2025 Reading Challenge discussion

Hello :D

After a look at my read books, I had the realization that more than two thirds of the books I've read are written by men. So I decided to read more women!

I enjoy fantasy and science fiction a lot, but I also read contemporary stuff and historic novels, plus sometimes horror. I'm not a huge fan of most classics, crimes or romances.

Any ideas? I would really love to read something recommended by you guys! (:

My absolute favorite fantasy series by Jacqueline Carey: Kushiel. It's really three trilogies. The first book is Kushiel's Dart.

What makes it stand out for me is that it is the whole package. It has politics, action and all you would expect from fantasy. It is deep and always every time it makes me think of my life and how I spend my time and treat people around me.

It has romance in the right way, done very believable. The whole series is just quality literature.

But they are not for everyone. There are some heavier themes and sex. Personally I feel she has written it very beautiful and tasteful, but opinions on that may differ.

I have listened to it 4-6 times (lost count) and reading it for the first time. You probably need to read 50 % of the first book to know for sure if it's for you, but I love it :)

I see you like George R.R. Martin. You can probably stomach Kushiel too then :)

Thanks, Winter - that actually sounds really good! (: I'm definitely gonna try that out!

Felicia wrote: "Thanks, Winter - that actually sounds really good! (: I'm definitely gonna try that out!"

^^ I hope you like it! I recommended it to my boyfriend and he ended up isolating himself for days straight, just reading the whole thing. My sister loves it too and another friend :)

My favorite female authors in speculative fiction:

Margaret Atwood: my favorite is the MaddAddamm trilogy
Mira Grant (zombies!)
Octavia E. Butler: we're currently doing Wild Seed as a buddy read if you'd like to join
Catherynne M. Valente for lyrical fantasy

Kara wrote: "My favorite female authors in speculative fiction:

Margaret Atwood: my favorite is the MaddAddamm trilogy
Mira Grant (zombies!)
Octavia E. Butler: we'..."

Cassandra and I read Oryx and Drake, I'm looking forward to the rest of it!

Do I ever have books for you Felicia! :)

The work of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (contemporary/historical fiction set in and around Nigeria and the USA, Purple Hibiscus, The Thing Around Your Neck, We Should All Be Feminists, Half of a Yellow Sun, more or less in order of preference)
Animorphs by Katherine Applegate - it's a very long science fiction contemporary young adult before young adult series of somewhat uneven quality that I still think is generally worth it. It's mostly out of print now but you can find them if you look, or they might be in your library too.
Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa (science fantasy manga aimed at boys and teens, that in no way particularly excludes women)
Noughts & Crosses series by Malorie Blackman (teenish contemporary alternate series that explores the causes and effects of racism and crime in modern society, there is a fair amount of romance in the first book unfortunately)
Noble Conflict by Malorie Blackman (a kind of young adult dystopia with elements of romance here and there)
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume (children’s, it was more or less contemporary at the time, may be too much of a classic)
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton (gigantic historical set in nineteenth century New Zealand, won the Booker Prize)
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is a massive book concerning the return of magic to an alternate 19th century Britain that won the Hugo Award for Best Novel. That being said it may be too reminiscent of a "classic", plus its first third tends to be regarded as incredibly and offputtingly slow. Maybe try a sample to see what you make of it.)
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (YA dystopia, probably needs no introduction)
Roomby Emma Donoghue (contemporary book about a boy and his mother who live in a room together)
Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd (teenish history book set during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, but also concerning the first century at times)
The Young Wizards series by Diane Duane (children’s to young adult science fantasy series)
The Gathering by Anne Enright (contemporary, won the Booker Prize, has its fair share of weird sex here and there)
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer (teenager sciency book set in a future Mexico/US border state)
The works of Frances Hardinge, which are eccentric fantasies for children’s/teenagers, packed with ideas and veering between historical and invented worlds. Cuckoo Song/A Face Like Glass/The Lie Tree/Gullstruck Island would be my order of preference)
I Am David by Anne Holm (WWII, children’s, centres around a boy who escapes from a camp and tries to find his mother, kind of a classic at the same time)
Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson (young adults book set in a dystopian Toronto abandoned to the downtrodden and the marginalised, also incorporates Caribbean mythology)
Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson (children’s, kind of historical)
Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (children’s fantasy, the film sort of went down its own path so far as I know)
Deep Secret by Diana Wynne Jones (adult’s fantasy, not as good as Howl)
When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr (children’s WWII, may be too classical)
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (historical, may be a bit too spiritual/Christian to feel properly good about)
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (historical)
The works of Jhumpa Lahiri (contemporary, Unaccustomed Earth/The Lowland in order of preference)
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (a sort of militaryish sci-fi book that does interesting things with gender, won the Hugo Award for Best Novel)
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (probably needs no introduction, definitely a classic though)
H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald (contemporary nature memoir)
Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian (children’s WWII, can get disturbing in parts, may be overly classic)
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (dystopianesque, has glimmers of science fiction but largely contemporary)
Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel (historical, won the Booker Prize)
A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing by Eimear McBride (historical/contemporary, has moments of weird sex here and there, written in what you could call stream of consciousness but it's almost something else again. I'd try out a sample if that's a possibility and if it's not for you then you can fairly safely let it go)
Sparrow Hill Road by Seanan McGuire (a somewhat alternate ghost fantasy)
The Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer (young adult science fiction fairy tales fusion, some romance but I feel it’s generally done well)
Suite Française by Irene Nemirovsky (historical WWII written while it was contemporary)
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’Farrell (contemporary with elements of history, hints of romance but nothing too important, has weird sex but nothing George R.R. Martin hasn’t had already)
What Was Lost by Catherine O’Flynn (somewhat historical but mostly just contemporary, has a bit of romance but it’s really more of a friendship, has some mystery/crime elements but it’s really not the main focus. It’s more of a gloomy look at the awfulness banal and ennui-filled morass that’s modern life but it’s actually very good)
Wonderby RJ Palacio (children’s crossover book, contemporary)
The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series by Michelle Paver (children’s historical fantasy)
The works of Tamora Pierce (children’s to teenagers fantasy, Protector of the Small or the Circle of Magic quartet are probably the best places to start, the Beka Cooper trilogy embraces crime to a fair extent, the Circle Opens quartet slightly less so)
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (children’s puzzle box mystery book [not a crime book])
Harry Potter (presumably needs no introduction)
Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell (historical children’s adventure book)
The works of Zadie Smith - she usually sets her books in contemporary London, but occasionally steps into history. White Teeth/On Beauty/The Embassy of Cambodia: Short Story/NW is more or less my order of preference.
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (backwards-glancing contemporary feeling coming of age detective-tinged story (not a crime book)
The works of Amy Tan (historical/contemporary books that explore the Chinese condition [I think], The Joy Luck Club/The Bonesetter's Daughter/The Valley of Amazement is more or less my order of preference)
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt (gigantic, more or less contemporary, won the Pulitzer Prize, gets pretty criminal here and there)
The New Policeman by Kate Thompson (children’s fantasy book that incorporates Irish mythology)
A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler (contemporary but also backwards looking family saga, shortlisted for the Booker Prize)
Sarah Waters (Victorian, Fingersmith/Tipping the Velvet/Affinity in order of preference)
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein (YA WWII)
Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson (cyberpunkian thriller somewhat successfully meets Middle Eastern mythology, contains some romance)
The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices by Xinran (historical/contemporary, can get disturbing at times)

