Lena Dunham's Favorite Books Make For The Ultimate Cool-Girl Reading List

Hannah Horvath may not have been the voice of her generation, but Lena Dunham is. Few writers have captured the anxiety and malaise of the Millennial era like the creator of "Girls." The writer-actor-director has returned to our televisions with the Netflix series "Too Much," dropping more of her absurdly quotable one-liners, attacking us all personally with her irreverent satire, and reminding us of how much we envied her eye for acerbic detail. "I read to feel the cozy waves of recognition of self and affirmation of human goodness that can come from giving it to a book hard," she told One Grand.

That's why no one puts together a book list quite like Dunham. She's never been one to shy away from provocation, which might be why she's previously named Vladimir Nabokov's "Lolita" as one of her favorite reads. Nabokov's novel is famous for its literary credentials — "The use of language is just impossibly great," Dunham told The New York Times in 2017 — but nonetheless contains controversial subject matter. The same is true of another Dunham favorite, "Gone With the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell, a textured, character-driven epic that has been well-criticized for its sanitized depictions of slavery. Still, one look through Dunham's favorite reads proves she's an unpretentious reader who takes her craft seriously and likes to be challenged.

David Sedaris's writing is so digestible and so laugh-out-loud funny that it's easy to overlook how sophisticated his humorous essays really are. Nowhere is this more evident than in his Christmas-themed collection, "Holidays on Ice." In the book's keystone essay, "The Santaland Diaries," Sedaris unwinds the story of a winter he spent working as an elf in a department store. He turns his satirist's gaze on everything from his fellow elves to the parents forcing their children onto Santa's lap to the larger miasma of holiday consumerism. It was originally released as a radio production, complete with the author's signature Billie Holiday singing impression.

"Holidays on Ice" is a masterclass in writing that delivers its meaning alongside a sugary spoonful of laughter. Sedaris's family is alternatively wholesome and sidesplittingly absurd, and the author is unmerciful in skewering his early bumbling artistic aspirations. No wonder the comedically inclined Lena Dunham lists it among her all-time favorites, explaining to the New York Times, "This contains the most perfect parody of a family newsletter and was my first taste of humor writing and what an incisive tool it can be."

Chloe Caldwell's auto-fiction novella about a lesbian love affair gone wrong was originally published by the indie press Short Flight/Long Drive in 2014, and quietly swelled to cult status. In 2017, when Lena Dunham named it among the 10 books she would take to a desert island for The New York Times, the steamy, urgent story of a lesbian love affair gone wrong was still a word-of-mouth secret. By the time Harper Collins re-released the book in 2024, Caldwell's probing inquiry of queer identity was "A Most Anticipated Pride Read" according to Autostraddle, and among Cosmopolitan UK's Best Erotic Novels of All Time. It's also blurbed by cool girl Emily Ratajkowski, whose favorite books are all about having healthy relationships.

"Women" is an LGBTQ+ romance book to have on your radar. Part sexual-coming-of-age and part toxic-relationship-catharsis, this sensuous read is beloved by readers for its startling and refreshing specificity. "Embarking on a toxic affair and then blocking each other on Goodreads truly is lesbian culture," wrote one Goodreads reviewer.

Few authors have earned more cool-girl cred than Sally Rooney, whose fourth novel, "Intermezzo," became a must-have fall fashion accessory after Sarah Jessica Parker was snapped reading an advanced copy in September 2024. But real Rooney heads know that the Irish author's best novel remains her first. In this highly cerebral book, Frances finds herself drawn into an entanglement with a married couple that upends her entire life. It's Rooney's only novel that's written in the first-person, making it her most interior narrative by far.

Rooney's debut was so hyped that Dunham admits she found it a bit of a turn-off at first, though she eventually read the novel and found herself moved to tears. "Toxic female friendship? Check. Chronic illness? Check. Unbreakable pattern with unavailable man? CHECK!," she told Vulture in 2018. "And written with a precision rarely credited to young female authors."

Reading essays by Nora Ephron — who also happened to pen some iconic rom-com films like "When Harry Met Sally" — it's easy to trace a straight line to Lena Dunham's own writing: confessional, playful, and dense with self-analysis. "Nora pioneered a kind of modern, personal journalism that is now taken for granted," Dunham told The New York Times in 2017.

Ephron's wry, cerebral style has indeed inspired plenty of writers, with her incisive essay collection, "Crazy Salad and Scribble Scribble," holding court as a favorite for cool girls everywhere. At the end of the day, no one does it quite like Ephron, whose thoughts on relationships, marriage, and women's identity remain unmatched. This dual collection is as likely to have you laughing as any of the best memoirs from our favorite female comedians. "Ephron's barbs are, as usual, pointed and principled," wrote one Goodreads reviewer. "She sees the world with a fierce judgmental clarity and is fearless about offering asides on nearly everything."

"Luster" is Raven Leilani's debut novel about a cynical 23-year-old Black woman who gets mixed up with an older white couple's crumbling marriage, presenting as a raw, breathless read. The narrative is more interior than a plot-propelled pot boiler, but the story is still driven by biting observation and elegant prose, making it hard to put down. Edie is young, lost, and her own worst enemy. The same words might easily be used to describe one of Lena Dunham's protagonists, so it's not surprising this critically beloved novel snagged a spot on her short list of favorites.

"This book was consumed over one smoky day during the Los Angeles fires when we were told not to go outside, so instead I entered the claustrophobic dynamics of this hesitant threesome," Dunham told One Grand. With its auto-fiction feel and nihilistic narrator, "Luster" manages to balance the sincere and acerbic beautifully, making for peak cool-girl literature.