Book Titles That Could Also Be Lady Parts

You could read these books....or you're welcome to just enjoy their titles

Five years ago, Karen Russell’s provocatively named Swamplandia inspired Greta Johnsen to jot down a list of other books with titillating titles. The host of Nerdette at WBEZ for 11 years had recorded countless episodes having to do with books, which helps explain how she has read all but one of the novels on her vag-tastic reading list (Master and Commander, here she comes, har har).

“I mostly read fiction, and will go for pretty much anything,” the Alaska-born Chicago resident told Lauren. “I read literary or frothy romance or sci-fi or lady pirates.” She submitted her juicy list to McSweeney’s a while back and an editor sent a response that started out “appreciate the look but…”—the exact same wording of the pass that Lauren and Rachel received…five years later.

Johnsen, 39, doesn’t consider herself a humor writer—she has been busy running her new weekly Gretagram Substack, hosting a Game of Thrones podcast for HBO, and figuring out her next move following the recording of Nerdette’s final episode—but she is funny, undeniably so. “I’ve spent most of my career aspiring to be smart, good at my job, and professional, but I guess if you are all of those things you’re probably also funny. Especially if you’ve survived any little bit of trauma.”

Our new friend was kind enough to dig around her Notes app and share the below. McSweeney’s loss is our gain.

Book Titles That Double as Vagina Nicknames

by Greta Johnsen

The Giver

Swamplandia 

The Secret Garden 

Master and Commander  

Holes

The Jungle 

My Brilliant Friend

Where the Wild Things Are 

Bossypants 

Bad Feminist

Breakfast of Champions 

The Red Tent

Brave New World

Great Expectations

*If you liked this post, please order our new book, The Memo, which has been called “brilliant and lowbrow” by New York Magazine.