Margaret Atwood
Author, Inventor
Margaret Eleanor Atwood CC OOnt CH FRSC FRSL is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, and inventor.
Margaret Atwood's 124 Book Recommendations
- Guns, Germs, and Steel: “One of the classic non-fictions is Rats, Lice, and History, by Hans Zinnser. Guns, Germs and Steel also does pandemics”
- Saving Us: “A must-read if we're serious about enacting positive change from the ground up, in communities, and through human connections & human emotions.”
- In the Lateness of the World: “OK, new poetry book: IN THE LATENESS OF THE WORLD, by wonderful @carolynforche, her first poetry book in 17 years.”
- The Flu Pandemic and You: “This 2006 book by @VincentLam and @ColinLee about #pandemics is just as relevant today... Sage, calm, realistic words by an epidemiologist and a Toronto doctor who was there for SARS...”
- Rats, Lice and History: “One of the classic non-fictions is Rats, Lice, and History, by Hans Zinnser.”
- The Bronte Myth: “On subject of Brontes: Lucasta Miller's book about the fall and rise of their literary reputations is fascinating”
- Memorial Drive: “How Natasha Trethewey Remembers Her Mother... A heartbreaking book.”
- 1491: “Guns, Germs and Steel also does pandemics, as does 1491: about what the Americas were like before (and during) the wipeout caused by European microbes + viruses.”
- Dance of the Happy Shades: “I read Alice's book with great appreciation — I thought "Dance of the Happy Shades" and "The Peace of Utrecht" were particularly brilliant.”
- Away: “Jane Urquhart, author of the magic Away”
- Songs My Mother Taught Me: “Audrey Thomas, author of the excellent Songs my Mother Taught Me”
- Merde!: The Real French You Were Never Taught at School: “there's an excellent book called Merde about swears. Get most recent version. :)”
- The Turn of the Screw and The Aspern Papers: “Or such masterpieces of the weird as "Whistle and I'll Come to You" (M. R. James), or "The Turn of the Screw" (Henry James), or "The Martian" (Ray Bradbury)?”
- Lives of Girls and Women: “The next big book by Alice was the spectacular Lives of Girls and Women (1971).”
- Birds of America: Stories: “Shall it be Alice Munro, Mavis Gallant, or one of a large number of younger practitioners, such as "Birds of America" story writer Lorrie Moore, or Kelly Link ("Get in Trouble"), or Lynn Coady ("Hellgoing")?”
- Get in Trouble: Stories: “Shall it be Alice Munro, Mavis Gallant, or one of a large number of younger practitioners, such as "Birds of America" story writer Lorrie Moore, or Kelly Link ("Get in Trouble"), or Lynn Coady ("Hellgoing")?”
- Hellgoing: Stories: “Shall it be Alice Munro, Mavis Gallant, or one of a large number of younger practitioners, such as "Birds of America" story writer Lorrie Moore, or Kelly Link ("Get in Trouble"), or Lynn Coady ("Hellgoing")?”
- Carrie: “Congratulations to Stephen King on the 50th anniversary edition of Carrie, his breakthrough novel! New intro by Moi!”
- Murdered Midas: “First in a series of eccentric #booklists. This one: #truecrime, Canada.”
- The Missing Millionaire: “First in a series of eccentric #booklists. This one: #truecrime, Canada.”
- The Billionaire Murders: “First in a series of eccentric #booklists. This one: #truecrime, Canada.”
- The Golden Boy of Crime: “First in a series of eccentric #booklists. This one: #truecrime, Canada.”
- Blamed and Broken: “First in a series of eccentric #booklists. This one: #truecrime, Canada.”
- Empire of Wild: “is a rip-roaring read!”
- American War: “the terrific dystopian novel, American War”
- The Strangers: “her intense, double-bladed novel”
- First to Leave the Party: “his captivating memoir-ish book”
- Song of Solomon: “I'll read a chapter from one of her most influential books and a personal favorite, Song of Solomon.”
- Weeds: In Defense of Nature's Most Unloved Plants: “Go Botanists! I almost became one & my parents were rather disappointed I didn’t. Recommending Richard Maybe’s book WEEDS.”
