FeministReadingList_Hero-Desktop_Penguin

Reading lists

The ultimate feminist books reading list

IWD_1800x1200-Main-Image_Penguin.jpg

Must-read books by women, as chosen by our readers

caitlin_ac1.jpg

Interviews

Caitlin Moran: ‘I thought I’d marry Douglas Adams’

Inline-image-funny-women-books.jpg

7 extremely funny books written by women

caitlin-moran-moranifesto-extract-788×306.jpg

Features

Caitlin Moran: how books made me a feminist

What About Men?

'A must-read eye-opener that makes you laugh, cry, get angry and get happy on every page. It's magnificent' Bob Mortimer 
 
All the statistics agree: there has never been a more difficult time to be a teenage boy. And, therefore, there has never been a more difficult time to be the parent of a teenage boy. 
Failing in education; facing a hopeless jobs market; getting their sexual education from violent pornography; and being endlessly targeted by online influencers who, yes, tell them to make their beds, and go to the gym - but also push dodgy cryptocurrency schemes, and think the best place for a woman is ‘working in a Romanian sex-dungeon’. 
What About Men? opens with a group of angry teenage boys claiming feminism has ‘gone too far’, and asks: what do boys actually mean when they say that? Are all angry boys, underneath everything, scared? What happens when your son becomes a fan of Andrew Tate? And why do one-in-ten gym-going boys say they’ve felt ‘suicidal’ about their bodies? 
Having spent a decade writing about women, girls, and their problems, Caitlin Moran found that, in reality, boys and girls have more in common than they think. Women have spent decades trying to feel better about their bodies; trying to find positive role-models; and feeling angry, and scared, about their place in the world. If feminism has ‘gone too far’ is it because we have started to solve these problems? And, if so, what can boys, and men, learn from this? 
Both laugh-out-loud funny and devastatingly truthful, What About Men? is the essential handbook on 21st century masculinity: the birth-to-death guide on how to help boys rebel against anger, cynicism, misogyny and despair, and find the joy in being a boy.

'A must-read eye-opener that makes you laugh, cry, get angry and get happy on every page. It's magnificent' Bob MortimerAll the statistics agree: there has never been a more difficult time to be a teenage boy. And, therefore, there has never been a more difficult time to be the parent of a teenage boy.Failing in education; facing a hopeless jobs market; getting their sexual education from violent pornography; and being endlessly targeted by online influencers who, yes, tell them to make their beds, and go to the gym - but also push dodgy cryptocurrency schemes, and think the best place for a woman is ‘working in a Romanian sex-dungeon’.What About Men? opens with a group of angry teenage boys claiming feminism has ‘gone too far’, and asks: what do boys actually mean when they say that? Are all angry boys, underneath everything, scared? What happens when your son becomes a fan of Andrew Tate? And why do one-in-ten gym-going boys say they’ve felt ‘suicidal’ about their bodies?Having spent a decade writing about women, girls, and their problems, Caitlin Moran found that, in reality, boys and girls have more in common than they think. Women have spent decades trying to feel better about their bodies; trying to find positive role-models; and feeling angry, and scared, about their place in the world. If feminism has ‘gone too far’ is it because we have started to solve these problems? And, if so, what can boys, and men, learn from this?Both laugh-out-loud funny and devastatingly truthful, What About Men? is the essential handbook on 21st century masculinity: the birth-to-death guide on how to help boys rebel against anger, cynicism, misogyny and despair, and find the joy in being a boy.

More Than a Woman

The instant Sunday Times number one bestseller

The follow-up to the international bestseller and multi-award-winning How To Be a Woman, with Caitlin exploring the lives of older women in her inimitable style.

I adore, admire and - more - am addicted to Caitin Moran's writing

This book is a hilarious memoir, a passionate polemic, and a moving manifesto on how to be a decent person and try, in the face of countless stresses, to live a full open-hearted, joyous life

She writes with such heartening VIM and warmth about all the important stuff. More Than A Woman is my FRIEND, untangling a lot of my confusion about doing feminism right

Exceptionally brilliant and powerful. Her new book is incredible - I shrieked with laughter throughout and probably cried solidly for the last 30 pages. She is simply one of the most significant people of her generation. Her writing has helped so many.

I wish I'd read Caitlin Moran's More Than A Woman 40 years ago. But like with the tree-planting, the second best time is now. You just have to.

One of very few who can write inspirationally without becoming platitudinous. Her prose is so lucid and personal and funny you don't even notice that what you're reading is a manifesto.

