Women's History Month Reading List
March is Women’s History Month! This year’s theme is “Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories.” This month, and all year, we look to celebrate the women of the past and present who have been storytellers across all mediums. Everything from stage to screen, print to blogs. These women have devoted their lives to telling stories, pursuing the truth, creating art, and changing the world for decades.
Softly, As I Leave You: Life After Elvis: A Memoir
Priscilla Presley's divorce from Elvis left his fans incredulous. How could she leave the man every woman wanted? From the outside, life in Elvis's mansion looked glamorous and enviable, and in many respects, it was. But inside the mansion, her husband was constantly surrounded by a male entourage while at the gates, lines of beautiful women waited hopefully for an audience with the King. From the time she was seventeen years old, that life was all Priscilla had known. During her ten years with Elvis, it became painfully apparent that she had no idea who she was outside Elvis's world. The only way to find herself was to leave that world and seek a new life of her own, because leaving was the only way to survive, for herself and for her daughter. Softly, As I Leave You, is the deeply personal story of what Priscilla lost and what she found when she walked away from the man she loved. Despite the legal separation, their love for one another transformed into a touching and tender dynamic that endured until Elvis's untimely death four years later. Shattered by Elvis's passing, she had to reinvent herself a second time as the single mother of a talented, often headstrong daughter who never really recovered from her father's death. Priscilla's dedication to motherhood was enriched by the birth of her second child, and she gradually found her footing as a businesswoman, actress, designer, and legislative advocate. She transformed Graceland into an international destination and helped guide the development of Elvis Presley Enterprises. But the unexpected, shattering loss of three immediate family members years later brought Priscilla to her knees.
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Digital Book Number: DB132785
Songbird: An Intimate Biography of Christine McVie
Christine McVie -- born Christine Perfect -- was the quintessentially English rock star, as both the backbone and the beating heart of Fleetwood Mac. She wrote and performed many of their greatest hits, and was dubbed 'the mother' of the band. It was Christine who contained the flock, regrouped them when they went AWOL, and always got them back on track. And yet, as the "engine" of the band during their Rumours era -- an album which charted the romantic disintegration within the band -- Christine's personal life was every bit as tempestuous as those of her bandmates. Told by an author who herself was friends with Christine, and with new contributions from those who knew her best, Songbird offers a true insider's view and psychological insight into Christine as a both a woman and a musician -- the ultimate picture of a rock legend and a national treasure.
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Digital Book Number: DB131256
Uncommon Favor: Basketball, North Philly, My Mother, and the Lessons I Learned from All Three
For the first time, Dawn Staley shares powerful and inspiring stories that have shaped her journey on and off the court. A three-time Olympic gold medalist, six-time WNBA All-Star, and the first person to win the Naismith College Player of the Year award as both a player and coach, Staley has shattered expectations at every level of the game. While her name resonates with both longtime WNBA fans and newcomers, she has kept her personal life private. Uncommon Favor reveals the journey that led to Staley's success, including the challenges she faced. From dealing with sexism on the court to feeling isolated in new environments, Staley honed her skills and learned valuable life lessons about mental fortitude and maturity that have grounded her throughout her career. Beginning with her humble origins on the North Philadelphia basketball court and her rise to national fame at the University of Virginia--where she led her team to three Final Fours--Staley recounts the key moments that shaped her winning mindset. Staley's iconic career in the WNBA and her groundbreaking coaching journey at the University of South Carolina highlight the milestones and turning points that have defined her success, both on and off the court. Fearless and authentic, Uncommon Favor shares the rewards of leading with conviction and the courage to redefine the limits of what is possible.
