Women Authors You Need to Read

It's March y'all, and that means it's Women's History Month. In honor of the many contributions women have brought to the world, I am sharing a short list of some of my favorite female authors to read.

A Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes

There's no denying it. Shonda Rhimes is the queen of television drama. From Gray's Anatomy to How to Get Away with Murder to Bridgerton, Rhimes is an incredible creator of compelling television. With so many chart-topping shows under her belt, it might be hard to imagine Rhimes struggling at, well, anything, but her memoir, A Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun and Be Your Own Person, proves that we all have mountains to climb, even the wildly successful folks out there.

A Year of Yes is funny, evocative, tear-jerking, and surprising. I repeatedly nodded at how self-isolation in the name of creative drive can be balanced by thrusting ourselves out of our comfort zones. Once we say 'yes' to the things, we usually answer a knee-jerk 'no' to, we will not only grow as people, but we can inspire those around us to greatness.

Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding

Bridget Jones's Diary is a hysterical chronicle of a 30-something single woman's journey to improve herself by shedding seven pounds, giving up cigarettes, and cultivating mature self-confidence. By doing all this, she hopes to start a serious, grownup relationship with an accountable adult (aka a man with a job). This may sound trite and cliché to some, but Helen Fielding delivers Bridget's account with such self-aware honesty that readers can't help but relate to the problems mounted on Miss Jones by her friends, her family, and even herself.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games series (but mostly the first book) has this tremendous raw grit and charm I love in an excellent dystopian young adult novel. Years before I got around to reading this stellar trilogy about 17-year-old Katniss and the game of survival she's forced to take part in, a youth librarian told me how all the kids at her school were buried nose-deep in Suzanne Collins books, and how this series wasn't appropriate for middle-schoolers. The school had taken them off the shelves to curb their tweens' voracious reading habits. Sigh. It kills me a little when librarians censor materials, and it happens all the time in school libraries. How do you get a kid to do something? Tell them no.

The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer

I wasn't a fan of Palmer's before reading her memoir. I would roll my eyes every time another half-naked or fully naked image of her came out, usually attached to a crowdfunding site for her latest album. But that all changed once I read The Art of Asking. Palmer is a genuine performance artist. The type of person who not only craves attention from those around her but thrives off it. Palmer is the polar opposite of Shonda Rhimes, who I identify with deeply as a fellow introvert. Still, as I read, I released my old prejudices and allowing room for more than one type of mindset in my solitary brain.

Asking for help is hard. We want to be independent. Go it on our own, but sometimes we have to swallow our pride and ask for help, and Palmer has to ask when she wants to the least and does it with grace and humility. The Art of Asking is a beautiful book written by one of the world's preeminent poets.

Fried Green Tomatoes by Fanny Flagg

Fanny Flagg's Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café has got to be one of my all-time favorite books. Even its movie adaptation is stellar. Fried Green Tomatoes tells two stories at once. The first is of two women, Mrs. Threadgoode, a gray-hair, old lady who is nursing-home bound, and Evelyne, a middle-aged woman in a slump. The second story follows two women and their lives in Whistle Stop, Alabama, in the 1920s, and the café they ran together. Ultimately, Flagg weaves a beautiful story of love, friendship, and self-discovery.

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

The Red Tent takes a traditionally male-dominated tale and tells it through the voices of the women who experienced events. Anita Diamant recounts the story of Dinah, the only daughter of Jacob, who is merely hinted at in the Christian Bible. In Diamant's retelling, Dinah's story begins with her mothers, Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah, the four wives of Jacob, and the traditions of womanhood they share with their only daughter. Diamant tells a powerful story of womanhood and gives readers a rare glimpse into the society of women during biblical times.

A Proper Education for Girls by Elaine di Rollo

In 2010, Elaine di Rollo gave us a pair of amazing sisters in A Proper Education for Girls. Alice and Lilian Talbot are twins separated for the first time when their father discovers Lilian's romantic affair with his assistant. Banished from the family home and married off to a missionary of ill health, Lilian is swept to an India on the precipice rebellion. With her husband sickly, Lilian is free to roam, and takes advantage of her newfound freedom. Back home, Alice is left to curate their father's massive collection of art, biological specimens, and clocks, which have taken over every available space of their rambling country estate. But Alice isn't alone. The creepy Dr. Cattermole's ever-watchful eye and malevolent intent are lurking in the shadows.

Becoming by Michelle Obama

I knew little about Michelle Obama's background before reading her memoir, Becoming. I didn't expect her to have come from a working-class family in the heart of Chicago's South Side. Honestly, I didn't know what I expected from the most inclusive First Ladies of the United States has ever had. I expected greatness, intelligence by the bucketful, and grace, but I received so much more. Obama gives her hardworking mom a lot of credit for her and her brother's grounded upbringing, and her father for his stubborn and stoic reception to a debilitating and deadly disease.

I highly recommend the audiobook, as Obama narrates, and her inflection gives the story much more depth than reading it from the page.

Bone House by Betsy Tobin

I'm a huge fan of fairy tales, so when I picked up Betsy Tobin's Bone House, I was happily transported to an Elizabethan village where superstition is law, religious fervor condemns good people under false pretenses, and mystery hides in every corner. The slow intensity at which Tobin unveils Bone House's secrets is fantastic. The whole time I read, I wasn't sure if this book was one of myth and magic or ignorance and passion. Tobin keeps the reader guessing in this suspenseful mystery.

The Wet Nurse's Tale by Erica Eisdorfer

I love clever and resourceful characters, so when I read The Wet Nurse's Tale by Erica Eisdorfer, I was anything but disappointed. Susan Rose is a scullery maid in the big house of the small village where she lives with her mother, father, and many siblings. Susan is a sweet girl who gets swept away when the youngest son of her employer seduces her. These liaisons eventually lead to a pregnancy, which Susan's father sees as just another mouth to feed. While Susan's back is turned, her father gives her child away. Susan must now track down her baby and, through guile and dumb luck, try to regain him.

There you have it. A list of some of my favorite female authors. If you have a favorite female author, please comment, and tell me why she's fantastic.