Warning - you won't sleep until you've inhaled every single word ... BUY IT IMMEDIATELY

More Than a Woman examines middle age, motherhood, sex and, of course, feminism all with Moran's signature wit.

THE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER 
 
'Exceptionally brilliant and powerful' Marina Hyde 
 
'This book is a hilarious memoir, a passionate polemic, and a moving manifesto on how to be a decent person and try, in the face of countless stresses, to live a full open-hearted, joyous life' Sunday Times 
 
A decade ago, Caitlin Moran thought she had it all figured out. Her instant bestseller How to Be a Woman was a game-changing take on feminism, the patriarchy, and the general 'hoo-ha' of becoming a woman. Back then, she firmly believed 'the difficult bit' was over, and her forties were going to be a doddle. 
 
If only she had known: when middle age arrives, a whole new bunch of tough questions need answering. Why isn't there such a thing as a 'Mum Bod'? How did sex get boring? What are men really thinking? Where did all that stuff in the kitchen drawers come from? Can feminists have Botox? Why has wine turned against you? How can you tell the difference between a Teenage Micro-Breakdown, and The Real Thing? Has feminism gone too far? And, as always, WHO'S LOOKING AFTER THE CHILDREN? 
 
Now with ageing parents, teenage daughters, a bigger bum and a To-Do list without end, Caitlin Moran is back with More Than A Woman: a guide to growing older, a manifesto for change, and a celebration of all those middle-aged women who keep the world turning.

How To Be a Woman Quick Reads 2021

It's a good time to be a woman: we have the vote and the Pill, and we haven't been burnt as witches since 1727. But a few nagging questions remain... 
 
Why are we supposed to get Brazilians? Should we use Botox? Do men secretly hate us? And why does everyone ask you when you're going to have a baby? 
 
Part memoir, part protest, Caitlin answers the questions that every modern woman is asking.

How To Be a Woman

Listen to the brand new dramatisation of How To Be a Woman, narrated by Caitlin herself, as part of BBC Radio 4's Riot Girls season 
 
Selected by Emma Watson for her feminist book club ‘Our Shared Shelf’ 
 
 
It's a good time to be a woman: we have the vote and the Pill, and we haven't been burnt as witches since 1727. However, a few nagging questions do remain... 
 
Why are we supposed to get Brazilians? Should we use Botox? Do men secretly hate us? And why does everyone ask you when you're going to have a baby? 
 
Part memoir, part rant, Caitlin answers the questions that every modern woman is asking.

How to Build a Girl

The Sunday Times Number One coming-of-age bestseller from the author of How To Be a Woman - soon to be a major motion picture.

Brilliantly observed, thrillingly rude and laugh-out-loud funny

An entertaining read, with Moran in fine voice – hilarious, wild, imaginative and highly valuable…Moran is in danger of becoming to female masturbation what Keats was to Nightingales…

A Portnoy's Complaint for girls… when I see this book described as "laugh-out-loud funny" I feel affronted; it could make you laugh out loud with one hand tied behind its back, while wanking itself off to fantasies of Satan. Laughing out loud is just the start

spirited coming of age novel romps from strength to strength…I’m a Moran fan

Moran also writes brilliantly about music, and especially about what music can do. She carries Johanna through this novel with incredible verve, extravagant candour, and a lot of heart. Johanna is … a wonderful heroine. A heroine who cares, who bravely sallies forth and makes things happen, who gives of herself, who is refreshingly unashamed. She’s so confident, it’s glorious

there’s so much real feeling too. Johanna’s vulnerability and bravado, as she moves out of her world and falls in love is beautifully done’ or ‘ and running through it all, with a visceral power that most writers should envy, is the shame and grinding anxiety of being poor

This isn’t a sleek, slick novel, but it is a rambunctious, raw-edged, silly-profound and deeply relatable guide to what your worst mistakes can teach you, and it has much to offer teenagers both actual and inner

Binge-read all of #HowToBuildAGirl in one sitting. Even missed supper. A first

She writes with breathtaking brio…Moran shows her shining soul — which is even more remarkable than her wit — when she writes about being young, looking for love and the utter vileness of the class system . . .almost every page has something on it which makes you smile, makes you sad or makes you think — often all three at once, in one sentence

A riotous read with jokes galore cut through with lightly handled serious observations about the nature of poverty and the challenges of emerging female sexuality. It is also stunningly rude…

Exuberant, funny coming-of-age tale with a highly-literate, resourceful Wolverhampton teen at its centre. As building girls goes this is one alternative instruction manual every woman should read

