Happy Women’s History Month! To celebrate, I’ve compiled a list of a few of my favorite and most-anticipated reads written by women and about women. I’ve broken it down into a few sub-categories, but I obviously can’t cover all of the amazing books written by women. This is barely a scratch, but I hope you find a new favorite. Let’s get started!
Memoirs
Untamed by Glennon Doyle
A book about finding yourself, finding your passion, finding your purpose, and finding your person. Untamed is Doyle’s memoir that untangles the complex feelings surrounding being a woman, motherhood, family, finding yourself, and so much more.
Know My Name by Chanel Miller
Chanel was known as only Emily Doe before her identity was revealed as the young woman who was sexually assaulted by Brock Turner at Stanford. After Turner was sentenced to only six months in jail, she wrote a statement that went viral and impacted change across the country. In her book, she reclaims her identity and shares her story about what it’s like when the justice system protects the perpetrator more than the victim.
Becoming by Michelle Obama
Becoming is all about Michelle Obama’s life before and during her husband’s presidency. She shows readers exactly what it was like for her growing up in Chicago, how Princeton was everything she never knew it could be, and how life in the White House is far from what you could imagine.
My Own Words by Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Ginsburg’s memoir, written with Mary Hartnett and Wendy W. Williams, discusses gender equality, the Supreme Court, the Jewish faith, law, and looking beyond the U.S. when interpreting the Constitution. This book is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to have an inside look at what Ginsburg’s life was like as one of America’s most influential women.
Year of Yes: How to Dance it Out, Stand in the Sun and Be Your Own Person by Shonda Rhimes
Rhimes chronicled her “year” of saying yes to things. What started as a challenge to accept more appearance opportunities, turned into saying yes to saying no, saying yes to healthier choices, and ultimately, saying yes to happiness no matter what form it comes in.
Non-Fiction
Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls by Elena Favilli
This children’s book is perfect for anyone to read at any age. It’s packed with 100 stories about 100 women that changed the world, and it was illustrated by 60 female artists from around the globe.
Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly
Before Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, there was a team of “Human Computers” that calculated flight path after flight path to ensure the journey would be possible. Among this team was a group of bright African American women without whom the trip to the moon may not have been possible. Told against a back-drop of the civil rights era, the Cold War, and the women’s rights movement, this book tells the remarkable story of how five women changed history.
Radium Girls by Kate Moore
When radium was first discovered, it was a highly coveted element. From makeup products to lotions, everyone wanted to get their hands on it. But when the girls that work in the factory become mysteriously ill, no one wants to admit blame. These shining girls (they literally shine from the radium exposure) paved a way to stricter regulations, research into nuclear bombing, and life-saving laws.
Fiction
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
Addie LaRue made a deal with the devil 300 years ago, and no one has been able to remember her since. She has survived wars, the invention of planes, famines, and so much more without anyone remembering her name. Until she runs into a boy in a bookshop one day and everything changes. He remembers her. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is beautiful and, of course, heartbreaking. It reminds readers to live every day as if it were their last and to never be afraid to stand in the storm.
Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win by Jo Piazza
Charlotte Walsh is running for Senate in her home state of Pennsylvania after living in California for the last 10+ years of her life. She wants to make a difference, and she’s determined to win. She’s running against a male incumbent who’s less than impressive. This book is about both Charlotte’s race to win a seat in Washington as well as the choices she makes before and during the race that make her the person she is today. I’m still grappling with my feelings on the ending and thinking about if I would have made the same choices as Charlotte, but at the end of the day, Piazza’s book is about more than a woman winning or not winning an election — it’s about a woman fighting day in and day out for what she believes is right.
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
Children of Blood and Bone takes place in a fictional land that used to be ripe with magic but was purged of it when the king became scared of the power the Magi held. Zélie must go on a dangerous quest with her brother and the princess of Orïsha to restore magic to the land. It sounds pretty run of the mill fantasy, but I promise it’s anything but ordinary.
Circe by Madeline Miller
It’s the story of the Titan Helios’s discarded daughter, Circe. She is not like typical Titans and must live her life in exile after performing witchcraft in her father’s halls. She inhabits the island of Aiaia with the animals she brings into existence. Sometimes gods visit her, sometimes men stumble upon her island, but the story really starts when Odysseus lands in her path and impregnates her. Circe is a powerful witch that has strength beyond her powers. The reader watches her grow, learn, and wield her influence with poise. Miller brings humanity to one of the strongest myths in existence, and the reader can’t help but keep turning the pages.
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
Little Fires Everywhere starts off with where the story actually ends and then goes back to fill in all the missing pieces. Single-mother Mia and her daughter Pearl, the Richardson family (whom Pearl befriends), and the McCullough’s, who are hoping to adopt a baby. These three families’ lives intertwine in unexpected ways and the true mystery of the story — how Pearl and Mia became such a dynamic duo — is revealed. This book traps reader’s from the very first page.
Happy reading,
Kimberly
