Best Woman-Authored Books

Best books by a female author.
1

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4.26 avg rating — 6,408,732 ratings
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2

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4.29 avg rating — 4,426,385 ratings
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3

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4.15 avg rating — 2,172,802 ratings
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4

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4.19 avg rating — 3,896,099 ratings
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5

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4.14 avg rating — 2,162,492 ratings
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6

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3.88 avg rating — 1,686,947 ratings
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7

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4.16 avg rating — 2,312,802 ratings
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8

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3.89 avg rating — 1,889,383 ratings
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9

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4.34 avg rating — 9,079,971 ratings
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10

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4.46 avg rating — 2,865,567 ratings
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11

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4.28 avg rating — 1,452,354 ratings
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12

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4.31 avg rating — 1,238,384 ratings
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13

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4.16 avg rating — 1,218,747 ratings
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14

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4.06 avg rating — 1,056,790 ratings
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15

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4.27 avg rating — 713,290 ratings
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16

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4.12 avg rating — 2,603,071 ratings
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17

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4.09 avg rating — 1,232,421 ratings
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18

by
4.15 avg rating — 727,481 ratings
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19

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4.13 avg rating — 1,432,767 ratings
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20

by
4.32 avg rating — 1,028,664 ratings
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21

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4.25 avg rating — 663,178 ratings
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22

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4.30 avg rating — 482,269 ratings
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23

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3.98 avg rating — 1,232,798 ratings
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24

by
4.05 avg rating — 917,769 ratings
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25

by
4.30 avg rating — 548,941 ratings
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26

by
4.21 avg rating — 226,175 ratings
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27

by
4.21 avg rating — 295,261 ratings
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28

by
3.79 avg rating — 322,967 ratings
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29

by
4.14 avg rating — 4,134,580 ratings
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30

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,816,869 ratings
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31

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 286,690 ratings
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32

by
4.20 avg rating — 663,288 ratings
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33

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3.99 avg rating — 361,632 ratings
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34

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3.96 avg rating — 455,834 ratings
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35

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4.26 avg rating — 1,096,789 ratings
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36

by
4.28 avg rating — 314,586 ratings
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37

by
3.97 avg rating — 693,373 ratings
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38

by
4.14 avg rating — 3,226,992 ratings
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39

by
4.09 avg rating — 1,316,539 ratings
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40

by
4.01 avg rating — 1,025,919 ratings
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41

by
4.10 avg rating — 762,304 ratings
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42

by
3.86 avg rating — 2,400,721 ratings
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43

by
4.21 avg rating — 275,924 ratings
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44

by
3.68 avg rating — 215,771 ratings
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45

by
4.28 avg rating — 286,300 ratings
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46

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4.22 avg rating — 251,379 ratings
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46

by
4.22 avg rating — 313,579 ratings
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48

by
4.28 avg rating — 101,623 ratings
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49

by
4.11 avg rating — 1,650,674 ratings
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50

by
4.13 avg rating — 209,249 ratings
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51

by
3.80 avg rating — 194,979 ratings
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52

by
4.31 avg rating — 263,710 ratings
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53

by
4.08 avg rating — 311,767 ratings
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54

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4.01 avg rating — 136,425 ratings
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55

by
3.85 avg rating — 419,205 ratings
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56

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4.29 avg rating — 392,986 ratings
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57

by
4.20 avg rating — 611,840 ratings
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58

by
4.10 avg rating — 1,243,573 ratings
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59

by
3.99 avg rating — 113,734 ratings
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60

by
4.02 avg rating — 169,020 ratings
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61

by
3.94 avg rating — 246,624 ratings
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62

by
4.32 avg rating — 1,270,546 ratings
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63

by
4.19 avg rating — 774,450 ratings
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64

by
4.01 avg rating — 254,020 ratings
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65

by
4.25 avg rating — 133,877 ratings
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66

by
4.12 avg rating — 269,357 ratings
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67

by
4.02 avg rating — 614,274 ratings
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68

by
4.01 avg rating — 275,166 ratings
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69

by
4.10 avg rating — 273,426 ratings
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70

by
4.31 avg rating — 382,107 ratings
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71

by
4.03 avg rating — 204,482 ratings
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72

by
4.03 avg rating — 80,391 ratings
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73

by
3.96 avg rating — 308,217 ratings
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74

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3.91 avg rating — 218,806 ratings
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75

by
3.96 avg rating — 127,834 ratings
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76

by
3.97 avg rating — 182,140 ratings
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77

by
3.80 avg rating — 270,303 ratings
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78

by
4.17 avg rating — 43,824 ratings
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79

by
3.89 avg rating — 81,696 ratings
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80

by
3.86 avg rating — 243,179 ratings
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81

by
4.10 avg rating — 196,119 ratings
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82

by
3.91 avg rating — 232,987 ratings
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83

by
4.14 avg rating — 118,439 ratings
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84

by
4.17 avg rating — 47,267 ratings
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85

by
3.83 avg rating — 141,604 ratings
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86

by
4.04 avg rating — 50,778 ratings
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87

by
4.08 avg rating — 816,715 ratings
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88

by
4.15 avg rating — 174,951 ratings
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89

by
3.94 avg rating — 257,570 ratings
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90

by
3.99 avg rating — 108,608 ratings
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91

by
3.97 avg rating — 100,871 ratings
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92

by
3.87 avg rating — 101,233 ratings
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93

by
3.96 avg rating — 158,800 ratings
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94