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Digital Book Number: DB130464
The Women of the Bible Speak: The Wisdom of 16 Women and Their Lessons for Today
The women of the Bible lived timeless stories-by examining them, we can understand what it means to be a woman of faith. People unfamiliar with Scripture often assume that women play a small, secondary role in the Bible. But in fact, they were central figures in numerous Biblical tales. It was Queen Esther's bravery at a vital point in history which saved her entire people. The Bible contains warriors like Jael, judges like Deborah, and prophets like Miriam. The first person to witness Jesus' resurrection was Mary Magdalene, who promptly became the first Christian evangelist, eager to share the news which would change the world forever. In The Women of the Bible Speak, Fox News Channel's Shannon Bream opens up the lives of sixteen of these Biblical women, arranging them into pairs and contrasting their journeys. In pairing their stories, Shannon helps us reflect not only on the meaning of each individual's life, but on how they relate to each other and to us. From the shepherdesses of ancient Israel who helped raise the future leaders of the people of God, to the courageous early Christians, the narrative of the Bible offers us many vivid and fascinating female characters. In their lives we can see common struggles to resist bitterness, despair, and pride, and to instead find their true selves in faith, hope, and love. In studying these heroes of the faith, we can find wisdom and warnings for how to better navigate our own faith journeys. The Women of the Bible Speak outlines the lessons we can take from the valor of Esther, the hope of Hannah, the audacity of Rahab, and the faith of Mary. In broadening each woman's individual story, Shannon offers us a deeper understanding of each, and wisdom and insights that can transform our own lives today.
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Digital Book Number: DB110296
Yours Cruelly, Elvira: Memoirs of the Mistress of the Dark
Memoir of the actress who took on the persona of Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, when she was hosting late-night horror movies on TV. Peterson describes leaving home at fourteen and the colorful life she lived, including a stint as a Vegas showgirl, an encounter with Elvis Presley, and more. Contains descriptions of sex.; Contains strong language.; Contains some violence.
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Digital Book Number: DB105470
The Soul of a Woman
The author of Long Petal of the Sea (DB 98363) and The House of the Spirits (DB 21524) reflects on feminism and what it means to be a woman. She recounts her experiences of 1960s feminism, the trajectory of her career, the ups and downs of her love life, and what she values as a woman.
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Digital Book Number: DB103366
The Women of the Bible Speak: The Wisdom of 16 Women and Their Lessons for Today
The women of the Bible lived timeless stories-by examining them, we can understand what it means to be a woman of faith. People unfamiliar with Scripture often assume that women play a small, secondary role in the Bible. But in fact, they were central figures in numerous Biblical tales. It was Queen Esther's bravery at a vital point in history which saved her entire people. The Bible contains warriors like Jael, judges like Deborah, and prophets like Miriam. The first person to witness Jesus' resurrection was Mary Magdalene, who promptly became the first Christian evangelist, eager to share the news which would change the world forever. In The Women of the Bible Speak, Fox News Channel's Shannon Bream opens up the lives of sixteen of these Biblical women, arranging them into pairs and contrasting their journeys. In pairing their stories, Shannon helps us reflect not only on the meaning of each individual's life, but on how they relate to each other and to us. From the shepherdesses of ancient Israel who helped raise the future leaders of the people of God, to the courageous early Christians, the narrative of the Bible offers us many vivid and fascinating female characters. In their lives we can see common struggles to resist bitterness, despair, and pride, and to instead find their true selves in faith, hope, and love. In studying these heroes of the faith, we can find wisdom and warnings for how to better navigate our own faith journeys. The Women of the Bible Speak outlines the lessons we can take from the valor of Esther, the hope of Hannah, the audacity of Rahab, and the faith of Mary. In broadening each woman's individual story, Shannon offers us a deeper understanding of each, and wisdom and insights that can transform our own lives today.
