ by Sue Townsend

My Phantoms by Gwendoline Riley

Singin Swingin and Gettin Merry Like Christmas by Maya Angelou

The Shore by Sara Taylor

What I Lived For by Joyce Carol Oates

The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischvili

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Get in touch

[Nina_DP]

"Maybe spend less time rereading Middlemarch and more time writing a novel that's actually engaging…" Eric, if I didn't already enjoy your content and your personality, and wasn't already a subscriber, this (well deserved) snark would have sealed the deal. Priceless!

[mattjmjmjm]

Every man should read Clarice Lispector, she writes about the beauties and horrors of womanhood in such a mystical way, amazing writing.

[pippavanel]

I love how you very politely deliver quite savage remarks! Hehe also your videos are such a blast to watch. Always informative, spicy and inspiring. You make me aim to read more as you describe books in such a way that they all sound fab! Thanks for another great one.

[h.a.]

I love Mrs. Dalloway and Homegoing. I'm surprised nobody recommended The Waves, such a beautiful novel that is written so elegantly.
Honestly I don't look at the author's gender, color, sexuality when I pick my books. I pick what interests me. My reading taste is very varied and it includes every kind of author. Yes, every month the ratio differs from the previous month when it comes to author in terms of the elements I have mentioned but generally I am reading everything.
The snobbish attitude among readers differ from a person to another. Like when someone tells you "If you don't read nonfiction, then you are not reading"! These are annoying things to hear but we will have to ignore them.
Awesome video, Eric.

[henrymathews]

I recommend everything by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Books like:

AMERICANAH
Half of a Yellow sun
Dear Ijeawele, or A feminist manifesto in 15 suggestions
We should all be feminists
Purple hibiscus
The thing around your neck, etc.

[MarcNash]

I haven't read the article but I just got the sense that none of these writers are up to date with contemporary women writers, that they wouldn't have read the likes of Luiselli, Offill, Yilun Li, Ugresic, Toews, Ernaux, Han Kang, Anna Burns, Thien and although not contemporary, one of my favourites, who blows away any man for intensity, Clarice Lispector.

[CharlieBrookReads]

When I first saw the title of this I thought it was referencing The Womens Prize project “Men Reading Women” but clearly not. It sounds like the article was very heavy handed. It’s good to encourage us all to read diversely but it’s not so clear cut as just “you should read this or you should read that”. No one has the right to look down at another for how they choose to read. We should build each up not tear each down for our choices❤️ Love your take on it as always 😉📚❤️

[AnnNovella]

I was laughing out loud when you spoke about The Finkler Question. ;-)

[aliciaguzman]

Eric you had me dying at some of your off hand comments. I agree it's sad that men have to recommend books by women in order for other men to find value in them but in a way it does reflect the reality in which we live in. I do find that men ( in general) tend to gravitate to books written by other men and also hold men's opinions higher than women's whether it's subconscious or not. I would love to just in general see more men recommend more books by women like you do on your channel !

[jenniferlovesbooks]

Really interesting discussion 😊📚 I enjoyed hearing your thoughts.

[jenisalwaysreading]

A classic book by a woman that I think men should read is Evelina, by Frances Burney. When I (a woman) read it, I was shocked by how relevant it still was in reflecting my day-to-day life of dealing with men. It really brings to the fore how men behave towards women and the ignorance which that behaviour affects women.

As for modern books, Hamnet has to be on the list as well as anything by Isabel Allende.

[skullfullofbooks]

I didn't read the article, but if it doesn't address how the patriarchy has impacted the publishing world and that men can still write off books written by women as "women's fiction" due to a lingering bias of the "inferiority of women" then they didn't do a good job. I'd rather have an article discussing how authors who are women (and also bipoc) tend to have their adult fantasy shelved incorrectly in young adult when it is very clearly adult. Or that women outsell men in romance and cozy mysteries so men adopt pen names implying they might be women in order to sell better. It just feels like they're saying "oh it's weird men don't read books by women, do you know books by women exist?" Loved that tweet though, it was a good rebuttal to the vibes of the article.

[angiejones]

Hi Eric, I read the article and felt it was quite limited. I read the recommendations and laughed at the 'tells' (snobbery, grasping a recommendation from a small pool, etc.). I am also suspicious of such convenient statistics - simple rounded ratios. It would be interesting if Goodreads could crunch some numbers for us!

[omnipotentpoobah]

Howard Jacobson probably could have phrased that better, but he’s right on Middlemarch obviously. At least twice.

Not sure how Mantel, Byatt and Morrison didn’t get a mention from all those well-meaning chaps either.

[jthbooks]

Amazing video Eric! Your list is much better 😊

[neetupd]

Books are read for pleasure and for enhancing knowledge... I don't ever consider the gender of the author while picking up a book.I look at the subject of the book or if it is recommended by a booktuber that I admire and make my choices... We have been told what to read and what not to during our academic years....but now I think it's about time I can make my choices 😊

By the way I haven't read Middlemarch even once...so am I....???😳🤔

[trimegistus]

When I saw the title I was like "A little Life" must be in it. 😃

The Sea, The Sea is my all time fav, but then I'm a huge Iris Murdoch fan.

[HardcoverHearts]

Thank you for tackling this. The whole construct reinforces the gender binary and had me rolling my eyes so hard. It’s endlessly frustrating to still be talking about how in general men don’t read women writers. I love how you go through each of these responses and interrogate their choices. And I cannot imagine how impossible it would be to pick one single book. Look at how hard it was for us to pick 5 of our favorite English novels. More works needs to be done, for sure.

[kiranreader]

the article was def heavy handed, loved hearing your thoughts on the video AND your suggestions :)

[rebecca.reader]

Loved this and love your attitude refreshing!!! I laughed out loud at the Middlemarch bit 🤣.