With just over a week into Women’s History Month 2021, we’re dedicating this time to celebrate the voices that are empowering women at home, work, and to lead fulfilling lives.
This year, we’re sharing our favorite books from some of the most inspiring women writers and thinkers. Covering topics from equality to personal memoirs, the books in this list share incredible insights serve to inspire and help readers grow.
Take a look at our recommendations below:
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance – Angela Duckworth
Winningly personal and even life-changing, Grit is a book about what goes through your head when you fall down, and how that—not talent or luck—makes all the difference.
This empowering read draws on Angela Duckworth’s own powerful story as the daughter of a scientist who frequently noted her lack of “genius.” Duckworth, now a celebrated researcher and professor, describes her early eye-opening stints in teaching, business consulting, and neuroscience, which led to the hypothesis that what really drives success is not “genius” but a unique combination of passion and long-term perseverance. Through her work, she highlights fascinating insights from history, people, and high achievers.
Lean In – Sheryl Sandberg
In her book, Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg reignites the conversation around women in the workplace.
As the chief operating officer of Facebook and coauthor of Option B with Adam Grant, In 2010, she gave an electrifying TED talk in which she described how women unintentionally hold themselves back in their careers. Lean In continues that conversation, combining personal anecdotes, hard data, and compelling research to change the conversation from what women can’t do to what they can. Sandberg provides an inspiring call to action and a blueprint for individual growth that helps empower women from negotiation techniques, mentorship, to building a satisfying career all while building a fulfilling personal life.
The Moment of Lift – Melinda Gates
If you want to lift a society up, you need to stop keeping women down.
In this moving and compelling book, Melinda shares lessons she’s learned from the inspiring people she’s met during her work and travels around the world. Melinda’s unforgettable narrative is backed by startling data as she presents the issues that most need our attention―from child marriage to lack of access to contraceptives to gender inequity in the workplace. And, for the first time, she writes about her personal life and the road to equality in her own marriage. Throughout, she shows how there has never been more opportunity to change the world―and ourselves.
We Should All Be Feminists – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
In this personal, eloquently-argued essay—adapted from the much-admired TEDx talk of the same name—Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie offers readers a unique definition of feminism for the twenty-first century, one rooted in inclusion and awareness.
Drawing extensively on her own experiences and her deep understanding of the often-masked realities of sexual politics, here is one remarkable author’s exploration of what it means to be a woman now—and an off-the-moment rallying cry for why we should all be feminists.
You Are Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life – Jen Sincero
Packed with humor, inspiration, and advice, You Are a Badass is the book that teaches you how to get better without getting busted.
In this refreshingly entertaining how-to guide, bestselling author and world-traveling success coach, Jen Sincero, serves up twenty-seven bite-sized chapters full of hilariously inspiring stories, sage advice, easy exercises, and the occasional swear word, helping you to shift your mindset, create a life you love, and feel empowered.
Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun and Be Your Own Person – Shonda Rhimes
In this fantastic read Shonda Rhimes, the creator of Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal and executive producer of How to Get Away With Murder, shares how saying YES changed her life.
This poignant, intimate, and hilarious memoir explores Shonda’s life before her Year of Yes—from her nerdy, book-loving childhood to her devotion to creating television characters who reflected the world she saw around her. The book chronicles her life after her Year of Yes had begun—when Shonda forced herself out of the house and onto the stage; when she learned to explore, empower, applaud, and love her truest self. Yes.