So the very first comment on my last post made me realize that not only had I not included a single female author on my list of books that made men more attractive, I also responded to the idea of a guy reading Jane Austen (and quite a few other female authors I like) with a knee-jerk reaction of “He’s trying too hard”. Which is appallingly sexist. To rectify the situation, here is my list of female authors I would be delighted to see a man reading:
- Joan Didion (The original Paris Review blog post was right on the money with this one)
- Banana Yoshimoto
- Yoko Ogawa
- Toni Morrison
- Shirley Jackson
- Lois-Ann Yamanaka
- Maybe Ursula Le Guin? I’ve only read two of her books (and only really liked one), but she hits the right combination of smart, geeky, and socially conscious.
Oh, and honey, if you’re reading this, don’t worry. You know I think Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and all those zombie books are totally sexy.
Barbary Prose 
If you haven’t read her, you also might consider Jhumpa Lahiri. I’m a guy, but she is my favorite writer. She’s on the shelf right next to Abraham Lincoln – Vampire Hunter. And really, these days if a guy has a phone book on his shelf, any book at all, doesn’t that put him ahead of the crowd? 🙂
I’m reading a lot of Nora Ephron these days…
That’s actually a pretty good one, although I haven’t read anything of hers myself.. been meaning to, though!