,

World literature written by women, translated into English.

NOTE: this list is about women writters and their books written in other languages but translated into English. Please don't add books written by men, even if they are about women.
1

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4.05 avg rating — 465,238 ratings
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2

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4.30 avg rating — 318,279 ratings
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3

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4.40 avg rating — 204,785 ratings
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4

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4.20 avg rating — 4,179,877 ratings
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5

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3.65 avg rating — 376,027 ratings
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6

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3.95 avg rating — 394,127 ratings
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7

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4.46 avg rating — 236,696 ratings
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8

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 55,894 ratings
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9

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3.71 avg rating — 72,670 ratings
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10

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3.86 avg rating — 77,988 ratings
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11

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3.81 avg rating — 199,620 ratings
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12

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4.10 avg rating — 35,622 ratings
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13

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4.40 avg rating — 64,639 ratings
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14

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4.31 avg rating — 14,450 ratings
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15

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3.62 avg rating — 16,291 ratings
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16

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4.15 avg rating — 209,096 ratings
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17

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3.89 avg rating — 128,524 ratings
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18

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4.36 avg rating — 195,528 ratings
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19

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4.46 avg rating — 180,174 ratings
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20

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4.22 avg rating — 35,813 ratings
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21

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3.72 avg rating — 14,744 ratings
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22

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3.81 avg rating — 25,525 ratings
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23

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 12,249 ratings
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24

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4.27 avg rating — 73,767 ratings
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25

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3.94 avg rating — 48,040 ratings
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26

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4.23 avg rating — 29,942 ratings
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27

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3.74 avg rating — 72,485 ratings
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28

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4.04 avg rating — 210,999 ratings
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29

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4.02 avg rating — 10,038 ratings
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30

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4.11 avg rating — 54,472 ratings
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31

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3.67 avg rating — 371,286 ratings
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32

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3.92 avg rating — 20,781 ratings
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33

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4.05 avg rating — 96,822 ratings
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34

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4.01 avg rating — 59,121 ratings
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35

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3.72 avg rating — 51,983 ratings
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36

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3.81 avg rating — 5,642 ratings
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37

by
3.94 avg rating — 152,981 ratings
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38

by
3.23 avg rating — 4,329 ratings
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39

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4.19 avg rating — 6,429 ratings
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40

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3.94 avg rating — 4,539 ratings
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40

by
4.43 avg rating — 21,624 ratings
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42

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4.42 avg rating — 7,543 ratings
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43

by
3.84 avg rating — 39,812 ratings
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44

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4.01 avg rating — 29,816 ratings
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45

by
4.32 avg rating — 36,230 ratings
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46

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4.01 avg rating — 33,621 ratings
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47

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4.40 avg rating — 42,610 ratings
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48

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3.63 avg rating — 6,617 ratings
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49

by
3.81 avg rating — 7,618 ratings
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50

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3.80 avg rating — 1,914 ratings
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51

by
3.86 avg rating — 6,871 ratings
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52

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4.05 avg rating — 1,130 ratings
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53

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3.88 avg rating — 28,968 ratings
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54

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4.20 avg rating — 408 ratings
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55

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4.27 avg rating — 17,737 ratings
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56

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3.89 avg rating — 3,833 ratings
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57

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3.49 avg rating — 7,286 ratings
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58

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3.57 avg rating — 11,544 ratings
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59

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3.72 avg rating — 1,266 ratings
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60

by
3.87 avg rating — 58,492 ratings
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61

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3.75 avg rating — 37,694 ratings
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62

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3.83 avg rating — 16,766 ratings
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63

by
3.54 avg rating — 397 ratings
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64

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3.63 avg rating — 2,838 ratings
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64

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4.12 avg rating — 18,819 ratings
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66

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4.18 avg rating — 47,239 ratings
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67

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4.07 avg rating — 7,640 ratings
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68

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4.36 avg rating — 28,977 ratings
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69

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3.68 avg rating — 52,249 ratings
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70

by
3.24 avg rating — 1,325 ratings
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71

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3.96 avg rating — 3,333 ratings
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72

