April 2022 Reads for the Rest of Us – Ms. Magazine
Each month, I provide Ms. readers with a list of new books being published by writers from historically excluded groups.
The aims of these lists are threefold:
- I want to do my part in the disruption of what has been the acceptable “norm” in the book world for far too long—white, cis, heterosexual, male;
- I want to amplify amazing works by writers who are women, Black, Indigenous, Latinx, APIA/AAPI, international, LGBIA+, TGNC, queer, disabled, fat, immigrant, Muslim, neurodivergent, sex-positive or of other historically marginalized identities—you know, the rest of us; and
- I want to challenge and encourage you all to buy, borrow and read them!
It’s the Spring Equinox as I write this, the sun is out and the temperature is rising. I feel spring coming and winter shedding its icy darkness for another year. I look forward to moving my reading outdoors, to feel the breeze and the soak in the sun. I always appreciate this time of transformation and renewal.
I hope where you are, the weather allows you to do all the things that bring you joy and rest. I wish you blessings for all the changes occurring in your own lives and the energy and resources you need to feel renewed and refreshed.
These 40 books are bound to help you transform, forget, recall, reflect, reimagine, rebound and recombobulate. Happy spring reading!
Khabaar: An Immigrant Journey of Food, Memory, and Family
By Madhushree Ghosh (@WriteMadhushree). University of Iowa Press. 212 pages. Out April 4.
I’m thrilled that food memoirs are a thing and can’t wait to dive into this South Asian delicacy.
America, Goddam: Violence, Black Women, and the Struggle for Justice
By Treva B. Lindsey (@divafeminist). University of California Press. 342 pages. Out April 5.
The title says it all: It’s urgent we reckon with violence against Black women and girls, past and present, and fight for a liberated future.
Burning Butch
By R/B Mertz (@rbmertz). Unnamed Press. 374 pages. Out April 5.
Trans/nonbinary butch poet R/B Mertz challenges religion, conservatism and tradition in this powerful memoir.
The Color of the Sky Is the Shape of the Heart
Written by Chesil and translated by Takami Nieda (@tnieda). Soho Teen. 168 pages. Out April 5.
In English for the first time is the stunning debut novel by the award-winning Chesil, who writes of being Zainichi, an ethnic Korean born in Japan.
Dreams Bigger Than Heartbreak
By Charlie Jane Anders (@charliejane). Tor Teen. 320 pages. Out April 5.
If you’ve not read Anders before, treat yourself to the super-fun “Unstoppable” series, of which this is book two.
Easy Beauty: A Memoir
By Chloé Cooper Jones (@ccooperjones). Avid Reader Press. 288 pages. Out April 5.
Jones has given us a remarkable, no-holds-barred debut memoir about motherhood, disability and visibility.