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Welcome to Nonfiction November! Our hostsโRennie at Whatโs Nonfiction?, Katie at Doing Dewey, Veronica at The Thousand Book Project, Christopher at Plucked from the Stacks, and Jaymi at The OC Book Girlโhave five weeks of fun topics for us to explore. I’m writing about women in history for Veronica’s prompt:
“Three ways to join in this week! You can either share 3 or more books on a single topic that you have read and can recommend (be the expert), you can put the call out for good nonfiction on a specific topic that you have been dying to read (ask the expert), or you can create your own list of books on a topic that youโd like to read (become the expert).”
I’m not a real expert by any means, but these are books I’ve read and recommend about women in history. Some are major figures, some are more obscure, but they’re all fascinating. I incidentally listed three titles in last week’s fiction/nonfiction pairings that would work for this topic too but I decided not to write about them two weeks in a row. I haven’t written reviews for many of these books but I do recommend them all.
Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists: A Graphic History of Womenโs Fight for Their Rights by Mikki Kendall, illustrated by A. DโAmico
The Woman Who Would Be King: Hatshepsut’s Rise to Power in Ancient Egypt by Kara Cooney
Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War by Karen Abbott
Adventures in the Rocky Mountains by Isabella Lucy Bird (There is some problematic language/views about Native Americans in this memoir, first published in 1879. I decided to include it because Mrs. Bird was a pioneer in travel and exploration, ultimately becoming the first woman allowed to join the Royal Geographic Society.)
Ada Blackjack: A True Story of Survival in the Arctic by Jennifer Niven
The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
The Zookeeperโs Wife by Diane Ackerman
Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly
Becoming by Michelle Obama
That’s what I have! Which books would you add to my topic? Be sure to write your own “expert” post and link up at The Thousand Book Project!
15 Comments
I love reading about women in history! The book about women undercover in the Civil War sounds awesome. I’ll echo the suggestions for A Woman of No Importance, and also Code Girls. My Beloved World is a fantastic memoir by Sonia Sotomayor. The Secret History of Wonder Woman is fascinating, and so was The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
I have a lot of non-fiction readers in my group of friends. I’m passing this list onto them–in fact, I’ll use it as a Christmas list guide this year. Thanks.
I’ve read The Woman Who Would Be King: Hatshepsutโs Rise to Power in Ancient Egypt, and really enjoyed it. Glad to see it on the list.
What a great category! I love reading both nonfiction and historical fiction in this category. I’d add A Woman of No Importance, about a really incredible female spy during WWII, to your list ๐
Nice list!
For current history, I highly recommend The Code Breaker:https://wordsandpeace.com/2021/07/07/book-review-the-code-breaker/
My post is about graphic nonfiction: https://wordsandpeace.com/2021/11/15/nonfiction-november-2021-expert-on-graphic-nonfiction/
I Love reading about women in history… so many of these are on my list!
Adventures in the Rocky Mountains looks interesting!
I’ve read a few of these, and would agree that they are great additions to this list. Hawaii’s Story by Hawaii’s Queen by Queen Liliสปuokalani is one that’s on my TBR which would also fit. ๐
I love to read stories about strong women. Many of my favorites are children’s books, including Wilma Unlimited. Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World is another good collection of stories. I’d love to read Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists: A Graphic History of Womenโs Fight for Their Rights.
What a great topic, and some interesting selections. Thank you for your recommendations
Love this list!! Ada Blackjack is on my TBR for January! I am looking forward to it. ๐
Nice choices for women in history and what a great topic.
I was obsessed with Child of the Morning, Pauline Gedgeโs historical novel about Hatshepsut. Back when I was a teenager, maybe even a little younger. I would love to revisit it with The Woman who would be King!
It is a substantial time commitment, but Blanche Weisen Cookโs 3-volume biography of Eleanor Roosevelt is fabulous, at least the first 2 volumes were, the 3rd one is in my TBR pile. https://bibliographicmanifestations.blogspot.com/2013/12/review-eleanor-roosevelt.html
I love reading about women in history and can’t believe most of the ones on your list are ones I haven’t read already! I’m reading Kate Moore’s new one (agree about Radium Girls), The Woman They Could Not Silence about Elizabeth Packard and it’s AMAZING. Highly recommend. I also recently enjoyed Ethel Rosenberg by Anne Sebba – she’s another author that does a great job telling stories about women in history.
This is a great list!
The first book that came to mind for me was Radium Girls by Kate Moore.