- The Wren, The Wren: “Gritty, sad, sly, riotous – Anne Enright’s THE WREN, THE WREN (@wwnorton @penguinrandom Sept. 23) takes the p*ss out of much, including #Irish #poets, mother+father+sister-hoods, bad+good sex +more, in gem-packed language that fizzes like a sidewalk firecracker. Must-read!”
- The Transgender Issue: An Argument for Justice: “And recommending: @ShonFaye The Transgender Issue: An Argument For Justice @AllenLaneBooks (U.K. mostly but very thorough)”
- The World Turned Upside Down: A History of the Chinese Cultural Revolution: “Now I will promote The World Turned Upside Down. Terrific account of the Red Guards, & power struggles in Mao’s China.”
- Blood in the Water: A True Story of Revenge in the Maritimes: “Fascinating! BLOOD IN THE WATER, by the late Silver Donald Cameron. A murder in rural #NovaScotia provides deep insights into how communities work: how they succeed, +how they can fail. Must-read for all concerned about how humans manage to live together.”
- Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All: “DARE TO SPEAK: Defending Free Speech for All, by Suzanne Nossel. Should all speech be free? If not, who controls it? This brave, wise, succinct book is a must-read for writers, speakers, teachers, journalists, and, well, anyone who talks.”
- Catch and Kill: “Must read: CATCH AND KILL, by Ronan Farrow. How #sexualabuse stories got suppressed, and how deep-diving, fact-gathering reporting blew the lid off, despite threats, intimidation, and cronymongering at the top. Chilling!”
- A Primer for Forgetting: “Terrific new book on memory+ forgetting by the unique Lewis Hyde, author of The Gift.. A Primer for Forgetting: Getting Past the Past.”
- The Uninhabitable Earth: “Must-read: David Wallace-Wells, The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming.”
- The False White Gospel: “Reclaiming the true center of #Christianity from those who’ve been using it for their own sinister purposes. A must read for anyone trying to get a grip on the religio-political power struggles going on in the #USA today.”
- At a Loss for Words: Conversation in an Age of Rage: “A Must-Read in our times.... you can't talk to people if words have been bleached of meaning.”
- The Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World: “I recommend Lewis Hyde’s book The Gift to anyone talking to me about being a writer, or indeed an artist of any kind, as it spells out the difference between the “gift” economy – artists are “gifted” – and the money economy.”
- 1984: “No question that George Orwell’s 1984—read by me as a young adolescent—was key to my understanding of how totalitarianisms of any kind operate—resulting, much later and after much more dystopia-reading, in my writing of The Handmaid’s Tale.”
- Yours, For Probably Always: Martha Gellhorn's Letters of Love and War 1930-1949: “The letters of the intrepid and passionate war correspondent, Martha Gellhorn – collected by Janet Somerville in Yours, For Probably Always – written during the Spanish Civil War and WWII – have an immediacy and fluency that’s very up close and appealing.”
- Getting to Yes: “The negotiating handbook, Getting to Yes. Every young person needs this to help them come to fair agreements on just about everything.”
- Dracula (Original Edition): “I’m going for Dracula, because it’s not only an arresting title in itself, it’s an integral part of the book.”
- Bunny: “Mona Awad’s hilarious and creepy novel Bunny.”
- The Speckled Monster: A Historical Tale of Battling Smallpox: “The Speckled Monster: A Historical Tale of Battling Smallpox by Jennifer Lee Carrell. Fascinating, and so timely – including the impulse to hang the advocates of inoculation (later to become vaccination).”
- Moby Dick: “I’m sticking with Moby Dick. Three words: Call me Ishmael. Why? Why is he using a pseudonym?”
- The Lord of the Rings: “Whenever things are very tense in the outside world I crawl under the bed and read Lord of the Rings. It’s tense in there too, but we know how it comes out!”
- Mona in the Promised Land: “A lot of books, but right now Gish Jen, Mona in the Promised Land. Generational and cultural conflict with 1,000 twists!”
- The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America: “Thomas King, The Inconvenient Indian. Because it would really help them understand what is at stake in Native North American protests… the backstory, or a good chunk of it.”
