The Top 10 Bestselling Women Books
Women are redefining success on their own terms—in the boardroom, in their communities and in every arena that matters. That’s why we’ve curated the bestselling books by and for women who are leading, building and breaking barriers.
From memoirs of trailblazers to practical guides for navigating today’s professional landscape, these books celebrate ambition, resilience and the power of women lifting each other up.
And don’t just take our word for it: The SUCCESS® Bestsellers list is compiled using data from print and eBook sales from various online and brick-and-mortar retailers to provide you with a reliable and comprehensive list of the bestselling books for women.
For more information about how the SUCCESS® Bestsellers list is compiled, check out the methodology.
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Start with Yourself
BY EMMA GREDE
#PersonalGrowth #WealthBuilding
Start with Yourself is a game-changing, no-BS guide for anyone seeking meaningful success on their own terms. It’s an essential framework that will give you the tools and mindset to unlock your full potential in life and business—straight from a woman who defied all the odds to become a serial entrepreneur, cofounder of culture-defining global businesses, a non-profit champion and host of the Aspire with Emma Grede podcast. All while raising a family of four children. Based on the factors of her early life—she’s the child of a working-class single mother who grew up in a rough neighborhood in East London and dropped out of high school—you’d never guess that Emma Grede would go on to become one of America’s richest self-made women. This makes Grede singular and unique, but she’s convinced you can do it too: Start with Yourself is a blueprint to her mindset and how she thinks about business and life, structured in easy takeaways, so you can immediately apply her philosophy to what you’re trying to build and create. Among her most blazing insights, Grede identifies what she calls “Old Thoughts”: stale thinking, outdated ideas; set-in-stone rules ingrained into the culture about work life balance, the crassness of money and the unseemliness of ambition—which aren’t actually rules at all. They’re biases, Grede insists, system errors, and we must strike them from our minds in order to create a greater sense of control, even mastery, over our day-to-day and long-range goals. Ultimately, this is a book for everyone tired of feeling like a bystander or passenger in their own life. Grede offers tangible and applicable-right-now solutions to create a mindset, an overall system of thought to manage emotions, clarify ideas, and illuminate the right next step—while always staying positive. It’s about gathering yourself after failure. It’s about being accountable but also forgiving yourself. It’s about not expecting shortcuts while never being bashful about grabbing them when they appear. It’s about pushing hard for wins and never apologizing for your dreams. Above all, Grede offers a new vision for work and life that encourages readers everywhere to take responsibility for their own thinking to achieve personal and professional success at the highest levels.
Something Major
BY RANDI BRAUN
#LeadershipConfidence #WomenInBusiness #ExecutivePresence
WALL STREET JOURNAL BEST-SELLER "Pick up this book now! Every woman wants to believe she is on the precipice of something major and this book gives you the tools to get yourself there. Randi Braun has created a fun and practical way forward for women who are looking to channel their inner bad-ass, crack the leadership code, and soar!" - Jen Mormile, Chief Business Officer of Cond� Nast She's changing women's lives, one play at a time. Women are natural leaders but they've been taught to play the game by an outdated set of rules. So certified executive coach, Randi Braun, wrote them a new playbook. In Braun's book, Something Major: The New Playbook for Women at Work, women will discover how to play the leadership game on their own terms and win when it comes to achieving their goals: whether it's cracking the code on your self-doubt by ditching perfectionism, external validation, and the tyranny of your inner critic, or learning new tactics for owning your message (don't miss 16 things she forbids you to say at work). Braun's book provides a fresh take on one of the most tremendous challenges of our time: empowering women at work to chart their own course to the top - dialing up confidence and fulfillment, and dialing down burnout in the process. In Something Major: The New Playbook for Women at Work, Braun takes the field and re-writes the plays of the game. She is a sought-after thought leader, speaker, and CEO of the women's leadership firm, Something Major. Her book delivers stories for today's women leaders in a conversational style that's packed with sage advice and wildly entertaining.
Likeable Badass
BY ALISON FRAGALE
#LikeableBadass #WomenInfluence #PowerAndWarmth
NATIONAL BESTSELLER - Behavioral scientist Alison Fragale offers powerful new insights and a practical playbook for women to advance in any workplace, full of tips, tricks, and strategies to help secure that elusive corner office. Over decades of research, speaking engagements, and mentorship, psychologist and professor Alison Fragale encountered recurring questions from high powered and early career women alike: How do women thread the needle of kindness and competence in the workplace? How can women earn credit for their accomplishments, negotiate better, and navigate complex office politics without losing the goodwill of their peers? Fragale investigated and determined that many women's workplace issues boil down to what psychologists call status: the perception of them by others. No amount of power-- no degree, title, or paycheck-- will raise a woman's workplace stature unless it also affects how others see her. Acknowledging this roadblock, Fragale pulls back the curtain on how we can change how others see us by developing our standing as a "likeable badass." By cultivating perceptions of warmth and assertiveness, women can achieve the kind of reputation that leads to a seat at the table and a fulfilling career path. Likeable Badass is equal parts behavioral science and life hacks, weaving together rigorous research with actionable advice and impactful stories from a diverse array of women. This is a warm, heartening book written for women, their allies, and anyone who struggles to rise, and wants evidence-based, practical strategies for success, served with a side of inspiration and humor.
