In the U.S, Women’s History Month has been celebrated in March since 1988, and this originally started as Women’s History Week in Santa Rosa, California, 1978. There are many ways to celebrate this, including increasing your TBR shelf and your read shelf with more and more books revolving around women and women’s history. Women should have always been celebrated since the beginning of time, yet it’s taken quite a while for the importance of them to be taken seriously, and even now there are still struggles. Books revolving around the vast world of women’s history are a good reminder of how impactful women have been to this world and still continue to be.

Recommendations from Mrs. Ruiz:

The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamili

Taking place in the 1950’s of Tehran, this is the story of two Iranian women and friends, named Ellie and Homa. The death of Ellie’s father forces her and her mother to move to a smaller home and a poorer lifestyle. This move brings Ellie to meet Homa, and along with typical friendship elements like sharing secrets or playing games, their friendship is based off of the dream of becoming “lion women,” a symbol for strong and independent women. Eventually, Ellie and her mother return to their richer lifestyle, causing separation between Ellie and Homa. Both of them cross paths years later, which tells the coming of age story of the two girls pursuing their goals while navigating the political turmoil in Iran, culminating in a betrayal with enormous consequence. Ellie and Homa’s paths diverge, with Homa remaining in Iran to fight for women’s freedoms, and Ellie pursuing her dream of opening an Iranian cafe in America. The friendship between women is always based off of big dreams, but sometimes fulfilling these dreams means separation of the people that created the dreams together.

The Women by Kristin Hannah

This is a book to read if you’re looking for historical drama about a young woman who enlists as a nurse in the Vietnam War. Frankie McGrath’s older brother is killed in action during the Vietnam War, causing her to enlist as a nurse. A sheltered and comfortable life in California to a war-ravaged country working under dangerous conditions is a quick assimilation to make. However, her return home is met with an unexpected America being hostile to veterans, dismissive to women’s contributions in the war, and a struggle to readjust. Defying expectations to be courageous isn’t always appreciated at the beginning, especially as a woman, and Frankie McGrath’s story is just one example.

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri is about a family of Indian immigrants in the United States. Parents Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli are living in a small apartment in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The couple met through an arranged marriage in Calcutta, India. Ashima lived her whole life in India before accompanying Ashoke as he studies engineering at M.I.T. There are difficulties that every character experiences in this book, especially as immigrants. The journey abroad causes Ashima to become lonely and homesick in America, finding comfort in letters from her family and Indian recipes. Ashima know her son’s life will be different when it comes to new opportunities but she pities him because he will grow up alone, without the extended family that she grew up with. Motherhood is already hard even when you have other family members that can help, but first generation immigrant motherhood is like taking on a new project that no one can help with.

Recommendations from Mrs. Lehrmann:

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling

This is a light and humorous memoir about Mindy Kaling’s upbringing and her success as an actress and television writer. One essay of this book hooks most readers on to read more.

Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll

Follow the long-term impact of emotional trauma, women’s sexual rights, the pressures of adolescent bullying, and the dark psychology of school shootings with New Yorker Ani Fanelli. Whilst dealing with heavy past trauma, magazine writer Ani Fanelli appears to be “the luckiest girl alive,” something that many women have the power to make themselves appear as so, even when dealing with hidden struggles.

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

Also recommended by Mrs. Valencia and Mrs. Ruvalcaba, The Four Winds is the story of Elsa Martinelli, taking place in the Greast Depression and Dust Bowl era of the U.S. Elsa Martinelli is a woman struggling to survive the Dust Bowl era with her children and in-laws and is struggling with the choice to stay her failing farm or move west to California for a better life. Martinelli has always felt unloved and unseen, aggravated by her husband Rafe abandoning her and their two young children. This book portrays the responsibility of a woman and mother when it comes to the hardships of the Dust Bowl, including the dust storms, the loss of crops, and the struggle for survival.

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jaqueline Harpman

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in a world without men? I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman is a post-apocalyptic novel about a young woman who, along with 39 other women, is imprisoned in a cage underground guarded by men who never speak.

Recommendations from Mrs. Ruvalcaba:

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

What did Nazi occupation of France mean for all the wives, daughters and widows left behind? Women are forced to house Nazi soldiers, are manipulated into betraying friends, wish they could fight for their country and some secretly did. Vianne and Isabelle navigate WWII together.

White Bird by R.J Palacio

The author of Wonder, writes the perspective of one of Auggie’s bullies that had been sent away. His grandmother was Jewish during the Holocaust era, and was housed and protected by a woman whose child was disabled. This story changed his understanding of the prejudiced way he treated August’s cleft palate.

Como agua para chocolate by Laura Esquivel

This work of Spanish literature tells the story of Tita De La Garza, the youngest daughter in a family living in Mexico at the turn of the twentieth century. This has also been translated to a movie. Tita is forbidden to marry her true love, Pedro due to tradition of the responsibility of caring for her mother falling upon her. Pedro marry’s her older sister instead, and through this, Tita’s powerful emotions begin to surface in fantastical ways through her cooking.

Recommendations from Mrs. Valencia:

Without a surprise, Spanish and AVID teacher Mrs. Valencia also recommends anything by Kristin Hannah, along with these.

The Turtle House by Amanda Churchill

This is the inter-generational story of Lia and her grandmother Minnie during pre World War II. Mineko’s narrative explores her life in pre-war Japan, her relationship with her childhood friend Akio Sato, and the impact of the war on her family and her eventual journey to America. Lia, a young architect, struggles with the aftermath of a traumatic experience in Austin, and her return to her hometown allows her to connect with her grandmother and learn about her family history.

The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer

Alice’s life is centered around her son Eddie, who has autism spectrum disorder, and her grandmother, who is hospitalized. Alice discovers a hidden box containing a tattered photo, a tiny leather shoe, and a letter, prompting her grandmother to beg Alice to return to Poland to uncover what became of her family during WWII. The setting then shifts to 1942, where Alina, a young woman, is engaged to Tomasz, her childhood sweetheart, but their lives are disrupted by the Nazi occupation of their village. Alice uncovers a love that blossomed in the winter of 1942. The novel weaves together the stories of Alina and Alice, highlighting the resilience of the human spirit and the power of love and family, even in the face of adversity and explores themes of love, family, sacrifice, perseverance, and hope.

Mexican Gothic by Silivia Moreno- Garcia

This is a contemporary gothic horror novel set in 1950s Mexico, showcasing the colonial past with the present, and explores themes of colonialism, sexism, and the decay of power and privilege. Noemí Taboada, a socialite from Mexico City, travels to the remote mining town of El Triunfo to investigate her cousin Catalina’s disturbing claims of being imprisoned and poisoned by her husband and his family, the Doyles, in their decaying High Place mansion.