- War: How Conflict Shaped Us: “Margaret MacMillan’s War: How Conflict Shaped Us. Yes, war is icky, but that’s no reason not to study it, universities. In fact it’s a very good reason TO study it.”
- Beloved: “Toni Morrison’s Beloved. I’m biased because I reviewed it when it first came out and was gripped by it then, but it stands up… history, a ghost story, a deep plunge through the near-present into the past that has shaped it.”
- And Then There Were None: “Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. I didn’t guess the murderer.”
- The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times: “Jane Goodall’s The Book of Hope. If she can be hopeful considering all she knows about the threatened biosphere and species loss, then so can we.”
- The Wordhord: Daily Life in Old English: “Right now I have The Wordhord: Daily Life in Old English in the bathroom. It’s very soothing.”
- The Ghost of the Mary Celeste: “I read a lot of contemporary fiction and one novel I love is The Ghost Of The Mary Celeste.”
- Pride and Prejudice: “Two books that made a big impact on me as a teenager were Pride And Prejudice by Jane Austen and Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë.”
- Wuthering Heights: “Two books that made a big impact on me as a teenager were Pride And Prejudice by Jane Austen and Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë.”
- The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: “Named in her own list of favourite books for Good Housekeeping (2019).”
- Black Water: The Book of Fantastic Literature: “These are Manguel’s classic anthologies of fantastic stories, many from writers from beyond the English-speaking world.”
- Coraline: “This is technically a children’s book, but be careful what sort of child you give it to, or that child will have to be pried out from under the bed. “Button eyes,” I whisper.”
- Vampires in the Lemon Grove: “A collection of smart, deft, and unsettling tales in which our expectations of reality are challenged. Human silkworms? Vampires taking a pledge? Want your head messed with? Step this way.”
- The Left Hand of Darkness: “I snuck this one in even though it is technically a zucchini rather than a beet — being set on another planet — because I like it a lot, and because it’s even more relevant now than when it was written.”
- The Good Father: “Terrific novel...”
- As You Were: “AS YOU WERE, Elaine Feeney. I read this in one gulp! FunnySadCuttingBadHistoryElatingLyrical (new word).”
- 18 Miles: The Epic Drama of Our Atmosphere and Its Weather: “Must Read for our times: 18 Miles: The Epic Drama of Our Atmosphere and Its #Weather by Christopher Dewdney.”
- The House of Government: A Saga of the Russian Revolution: “The House Of Government: A Saga of the Russian Revolution by Yuri Slezkine … A Must-Read.”
- On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century: “This is for you! MUST-read! On Tyranny: … Timothy Snyder.”
- Joan: A Novel of Joan of Arc: “Just read: this Joan is no pious maiden but a strong soldier & smart military strategist & logistician; & yes, she really did pull an arrow out of her own neck.”
- Hold the Line: The Insurrection and One Cop's Battle for America's Soul: “#Americans need to read this book. I’m reading right now. #january6”
- Dr. Chase's New Receipt Book: “For some of those stranger things, the curious might explore Dr. Chase’s New Receipt Book. (You can get a facsimile, though mine was inherited. If you are writing an historical novel, recommended.)”
- Trickster Makes This World: Mischief, Myth, and Art: “Great book. I know the author, yep.”
- The Bloody Chamber: “Carter’s renovations of traditional fairy tales and terror motifs are told in an ornate prose lush as velvet.”
- They: A Sequence of Unease: “A forgotten gem resurrected: a creepy, shadowy group is rooting out independent thought and creativity, one artist at a time.”
- Mrs. Caliban: “This disturbing but seductive 1982 novella tells the story of a benumbed, bereft housewife who starts up a relationship with a green-skinned, semi-aquatic, humanoid male.”
- The Future of Life: “Discussed on The Tim Ferriss Show (#573, 2022) when asked why she recommends it.”
- The Iron Heel: “These are some of the books I have read and enjoyed. … The old original; perhaps the first twentieth-century dystopia. … Inspired 1984.”
- Looking Backward: 2000-1887: “These are some of the books I have read and enjoyed. … Looking Backward is more "20th C" in its briskness, and it predicted credit cards, for what that’s worth.”
