The Great Books

Because We Say So!

Since 1986, women in our book groups, reading retreats, and book trips select titles for our ongoing list of Great Books. 

These are the books that:

• most intrigued, inspired and stretched them;
• provoked strongest response and discussion;
• were important to have read;
• they want other readers to know about.

Intrigued? We’ve organized our list by publication year, title, author, and genre, and you can check them out below.

How did the “Great Books” come about?

When Glenda Martin decided to expropriate the designation “great book” from the dead white males to whom it traditionally was awarded and to apply it instead to books by women, she acted partly with tongue in cheek. But she also was totally serious.

In 1986 she started offering book groups at Minnesota Women’s Press. These groups would read only women’s works, she said. She was not at all apologetic about limiting the reading to women writers (or, as some skeptics saw it, ignoring men). It was a matter of beginning to right the balance. This was the time when the venerable Great Books Foundation was publishing its own editions of the books it deemed great: 54 volumes, 32,000 pages, 25 million words. Every word a man’s.

This has to change, Glenda said. “We’ll decide for ourselves what books are great.”

What’s Next?

While we’re no longer collecting or adding to the list of Great Books, we instead poll our readers for their favorite books over the course of the calendar year. It’s many of our subscribers’ favorite issue to receive, and inspires their reading and book club choices for the year ahead.