Over the past three years, I’ve been on a pretty wild reading journey. I was tired of not having a hobby and decided to start reading again like I did as a kid. What started with a challenge to read one book a month in 2022 (big goals since I read a big phat zero for years before), turned into 23 finished before July the next year, and I’ve now read at least 50 every year since. I can now — very proudly — say “I am a Reader”.
What helped me with figuring out what to actually read was asking my friends and family for recommendations. As my TBR pile grew, so did my desire to fill it with more words from women…and I think everyone should be actively seeking female authors too.
From Mum’s gift of her copy of ‘A Wizard of Earthsea’ to ‘Gachiakuta’, here’s a list of 26 books, written by 26 women, as recommended by creative women I know.
- A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
- Burnout Immunity by Kandi Wiens
- The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying by Marie Kondo
- The Names by Florence Knapp
- We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman
- So Thrilled For You by Holly Bourne
- Love in Colour by Bolu Babalola
- I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki by Baek Sehee
- The Best 90 Days Ever by Hannah Istead
- Magpie by Elizabeth Day
- Stay With me by Ayobami Adebayo
- Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum
- Noor by Nnedi Okorafor
- Femonomics by Corinne Low
- Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
- Dopamine Nation by Dr Anna Lembke
- The Will to Change by Bell Hooks
- Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
- Butter by Asako Yuzuki
- Yellowface by Rebecca F Kuang
- Choose Joy by Sophie Cliff
- Tiny Experiments by Anna-Laure Cunff
- Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister
- Take it In by Giselle la Pompe-Moore
- What You Are Looking for is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama
- Gachiakuta by Kei Urana
Got any recommendations for to the list of must-reads for 2026? I’m always looking for more so please send me an email — I’m trying to build a floor-to-ceiling-library you know!