I think no one can beat Paul comment... But if I will add something will be a touch of Latin American literature... Isabel Allende is great with magic realism and her novels are full of women... Her method is very similar in almost all her books but the stories are great, also she is pretty good including history in her stories and also relate the big historical episodes of the time the book that she writes with the lives of her characters.
Another woman will be Laura Esquivel she is a Mexican writer and her most famous book is Like Water for Chocolate that had been made into a movie a couple of years ago. Piedad Bonnett Is a great Colombian writer but in general she writes more poetry than other things. And last but not least try to read something from Elena Poniatowska she is mexican and also an excellent writer.

I'm reading Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang and it's really an amazing must-read in my opinion. It's a memoir written to reflect her, her mother, and her grandmothers life from the start of communism in China. After I finish reading each chapter I have to put it down amazed. The author tries her best to illustrate to those not so familiar with China's history while relating her story and I think she does a good job of it.

Great, that's actually an interesting idea to check how many male and female authors you've read! I think I should look more closely at my read-list as well.
If you like a bit of horror, there's Shirley Jacksonor Flannery O'Connor.

Both write rather subtle horror though, nothing gory and no Zombies running around.
But then you would already classify them as modern classics. Don't know if that's still acceptable for you.

I'm actually looking forward to reading Come Closer by Sara Gran which is about demonic possession.

Anybody else I can think of has already been mentioned... so is that a sign that I should catch up on my female authors?

Wow, Paul, you went crazy there :D Which is a good thing!

Thanks, guys, I have so much to check out now!

I could recommend so many things but as you like fantasy I have a few female fantasy authors.

Robin Hobb
Trudi Canavan
Karen Miller

Any book by Jodi Picoult. All of her books tackle some kind of larger issue, but told from the perspective of one family or a few characters. For example, Nineteen Minutes talks about a school shooting, and Mercy about a mercy killing of a terminally ill partner.

She is one of my favourite authors and I really love her writing style. She really makes these kinds of issues accessible and I love how she explores them from multiple sides through different characters.

My TBR-list is growing more rapidly than I like it to, haha :D
Thanks, everyone!

i will add to this list after work

Night Pleasures working my way through the series again (if you like paranormal romance she is amazing


Consequences (one of my favorite dark romances this year)

Kushiel's Dart (little lengthy but so worth it )

have to hit the office will add more tonight

I'll add Leena Krohn: Collected Fiction, The Core of the Sun and Memory of Water, written by authors who write mainly fantasy/scifi, and Purge, which is historical fiction.