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4.20 avg rating — 1,372 ratings
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73

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4.10 avg rating — 2,695 ratings
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74

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3.77 avg rating — 3,573 ratings
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75

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4.33 avg rating — 5,377 ratings
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76

by
3.70 avg rating — 137,462 ratings
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77

by
3.28 avg rating — 21,060 ratings
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78

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 37,094 ratings
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79

by
4.26 avg rating — 22,311 ratings
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80

by
3.68 avg rating — 4,002 ratings
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81

by
3.94 avg rating — 140,317 ratings
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82

by
3.89 avg rating — 9 ratings
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83

by
3.42 avg rating — 425 ratings
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84

by
4.16 avg rating — 188,231 ratings
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85

by
3.88 avg rating — 1,387 ratings
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86

by
3.72 avg rating — 16,806 ratings
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87

by
3.86 avg rating — 1,371 ratings
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88

by
4.12 avg rating — 18,909 ratings
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89

by
3.80 avg rating — 619 ratings
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90

by
3.67 avg rating — 6,341 ratings
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91

by
4.12 avg rating — 1,147 ratings
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92

by
4.17 avg rating — 11,352 ratings
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93

by
3.67 avg rating — 9,397 ratings
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94

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3.32 avg rating — 3,117 ratings
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95

by
4.34 avg rating — 1,115 ratings
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96

by
4.12 avg rating — 24,298 ratings
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96

by
4.21 avg rating — 7,419 ratings
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98

by
3.98 avg rating — 23,236 ratings
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99

by
3.75 avg rating — 45,084 ratings
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100

by
3.75 avg rating — 4,079 ratings
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924 books · 305 voters · list created July 23rd, 2015 by Marthine (votes) .
313 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Marthine 2386 books
156 friends
~☆~Autumn 8101 books
151 friends
Eliana 8618 books
0 friends
Elizabeth 178 books
6 friends
Lisa 7502 books
141 friends
Kamakana 6484 books
451 friends
Luke 5990 books
51 friends
Richard 5935 books
959 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-28 of 28 (28 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Michelle (new)

Michelle I'm pretty sure Our Sister Killjoy was originally written in English.


message 2: by Marthine (new)

Marthine M. L. wrote: "I'm pretty sure Our Sister Killjoy was originally written in English."

Indeed, I think yr right! A user with goodreads librarian status can remove it for the list. I don't have that, unfortunately.


message 3: by Michelle (new)

Michelle I can remove it. I dug out a copy and there's no mention of a translator -- I just wasn't initially so sure. :)


message 4: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited Aug 22, 2015 01:20PM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) I've changed the GR profile of I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem, as the book was originally written in French, not in English. I originally removed the book, as the GR profile stated an English title as the original... Sorry :-(

Lovely list by the way. I've added heaps of books I own, all written by women, and although I've added English titles, in the 'Why you added this book' section I've added the language the book was originally written in.


message 5: by ``Laurie (new)

``Laurie Marthine wrote: "M. L. wrote: "I'm pretty sure Our Sister Killjoy was originally written in English."

Indeed, I think yr right! A user with goodreads librarian status can remove it for the list. I don't have that,..."


Love this list Marthine.


message 6: by Sanne (new)

Sanne Love this list! I've found so many new books to read here.

I see Americanah by Adichie is in the list as well, but Adichie only writes in English, right?


message 7: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited Mar 11, 2016 01:15PM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Sanne wrote: "I see Americanah by Adichie is in the list as well, but Adichie only writes in English, right?"

She was a Booker Prize nominee with Purple Hibiscus and as far as I know, Americanah was written in English as well, so it shouldn't be on this list.


message 8: by Luke (new)

Luke Is someone ever going to explain to me why calling nonfiction 'literature' is acceptable? All it does is deny realities for the sake of an audience's entertainment, especially when it comes to autobiography and memoirs.


message 9: by Maria Hill (new)

Maria Hill AKA MH Books Booklovinglady wrote: "Sanne wrote: "I see Americanah by Adichie is in the list as well, but Adichie only writes in English, right?"

