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Books every young woman should read

Is there a list you carry in your head of books every young woman (or older woman) should at least try to read? I can think of a few books I'd want my daughter to at least know about, even if she wasn't inclined to read them...I'm thinking stories that inspire or revolt, those that tell you something about growing or show you how not to grow.

 

In no particular order, this would be the first ten on my pester list:

  1. Madame Bovary
  2. Jane Eyre
  3. House of Mirth
  4. Persuasion
  5. The Outsider (not woman specific but, well... it's The Outsider)
  6. Hedda Gabler (I know it's not a novel but it's a story...)
  7. Rebecca
  8. Sense and Sensibility
  9. Wuthering Heights

10.  Turn of the Screw

I'm sort of thinking about this because I'm going to be working with some teenagers for World Book Day in March. I just realised I never thought of a coming-of-age list for women specifically. I'd love to hear what everyone thinks of either my list or any better suggestions you have.

 

I've never read any Simone de Beauvoir but I've heard lots of recommendations... Any views?

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Permalink Reply by Sabia Fawn on February 8, 2011 at 10:03am

I have only read Jane Eyre and Turn of the Screw on this list so far. I loved Jane Eyre and am going to read the prequel Wide Sargasso Sea by Jane Rhyse. It tells the tale of the mad woman Bertha in the attic before she went crazy. I AM EXCITED!

 

Permalink Reply by Kirsten on February 8, 2011 at 1:25pm

There's an interesting academic article that compares Jane and Bertha as two sides of the same coin in 'Madwoman in the Attic', really alters the way you read Jane Eyre.

 

If you like nineteenth century novels Madame Bovary is really worth getting hold of, I loved it!

Permalink Reply by Deborah Munson-Cardenas on February 10, 2011 at 8:35am

I'm not sure what age range of teen your talking about.  Each generation seems to grow up faster than the generation before, however, there are some book series that are near and dear to my heart that I read as a child into my teens and still read occasionally.

 

This can be an on-going discussion because I have more to post, there are so many!

 

  • The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett: When an orphaned girl finds the key to an old abandoned garden, she turns it into a private paradise, healing not only herself, but her newfound family as well.

 

  • Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell: Readers will be inspired by the strong-will and survival skills of the young Karana, a girl living alone on an island.

 

  • Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White: While this might be a children’s book, the lesson it has to teach about life, love and loss are worth reading about at any age.

 

  • Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder: Based on her own childhood memories, these children’s novels will draw young women into what life was like for farming families in the late 19th century.

 

  • Narnia Series by C.S. Lewis:  is a series of seven fantasy novels for children written by C. S. Lewis. It is considered a classic of children's literature and is the author's best-known work, having sold over 100 million copies in 47 languages. Written by Lewis between 1949 and 1954, illustrated by Pauline Baynes and published in London between October 1950 and March 1956.

 

  • Little Women by Louisa May Alcott: Explore the relationships of sisters Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy as they grow up, fall in love and deal with tragedy while their father is away at war in this classic novel.
Permalink Reply by Kirsten on February 12, 2011 at 5:02am

I'm not sure of the age range either yet. I suspect it's on the 16+ side.

I think I read Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights at around 15 or 16. I didn't come to Hedda Gabler and Madame Bovary until I was in my twenties but they're both so profoundly teenagerish in their character that I could imagine they could be read on at least one level during the teenager years. Ditto Marianne in Sense and Sensibility and Rebecca is so focussed on a heroine with no self identity being continually compared to a more beautiful, charismatic woman that I can't think of a better premise for a story for teenage girls!

 

I love Secret Garden and Little Women. I haven't head of Little House in the Big Woods, so I'll definitely check that out.

Permalink Reply by Deborah Munson-Cardenas on February 20, 2011 at 2:24pm
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan comes to mind because of the recent blog and video that Scott Brenner posted. 
Permalink Reply by Topher White on February 10, 2011 at 3:29pm
Ethan Frome - a wonderful cautionary tale.
Permalink Reply by Kirsten on February 10, 2011 at 4:00pm
Come come MDD, we can't all keep you in royalties...
Permalink Reply by Deborah Munson-Cardenas on February 10, 2011 at 9:49pm
You go girl - put MDD in his place...
Permalink Reply by Kirsten on February 11, 2011 at 5:29pm

All in good spirits!

Permalink Reply by Kirsten on February 12, 2011 at 1:54pm

I've a sneaking suspicion a lot of men feel the way you do. Of course a lot of women have similar hopes for marriage too. It seems modern life gets the art of marriage all muddled.

 

Is Doesn't Anyone Blush Anymore? really a book? It sounds like a punchline.

Permalink Reply by Rebekah on February 15, 2011 at 3:38pm
Michael, that's at least the second time you've posted the "If more Women..." line on here. Why "more Women" instead of just "If I found A womAn"? Granted, if society supports that attitude, it makes it easier to find such a woman, and easier for such a relationship to thrive, but isn't there truth to the cliche, "It just takes one," or do you think you can't sustain a relationship, even with a woman with an excellent attitude, without general societal support?
Permalink Reply by Rebekah on February 11, 2011 at 2:01pm

I don't really have an argument, but I think only after the age of 18 do women need to read different books than boys. That is, I don't advocate different reading lists for teen boys v. teen girls. So I'd start a list for teen girls with Gus's dad's list for boys and men, because it has most of the usual contemporary classics for adolescents. Maybe it needs some of these, IMO. (Outside of school, kids can read whatever age-appropriate literature they want. I'm just saying if I were in charge of adolescents' education, I wouldn't assign different books to boys than girls.)

After 18 and outside of school, I'm still uncomfortable with "should" and "must." Required reading for all adults is the instruction books and forms for income taxes, a daily newspaper or equivalent (though you don't have to read it daily), and the Bible. Then people "should" read what they like and what will make them happier and their lives better. Will the reading lists of men and women broadly be different? Likely. Will they necessarily be different? No. My boyfriend is reading 2 novels these days. If I weren't buried in reading for work, I'd be reading Caesar's Gallic Wars in Latin and a Greek philosopher that my boyfriend is also studying.

I just posted a blog on AoM about how a church I've visited several times is doing a men's study of the great theologian and bioethicist (before the term was coined) Francis Schaeffer, while the women's study is doing a woman author I've never heard of. If I were a member of the church, which is 3,000 miles away, I'd probably abstain from the women's study and be sad I can't study Schaeffer with like-minded people.

All that said, I applaud the suggestions here for their general intellectual rigor. This is in contrast to other lists, on supposedly the same theme, I've read that mix Austen with skin care books and the latest self-help nonsense.

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