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3.95 avg rating — 103,206 ratings
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95

by
4.07 avg rating — 137,873 ratings
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96

by
3.88 avg rating — 148,461 ratings
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97

by
3.66 avg rating — 6,848,728 ratings
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98

by
3.69 avg rating — 396,862 ratings
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99

by
3.68 avg rating — 89,514 ratings
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100

by
3.94 avg rating — 9,985 ratings
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959 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Y. L 1459 books
96 friends
Sarah 624 books
63 friends
Susanna - Censored by GoodReads 3378 books
860 friends
Jyanx 5149 books
166 friends
ღ Carol jinx~☆~☔ʚϊɞ 4016 books
461 friends
Rain 2971 books
7 friends
Savvy 1476 books
114 friends
Dustin 9336 books
1391 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-50 of 65 (65 new)


message 1: by Bob (new)

Bob Curious, Gone with the Wind is not on the list.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads You could add it; it's easy to add books to lists. At the top of the list, at the tab next to "all votes."


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads You add books to lists at the top of the list, at the tab next to "all votes," not down in the comments section.


message 5: by Meredith (new)

Meredith Gould E.B. White is not a woman.


message 6: by Susanna - Censored by GoodReads (last edited Mar 11, 2013 10:22PM) (new)

Susanna - Censored by GoodReads ::sigh::

Where is it? I'll remove the E.B. White if I can find it.

ETA: Found Charlotte's Web, will remove it.


message 7: by Susanna - Censored by GoodReads (last edited Mar 11, 2013 10:25PM) (new)

Susanna - Censored by GoodReads 13 more voters than people who rated; that's impressive.

Also not very convincing.

ETA: Whoa, 6 ratings, 35 votes!


message 8: by Pat (last edited Mar 14, 2013 04:03PM) (new)

Pat I think all books that have more votes than ratings should be disqualified. These lists really aren't much fun when authors take unfair advantage of the voting system to plug their books.


message 9: by Schell (new)

Schell Susanna wrote: "You could add it; it's easy to add books to lists. At the top of the list, at the tab next to "all votes.""

Wow, I need to read that...


message 10: by Yakub (new)

Yakub Medici >Women were once forbidden to read and write

Not exactly.... This was never true in the vast majority of societies.


message 11: by Melanie (new)

Melanie Page I added some great literary fiction by important women who are alive and writing today. I feel good about this :)


message 12: by Lucinda (new)

Lucinda This is quite frustrating to find that Lois Lowry features high in the list (while her style is actually quite poor) as compared to Isabel Allende and when you see that there is no book by Zelda Fitzgerald! Save me the Waltz is a must-read, guys!


message 13: by Lucinda (new)

Lucinda (just added it :) )


message 14: by Rachel (new)

Rachel Is there a way to search for a book on the list? Where is The Flamethrowers?


message 15: by Luke (new)

Luke Librarians regularly check for duplicates on this list, Rachel, so if you can't find a book you want to vote for, just add it and it will be combined with its other votes in short order.


message 16: by Rachel (new)

Rachel ok thanks!


message 17: by Sharmon (new)

Sharmon I wish there was a way to search a list because I don't want to make duplicates but it is hard to sort through 20 pages to vote.


message 18: by Luke (new)

Luke I can guarantee that the duplicates won't last long, Sharmon. You could also try looking at which of the lists the most popular edition of the book you wish to add is on. If the book shows up at a certain position on this list, you can click on the link and it'll take you to the page the book is on.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads I'd just add it; I reflexively combine duplicates pretty much every time I visit a list, and I don't think I'm the only librarian with that habit.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads No idea who gave this list that tag, so I don't know.


message 21: by Claire (new)

Claire Does this list include women who wrote under a pseudonym? A lot of women wrote under males names in certain time periods or if it suited more (e.g George Elliot, lot of female sci-fi/fantasy writers, etc.). Just don't want to miss some of the greats, or finally give women their due.


~☆~Autumn NOT RECEIVING NOTIFICATIONS) Lauren wrote: "Does this list include women who wrote under a pseudonym? A lot of women wrote under males names in certain time periods or if it suited more (e.g George Elliot, lot of female sci-fi/fantasy write..."

Just slowly scroll down the list which is about 30 pages and you will see them.


message 23: by Louise Sparrow (new)

Louise Sparrow The Wizard's First Rule (currently 992), while a great book, was written by a man.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Couldn't find that one - another librarian may have gotten it.

Did remove:

Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet by Michael Rosen


message 25: by Karen (new)

Karen #953 Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Ransom Riggs looks for all the world like a man to me in his profile here on Goodreads.


message 26: by Sandra (new)

Sandra Removed some books written by men...funny how those sneak in there...


message 27: by Karen (last edited Jul 23, 2016 02:31PM) (new)

Karen #11 & #573 - The Help. Just FYI. Great list and well maintained!

