There’s so much to be gained from reading! Whether it’s learning new information from subject matter experts or being thrilled by a good suspense novel, reading has the ability to take you far beyond your current existence.
So, we’ve compiled our favorite 20 books for women. They range from self-help to business, to combating racism and more.
Disclaimer: Following our affiliate links means we receive a small percentage of each sale.
Enjoy our list and let us know if you read any from the list and what you think!
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT / SELF-HELP / MOTIVATIONAL
We humans tend to get in our own way time and time again—whether it comes to not speaking up for ourselves, going back to bad romantic partners, dieting for the umpteenth try, or acting on any of a range of bad habits we just can’t seem to shake. In Rewire, renowned psychotherapist Richard O’Connor, PhD, reveals exactly why our bad habits die so hard. We have two brains—one a thoughtful, conscious, deliberative self, and the other an automatic self that makes most of our decisions without our attention.
She Inspires by Jamesina Greene
In her trademark fashion of straight-forward, humorous and from the heart manner, the Author gives you inspiring comments and affirmations that will ultimately lead you to a better quality of life.
emPowHering YOU: 12 Tips for Finding Your Voice by Shanteral L. Chatman, MBA
When asked what is the most important component of women’s empowerment, Shantera Chatman always gives the same answer. Your voice. Without your voice, it will be difficult to assert yourself, negotiate your salary or even set your personal boundaries. In her second installment of women’s empowerment “know-how”, Shantera dives deep into finding your voice. She doesn’t just discuss the importance of your voice, she also shares with you exercises and tips to help you identify and perfect your voice. emPowHering YOU is designed to be read chapter-by-chapter on a monthly basis; allowing time to focus on the chapter’s content and how to apply it to your life.
Embrace Resistance: How to Conquer Your Critics by Natalie Arceneaux and Shantera L. Chatman, MBA
Resistance is always getting a bad rap. If someone is pushing back on an idea we have or a plan we’re promoting, too often we see that resistance as a roadblock. What’s worse, we can easily let it derail our progress. But, what if that roadblock was really an opportunity for a breakthrough? What if we used that resistance as a springboard for progress? The challenge before us is clear: Are we going to back away from our projects and ideas because we meet resistance? Or, are we going to learn how to convert it into an asset? Let’s embrace resistance!
The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom (A Toltec Wisdom Book) by Miguel Ruiz
In The Four Agreements, bestselling author don Miguel Ruiz reveals the source of self-limiting beliefs that rob us of joy and create needless suffering. Based on ancient Toltec wisdom, The Four Agreements offer a powerful code of conduct that can rapidly transform our lives to a new experience of freedom, true happiness, and love.
MEMOIRS / BIOGRAPHIES
Year of Yes: How to Dance it Out, Stand in the Sun and Be Your Own Person by Shonda Rhimes
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.
The Roar of a Woman: My Journey From Silence to Power Within by Chairidee Smith
Chairidee Smith, a divorced mother of two, shares her story and recalls the moment she learned silence, and how that learned behavior followed her into an abusive marriage. The Roar Of A Woman gives the reader a front row seat to Smith’s journey back to self-love and awareness after experiencing the loss of her marriage and her business. Smith shares the strategies and affirmations she used to become a lioness in life and business. Smith, a woman of faith, believes these same tools and strategies will help readers begin making their own ‘Mogul Moves.’
This Woman Knows by Lisa N. Alexander
Why do so many women struggle with self-acceptance? Why do they downplay their gifts, their intelligence, and their callings? Educated women, creative women, brilliant women often believe lies about themselves and end up living muted lives. Author and speaker, Lisa N. Alexander shares how she went from an insecure graphic designer to a confident marketer and businesswoman in her new book, “This Woman Knows”.
MONEY / FINANCE
Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! by Robert T. Kiyosaki
Rich Dad Poor Dad is Robert’s story of growing up with two dads — his real father and the father of his best friend, his rich dad — and the ways in which both men shaped his thoughts about money and investing. The book explodes the myth that you need to earn a high income to be rich and explains the difference between working for money and having your money work for you.
Women with Money: The Judgment-Free Guide to Creating the Joyful, Less Stressed, Purposeful (and, Yes, Rich) Life You Deserve by Jean Chatzky
Ask successful women what they want from their money and they’ll tell you: independence, security, choices, a better world, and–oh yes–way less stress, not just for themselves but for their kids, partners, parents, and friends. Through a series of HerMoney Happy Hour discussions (when money is the topic, wine helps) and one-on-one conversations, Jean Chatzky gets women to open up about the one topic we still never talk about. Then she flips the script and charts a pathway to this joyful, purpose-filled life that today’s women not only want but also, finally, have the resources to afford.
BUSINESS / SOCIAL MEDIA
The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It by Michael E. Gerber
E-Myth \ ‘e-,’mith\ n 1: the entrepreneurial myth: the myth that most people who start small businesses are entrepreneurs 2: the fatal assumption that an individual who understands the technical work of a business can successfully run a business that does that technical work.