The self-conscious agonies of precocious yet sensitive Dolly ring painfully true, while the witty sex scenes, boozy anecdotes and one-liners make this great fun…

An exuberant coming of age novel in DMs and ripped tights

So funny it hurts. How to Build a Girl is Adrian Mole meets Fear of Flying. I predict they’ll be tears a plenty – both of laughter and excruciating recognition – on sun-loungers this summer

Moran is a brilliantly funny writer, and How To Build A Girl is brimful of jokes

This very British (and very naughty) coming-of-age novel will have you in literal hysterics!

terrific - funny, honest and deliciously rude

This is going to be a bestseller…A sharp, hilarious and controversial read

I laughed aloud at this funny, outrageous story of a girl from Wolverhampton council estate who reinvents herself as Dolly Wilde

as irreverent, amusing and vibrant as Moran herself

rowdy and fearless ... sloppy, big-hearted and alive in all the right ways

Ms. Moran['s] ... funny and cheerfully dirty coming-of-age novel has a hard kernel of class awareness ... sloppy, big-hearted and alive in all the right ways.

This is going to be a bestseller…A sharp, hilarious and controversial read

Soon to be a major film directed by Coky Giedroyc and starring Ladybird's Beanie Feldstein as Johanna Morrigan and Game of Thrones's Alfie Allen as John Kite 
 
My name’s Johanna Morrigan. I’m fourteen, and I’ve just decided to kill myself. 
 
I don’t really want to die, of course! I just need to kill Johanna, and build a new girl. Dolly Wilde will be everything I want to be, and more! But as with all the best coming-of-age stories, it doesn’t exactly go to plan… 
 
A Number One Sunday Times bestseller in hardback and paperback, from the award-winning and Sunday Times bestselling author of How to Be a Woman.

Are Men Obsolete?

A witty and enlightening debate on gender from four of our most talented feminist writers and critics

‘Men are so last century. They seem to have stopped evolving. The Mad Men world is disappearing and the guys are struggling to figure out the altered parameters of manliness.’ 
Maureen Dowd 
 
‘Do women get anything from men being obsolete? Do we win by triumphing in work, education, the economy, politics and business, while retaining homemaking and child rearing? If that happened then we will be doing everything! Are men obsolete? No! I won’t let you be you f*****s!’ 
Caitlin Moran 
 
Are Men Obsolete is an essential and entertaining read for anyone interested in what happens next in the great gender discussion. Maureen Dowd, Caitlin Moran, Camille Paglia and Hanna Roisin debate whether modern man is past his sell-by-date, and, if so, what does that mean for women?

How to be Famous

The Sunday Times Number One bestseller from the author of How to Build a Girl about a young woman making it in a world where men hold all the power.

Who better than Caitlin Moran to bring fame down to earth with a bump

HELEN FIELDING, bestselling author of Bridget Jones's Diary

It's quite a ride, this book. It's laugh-out-loud funny, sweetly romantic and fiercely angry. Often all at once ... beautifully written

A deeply satisfying tale of sex, drugs, britpop, unrequited love, London, and a narrator I completely adore. This is funny, philosophical, and poignant in equal measure. Glorious and life-enhancing

Brilliantly funny, caustic social commentary with the best-wish fulfilment revenge scene I've read, like, ever

A rollicking fantasy which leaves a rosy afterglow

A glorious life-affirming love letter to teenage girls, pop music, best friends and that one guy you'll never get enough of

Moran's words are, as always, kind, tender and achingly funny. This is a real love letter to teenage girls and North London - if this book was a popstar I'd be putting its posters up on my wall and doodling its name all over my Maths book

DAISY BUCHANAN, bestselling author of How To Be A Grown-Up

On every page you'll find yourself tits-deep in word treasure. A filthy, gutsy, exhilarating call to arms

EMMA-JANE UNSWORTH, bestselling author of Animals

A machete-sharp follow up [to How to Build a Girl] ... boasts a rogue's gallery of brilliant characters familiar to anyone who has ever read the NME

The dazzlingly gifted Moran makes mythic the maligned, misunderstood, momentous 1990s. Prose crackling and fizzing with charm, mischief and passion, she is the sharpest, funniest, most influential writer of her generation, which is also my generation, annoyingly

This gloriously rude, rambunctious read, finds Moran applauding the much-maligned music choices of teenage girls, figuring out the rules of how to be famous and celebrating the importance of getting good and angry about the rubbish stuff that happens to young women

Funny feminist Johanna Morrigan is back...a rude, raucous and necessary book

A fist-pumping celebration of being female. In the same way that many of us will have recognised our twenty-year-old selves in Cat Person, most women will see something of their teenage sexual encounters in this book

