The Greatest Books of All Time on Gender

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
12073 The Afghans Asne Seierstad, Seán Kinsella 2022 Norwegian English
12084 Dancing At The Edge Of The World Ursula K. Le Guin 1989 American English
12084 John Dollar Marianne Wiggins 1989 American English
12084 Tahuri Ngahuia Te Awekotuku 1989 New Zealand English
12084 Talking Back bell hooks 1989 American English
12259 Disappearing Moon Cafe Sky Lee 1990 Canadian English
12259 Her Cherry Muhanji 1990 American English
12259 Silent Dancing Judith Ortiz Cofer 1990 American English
12248 Reading Women Stephanie Staal 2011 Unknown English
12249 Sister Citizen Melissa Harris-Perry 2011 American English
12298 Troublemaker Carla Kaplan 2025 American English
12326 Simone De Beauvoir Deirdre Bair 1990 American English
12406 Shapeshifters Aimee Cox 2015 American English
12496 This Mournable Body Tsitsi Dangarembga 2018 Zimbabwean English
12515 Rebellion Minnie Bruce Pratt 1991 American English
12773 The Consequences Of Love Sulaiman Addonia 2008 British English
12834 A Chorus Of Stones Susan Griffin 1992 American English
12834 The Straight Mind Monique Wittig 1992 French French
12834 Taste Of Power Elaine Brown 1992 American English
12860 Trans History Alex L Combs 2025 American English
13061 Detective Aunty Uzma Jalaluddin 2025 Canadian English
13137 Katherine Mansfield Gerri Kimber 2025 Unknown English
13269 Deals With The Devil And Other Reasons To Riot Pearl Cleage 1993 American English
13269 Working Class Women In The Academy Michelle M. Tokarczyk, Elizabeth A. Fay 1993 American English
13259 She’s Not There Jennifer Finney Boylan 2003 American English
13362 The Pure and the Impure Colette 1932 French French
13362 The Nude Kenneth Clark 1956 British English
13362 Night Shift Maritta Wolff 1942 American English
13531 Wild Seed Octavia E. Butler 1980 American English
13600 Houris Kamel Daoud 2024 French French
13886 An Unkindness Of Ghosts Rivers Solomon 2017 American English
13971 The Fated Sky Mary Robinette Kowal 2018 American English
14076 The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For Alison Bechdel 2008 American English
14078 The Seven Necessary Sins For Women And Girls Mona Eltahawy 2019 American English
14152 The Rover Aphra Behn 1677 British English
14180 Male And Female Margaret Mead 1949 American English
14197 What The Butler Saw Joe Orton 1969 British English
14232 Catherine The Great Robert K. Massie 2011 American English
14232 M. Butterfly David Henry Hwang 1988 American English
14232 She Who Became The Sun Shelley Parker-Chan 2021 Australian English
14408 Trans Juliet Jacques 2015 British English
14496 Farewell To My Concubine Lilian Lee 1985 Chinese Chinese
14732 Believe Me Eddie Izzard 2017 British English
14853 Memoirs Of A Dutiful Daughter Simone de Beauvoir 1958 French French
14899 Hypatia Charles Kingsley 1853 British English
14985 George Alex Gino 2015 American English
14985 Property Valerie Martin 2003 American English
14985 Pandora's Jar Natalie Haynes 2020 British English
14985 Cloud 9 Caryl Churchill 1979 British English
14985 In The Hand Of The Goddess Tamora Pierce 1984 American English
14985 The Woman Who Rides Like A Man Tamora Pierce 1986 American English
14985 Lioness Rampant Tamora Pierce 1988 American English
14985 Hood Feminism Mikki Kendall 2020 American English
14985 River Of Gods Ian McDonald 2004 British English
14985 Lab Girl Hope Jahren 2016 American English
14985 The Water Outlaws S. L. Huang 2023 Unknown English
15686 The Hainish Novels And Stories Ursula K. Le Guin 2017 American English
15686 The Motorcycle Betrayal Poems Diane Wakoski American English
15764 Kitty Foyle Christopher Morley 1939 American English
15840 Sapphira And The Slave Girl Willa Cather 1940 American English