What Million-Dollar Brands Know: Marketing & Branding Strategies for Today’s Entrepreneur by Lisa N. Alexander
Lisa N. Alexander, known as The Marketing Stylist™, interviewed 15 women business owners generating a million dollars or more annually. In her book, What Million-Dollar Brands Know: Marketing & Branding Strategies for Today’s Entrepreneur, these business owners share the marketing and branding strategies that have made them successful. Alexander also shares marketing lessons learned throughout her career that has helped entrepreneurs successfully launch and market their businesses.
Keys to Delivering Amazing Customer Service by Errol D. Allen
Learn basic steps to creating both a customer and employee-friendly company from the insights of a consultant who spent 25+ years in Corporate America. Discover why it’s important to develop a customer service strategy that focuses on both the external and internal customers.
The Social Media WHY: A Busy Professional’s Practical Guide to Using Social Media Including LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Google+ and Blogs for Business by Crystal Washington
The Internet and social media have created a new group of Haves and Have-Nots in business. The Haves enjoy a competitive advantage, access to nearly unlimited information, and are pushing the Have-Nots out of leadership roles (and sometimes jobs) in organizations. In The Social Media WHY, marketing strategist and international speaker Crystal Washington dispels the myths surrounding using social media for business and concisely demonstrates the very practical ways that innovative professionals are using social media to become more efficient, effective and connected.
One Tech Action: A Quick-And-Easy Guide to Getting Started Using Productivity Apps and Websites for Busy Professionals by Crystal Washington
When busy people feel as though they’re not checking items off their to-do list at home, it becomes challenging to concentrate on completing tasks at work. And vice-versa when projects at the office are not properly executed, they have difficulty being attentive in their home lives. There is a solution–it’s called technology. Just as the invention of the washing machine and car saved past generations’ time, so can mobile-device technology save us time. This book provides practical solutions that allow readers to better leverage the devices they already carry with them to increase their efficiency at home, work, and all the places in-between.
NOVELS
Still Rage by Judy Candis
Regina Campbell’s life is forever changed from the moment of her sister’s death. Spiraling Regina to great heights and disasterous depths. A rags to riches story with all the pains and triumphs of a fast paced thriller.
All Things Hidden by Judy Candis
Jael Reynolds is a divorced single mom who’s doing her best to raise her son in Dadesville, one of Florida’s most violent and drug-infested cities. She’s also one of the city’s top homicide detectives-a tough, no-nonsense Christian woman who has faced her demons and won, witnessing the mercy of God through prayer and faith. When one drug dealer after another starts turning up dead on her watch, Jael teams up with the only other person who seems to care, FBI Special Agent Grant Lewis. The two soon uncover layer after layer of corruption, organized bigotry, and hate that justifies murder in the name of God. Gripped in the clutches of an evil she has never encountered before, Jael’s sense of right and wrong, and indeed her very faith, are put to their ultimate test.
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily’s fierce-hearted black “stand-in mother,” Rosaleen, insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily decides to spring them both free. They escape to Tiburon, South Carolina–a town that holds the secret to her mother’s past. Taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sister, Lily is introduced to their mesmerizing world of bees and honey, and the Black Madonna. This is a remarkable novel about divine female power, a story that women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come.
The Book of Night Women by Marlon James
Author Marlon James uses The Book of Night Women to take you through time and space, back to the eighteenth century, to tell you the story of Lilith, a girl born into slavery on a Jamaican sugar plantation. From birth everyone sees that Lilith holds a power that should be both feared and respected, but it is not until Lilith learns to accept that power, that her life and the lives of the women around her, begin to change.
SOCIAL / CULTURE
Good* White Racist: Confronting Your Role in Racial Injustice by Kerry Connelly
In Good* White Racist, Kerry Connelly exposes the ways white people participate in, benefit from, and unknowingly perpetuate racism—despite their best “good person” intentions. Good* White Racist unpacks the systems that maintain the status quo, keep white people comfortable and complicit, and perpetuate racism in the United States and elsewhere. Combining scholarly research with her trademark New Jersey snark, Connelly shows us that even though it may not be our fault or choice to participate in a racist system, we all do, and it’s our responsibility to do something about it.
OUR BONUS SELECTION AND ALL-TIME FAVORITE
Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Fifteen-year-old Kambili’s world is circumscribed by the high walls and frangipani trees of her family compound. Her wealthy Catholic father, under whose shadow Kambili lives, while generous and politically active in the community, is repressive and fanatically religious at home. When Nigeria begins to fall apart under a military coup, Kambili’s father sends her and her brother away to stay with their aunt, a University professor, whose house is noisy and full of laughter. There, Kambili and her brother discover a life and love beyond the confines of their father’s authority.