13 Empowering Books to Read for International Women’s Day

The late, great Cicely Tyson’s memoir is a must-read. It chronicles her legendary career as an actress breaking barriers for Black women in America with roles on stage and screen. “Just as I Am is my truth,” Tyson said just before her death last month. “It is me, plain and unvarnished, with the glitter and garland set aside.”

Artist Frida Kahlo is a modern-day icon thanks to her legacy of creativity and (you guessed it) living boldly. Arianna Davis’ look at her life is a part portrait of a woman ahead of her time and a part inspirational guide to being a woman ahead of yours.

If you love a good thriller, you’ll devour this true story of the 1969 murder of a Harvard student reported by journalist Becky Cooper. The story that unfolds tackles sexism in the hallowed halls of academia and the silencing of women who challenge it.

You can’t celebrate women without celebrating the female friendship. And who better to do that than the hosts of the podcast Call Your Girlfriend. In their hilarious joint book, hosts Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman talk about their decade-long bond and what it takes to really invest in the women in your life.

Michelle Obama became an icon during her eight-year reign as First Lady but in her bestselling memoir, we see a different side of her, painting a complicated portrait of what it meant to be the face of womanhood in America.

Rupi Kaur is the poet of a generation, so naturally, she has some much-needed words for our current times. Home Body is an exploration of what it’s meant to spend all this time at home with ourselves, touching on potential, acceptance, and change. 

The Vanishing Half is an addictive and imaginative look at the lives of twin sisters who end up on very different paths and neither of whom can escape questions of womanhood and race.

Well-Behaved Indian Women is a lush portrait of three generations of Indian women and the bonds that keep a family together. Saumya Dave brilliantly excavates mother-daughter relationships in a way that will make women of any cultural background feel seen. 

America is in the midst of a serious caregiving crisis—and women are at the epicenter. In her illuminating memoir, Kate Washington writes about caring for her seriously ill husband and the lack of support systems given to women.

As an American journalist living and working in the UK, Kenya Hunt examines our cultural reckoning with womanhood and Blackness in a stunning series of essays that’s joyous and captures what it looks like to truly thrive.

This collection of writing from extraordinary women aims to bridge the gap between #feminism and the scholarly text. From Hollywood actresses to teenage activists, each story discusses the author’s personal relationship with the ‘F-word’. 

With eye-opening explorations of hot button topics for modern women, this story from the former editor-in-chief of Nylon covers everything from impossible beauty standards to the #MeToo Movement. 

In her bestselling memoir, the author and activist Glennon Doyle touches on everything from her marriage to Abby Wambach, to reckoning with racism, to giving women permission to ask for more.