With so many different options and so few hours in the day, it can be overwhelming to choose what to read next ― and tough to know where to start if you want to make reading a habit.
As March is the designated month to celebrate the work of women (though really, it should be a year-round practice), we put together a list of incredible books by women writers. Although the list of literary classics by women includes thousands of options, we decided to narrow our focus to recent history.
Here are 35 books by women authors published in the past five years.
1
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
Penguin Press
2
Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue
Random House
3
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Doubleday
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4
Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff
Riverhead Books
5
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Balzer Bray
6
Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
Graywolf Press
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7
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Vintage
8
The Bright Hour by Nina Riggs
Simon Schuster
9
Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling
Three Rivers Press
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10
The Rules Do Not Apply by Ariel Levy
Random House
11
Lila by Marilynne Robinson
Farrar Straus and Giroux
12
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Anchor
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13
Blood in the Water by Heather Ann Thompson
Pantheon Books
14
I’m Supposed to Protect You from All This by Nadja Spiegelman
Riverhead Books
15
Redefining Realness by Janet Mock
Atria Books
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16
Homesick for Another World by Ottessa Moshfegh
Penguin Press
17
The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez
Knopf
18
Citizen by Claudia Rankine
Graywolf Press
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19
Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit
Haymarket Books
20
Marlena by Julie Buntin
Henry Holt and Co.
21
The Mothers by Brit Bennett
Random House
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22
Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante
Europa Editions
23
Bright Lines by Tanwi Nandini Islam
Penguin
24
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
Scribner
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25
Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
Scribner
26
Nobody Is Ever Missing by Catherine Lacey
FSG Originals
27
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Pamela Dorman Books
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28
Swing Time by Zadie Smith
Penguin Press
29
The Empathy Exams by Leslie Jamison
Graywolf Press
30
The Dark Dark by Samantha Hunt
FSG Originals
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31
Hunger by Roxane Gay
Harper
32
The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud
Vintage
33
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Vintage
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34
My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem
Random House
35
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
Grand Central Publishing