Drop the Ball
BY TIFFANY DUFU, GLORIA STEINEM
#WealthBuilding #SuccessMindset #PresidentialBio
Tiffany Dufu's Drop the Ball is a bold and inspiring memoir and manifesto from a renowned voice in the women's leadership movement that shows women how to cultivate the single skill they really need in order to thrive: the ability to let go. Once the poster girl for doing it all, after she had her first child, Tiffany Dufu struggled to accomplish everything she thought she needed to in order to succeed. Like so many driven and talented women who have been brought up to believe that to have it all, they must do it all, Dufu began to feel that achieving her career and personal goals was an impossibility. Eventually, she discovered the solution: letting go. In Drop the Ball , Dufu recounts how she learned to reevaluate expectations, shrink her to-do list, and meaningfully engage the assistance of others--freeing the space she needed to flourish at work and to develop deeper, more meaningful relationships at home. Even though women are half the workforce, they still represent only eighteen per cent of the highest level leaders. The reasons are obvious: just as women reach middle management they are also starting families. Mounting responsibilities at work and home leave them with no bandwidth to do what will most lead to their success. Offering new perspective on why the women's leadership movement has stalled, and packed with actionable advice, Tiffany Dufu's Drop the Ball urges women to embrace imperfection, to expect less of themselves and more from others--only then can they focus on what they truly care about, devote the necessary energy to achieving their real goals, and create the type of rich, rewarding life we all desire.
You've Been Chosen
BY CYNT MARSHALL
#Entrepreneurs #Inspiration #WealthBuilding
FINALIST FOR THE NAACP IMAGE AWARD - A relentlessly optimistic memoir by one of the most influential Black business leaders in America today, offering hope and practical guidance for navigating life's most difficult challenges "Do you want to be lifted up? You have come to the right place."--Hoda Kotb Cynt Marshall has spent her entire life beating personal and professional odds while also helping everyone she meets see how they are uniquely equipped to thrive. Through it all, this self-described "people person" never stopped reaching out and built a reputation as an inspiring motivator and mentor in business and beyond. Marshall grew up in a northern California housing project with a violent father who once broke her nose, but also with a strong, devoted mother who kept her family fed and focused, reminding them, "It's not where you live, but how you live." Heeding her mother's advice, Marshall excelled first at school and then in her professional life, overcoming overt and subtle racism to become, at forty, one of the first Black woman officers at AT&T, while also navigating both grief and joy as she started a family of her own. All that life experience prepared Marshall for the day when, at fifty-one, she was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer, just one lymph node from stage 4. Overnight, her life changed, but her commitment to serve others did not. You've Been Chosen offers what Marshall calls "the good, the great, the bad, and the ugly parts" of her journey through both cancer and everything that led up to it. Along the way, she tackles the tough questions we all face: What will I do with what I have been given? How will I respond to challenges with both grace and grit? Where will this new path take me if I keep moving? And how can I offer something good back to the world as a result? Cynt Marshall's deep faith and positivity will inspire and motivate you, and her story will help you see how all your experiences, even the hardest moments, can work together for something good, bringing you to positive places you'd have never experienced otherwise. She shows you how to find your own "voice of power" and encourages you to remember--and believe--that you, too, have been equipped to walk your unique path with purpose. That you, too, have been chosen.
Unrig the Game
BY VANESSA PRIYA DANIEL
#LevelPlayingField #SystemicChange #WomenLeaders
A much-needed playbook to supporting and retaining women of color in leadership roles to create lasting change in the world, from a former labor and community organizer and founder of one of the nation's premier funders of women of color-led organizations. In the U.S., many of the most significant social justice victories of our time have been spearheaded by women of color leaders. From the streets, to the ballot box, to elected office, no other demographic group stands up more consistently and unequivocally for human rights, democracy, and the planet. Remarkably, they've accomplished this despite conditions--in their fields and organizations--that make leadership uniquely treacherous for them. For women of color leaders, the game is rigged. How much more could humanity be winning if we unrigged it? What might be possible, in this clutch moment of history, with so much on the line, if movements stopped benching our best in ways that negatively impact the scoreboard for everybody? Unrig the Game equips us to support effective women of color leaders so we can all win. A former community and union organizer who started one of the largest foundations to resource women of color-led organizing, Vanessa Priya Daniel draws on candid interviews with forty-five prominent women of color movement leaders, along with her own experience at the helm of an organization, to offer an on-the-ground perspective of the obstacles leaders face, how they navigate them, and how allies can show up. Daniel highlights the unique strengths and "superpowers" these leaders bring to the fight for social change, while debunking the myth that identity alone makes a transformative leader. For women of color leaders, this book is a balm, a sister circle, and a master class. For everyone, it is an essential tool to realize the world we all deserve.
