There is a hidden genre of books I found: Women Veterans. In 2019, with the launch of Women of the Military Podcast, I started to hear more and more stories from military women or about military women and the more stories I hear the more I want to hear and read more. And I think these books would be great for anyone, but especially those looking to join the military and those who have served in the military.
There are so many great books written by women veterans and service members. Please comment with your favorite books and why.
Women Veteran Authors
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Women of the Military is a compilation of 28 stories of women who have started their path to military life, are currently serving, separated or retired. There are 4 stories from women in the process of joining, 14 stories from Air Force members, 8 stories from the Army, 1 from the Navy, and 1 from the Marine Corps.
Order today!
Check out more of Amanda’s Story on the Women of the Military Podcast Episode 2
Sitting with my six-year-old I have had the chance to read both of Grace’s books to him. One time my mom was visiting and started asking me questions about the times I flew in military aircraft for training or for traveling overseas. My six-year-old looked up at me in wonder and it was if the words on the story jumped off the page and became a connection between mother and son. I think all women veterans should have an opportunity to read a children’s story to their children about their military experience. Order today!
Check out more about Grace on the Women of the Military Podcast Episode 29
The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line by Retired Major General Mari Eder that highlights the forgotten stories of the women of World War Two. The women highlighted in this book are amazing. One of the women highlighted is Betty and her story of when she joined the Morale Operations Group of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) (the precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)) in Japan. This book is full of history and inspiration great for anyone interested in learning more about the history of military women.
Check out more of Mari’s story on Women of the Military Episode 70
What was it like to deploy to Iraq as the war kicked off? Laura was the first wave of the invasion after the Marines. She talked about the whole experience in her book Sirens: How to Pee Standing Up which is based on the journal she kept while deployed overseas.
Check out more of Laura’s story on Women of the Military podcast episode 87
She created Camouflaged Sisters with the goal to tell the stories of women veterans. So far, they have shared 93 stories of military women through the books they have published on Amazon. She is a leader for other women veterans and encourages women to get involved in the military community and share their stories. She also wants people to know that transitioning takes time. The military leaves a mark on your life and it could be 3 years or 33 years, finding yourself after the military will take time.
Check out more of Lila’s story on Women of the Military podcast episode 92
Mona and I connected through her new book, Not Created Equal. Her book shares her experience of growing up, being in an abusive marriage, and joining the Army after her divorce. It was a unique and interesting and unique perspective of growing up as a Muslim immigrant in America during the 1970s.
Check out more of Mona’s story on Women of the Military podcast episode 98
Allie opened up about her experience in the military in her book Flawed and Still Worthy. She tells how she came to military service and the ups and downs of military life and what she is doing today. She is open an honest about the challenges she faced both in the military and after leaving.
You can hear more of her story, Women of the Military podcast episode 116
In this book, Rojan Robotham gives the advice she wished she had known through her military career. She shares her own advice while also pulling in stories from other working moms. If you are a mom looking for support and community connect with Rojan and get a copy of her book here.
Check out the whole interview here.
focuses on building a brand and helping you through life transitions. She shares her wisdom and insight she has gained from teaching various courses on transitioning and no matter if you are leaving the military, considering joining the military, or somewhere in between this book is for you.
Check out the whole interview here.
She wrote Mission Entrepreneur and used the skills she learned from military life and how she translated them to business. Once the book was complete she felt that she needed to provide resources to help women in their own entrepreneurial journey. And she created Mission Entrepreneur.
Check out here story Women of the Military podcast episode 130
In her newest book, In a Book Club Far Away, she covers the military community through the eyes of a fictional military spouse club centered around a book club. The three main characters bounce back and forth between their stories and the past and present day.
As a military spouse and veteran, it was amazing to see the main characters as military spouses and one of the three main characters was serving on active duty while married to a service member. The depiction of characters resonated with me. You can read my full review here.
You can check out our interview here.
