(in no specific ranking)
- Lorrie Moore Anagrams -- One word description (plus five more): quirky (in the best way possible).
- Lisa Moore Alligator -- Canadian author who doesn't adhere to the ol' man versus nature, nature wins trope of which Canadian authors are so fond.
- Julia Leigh Disquiet -- Favourite part: two children coming across the dead baby in the freezer whilst looking for ice-cream.
- Jhumpa Lahiri Interpreter of Maladies -- Just read this after years of being told, sometimes forcefully, by my book mentor/one of the loves of my life, Derek, and now I feel ashamed for waiting so long because she is unbelievable.
- Louise Erdrich The Antelope Wife -- A master at modernizing First Nations' mythology.
- Alice Munro Too Much Happiness -- Why this over other Munro's? First of all, all of her stories are gold but I've chosen this one because of the sinister undertones; kind of brings to mind Southern gothic a la Flannery O'Connor.
- Amy Hempel Reasons to Live -- The Cemetery Where Al Jolson is Buried is my favourite story ever. I read it every few weeks. Perfect. That is all.
- Dorothy Allison Bastard Out of Caroline -- The kind of book that you feel in your bones.
- A M Homes This Book Will Save Your Life -- I had this book as one of my staff picks when I worked in a bookstore and I would have customers come back to thank me because they had spent three days laughing.
- Paula Fox Desperate Characters --
OneTwo words: paranoid descent. Plus, she's Courtney Love's grandma!
It's time we (society-wise) left behind the tired, out-dated, insulting and really dumb fucking idea that women who write good, literary books are not an anomaly.
What do you think? Who am I missing? (I know that this list consists mostly of white, straight women so please, leave suggestions in the comments for queer or women of colour authors who should be celebrated.)