- Brave New World: “These are some of the books I have read and enjoyed. … You do know about this one! … Which is better, shopping or a soul? Your choice!”
- Woman on the Edge of Time: “These are some of the books I have read and enjoyed. … It tackles various social issues, especially those concerning gender, unsparingly and with considerable ferocity, and forces the reader to decide how he or she might solve these problems.”
- Parable of the Sower: “These are some of the books I have read and enjoyed. … This series is now a classic, and underlines a true thing: The condition of women and the condition of the environment are closely joined. … Much to ponder.”
- Company Town: “These are some of the books I have read and enjoyed. … A tough female central character who’s a misfit because she’s not genetically enhanced … This author doubles as a “futurist,” so pay attention.”
- Seven Gothic Tales: “Named in her own list of favourite books for Good Housekeeping (2019).”
- The Oxford Book of Victorian Ghost Stories: “Why were the Victorians such prolific ghost-story writers? … M.R. James, Robert Louis Stevenson, Henry James, Edith Wharton, J. Sheridan LeFanu, and so many more, have left a rich legacy of ghost literature.”
- Kamouraska: “Named in her own list of favourite books for Good Housekeeping (2019).”
- The Water Knife: “These are some of the books I have read and enjoyed. … A “climate fiction,” among other things. Yes, there will be water wars. … Philip Marlowe on speed, with water as blue gold.”
- The Alexandria Quartet: “Listed among her favourite books in The Pleasure of Reading (1992), reprinted by The Telegraph.”
- The Beet Queen: “Listed among her favourite books in The Pleasure of Reading (1992), reprinted by The Telegraph.”
- Things Fall Apart: “Listed among her favourite books in The Pleasure of Reading (1992), reprinted by The Telegraph.”
- The Fall of the Imam: “Listed among her favourite books in The Pleasure of Reading (1992), reprinted by The Telegraph.”
- The Stone Angel: “Listed among her favourite books in The Pleasure of Reading (1992), reprinted by The Telegraph.”
- Fifth Business: “Listed among her favourite books in The Pleasure of Reading (1992), reprinted by The Telegraph.”
- The Wars: “Listed among her favourite books in The Pleasure of Reading (1992), reprinted by The Telegraph.”
- Donovan's Brain: “Donovan’s Brain stands out: it was about an overgrown and demented brain which was being kept alive in a glass jar by scientists – a brain which was trying to take over the world. In addition to colouring my view of politicians, this prepared me for the reading of Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, later on.”
- Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do: “This one is by somebody who lives out near you called Jennifer Eberhardt and it's called Biased. And it's got the statistics. So for people who want to know, well, actually, how does this skew life in real time in the actual world? Here's the book that talks about that. It's racial bias and she's done the work. It's not just anecdotal.”
- Secrets of the Sprakkar: Iceland's Extraordinary Women and How They Are Changing the World: “And this one will surprise you, I hope. It's by Eliza Reid, Secrets of the Sprakkar. And what is it about? It's about life in Iceland. ... So is it possible to have a more equitable society? Yes, it says Iceland. Not that they don't have problems. It's not a utopia.”
- Charlotte's Web: “Okay, I'm saying Charlotte's Web about a spider who saves the life of a pig doomed for slaughter, interestingly enough, through words. And so the spider manages to tell a story about the pig that makes him exceptional. It's a good use of words.”
- The White Bone: “Chosen as the first title for The Globe and Mail Book Club, which she hosted in 2019.”
- The Palace of Dreams: “This Albanian novelist was one of the major successors of Orwell and Kafka, and The Palace Of Dreams is a nightmarish portrait of the horrific control – including thought control – exerted by totalitarian regimes, whether of right or of left. Pertinent in our times.”
- The Female Emigrant's Guide: “And to go along with her, I would have Catharine Parr Traill, the sister of Susanna Moodie, who wrote an excellent practical guide to making your homestead in the woods.”
- The Metamorphosis: “Co-selected with JHI director Randy Boyagoda for the University of Toronto's Fall 2026 Dead Book Clubs reading list (Chronicle of Higher Education, 2026).”
