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. Those Beyond the Wall by  (The Space Between Worlds, #2)

    4 stars

    Faced with a coming apocalypse, a woman must reckon with her past to solve a series of sudden and inexplicable …

  2. Akata Witch by 

    4 stars

    Akata Witch (retitled What Sunny Saw in the Flames in Nigeria and the UK) is a 2011 fantasy novel written …

  3. The Mirror Empire by  (The Worldbreaker Saga, #1)

    2 stars

    On the eve of a recurring catastrophic event known to extinguish nations and reshape continents, a troubled orphan evades death …

  4. The Horizontal Man by 

    No rating

    No man was meant to witness this and live

    He told her, "You're not well. I'll wake you home." "No," …

  5. Empire Ascendant by  (The Worldbreaker Saga, #2)

    No rating

    Loyalties are tested when worlds collide…

    Every two thousand years, the dark star Oma appears in the sky, bringing with …

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