15916 Diving Into The Wreck Adrienne Rich 1973 American English
15916 The Morgesons Elizabeth Stoddard 1862 American English
15916 A Woman Of Genius Mary Austin 1912 American English
15916 Sister Of The Road Bertha Thompson 1937 American English
15916 Letters And Poems Mary Wortley Montagu 1800 British English
15916 In A German Pension Katherine Mansfield 1911 British English
15916 A Pin To See The Peepshow F. Tennyson Jesse 1934 British English
16552 That's How It Was Maureen Duffy 1962 British English
17163 The PowerBook Jeanette Winterson 2000 British English
17163 The Carhullan Army Sarah Hall 2007 British English
17163 In Memoriam to Identity Kathy Acker 1990 American English
16922 The Flight from the Enchanter Iris Murdoch 1956 British English
17163 The Complete Stories Zora Neale Hurston 1995 American English
17163 Women & Power Mary Beard 2017 British English
17163 A Woman of the Iron People Eleanor Arnason 1991 American English
17163 The Lady's Guide To Celestial Mechanics Olivia Waite 2019 American English
17163 When Dreams Travel Githa Hariharan 1999 Indian English
17163 Lote Shola von Reinhold 2020 British English
17163 Testosterone Rex Cordelia Fine 2017 Australian English
17163 Black Macho And The Myth Of The Black Superwoman Michele Wallace 1979 American English
17163 The Heart Of A Woman Maya Angelou 1981 American English
17163 When And Where I Enter Paula Giddings 1984 American English
17163 Black Eyed Susans And Midnight Birds Mary Helen Washington 1975 American English
17163 Invisibility Blues Michele Wallace 1990 American English
17163 Where We Stand bell hooks 2000 American English
17163 Pushout Monique W. Morris 2016 American English
17163 Beyond Respectability Brittney C. Cooper 2017 American English
17163 Venus Plus X Theodore Sturgeon 1960 American English
17163 Heroes And Villains Angela Carter 1969 British English
17163 Walk To The End Of The World Suzy McKee Charnas 1974 American English
17163 Iron Widow Xiran Jay Zhao 2021 Canadian English
17163 Fefu And Her Friends María Irene Fornés 1977 American English
17163 Heroines Kate Zambreno 2012 American English
17163 Essential Labor Angela Garbes 2021 American English
17163 Redefining Realness Janet Mock 2014 American English
17163 Games Mother Never Taught You Betty Lehan Harragan 1977 American English
17163 Adam Ariel Schrag 2014 American English
17163 A Door Into Ocean Joan Slonczewski 1986 American English
17163 The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four, And Five Doris May Lessing 1980 British English
17163 Ash Mary Gentle 2000 British English
17163 Sleeping Beauties Stephen King, Owen King 2017 American English
17163 Hidden Figures Margot Lee Shetterly 2016 American English
17163 The Woman Who Knew Too Much Gayle Greene 2005 American English
17163 Woman Hollering Creek Sandra Cisneros 1991 American English
17163 Trumpet Jackie Kay 1998 Scottish English
17163 Alice James Jean Strouse 1980 American English
17163 Her Smoke Rose Up Forever James Tiptree Jr. 1990 American English
17163 A Moment's Liberty Virginia Woolf 1990 British English
17163 The Woman Who Owned The Shadows Paula Gunn Allen 1983 American English
17163 Human Nature After Darwin Janet Radcliffe Richards 2000 British English
17163 Aisha Al-Bashir bin Salamah Multiple Unknown
17163 Confessions Of Madame Psyche Dorothy Bryant 1986 American English
17163 Y The Last Man Brian K. Vaughan 2002 American English
17163 Collected Plays Mahesh Dattani 2000 Indian English
17163 I Heard Her Call My Name Lucy Sante 2024 Unknown English
17163 Death In A Tenured Position Amanda Cross 1981 American English
17163 Abortion Jessica Valenti 2024 American English
17163 My Year Of Meat Ruth Ozeki 1998 American English
17163 Recasting Women Kumkum Sangari, Sudesh Vaid 1990 Unknown English
17163 Annabel Kathleen Winter 2010 Canadian English