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Susan B. Anthony spent her life planting seeds for a future she would not fully enjoy. She died before women secured the right to vote, yet today women vote in record numbers and are winning seats in Congress at unprecedented rates. Her legacy — and the work of many other determined women — continues to shape our world.
In honor of International Women’s Day, here are a selection of biographies and life stories that celebrate fierce, inspiring women who helped change history. These books offer wisdom, courage, and lessons worth remembering. Add a few of them to your reading list and let their stories inspire you.
Below are several biographies and narrative histories that deserve a place on everyone’s shelf. This list is far from exhaustive, but it highlights a range of women whose lives and accomplishments illuminate different facets of social change, creativity, science, and leadership.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony: A Friendship That Changed the World by Penny Colman
Penny Colman tells the story of the electric partnership between Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, two women who met in Seneca Falls in 1851 and formed a lifelong friendship and alliance. Together they challenged laws and customs that oppressed women and led the fight for legal rights, including suffrage, despite opposition and setbacks. Colman weaves quotations, events, and personalities into a compelling narrative that brings their friendship and its historical impact vividly to life.
No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War IIby Doris Kearns Goodwin
This acclaimed work—winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History—chronicles the Roosevelts’ partnership and the transformation of America during World War II. Goodwin explores Eleanor’s role as First Lady, the dynamics of her marriage to Franklin, and how the White House navigated a nation at war. The book offers an intimate portrait of both leaders and the era that shaped modern America.
Pearl Buck in China: Journey to The Good Earth
This biography profiles Pearl S. Buck, author of The Good Earth, and explores her life growing up in China as the daughter of American missionaries. Her childhood immersed in Chinese language and culture, along with harrowing experiences during uprisings and conflict, shaped the novels that brought rural Chinese life to Western readers. Buck later became the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature; this book traces her experiences, the forces that influenced her writing, and her role in fostering cross-cultural understanding.
Pearl Buck’s The Good Earth captured readers around the world by portraying ordinary Chinese lives with empathy and detail. Buck’s perspective—shaped by famine, war, and dislocation—gave her a unique voice, and her work helped Americans see China in a new light. This biography examines how her upbringing and experiences informed her writing and public influence.
Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II
More than ten thousand women were recruited by the U.S. Army and Navy as codebreakers during World War II. While many of their peers went to fight, these women moved to Washington and learned the meticulous work of cryptography. Their contributions shortened the war and opened doors to careers previously closed to them. Liza Mundy’s research and interviews bring their vital and largely untold story into the light.
Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly
The book Hidden Figures recounts the true story of African American women mathematicians at NASA whose calculations were essential to America’s space achievements. These “human computers” transitioned from segregated teaching jobs to critical roles at Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory during World War II and the Cold War. Margot Lee Shetterly follows the lives and careers of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden, showing how their intellect, perseverance, and quiet determination helped change their lives and their country’s future.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Henrietta Lacks’ cells, known as HeLa, became a cornerstone of modern medical research after they were taken without her knowledge in 1951. Those cells contributed to vaccines, gene mapping, and numerous medical breakthroughs. Rebecca Skloot’s bestselling book explores the intersection of ethics, race, medicine, and the human story behind a scientific revolution—revealing how one woman’s legacy reshaped science while her family struggled for recognition and resources.
Charlotte Brontë: A Fiery Heart by Claire Harman
Claire Harman’s biography reframes Charlotte Brontë as a determined, ambitious woman rather than a solely tragic figure. Drawing on new letters and evidence, Harman portrays Charlotte’s inner life, her struggles with duty and poverty, and the personal experiences—such as her time teaching in Brussels—that fueled her creativity. The result is a fresh, empathetic portrait of a writer who fought to claim art and love on her own terms.
On Wings of the Morning by Marie Bostwick
This novel is a personal project and a tribute to the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). Though fictional, it’s grounded in extensive research about the real stories of women who flew military missions and helped expand opportunities for women in aviation. The book follows characters shaped by the courage and sacrifice of those pioneers and explores how flying offered both independence and purpose during wartime.
These books cover a wide range of fields—politics, literature, science, war, and social change—and each offers a powerful portrait of women who forged new paths. Reading their stories is a reminder of how far we’ve come and how much more remains possible when courage, talent, and determination are given room to flourish.