- The Quiet American: “Co-selected with JHI director Randy Boyagoda for the University of Toronto's Fall 2026 Dead Book Clubs reading list (Chronicle of Higher Education, 2026).”
- Bear: “Co-selected with JHI director Randy Boyagoda for the University of Toronto's Fall 2026 Dead Book Clubs reading list (Chronicle of Higher Education, 2026).”
- Bloodchild and Other Stories: “Co-selected with JHI director Randy Boyagoda for the University of Toronto's Fall 2026 Dead Book Clubs reading list (Chronicle of Higher Education, 2026).”
- Fahrenheit 451: “Co-selected with JHI director Randy Boyagoda for the University of Toronto's Fall 2026 Dead Book Clubs reading list (Chronicle of Higher Education, 2026).”
- Boule de Suif: “Co-selected with JHI director Randy Boyagoda for the University of Toronto's Fall 2026 Dead Book Clubs reading list (Chronicle of Higher Education, 2026).”
- Billy Budd, Bartleby, and Other Stories: “Co-selected with JHI director Randy Boyagoda for the University of Toronto's Fall 2026 Dead Book Clubs reading list (Chronicle of Higher Education, 2026).”
- The Lottery and Other Stories: “Co-selected with JHI director Randy Boyagoda for the University of Toronto's Fall 2026 Dead Book Clubs reading list (Chronicle of Higher Education, 2026).”
- The Turn of the Screw: “Co-selected with JHI director Randy Boyagoda for the University of Toronto's Fall 2026 Dead Book Clubs reading list (Chronicle of Higher Education, 2026).”
- A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories: “Co-selected with JHI director Randy Boyagoda for the University of Toronto's Fall 2026 Dead Book Clubs reading list (Chronicle of Higher Education, 2026).”
- Animal Farm: “Co-selected with JHI director Randy Boyagoda for the University of Toronto's Fall 2026 Dead Book Clubs reading list (Chronicle of Higher Education, 2026).”
- The Selected Works of Edgar Allan Poe: “Co-selected with JHI director Randy Boyagoda for the University of Toronto's Fall 2026 Dead Book Clubs reading list (Chronicle of Higher Education, 2026).”
- Mephisto: “These are the questions “Mephisto” raises. They were both pertinent and prescient in 1936, and they’re still with us today.”
- The Erratics: “The Erratics by Vicki Laveau-Harvie is a searing, brilliantly written memoir about a destructive and cunning mother; reads like a novel.”
- The Equivalents: A Story of Art, Female Friendship, and Liberation in the 1960s: “What has changed for women over 60 years, what remains the same and what is worse? Was all that struggle and angst and creative turmoil for nothing? Maggie Doherty doesn't think so, and neither do I.”
- Work for a Million: “Original novel by old friend Eve Zaremba. about to turn 85..a piece of literary history! Help out eh?”
- Frozen Desire: The Meaning of Money: “Unless you want the French Revolution due to top-heavy unsustainable hoarding of wealth. Money must circulate or it becomes inert. See Frozen Desire, book by James Buchan.”
- The Bedside Book of Birds: An Avian Miscellany: “THE BEDSIDE BOOK OF BIRDS by Graeme Gibson is now available with a new foreword! (She wrote the foreword to the reissued edition.)”
- Gideon's Bible: A Father & Son Discuss God, the Bible and Life: “Increase #Biblical #Literacy among the young! I seem to be doing an intro to it, if it happens! (She wrote the foreword to the published book.)”
- The Witches of Eastwick: “''The Witches of Eastwick'' is John Updike's first novel since the much-celebrated ''Rabbit Is Rich,'' and a strange and marvelous organism it proves to be... This quirkiness is part of its charm, for, despite everything, charming it is.”
- The Tale of Peter Rabbit: “And Beatrix Potter, a subtle stylist.”
- The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin: “And Beatrix Potter, a subtle stylist.”
- Treasure Island: “So again, so let's go with Robert Louis Stevenson, a very good stylist, and with some pretty unusual ideas, and a wonderful life story.”
- Kidnapped: “So again, so let's go with Robert Louis Stevenson, a very good stylist, and with some pretty unusual ideas, and a wonderful life story.”