What are the best books to read in honor of International Women’s Day this year? It seems to us that the ideal reading list should be a combination of books that celebrate heroes – and those that share candidly how hard it is for females to gain and hold real power. Essays about creating an authentic life as a woman – and memoirs from those who did it. Here’s our edit of what to read for International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month: some of the best nonfiction books about female leaders, including essays, memoirs, biographies and histories. Some of these women are well known and well regarded. And some are unsung heroes, overlooked and sometimes even derided in their own time. Each of these books provides an example of grit, resourcefulness and resilience. Which can inspire all of us to strive for those same qualities in our own lives. And that’s at least part of what International Women’s Day is all about, right?
what are the best nonfiction books about the lives of women and female leaders?
Happy International Women’s Day. And also Women’s History Month. Both of which are perfect opportunities to dive into some great nonfiction books, including essays, memoirs, biographies and histories, about female leaders and women who made a mark in the world.
For International Women’s Day, our edit of best nonfiction books about female leaders, including essays, memoirs, biographies and histories.
There’s no way to cover them all, as there are thousands of nonfiction books about women leaders and female pioneers and trailblazers. We’ve compiled a list of 25 to get you started. We’ve curated this list keeping in mind that there’s no one way to be a woman in today’s world. We’re striving to celebrate a wide range of voices and a diverse set of female role models. And we look forward to hearing your thoughts on what else to add to this list!
25 best nonfiction books to celebrate International Women’s Day
Here’s our reading list of 25 books to read this year to celebrate International Women’s Day, including essays, memoirs, biographies and histories. We hope you find some old favorites and discoveries among them.
For International Women’s Day, our edit of best nonfiction books about female leaders, including essays, memoirs, biographies and histories.
1. Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II by Liza Mundy.
Code Girls tells the fascinating true story of a corps of women instrumental to the war effort during the Second World War. “Recruited by the U.S. Army and Navy from small towns and elite colleges, more than ten thousand women served as codebreakers during World War II. While their brothers and boyfriends took up arms, these women moved to Washington and learned the meticulous work of code-breaking. Their efforts shortened the war, saved countless lives, and gave them access to careers previously denied to them.”
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2. Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism by bell hooks.
Ain’t I a Woman is near the top of our list for recommendations on what to read on International Women’s Day, because memoirs and essays are often the most immediate way to understand and empathize with women of all kinds. This is a classic read for anyone hoping to understand the intersection of Civil Rights and the fight for women’s equality. And how Black women too often fell between the cracks of both.
BUY NOW – $27.99.
3. Wise Gals: The Spies Who Built the CIA and Changed the Future of Espionage by Nathalia Holt.
The history of the CIA is – understandably – cloaked in secrecy. But Wise Gals shares the true story of how a group of women influenced the agency’s creation and early successes.
BUY NOW – $17.01.
4. The Odyssey of Phillis Wheatley: A Poet’s Journeys Through American Slavery and Independence by David Waldstreicher.
The Odyssey of Phillis Wheatley is a comprehensive biography of one of the great poets of the Revolutionary War era – who also just happened to be a Black woman. “Admired by George Washington, ridiculed by Thomas Jefferson, published in London, and read far and wide, Phillis Wheatley led an extraordinary life. Seized in West Africa and forced into slavery as a child, she was sold to a merchant family in Boston, where she became a noted poet at a young age.” The author of “elegies for local elites and celebratory works for political events . . . she also used her verse to variously lampoon, question, and assert the injustice of her enslaved condition.” By illuminating a vital chapter of American history that should be far better known, this book is must-read this spring.
BUY NOW – $22.94.
5. The Exceptions: Nancy Hopkins, MIT, and the Fight for Women in Science by Kate Zernike.
The Exceptions peels back the veil on one element of the difficulties women have faced in achieving leadership roles and full credit for their work in the hard sciences. “In 1999, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology admitted to discriminating against women on its faculty, forcing institutions across the country to confront a problem they had long ignored: the need for more women at the top levels of science. Written by the journalist who broke the story for The Boston Globe, The Exceptions is the untold story of how sixteen highly accomplished women on the MIT faculty came together to do the work that triggered the historic admission.”
