Women’s History Month Reading List
Be inspired this Women’s History Month by powerful stories of women living bold, remarkable, and daring lives. This list will challenge you to imagine a more liberated world.
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by Eugenia Cheng
A brilliant mathematician examines the complexity of gender and society and forges a path out of inequality.
"Eugenia Cheng is on a mission to change the world for the better, using math.... It's another bold and optimistic thought...if we were ever going to imagine a whole new theory of people, now is as good a time as any to start."—Guardian
Transgender History, second edition
by Susan Stryker
Covering American transgender history from the mid-twentieth century to today, Transgender History takes a chronological approach to the subject of transgender history, with each chapter covering major movements, writings, and events.
"An invaluable text for anyone who wants to better understand evolving concepts of gender. Essential." —CHOICE
Vanguard
by Martha S. Jones
No Man's Land
by Wendy Moore
The "absorbing and powerful" (Wall Street Journal) story of two pioneering suffragette doctors who shattered social expectations and transformed modern medicine during World War I.
"Meticulously researched, written with élan and wit, Moore's account comes at just the right time... No Man's Land reminds us that people can rise to an occasion, that the biggest advances -- for medicine, for humanity -- can come during the toughest times, as a result of the toughest times. It reminds us that great courage and great ingenuity are possible even when the world feels very dark."—New York Times
A Girl Stands at the Door
by Rachel Devlin
A new history of school desegregation in America, revealing how girls and women led the fight for interracial education.
The Women Who Made New York
by Julie Scelfo
Illustrated by Hallie Heald
An illuminating, elegant history of New York City, told through the stories of the women who made it the most exciting and influential metropolis in the world.
"These women were the original prizefighters...who built the best city in the world." —Jessica Bennett, New York Times columnist and author of Feminist Fight Club
The Way We Never Were
by Stephanie Coontz
The definitive edition of the classic, myth-shattering history of the American family.
"[Coontz] approaches the subject of what we now insist upon calling 'family values' with what is, in the current atmosphere, a refreshing lack of partisan cant." —Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post Book World
They Didn't See Us Coming
by Lisa Levenstein
From an award-winning scholar, a vibrant portrait of a pivotal moment in the history of the feminist movement.
"A nuanced history of feminism since the 1990s. Grounding today's fourth-wave feminism in the context of earlier activism, Levenstein locates both mainstream and radical feminism within a broader historical framework, showing how young feminists... are building on foundations laid by the generations before them." –Financial Times
Whipping Girl
by Julia Serano
In this updated second edition, biologist and trans woman Julia Serano reveals a unique perspective on femininity, masculinity, and gender identity.
“Serano takes to task those who categorize “femininity” as artificial rather than a natural gender expression. Her convincing analysis and personal revelations challenge us to recognize our own sexist notions.” —Ms. Magazine
Mediocre
by Ijeoma Oluo
From the author of the New York Times bestseller So You Want to Talk About Race, a subversive history of white male American identity.
“Wide-ranging in the cultural history it provides, Mediocre illuminates the various ways white men work to maintain racial power.” —New York Times
Sometimes You Have to Lie
by Leslie Brody
In this inspiring biography, discover the true story of Harriet the Spy author Louise Fitzhugh — and learn about the woman behind one of literature's most beloved heroines.
"What a role model Harriet the Spy was for a kid: whip-smart, curious, and bold. It turns out her creator, Louise Fitzhugh, was just as daring. Sometimes You Have to Lie is a rollicking and insightful biography about a modern literary heroine." —Anne Zimmerman, author of An Extravagant Hunger: The Passionate Years of M.F.K. Fisher
What Would Frida Do?
by Arianna Davis
A contemporary guide to life, love, and happiness inspired by the extraordinary artist Frida Kahlo.