Skip to main content

Women's Stories

Rank Title Author Added

1

by Louisa May Alcott

26,688 members

402 reviews

4

5 Members: aulsmith, roby72, thecoroner, ahef1963, margaretfield
Explanations: aulsmith: Family of women.

2

The Scarlet Letter

by Nathaniel Hawthorne

36,816 members

375 reviews

½ 3.4

5 Members: roby72, thecoroner, ahef1963, aladyinredpolish, ManWithAnAgenda

3

Pride and Prejudice

81,257 members

1,372 reviews

½ 4.4

5 Members: thorold, roby72, thecoroner, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda,aulsmith
Explanations: aulsmith : Except for Elizabeth and Darcy's sister, I really dislike the other women in this book.

4

by Pearl S. Buck

13,949 members

264 reviews

4

5 Members: aulsmith, roby72, thecoroner, ahef1963, margaretfield

5

Sense and Sensibility

38,397 members

530 reviews

4.1

5 Members: aulsmith, roby72, thecoroner, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda
Explanations: aulsmith: Family of women

6

by Virginia Woolf

20,810 members

332 reviews

3.9

4 Members: thorold, roby72, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

7

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

by Muriel Spark

5,257 members

172 reviews

½ 3.7

4 Members: thorold, aulsmith, ahef1963, margaretfield
Explanations: aulsmith: A woman teacher at a girl's school.

8

The Mill on the Floss

by George Eliot

8,762 members

119 reviews

3.8

4 Members: roby72, thecoroner, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

9

The Time Traveler's Wife

by Audrey Niffenegger

39,646 members

1,273 reviews

4.1

4 Members: KimarieBee, roby72, thecoroner, ahef1963

10

by Toni Morrison

23,031 members

409 reviews

3.9

4 Members: roby72, ahef1963, camila16, ManWithAnAgenda

11

by Charlotte Brontë

59,406 members

924 reviews

4.2

4 Members: roby72, thecoroner, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda,aulsmith
Explanations: aulsmith : Jane's okay, but then there's the madwoman in the attic ...

12

The Handmaid's Tale

by Margaret Atwood

42,688 members

1,149 reviews

4.1

4 Members: roby72, thecoroner, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

13

28,890 members

535 reviews

4.2

4 Members: aulsmith, thecoroner, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda
Explanations: aulsmith: A woman learns to make her own way.

