Book about woman doing something interesting

[Anonymous]

Really anything by Philippa Gregory

[Anonymous]

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

[Anonymous]

Honey, by Isabel Banta, was interesting.

It’s light and seemed a bit superficial for the first 20% or so, and I almost DNF, but I’m glad I stuck with it.

The main character launches a pop career in the late 90s/early 00s. Kind of a Brittany Spears thing. But then it opens up into more of a coming of age story as she moves into her 20s and steps into herself.

I really liked that the “coming of age” part took place later than the usual early teen years. It allowed for a bit more development. And I appreciated the openness and candor about the character’s sexuality. Reminded me very much of my college years (late teens/early 20s) but in a different setting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you read any books featuring a female main character doing something interesting outside of being a mom/romantic partner? Solving mysteries, looking for treasure, building a business, testifying in congress…idk.

I’m looking for inspiration to pass the time this winter.

Nonfiction is also excellent.

It’s ok if the character is a wife and mom but I’d like the story to be focused on something else.

I loved the book Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls. It is a memoir about the authors grandmother's life and I could not put it down. And it's a quick read, as well. Great book.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you read any books featuring a female main character doing something interesting outside of being a mom/romantic partner? Solving mysteries, looking for treasure, building a business, testifying in congress…idk.

I’m looking for inspiration to pass the time this winter.

Nonfiction is also excellent.

It’s ok if the character is a wife and mom but I’d like the story to be focused on something else.

Creation Lake was excellent! Contract private investigator/security infiltrates a leftist group in rural France set among the anthropology and archaeology of ancient people.

[Anonymous]

Louise Penny books have mostly these characters: poet, artist, book seller, detective...

[Anonymous]

I am halfway through State of Wonder by Ann Patchett and loving it. It definitely fits the bill. A 42 year old scientist goes to the Brazilian rainforest to understand how her colleague died there, and to diffuse out what her sort of one-time mentor, a 70 year old formidable woman, is up to in her yearslong quest to develop a wonder drug to permanently extend fertility. It is well written and vivid and fascinating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I read mostly historical mysteries and most of the series I read have female leads. There's often a slow burn relationship with a sleuthing partner.

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear was already mentioned. That's an epic series that starts before WWI and ends after it. Book 1 is the origin story and it's a great standalone.

Veronica Speedwell books by Deanna Raybourn are about a 20-something raised by aunts who starts getting hunted when they die. I won't ruin it, but she goes on to juggle being a museum curator and butterfly hunter (an acceptable occupation in the Victorian era). She does investigations with her partner, a taxidermist. It's funny and outrageous.

Kat Halloway books by Jennifer Ashley - she's a cook for a society family in Victorian England. Her possible beau is some sort of detective or agent. It's a clever series! Not cozy, though.

Perveen Mistry books by Sujata Massey - Set in the 1920s Bombay. Perveen was educated at Oxford, but comes home to help at her father's firm and she's the first female lawyer in India. She gets seemingly boring, mundane jobs because of her sex, but she has great adventures.

I could go on and on.

I second the Perveen Mistry books— I just finished The Widows of Malabar Hill and loved it.

[Anonymous]

Thursday Murder Club series. It’s about a group of retirees who solve murders. Two of the 4 retirees are men, but the other two are women.

Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. WWII historical fiction about the Nazi occupation of Guernsey and the residents’ resistance. Not all characters female, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I read mostly historical mysteries and most of the series I read have female leads. There's often a slow burn relationship with a sleuthing partner.

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear was already mentioned. That's an epic series that starts before WWI and ends after it. Book 1 is the origin story and it's a great standalone.

Veronica Speedwell books by Deanna Raybourn are about a 20-something raised by aunts who starts getting hunted when they die. I won't ruin it, but she goes on to juggle being a museum curator and butterfly hunter (an acceptable occupation in the Victorian era). She does investigations with her partner, a taxidermist. It's funny and outrageous.

Kat Halloway books by Jennifer Ashley - she's a cook for a society family in Victorian England. Her possible beau is some sort of detective or agent. It's a clever series! Not cozy, though.

Perveen Mistry books by Sujata Massey - Set in the 1920s Bombay. Perveen was educated at Oxford, but comes home to help at her father's firm and she's the first female lawyer in India. She gets seemingly boring, mundane jobs because of her sex, but she has great adventures.

I could go on and on.

I second the Perveen Mistry books— I just finished The Widows of Malabar Hill and loved it.

She meets her love interest in the second book. She travels outside the city and it's really interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I read mostly historical mysteries and most of the series I read have female leads. There's often a slow burn relationship with a sleuthing partner.

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear was already mentioned. That's an epic series that starts before WWI and ends after it. Book 1 is the origin story and it's a great standalone.

Veronica Speedwell books by Deanna Raybourn are about a 20-something raised by aunts who starts getting hunted when they die. I won't ruin it, but she goes on to juggle being a museum curator and butterfly hunter (an acceptable occupation in the Victorian era). She does investigations with her partner, a taxidermist. It's funny and outrageous.

Kat Halloway books by Jennifer Ashley - she's a cook for a society family in Victorian England. Her possible beau is some sort of detective or agent. It's a clever series! Not cozy, though.

Perveen Mistry books by Sujata Massey - Set in the 1920s Bombay. Perveen was educated at Oxford, but comes home to help at her father's firm and she's the first female lawyer in India. She gets seemingly boring, mundane jobs because of her sex, but she has great adventures.

I could go on and on.

I second the Perveen Mistry books— I just finished The Widows of Malabar Hill and loved it.

She meets her love interest in the second book. She travels outside the city and it's really interesting.

Thank you and have added it to my list: The Satapur Moonstone.

[Anonymous]

Breaking Through, the memoir by Nobel Prize winner Katalin Kariko. She grew up in poverty behind the iron curtain, then worked in obscurity trying to solve a problem in molecular biology that no one cared about until suddenly the whole world did. The iron curtain glimpses are fascinating, there are some great characters (and one horrible boss!), and some relatable mother-career choices. She is a wild character, and the whole thing is like a front row seat to a changing world.

[Anonymous]

I just finished "Bright Young Women" by Jessica Knoll. It's a fictionalized take on Ted Bundy's murders that tells the story from the victims' point of view, In so doing, it takes power away from the murderer; points a finger at the men in law enforcement and the media who helped to enable his crime spree and the myth behind it; and upends the narrative that he was some sort of brilliant stud who charmed women to their deaths.

[Anonymous]

Severance by Ling Ma. There is a small section of the book that deals with her relationship with her boyfriend, but most of it is around her job as a bible production manager and then her postapocalyptic experience.

[Anonymous]

Matrix by Lauren Groff jumped to my mind (I see someone else suggested it).