11 Non-Fiction Books About Famous Women That You Should Read

Cover to Rad Women Worldwide by Kate Schatz, illustrated by Miriam Klein Stahl. Image via publisher Ten Speed Press.

9. Rad Women Worldwide

Sometimes all you need to brighten a day is a short biography of a rad woman. Enter Rad Women Worldwide: Artists and Athletes, Pirates and Punks, and Other Revolutionaries Who Shaped History by Kate Schatz and with illustrations by Miriam Klein Stahl.

The book profiles 40 women from all around the world and from all walks of life, not focusing on just politicians. Indeed, though Malala Yousafzai gets an entry, so does artist Frida Kahlo and female astronaut Kalpana Chawla. (If you’re about to frantically search Kalpana Chawla: she was the first Indian-born woman in space.)

Indeed, Rad Women Worldwide doesn’t just focus on the easy picks for its 40 biographies of women, and why should it? Furthermore, it doesn’t overstay its welcome: the book is only 112 pages long in both the hardcover and ebook editions. Amazon‘s listing says it’s also appropriate for kids in grades 6 and up, so it’s something to share with almost everyone.

Goodreads praises the illustrations, the fact that Schatz writes about pirates and spies right alongside political activists and scientists, and the brief biographies that can easily spark more interest in one or more figures.

For more reading, Schatz has also published Rad American Women A-Z, and Rad Women Worldwide includes a list of 250 more women to research and learn more about.