An electric roundhouse kick to the heart. Warm, piercing, sexy and fucking hilarious

LAUREN BEUKES, bestselling author of The Shining Girls

As you'd expect from award-winning Moran, this book is brash, razor-sharp and full of heart

The Sunday Times bestselling Richard &amp; Judy Book Club favourite 
 
'Being Moran, the jokes and one-liners fizz and crackle off the page' Richard's Review 
 
'As usual, Moran writes fearlessly, openly, honestly and incredibly funnily about sex - especially bad sex' Judy's Review 
 
___________________________ 
 
I'm Johanna Morrigan. It's 1995. I'm nineteen and I live in the epicentre of Britpop. Parklife! 
 
My unrequited love, John Kite, is busy with a Number One album, world-tour, drugs, and a nervous breakdown. 
 
So, I've started hanging out with hot young comedian Jerry Sharp. Big mistake. 
 
"He's a vampire," my friend Suzanne warns. "One of those men who destroys bright young girls. Also, he's a total dick." 
 
Unfortunately, I've already had sex with him. Bad sex. And now, I'm one of the girls he is trying to destroy. 
 
I know I have to stop him. But how does one girl fight a famous, powerful man? 
 
A novel about friendship, feminism and finding your place in the world.

A BBC Radio 4 dramatisation

How To Be A Woman

A dramatisation of Caitlin Moran's bestseller

A dramatisation of Caitlin Moran's bestseller, the book that brought feminism into the mainstream again. 
 
Adapted and narrated by Caitlin Moran, this brand new radio adaptation intersperses dramatised scenes from Moran's life (from her teenage years in a crowded council house in Wolverhampton, to setting out as a music journalist, to getting married and having children) with her thoughts on subjects that range from the necessity of big knickers, to the experience of giving birth and having an abortion. 
 
Provocative, controversial and very funny - this book is the gateway drug to the feminist resurgence. 
 
Produced by Mary Peate

Moranifesto

A revolutionary collection from the award-winning columnist and bestselling author of How to Be a Woman and How to Build a Girl

She is one of the most astute social commentators hitting a keyboard today ... guaranteed to brighten up anyone's life

the joy of Moran’s writing lies in how she combines thoughtfulness and intelligence with proper belly laughs.

‘I’ve lived through ten iOS upgrades on my Mac – and that’s just something I use to muck about on Twitter. Surely capitalism is due an upgrade or two?’ 
 
When Caitlin Moran sat down to choose her favourite pieces for her new book she realised that they all seemed to join up. Turns out, it’s the same old problems and the same old ass-hats. 
 
Then she thought of the word ‘Moranifesto’, and she knew what she had to do… 
 
This is Caitlin’s engaging and amusing rallying call for our times. Combining the best of her recent columns with lots of new writing unique to this book, Caitlin deals with topics as pressing and diverse as 1980s swearing, benefits, boarding schools, and why the internet is like a drunken toddler. 
 
And whilst never afraid to address the big issues of the day – such as Benedict Cumberbatch and duffel coats – Caitlin also makes a passionate effort to understand our 21st century society and presents us with her ‘Moranifesto’ for making the world a better place. 
 
The polite revolution starts here! Please.

The Chronicles Of Narmo

Before the woman came the girl - Caitlin Moran's hilarious debut novel, inspired by her own childhood and written when she was just fifteen years old.

Fifteen-year-old Morag Narmo really doesn't want to go to school any more. She and her siblings would rather feed their heads into the waste-disposal unit than "do the academical". So they are all stunned when their parents whisk them out of school and embark on a home-schooling experiment. But with five children, two unruly pets and some extremely eccentric attitudes, the educational experiment soon descends into chaos... 
 
Witty, razor-sharp and laugh-out-loud funny, The Chronicles of Narmo show us how before Caitlin Moran knew How to be a Woman, she had to find out How to be a Girl.

Moranthology

Britain’s most talented, award-winning and bestselling columnist collected here for the very first time

Hilarious [and] sharply intelligent ... she is one of the most astute social commentators hitting a keyboard today ... guaranteed to brighten up anyone's life

As insightful and every bit as funny as her last book, but with broader range

She is a brilliant, brilliant writer

Properly funny, naughty and admirably no-nonsense, it’s every bit as brilliant as you’d expect

I adore, admire and am addicted to Caitlin Moran's writing

Columns Volume Three

Caitlin Moran

A life-changer and a minor bible for our times

A bloody wonderful book. A book of hope in these seemingly hopeless, doom-ridden times. Caitlin has magically caught the zeitgeist, turned it into a nail and then knocked it on the head. I found myself laughing and crying in equal measure: it is so resonant, so of this moment. I felt lighter and happier for having read it.

