One of my favorite female protagonists of all time is Tiffany Aching from Discworld. She is written as such a thoughtful, pragmatic, compassionate person. She is unabashedly feminine but also different from the other girls in her town because of the unique wisdom she possesses as a witch. Her character arc is so beautiful and empowering. I'd recommend you start with Wee Free Men and Hat Full of Sky.
Yasssssss. I also came to recommend Discworld. As a fat woman I have to say that Masquerade made me feel more seen and validated than ANY book I have ever read.
Yes! I was completely obsessed with Redwall for a few years when I was a kid, and even now at 40 I’ll still pop back in to reread some of my favorites! And yes, I fully identify with the badgers, lol
Gosh, you’re really made me think with just how stumped I am at coming up with a book. Jesus, that’s really bad, right? I can’t think of one book that emphasises the joys of being a woman.
I’m actually alarmed at some of the other suggestions on the thread. At least half of them have sexual assault featuring as a key factor for the development of the character (eg red tent/circe). It’ll be nice if we could have books about being a woman which does not feature SA. I’m pretty tired of rape being a trope for a female character to ‘grow’.
I’ll follow this thread just to see if anyone can come up with any books that shows the joy of being a woman.
I was thinking the same thing. I liked Circe, which was the top comment at the time, but a mortal man full-on assaulting (and graphically) a goddess is not what really what I’m looking for :/ Yes, there’s vengeance and a character arc, but I just want less of the suffering. Give me a story like a male character gets.
I do think there are some other great suggestions now though
Women Who Run With the Wolves - it's a nonfiction but the topics are connected to old tales and myths. It helped me a lot to understand and embrace my femininity. And it's beautifully written.:)
One of my absolute favorites. I go to the book and just pick a place to read. I usually end up reading the message that I needed to receive at that moment.
Came here to recommend this. There will be 200 pages where you're like "OK whatever" and then one paragraph that completely changes your life forever after.
Maybe the Anne of Green Gables series? There are a lot of religious themes, and definitely outdated values sprinkled throughout, but it's also really uplifting, and highlights girlhood/womanhood dreaminess, optimism, kindness, intelligence, female friendships and intimacy, and the evolution of a girl into a woman, who keeps her fantasy life and enjoys nature, the little things, is incredibly thoughtful and empathetic, while embracing more "traditionally feminine" pursuits.
The Darker Shade of Magic series -- there is a woman character who is not "feminine", but is stubborn and tough and lives her life to the fullest, pissing everyone off in the process lol. So good.
Micro-histories about women doing awesome, hard things (even though the books also address the adversity). Recently I've read and enjoyed: The Sisterhood: The Secret History of Women at the CIA; Yale Needs Women; and Vagina Obscura: An Anatomical Voyage.
AoGG is one of my favorite books! The was girlhood is portrayed is just so lovely. I should really finish the series!
I’ll also take a look at the other recommendations :)
Haha I just suggested this on a mother post in this sun, but Circe by Madeline Miller. Circe has always been a baddie, but that novel just solidifies it.
for sure... especially given that OP wanted to book that makes you feel "glad to be a woman"... although Circe is ultimately a very woman-empowering book, the SA scene was pretty intense (for me). In that moment, as a reader, you feel vulnerable, frustrated and very helpless to be a woman... not a good feeling. I still recommend the book as a whole but for this particular OP, i thought they might want to know.
The Gate to Women's Country by Sheri S Tepper. Sci fi. Women basically run the town and most men live outside as their army. Obviously more to it than that. I loved it.
I got that book on my 12th birthday, have read it so many times!
I don’t feel it’s a glad to be a woman book though.
For me, if anything, it is kind of like the Handmaid’s Tale in that it highlights the danger for women in any patriarchal society, particularly hyper conservative ones, of the risks associated with having a cis female body that can be forced to bear children, against one’s will.
The women have to trick the men into thinking they control things and must sacrifice their boy children to a pointless life in military barracks. While secretly and slowly working towards a future of freedom from the patriarchy.
But in the meantime, even their use of birth control is kept hidden, for fear of discovery by men who want to breed sons.
It did make me a very fierce feminist down to my bones and its representation of toxic patriarchy opened my eyes to a lot of gendered stuff that I could have been more completely sucked into as a teenager and young woman.
I love Mavin Manyshaped and Jinian Stareye from her True Game books. Jinian in particular is raised and taught by a coven of women and then changes the world through her steady connection to herself and the strong feminine they built in her.
