6 Women’s Fiction Favorites to Read
I read from a variety of genres. For one you pick I’ll probably have some favorites to share. Wait, okay, not horror, and I probably don’t have a huge library of hard sci fi, thrillers, or mystery. Well, thinking about it more, I mainly read fantasy and paranormal, romance, and women’s fiction. That is, unless it’s something like The Martian. I had to read that novel because, one, it was an awesome movie. And second, he is a self-published author launched to the big league. Plus, my husband and tons of people said it was a good book. I agree, but to me honest, there were lots of technical parts I skimmed.
But, I got off track. I read a variety of women’s fiction books and I’ve picked the top five from my most recent reads. Wait, I have a bonus book at the end, so we’ll make that six.
The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd
“I am Ana. I was the wife of Jesus.” So begins the new novel from the number one New York Times bestselling author of The Secret Life of Bees and The Invention of Wings, an extraordinary story set in the first century about a woman who finds her voice and her destiny in a time of great despair and great hope.
I loved this book. I felt joy with Ana’s victories and despair with her losses. Plus, I love a good historical fiction, twist on history, novel. It reminded of The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. The Book of Longings became controversial and many didn’t appreciate the take on Jesus’ life Sue Monk Kidd took. But my take is, this is fiction. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who likes a good tug at your heartstrings read.
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet fishing village. Kya Clark is barefoot and wild; unfit for polite society. So in late 1969, when the popular Chase Andrews is found dead, locals immediately suspect her.
But Kya is not what they say. A born naturalist with just one day of school, she takes life’s lessons from the land, learning the real ways of the world from the dishonest signals of fireflies. But while she has the skills to live in solitude forever, the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. Drawn to two young men from town, who are each intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new and startling world–until the unthinkable happens.
Again, this book features a strong female lead. A girl, turned woman, raises herself in the swamp, knowing little of the outside world. What she does know though is justice. The author skirts around the ending, but it seems clear, Kya found hers.
The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See
Lisa See is one of my favorite authors and this book didn’t disappoint. I love the way she weaves interesting stories of culture and people into personal dramas.
…about female friendship and family secrets on a small Korean island.
Mi-ja and Young-sook, two girls living on the Korean island of Jeju, are best friends that come from very different backgrounds. When they are old enough, they begin working in the sea with their village’s all-female diving collective, led by Young-sook’s mother. As the girls take up their positions as baby divers, they know they are beginning a life of excitement and responsibility but also danger.
Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
Again, another favorite about human resilience, not such much in the main character, or maybe in only a twisted way, but I found it in her daughter and husband.
When her daughter Bee claims a family trip to Antarctica as a reward for perfect grades, Bernadette, a fiercely intelligent shut-in, throws herself into preparations for the trip. But worn down by years of trying to live the Seattle life she never wanted, Ms. Fox is on the brink of a meltdown. And after a school fundraiser goes disastrously awry at her hands, she disappears, leaving her family to pick up the pieces–which is exactly what Bee does, weaving together an elaborate web of emails, invoices, and school memos that reveals a secret past Bernadette has been hiding for decades. Where’d You Go Bernadette is an ingenious and unabashedly entertaining novel about a family coming to terms with who they are and the power of a daughter’s love for her mother.
Seeking Clemency by Joy Martin
An empty house. A secret room. The key to a tragic Irish past.
Married and living comfortably in Berkshire, Caroline Tremain has succeeded in turning her strange Irish childhood into a series of dinner anecdotes with which to amuse her friends.
But when she receives a phone call from Marie-Rose Keane, her grandmother’s former maid, to say that her aunt Constance Conroy has died, painful memories of her childhood come hurtling back…
I loved the description of the Irish countryside, villages, and people Caroline surrounds herself with in this book. Further, the story weaves in mystery and healing in an almost magical way.
Recipe for Redemption by T.J. Kelly, Tia Silverthorne Bach, Jo Michaels, Kelly Risser
This book is written by three of my favorite authors. I love each of their story voices and together they fill this book with humor and heart.
Three sisters, one business, too many betrayals to count.
When Amanda Durand gets the dreaded phone call from her eldest sister, Izzy, Mandy packs her things, gives up her apartment, and prepares herself for the onslaught of pain she knows is coming in Iowa. Her relationship with her two sisters has always teetered on the edge of a knife, with her in the middle, a breath away from finding balance or breaking. And her relationship with cookies–the family business–is one of love and hate.
If you love love stories with heart, about growing up, and finding your path, then you’ll love my Being Me and Perfect series books!
Happy reading!
Tricia
Tricia Copeland is a multi-genre author writing stories in the clean new adult genres, as well as young adult fantasy and dystopian worlds. She believes in finding magic. Whether in nature, technology, music, art, or people, she believes each of us create and see our own brand of magic. Sign up for her newsletter to receive two free short story downloads, one YA fantasy and one clean college romance.