And Miss Peregrine is back at 1018!


message 28: by Lumturi (new)

Lumturi Meredith wrote: "E.B. White is not a woman."

I scroll past this and crack up. LOL


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads You add books at the top of the list, at the tab next to "all votes."


message 30: by Judith (new)

Judith Wermuth-Atkinson Susanna - Censored by GoodReads wrote: "You add books at the top of the list, at the tab next to "all votes.""

Thank you, Susanna. I apologize for doing it the wrong way. I will try to correct this tomorrow.


message 31: by Donna (new)

Donna Davis Oh hot damn, it worked. 3 duplicates were discovered and removed by the system.


message 32: by Luke (new)

Luke Donna wrote: "Oh hot damn, it worked. 3 duplicates were discovered and removed by the system."

Oh good, I was wondering about that. Thanks Donna.


message 33: by Greg (new)

Greg Twilight is better than Fountainhead? Well, okay. But Hunger Games is BEST BOOK EVER in the history of the world according to goodreads BEST EVER, so why isn't it #1 here?


message 34: by Greg (new)

Greg Oh, and Go Set a Watchman (#225, and possibly the worst book ever written) is better than Goldfinch, which won a Pulitzer? Sometimes I just don't get it.


message 35: by Greg (new)

Greg Mockingjay at 352 makes sense, but in what world is it better than Dame Agatha Christie's brilliant "Murder of Roger Akroyd"?


message 36: by Greg (last edited Dec 08, 2017 12:58PM) (new)

Greg Tale of Genji, over 1000 years old, is at 873. Okay, I sorta get it, anything over 250 pages is no good. Good to know. Still, Tale of Genji now has Three, count em, 3 WHOLE VOTES as I voted for it.


message 37: by Greg (new)

Greg The Nightengale has a rating of 4.54 but is #955. This is good for a laugh, certainly.


message 38: by Greg (new)

Greg There are 4,990 books by female writers better than Woolf's "The Waves"!!!!!


message 39: by Luke (new)

Luke Greg wrote: "There are 4,990 books by female writers better than Woolf's "The Waves"!!!!!"

If you're going to rant rather than contribute to the discussion regarding efforts to maintain this list, at least confine yourself to a single comment box rather than mewling and puking everywhere.


message 40: by Donna (new)

Donna Davis Aubrey wrote: "Greg wrote: "There are 4,990 books by female writers better than Woolf's "The Waves"!!!!!"

If you're going to rant rather than contribute to the discussion regarding efforts to maintain this list,..."


Amen.


message 41: by Elyse✨ (last edited Dec 10, 2017 05:14AM) (new)

Elyse✨ Argh. I am a librarian and I'm having a hard time resisting the urge to delete the Harry Potter book set. The single titles are listed farther down in the list so basically they are being voted on twice. I even voted for one of the single volumes so it's not that I don't like J.K. Rawling's books. But jeeze, this Harry Potter thing is a bit much. The creator of the list did not instruct "no book sets". And I don't want to get banned. Maybe as the Harry Potter readers get older and wiser they'll see the error of their ways and come back to this list and remove their votes for the book set. One can only hope.


message 42: by Luke (new)

Luke I agree, we could have far more women of color in the top 100 than we currently do.


message 43: by Lucinda (new)

Lucinda Oh my God, Twilight in the list? Come on!


message 44: by Lucinda (new)

Lucinda Elyse wrote: "Aubrey wrote: "I agree, we could have far more women of color in the top 100 than we currently do."

Thanks for reminding me. I finished Mama Day by Gloria Naylor last month, gave it 5 stars, and j..."


It's also incredibly English speaking centred I thought...


message 45: by Dr (new)

Dr Mrin Silver Linings True stories of resilience from a General Practice By Dr Mrin Nayagam.


message 46: by Donna (new)

Donna Davis Dr wrote: "Silver Linings True stories of resilience from a General Practice By Dr Mrin Nayagam."
Nobody will add this title for you. If you want to add it, go to the top of the list. On the right hand side, above the list, is a tab that you click on to add books. Then put the title in the little bar that appears and click the button that will be offered that says Vote for this book (or something similar). Cluttering up the technical discussion queue is not only a complete fail in terms of getting your book on the list, but it summons volunteer librarians like me, who think the list needs editing. We come along to help and discover it's just someone either spamming the list with their own book (bad author behavior), or else someone that hasn't checked the directions. I'm going back to bed now. Goodbye.


message 47: by Caitlin (new)

Caitlin Ryan John Green is also on here, who is not a women.


message 48: by Donna (new)

Donna Davis Caitlin wrote: "John Green is also on here, who is not a women."
Where? Give me a page number and a book title and I'll take care of it, but I don't want to sift through 53 pages.


message 49: by Donna (new)

Donna Davis Holy Toledo! The system found and removed 22 duplicates.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Wow, that's a lot.


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