Recs if you like Lolly Willowes...
Badge Gremlins
Shorter books (under 200 pages) that are part of at least one quest. Many are also in the public domain, making them easily accessible when you want to grind for that next badge.
Feral and Hysterical: Works by Women
List of recommendations included in Sadie Hartmann's Feral and Hysterical: Mother Horror’s Ultimate Reading Guide to Dark and Disturbing Fiction by Women.
Pairs with 50 States, 50 Books by Women list.
Older Women in SFF
Science fiction and fantasy books with female protagonists who are NOT teenage girls!
Less-Recommended Female-Written Fantasy
less of the usual culprits if you please!
Witches, Weirdos & Other Women of Taste
A little feral, a little fashionable, and wholly uninterested in being understood. From housewives who fall in love with sea creatures to grandmothers who commune with the cosmos. These stories are eccentricity, rebellion, and taste.
Weird and Unhinged Women 2.0
All sorts of stories about all sorts of women and girls.
This is a genre-agnostic mega-list of weird girl* fiction expanding on an original list by @yarnandbooks (no longer being updated). You can view the original list here: (link) /// As a nonbinary person, I take as broad a view as possible of the "girl" in "weird girl*", hence the asterisk.
Wide open for recommendations!
www (Witches, Whimsy, Wisdom)
aka the Wise Women Web Recommendations are welcome!
Everybody Scream
Inspired by Florence + The Machine's new album
women living their lives without children
kids are great. however as a person who doesn’t want kids, I have fatigue around how many novels position motherhood as the epicenter of women’s lives. i’m gathering books here about women in their late twenties and older that don’t focus on motherhood or children. I haven’t read all these fyi!! plz share recs; i’m mostly looking for lit fic.
Books to Read to Feel Well Adjusted
It’s always nice to feel like a normal person by reading about those more unhinged than you 😌 These are all women focused books. Some I’ve read and some I’m going to read. Apologies in advance if it gets long. Recommendations are absolutely welcome!! So please feel free.
I know a couple are written by men which might be taboo for some but I’ve included because I thought they were appropriate or the author has a track record of writing women well.
Judge Me By My Size, Do You?
On the quest to collect badges, sometimes you just need a shorter read for a palate cleanse. I made this list as a resource for quicker reads in between heavy hitters - all books listed below are 1) included in at least one PageBound quest and 2) are 200 pages or less. Any and all leads are welcome!
Please note: This will not include books only found in readalongs or limited quests, as I want this list to reflect books that satisfy always-available quests.
tales to read by lamplight with icy fingertips
wintry, whimsical and cosy reads for the colder seasons ❆
It's the History of Man
Inspired by Maisie Peters' song "History of Man", this list includes novels and nonfiction books that deal in some way with themes surrounding the subjugation of women and misogyny, such as unequal power dynamics in romantic relationships, subversion of stereotypes and societal expectations of motherhood. May prompt female rage.
Classic Fantasy By Female Authors
A collection of older, lesser-known, fantasy (or science fantasy) books written by incredible women. In a time when female fantasy authors were few and far between, these authors carved out their own space in the genre. These stories might not be mainstream hits today, but they are full of brilliant magic, deep characters, and/or worlds that helped shape the genre. (First in Series / standalones only for now - open to suggestions!)
Weird Girl Lit Classics
Books from before 2000 that fit the more modern genre/descriptor of "weird girl literature"
💜 yarnandbooks
An Academic Affair Reading List
In An Academic Affair, Dr. Sadie Shaw is a professor of popular fiction. Here are her recommendations from the novel!
witches
Virago modern classics
The series by the feminist publisher virago of forgotten classics by women.
Backlisted
Books that were featured on an episode of Backlisted.
Feral and Hysterical
This is a list of horror books written by women, as recommended by Sadie Hartmann (Mother Horror) in her book Feral and Hysterical. I highly recommend that you pick up a copy of Feral and Hysterical because it is so much more than a list of books. There are more lists of books, but also thoughtful essays by women writers. It's worth spending some time with Feral and Hysterical.
"Women are overqualified to write fictional horror. Period." -- Sadie Hartmann
