Passes the "Bechdel Test" Public

Created by Phil in SF

This list contains books that:

  • have at least two women in them,
  • who talk to each other,
  • about something other than a man.

Wikipedia has a decent intro on the origins of the metric: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bechdel_test

Beware that this test is very limited in probative value. "The Bechdel test only indicates whether women are present in a work of fiction to a certain degree. A work may pass the test and still contain sexist content, and a work with prominent female characters may fail the test." This is just one thing a person may want to consider in their reading. There are many others.

I (@[email protected]) track this in my reading as a check to make sure I am including reading that includes non-token female characters because American publishing often overly focuses on men's stories, and that is quite often reflected even more strongly in what American men choose to read.

  1. A Shadow in Summer by  (Long Price Quartet)

    No rating

    From debut author Daniel Abraham comes A Shadow in Summer, the first book in the Long Price Quartet fantasy series. …

  2. Blindsight by 

    5 stars

    Two months since the stars fell...

    Two months since sixty-five thousand alien objects clenched around the Earth like a luminous …

  3. In the Bleak Midwinter by  (Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne, #1)

    No rating

    It's a cold, snowy December in the upstate New York town of Millers Kill, and newly ordained Clare Fergusson is …

  4. River of Souls by  (River of Souls, #0.5)

    No rating

    Driven by his dreams, Asa will stop at nothing to find Tanja Duhr again: he will leave home, disappoint his …

  5. Assassin's Quest by  (The Farseer Trilogy, #3)

    No rating

    King Shrewd is dead at the hands of his son Regal. As is Fitz—or so his enemies and friends believe. …

  6. The Trap by  (Alias Emma, #3)

    No rating

    She has just one week to stop a killer.

    Emma Makepeace is headed to Edinburgh for the global G7 Summit …

  7. A Fountain Filled With Blood by  (Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne, #2)

    No rating

    In In the Bleak Midwinter, Julia Spencer-Fleming's Malice Domestic-winning first mystery, Reverend Clare Fergusson was quickly introduced to a more …

  8. The Mercy of Gods by  (The Captive's War, #1)

    4 stars

    HOW HUMANITY CAME TO THE PLANET CALLED ANJIIN IS LOST IN THE FOG OF HISTORY, BUT THAT HISTORY IS ABOUT …

  9. Red Mars by  (Mars Trilogy, #1)

    3 stars

    For centuries, the barren, desolate landscape of the red planet has beckoned to humankind. Now a group of one hundred …

  10. The Wall by  (Sumer, #1)

    No rating

    ‘Imagine a horizon.’

    ‘I can’t.’

    Mithila’s world is bound by a Wall enclosing the city of Sumer — nobody goes …

  11. Dream Count by 

    3 stars

    Chiamaka is a Nigerian travel writer living in America. Alone in the midst of the pandemic, she recalls her past …

  12. The Martian Contingency by  (Lady Astronaut, #4)

    4 stars

    Years after a meteorite strike obliterated Washington, DC—triggering an extinction-level global-warming event—Earth’s survivors have started an international effort to establish …

  13. "C" is for Corpse by  (Kinsey Millhone, #3)

    3 stars

    After a near-fatal car accident, a young man asks Kinsey to protect him. When he is promptly murdered, Kinsey vows …

  14. Elder Race by 

    4 stars

    Lynesse is the lowly Fourth Daughter of the queen, and always getting in the way.

    But a demon is terrorizing …

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