The Ambition Penalty
BY STEFANIE O'CONNELL
#WealthBuilding #ECommerce #SuccessMindset
For women disillusioned by the failed promises of girl power, a data-driven guide that reveals the hidden forces still fueling gender inequality at work. "A new playbook for reclaiming our ambition, our time, and our values." ―Eve Rodsky, author of New York Times bestselle r Fair Play We spoke up. We took charge. We asked for more. But where has it actually left us? Not only are generations of women more burned-out than ever, but the gender pay gap has barely budged in decades. In The Ambition Penalty , journalist Stefanie O'Connell presents a deeply researched and sometimes shocking look at the ways women remain passed over and excluded, not for a lack of ambition but because of it. She calls it "the ambition penalty"--the sum of the financial, personal, and professional costs women face for daring to want more. The Ambition Penalty dismantles the myth that women are less ambitious than their male peers and debunks common claims--like women aren't confident enough and don't negotiate enough --used to justify stubborn gender gaps in power. This book reveals why decades of educational gains and empowerment messages have not translated into corresponding advances for women at work or at home. The Ambition Penalty gives women the talking points they can use to call out these biases and lays out proven practices for leaders and allies committed to cultivating environments where women's ambitions are supported, rewarded, and celebrated.
What Do You Need?
BY LAUREN WESLEY WILSON
#WealthBuilding #SuccessMindset #FamilyDynamics
The unwritten rules of the C-Suite—finally written down. Lauren Wesley Wilson built ColorComm from an informal networking luncheon into a multimillion-dollar communications company. In this playbook, she reveals the strategic questions and unspoken rules that women of color need to know to reach leadership positions—the ones no one teaches you on the way up. Drawn from her own path to the C-Suite and years spent coaching thousands, What Do You Need? is a road map for anyone building a career and a resource for allies working to create workplaces where everyone can excel.
The Whisper Way
BY CARRIE KERPEN
#WealthBuilding #Workplace #Ethics
A game-changing guide for women to turn their lifestyle businesses into sellable life-changing assets, closing the exit gap, and ensuring they earn as as much as their male counterparts--if not more On average, companies controlled by men still earn twice the amount that female-owned businesses do. Despite growing opportunities for women-owned businesses to thrive, they still deliver consistently less revenue and profit compared to their male-owned counterparts. And when it comes time to sell a business, even highly successful women entrepreneurs are settling for less. Carrie Kerpen aims to change this with her simple yet revolutionary process of starting, scaling, and selling for success. The Whisper Way brings her proven method to life in a relatable fable following seven women as they transform their businesses into impactful assets, with: Actionable advice from Carrie's own eight-figure exit Leadership lessons from women who have sold their businesses for substantial profits Effective evaluations to assess your own company Tried and true tips and tools for improving your business Implementation guidelines for using Carrie's methodology in your own business Women are fighting to close the wage gap . . . and The Whisper Way provides concrete steps that business owners can take to close the exit gap. Whether you are beginning your business, finally creating capital, or approaching a time where you are considering cashing in, The Whisper Way will provide you with a practical and profitable path from starting to scale, right through success and sale.
Clock in
BY EMILY DURHAM
#ECommerce #WealthBuilding #SuccessMindset
Career advice that actually works from a straight-shooter recruiter Did you know the average job search takes more than five months? That's because today's job market is more challenging--and more confusing--than ever. How are we supposed to get hired, get paid, and get ahead in our careers? Why is everything so complicated and gatekept? That's where Emily the Recruiter comes in. Using her years of experience as a recruiter and career coach, she pulls back the curtain on everything employment-related and tells you all you need to know about job hunting, networking, and not letting your boss drive you crazy. A much-needed antidote to the "gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss" ethos, this guidebook gives you the real talk you need to lock in when you clock in. You'll learn how to: Optimize your r sum and LinkedIn profile Network like a pro Strike a healthy work-life balance Crush job interviews and salary negotiations Defeat impostor syndrome and communicate with confidence Succeed in your career without making it your whole identity If you're ready to work smarter, not harder, Clock In is the no-filter, no-fluff resource you need to thrive in your nine-to-five--and beyond.