BUY NOW – $18.00.
6. Tomorrow Will Be Different: Love, Loss, and the Fight for Trans Equality by Sarah McBride.
The memoir chronicles Tomorrow Will Be Different chronicles the author’s life, including the tragic loss of her husband. She has spent most of her professional life working as an activist in the fight for trans equality. She’s now a state senator in Delaware, and President Joe Biden provides the foreword here. We get an intimate view of the struggles, joys and hopes of one person – which helps us have more empathy for all the others who are similarly situated.
BUY NOW – $14.39.
7. What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About: Fifteen Writers Break the Silence, edited by Michele Filgate.
The origin story for the essay collection What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About is heartbreaking. As an undergraduate, the editor of the collection started writing an essay about being abused by her stepfather. It took her more than a decade to realize that she was actually trying to write about how this affected her relationship with her mother.
BUY NOW – $15.49.
8. When Women Invented Television: The Untold Story of the Female Powerhouses Who Pioneered the Way We Watch Today by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong.
When Women Invented Television tells the journey of four women paving their way to success. They each saw an opportunity and invented the way we watch TV today.
9. Agent Josephine: American Beauty, French Hero, British Spy by Damien Lewis.
Before we read Agent Josephine, we thought we knew everything there was to know about Josephine Baker. Learn more amazing facts about this courageous woman – Agent Josephine.
BUY NOW – $15.00
10. It’s Not About the Burqa: Muslim Women on Faith, Feminism, Sexuality and Race, edited by Mariam Khan.
It’s Not About the Burqa is a collection of essays penned by seventeen Muslim women. They share their varied and candid views about matters like the hijab and their faith; love, sex and divorce; intersectional feminism; queer identity; racism and facing a disapproving community.
BUY NOW – $14.22.
11. Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman by Lindy West.
You may remember Shrill, the beloved 2017 memoir that spawned the equally beloved TV show. Well, if you never got around to reading it, now’s your chance. West’s memoir is all about what it means to be a woman when women are expected to be small and quiet, and you are neither of those things. Funny, relatable, and ultimately inspiring.
BUY NOW – $12.94.
12. Know My Name by Chanel Miller.
Books on female leaders can come in many forms, just as courage and leadership can. Chanel Miller came into the spotlight in the worst way imaginable: as the victim of a sexual attack committed by a wealthy and well-connected campus athlete, Brock Turner. She released an anonymous letter to the public after his jail sentencing of just six months for the brutal crime. Know My Name is her side of the story. She writes powerfully about her trauma, reclaiming a narrative that previously lived in the hands of the press and social media.
BUY NOW – $12.97.
13. In the Dream House: A Memoir by Carmen Maria Machado.
There are many books about horrible, painful topics that are so beautifully written that you can’t turn away. In the Dream House is one of them. The author of Her Body and Other Parties writes here on her own life. Detailing in nonlinear passages her relationship with an abusive partner.
BUY NOW – $13.28.
14. The Barbizon: The Hotel That Set Women Free by Paulina Bren.
The Barbizon captures a moment in the history of New York, working women and how a safe shelter came to enable a generation of women to chart their own paths.
BUY NOW – $11.99.
15. Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly.
It’s easy to forget that Hidden Figures was groundbreaking when it was originally published. Thanks to its success and the movie that it inspired, this story of a group of Black women who were instrumental in the development of America’s space program is now well known. But now is a good moment to remember that this was a lost chapter of American history that we’re lucky to know about. The author’s meticulous research has spawned an entire genre of similar books (some of which are on this list). Just remember, though: this is the O.G.
BUY NOW – $9.99.