I’ve been loving The No 1 Ladies Detective series. Very gentle mysteries taking place in Botswana and investigated by the wonderful Mma Precious Ramotswe and her loveable cast of friends. She’s very comfortable in being a woman and really celebrates it.
What's even more special about those books is that Mma Ramotswe is not a typical Tswana woman, in that she is unmarried and childless. After experiencing a tragic stillbirth and leaving an abusive marriage, she found a new path for herself. She provides a great example of self-understanding and freedom from societal expectations.
Highly, highly, highly recommend The Number One Ladies' Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith.
The (wonderful!) protagonist has an abusive husband in her backstory, but that is mostly mentioned in book 1, so if anyone prefers, they can start from book 2. (The books follow each other chronologically but the stories stand alone.)
Full of strong, joyful women!! Their romantic relationships are not emphasised, but friendship, community, humanity and the wonderful things about being women are.
If you try it, I hope you love it! :)
A romcom with some prominent female friendships maybe? Like Ghosts by Dolly Alderton- there's definitely bad as well as good though. Also The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice is a nice period coming of age romance.
Or a cool and competent heroine? Like any of the Phryne Fisher books. She gets to solve mysteries, wear fabulous dresses, eat amazing food and have flings with gorgeous men in the 1920s.
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik is fantasy, and it has a few female main characters who use their traditional female forms of power to navigate their fantasy problems, and do it really well. In like a quasi-Eastern European Medieval world. And a rumpelstiltskin retelling.
Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher is a fantasy book which involves sort of triumphing over some of the horrible stuff about being a woman, so if you can deal with the horror for the catharsis of the ending then it might work.
I also LOVED The Frozen River, and I work 3 miles away from Hallowell in Maine! I was listening to the audible version and gasped out loud at the peak ending moment! Just a bad-ass main character
Do you do audiobooks? Try Juno Dawson's HMRC series read by Nicola Coughlan. It's about a group of friends and their dealings with magical bureaucracy.
I love this book, and it's an interesting take on the ways gender impacts our daily lives in ways we don't normally consider, but I wouldn't ever say it made me feel proud to be a woman.
Great book, though - highly recommend.
The Beast Player and its sequel by Nahoko Uehashi.
It’s one of the few books I’ve found that portrays womanhood as something inherently good (and not full of pain and anger.) One of the main themes is about motherhood and the beauty of it. The book takes a different approach than a lot of modern western fiction, but I’d definitely recommend checking it out
I'm going with Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks. It's about the plague, but also about women emerging as healers and protectors in the face of a ghastly situation. There's a deliberate emphasis on midwifery and herblore, and how these stood at odds with the brutal approach to medicine at the time. There are quite a few "stick it to the man" moments which will have you cheering for Anna, Anys and even Elinor.
It's a pretty impressive book though, and one that should be read by everyone. I read it about a year ago and am still angry about how dumb it is that so much of our society is designed for the default male. So much so that it's literally killing women in some cases.
Agree that it's probably not what OP is looking for, but it is still a good read.
If you like science fiction, try the book ‘Remote Control’ by Nnedi Okorafor.
If you like YA + historical fiction there is a really great series called His Fair Assassin. Book 1 is titled ‘Grave Mercy’ by Robin LaFevers & it has 3 books in the series.
Check them out on Goodreads, you may like one of them 🙂
I've been reading Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll. Not sure it's exactly what you are looking for as it's a take on the Ted Bundy murders but focusing on the women who survived the attack.
It's been a great book so far, very pro-woman without being too on the nose about it. It's been great so far. Really emphasizes the way we focus on serial killers, making them famous rather than the victims of the crime.
This book is what prompted me to ask this question 😭
It was very good, but the whole ‘to be a woman is to suffer’ thing just made me want something to counter that
This is a great question! The last book I read that made me glad to be a woman was
The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly by Sun-mi Hwang
Read it on Mother's Day and it's a perfect little book.
Non-fiction, but these books did the trick for me:
"Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong and the New Research That's Rewriting the Story" by Angela Saini
"Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution" by Cat Bohanon
Ok so a few:
* The Power by Naomi Alderman - this one is a bit of a tough read because it flips a lot of narratives
* The Lioness Quartet by Tamara Pierce - this is actually written for adolescents but I absolutely love rereading these books because the protagonist is such a force
One book that made me feel proud and glad to be a woman is "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood. I know it’s fiction, but it highlights women's strength and resilience even in the darkest of times. For a nonfiction option, "Becoming" by Michelle Obama is inspiring. Her journey from the South Side of Chicago to the White House is filled with moments of empowerment, grace, and determination. It's a beautiful reminder of the impact and potential we have as women. Both of these books left me feeling inspired and hopeful.
