Books Read for Women’s History Month 2023

Last month when I did a wrap-up for Black History Month, I mentioned that these are two of my favorite months for reading. While I try to read in these categories all year round, I love the opportunity to dive into books thematically for various months. These two come back to back and are always some of my favorites.

All authors are women, except one, which I’ll note. For the most part, I’ll list by date read within categories. These aren’t all the books I read in March, but the ones that fit the theme of the month.

If it starts with a *, that means I recommend it. I enjoyed many more than I put a * next to and reserved that for ones I really enjoyed.

I had noticed a need to read more books from/by African women and also in the Middle East, so that’s where I focused this month. I will continue to read more books by women in April since one month is too slow. I hope to read more from Latina women and Asian women in April. 🙂

Adult/YA Nonfiction

Until We Are Free: My Fight For Human Rights in Iran by Shirin Ebadi– This was an interesting book. The book starts during the later years of Shirin’s life in Iran and then discusses her first few years outside of Iran. So by this point, a lot has already happened. I found myself curious about the earlier years. There were times I was absolutely absorbed in this book and other times when it was slower. But it was a fascinating read.

*Stolen Girls: Survivors of Boko Haram Tell Their Story by Wolfgang Bauer– This book (as the title suggests) details stories of girls stolen by Boko Haram. It was a tough, heavy read, but one I recommend. This is also the one book I included that wrote by a man.

*How Dare the Sun Rise: Memories of a War Child by Sandra Uwringiyimani (YA)- This book is extremely poignant and well done. It’s a heavy read dealing with being a child growing up in a war/conflict zone, surviving genocide, and becoming and being a refugee in the US.I would recommend this one to anybody. It’s quick but extremely powerful.

Barbara Bush by Barbara Bush-I often enjoy biographies more than autobiographies of first ladies. This was no excepiton. I enjoyed the one by Susan Page more than this one, but I’m also glad to have read it.

Crazy Brave by Joy Harjo– Interesting. Thought-provoking. Some moments of truly great writing. Not sure how to rate this one. But I’m glad to have read it.

The Churchill Sisters: The Extraordinary Lives of Winston and Clementine’s Daughters by Rachel Trethewey-This book centers on the daughters. It paints a fair, but perhaps incomplete view of Clementine. I’d recommend Sonia Purnell’s book to learn more about her, but it did a great job detailing the lives of the daughters. Very well researched.

The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line: Untold Stories of the Women Who Changed the Course of World War II by Mari K. Eder-I tend to prefer books that take a more in-depth look into one or a few people rather than ones that spend a chapter on a person and address multiple women. However, I really enjoyed this one. All of the chapters were well-written and very interesting! It does a great job talking about a wide variety of women who were involved in a variety of ways and from different backgrounds. For a great book about Virginia Hall, try A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell.

When Heaven & Earth Changed Places by Le Ly Hayslip with Jay Wurts- This one was interesting because of the perspective it presented and what I learned from reading it.

The Hello Girls: America’s First Women Soldiers by Elizabeth Cobbs– This was an intriguing read. Half the book is about the “Hello Girls” and their service and work and half is about the fight for suffrage at home and how that relates to giving the women who fought recognition as soldiers.

First Women: The Grace and Power of America’s Modern First Ladies by Kate Anderson-A bit surface-level, but I enjoyed the perspective all the same.

*Muslim Women Are Everything by Seema Yasmin–

As I noted above, I prefer books that go more in-depth than cover multiple women in only a short chapter/few pages. However, more books like this are needed and it’s well done. The author did a great job choosing a diverse group of women—geographically, ability-wise, profession-wise, age-wise, ethnically, racially, and so on.

American Heiresses of the American Gilded Age by Melissa Ziobro-I enjoy the Great Courses. They are lecture style by knowledgeable experts in fields. This was a fun, intriguing, and well-researched one about wealthy women who married for money.

*Wise Gals: The Spies Who Built the CIA and Changed the Future of Espionage by Nathalia Holt (US)-I suspect fans of A Woman of No Importance would like this one. Very well researched and well written. Fascinating subject material and stories. I greatly enjoyed this one. This one stood out.

Mr. President, How Long Must We Wait?: Alice Paul, Woodrow Wilson, and the Fight For the Right To Vote by Tina Cassidy- This didn’t dive into the very valid criticisms of Alice Paul and those she left behind and excluded. It didn’t dive into her problematic stances on race in other words. Having said that, I enjoyed this one that detailed Wilson and Paul’s life side by side, and this was a great look into the suffragist movement.

What They Meant For Evil: How a Lost Girl of Sudan Found Healing, Hope, and Purpose in the Midst of Suffering by Rebecca Deng– This one deals with her life and early years and then refugee status in the States. Largely, it stresses how her faith saw her through. This is also the fourth full-length book I read on women in/from Africa. It was good, but I felt the others were stronger.

All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson & Katharine K. Wilkinson– Like most books I read with compiled essays, there were some I loved, some I didn’t love, and some that were in the middle. I did like that this approaches the topic from so many different voices and perspectives and angles.

*Zarifa: A Woman’s Battle In a Man’s World by Zarifa Ghafari– I really enjoyed this one. I managed to read a lot from this region this year, and most of them have been very good.

I enjoyed learning more about Afghanistan and her journey.

The Brontes: Romantic Passion and Social Justice by Deborah Morse-It was repetitive, but enjoyable.

Fiction

I read a lot of fiction, but there’s only one that I think fits the monthly theme. The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin. I preferred Madeline’s other novel, but this was a fun, clean, enjoyable quick read about women on the homefront of WWII.

Childrens

I’ll simply include whether I recommend it and the title and cover.