In honor of Women’s History Month and the opening of baseball season, we have reading recommendations for you about baseball, softball, women’s fiction by women, and memoirs. All of the featured books are written by women except a biography about sports great Joan Joyce.

I think its cool to find a book written  by a man celebrating the athletic accomplishments of a woman.

So often women’s accomplishments are denigrated by comparing them to the accomplishments of men. We’re seeing that now as University of Iowa women’s basketball star Caitlin Clark continues to set new NCAA records. Someday books will be written about Clark and her accomplishments. Enjoy!

The All -American by Susie Finkbeiner – in 1952 most teenaged girls are dreaming of marriage, children, and a home in the suburbs. Bertha Harding dreams of playing baseball in the All-American Girl’s Professional Baseball League. After her father is accused of being a communist by the House Un-American Activities Committee, the scandal forces her family to move to a small town and start over. Bertha’s dream of playing for the Workington Sweet Peas seems unattainable, but she refuses to give up. When she gets her big chance, Bertha packs a bag and sets out on the adventure of a lifetime. Fans of A League of Their Own will enjoy this book.

No Crying in Baseball: the Inside Story of the Filming of A League of Their Own by Erin Carlson – Carlson explores how a little-known story about the All-American Girl’s Professional Baseball League became one of the best-loved films about baseball. She interviews cast members and crew about their experiences making this iconic film.

A Season with Mom: Love, Loss, and The Ultimate Baseball Adventure by Katie Russell Newland – after surviving both Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and melanoma, Newland, a sports enthusiast,  understands the challenges of overcoming challenges on and off the field. Newland tells the story of an intimate bond between mother and daughter and the trip of a lifetime as they visit all 30 Major League Baseball (MLB) parks.

Connecticut Baseball Legend Joan Joyce by Tony Renzoni – Joan Joyce was the unbeatable pitcher for the Raybestos Brakettes and the Connecticut Falcons. Her numerous records, including 150 no-hitters and 50 perfect games, sealed her place as one of the greatest players of all time. She also set records in basketball and played in the LPGA. Joyce now coaches softball at Florida Atlantic University.

Close to the Bone: a Memoir by Lisa Ray- Ray is an international supermodel and one of India’s first supermodels. She’s a woman who has lived many lives including being an actor, cancer survivor,  and mother of twins born by surrogacy. She was raised in Canada, the daughter of an Indian man and a Polish woman. Ray struggled to find her identity. Her search has taken her around the world and given her the strength to survive cancer and an abusive relationship.

The Women by Kristin Hannah is the story of Frances “Frankie” McGrath a twenty-year old nursing student who joins the Army Nurse Corps after her brother ships off to Vietnam. What Frankie sees and experiences breaks her, but it’s nothing compared to the challenges she faces coming home to a divided America. It’s one woman’s story which speaks for thousands of women who served in the military.

The Wife Before by Shanora Williams – Shamira Wilder has never had an easy life. When she loses her job, life promises to become even more challenging. When she meets Roland Graham, a wealthy professional golfer, Samira falls hard and fast. Their wedding is a media frenzy, and he whisks her away to his secluded Colorado mansion. As Samira settles into her position as the second Mrs. Graham she finds the journals of Roland’s dead wife, Melanie. As she reads them, Samira becomes convinced that Melanie’s death was no accident, and her husband might be a murderer. Should you believe everything you read?

The Love of My Life by Rosie Walsh –Emma is living a carefully constructed lie. Her husband Leo and their young daughter Ruby have no idea. When Emma contracts a life-threatening disease, Leo copes by researching his wife’s life to share with Ruby in case Emma doesn’t survive. The only problem is that Emma doesn’t exist before year they met. Can Emma explain why she had to lie, and what dangers may await them if her secret is exposed?

The Silent Wife by Kerry Fisher -  Lara’s life and marriage seem perfect, but her husband Massimo has secrets and Lara knows these secrets. Can she keep them? Will their child be safe?

You Could Make This Place Beautiful: a Memoir by Maggie Smith – the poet Maggie Smith describes the breakdown of her marriage and the pain of divorce in this candid memoir of survival and starting over.