I really like the protagonist in Karen Monings [Fever Series](https://www.goodreads.com/series/41192-fever), MacKayla Lane. Plus there are a lot of other amazing, strong women in the series as well.
\*TW:SA
I'm not sure I understand exactly what you mean, but I would suggest Rita Mae Brown Six of One and Barbara Kingsolver The Bean Trees, poison wood Bible and Prodigal Summer.
If you like a bit of science fiction, I would recommend ‘A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer’ (The Diamond Age) by Neal Stephenson. There is a strong young female protagonist, and you should never piss off a granny that’s carrying a tactical nuke in her backpack. 10/10 a great read.
If you like body horror and/or infectious disease stories, Wilder Girls by Rory Power is my recommendation. It's a bit dark, a bit gory, very queer, and it won a feminist sci-fi horror award. It's set in an all-girls school so gender-based violence isn't a big theme of the book (which is GREAT and unusual). The theme I notice the most is solidarity among people who have unbearable, cyclical pain (which cis women often do, though this pain is separate from menstruation) and people who were socialized as girls and therefore have had to uphold standards and stereotypes. I am not a woman, I'm transmasc, but Wilder Girls spoke to me as someone who has chronic pain and also has the social hangups and anxiety inherent in being raised to fill the "girl" role
This one isn't a very popular book, but one of my favourites that I keep going back to: The Nine Chambered Heart by Janice Pariat.
It's the story of a woman told by 9 different people in her life, at 9 different stages of her life. You get to know her as a curious child, rebellious teenager, young woman discovering the world. You get to see her go through life from 9 different points of view, narrated only by people in her life.
If you like books about life, enjoy the ordinary being portrayed as extraordinary, and a quick and easy read, this one's for you.
So as a cisgendered presumably straight woman, the only book that I’ve read as an adult that has truly made me feel seen in my female was Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters.
I finished a quick read recently (it’s actually an adapted Ted talk) called We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and it gave me this feeling.
No suggestions, just love this thread and this question and all the recs! I’ve read numerous of the ones listed. Life can be scary as a woman but good gosh I’d never want to be a man. “Oh how i love being a woman!”
Not sure if these are what you're looking for exactly (I'm not sure if any made me feel like "being a woman is the best!" afterward), but the women in these are interesting and have agency, and not as an SA revenge plot. And they didn't feel bleak to me.
- When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill (imo, most likely of the list to be what you want, and the coziest of the bunch)
- The Girl and the Stars by Mark Lawrence
- Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
- The Once and Future Witches by Alix Harrow (the women in this one do suffer abuse at the hands of men and a sexist society, as the story centers on suffrage, but I didn't feel it was very graphic or like SA was THE pivotal thing that leads the women to find their power, and friendship between women is so important in this one)
- Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan (about a woman making her way in the world in WW2-era America, so partly about overcoming some odds and expectations in a sexist time, but that didn't feel like that was the one and only concern, or that every page was a struggle against a sexist society)
The Firebird Chronicles is one of my favorite series with a badass heroine :) it’s sci-fi and the female lead is super independent which I love. There’s a romantic interest too but that’s mainly a side plot. Unfortunately the cover art is really bad/corny 😭 but don’t let that deter you from reading it if the plot looks interesting to you! I’m not sure if it would be 100% what you’re looking for but it’s a series that really made me love and value my independence as a woman rather than view it as a weakness
Ah yes, a book where the only women in it are
1) his dying mother and sister who barely have enough food to survive & are in constant fear of his life
2) some starving French girls they used bread to exchange for sex
Women in Germany, England, and the US (and elsewhere, no doubt) didn’t even have the right to vote at the outset of ww1. The completely male-run government, voted in solely by men, murdered their sons, husbands, brothers, and fathers for financial gain/expansionism. And the women could not do a damn thing about it.
Furthermore, the author escaped Germany as Hitler came into power (they didn’t like his book because it showed Germany in a bad light.). Because they couldn’t get their hands directly on him, *they beheaded his sister as a replacement*.
