Books that will inspire, thrill, and hook you from the first page: incredible Women’s History Month reads
The theme for Women's History Month 2025 is “Moving Forward Together! Women Educating & Inspiring Generations.” The books below have all been chosen by the Amazon Editors because they have educated us—often about how ordinary women lived through extraordinary times, but also about how extraordinary women brought about the progress that women enjoy today. These books also inspire us, and we hope they do the same for you.
Rosa Parks, John Lewis, Martin Luther King Jr ... all of the heroes known to history books were mentored by Mrs. Septima Clark, the “grandmother” of the Civil Rights movement, who finally gets her due in this compelling narrative history. Clark always spoke truth to power—and faced bullets, bombs, and plane and car crashes in her tireless fight for equality for women, and Black people, to receive the dignity they deserve. Perfect for readers of The Small and the Mighty and You Have to Be Prepared to Die Before You Can Begin to Live (both among the Amazon Editors’ best books of the year), this absorbing page-turner will leave you breathless, shocked, and inspired. —Lindsay Powers, Amazon Editor
Billie Jean King is a living legend—a woman who broke down barriers on and off the tennis court, making way for generations of female athletes. We named this best-selling memoir one of the best books of the year, and it's a perfect read for celebrating Women's History Month. As Adrian Liang, a former Amazon Editor, wrote in her review: “While her famous match against Bobby Riggs will be what draws many readers, King’s drive to overcome any obstacle thrown in front of her powers this memoir. In scene after scene, she knocks down the barriers before her and others—even as she secretly wrestles with her sexuality. Billie Jean King’s strength, energy, and personality shine on every page of this gripping autobiography." —Al Woodworth, Amazon Editor
Sisters in Arms is a fictionalized account of a real-life inspiration: the story of how, in early 1945, members of the 6888th, the only all-Black battalion in the Women’s Army Corps, were deployed to Europe with a Mission Impossible-style task: restore morale by delivering 17 million pieces of “held” mail—much of it damaged by water or vermin—to US troops and their families back home—and do it in six months. With ingenuity, resourcefulness, and determination, they accomplished this Herculean task in just 90 days, in horrible conditions, and this novel celebrates the women and their inspiring attitude toward getting the job done. Their story was also adapted for film and recently released on Netflix. —Vannessa Cronin, Amazon Editor
Glitz and glamour. Power and pleasure. Striving and success. Journalist Julie Satow’s last book was about NYC’s iconic Plaza Hotel, and her second is broader in scope: the evolution of the department store. But this story is about so much more than ladies shopping and lunching. It’s about the stores’ stature as one of the few spaces where women could exist, and be catered to, in a world that was too quick to write us off. And the possibility for boundary-breaking was thrilling too—take Dorothy Shaver, who rose up the ranks at Lord & Taylor, becoming the first woman to earn the equivalent of a $1 million salary. Satow’s breezy narrative also examines privilege, class, and race: who had access to a plum role at a department store, who had the leisure time and extra money to shop there. This fascinating history is packed with style, panache, and drama—it's as multi-faceted and bold as any woman you know. —Lindsay Powers, Amazon Editor
"You are not a proper doctor. You are only a woman." This historical fiction is an absolute magnificent piece of work. It’s inspired by the real story of Tan Yunxian, a female Chinese doctor in the 1500s—when women were not considered intelligent enough to practice medicine. Lisa See's amazing talent is her ability to breathe life and relatability to characters who lived a completely different life than most of us live today. The immersive storytelling allowed me to devour each page. And the numerous proverbs and sayings throughout guided the story and provided wisdom and valuable lessons, applicable even today. —Kami Tei, Amazon Editor
Kristin Hannah's beloved novel revolves around two sisters who experience WWII very differently. The inspiration for one of the sisters, Isabelle, was Andrée de Jongh, a young Belgian woman who walked 118 downed Allied airmen over the Pyrenees, into Spain, and out of the clutches of the Nazis. De Jongh was captured and sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp, but the Nazis spared her execution because they didn’t believe that a woman could plan and execute such daring escapes along such a perilous route. De Jongh’s heroism inspired author Hannah to further research, and as a result, she included at least one other female character based on a real-life war heroine. Looking for a great gift? This best seller is now available as a gorgeous deluxe edition to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its release. —Vannessa Cronin, Amazon Editor
If the theme of this year's Womens History Month celebration is mentorship, and there is no more foundational mentor than a mother. Martin Luther King Jr., James Baldwin, and Malcolm X, need no introduction—they changed the course of our country and history. Their mothers— Alberta King, Louise Little, and Berdis Baldwin (and their biographer, Anna Malaika Tubbs)—are also worthy of attention, for lives both extraordinary and ordinary, inspiring and devastating. As I learned about these women—the discrimination they endured as young Black girls, what they overcame, what their mothers and their grandmothers overcame, how they raised their boys and witnessed their deaths—my eyes filled with tears at their resolute strength and how their lives, like those of so many other Black mothers, have been ignored. —Al Woodworth, Amazon Editor
When you think “war hero,” you’re probably not envisioning someone wielding a stethoscope. Medical personnel putting themselves in harm’s way are often the unsung heroes of such conflicts—especially combat nurses. Kristin Hannah honors them in a novel featuring Frances “Frankie” McGrath—a naive, idealistic woman from a moneyed family of military heroes, who signs up to serve in Vietnam. Despite the valor Frankie demonstrates in makeshift, muddy operating rooms, she is subject to the same profound indignities and challenges—both practical and emotional—foisted on her fighting comrades. Adding insult to injury, this contempt comes from some of the soldiers whose lives may have depended on her, and even members of Frankie’s own family. She gets by with (a lot of) help from her friends—the lifeline that found family extends is a hallmark of Hannah’s beloved oeuvre. So are stories that elicit all the feels. The Women is no exception. —Erin Kodicek, Amazon Editor
