10 Rad Female Authors to Read

10 Rad Female Authors to Read In response to Donna Tartts well-deserved Pulitzer win for The Goldfinch, Time magazine posted an article listing 21 female authors you should be reading. While there are some amazing authors on that list, if youre a book lover like me, many of them are probably already on your radar. If youre looking for a few more solid women to add to your reading repertoire, here are 10 more that you might not have heard of yet: 1. Cara Hoffman In  her second novel, Be Safe I Love You,  being published this month, Hoffmans considerable narrative talent is on display, as is her feminist bent through the voice of her protagonist. Though there have been many novels about the impact of the Iraq war, few if any focus on the female soldiers and their struggles when returning home. Hoffman is a strong addition to the literary world. 2. A.S. King  Kings novels have won just about every award that young adult fiction can win, including a few that arent so usual. Her novel  Ask the Passengers  was a finalist for the 2012 Lambda Literary award, and just about every one of her books has been listed for  ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults. She is constantly pushing the boundaries and worthwhile for all readers adult and teen to explore. 3.  Sara Farizan Farizans 2013 book If You Could Be Mine introduced the author as a much-needed voice in YA fiction. The novel  tackles the weighty topics of homosexuality and transgender issues in Iran, arranged marriages, and the very real possibility of imprisonment and execution. Shining a light on rarely explored subject matter, Farizans work has become a voice for teens who havent seen themselves in novels before. Her forthcoming novel, Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel (due in Oct. 2014), promises to deliver the same groundbreaking storytelling.   4. Megan Abbott   Writing noir crime fiction with a feminine twist, Abbotts Edgar award-winning novels explore things like the gritty underworld ofcheerleading? Yep, her  2012 novel Dare Me explores the viciousness of teenage girldom without resorting to stereotype. Its also been optioned for a movie, and Natalie Portman has been connected to the film.  Abbott also puts some academic muscle  into her work; shes published a non-fiction title called  The Street Was Mine: White Masculinity in Hardboiled Fiction and Film Noir. 5. Leslie Jamison   Essay collections are typically small releases, with little fanfare, but Jamisons collection,  The Empathy Exams,  has gotten the kind of press few writers published by small presses see. Her essays examine the pain of others and how it impacts the self; a memorable essay examines the difficulty of writing about female suffering and why we must do it anyway. Noteworthy and impactful. 6. Sarah MacLean   Shucking all of the damsel-in-distress tropes of historical romances, MacLean gives readers heroines that are feisty, rebellious, smart and as sexual as their heroes, particularly in her  The Rules of Scoundrels  series. And she doesnt resort to bizarre cliches when writing the naughty bits. Now thats a breath of fresh air for every romance lover.   7. Roxanne Gay    Its hard to believe that Gays novel, An Untamed State (out May 6th), is her debut, because her writing seems to be everywhere. Shes been published in  Virginia Quarterly Review,  The New York Times Book Review, The Los Angeles Times, The Rumpus, Salon, and so many more. But  An Untamed State  a story about a woman who is kidnapped in Haiti and held for ransom showcases her  startling narrative talent and marks her as one to watch.   8. Catherynne Valente   Best known for her YA Fairyland fantasy series, beginning with the novel  The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making,  Valente has also won Hugo, Lamda Literary and  World Fantasy awards for her work.  She is also active and vocal in the male-centric Sci-Fi and Fantasy communities, and a huge proponant of the crowdfunding movement. In fact  The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland  was the first crowdfunded novel to win a major literary award before traditional publication. 9. Helen Oyeyemi    Helen Oyeyemi is having a serious moment. Her novel  Boy, Snow, Bird  is on the surface  a retelling of the Snow White fairytale, and it is garnering rave reviews across and beyond the literary world. But Oyeyemis inventive and dazzling storytelling talent  is not just evident here. Having published  her first novel, The Icarus Girl, before she was 19, shes continued to prove shes a voice to be reckoned with, most recent with her  inclusion as  one of Grantas Best of Young  British Novelist in 2013. 10. Jennifer McMahon  McMahons supernatural thrillers are a genre unto themselves, with equal parts suspense and creepiness. Her latest,  The Winter People,  was published this February, to great acclaim. She also published a lesbian teen novel called  My Tiki Girl  in 2008 that was included in the ALAs Rainbow Reading list. What other great woman writers would you add to this list?