16. The Daughters Of Yalta: The Churchills, Roosevelts, and Harrimans: A Story of Love and War by Catherine Grace Katz.
So many books about World War II are narratives of “great men” who saved the world. The Daughters of Yalta is a demonstration of how false that narrative is. And how so much work is done behind the scenes by great women. The book documents the true story of how the daughters of Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin and Avril Harriman were instrumental in forging the Yalta agreement, which outlined the terms of surrender and the division of the spoils of war at the end of World War II.
BUY NOW – $22.99.
17. The Chancellor: The Remarkable Odyssey of Angela Merkel by Kati Marton.
The Chancellor is the “definitive biography” of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel. It is an intimate human portrait and wonderful leadership about an extraordinary woman of our time.
BUY NOW – $15.39.
18. The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race by Walter Isaacson.
The Code Breaker is a fascinating account of how Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna and her colleagues invented CRISPER. An easy-to-use tool that can edit DNA. The device has opened the door to an incredible array of life-saving and life-changing medical procedures. It also creates moral conundrums that the medical field has never dealt with before.
BUY NOW – $16.02.
19. Madam Speaker: Nancy Pelosi and the Lessons of Power by Susan Page.
Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is arguably the most effective Speaker in the history of the institution. And certainly one of the most powerful women in American history. In Madam Speaker, an award-winning journalist interviews over 150 people and conducts extensive research to glean insights into the sources and uses of her immense power while in office. And to highlight leadership lessons that all of us – particularly the females among us – can take to heart.
BUY NOW – $13.99.
20. Finding Me by Viola Davis.
The memoir Finding Me has remained on the bestseller list in the months since it was initially published. Why? Because it is honest, raw and inspiring – and nothing like the typical celebrity memoir. Here is Davis’s voice: “This is my story, from a crumbling apartment in Central Falls, Rhode Island, to the stage in New York City, and beyond. This is the path I took to finding my purpose but also my voice in a world that didn’t always see me.” See what we mean? This is what to read on International Women’s Day if memoirs and essays are your favorite way to access the experiences of others.
BUY NOW – $14.39.
21. She’s Nice Though: Essays on Being Bad at Being Good by Mia Mercado.
She’s Nice, Though. How many times has the achievement of being nice taken precedence over being authentic, or powerful, or provocative or intriguing? In this essay collection, the author tackles this pressing matter head on and from a fresh perspective. Pondering her identity as an Asian woman living in the Midwest, she addresses what “nice” means—and why anyone would want to be it.
BUY NOW – $7.60.
20. Crying in the Bathroom by Erika L. Sánchez.
The author of I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter returns with a collection of essays. Confronting “everything from sex to white feminism to debilitating depression,” she shares a unique perspective that feels universal in its hope and pain.
BUY NOW – $15.29.
23. ONE DAY WE’LL ALL BE DEAD AND NONE OF THIS WILL MATTER: ESSAYS BY SCAACHI KOUL.
When asked what to read on International Women’s Day, we frequently vote for memoirs and collections essays like this one. The author of One Day We’ll All Be Dead . . . grew up as a woman of color in Canada. She brings insight and humor to her assessment of the difficulty of living “at the intersection of Western beauty standards and Indian social expectations.”
BUY NOW – $17.00.
24. Off with her head: Three Thousand Years of Demonizing Women in Power by Eleanor Herman.
Off With Her Head is a provocative, frank and actually enjoyable “history of misogyny against women with power from Cleopatra to Kamala Harris.” For every woman who has ever been told they’re too strong, too opinionated, too ambitious, too . . . anything – this is the history that will help you understand that its not you. It’s them.
BUY NOW – $21.99.
25. Thick: And Other Essays by Tressie McMillan Cottom.
We close our International Women’s Day reading list of books on female leaders with a widely-acclaimed essay collection. Thick is becoming a must-read for those seeking to understand intersectional feminism and how the traditional movement for women’s rights has left Black and Brown women out for so long.
BUY NOW -$12.49.
Books about female leaders in honor of International Women’s Day
That’s our reading list for International Women’s Day, with some of the best nonfiction books about female leaders and the lives of women, including essays, memoirs, biographies and histories. What’s at the top of your list, dear reader?