She was a Booker Prize nominee with Purple Hibiscus an..."


Yes, English is the primary language of Nigeria - it says it in Americanah if you read it!


message 10: by Maria Hill (new)

Maria Hill AKA MH Books For goodness sake Room has been listed. Why would anyone think that was translated into English?


BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Maria wrote: "For goodness sake Room has been listed. Why would anyone think that was translated into English?"

I've removed Room, as you're absolutely right. I've also removed The God of Small Things as that too was originally written in English.


message 12: by Maria Hill (new)

Maria Hill AKA MH Books I really like Room though. It's on my list of best Irish Authors (though Emma lives in Canada now). Never picked up on a God of Small things .


message 13: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited Oct 16, 2016 08:03PM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Maria wrote: "I really like Room though. It's on my list of best Irish Authors (though Emma lives in Canada now). Never picked up on a God of Small things ."

I've read both. You really should try The God of Small Things, as it's marvellous, in my opinion (a friend of mine recommend it to me). It's completely different from Room though, so if you're looking for something similar you'll be disappointed.


message 14: by Maria Hill (new)

Maria Hill AKA MH Books Booklovinglady wrote: "Maria wrote: "I really like Room though. It's on my list of best Irish Authors (though Emma lives in Canada now). Never picked up on a God of Small things ."

I've read both. You really should try ..."


That's good to know. I have it in paperback ready to read amongst quite a few others (I buy them when they are on special in the bookshops). So I will get around to it someday soon I hope. As it happens I am currently reading Emma Donoghue's latest The Wonder . Too early to say if it's any good yet.


message 15: by Juniper (last edited May 21, 2018 07:49PM) (new)

Juniper i removed:

∙ rainbow rowell's Fangirl, as it was originally published in english.
The Story of Beautiful Girl, by rachel simon - also originally published in english.


message 16: by Rita (new)

Rita Gould Should Gilgamesh be here?


message 17: by Rita (new)

Rita Gould My Sister the Serial Killer is written in English.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Where on the list are they? (Makes removing them a lot easier.)


message 19: by Sanne (new)

Sanne My sister the serial killer is no 689
Gilgamesh is no. 734

In the Time of the Butterflies (no 407) is also originally in English

לא רחוק ממרכז העיר (no 421) has no English edition on Goodreads, so does it even qualify for this list?
Same for Saari : pienoisromaani (no 462)

Also: The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night with an anonymous author??? no. 462. same category as the Gilgamesh?


message 20: by Hannah (new)

Hannah My sister the serial killer 299 and pachinko 195 were originally written in English


BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Hannah wrote: "My sister the serial killer 299 and pachinko 195 were originally written in English"

I've removed both of them.


message 22: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited Jan 07, 2021 07:55AM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Sanne wrote: "The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night with an anonymous author??? no. 462. same category as the Gilgamesh?..."

As far as I know, both Gilgamesh and Thousand and One Nights weren't written in English originally.


message 23: by Susanna - Censored by GoodReads (last edited Jan 09, 2021 06:23AM) (new)

Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Gilgamesh couldn't have been written in English; it's one of the oldest literary works in existence (c. 1800 BC).

ETA: Yes, the stories from The Arabian Nights were written in Arabic or Persian.


message 24: by Camelia Rose (new)

Camelia Rose I removed Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth by Xiaolu Guo, which was originally written in English. Xiaolu Guo is a bilingual writer. Her early works were indeed written in Chinese, but not Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth.


message 25: by Andrea (last edited Nov 28, 2022 12:24PM) (new)

Andrea A Man Called Ove was written by a man! (Currently #484 on the list)


message 26: by Camelia Rose (last edited Nov 28, 2022 07:02PM) (new)

Camelia Rose Removed Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie, A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman, and Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. They were written by men.


message 27: by Doc. (new)

Doc. Please remove My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry. It's by a man.


message 28: by Fiona (new)

Fiona 434: Before the Coffee Gets Cold was written by Toshikazu Kawaguchi and he is a man

Also Anna Karina is on the list and Leo Tolstoy is also a man


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