40 Essential Feminist Books to Read for Women's History Month

This is one of the 743 lists we use to generate our main The Greatest Books list.

About this list

Harpers Bazaar, 40 Books

Harpers Bazaar list of the 40 essential feminist books. Here's the description from their website:

a list of thought-provoking books that cover everything from reproductive justice and economic equity to domestic labor and sex work. Whether you're looking to brush up on the early days of the movement, be inspired by modern-day feminist heroes, or witness how far we've come (and how far we still have to go), these are the perfect books to pick up for Women's History Month—and every other time of year.

This list was originally published in 2024 and was added to this site over 2 years ago.

View: List Grid Table
Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
14901 Hood Feminism Mikki Kendall 2020 American English
8529 Whipping Girl Julia Serano 2007 American English
14165 Freedom Is A Constant Struggle Angela Davis 2016 American English
17007 Essential Labor Angela Garbes 2021 American English
17007 Revolting Prostitutes Molly Smith, Juno Mac 2018 British English
17007 A Kick In The Belly Stella Dadzie 2020 British English
17007 My Body Emily Ratajkowski 2021 American English
17007 Feminism For The 99% Cinzia Arruzza, Tithi Bhattacharya, Nancy Fraser 2019 American English
773 A Vindication of the Rights of Woman Mary Wollstonecraft 1792 British English
173 A Room of One's Own Virginia Woolf 1929 British English
8275 Feminism Is For Everybody bell hooks 2000 American English
8010 Gender Outlaw Kate Bornstein 1994 American English
5159 Bad Feminist Roxane Gay 2014 American English
93 Little Women Louisa May Alcott 1868 American English
6781 Men Explain Things To Me Rebecca Solnit 2014 American English
17007 Redefining Realness Janet Mock 2014 American English
1616 Sister Outsider Audre Lorde 1984 American English
102 The Bell Jar Sylvia Plath 1963 American English
2097 The Bloody Chamber And Other Stories Angela Carter 1979 British English
3225 This Bridge Called My Back Cherríe Moraga, Gloria Anzaldúa 1981 American English
1258 The Female Eunuch Germaine Greer 1970 Australian English
8014 The Vagina Monologues Eve Ensler 1996 American English
5915 In Search Of Our Mother’s Gardens Alice Walker 1983 American English
709 The Feminine Mystique Betty Friedan 1963 American English
132 The Handmaid's Tale Margaret Atwood 1985 Canadian English
140 The Second Sex Simone de Beauvoir 1949 French French
10845 Women, Culture & Politics Angela Davis 1989 American English
61 The Golden Notebook Doris May Lessing 1962 British English
68 Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora Neale Hurston 1937 American English
803 The Vegetarian Han Kang 2007 Korean Korean
1701 The Argonauts Maggie Nelson 2015 American English
270 The Awakening Kate Chopin 1899 American English
1326 Parable Of The Sower Octavia E. Butler 1993 American English
1860 Citizen Claudia Rankine 2014 American English
157 Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys 1966 British English
11377 Women Who Run With The Wolves Clarissa Pinkola Estés 1992 American English
15786 Diving Into The Wreck Adrienne Rich 1973 American English
521 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou 1969 American English
6184 Know My Name Chanel Miller 2019 American English
885 Herland Charlotte Perkins Gilman 1915 American English