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Digital Book Number: DB110296
The Women of Rothschild: The Untold Story of the World's Most Famous Dynasty
From the East End of London to the Eastern seaboard of the United States, from Spitalfields to Scottish castles, from Bletchley Park to Buchenwald, and from the Vatican to Palestine, Natalie Livingstone follows the extraordinary lives of the Rothschild women from the dawn of the nineteenth century to the early years of the twenty-first. As Jews in a Christian society and women in a deeply patriarchal family, they were outsiders. Excluded from the family bank, they forged their own distinct dynasty of daughters and nieces, mothers and aunts. They became influential hostesses and talented diplomats, choreographing electoral campaigns, advising prime ministers, advocating for social reform, and trading on the stock exchange. Misfits and conformists, conservatives and idealists, performers and introverts, they mixed with everyone from Queen Victoria to Chaim Weizmann, Rossini to Isaiah Berlin, and the Duke of Wellington to Alec Guinness, as well as with amphetamine-dealers, suffragists and avant-garde artists. Rothschild women helped bring down ghetto walls in early nineteenth-century Frankfurt, inspired some of the most remarkable cultural movements of the Victorian period, and in the mid-twentieth century burst into America, where they patronized Thelonious Monk and drag-raced through Manhattan with Miles Davis. Absorbing and compulsive, The Women of Rothschild gives voice to the complicated, privileged, and gifted women whose vision and tenacity shaped history.
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Digital Book Number: DB111422
Women in White Coats: How the First Women Doctors Changed the World of Medicine
In the early 1800s, women were dying in large numbers from treatable diseases because they avoided receiving medical care. Examinations performed by male doctors were often demeaning and even painful. In addition, women faced stigma from illness-a diagnosis could greatly limit their ability to find husbands, jobs or be received in polite society. Motivated by personal loss and frustration over inadequate medical care, Elizabeth Blackwell, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and Sophia Jex-Blake fought for a woman's place in the male-dominated medical field. For the first time ever, Women in White Coats tells the complete history of these three pioneering women who, despite countless obstacles, earned medical degrees and paved the way for other women to do the same. Though very different in personality and circumstance, together these women built women-run hospitals and teaching colleges-creating for the first time medical care for women by women. With gripping storytelling based on extensive research and access to archival documents, Women in White Coats tells the courageous history these women made by becoming doctors, detailing the boundaries they broke of gender and science to reshape how we receive medical care today.
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Digital Book Number: DB112026
Women in the Valley of the Kings: The Untold Story of Women Egyptologists in the Gilded Age
The never-before-told story of the women Egyptologists who paved the way of exploration in Egypt and created the basis for Egyptology. The history of Egyptology is often told as yet one more grand narrative of powerful men striving to seize the day and the precious artifacts for their competing homelands. But that is only half of the story. During the Golden Age of Exploration, there were women working and exploring before Howard Carter discovered the tomb of King Tut. Before men even conceived of claiming the story for themselves, women were working in Egypt to lay the groundwork for all future exploration. In Women in the Valley of the Kings: The Untold Story of Women Egyptologists in the Gilded Age, Kathleen Sheppard brings the untold stories of these women back into this narrative. Sheppard begins with the earliest European women who ventured to Egypt as travelers: Amelia Edwards, Jenny Lane, and Marianne Brocklehurst. Their travelogues, diaries and maps chronicled a new world for the curious. In the vast desert, Maggie Benson, the first woman granted permission to excavate in Egypt, met Nettie Gourlay, the woman who became her lifelong companion. They battled issues of oppression and exclusion and, ultimately, are credited with excavating the Temple of Mut. As each woman scored a success in the desert, she set up the women who came later for their own struggles and successes. Emma Andrews' success as a patron and archaeologist helped to pave the way for Margaret Murray to teach. Murray's work in the university led to the artists Amice Calverley's and Myrtle Broome's ability to work on site at Abydos, creating brilliant reproductions of tomb art, and to Kate Bradbury's and Caroline Ransom's leadership in critical Egyptological institutions. Women in the Valley of the Kings upends the grand male narrative of Egyptian exploration and shows how a group of courageous women charted unknown territory and changed the field of Egyptology forever.
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Digital Book Number: DB124801
Women of Motown: An Oral History
A music writer from Detroit presents an oral history of Motown, focusing on the many women who were part of the heyday of the record label. The short profiles start with Mable John and include girl groups such as Martha and the Vandellas and the Supremes. 2017.
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Digital Book Number: DB090547
Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times
This history of women's work begins with the ancient societies of Scandinavia, Greece, Egypt, and Europe. Barber uses her skills in archaeology and interest in textiles to gather evidence of strong correlations between the daily lives of women, which included making cloth, and the effect of their work on the economy and culture of their times.