Sandy has wanted to write Breaking Ice and Breaking Glass since she was in her twenties but knew she couldn’t do it while serving. So when she retired she started writing. Her new book was released on June 1st and is meant to help those in the middle of a career. She gives leadership lessons that help people to continue forward and not quit. Sometimes people quit for the wrong reasons. And it goes back to thinking about what you want. Maybe you are not in the right place based on your passions. But if it is hard and you don’t want to push forward take it one step at a time like Sandra did to get through the Coast Guard Academy. You can do so much more than you know.
Check out her full interview here
When she was asked by a Lieutenant if she would be her mentor it led to her starting to think of the ways she could help not only this young lady but others who needed mentorship. From that experience, she created the Grit Insitute, which led to her second book, The Grit Factor.
In the Grit Factor she takes a collection of stories of women who showed Grit and what they learned from various life situations and how you can use it in your own life.
Check out the full interview here.
Carolyn and her husband retired together and had a beautiful ceremony where they each shared about each other’s careers. She decided to stay at home when she left the military so she could be there for her daughter and really struggled with the transition. She mentioned Mourning the Loss of the Military service where I talk about the grief of leaving the military. Then, she talked about how she found healing in writing and how that led to her book True Feathers.
Check out the full interview here.
Most often when Iraq War stories are told they are from a male veteran’s perspective. In Jennifer’s book, Calmed she writes not only her story but includes her husband’s perspective of what being deployed together was like.
She decided to share not only her story but also her husband’s story as their relationship began to form through that deployment. And his life was dramatically changed. On October 6th, his truck was hit by an IED. The story Jennifer pieced together is beautifully written, you can read my full review here.
Listen to our interview here.
Honorable Mentions:
After some encouragement Elaine Brye decided to write Be Safe, Love Mom a book for military moms and for those outside of the military community to understand what it is like to be connected to the military. I have had a chance to read it and I loved reading the perspective of a mom. I haven’t talked to my mom about the emotion behind being a military mom. Hearing the story of Elaine and the perspective she adds from others was moving and helped me understand what it is like to be a parent of a military member.
Here more about Be Safe, Love Mom on the Women of the Military podcast episode 16
Even though I didn’t attend West Point, but I felt like I know a little more about what it must have been like to be a woman at West Point after reading the fictional novel based on true events that create the story of Beyond the Point. Beyond the Point follows three young women as they enter West Point in the summer of 2001. It has all the highs and lows of military life and the ever-present challenge women faced. Order Today
Hear more about Beyond the Point on the Women of the Military Podcast Episode 19
If you are looking for advice from a former Secretary of the Air Force you definitely need to read this book. She not only shares experiences of her life that led her to be the 23rd Secretary of the Air Force but also shares about the hardship she faced growing up. She had many successes while leading the Air Force and used a systematic method to tackle each problem she faced. It is something everyone can apply to their lives and you will walk away able with a useful toolbox of wisdom. Order Today!
Check out more about Deborah James on Women of the Military Podcast Episode 40
Do you know the story of the women who served as pilots during World War 2? They enabled more men to go overseas to fight the war. While they worked to train pilots to head out overseas. They were promised to be official members of the Army. But the bill failed and they were not given the title of veteran because of their gender. They went home and lived their lives. Then in the nineteen seventies, they fought for the rights they had earned by serving in the military and were recognized as veterans, but the story doesn’t end there. That is what Erin’s book is about. The story of what her family did when her grandmother’s dying request of being buried at Arlington was rejected. If you don’t know this story you need to. Order Today!
Check out more of Erin’s interview on Women of the Military episode 49
What is your favorite book about Women Veterans?
Hey There! Thanks for writing this amazing list of books. I wanted to let you know that I recently published my own story. Sirens: How to Pee Standing Up – An alarming memoir of combat and coming back home. You can find it on Amazon. Thanks for your consideration. Happy Holidays!