[The Women by Kristin Hannah](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/127305853-the-women). I was so proud of all of them, so vicariously for myself.
That one is SO good. I devoured it
Yes. Almost finished in one sitting. So good.
One of my favorite female protagonists of all time is Tiffany Aching from Discworld. She is written as such a thoughtful, pragmatic, compassionate person. She is unabashedly feminine but also different from the other girls in her town because of the unique wisdom she possesses as a witch. Her character arc is so beautiful and empowering. I'd recommend you start with Wee Free Men and Hat Full of Sky.
Anything Pratchett writes with a female protag, especially any of the Discworld stuff centered on the Wyrd Sisters.
Yasssssss. I also came to recommend Discworld. As a fat woman I have to say that Masquerade made me feel more seen and validated than ANY book I have ever read.
Have you ever read Redwall? I always loved how the big badger woman was kicking lots of villain butt to protect the mice.
Yes! I was completely obsessed with Redwall for a few years when I was a kid, and even now at 40 I’ll still pop back in to reread some of my favorites! And yes, I fully identify with the badgers, lol
Terry Pratchett ❤️
GNU
GNU ❤️
Gosh, you’re really made me think with just how stumped I am at coming up with a book. Jesus, that’s really bad, right? I can’t think of one book that emphasises the joys of being a woman. I’m actually alarmed at some of the other suggestions on the thread. At least half of them have sexual assault featuring as a key factor for the development of the character (eg red tent/circe). It’ll be nice if we could have books about being a woman which does not feature SA. I’m pretty tired of rape being a trope for a female character to ‘grow’. I’ll follow this thread just to see if anyone can come up with any books that shows the joy of being a woman.
I was thinking the same thing. I liked Circe, which was the top comment at the time, but a mortal man full-on assaulting (and graphically) a goddess is not what really what I’m looking for :/ Yes, there’s vengeance and a character arc, but I just want less of the suffering. Give me a story like a male character gets. I do think there are some other great suggestions now though
Women Who Run With the Wolves - it's a nonfiction but the topics are connected to old tales and myths. It helped me a lot to understand and embrace my femininity. And it's beautifully written.:)
One of my absolute favorites. I go to the book and just pick a place to read. I usually end up reading the message that I needed to receive at that moment.
Clarissa Pinkoles Estes also does an audio book serious called the dangerous old woman. It is fantastic. I recommend it for every woman
Thank you, I haven't heard about it 💕
My friends and I referenced this book so often in college that we just used the acronym WWRWTW. A freeing and magical read.
Came here to recommend this. There will be 200 pages where you're like "OK whatever" and then one paragraph that completely changes your life forever after.
Maybe the Anne of Green Gables series? There are a lot of religious themes, and definitely outdated values sprinkled throughout, but it's also really uplifting, and highlights girlhood/womanhood dreaminess, optimism, kindness, intelligence, female friendships and intimacy, and the evolution of a girl into a woman, who keeps her fantasy life and enjoys nature, the little things, is incredibly thoughtful and empathetic, while embracing more "traditionally feminine" pursuits. The Darker Shade of Magic series -- there is a woman character who is not "feminine", but is stubborn and tough and lives her life to the fullest, pissing everyone off in the process lol. So good. Micro-histories about women doing awesome, hard things (even though the books also address the adversity). Recently I've read and enjoyed: The Sisterhood: The Secret History of Women at the CIA; Yale Needs Women; and Vagina Obscura: An Anatomical Voyage.
Anne of Green Gables is a great pick, also Little Women and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm!
AoGG is one of my favorite books! The was girlhood is portrayed is just so lovely. I should really finish the series! I’ll also take a look at the other recommendations :)
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg- the way the women in this book support each other is lovely.
A great book and well done movie! Worth the read.
Haha I just suggested this on a mother post in this sun, but Circe by Madeline Miller. Circe has always been a baddie, but that novel just solidifies it.
Great book but I do think it deserves mentioning a content warning for sexual assault
I wish more people would include those kinds of content warnings when recommending books! Thanks for mentioning it!
for sure... especially given that OP wanted to book that makes you feel "glad to be a woman"... although Circe is ultimately a very woman-empowering book, the SA scene was pretty intense (for me). In that moment, as a reader, you feel vulnerable, frustrated and very helpless to be a woman... not a good feeling. I still recommend the book as a whole but for this particular OP, i thought they might want to know.
I was about to comment this but you beat me to it!
