Passes the "Bechdel Test" Public

Created and curated 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 (@kingrat@sfba.club) 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. In the Bleak Midwinter (Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne, #1)

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

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

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

  3. Assassin's Quest by  (Farseer Trilogy (3))

    From an extraordinary new voice in fantasy comes the stunning conclusion to the Farseer trilogy, as FitzChivalry confronts his destiny …

  4. The Trap by  (Alias Emma, #3)

    She has just one week to stop a killer.

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

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

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

  6. The Mercy of Gods by 

    How humanity came to the planet called Anjiin is lost in the fog of history, but that history is about …

  7. Red Mars by 

    In his most ambitious project to date, award-winning author Kim Stanley Robinson utilizes years of research and cutting-edge science in …

  8. 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 …

  9. Dream Count by 

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

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

    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 …

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

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

  12. Elder Race by 

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

    But a demon is terrorizing …

  13. The Treatment by  (Jack Caffery, #2)

    In a quiet residential area in London, a couple is discovered bound and imprisoned in their own home. Savagely battered …

  14. The Nigerwife by 

    No rating

    Nicole Oruwari has the perfect life: a hand­some husband; a palatial house in the heart of glittering Lagos, Nigeria; and …

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