Biographies about women.
1

by
4.20 avg rating — 4,227,091 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
2

by
3.94 avg rating — 108,533 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
3

by
3.94 avg rating — 38,586 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
4

by
4.12 avg rating — 73,180 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
5

by
3.93 avg rating — 16,734 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
6

by
4.30 avg rating — 586,030 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
7

by
3.78 avg rating — 20,294 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
8

by
3.73 avg rating — 123,712 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
9

by
4.11 avg rating — 19,179 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
10

by
4.03 avg rating — 32,839 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
11

by
4.30 avg rating — 125,012 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
12

by
3.77 avg rating — 7,919 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
13

by
4.16 avg rating — 627,568 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
14

by
4.04 avg rating — 8,597 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
15

by
3.90 avg rating — 11,829 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
16

by
3.99 avg rating — 17,529 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
17

by
4.18 avg rating — 58,546 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
18

by
4.07 avg rating — 12,218 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
19

by
3.85 avg rating — 9,051 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
20

by
3.96 avg rating — 8,614 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
21

by
4.06 avg rating — 6,351 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
22

by
4.17 avg rating — 6,576 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
23

by
3.86 avg rating — 5,823 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
24

by
4.13 avg rating — 10,209 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
25

by
4.01 avg rating — 15,753 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
26

by
4.07 avg rating — 2,887 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
27

by
4.13 avg rating — 810,757 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
28

by
4.07 avg rating — 151,562 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
29

by
3.98 avg rating — 5,307 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
30

by
4.29 avg rating — 17,948 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
31

by
4.19 avg rating — 35,325 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
32

by
3.45 avg rating — 512 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
33

by
4.22 avg rating — 2,614 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
34

by
3.52 avg rating — 164 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
35

by
4.31 avg rating — 66,556 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
36

by
3.92 avg rating — 14,444 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
37

by
3.93 avg rating — 3,799 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
38

by
4.08 avg rating — 2,537 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
39

by
3.71 avg rating — 2,802 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
40

by
3.94 avg rating — 1,350 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
41

by
3.94 avg rating — 5,527 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
42

by
3.84 avg rating — 1,417 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
43

by
4.02 avg rating — 1,229 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
44

by
4.14 avg rating — 1,385 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
45

by
3.66 avg rating — 141,148 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
46

by
3.92 avg rating — 840 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
47

by
4.07 avg rating — 203,938 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
48

by
3.85 avg rating — 2,109 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
48

by
3.93 avg rating — 27,709 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
50

by
4.06 avg rating — 11,799 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
51

by
4.27 avg rating — 232,878 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
52

by
4.22 avg rating — 79,665 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
53

by
3.92 avg rating — 1,721 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
54

by
4.20 avg rating — 408 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
55

by
3.98 avg rating — 14,415 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
56

by
4.01 avg rating — 74,589 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
57

by
4.21 avg rating — 932 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
58

by
4.09 avg rating — 34,020 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
59

by
4.12 avg rating — 3,506 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
60

by
4.16 avg rating — 7,078 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
61

by
4.05 avg rating — 7,753 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
62

by
4.18 avg rating — 2,761 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
63

by
4.01 avg rating — 4,973 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
64

by
3.75 avg rating — 6,440 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
64

by
3.91 avg rating — 29,277 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
66

by
3.73 avg rating — 6,581 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
67

by
3.89 avg rating — 4,647 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
68

by
3.93 avg rating — 1,852 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
3.77 avg rating — 10,518 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
70

by
3.81 avg rating — 3,534 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
71

by
4.04 avg rating — 2,842 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
72

by
3.90 avg rating — 1,079 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
73

by
4.03 avg rating — 4,237 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
74

by
3.89 avg rating — 176,265 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
75

by
4.11 avg rating — 6,133 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
75

by
4.12 avg rating — 2,620 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
77

by
4.11 avg rating — 9,184 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
78

by
4.19 avg rating — 79,548 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
79

by
4.22 avg rating — 785 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
80

by
4.40 avg rating — 9,784 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
81

by
4.13 avg rating — 10,254 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
82

by
3.78 avg rating — 545 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
83

by
4.23 avg rating — 1,416 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
84

by
3.89 avg rating — 2,551 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
85

by
4.06 avg rating — 11,996 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
85

by
3.85 avg rating — 10,793 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
87

by
3.97 avg rating — 8,873 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
88

by
3.87 avg rating — 45,126 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
88

by
4.15 avg rating — 41,291 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
90

by
3.96 avg rating — 920 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
91

by
3.95 avg rating — 3,716 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
92

by
4.06 avg rating — 4,556 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
93

by
4.17 avg rating — 41 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
94

by
4.09 avg rating — 3,067 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
95

by
3.89 avg rating — 650 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
96

by
3.69 avg rating — 8,363 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
97

by
3.81 avg rating — 6,179 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
98

by
4.10 avg rating — 1,962 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
99

by
3.73 avg rating — 4,310 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
100

by
3.94 avg rating — 1,812 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
1,251 books · 414 voters · list created July 18th, 2009 by Dustin Tatman (votes) .
220 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Dustin 703 books
26 friends
Susanna - Censored by GoodReads 3388 books
851 friends
Bettie 15681 books
19 friends
Deirdre 537 books
39 friends
Lobstergirl 5842 books
157 friends
Stoneangel 1092 books
11 friends
Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) 546 books
365 friends
Multiview 1 book
0 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-28 of 28 (28 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Still reading Antonia Fraser's Marie Antoinette The Journey, but it will be on this list when I'm done with it, I think.


message 2: by Thom (new)

Thom Dunn I forget author, title, most everything, but......THE STORY OF A COLONIAL AMERICAN ENGLISH WOMAN CAPTURED BY INDIANS ??????