14

The Color Purple

by Alice Walker

19,884 members

342 reviews

4.1

4 Members: roby72, thecoroner, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

15

by Daphne Du Maurier

20,862 members

616 reviews

4.2

4 Members: roby72, thecoroner, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

16

by Jamie Le Fay

4 members

5

2 Members: JamieLeFay, GabrielWarren

17

Lady Chatterley's Lover

by D. H. Lawrence

13,699 members

221 reviews

½ 3.5

4 Members: roby72, thecoroner, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

18

The Stepford Wives

3,087 members

92 reviews

½ 3.6

4 Members: roby72, thecoroner, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

19

38,282 members

506 reviews

4.1

3 Members: thecoroner, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

20

Rosemary's Baby

4,663 members

139 reviews

3.8

4 Members: roby72, thecoroner, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

21

by Gustave Flaubert

26,363 members

390 reviews

½ 3.7

3 Members: roby72, thecoroner, ahef1963

22

Breakfast at Tiffany's

by Truman Capote

2,787 members

83 reviews

½ 3.7

4 Members: roby72, thecoroner, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

23

by Sylvia Plath

28,290 members

505 reviews

4

3 Members: roby72, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

24

Picnic at Hanging Rock

by Joan Lindsay

1,927 members

56 reviews

3.8

3 Members: KimarieBee, ahef1963, camila16

25

Tess of the D'Urbervilles

by Thomas Hardy

19,287 members

248 reviews

3.8

3 Members: roby72, thecoroner, ahef1963

26

The Blind Assassin

by Margaret Atwood

16,533 members

384 reviews

3.9

3 Members: roby72, thecoroner, ahef1963

27

These Is My Words

by Nancy E. Turner

1,815 members

85 reviews

½ 4.3

2 Members: KimarieBee, margaretfield

28

by Henrik Ibsen

5,423 members

91 reviews

½ 3.6

3 Members: roby72, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

29

To the Lighthouse

by Virginia Woolf

17,706 members

271 reviews

3.9

2 Members: roby72, ManWithAnAgenda

30

by Daniel Defoe

7,724 members

102 reviews

½ 3.5

3 Members: roby72, thecoroner, ahef1963

31

3,623 members

84 reviews

½ 3.4

3 Members: roby72, thecoroner, ManWithAnAgenda

32

The Clan of the Cave Bear

by Jean M. Auel

12,821 members

287 reviews

3.9

3 Members: KimarieBee, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

33

The Secret Life of Bees

by Sue Monk Kidd

27,210 members

588 reviews

3.9

3 Members: roby72, thecoroner, ahef1963

34

by Kathryn Stockett

30,736 members

1,494 reviews

½ 4.4

3 Members: KimarieBee, thecoroner, ahef1963,aulsmith
Explanations: aulsmith : There's a lot of unconscious stereotyping both of women and African-Americans in this book. I'd give it a miss.

35

by Simone de Beauvoir

2,412 members

17 reviews

4.1

2 Members: roby72, thecoroner

36

A Thousand Acres

6,193 members

137 reviews

½ 3.7

2 Members: ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

37

A Room with a View

by E. M. Forster

11,240 members

224 reviews

3.9

2 Members: thorold, ahef1963

38

9,235 members

179 reviews

½ 3.6

2 Members: ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

39

by Michael Cunningham

12,767 members

232 reviews

3.9

2 Members: ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

40

The Joy Luck Club

17,672 members

199 reviews

3.9

2 Members: ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

41

Never Let Me Go

by Kazuo Ishiguro

23,048 members

941 reviews

3.8

2 Members: ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

42

The Edible Woman

by Margaret Atwood

4,041 members

82 reviews

½ 3.6

2 Members: thorold, ahef1963

43

by Theodor Fontane

2,221 members

32 reviews

½ 3.6

2 Members: roby72, thecoroner

44

The House of Mirth

by Edith Wharton

9,754 members

204 reviews

4

2 Members: roby72, thecoroner

45

3,629 members

273 reviews

4

2 Members: KimarieBee, ahef1963

46

by Abbé Prévost

2,039 members

51 reviews

½ 3.4

2 Members: roby72, thecoroner

47

The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas

by Gertrude Stein

2,714 members

44 reviews

½ 3.6

2 Members: thorold, ahef1963

48

Year of Wonders

by Geraldine Brooks

8,754 members

416 reviews

4

Member: KimarieBee

49

Behind the Scenes at the Museum

by Kate Atkinson

4,901 members

134 reviews

3.9

Member: thorold

50

Jane and Prudence

1,183 members

59 reviews

3.9

Member: thorold

51

The Tin Ticket: The Heroic Journey of Australia's Convict Women

by Deborah J. Swiss

204 members

12 reviews

4

Member: KimarieBee

52

15 members

2 reviews

½ 4.6

Member: KimarieBee

53

by Kate Forsyth

1,030 members

18 reviews

3.8

Member: KimarieBee

54

Air: Or, Have Not Have

868 members

31 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: aulsmith

55

by Patrick White

1,425 members

22 reviews

4

Member: thorold

56

The Daughters of Mars

by Thomas Keneally

686 members

34 reviews

4

Member: KimarieBee

57

Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women

by Geraldine Brooks

2,277 members

43 reviews

4

Member: KimarieBee

58

by Doris Lessing

1,058 members

11 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: thorold

59

The Golden Notebook

by Doris Lessing

5,415 members

93 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: thorold

60

The Ladies of Missalonghi

by Colleen McCullough

975 members

30 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: KimarieBee

61

Novel on Yellow Paper

by Stevie Smith

510 members

5 reviews

3.8

Member: thorold

62

Falling Leaves: The Memoir of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter

by Adeline Yen Mah

2,815 members

51 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: KimarieBee

63

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

987 members

37 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: thorold
Explanations: thorold: More subversive than you might think

