Jeane wrote: I also start to like the books Cecelia Ahern.

Jeane, I love Ahern's books. I've listened to them on CD which is a treat because the narrator speaks with an Irish accent so it really adds to the stories. I've listened to "PS I Love You" and "Wish You Were Here".

I love Shannon Hale, Sharon Creech and Gail Carson Levine if you like Y/A books.

Offmatt - how do you do the thing with the book covers?

Robin I think you can click to choose that when you add a book or author with the button above right when you add a comment. There is the option as link or cover..

was gonna answer but jeane beat me to it, lolz.

During grad school I went through a phase of needing to read more women authors primarily assisted by:

and

I'd recommend:
Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko
Pavilion of Women by Pearl S. Buck
Suite Française by Irene Nemirovsky
Land of the Burnt Thigh by Edith Eudora Kohl
Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison
How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez
Regeneration by Pat Barker
Lizard by Banana Yoshimoto
Moo by Jane Smiley
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
The Bone People by Keri Hulme
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe: A Novel by Fannie Flagg
Martyrs' Crossing by Amy Wilentz
What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt
The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
The Shipping News : A Novel by Annie Proulx
Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi
The Good Mother: A Novel by Sue Miller
Possession: A Romance by A.S. Byatt
The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor
My Antonia by Willa Cather

And if THAT isn't enough, I have a shelf named 500-women-all which lists the books included in 500 Great Books by Women

Wow Liz! Thanks!

How about:

Evensong
M L St. Sure



M L St. Sure's Evensong is a powerful and captivating historical romance novel, set in World War II, about a beautiful, celebrated opera singer forced to sing the singspiel before Hitler. Amidst terrible consequences, after heartbreaking conflict and loss, the heroine's voice carries the ultimate message of courage and freedom.

Amazon


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Joyce Carol Oates is always good. She writes about some really badass females, no girly girls here. I've only ever read her short stories and none of her novels, but maybe the trend carries over to her novels.

Jane, I've mostly read Joyce Carol Oates's novels and not much of her short stories, but the older novels I've read by her all basically tell the same story. I became really unhappy with her for that reason years ago. However, I hear her short stories are amazing so I keep promising I'll try some of that.

Annie Proulx-"the shipping news." I will never forget it. Her "brokeback mountain" story has become very famous, obviously, but this one is the masterpiece: prose poetry.

I still think Prodigal Summer by B. Kingsolver is a better book than Poisonwood Bible.

Annie Dillard--An American Childhood, or if you are a nature nut like me, try Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.

Laura Esquivel for a little magic realism lite (Like Water for Chocolate)

Alice Hoffman for fun--american magical realism??

Ursula LeGuin if you like scifi

Oh I have to stop. this could go on forever!

Oh-for something completely different--Jean Rhys' Wide Sargasso Sea. Don't want to spoil the surprise.

And Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis--graphic novel re:autobiography growing up in Iran in the 70's. Riveting.They made a movie of it, but did not come to my area.

Jeane wrote: "Robin I think you can click to choose that when you add a book or author with the button above right when you add a comment. There is the option as link or cover.."

Ah thanks...Let me try it ...

For really cute and funny mysteries about a family of Egyptian Archaeologists, check out Elizabeth Peters' series of Amelia Peabody mysteries.

For somewhat more of a "bodice ripper" style of mystery/suspense/romance...check out Lauren Willig's "Pink Carnation" series....or for something along those lines that is less cheesy romance, check out Tasha Alexander's series (And Only to Decieve, Poisoned Season, Fatal Waltz)

I love the Amelia Peabody books. Be sure to read them in order.

There are have been SO many great authors recommended already! Here are a few that I didn't notice mentioned yet that I love:

Joanne Harris (Chocolat, The Girl with No Shadow: A Novel)
Tracy Chevalier (Girl with a Pearl Earring)
Lucy Maud Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables)
Marion Zimmer Bradley (The Mists of Avalon)
Brunonia Barry (Lace Reader)

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro has a great historical series featuring her seductive vampire, the Comte de Saint-Germain. Start with Hotel Transylvania.

Thanks! Hotel Transylvania sounds right up my alley. Vampires AND historical fiction? Sold.

If you like short stories, I recommend Kate Chopin. Particularly "The Story of an Hour" and "Desiree's Baby", the latter being my favorite. You can actually find them available for free on the internet. They are old enough that I think they fall into the public domain.

Look up a lady on here named Monica Drake. Her book Clown Girl was fantastic. Really funny and sad all at the same time and really wonderfully written.

I am a big fan of Lauren B. Davis, Canadian author extraordinaire. I just finished her latest collection of short stories, An Unrehearsed Desire, and was blown away. Each story is a gem, and the variety of characters and voices are so engaging I couldn't put the book down. It is a true pleasure to recommend this collection. Character and plot development is what keeps a reader turning the page. These stories are page turners!
I also loved her novel, The Stubborn Season, which is about a young girl growing up during the depression years. I read it a few years ago when it was on the Canadian best-seller lists, I also highly recommend it.

A few that I don't think have been mentioned yet:

George Eliot

Edith Wharton

Barbara Pym

I haven't read her yet, but my husband likes
Isabel Allende

How about some great children's classics authors:
Laura Ingalls Wilder

Louisa May Alcott

Lucy Maud Montgomery