This might just be the best "wellbeing" book I've ever read. It made me laugh, cry, and reflect deeply on the last decade of anxiety-inducing internet life. Caitlin has done what she does best: holding up a mirror to some of our harshest modern realities with playful storytelling, wit, and wonder. This book made me realise just how unkind so many of us have been to ourselves in this fast-paced, status-obsessed world. It reminded me that we might all be better off spending more time sitting in the garden, watching the birds... and maybe even buying a Streetmaster Pro.

Emma Gannon, author of 'The Success Myth' and 'The Creative Compass'

Tina Fey, Chelsea Handler, and Lena Dunham, all rolled into one.

If you don’t know who Caitlin Moran is, it may be time to find out.

My year of living joyfully

Not getting enough sleep, doomscrolling on your phone, and feeling acid anxiety every time you watch the news? You’re not alone. One morning, Caitlin Moran lay in bed and realised: she had finally reached Peak Despair. The point where, in books and movies, the heroine decides to move to a remote farmhouse, walk an ancient, 600-mile pathway, or adopt a baby hare. The moment where someone goes on a quest to find … hope.But this - this is not that kind of book. Caitlin tried - but it turns out remote Welsh farmhouses are really expensive. No-one with a job can walk 600 miles. And it’s incredibly hard to get access to baby hares in Crouch End.And so, Caitlin decides instead to go on a domestic quest. To see if you can stay in the same house, in the same neighbourhood, but feel better about the frantic modern world by trying to make better days. Leaving social media, eschewing 24/7 news for local newspapers, sitting on buses without headphones, and listening to what people are really saying. Picking litter, donating blood, rewilding a garden, and the hardest thing of all - learning to fall back in love with the world again.Over the course of a year, Caitlin finds that life can be radically transformed when you rebel against the news cycle and algorithms that want to keep us angry, adrenalised, and anxious. You can’t change the world - but you can change your days. And, once you’ve changed your days, maybe you could change the world. Just a little bit. 
 
Being hopeful is a decision. How To Be Hopeful is the diary of how one person made that change.

Caitlin Moran

Praise for How to Be Hopeful

A life-changer and a minor bible for our times

Profound, funny and true

A bloody wonderful book. A book of hope in these seemingly hopeless, doom-ridden times. Caitlin has magically caught the zeitgeist, turned it into a nail and then knocked it on the head. I found myself laughing and ...

A life-changer and a minor bible for our times

Profound, funny and true

A bloody wonderful book. A book of hope in these seemingly hopeless, doom-ridden times. Caitlin has magically caught the zeitgeist, turned it into a nail and then knocked it on the head. I found myself laughing and ...

A life-changer and a minor bible for our times

Profound, funny and true

A bloody wonderful book. A book of hope in these seemingly hopeless, doom-ridden times. Caitlin has magically caught the zeitgeist, turned it into a nail and then knocked it on the head. I found myself laughing and ...

Books by Caitlin Moran

Articles featuring Caitlin Moran

The ultimate feminist books reading list

Must-read books by women, as chosen by our readers

Caitlin Moran: ‘I thought I’d marry Douglas Adams’

7 extremely funny books written by women

Caitlin Moran: how books made me a feminist

Videos

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter

Praise for How to Be Hopeful

A life-changer and a minor bible for our times

Profound, funny and true

A bloody wonderful book. A book of hope in these seemingly hopeless, doom-ridden times. Caitlin has magically caught the zeitgeist, turned it into a nail and then knocked it on the head. I found myself laughing and ...

A life-changer and a minor bible for our times

Profound, funny and true

A bloody wonderful book. A book of hope in these seemingly hopeless, doom-ridden times. Caitlin has magically caught the zeitgeist, turned it into a nail and then knocked it on the head. I found myself laughing and ...

A life-changer and a minor bible for our times

Profound, funny and true

A bloody wonderful book. A book of hope in these seemingly hopeless, doom-ridden times. Caitlin has magically caught the zeitgeist, turned it into a nail and then knocked it on the head. I found myself laughing and ...

Books by Caitlin Moran

Sign up to the Caitlin Moran newsletter

Articles featuring Caitlin Moran

The ultimate feminist books reading list

Must-read books by women, as chosen by our readers

Caitlin Moran: ‘I thought I’d marry Douglas Adams’

Videos

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter