A nice little resource. Sadly it was only published once, so it's way out of date and ends with a few books published in 1993.

 

Divided by theme, there are blurbs from a panel of contributors (all female) about 500 books: everything from Autobiography/memoir to oral histories, novels and nonfiction.

 

There are cross-referenced indices and lists at the beginning of every theme. Included are lists of books by women of color living in the US and a "list of some books about lesbian and gay people." Clearly time has not been kind to this particular listing, and that's the issue. The areas covered are way too broad, the 1990s overrepresented and marginalized people are just barely creeping into consciousness in 1993-94.

 

I truly wish someone would update this particular reference, but until then it's handy for finding books and authors I may otherwise have missed.

Like the title says: 500 books written by women, organized into categories like Art, Mothers and Mothering, Conflicting Cultures, and Work (21 categories in total). The types of books recommended are delightfully varied: novels, short stories, essays, memoir, spanning time and location. An effort is made to include minority authors as well as lesser known works by great authors although many standards are included. The reviews are trenchant and meaty, summarizing the plot and the reason for inclusion in the chapter. One of the criteria for inclusion in this book was availability--the authors only recommended books that were in-print when this book was published (1994). Sadly, 10 years later, many of these books are out-of-print and difficult to find--my one complaint. There are nice indices included that sort the books into other categories: date, genre, region, even sexuality or race. Unfortunately, it does not appear this volume will be updated and reissued, but even now, it is a lovely resource for someone looking for a good book.