50 Books Every Woman Should Read Before She Turns 40

Pity any woman who had to suffer through puberty without this book on her shelf. Margaret is the 12-year-old everywoman, waiting for her first period and literally praying for breasts.

In her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Egan weaves together vignettes of a group of New York friends who are struggling with that miserable goon: time.

The social activist contributed a key chapter to the canon of female experience with this book, which examines the devaluation of black women throughout history.

Frank perished in a concentration camp during World War II, but the diary she kept in captivity survives. It remains a moving reminder of how hope can be found anywhere — even in an attic during one of the darkest moments in human history.

The term "feminist" has always been a polarizing one, but Gay examines her own feelings through the lens of pop-culture items like Sweet Valley High and Orange Is the New Black.

Kingsolver's first novel is the quirky, relatable story of a woman who heads west to flee her small hometown in Kentucky, finding adventure (and an abandoned toddler) in the process.

She published two books of poetry by age 21, but that's not her only medium. Adichie's powerful fiction skills are on display here, as she follows a couple pulled between modern lives in the United States and Nigeria.

If it's obvious now that the media messes with women's views of their bodies, it wasn't always. Wolf's seminal book and its examinations of plastic surgery and eating disorders are as relevant today as they were in 1990.

The only novel Plath produced in her tragically short life gives the semi-autobiographical story of a girl who struggles to figure out which path she should take in life.

Morrison has produced a stunning catalogue of novels about the black experience in America, and "Beloved" is perhaps the most lauded and the most devastating. The dark horror of the central plotline is a terrifying glimpse into the psychology of slavery.

Saturday Night Live's first female head writer has, over and over again, succinctly answered the (absurd) question of whether or not women are funny.

Before there were Renee Zellweger movies, there was Fielding's novel, which takes the form of journal entries from the perpetually single thirtysomething gal of the title.

She produced plenty of emotionally wrenching books about the inner lives of women, but this extended essay is a great foray into the Woolf canon. In it, she argues that "a woman must have money and a room of her own" if she is going to write fiction (or fill in your passion here).

Walker's best-known work, which follows the horrific violence and oppression of several African-American women in the 1930s, won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction as well as the National Book Award, and has been adapted into a film and Broadway show.

While occasionally viewed as a corny navel-gazer about a very privileged woman and her travels, Gilbert's book was a hit for a reason: It's a true-life fantasy about one woman choosing to escape her life for an incredible year.

Friedan's iconic examination of housewives and their unfulfilled inner lives is widely considered the kick-off point to the second wave of feminism in the early 1960s.

The prose isn't exactly ground-breaking, but its literary merits are beside the point. James's fanfic erotica trilogy became an international sensation, reminding the world once again that women can enjoy sex — and enjoy reading about it.

The Bechdel test has become a key judge of cultural equality — does this movie feature a scene with two women talking about something other than men? But that's not all the writer has given society. Her 2006 graphic memoir was later turned into a Tony award-winning musical.

In a novel that President Obama has called one of his favorites, a dying man composes life lessons in a letter to his young son. What results is a moving consideration of the role of religion and spirituality within each of us.

Tartt's worldwide bestseller is a 773-page epic about a boy who survives a terror attack and grows up to obsess and long for the mother he lost in the disaster.

An essentially Southern writer who loved to capture the eccentric decay of the South, O'Connor's story collection reminded everyone that women are just as capable of depicting worlds of shocking, senseless violence.

In a novel that's often invoked in the conversation about women's health, Atwood imagines a stifling dystopia where women are utilized only for their ability to breed.

One day you'll tell your grandkids that you were alive when the Harry Potter books were first released, and they will be in awe.

A startling, controversial look at women enjoying sex for sex's sake way back in 1973, Jong's book was an utter sensation.

Cisneros' lyrical vignettes follow a girl named Esperanza as she struggles to leave her poor, Latino neighborhood.

In this historical novel, Alvarez crafts four sisters who grow up — and eventually fight — the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic.

This Pulitzer Prize-winning collection of stories is about Indian and Indian-American people interacting with and fighting against their culture and the West.

Angelou lived a magnificent, painful, beautiful life, and she chronicled the first seventeen years of it in this moving autobiography.

Wilder's sweet series captured the true story of her rough-and-tumble upbringing in a pioneering family on the prairie.

The chief operating officer of Facebook penned a manifesto urging working women to push further into their careers once they hit the traditional age of motherhood.

The story of four Chinese-American families who bond over playing mahjong is told through four sections with four chapters, masterfully mirroring the structure of the game itself.

In her debut novel, Allende created a literary sensation with her magical portrayal of a Chilean family through four generations of history.

In her searing memoir, Karr remembers a difficult childhood shaped by abuse and alcoholism.

So powerful are Munro's short stories that she won a Nobel Prize for her career in 2013, when the committee called her a master of the genre. This particular collection is a great place to begin appreciating her work.

In Hurston's controversial book, a young black woman fights to break her family's cycle of rape and oppression in her search for honest love and marriage in the early twentieth century.

Were little girls called "princess" as a term of endearment before this children's book? It's entirely likely that the dreamy tale sealed that deal.

In her unforgettable memoir, Sebold recalls her violent rape and its immediate aftermath — like when police noted she was "lucky" because she hadn't been murdered.

One of contemporary literature's most talented writers, Smith sealed her name with this novel and its depiction of race and beauty in America.

One of the most influential novels ever written happens to be about a woman escaping her dull existence through multiple sexual affairs.

Anyone who's had sisters — squabbling, doting, growing together — will see themselves in this Civil War classic.

It shouldn't have been revolutionary to write up a volume with health information about periods, birth control, abortion, sexual identity, and more, but in 1971 it was. The book has been translated, updated, and reprinted many times since then.

The prototypical rom-com, this 19th century classic follows five unmarried sisters and their quest for love.

Women entered the workforce finally and more fully in the second half of the twentieth century, but here Hochschild argues that the drudgery of domestic life continues to be their second job when they get home.

One of the quintessential plays in the American canon, Hansberry captured the frustrating struggle for African-American mobility in 1950s Chicago.

At a seemingly inexhaustible pace, Oates has released plays, poetry, and over 40 novels. One of her most beloved is "them," the story of three young women seeking the American dream.

The existentialist writer Simone de Beauvoir outlines the subjugation of women as the lesser sex, from the procreation of insects to Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Kingston blended Chinese folktales and her own history to create a unique capsule of the Chinese-American experience in the mid-20th century.

Any woman who's feeling lost may find herself in Strayed's solo journey on the Pacific Crest Trail.

With her instant American classic, Lee did the impossible: create a widely and wildly beloved story about racial equality and social justice.