Women Authors

Recently I clicked on a photo gallery on Oprah.com of readers 'favorite women writers.' The list of 30 or so literary femmes included Toni Morrison, Joyce Carol Oates, Margaret Atwood, Barbara Kingsolver, and Jodi Piccoult. I've read books or shot stories from all these ladies and I can see why they are beloved. But I couldn't help but notice that some of my favorite female authors are not on the list. Perhaps it's because I am not in Oprah's target demographic, as I'm still in my 20s and I have no children. But the list is not without it's holes.

First of all, if we're going to look at some of the books that have sold the most copies, it's hard to overlook the powerhouses of J.K. Rowling and Stephanie Meyer. I am not a fan of Meyer's novels by any means, but there's no denying the woman got a bunch of other women to read books. I'm surprised that the cougar demographic didn't list the brain that spawned Edward Cullen as a favorite. I'm even more shocked that there is no mention of the fabulous J.K. Rowling. I know she is sometimes discredited because the books, and subsequently the franchise, are a worldwide phenomenon, but she's seriously a good writer. Her plots are thick, characters are colorful and she's got a knack for descriptive writing.

Speaking of women who wrote powerhouse novels, the big series this year is Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games and it's concluding in August. She was recently named one of Time's 100 Most Influential People and she's nowhere on the list. The absence of Rowling, Meyer and now Collins' leads me to believe that YA is once again being wrongfully ignored. And this irritates me.

Moving away from YA, one of my favorite authors, Jhumpa Lahiri, is not on the list. The woman wrote Interpreter of Maladies and it won a Pulitzer. Then she wrote The Namesake and it was made into a movie. People have loved The Unaccustomed Earth (including this girl right here!) and she's not on the list at all. Hm. Interesting.

You know who else is missing? Amy Tan. Sure, maybe she doesn't publish like she used to, but there's no denying she wrote lots of books that people read and one that stands out to me as a personal favorite from high school, The Joy Luck Club. You'd think that the book that analyzes mother-daughter relationships to the extreme would be right up Oprah readers' alley. But not so I guess.

They also failed to include some of the more 'classic' female authors. I didn't mean go back in time and talk about Jane Austen, but there's no mention of the fabulous Harper Lee, who's still kicking at age 84, and this is a big year for her. Fifty years since To Kill A Mockingbird! Give the girl some love.

While I agree with lots of the names on the list (and never heard of some of the others, but that's okay, I'll just research them more) I can't help but notice glaring omissions that I would have noticed if I was the editor.