Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
2020 Challenge - Regular
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12 - A book that passes the Bechdel test


Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
Are You My Mother? A Comic Drama


Just finished it, it definitely would. Probably on a number of occasions, but particularly thinking of a conversation between Amma and Dominique about their lives.

If you read it soon; it just came out in November so much of its high rating probably comes from people who received netgalley copies etc, and that can artificially inflate the rating. However, the average rating from the reviews of the 9 GR friends of mine who have rated it so far is very close to the average rating showing, so it is possible it will stay around the same (hard to say).
It has a rating over 4 stars on Amazon as well, so it's looking good so far.

The Fifth Season was a very hard read for me, despite how high I rated it, so any encouragement to continue would be helpful.


Yeah, it does.

Yeah, it does."
Thank you!


I didn't finish this, but it might work. Other people really liked this book, but I ended up ditching it. There are male characters in it, though, and they do get discussed; I just can't remember if there were discussions that didn't involve discussing men.

Little Fires passes.

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speculative fiction /list/show/1...
crime fiction /list/show/2...


Where'd You Go, Bernadette
Turtles All the Way Down
Pride and Prejudice
Little Fires Everywhere
Jane Eyre
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
The Handmaid's Tale
The Devil Wears Prada
Sourdough
Where the Crawdads Sing
The Power
Mrs. Dalloway
Beloved
The Hunger Games
Little Women

The Deep
What Rose Forgot
Cheshire Crossing
A Darker Shade of Magic
Fruit of the Drunken Tree
The Calculating Stars
The Collapsing Empire
The Consuming Fire
Girl Waits with Gun

what is a Bechdel Test? I am new kid on the block.
Where'd You Go, Bernadette
Turtles All the Way Down
Pride and Prejudice
[book:Little Fires Everywher..."

Yes and a very good read!

Does that mean Red Sister would work?

Yes it passes.
Interlude I, beginning page 106 in the US edition.


It was a gripping read, but I was left confused by the description of the organism encountered at the end.
Has anyone else read this?
Yes I read Annihilation and the other two books in the series. I loved them all (first book was the best) but you never get any clarity about the creature. Is it an alien? Another dimension? A hallucination? Something else? It’s up to the reader.

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This is the excellent because a huge part of the Bechdel test was to point out how alienating movies (and media) are for lesbians.

The Fifth Season was a very hard read for me, despite how high ..."
I am pretty sure yes as there are conversations between the lead character and the leader who is female. Also at the end in the Stone Sky. Btw - as hard as these may be to read they are worth it IMHO - I really loved the Stone Sky (I would say that was my favorite, than The Fifth Season and the Obelisk Gate comes third but you can't skip it.






Does the conversation need to be a certain length?

Does that mean Red Sister would work?"
Sorry didn't see your comment. Yes there are plenty of conversations between the girls and nuns that passes this test...

The contestants were all children. That's what made the Hunger Games extra horrific. So, if for the purposes of passing the BT, both need to be ADULT female/female presenting characters, I wouldn't base it on Katniss having conversations with other women.


I didn't consider this prompt for The Starless Sea as I personally can't remember a f/f conversation that wasn't about Zachary. I am sure there must be one if people are counting it but it's not full of them. I'd rather use a book that repeatedly passes.
I've just started The Vanished Bride which looks like it will fit the bill perfectly.

I agree with you on the YA thing. But I'm not so pure for my pick. I just found a book I really wanted to read that passed it. Hence I'm currently reading The Turn of the Key

It was a gripping read, but I was left confused by the description of the organism encountered at the end.
Has a..."
Yes, and I did NOT like it. One of my daughters read the entire series.

(An aside: If you're very picky, Annihilation doesn't count, because the Bechdel test requires named female characters, while the Annihilation cast deliberately isn't given names. But it still fits the spirit of the prompt. I believe the naming requirement is just intended to exclude really minor characters who aren't worth naming.)
Yes it’s incredibly simple. That was Bechdel’s point, she meant it as a joke: look, this very simple thing doesn’t happen in most movies. She never intended for it to become a “rule� but it’s used today as a very low bar.
You’re right, it’s easier to find books that qualify (but there are books I’m reading right now that don’t qualify - Waking Gods involves interviews between a male interviewer and various other people, so there’s not really a conversation between two women).
You’re right, it’s easier to find books that qualify (but there are books I’m reading right now that don’t qualify - Waking Gods involves interviews between a male interviewer and various other people, so there’s not really a conversation between two women).
Books mentioned in this topic
Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations (other topics)Little Women (other topics)
The Obelisk Gate (other topics)
Evangeline of the Bayou (other topics)
The Invention of Wings (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Virginia Woolf (other topics)Elif Shafak (other topics)
Elizabeth Strout (other topics)
Margaret Atwood (other topics)
Juliet Blackwell (other topics)
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I would say just the first one because it chan..."
For some reason, I completely discounted Rue as part of this kind of test, I guess because she was a child, not an adult woman. I know Katniss has conversations with Johanna and maybe Effie in the later books, but I can't remember specifically what they talked about.