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Esquire's 80 Books Every Person Should Read

Per Esquire: What can we say? We messed up. Our list of "80 Books Every Man Should Read," published several years ago, was rightfully called out for its lack of diversity in both authors and titles. So we invited eight female literary powerhouses, from Michiko Kakutani to Anna Holmes to Roxane Gay, to help us create a new list. Each participant made 10 picks. It's a new year, a new Esquire.com. We're looking forward to reading and we hope you are, too.
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The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald)
The Great Gatsby
1
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Beloved (Toni Morrison)
Beloved
2
Toni Morrison
One Hundred Years of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
One Hundred Years of Solitude
3
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
As I Lay Dying (William Faulkner)
As I Lay Dying
4
William Faulkner
Underworld (Don Delillo)
Underworld
5
Don Delillo
Alice Munro: Selected Stories (Alice Munro)
Alice Munro: Selected Stories
6
Alice Munro
Mason and Dixon
Mason and Dixon
7
The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov (Valdimir Nabokov)
The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov
8
Valdimir Nabokov
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Junot Díaz)
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
9
Junot Díaz
A Wrinkle in Time (Madeleine L'engle)
A Wrinkle in Time
10
Madeleine L'engle
Ceremony (Leslie Marmon Silko)
Ceremony
11
Leslie Marmon Silko
The Collected Stories of Grace Paley
The Collected Stories of Grace Paley
12
Middlemarch (George Eliot)
Middlemarch
13
George Eliot
Giovanni's Room (James Baldwin)
Giovanni's Room
14
James Baldwin
Autobiography of Red (Anne Carson)
Autobiography of Red
15
Anne Carson
Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy)
Anna Karenina
16
Leo Tolstoy
The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson (Emily Dickinson)
The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson
17
Emily Dickinson
Leaves of Grass (Walt Whitman)
Leaves of Grass
18
Walt Whitman
So Long, See You Tomorrow
So Long, See You Tomorrow
19
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (Laurence Sterne)
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman
20
Laurence Sterne
In Cold Blood (Truman Capote)
In Cold Blood
21
Truman Capote
Slouching Towards Bethlehem (Joan Didion)
Slouching Towards Bethlehem
22
Joan Didion
Madame Bovary (Gustave Flaubert)
Madame Bovary
23
Gustave Flaubert
Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage (Alice Munro)
Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage
24
Alice Munro
The Collected Stories of Katherine Mansfield (Katherine Mansfield)
The Collected Stories of Katherine Mansfield
25
Katherine Mansfield
The Group (Mary McCarthy)
The Group
26
Mary McCarthy
Lorrie Moore Birds of America
Lorrie Moore Birds of America
27
The God of Small Things (Arundhati Roy)
The God of Small Things
28
Arundhati Roy
Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe)
Things Fall Apart
29
Chinua Achebe
Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)
Frankenstein
30
Mary Shelley
Citizen (Claudia Rankine)
Citizen
31
Claudia Rankine
Balm (Dolen Perkins-Valdez)
Balm
32
Dolen Perkins-Valdez
NW (Zadie Smith)
NW
33
Zadie Smith
Forgotten Country (Catherine Chung)
Forgotten Country
34
Catherine Chung
Play It as It Lays (Joan Didion)
Play It as It Lays
35
Joan Didion
Stone Butch Blues (Leslie Feinberg)
Stone Butch Blues
36
Leslie Feinberg
Possessing the Secret of Joy (Alice Walker)
Possessing the Secret of Joy
37
Alice Walker
The Round House (Louise Erdrich)
The Round House
38
Louise Erdrich
The Age of Innocence (Edith Wharton)
The Age of Innocence
39
Edith Wharton
The Lover (Marguerite Duras)
The Lover
40
Marguerite Duras
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