Ten Must Read Books for Women’s History Month 2024
Ten Must Read Books for Women’s History Month 2024
In honor of all women, we’ve put together a list of ten of our favorite women’s history books - fiction and nonfiction.
March is Women’s History Month in the United States - a time to celebrate and remember women’s stories and the importance of women in shaping the country. It was first designated as Women’s History Week in 1980 by President Jimmy Carter, and in 1987 the US Congress officially designated the entire month to women’s history with the passage of Public Law 100-9. March is also host to International Women’s Day on the 8th - a celebration of women throughout the world, rooted in historical struggles for women’s rights as workers and citizens.
Look for these books at your local library, favorite independent bookstore, or buy online at Bookshop.org!
Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity, Julia Serrano, Seal Press.
Nonfiction, trans rights, foundational
About: Called “foundational” by NPR and one of the “100 Best Non-Fiction Books of All Time” by Ms. Magazine, Whipping Girl explores the ways in which societal prejudices against femininity have shaped anti-trans politics. When it was published in 2006, it was one of the first mainstream books to explore transwomanhood. The third edition, which was released this month, has been updated to address recent anti-trans legislation in the US.
Why we love it: Serrano writes from a variety of perspectives - biological (she has a PhD in biochemistry!), social theories/constructions of gender, and her own lived experiences, which makes for a rich, detailed, and well argued narrative.
In the Time of the Butterflies, Julia Alvarez, Algonquin Books
Latin American literature, historical fiction, inspirational
About: Written by renowned Dominican-American author Julia Alvarez, In the Time of the Butterflies tells the story of the Mirabal sisters - four women who resisted the dictatorship of Rafael Truijillo and were assassinated in 1960. In 1999, the United Nations designated November 25th as International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women in their honor.
Why we love it: Alvarez’s novel is brimming with emotion and she paints a vivid portrait of the Mirabal family - one of sisterhood, love, romance, and the dream of a better world.
The Map of Love, Ahdaf Soueif, Anchor Books
Intergenerational, cross cultural historical fiction, romance
About: A finalist for the Booker Prize in 1999, The Map of Love tells the story of a British aristocrat who falls in love with an Egyptian nationalist at the beginning of the 20th century, just a few decades before the country gained independence. It also tells the story of her great granddaughter, an American journalist in love with an Egyptian American conductor, who travels to Egypt to unravel the story of her family.
Why we love it: Soueif’s prose is mesmerizing. We love the way she weaves her tale across continents, generations, and political divides. It’s a timeless love story, but it also transcends the genre of historical romance to explore themes of sexual politics, nationalism, cultural challenges, and family.
Matrix, Lauren Groff, Riverhead Books
Queer, European + religious history, literary fiction
About: Winner of the Joyce Carol Oates Prize and a National Book Award Finalist, Matrix tells the story of a young woman sent to live as a nun in 12th century Britain. Based on the life and writings of real-life Marie de France, Matrix explores how women transformed abbeys into spaces of community and wealth, and became places where women reigned supreme. It’s a story of devotion, religious ecstasy, queerness, and the “threat” powerful women posed to the socio-political order of medieval Britain.
Why we love it: It’s almost impossible to not love Groff’s writing - her prose is sensual and evocative, bringing both her characters and the era to life in a way few others can. The book is also a much needed intervention into literature that writes nuns and historical Christian women as passive subjects of the Church.
Dust Child, Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, Algonquin Books
Vietnamese historical fiction, Vietnam War, postcolonialism
About: Inspired by Vietnamese author Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai’s dissertation on Amerasian children of the Vietnam war, Dust Child is a poignant, multilayered novel told in past and present timelines, through three intersecting stories. Nguyễn masterfully explores the human costs of the Vietnam war, centered around the experiences of the Vietnamese women who were forced into prostitution, and the resulting lives of their children.
Why we love it: Calling all historical fiction lovers! With another Vietnam war novel currently topping charts, the perspectives provided in Dust Child couldn’t be more necessary and important. With nuance and sensitivity, Nguyễn intimately details life for the Vietnamese “bar girls” and those connected to them. And while the tone of the book is often somber, Nguyễn’s tale also brings messages of hope, forgiveness, and common ground.
