March is National Women’s History Month and we are celebrating the incredible achievements made by women in history, as well as the amazing women of today who are making history for us now. Here is a list of empowering and life-changing books that could inspire you to make your mark.
100 Under $100
Eco-activist Betsy Teutsch is passionate about mobilizing resources for the world’s poorest women. 100 Under $100: One Hundred Tools for Empowering Global Women is a book of incredible low-cost, high-impact solutions that promise to empower women in the global South. From women’s health to sanitation hygiene and from transportation to legal information, this book is more than just a how-to guide; it is a movement.
Better Than Before
This upbeat, motivational page-turner is perfectly in step with Gretchen Rubin’s previous bestsellers, The Happiness Project and Happier at Home. Whether you just want to catch a few more hours of sleep, maintain a healthy weight or break that addiction you have to your phone, this book will help you get there.
Girl in a Band
Kim Gordon, fashion icon, founding member of Sonic Youth and role model for a generation of women, opens up like never before in this revealing and edgy memoir of life as an artist, her journey through music, marriage and motherhood and being one of the first women of rock and roll. Kim takes readers back through the ’80s and ’90s as she explains how Sonic Youth paved the way for bands like Nirvana, Hole and Smashing Pumpkins. But what it really deals with is the importance of self-awareness and discovering who you are as a woman.
Girl in the Dark
Anna Lyndsey’s unique memoir will surprise you with its powerful message. In Girl in the Dark, Lyndsey recounts her experiences as a driven young woman who worked hard, had just moved into a new apartment and was happily in love. But when she discovered an odd intolerance to artificial light, she soon found that her world had quite literally become dark. You’ll be moved by her descriptions of this isolated new world, and inspired by her message of emerging to see the light.
If You Find This Letter
Just after Hannah Brencher graduated college, she moved to New York, expecting to find the life of her dreams. What she found instead was a city of people too focused and too busy to bother helping out the new girl. She became lonely and depressed, but rather than dwell on it, Brencher began writing letters to complete strangers to lift them up and inspire them, and she shares what she learned from the experience in her memoir, If You Find This Letter.
Life in Motion
Misty Copeland may be a prominent name in the professional ballet industry now, but her journey to get there was far from easy. In her telling memoir Life in Motion, Copeland opens up about the obstacles she faced to follow her dreams, including family issues, industry rejection and the cutthroat ways of the profession itself. The story is moving, and will inspire you to have courage, find passion and dare to dream.
I Am Malala
Fifteen-year-old Malala Yousafzai made headlines in 2012 when she was shot in the head point-blank while riding the bus home from school. The Taliban had taken over the Swat Valley in Pakistan and forbade women from receiving an education, and it was this very rule that Malala broke by speaking out and fighting for her right to go to school. Her inspiring and empowering story is told in this beautiful memoir from one woman who decided to stand up.
Remember My Name
In August 2014, Mo’ne Davis became the first female pitcher to win a game in the Little League World Series, then the first Little Leaguer to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated and then later earned a place in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Mo’ne Davis is 13, and her inspiring memoir captures her journey as she learned to play baseball with the boys and rose to national stardom with determination, hard work and an incredible fastball.
Renewable
At age 49, Eileen Flanagan had an aching feeling that she wasn’t living the life she once wanted as a young woman. She wasn’t living up to her potential or seeking to fulfill her youthful ideals. She was a former Peace Corps volunteer who wanted to do good in the world, but now she had way too many emails in her inbox and a basement full of stuff she didn’t need. Worried about her children’s future in the heat of global warming, she felt unable to make a difference. It was this need to make a change that spurred her to join a band of Quaker activists who helped her harness her voice and her power.
Shepherdess of Siena
Based on the real-life tale of Virginia Tacci, this gorgeous historical fiction tale tells the story of a 14-year-old girl who rode the Palio Horse tournament in 1581 bareback in long skirts. Up until 2008, women were not even allowed to take part in Palio events in the Oca district. Linda Lafferty’s love of all things equestrian and her extensive travel to Italy paints a vivid picture of Tuscany with passion and truth.
Towards Bethlehem
Joan Didion is on fire! Her essay Goodbye to All That was recently optioned for the big screen. The essay relates her life experiences, beginning with her move to New York in her early 20s and covering the period until she moved to Los Angeles in 1964 with her new husband John Gregory Dunne. Enjoy this and other powerful stories in Didion’s collection of essays, Slouching Towards Bethlehem.
Small Victories
Anne Lamott is known for moving others through her words on faith, family and community, and her latest book Small Victories follows suit. Here, Lamott celebrates the small yet triumphant victories we all experience as we work to overcome darkness in our lives.
This is Mexico
Carol Merchasin takes readers on a magical and mysterious journey through Mexico as an American immigrant in this collection of essays. Carol’s writing is humorous and powerful as she explores Mexican culture and history, healthcare, style, religious rituals and the cultural subtleties of the Spanish language. Carol’s heartfelt and detailed account of her life in Mexico is an inside look at the joys, sorrows and challenges of life in this complex country.
Thrive
Arianna Huffington is the cofounder and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group, one of the fastest growing media companies in the world. As one of the world’s most celebrated and influential women, Huffington thought she was at the peak of success until she collapsed from exhaustion, resulting in a broken cheekbone and nasty gash over her eye. In this deeply personal book, she talks candidly about success and the challenges it brings.
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman, the most iconic female superhero of all time, was created in 1941, and her legacy continues to inspire and maintain a massive, loyal fan base. Harvard historian and New Yorker staff writer Jill Lepore has uncovered an astonishing trove of documents in The Secret History of Wonder Woman, and reveals to readers the hidden history of Wonder Woman’s creation and how she ties into the feminist movement.
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