64

Excellent Women

2,757 members

126 reviews

4

Member: thorold

65

The Heart of Mid-Lothian

by Sir Walter Scott

1,086 members

18 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: thorold

66

Beauty in Thorns

by Kate Forsyth

36 members

3 reviews

½ 4.4

Member: KimarieBee

67

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

by Jeanette Winterson

6,283 members

145 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: thorold

68

The Thirteenth Tale

by Diane Setterfield

17,275 members

911 reviews

4

Member: ahef1963

69

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

by Mary Ann Shaffer

19,551 members

1,249 reviews

4.2

Member: ahef1963

70

by Ann Patchett

13,202 members

461 reviews

3.9

Member: ahef1963

71

Anna Karenina [Norton Critical Edition, 2nd ed.]

by León Tolstói

230 members

2 reviews

½ 4.4

Member: roby72

72

Dolores Claiborne

by Stephen King

8,637 members

97 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: ahef1963

73

by Margaret Laurence

1,195 members

19 reviews

4.1

Member: ahef1963

74

Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story

by Christopher Moore

4,909 members

164 reviews

3.8

Member: ahef1963

75

A Thousand Splendid Suns

by Khaled Hosseini

30,491 members

899 reviews

½ 4.3

Member: ahef1963

76

Their Eyes Were Watching God

by Zora Neale Hurston

19,262 members

348 reviews

4

Member: ahef1963

77

Eat, Pray, Love

by Elizabeth Gilbert

22,201 members

861 reviews

½ 3.5

Member: ahef1963

78

The Robber Bride

by Margaret Atwood

7,405 members

132 reviews

3.8

Member: ahef1963

79

by Margaret Atwood

9,139 members

163 reviews

3.9

Member: ahef1963

80

by Anita Diamant

17,019 members

394 reviews

4

81

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books

13,029 members

280 reviews

½ 3.6

82

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

11,286 members

443 reviews

4

83

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

by Rebecca Wells

10,833 members

114 reviews

½ 3.6

84

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China

8,370 members

160 reviews

4.1

85

Vagina Monologues

3,329 members

62 reviews

3.8

86

by Thornton Wilder

5,117 members

69 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: ahef1963,aulsmith
Explanations: aulsmith : An interesting choice, but I think the men are as interesting as the women

87

Memoirs of a Geisha

by Arthur Golden

36,770 members

563 reviews

4

Member: ahef1963,ManWithAnAgenda

88

The Mists of Avalon

by Marion Zimmer Bradley

16,425 members

300 reviews

4.1

Member: ahef1963,ManWithAnAgenda

About This List

Started: sturlington
September 2013
Type: Numbered and unnumbered

Related Lists

Favourite books by Female Authors

Reading Globally

Story Within a Story

Books Bought & Received as Gifts in 2014

Books I Own But Haven't Read

Women's reading list

SHOULD Read Books!

I Can't Finish This Book

100 books to read in a lifetime

Current Discussions

None

Related Tags

19th century (8,325) 20th century (4,814) American literature (4,460) British (5,517) British literature (5,281) China (3,838) classic (20,102) classics (21,298) England (7,457) English literature (5,102) fantasy (4,650) feminism (4,366) fiction (105,809) historical fiction (13,192) literature (14,363) memoir (3,734) non-fiction (3,711) novel (16,983) own (5,415) read (13,079) romance (11,787) science fiction (5,153) to-read (41,438) unread (4,343) women (7,897)

Verdana Standard Verdana Small The Lorax System Standard System Large Georgia Large Text Atkinson

This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.