Eyeliner: A Cultural History, Zahra Hankir, Penguin Books
Beauty, expression, cultural practices
About: Eyeliner: A Cultural History is a fascinating and well researched exploration of eyeliner and both its historical and contemporary uses across the globe. Hankir shows how eyeliner has been as a source of beauty, of seduction, of cultural expression, and of political resistance. The book takes the reader from Nefertiti to the use of eyeliner as a form of civil disobedience; it takes us on a journey from Iran, to the iconic look of Amy Winehouse, to Chicana culture in Southern California. It’s compelling and compulsively readable.
Why we love it: First thing’s first: not all women wear makeup, and not all makeup wearers are women (men and gender queer folks also wear it!). However, that doesn’t make this book any less deeply entwined with women’s history. Hankir’s writing is relatable, bitingly funny, and her book offers a narrative of eyeliner as artistic and socio-political (sometimes even religious) expression. It provides incredible depth to a topic that is rarely given importance within larger societal discourses.
Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Tales of Extraordinary Women, Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo, Rebel Girls
Children’s book, feminist + intersectional, educational
About: A New York Times bestseller, Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls provides one hundred tales of rebellious, powerful women throughout history (including figures such as Maya Angelou, Malala Yousafzai, and Julia Childs). Each story includes themes of empowerment, equality, and bravery. It’s also filled with gorgeous illustrations, all drawn by women and non-binary artists.
Why we love it: The book is educational, fun, and its content is written to be appealing to all children, regardless of gender. We love it as an alternative to traditional fairy tale bedtime stories of princesses in need of rescuing. In Rebel Girls, the characters rescue themselves.
Homegoing, Yaa Gyasi, Vintage
Colonialism, slavery, intergenerational, sweeping
About: Winner of the Pen/Hemingway Award for Debut Fiction and the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Prize, Homegoing is a sweeping, intergenerational story of two sisters born in 18th century Ghana. One is sold into slavery and forcibly shipped to America, while the other remains in Ghana. The book traces their descendants on each continent - those who were born into slavery in the US, and those that lived through Ghanaian history. It’s a monumental tale, spanning centuries and nations.
Why we love it: Gyasi’s writing is stunning and compelling. In just over 300 pages, she manages to tell a truly epic story that is both quintessentially American and West African. It tells the story of slavery in the US and colonialism in Ghana and explores how a system of white supremacy undergirded both. This one is an absolute must read.
Angela Davis: An Autobiography, Angela Davis, Haymarket Books
Memoir, social justice, civil rights, abolition
About: Originally edited and published by Toni Morrison in 1974, An Autobiography was rereleased in 2023 with a new introduction by the author. In this powerful and commanding account, Davis describes her journey from a childhood in Birmingham, Alabama, to one of the most significant political trials of the century: from her political activity in a New York high school to her work with the U.S. Communist Party, the Black Panther Party, and the Soledad Brothers; and from the faculty of the Philosophy Department at UCLA to the FBI's list of the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives. Told with warmth, brilliance, humor and conviction, Angela Davis’s autobiography is a classic account of a life in struggle with echoes in our own time.
Why we love it: No Women’s History Month reading list is complete without the work of one of the most influential feminists of our time. Davis’s book is a poignant and insightful memoir of a life dedicated to activism, scholarship, and social justice, with a profoundly moving narrative marked by a deep sense of personal agency and the collective responsibility to resist racism, capitalism, imperialism and patriarchy at all costs. We dare you to read this and not be inspired.
A Council of Dolls, Mona Susan Power, Mariner Books
Native American historical fiction, family saga, magical realism
About: From the mid-century metropolis of Chicago to the windswept ancestral lands of the Dakota people, to the bleak and brutal Indian boarding schools, A Council of Dolls is a heart-rending, yet unforgettable journey through time, told from the perspectives of three generations of Yanktonai Dakota women and their dolls. A Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award Nominee, a Minnesota Book Award Finalist, and longlisted for the National Book Award.
Why we love it: Blending coming-of-age narratives with eloquent, lyrical prose, and subtle touches of magical realism, Power weaves a captivating story of the generational reverberations of colonization. Powerful, necessary, and unputdownable, A Council of Dolls is a wonderful addition to any reading list, regardless of the month.