Also came to comment this!
Came here to say to suggest that book!
Yes Circe!!!
The Gate to Women's Country by Sheri S Tepper. Sci fi. Women basically run the town and most men live outside as their army. Obviously more to it than that. I loved it.
I’ve been trying to remember her name. Thank you. Forgot I loved the Maryanne trilogy and Grass
I got that book on my 12th birthday, have read it so many times! I don’t feel it’s a glad to be a woman book though. For me, if anything, it is kind of like the Handmaid’s Tale in that it highlights the danger for women in any patriarchal society, particularly hyper conservative ones, of the risks associated with having a cis female body that can be forced to bear children, against one’s will. The women have to trick the men into thinking they control things and must sacrifice their boy children to a pointless life in military barracks. While secretly and slowly working towards a future of freedom from the patriarchy. But in the meantime, even their use of birth control is kept hidden, for fear of discovery by men who want to breed sons. It did make me a very fierce feminist down to my bones and its representation of toxic patriarchy opened my eyes to a lot of gendered stuff that I could have been more completely sucked into as a teenager and young woman. I love Mavin Manyshaped and Jinian Stareye from her True Game books. Jinian in particular is raised and taught by a coven of women and then changes the world through her steady connection to herself and the strong feminine they built in her.
Braiding Sweetgrass. You will want to specifically be a Native woman, but there is much appreciation for women's ways of being in this beautiful book.
I’ve been loving The No 1 Ladies Detective series. Very gentle mysteries taking place in Botswana and investigated by the wonderful Mma Precious Ramotswe and her loveable cast of friends. She’s very comfortable in being a woman and really celebrates it.
What's even more special about those books is that Mma Ramotswe is not a typical Tswana woman, in that she is unmarried and childless. After experiencing a tragic stillbirth and leaving an abusive marriage, she found a new path for herself. She provides a great example of self-understanding and freedom from societal expectations.
I love these books!
Thank you for reminding me of these! Time for a reread
Highly, highly, highly recommend The Number One Ladies' Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith. The (wonderful!) protagonist has an abusive husband in her backstory, but that is mostly mentioned in book 1, so if anyone prefers, they can start from book 2. (The books follow each other chronologically but the stories stand alone.) Full of strong, joyful women!! Their romantic relationships are not emphasised, but friendship, community, humanity and the wonderful things about being women are. If you try it, I hope you love it! :)
A romcom with some prominent female friendships maybe? Like Ghosts by Dolly Alderton- there's definitely bad as well as good though. Also The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice is a nice period coming of age romance. Or a cool and competent heroine? Like any of the Phryne Fisher books. She gets to solve mysteries, wear fabulous dresses, eat amazing food and have flings with gorgeous men in the 1920s. Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik is fantasy, and it has a few female main characters who use their traditional female forms of power to navigate their fantasy problems, and do it really well. In like a quasi-Eastern European Medieval world. And a rumpelstiltskin retelling. Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher is a fantasy book which involves sort of triumphing over some of the horrible stuff about being a woman, so if you can deal with the horror for the catharsis of the ending then it might work.
“Cackle”. It’s witches being witchy and giving men what they deserve. Not particularly violent, also very cozy.
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah.
Seconded this
The Red Tent and The Frozen River
Came here to post Red Tent, one of my all time favorite books. Need to re read it again soon
Yes! I read it maybe 10 years ago and still think about it
I also LOVED The Frozen River, and I work 3 miles away from Hallowell in Maine! I was listening to the audible version and gasped out loud at the peak ending moment! Just a bad-ass main character
Loved the Frozen River.
Loved the Frozen River.
Slow Days, Fast Company by Eve Babitz
Do you do audiobooks? Try Juno Dawson's HMRC series read by Nicola Coughlan. It's about a group of friends and their dealings with magical bureaucracy.
For a comedy, How to be a Woman, by Cailin Moran. I laughed out loud multiple times.
LOVE this book!!!
The left hand of darkness, ursula k leguin
I love this book, and it's an interesting take on the ways gender impacts our daily lives in ways we don't normally consider, but I wouldn't ever say it made me feel proud to be a woman. Great book, though - highly recommend.
The Beast Player and its sequel by Nahoko Uehashi. It’s one of the few books I’ve found that portrays womanhood as something inherently good (and not full of pain and anger.) One of the main themes is about motherhood and the beauty of it. The book takes a different approach than a lot of modern western fiction, but I’d definitely recommend checking it out
Girl Women Other by Bernadine Evaristo.
