48 of the Best Books by Women Authors to Read in Your Lifetime

"Beloved" by Toni Morrison ($20, originally $28)

This one will wreck you, but it will be worth it. Toni Morrison's "Beloved" is a clear-eyed reckoning with slavery and the hell that it rained on Black American women and families — even those who had escaped to freedom in the north. At times surreal, with elements of horror, this is one of the most incredible works of literature from the 20th century.