Where is Mary Shelley ? Where her Mom ?

Queen Victoria's impact staggering even if she was, well, very very Victorian.


message 3: by Susanna - Censored by GoodReads (last edited Sep 15, 2009 07:25AM) (new)

Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Well, I haven't voted for biographies of Mary Shelley or Mary Wollstonecraft because I haven't read any about them. As for Queen Victoria - I have read several, but at this point can't remember which!

But the form to add books to the list is over at the right.


message 4: by Thom (new)

Thom Dunn Eminent Victorians was a counter-cultural masterpiece--hardly a straightforward biographical work, but it's worth adding if only for its chapter on FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE.


message 5: by Thom (new)

Thom Dunn Wollstonecraft's Vindication of the Rights of Women somehow belongs on this list....I confess, I want to vote for great and greatly important women and care less about the titles...besides, I suck at reading...words, words, words !


message 6: by Lobstergirl (new)

Lobstergirl I see this morphed into autobiographies as well as biographies, so I won't hold back.


message 7: by Thom (new)

Thom Dunn She wrote an account of the 8 (?) years she was captive to the indians, a real person, 17th century....I'll find it.


message 8: by Lobstergirl (new)

Lobstergirl Is this only biographies, then? Should we delete the autobiographies and memoirs?


message 9: by Dustin (new)

Dustin Tatman Lobstergirl wrote: "Is this only biographies, then? Should we delete the autobiographies and memoirs?"

I considered autobiographies to be a type of biograpy.


message 10: by Richard (last edited Nov 24, 2014 12:41PM) (new)

Richard To Kill A Mockingbird is excellent, but I believe it is fiction.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads It is indeed; I'll remove it.


message 12: by Luke (new)

Luke Removed for not being a biography/nonfiction in general:

Sense and Sensibility
Persuasion
Great Expectations
The Idiot
Invisible Man
Northanger Abbey


message 13: by Dustin (new)

Dustin Tatman I remember starting this list. I was reading a book about the 100 most influential scientists of all time, but there was only about a half dozen women in the book. It was also the month my daughter was born. I was thinking how I wanted her to have the opportunity to do whatever she chose in life, and the importance of role models. It's cool to see how many people have added to the list.


message 14: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited May 15, 2016 10:00AM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Why is Kidnapped (#397) on this list?


message 15: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited May 15, 2016 10:03AM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) @Dustin Tatman
Are letters okay too?


message 16: by Lobstergirl (new)

Lobstergirl Booklovinglady wrote: "Why is Kidnapped (#397) on this list?"

Deleted, plus a few chick lits.


message 17: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited May 16, 2016 01:12AM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) * I admit I haven't read it yet, but I'm not sure about The Pillow Book (#142) being on this list? Can it be considered an autobiography, even though it is not fiction?

* I haven't added it, as it is a fictional autobiography, but Moll Flanders came to mind, as it is, after all, an 'autobiography' :-)


message 18: by Elyse (new)

Elyse I loved the book Ride the Wind but I deleted it because it is historical fiction.


message 19: by Chris (new)

Chris Gager Nickel and Dimed is not a biography/autobiography


message 20: by Chris (new)

Chris Gager Persepolis = memoir, not biography/autobiography


message 21: by Chris (new)

Chris Gager The Bell Jar is fiction


BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Chris wrote: "The Bell Jar is fiction"

I agree, although plenty of people would disagree.... (which is why I am reluctant to remove it).


message 23: by Emilio (new)

Emilio Daffy awesome


message 24: by Fiona (last edited Mar 31, 2021 09:09AM) (new)

Fiona Hurley "Zoroastrians' Fight for Survival" (#71) and "Females of Valor" (#72) are fiction.

So is "Tiger Queens" (#286)


message 25: by Elyse (new)

Elyse Fiona wrote: ""Zoroastrians' Fight for Survival" (#71) and "Females of Valor" (#72) are fiction.

So is "Tiger Queens" (#286)"


I deleted all three titles, Fiona. While I'm here I'll look for some more.


message 26: by Lobstergirl (new)

Lobstergirl Removed The Bell Jar which is definitely fiction. Based on events which really happened, but without question fiction. There was no real person named Esther Greenwood.


message 27: by Lobstergirl (last edited Sep 02, 2023 02:50PM) (new)

Lobstergirl Reverted the title change made in 2022. The list was originally and always for Biographies, not for Autobiographies and Memoirs. Please keep the list as originally intended.

There is another list for Memoirs by Women - please use that one for memoirs by women !


message 28: by Elyse (new)

Elyse I removed "A Glass Castle" because it is a memoir.


back to top



Related News

Is there anything better than cracking open a new book in the springtime sunshine? We submit that there is not.   As it happens, we have some...

Anyone can add books to this list.