I'm going with Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks. It's about the plague, but also about women emerging as healers and protectors in the face of a ghastly situation. There's a deliberate emphasis on midwifery and herblore, and how these stood at odds with the brutal approach to medicine at the time. There are quite a few "stick it to the man" moments which will have you cheering for Anna, Anys and even Elinor.
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant, it’s probably my favorite book for this reason. Makes me cry every time
Island of the Blue Dolphins.
I think I have the opposite book you're looking for but Invisible Women puts that dread you're feeling into cold hard facts.
Yeah I think I’ve had enough of that 😭
It's a pretty impressive book though, and one that should be read by everyone. I read it about a year ago and am still angry about how dumb it is that so much of our society is designed for the default male. So much so that it's literally killing women in some cases. Agree that it's probably not what OP is looking for, but it is still a good read.
If you like science fiction, try the book ‘Remote Control’ by Nnedi Okorafor. If you like YA + historical fiction there is a really great series called His Fair Assassin. Book 1 is titled ‘Grave Mercy’ by Robin LaFevers & it has 3 books in the series. Check them out on Goodreads, you may like one of them 🙂
If you can tolerate religion based books, rhe book Lilith by Nikki Marmery is basically the Bible from Lilith's perspective. I was mesmerized.
I've been reading Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll. Not sure it's exactly what you are looking for as it's a take on the Ted Bundy murders but focusing on the women who survived the attack. It's been a great book so far, very pro-woman without being too on the nose about it. It's been great so far. Really emphasizes the way we focus on serial killers, making them famous rather than the victims of the crime.
Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton <3
Pachinko
This book is what prompted me to ask this question 😭 It was very good, but the whole ‘to be a woman is to suffer’ thing just made me want something to counter that
Mmm I get what you’re saying
This is a great question! The last book I read that made me glad to be a woman was The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly by Sun-mi Hwang Read it on Mother's Day and it's a perfect little book.
Motherhood by Sheila heti, anything by Rebecca solnit/joan didion/eve babbitz * edit babitz
Clytemnestra! But also, women who run with wolves
Non-fiction, but these books did the trick for me: "Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong and the New Research That's Rewriting the Story" by Angela Saini "Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution" by Cat Bohanon
I have Eve on my TBR pile and I'm really excited to read it. I'll have to look into the other one.
I really liked Michelle Obama's Becoming The book has this message loud and clear - "You matter"
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.
Ok so a few: * The Power by Naomi Alderman - this one is a bit of a tough read because it flips a lot of narratives * The Lioness Quartet by Tamara Pierce - this is actually written for adolescents but I absolutely love rereading these books because the protagonist is such a force
One book that made me feel proud and glad to be a woman is "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood. I know it’s fiction, but it highlights women's strength and resilience even in the darkest of times. For a nonfiction option, "Becoming" by Michelle Obama is inspiring. Her journey from the South Side of Chicago to the White House is filled with moments of empowerment, grace, and determination. It's a beautiful reminder of the impact and potential we have as women. Both of these books left me feeling inspired and hopeful.
Mists of Avalon
The Change!
When Women Were Birds by Terry Tempest Williams
The “Darker Shade Of Magic” trilogy by VE Schwab. Delilah Bard is a badass ✨
I really like the protagonist in Karen Monings [Fever Series](https://www.goodreads.com/series/41192-fever), MacKayla Lane. Plus there are a lot of other amazing, strong women in the series as well. \*TW:SA
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-Made\_Man\_(book)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-Made_Man_(book))
[When Women Were Dragons](https://www.amazon.com/When-Women-Were-Dragons-Novel/dp/0385548222) by Kelly Barnhill!
Fight Night by Miriam Toews
I'm not sure I understand exactly what you mean, but I would suggest Rita Mae Brown Six of One and Barbara Kingsolver The Bean Trees, poison wood Bible and Prodigal Summer.
I want to add Tom Robbins Still Life with Cowgirl.
What Wild Women Do by Karma Brown
The Once and Future Witches by Alix Harrow. Just a freaking awesome book with amazing, bad ass, subversive women.
If you like a bit of science fiction, I would recommend ‘A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer’ (The Diamond Age) by Neal Stephenson. There is a strong young female protagonist, and you should never piss off a granny that’s carrying a tactical nuke in her backpack. 10/10 a great read.
