Books of a Feather: Women Authors to Love

Happy International Women's Day!

To celebrate I've been glancing through some of my favorite books written by women. There are so many that it would be impossible to make an exhaustive list. Especially since there are so many that will be favorites (I'm positive) once I get a chance to read them! But there are quite a few I can share to give you a jumping off point if you need some more female power in your life.

To start, check out my recent reviews of Chloe Benjamin, Margaret Atwood, Rachel Lyon, and Jesmyn Ward. These women all have strong plot driven novels that will keep you enthralled to the last page.

If you love a little romance mixed with a splash of sci-fi you will be in luck with Audrey Niffenegger's bestseller novel The Time Traveler's Wife. This novel is so popular with my husband and I that we featured it in our wedding with a quote on our bookmark favors. "Right now we are here, and nothing can mar our perfection, or steal the joy of this perfect moment.” There is also a movie based on the novel featuring Rachel McAdams, a favorite actress of mine, and it is one of the best adaptations I've ever seen from a book I love.

The dystopian Hunger Games triology by Suzanne Collins remains a favorite of mine as well. Her novels, in my opinion, set the bar for this genre. And the movies based on the series were top notch as well. Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mocking Jay Part I & II vividly brought the pages of the novel to life and, better yet, explored parts of the story readers did not get access to originally. The imagery was amazing and the books and novels worked well together.

For the nerdy among us, Felicia Day's You're Never Weird on the Internet is a must read. As the queen of geeks around the world it an important memoir for outsiders everywhere. She is a fantastic comedian and another of my favorite actresses. And if you are into mom humor currently you should follow her on twitter because her and mommy-hood make for some funny pictures.

If you have more of a historical fiction leaning you would find Philippa Gregory a great author to check out. She centers much of her work on British monarchy circa King Henry the VIII and before. She is probably most well know for the novel she wrote which became a movie, The Other Boleyn Girl, which is how I came to read her books in the first place. My favorite series of hers is the Cousins' War, which centers on the history of the War of the Roses. The White Queen, one of the best books in the collection, was made into a mini-series on Starz. Content warning for those sensitive to risque material, but worth a watch if you enjoy the source material.

Speaking of history fans, if you have not already read Hidden Figures you need to jump on that bandwagon. This is a rare occasion where I would recommend you check out the movie first as I found it interesting to see the interpretation of the story play out on screen and then be able to compare that to a more accurate representation in the book. I've discussed the book with friends who have yet to see the movie who struggled more in reading the content than I did after seeing the film first. The movie helps to put it all into context, albeit a dramatized version, that gives better reference for scenes which play out on the page.

Again, there are so many excellent female writers out there that it would be impossible to list them all, but here are a few others you may want to check out:

Carol Rifka Brunt - Tell the Wolves I'm Home