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To Kill a Mockingbird- Harper Lee

This classic story about the effect of prejudice on a sleepy Southern town is narrated by a smart, tough little girl named Scout Finch.

The Color Purple- Alice Walker

The Pulitzer winning novel about a woman named Celie who overcomes oppression. In fact, the novel deals with oppression in all of its forms: racism, sexism, imperialism, etc.

Jazz- Toni Morrison

A story that reads like notes from a trumpet. This novel is set during the mass migration of black Americans from the American South to the cities of the North- plus the culture  and wounds they brought with them.

Reading Lolita in Tehran- Azir Nafisi

A memoir by an English professor about reading classic works of literature in a society (post-revolutionary Iran) that does not tolerate new ideas.

Anna Karenina- Leo Tolstoy

Classic Russian story about a young russian woman and adultery.

Madame Bovary- Gustave Flaubert

Classic French story about a young french woman and adultery.

Bonk- Mary Roach

This recent book by one of the most popular science writers is about the science of sex. Mary Roach had people in stitches with her book Stiff (about cadavers & what society does with them), but with this book, she once again shows that she can answer all of our most taboo questions, give us a laugh- without being disrespectful or lewd.

Not for Ourselves Alone- Ken Burns

Companion book to Ken Burns’ documentary about the Women Suffrage Movement, this book chronicles the friendship between Susan B Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton

The Feminine Mystique- Betty Friedan

This book is sometimes credited with kicking off the second phase of women’s liberation in the 1970s. While many of the statistics and problems are no longer applicable today, it is a picture of how far we’ve come.

White Oleander- Janet Fitch

A book that reads like a long poem, this is the story of Astrid, whose mother, Ingrid is a poet and aesthete. After her mother murders her boyfriend, Astrid goes from one foster home to another and learns the different ways in which the world is beautiful- and the ways it’s ugly.

The Poisonwood Bible- Barbara Kingsolver

This is set in 1960s Africa about a fire-and-brimstone Baptist preacher who takes his family to the Congo, intending to Christianize the people. The story alternates between the mother and her four daughters.

Memoirs of a Geisha- Arthur Golden

The fictional story of Sayuri, a world-renowned geisha, who started as a little girl from a fishing village.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings- Maya Angelou

The first in Maya Angelou’s biographical series, this book introduces the reader to the segregated world of Stamps Arkansas during the Depression.

The Heart of a Woman- Maya Angelou

This one is #4 in Maya Angelou’s biographical series. In this one, she meets Billy Holiday, Martin Luther King Jr and James Baldwin- then she marries an African freedom fighter and heads to the motherland.

The Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson never published any poems in her lifetime, but more than a century after her death, she is still one of the most beloved poets in the English language.

Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay- Nancy Milford

Biography of a bohemian poetess who lived by her own rules- long before it was acceptable for a woman to do so.

The Dear America Series- Scholastic

This is a series of fictional diaries from girls of the past: enslaved girls, immigrants, pioneers, native Americans. There is also the Royal Diaries which are the fictional journals of historical figures like Princess Elizabeth I, Marie Antoinette and Queen NZingha of Angola.

Rebecca- Daphne DuMaurier

Classic horror story of a young wife who marries a wealthy widower and lives in the shadow of her predecessor.

The Joy Luck Club- Amy Tan

A story about chinese American daughters’ relationships with their Chinese mothers.

The American Girl Books

Another series of historical books about girls. Molly, Felicity, Kirsten, Addy, Samantha, Josefina, Kaya and now, Kit have become beloved girlhood characters.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn-Betty Smith

The story of Francie, a poor girl from Brooklyn who loves her family.

The Alphabet Series- Sue Grafton

This Mystery series for adults are gritty private eye novels featuring the smart-mouthed P.I Kinsey Millhone. It has been selling millions of copies for twenty-seven years.

Little House on the Prairie- Laura Ingalls

Classic story of Laura Ingalls’ pioneer family.

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry-Mildred D. Taylor

This story is set in the Jim Crow American South and told through the eyes of a young black girl named Cassie.

The Ramona Books- Beverly Cleary

Ramona was the literary best friend of many young girls. We grew up with this pesky, well-meaning clumsy little girl. And we love her.

Homecoming- Cynthia Voigt

After their mother abandons them in a mall parking lot, four children set out alone to find a relative who will take them in. The first in a series.

A Wrinkle in Time- Madeleine L’Engle

The sci-fi classic that introduced us to Einstein, relativity and time travel- and a really terrific cast of characters.

Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen

A classic romance about early 19th century English society.

Emma- Jane Austen

Jane Austen’s other masterpiece about the perils of overzealous match-making.

Jane Eyre-Charlotte Bronte

The life story of an English governess who falls in love.