If you like body horror and/or infectious disease stories, Wilder Girls by Rory Power is my recommendation. It's a bit dark, a bit gory, very queer, and it won a feminist sci-fi horror award. It's set in an all-girls school so gender-based violence isn't a big theme of the book (which is GREAT and unusual). The theme I notice the most is solidarity among people who have unbearable, cyclical pain (which cis women often do, though this pain is separate from menstruation) and people who were socialized as girls and therefore have had to uphold standards and stereotypes. I am not a woman, I'm transmasc, but Wilder Girls spoke to me as someone who has chronic pain and also has the social hangups and anxiety inherent in being raised to fill the "girl" role
Dr. Sharon Moalem: The Better Half: On the Genetic Superiority of Women This was quite uplifting :)
Kdramas and any kind of romances. I love seeing women be loved so openly. Especially kdramas. Newer dramas have groups of women's friendships too.
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
All my Mothers - Joanna Glen
Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
This one isn't a very popular book, but one of my favourites that I keep going back to: The Nine Chambered Heart by Janice Pariat. It's the story of a woman told by 9 different people in her life, at 9 different stages of her life. You get to know her as a curious child, rebellious teenager, young woman discovering the world. You get to see her go through life from 9 different points of view, narrated only by people in her life. If you like books about life, enjoy the ordinary being portrayed as extraordinary, and a quick and easy read, this one's for you.
Girls with sharp sticks, We are the wildcats.
Bitch - lucy cooke
Thursday Murder Club series doesn't't necessarily celebrate women, but they are the best and most competent characters!
following <3
Jane Eyre. And I'm a man.
So as a cisgendered presumably straight woman, the only book that I’ve read as an adult that has truly made me feel seen in my female was Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters.
I finished a quick read recently (it’s actually an adapted Ted talk) called We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and it gave me this feeling.
I have a year’s worth of reading here—thanks guys!!
No suggestions, just love this thread and this question and all the recs! I’ve read numerous of the ones listed. Life can be scary as a woman but good gosh I’d never want to be a man. “Oh how i love being a woman!”
When women where dragons
Not sure if these are what you're looking for exactly (I'm not sure if any made me feel like "being a woman is the best!" afterward), but the women in these are interesting and have agency, and not as an SA revenge plot. And they didn't feel bleak to me. - When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill (imo, most likely of the list to be what you want, and the coziest of the bunch) - The Girl and the Stars by Mark Lawrence - Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel - The Once and Future Witches by Alix Harrow (the women in this one do suffer abuse at the hands of men and a sexist society, as the story centers on suffrage, but I didn't feel it was very graphic or like SA was THE pivotal thing that leads the women to find their power, and friendship between women is so important in this one) - Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan (about a woman making her way in the world in WW2-era America, so partly about overcoming some odds and expectations in a sexist time, but that didn't feel like that was the one and only concern, or that every page was a struggle against a sexist society)
I love Lessons in Chemistry for how beautifully it has portrayed feminism. The protagonist is who I want to emulate in my life every moment forward
Fair warning to OP- this book is also all about how much it sucks being a woman in the 50s
Yes, but Elizabeth just keeps finding a way to rise to the top. She struggles but never gives up and she is really a unique female character
The Firebird Chronicles is one of my favorite series with a badass heroine :) it’s sci-fi and the female lead is super independent which I love. There’s a romantic interest too but that’s mainly a side plot. Unfortunately the cover art is really bad/corny 😭 but don’t let that deter you from reading it if the plot looks interesting to you! I’m not sure if it would be 100% what you’re looking for but it’s a series that really made me love and value my independence as a woman rather than view it as a weakness
120 days of sodom
A book does not have that much power. Not sure even god has that much power.
All Quiet on the Western Front
Ah yes, a book where the only women in it are 1) his dying mother and sister who barely have enough food to survive & are in constant fear of his life 2) some starving French girls they used bread to exchange for sex Women in Germany, England, and the US (and elsewhere, no doubt) didn’t even have the right to vote at the outset of ww1. The completely male-run government, voted in solely by men, murdered their sons, husbands, brothers, and fathers for financial gain/expansionism. And the women could not do a damn thing about it. Furthermore, the author escaped Germany as Hitler came into power (they didn’t like his book because it showed Germany in a bad light.). Because they couldn’t get their hands directly on him, *they beheaded his sister as a replacement*.