7 Amazing and Informative Collective Biographies of Women to REad This Month (And All Year Round!)

Do you want to learn more about awesome women in history? Then this list of 7 collective biographies of women to read this month is perfect for you. Read on to learn where you can find informative tales of amazing women who have accomplished great things throughout history!

Did you know that March is Women’s History Month? Let’s start out by saying that just like Black history, women’s history is an integral part of American (and world) history, and is not something that deserves focus just one month per year. Like other marginalized groups, women are frequently left out of the history books and underrepresented in certain areas (and it’s important to acknowledge that those women who are often celebrated are white, straight, cisgender, able-bodied women). In an ideal world, women, BIPOC, people who identify as LGBTQIAP+, and disabled people would be woven into the strands of our history seamlessly. Since that is not the case, I will absolutely emphasize amazing women and their accomplishments in March.

That being said, here are 7 amazing collective biographies of women to read this month to celebrate Women’s History (but also read them any time, of course)!

Anthology of Amazing Women: Trailblazers Who Dared to be Different by Sandra Lawrence and Nathan Collins

This anthology has a great balance of well-known women, like Georgia O’Keeffe and Beyonce, and those you might not know about, like Yani Tseng and Mary Anning. It features women from many different time periods, from many different areas of interest like art, science, and business, and from all over the world. It’s a great collective biography of women to hand to a student in your class, a child, or just read for yourself!

Bad Girls of Fashion: Style Rebels from Cleopatra to Lady Gaga by Jennifer Croll and Ada Buchholc

If you’re looking for a more focused collective biography of women, this one all about women and their fashion choices through the ages might be one you’ll want to check out. Each chapter is an in-depth look at one woman and her relationship with fashion, with short pieces on several other women included as well. Reading this book will give readers a look not just at the history of women’s fashion, but at how attitudes toward women have changed over time, and how fashion is connected to other aspects of life. This is perfect for any of the fashion-lovers in your life.

Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World by Penelope Bagieu

I think the subtitle pretty much says it all-if you want to learn about the rebels of history, this is the book for you. This one is also great because it is a graphic novel, so if you love learning through illustrations as well as words, you’ll love Brazen. Like many of the other books on this list, the women featured are from many different time periods and places in the world, and many of them are not well known for their accomplishments. I would definitely hand this one to the graphic novel lovers in your life.

Changing the Equation: 50+ US Black Women in STEM by Tonya Bolden

If any group of people is historically under-recognized for its achievements, it is Black women, so it’s wonderful to see more than 50 Black women scientists showcased in this book. Organized loosely by time period and featuring accomplished women in all sorts of STEM fields, including physics, aviation, medicine, and computer science, to name just a few, this is an excellent introduction to the scientific achievements of Black women, and a necessity for any classroom or library.

History vs. Women: The Defiant Lives That They Don’t Want You to Know by Anita Sarkeesian and Ebony Adams

This book is a great reminder that although our history generally focuses on the accomplishments of great men, women have been doing great things alongside them since the beginning of time, often facing significant danger or obstacles simply because they are women. In this collective biography, you can read about women rulers, scientists, warriors, and yes, even villains, again, from a wide variety of time periods and locations throughout the world. 

Little Dreamers: Visionary Women Around the World by Vashti Harrison

Although this collective biography is designed for a bit of a younger audience than the others mentioned on this list, it’s absolutely still appropriate and relevant for older children and adults as well! This book focuses on creative women in all fields, including inventors, artists, scientists, and more. Although many of these women had lasting impacts on their fields, you’ll be surprised at how many you’ve never heard of!

If you like Little Dreamers, Vashti Harrison has another great collective biography of women, Little Leaders.

Women in Sports: 50 Fearless Athletes Who Played to Win by Rachel Ignotofsky

This book features women athletes from the 1800s through the present day in more than 40 different sports. The book is arranged chronologically and includes not just biographies of these notable women, but also beautiful illustrations of each woman and informative infographics on topics related to sports. This one is a must for any athletes you know who want some inspiration!

If you like Women in Sports, Rachel Ignotofsky has also written two other collective biographies of women, Women in Science and Women in Art.

Collective biographies are a great way to learn a bit about a lot of cool people at once, and these seven collective biographies of women are great additions to your home, classroom, or school library during Women’s History Month (though of course, they make for great reading all year round!). If you’re looking for more great collective biographies of women, check out this list from BookRiot with even more great suggestions.

Tell me, which of these books sounds most interesting to you? Is there a collective biography of women you think I should pick up this month?

Looking for more book lists? Check out these posts:

• 25 Black YA Authors USA Today Forgot to Tell You About
• YA Fake Dating Books to Read After To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before
• Young Adult Books to Make You LOL

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