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Digital Book Number: DB040176
American Women's History: A Very Short Introduction
Feminist biographer, author, and editor explains how American women's lives transformed and were transformed by history, from the seventeenth through the twentieth century. Discusses slavery, gender expectations, effect of the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, industrialization, and the economic contribution of women's labor. Describes nineteenth-century women's movements, including suffrage. 2015.
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Digital Book Number: DB085586
It's My Country Too: Women's Military Stories from the American Revolution to Afghanistan
A collection of accounts of women aiding in military efforts throughout American history, beginning with the Revolutionary War. Includes profiles of Harriet Tubman, Josette Dermody Wingo, Barbara Dulinsky, and Brooke King, among many others. Features excerpts from diaries, letters, oral histories, and memoirs. Some violence and some strong language. 2017.
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Digital Book Number: DB088929
The Genius of Women: From Overlooked to Changing the World
The author of The Gratitude Diaries (DB 82454) reflects on women geniuses and their accomplishments throughout history. Also draws on interviews with women geniuses at work in the early twenty-first century, including Nobel Prize winner Frances Arnold and AI expert Fei-Fei Li. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2020.
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Digital Book Number: DB098816
The Secret History of Home Economics
The author maps out the founding and trajectory of the formal field of home economics, discussing its history from Black colleges and Eleanor Roosevelt to a Betty Crocker brigade and DIY techies. Along the way, she examines the impact of this field on American women and society at large. Commercial audiobook. 2021.
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Digital Book Number: DB105718
America's Jewish Women: A History from Colonial Times to Today
An examination of Jewish women throughout American history, including Grace Nathan, Emma Lazarus, Bessie Hillman, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and countless other activists, workers, and mothers. Discusses the historical impact of Jewish women who fought for causes such as suffrage, civil rights, and feminism. Commercial audiobook. 2019.
Book Length: DB094844
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Once I was You: A Memoir of Love and Hate in a Torn America
The author of Crews (DB 42950) examines immigration in America through the lens of her own family's experiences and decades of reporting. She discusses the history of US immigration policy and how rhetoric informs American attitudes towards outsiders. Strong language, some violence, and some descriptions of sex. 2020.
Book Length: 12 hours 50 minutes
Digital Book Number: DB102205
Don’t Stop Believin’
The Grammy-winning singer and actress most famous for her role in the movie musical Grease tells her story. In addition to discussing her career, she shares her experiences growing up in Melbourne, Australia; her battle with cancer; and her advocacy on behalf of many charities. Commercial audiobook. 2019.
Book Length: 7 hours, 51 minutes
Digital Book Number: DB094446
Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina
Ballerina recounts her experiences as the first African American soloist for the American Ballet Theatre in New York City. Explains her status as a latecomer to dancing at the age of thirteen and details her personal struggles with food, racism, and self-doubts. 2014.
Book Length: 8 hours, 6 minutes
Digital Book Number: DB078843
My Own Words
Writings and speeches from the associate justice. Covers such subjects as gender equality, the workings of the Supreme Court, being Jewish, and the value of an international perspective when interpreting the Constitution. The selections included in this volume were chosen by Ginsburg and her authorized biographers, Mary Hartnett and Wendy W. Williams. Bestseller. 2016.
Book Length: 14 hours, 35 minutes
Digital Book Number: DB086782
Audition: A Memoir
Television journalist Walters discusses her personal life. Covers her adopted daughter, her marriages and affairs, and her sister's mental disability. Walters also details her professional career and memorable people she has interviewed, including politicians, celebrities, and Robert and Michelle Smithdas--married teachers who are both deaf-blind. Bestseller. 2008.
Book Length: 25 hours, 3 minutes
Digital Book Number: DB066696
The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race
Author of Leonardo da Vinci (DB 89588) and Steve Jobs (DB 73682) profiles the life and work of biochemist Jennifer Doudna, a co-recipient of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her work on developing CRISPR technology which allows for editing of genes. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. Bestseller. 2021.
Book Length: 16 hours, 8 minutes
Digital Book Number: DB102772