This was one of the Amazon Editors’ favorite books of 2020, and is an apropos selection for Women’s History Month as well. The heroine of this novel, a 14-year-old Nigerian girl named Adunni, endures a series of unfortunate events in her quest to get an education. The alternative is a life of servitude, something Adunni experiences firsthand when, after escaping an arranged marriage, she lands herself in an even more precarious position in the employ of a sadistic wife and her debauched husband. Depressing much? Actually no. This rousing story of courage and pluck will have you rooting for this young girl who refuses to play the hand this patriarchal world has dealt her. It’s also a reminder of the power of books, especially for those of us afforded the luxury of taking reading, and learning, and dreaming for granted. —Erin Kodicek
First published as On Her Own Ground, and recently republished as Self Made to tie in with the Netflix series of the same name, this is the extraordinary story of Madam C.J. Walker and the hair care empire she built. Born the daughter of enslaved parents, she went from washer-woman to cook to business titan, but she never passed up an opportunity to share the fruits of her smarts and labor, going on to also become a remarkable philanthropist. This biography was written by Walker’s great-great-granddaughter, and so mixes family lore with meticulous research to build a fascinating, inspiring portrait of a woman who was such a visionary businesswoman, she became a beacon for Black entrepreneurship. —Vannessa Cronin, Amazon Editor
You’ll revel in this historical fiction mixed with mystery. Set in late 1700s Maine, just as the US is in the beginning stages of becoming a country—readers get to experience the true story of Martha Ballard, a real-life midwife, and a fierce community presence who is said to have delivered over 1,000 babies in her lifetime without ever losing a mother. During the harsh winter of 1789, the small town of Hollowell experiences a mysterious death, a serious act of crime, and several babies born in and out of wedlock, causing lots of scandal and speculation—with Martha firmly planted in the middle of it all. This book gave me tingles of anticipation throughout—from chapter to chapter, I had to know what was going to happen next. —Kami Tei, Amazon Editor
Before Margot Lee Shetterly’s book, very few people were aware that a group of Black women had worked as mathematicians at NASA and helped win the space race against the Soviets. By the time the Academy Award-nominated film (based on the book) came out, it might have seemed like we had always known about the all-Black computing group working at Langley. But the truth is, it takes great historical writers like Shetterly to uncover great stories like these before they vanish into the dust heap of history. —Chris Schluep, former Amazon Editor
Surely, a Women’s History book list is not complete without mention of Gloria Steinem—the revolutionary thinker and protestor, founder of Ms. Magazine, fighter and champion of reproductive rights, and feminist icon. In her 2015 memoir, Steinem takes readers on the road of her life—from the doctor who ended Steinem’s pregnancy (illegally) in 1957 to the conversations she had with cab drivers and airplane passengers. With buzzy intimacy, Steinem invites readers into her life and the result is entertaining, inspiring, and a call to action. –Al Woodworth, Amazon Editor
There are so many reasons to be in awe of Ketanji Brown Jackson. Yes, she’s the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court, and she holds no details back about the prejudice and sexism she faced while chasing her dreams and building her career. But what I truly relished about this book was Jackson’s willingness to weave her staggering success with her personal life—her experiences as the mother to a special-needs child, the ups and downs of her marriage, the frustrations (and rewards) of attempting to “have it all”: a big career, loving family, rich community. I was equally enamored with her honesty as her brilliance while savoring this warm, big-hearted read. Get your highlighters out. —Lindsay Powers, Amazon Editor
You’ll hum the tunes of the boundary-breaking female rockers of the ‘90s as you read this riveting music history about a sound that changed the world. Professor Tanya Pearson schools readers on the far-reaching impact of Garbage’s Shirley Manson, Liz Phair, Veruca Salt, Hole’s Courtney Love (with a feminist view of her late husband, Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, I hadn’t considered before), and so many more legends. But her school of rock never feels like homework, which is why it's one of the Amazon Editors' best history books of the month. It's written in an oral history style, mixed with her personal observations, and experiences interviewing the women of rock. This riveting, perspective-expanding read strikes all the right nostalgia chords. —Lindsay Powers, Amazon Editor
Growing up, I always knew Eleanor Roosevelt as one of the most influential presidential first ladies, and Mary McLeod Bethune as a prominent figure in African Americans’ struggle for equal rights. This well-researched novel touches on aspects of Eleanor Roosevelt’s life not widely covered in other novels, and showcases what the authors imagined to be her inner dialog during a critical time in her life and US history as a whole. Even though Mary McLeod Bethune was one of the most well-known African Americans during her time, and was coined the first lady of African American progress by Mrs. Roosevelt, very little has been written about her, especially her personal life. This novel changes that, and shows how together these trailblazers were extremely dynamic. I was blown away to learn how these women forced significant changes, specifically for African Americans, to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, were the driving force for anti-lynching policy, and their huge role in turning African American voters from Republicans to Democrats. Even more inspiring was the friendship between the two—experiencing their mistakes, but also their great joy in learning how to be friends in a time when their relationship was highly unusual. —Kami Tei, Amazon Editor
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