Women like books. We know this. We know it from the statistics -- according to an often cited study by the publishing research firm Bowker, women bought 64 percent of all books sold in 2009 -- from the runaway popularity of female book clubs, and from our own lives. Try just mentioning one of your favorite books the next time you're with a group of female friends. Whether it's "Little Women," "The Bell Jar," or your favorite Judy Blume, someone in the group is almost guaranteed to recognize it and say something along the lines of "god, I looooved that boooook." Which may devolve -- no, evolve -- into a conversation about all the books you've mutually loved and when you read them and why they moved you at that time in your life. It'll be an instant "love, loss and what I read" party. Please do try this at home.

If you play this game for long enough, a few titles will probably emerge as books every woman would benefit from reading. That's what happened in our office this week. Inspired by the Frisky's list of "22 Books Every Woman Needs To Read," we asked the female staff of the Huffington Post which books they consider essential reading for women. Flip through our choices below. They're not in any order, and this is not meant to be a comprehensive list. Instead we hope you'll help us round it out. If you have a suggestion of your own, please email the title and why women should read it to women@huffingtonpost.com.
1

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4.29 avg rating — 4,740,156 ratings
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4.47 avg rating — 2,995,966 ratings
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4.17 avg rating — 2,431,821 ratings
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3.71 avg rating — 371,294 ratings
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3.95 avg rating — 254,578 ratings
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4.30 avg rating — 508,064 ratings
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3.86 avg rating — 2,453,901 ratings
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3.99 avg rating — 383,388 ratings
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3.48 avg rating — 23,325 ratings
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4.05 avg rating — 1,197,334 ratings
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3.84 avg rating — 146,724 ratings
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4.20 avg rating — 4,145,161 ratings
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4.11 avg rating — 1,270,990 ratings
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4.19 avg rating — 804,643 ratings
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16

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3.69 avg rating — 225,733 ratings
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17

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4.22 avg rating — 255,602 ratings
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18

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,088,293 ratings
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19

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4.31 avg rating — 1,252,661 ratings
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20

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4.10 avg rating — 1,347,358 ratings
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21

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3.96 avg rating — 1,050,125 ratings
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22

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3.81 avg rating — 88,465 ratings
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23

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4.31 avg rating — 13 ratings
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24

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4.16 avg rating — 618,405 ratings
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25

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4.33 avg rating — 1,348,512 ratings
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26

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4.25 avg rating — 710,665 ratings
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27

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4.08 avg rating — 210,843 ratings
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28

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4.28 avg rating — 55,595 ratings
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29

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3.59 avg rating — 4,732 ratings
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30

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3.65 avg rating — 195,139 ratings
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31

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4.45 avg rating — 1,716,469 ratings
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32

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3.73 avg rating — 43,396 ratings
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33

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3.73 avg rating — 33,680 ratings
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34

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4.13 avg rating — 798,278 ratings
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34

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3.97 avg rating — 340 ratings
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36

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4.16 avg rating — 126,287 ratings
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37

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3.62 avg rating — 67,159 ratings
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38

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4.05 avg rating — 9,301 ratings
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39

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4.24 avg rating — 8,584 ratings
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39

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3.96 avg rating — 238,394 ratings
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41

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3.81 avg rating — 58,191 ratings
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42

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4.29 avg rating — 35 ratings
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43

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3.95 avg rating — 110 ratings
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44

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4.28 avg rating — 29 ratings
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44

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4.45 avg rating — 29 ratings
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46

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4.32 avg rating — 185 ratings
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46

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4.18 avg rating — 3,421,131 ratings
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48

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4.02 avg rating — 88 ratings
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48

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4.49 avg rating — 17,584 ratings
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50

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4.05 avg rating — 126,910 ratings
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50

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3.56 avg rating — 76,950 ratings
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52

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4.10 avg rating — 92,341 ratings
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53

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3.71 avg rating — 1,962 ratings
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54

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4.18 avg rating — 1,768 ratings
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55

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4.21 avg rating — 1,717 ratings
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56

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3.87 avg rating — 30,685 ratings
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57

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4.33 avg rating — 12,851 ratings
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58

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3.63 avg rating — 894 ratings
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59

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3.73 avg rating — 91,834 ratings
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60

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3.99 avg rating — 9,376 ratings
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61

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3.79 avg rating — 17,965 ratings
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62

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3.95 avg rating — 21 ratings
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62

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3.95 avg rating — 1,155 ratings
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62

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3.89 avg rating — 152 ratings
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62

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3.69 avg rating — 87 ratings
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62

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3.86 avg rating — 58 ratings
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62

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4.05 avg rating — 41 ratings
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62

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4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings
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62

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4.61 avg rating — 23 ratings
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62

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3.82 avg rating — 11 ratings
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62

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4.18 avg rating — 445 ratings
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62

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4.38 avg rating — 42 ratings
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62

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 60 ratings
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62

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4.24 avg rating — 49 ratings
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62

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4.01 avg rating — 117 ratings
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62

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3.98 avg rating — 366 ratings
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62

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4.20 avg rating — 46 ratings
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it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 5 ratings
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62

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4.53 avg rating — 17 ratings
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62

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3.93 avg rating — 44 ratings
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4.35 avg rating — 20 ratings
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82

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4.83 avg rating — 24 ratings
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82

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4.07 avg rating — 8,291 ratings
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82

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3.99 avg rating — 348 ratings
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82

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3.98 avg rating — 366 ratings
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82

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4.33 avg rating — 48 ratings
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82

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3.71 avg rating — 1,962 ratings
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88

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4.67 avg rating — 21 ratings
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89

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3.98 avg rating — 123,891 ratings
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90

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3.63 avg rating — 23,653 ratings
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91

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4.09 avg rating — 197 ratings
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92

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3.87 avg rating — 1,296 ratings
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93

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3.67 avg rating — 10,209 ratings
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93

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4.26 avg rating — 981,013 ratings
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95

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4.24 avg rating — 772,571 ratings
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96

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4.20 avg rating — 64,243 ratings
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97

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3.31 avg rating — 289,632 ratings
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98

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3.59 avg rating — 4,250 ratings
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99

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3.37 avg rating — 5,139 ratings
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100

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4.10 avg rating — 15,793 ratings
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110 books · 83 voters · list created April 29th, 2014 by Leah (votes) .
45 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Leah 892 books
48 friends
Teresa 2410 books
107 friends
Michelle 290 books
11 friends
Susanna - Censored by GoodReads 3386 books
852 friends
Eva-Joy 1582 books
34 friends
Mariah 410 books
35 friends
Misha 22413 books
540 friends
Mary 1240 books
0 friends

More voters…


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kelly What? No Red Tent by Anita Diamant? Heresy.


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