We’re deep in winter which means you have a built-in excuse not to leave the house; it’s practically mandatory to spend your weekend reading under a blanket on the couch. As to the question of what you should be reading – please allow me to bossily provide you with some recommendations.

In this Year of Reading Women, July is proving to be a standout month with a deluge of brilliant books by women hitting shelves. In honour of this, the nine books I’m going to recommend for winter reading all happen to be written by women.

(Note: I’ve already read five of these books and am planning to read the other four.)

The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. by Adelle Waldman

This our book of the month, as selected (and reviewed) by our Readings Monthly editor Belle Place. Belle and I have been championing this debut novel to our colleagues for a while (with varying degrees of success) because we both read and fell in love with it earlier this year. It’s the kind of book you might feel a little bit unsure about because the main character Nate initially comes across as … well, a bit of a dick, actually. But the writing is so smart and funny that you’ll be sucked into the story very quickly and your feelings for Nate will shift from hate, to maybe-liking-him, to definitely-hating-him, to maybe-liking-him again. This is a very New York novel and very bookish one, as most of the characters are writers. A fascinating deep-dive into contemporary relationships, written with sharp wit and deep insight – I really loved it.

Friendship by Emily Gould

This is another very New York novel that I loved. Friendship is right in my wheelhouse, featuring the story of two thirty-year-old women trying to find their place in the world and in each other’s lives. Our reviewer calls it a ‘sparkling debut novel … told with wit and empathy’ and I wholeheartedly agree. If you haven’t heard of Emily Gould, go and read her piece about being a broke writer, and you’ll a get a sense of her writing. Anxiety about money is one of the constant undercurrents in the narrative. Beneath their friendship, relationship and career concerns, the main characters are always thinking about money and how to survive in an expensive city like New York. This feels refreshingly honest and accurate, especially when writing about people pursuing a career in the publishing or the arts.

The Fever by Megan Abbott

Megan Abbott’s Dare Me came out in 2012 to much buzz and critical fanfare in the US, although I think it was a little overlooked here in Australia. (It’s being made into a movie, so I’m sure you’ll hear plenty more about it.) I’d always planned on reading it but never quite got around to doing so – a mistake I plan to rectify now I’ve read her new novel, The Fever. The story of a town thrown into chaos when girls at the local high school start falling mysteriously ill, The Fever takes teenage girls – their friendships, relationships, fear and desires – very seriously. Abbott spins a fascinating world of intrigue as she moves deftly, from character to character, in her storytelling. There’s so much atmosphere and tension in this book that it makes for a thrilling reading experience. I know this is said way too often nowadays, but Abbott’s sharp writing style and her capacity for creating flawed, fascinating female characters will definitely appeal to fans of Gillian Flynn, especially those who like Flynn’s lesser known novels Sharp Objects and Dark Places.

What Came Before by Anna George

I wrote about this for our recent What We’re Reading column, but I’m mentioning it again here because I think it’s a such a strong debut Australian novel. My favourite thing about this book is the setting (Anna George captures Melbourne so well) and Elle, the protagonist. Elle’s inner life, her job and the films she makes are all vividly drawn, and fully realised. For a book that boldly tells you the end at the beginning, What Came Before weaves a surprising, engaging, suspenseful story that will keep you turning pages. I’m already looking forward to seeing what George writes next.

The Girls From Corona Del Mar by Rufi Thorpe

Please look past the odd title and so-so cover and read this book, because it will be a tragedy if this debut novel gets missed among prettier, shinier new releases. I straight-up loved this story of two friends and how their respective lives change over the course of fifteen years. It was dark and uncomfortable at times, but I couldn’t stop reading. (My full review of the book is here). This novel made me reflect about the nature of memory and how two people can view the events of their lives very differently, much in the same way We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves made me think about such things. (You can read my full review of that book here.)

Update: This title has now been moved to a September release. But don’t let that deter you! You can still pre-order online with us.

Landline by Rainbow Rowell

Rainbow Rowell has a new book out! Rainbow Rowell has a new book out! If these words mean nothing to you, go and read Eleanor & Park or Fangirl, then get back to me, okay? I am planning to devour this book over a weekend. I’ll be sitting down on the couch with a cup of tea, not answering my phone and only speaking to my boyfriend to give him stern directives (‘More tea!’ ‘Sandwich time!’) because a new Rowell novel is an event that requires such behaviour. Rowell’s two most recent books are young adult, and this is her return to writing a novel for adults. I’m fascinated to see how she follows up on Eleanor & Park and Fangirl, as both were among the best things I read in 2013.

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

I have started reading this debut novel (I love how many of the books I’ve mentioned here are debut novels – so much new talent) and the few first chapters are exquisite. It is the perfect book to read over winter, a time of year I associate with historical fiction. In truth, the only reason I stopped reading was because a colleague accidentally spoiled large chunks of the book for me (she was enjoying reading it so much she couldn’t stop telling us about it in detail as she progressed). This is a big, fat, exciting debut novel – the kind that get buzzed about everywhere, and the kind I read so I can be part of that conversation.

Razorhurst by Justine Larbalestier

Have you read Justine Larbalestier’s Liar? If not, you damn well should because it is one of the most unusual and exciting young adult books of the last ten years. Because I adored Liar so much, I’m very excited to read Justine Larbalestier’s new novel (which my colleague Emily Gale has been raving about and will launch next week). Set in Sydney in the 1930s, featuring ghosts and prostitutes among its characters, Razorhurst sounds like a refreshing change to everything else out there in the land of young adult novels at the moment. Larbalestier is a very, very good writer, so I’m feeling pretty confident about enjoying this novel.

The Actress by Amy Sohn

This one is rather out of left-field as we aren’t currently stocking the book (but you can definitely order it online and we’ll get it in!). Described as ‘a romantic, literary page-turner about Hollywood fame, the treachery of love, and the pleasures and pains of female ambition’, I was convinced to order myself a copy (despite hating the cover) when I read that the story is loosely based on the marriage of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. I am a celebrity gossip tragic and there is no sentence more likely to spike my immediate interest. The author Amy Sohn has also written for a variety of publications (NY Times, The New York Times Book Review, Slate, Harper’s Bazaar etc.) and I remember thinking her previous novel Motherland looked interesting when it was released. This book will hopefully provide me the perfect introduction to her work.

Other notable books by women out this month:

• Anne Manne’s The Life of I: I read the first chapter and it had to be practically torn out of my hands to be given to our reviewer.
• Rebecca Lee’s Bobcat and Other Stories: Our reviewer loved it, and he’s very picky
• Brooke Davis’ Lost & Found: This book is universally adored by everyone who reads it.
• Caitlin Moran’s How to Build a Girl: I’m intrigued to see what she does with a novel.
• Linda Grant’s Upstairs At The Party: This is the kind of book you can open at any page and read a line of prose that will astound you.
• Cristina Henríquez’s The Book of Unknown Americans: I’ve been hearing lots of positive feedback about this.
• Yasmina Reza’s Happy are the Happy: Who doesn’t want to read about Parisians struggling with love?