There are thousands of great, life-changing books out there that both men and women can enjoy. But this is a list of the hundred titles that say something about what it is to be a woman: what makes us special and how we can be better. So I’ve included fiction, by both women and men, with compelling female characters. I’ve added historical works written by women to give us a window into the ways they lived and books of practical wisdom to make our lives a little easier. I’ve added works of social criticism that challenge us to live better. I’ve even thrown in a few philosophy texts that force us to think about ourselves and our sex more critically.
Our Guide
This reading guide suggests titles that will help women as we grow from girls to teens and then to young women. As we marry, begin families of our own, as our children grow and become teens themselves. Then, finally, as our children leave home and we have time to reflect on our lives. (You can also read the complete list in chronological order.)
Starting in May, Experimental Wifery will host a book-of-the-month club to read through our Essential Woman’s Library. We would love your input. Are you interested? Let us know where you’d like to start by leaving a comment..
Books for Young Girls
Too many girls grow up thinking that being a woman is about giving up who we are and what we want. In each of these books for young women, the protagonist stands out as a young woman who cares deeply about the needs of others without ever losing a strong sense of self.
- Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
- A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
- Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
- Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
- The Miracle Worker by William Gibson
- The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
Read more about great books for girls…
Books for Teenage Girls
Teenagers struggle to define who they are and what their relationship is with the world around them. These books provide models of great virtues like courage, loyalty, and determination—and a few vices they’ll want to avoid.
Read more about great books for teens…
Books for Young Women
If there were a cannon of Western literature, these books would be on it. Whether in college or starting a career these foundational books will prepare young women to take a position of responsibility and understanding in the adult world.
Books for New Wives
Many of these stories suggest models of what a healthy marriage should—and shouldn’t—look like. We’ve also thrown in a few classics of home management to make the lives of newly-wed women a little easier.
Books for New Moms
These collections of poems and stories are great resources for new moms eager to sing, recite, and read to their children. They’re also broken up into small chunks so even the most overwhelmed new mom can squeeze in a little reading.
Books for Moms of Young Children
Early motherhood is the time when misguided lessons about what it is to be a woman come back to haunt us. These books remind moms of young children of the dignity we have as women and mothers—and of the terrible consequences of losing sight of our self-worth.
Books for Moms of Teens
These books remind moms of the anxieties their teenage children face. They’re also great stories to read and share with your children as they grow.
- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
- Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
- The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
- A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
- Lady Windermere’s Fan by Oscar Wilde
- The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
- Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
- Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers
- And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
- The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams
- The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
- A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O’Connor
- The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
- The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
- The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Books for Empty Nesters
With new-found free time and the wisdom of experience, empty nesters are poised to take on new challenges and make a difference in their communities. These are great books to help.
Books for the End of Life
These books are all about finding meaning in your past. Read them when you take time to contemplate a full life. They’re also great tales to share with your adult children and grandchildren.
- Anglo-Saxon Poetry translated by S. A. J. Bradley
- King Lear by William Shakespeare
- Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
- The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
- Till We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis
- Wit by Margaret Edson
The Essential Woman’s Library
- The Odyssey by Homer
- Aesop’s Fables
- Antigone by Sophocles
- The Republic by Plato
- The Metamorphoses by Ovid
- The Bible
- Anglo-Saxon Poetry translated by S. A. J. Bradley
- The Pillow Book by Sei Shonaon
- One Thousand and One Nights
- The Letters of Abelard and Heloise
- Erec and Enide by Chrétien de Troyes
- The Divine Comedy by Dante Aligheri
- The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
- The Book of the City of Ladies by Christine de Pizan
- All’s Well That Ends Well by William Shakespeare
- King Lear by William Shakespeare
- Othello by William Shakespeare
- Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
- The Letters of John and Abigail Adams
- The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm
- The Real Mother Goose by Blanche Fisher Wright
- Emma by Jane Austen
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
- Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
- The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni
- Fairy Tales by Hans Christen Andersen
- Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville
- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
- Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
- The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
- Sonnets from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
- Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beacher Stowe
- Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
- Hard Times by Charles Dickens
- A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
- Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
- The Goblin Market and Other Poems by Christina Rossetti
- Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
- Middlemarch by George Eliot
- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
- Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy
- A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen
- The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson
- Tess of the d’Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy
- An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde
- Lady Windermere’s Fan by Oscar Wilde
- Joan of Arc by Mark Twain
- The Awakening by Kate Chopin
- A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
- The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
- Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
- Howard’s End by E. M. Forster
- Twenty Years at Hull House by Jane Addams
- Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
- My Ántonia by Willa Cather
- The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
- Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset
- Etiquette by Emily Post
- Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
- The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
- A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
- Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
- Essays on Women by Edith Stein
- Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers
- Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
- Rebecca by Daphne DuMarier
- And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
- The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
- Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon
- The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams
- Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
- The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers
- The End of the Affair by Graham Greene
- The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
- A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O’Connor
- Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Landon
- Till We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis
- Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
- The Miracle Worker by William Gibson
- A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
- The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
- Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child
- Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
- Loaves and Fishes by Dorothy Day
- The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
- The Princess Bride by William Golding
- Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns
- The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
- Under a Cruel Star: A Life in Prague, 1941-1968 by Heda Margolius Kovály
- Beloved by Toni Morrison
- The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
- Wit by Margaret Edson
- Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
- First Family by Joseph Ellis
I’ve got three titles to throw in for book club suggestions. Personally, Little Women seems like a great place to start, regardless of age. But then, I’ve always meant to read Pride and Prejudice – just never seem to get around to it. Last, but not least – Jane Eyre, I make it a point to read it every year… and have been reading it since I was 13 years old :). Thanks for the reading guide, it is very well thought out – and also a great gift guide the way you’ve listed it according to age/life circumstances. Look forward to the next post!
Wonderful! With all of the above (and I’d include all of Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and Willa Cather) I’d add the novels of Louis L’Amour. If you haven’t ventured there, it may sound strange but he is a fantastic creator of atmosphere and suspense. Very descriptive writing! And the human values are intact.
Thanks for the feedback. I’m not as familiar with the works of Willa Cather, but I do love Dickens and Austen. Adding all their works, though, would have taken up about a quarter of my list! I’ll be sure to check out the novels of Louis L’Amour. Do you have a suggestion where to start?
You have a lovely site and this is a great list. Books like these can truly change us and make us into better men and women. I have a few books that you might consider adding:
Virgil – The Aeneid
(Despite other opinions, this epic revolves around women and the appropriate source of their power. Between Juno, Venus, Diana, Creusa, Dido, and Camilla, the female characters are more powerful and more compelling than even the title character).
The Love Letters of Abelard and Heloise
Marie de France – Lais of Marie de France
St Teresa of Avila – The Inner Castle
Mary Wollstonecraft (Mary Shelly’s mother) – Vindication of the Rights of Women
Anne Frank – Diary of Ann Frank
The Love Letters of Abelard and Heloise and The Diary of a Young Girl are actually both on the list. (I’ve even blogged about The Love Letters of Abelard and Heloise.) I’m not personally fond of Marie de France and, even though I love Dido, I find the second half of The Aeneid insufferable. I’ll have to read The Inner Castle and Vindication of the Rights of Women. Thanks for the suggestions!
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