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 (@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 …

  1. 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 …

  2. 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 …

  3. 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 …

  4. 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 …

  5. How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by  (Dark Lord Davi, #1)

    Groundhog Day meets Deadpool in Django Wexler’s raunchy, hilarious, blood-splattered fantasy tale about a young woman who, tired of defending …

  6. 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 …

  7. 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 — …

  8. Dream Count by 

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

  9. Red Mars by  (Mars, #1)

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

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

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

  11. Elder Race by 

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

    But a demon is …

  12. 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 …

  13. 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 …

  14. Trouble in Queenstown by  (The Vandy Myrick Mysteries, #1)

    With Trouble in Queenstown, Delia Pitts introduces private investigator Vandy Myrick in a powerful mystery that blends grief, class, race, …

  15. 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 …

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