100 Female Writers to Read | Part Two

by Ellie Pilcher
100 Female Writers to Read

100 Female Writers to Read | Part Two

A couple of years ago I took a list created by Jean at BookishThoughts, of 100 female writers. I’m making my way through that list, but I thought in addition to her suggestions I would create an additional list of 100 female writers to read.

The below list is a mix of female writers who were alive across the last five centuries, some of whom I’ve read but most I’ve not.

100 Female Writers 

  1. Alice Oseman ✔
  2. Amy Tan
  3. Anaïs Nin
  4. Andrea Levy
  5. Angie Thomas
  6. Anita Brookner
  7. Ann Patchett
  8. Anne Frank
  9. Anne Rice
  10. Anne Tyler ✔
  11. Annie Proulx ✔
  12. Aphra Behn
  13. Astrid Lindgren
  14. Ayn Rand
  15. Barbara Kingsolver ✔
  16. Barbara Pym
  17. bell hooks
  18. Bernardine Evaristo ✔
  19. Beth O’Leary ✔
  20. Brit Bennett ✔
  21. Caitlin Moran
  22. Candice Carty-Williams ✔
  23. Christy Lefteri ✔
  24. Collette
  25. Colleen Hoover
  26. Curtis Sittenfeld
  27. Deborah Levy
  28. Diana Gabaldon ✔
  29. Dodie Smith
  30. Doris Lessing
  31. Dorothy Parker
  32. Elaine Dundy
  33. Elif Shafak
  34. Elizabeth Gilbert
  35. Elizabeth Taylor
  36. Elizabeth Von Armin ✔
  37. Emily St John Mandel ✔
  38. Eudora Welty
  39. Fannie Flagg ✔
  40. Francoise Sagan ✔
  41. Gail Carson Levine ✔
  42. Georgette Heyer
  43. Geraldine Brooks ✔
  44. Glennon Doyle ✔
  45. Han Kang
  46. Hanya Yanagihara ✔
  47. Harriet Beecher Stowe
  48. Iris Murdoch
  49. Jennifer Saint ✔
  50. Jilly Cooper ✔
  51. Joan Aiken
  52. Jodi Picoult ✔
  53. Jojo Moyes
  54. Joyce Carol Oates
  55. Judy Blume
  56. Julia Quinn ✔
  57. Juno Dawson ✔
  58. Kate Chopin
  59. Kiley Reid ✔
  60. Kit De Waal
  61. Laurie Halse Anderson
  62. Linda Grant
  63. Lorrie Moore ✔
  64. Lynne Reid Banks
  65. Madame de Lafayette
  66. Madeline Miller ✔
  67. Maggie O’Farrell ✔
  68. Margaret Mitchell ✔
  69. Marian Keyes
  70. Mary Elizabeth Braddon
  71. Mary Gaitskills
  72. Mary Renault
  73. Monica Ali
  74. Nancy Mitford
  75. Naomi Alderman ✔
  76. Nella Larsen
  77. Nina Stibbe
  78. Noel Stretfeild ✔
  79. Olivia Laing ✔
  80. P.L. Travers ✔
  81. Patricia Highsmith
  82. Penelope Lively
  83. Rachel Cusk
  84. Radclyffe Hall
  85. Rebecca Makkai ✔
  86. Rebecca West
  87. Roxanne Gay ✔
  88. Rumer Godden
  89. S.E. Hinton ✔
  90. Sarah Moss
  91. Sophie Kinsella ✔
  92. Stacey Halls ✔
  93. Stepanie Danler ✔
  94. Sue Monk Kidd ✔
  95. Sue Townsend ✔
  96. Taylor Jenkins Reid ✔
  97. Tracy Chevalier
  98. Val McDermid
  99. Winifred Watson
  100. Zoe Heller

As of May 2023, I’ve read 38 of these authors. But how many of these female writers have you read? Let me know in the comments below.

Love Ellie x

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100 Female Writers to Read

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