August 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 indie publishers and amazing works by writers who are women, Black, Indigenous, Latinx, APIA/AAPI, international, queer, trans, nonbinary, 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!
These days, it seems as though time is irrelevant and my memory is nonexistent. Or is this just me?
With what’s happening in the world, it’s hardly surprising that we are struggling, sweating, swearing and coming out swingin’. It’s already August and the heat is on. And while we are working hard to save the world, we must take time to read, rest and renew.
These 27 books are bound to support you, learn you, trouble you and try you. They may even heal you. So take some time and take care.
Asian American Histories of the United States
By Catherine Ceniza Choy (@ccenizachoy). Beacon Press. 240 pages. Out August 2.
While you are waiting for this one, you can catch up by reading the other spectacular volumes in the ReVisioning History series from Beacon Press (including A Black Women’s History, A Disability History, A Queer History, An Indigenous Peoples’ History, and more).
Cistem Failure: Essays on Blackness and Cisgender
By Marquis Bey. Duke University Press. 184 pages. Out August 2.
Dr. Bey is at the leading edge of conversations about gender: what it means to be cisgender, how that equates to whiteness, how Blackness is a non-cis space, and more. Reading Marquis Bey always opens my mind and practices.
I Rise
By Marie Arnold. Versify. 320 pages. Out August 2.
This is a book for our times, full of outrage, heartbreak, injustice and yes, hope. Thank goodness for hope. And healing. And for ancestors, wisdom, friends and collectives. Take care when reading this one, but do read it.
Our Voice of Fire: A Story of Survival and Pursuit for Justice
By Brandi Morin (Cree/Iroquois/French) (@Songstress28). House of Anansi Press. 232 pages. Out August 2.
Written by a survivor, this is one of two sorely needed memoirs/investigations on this list about the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women.
Shutter
By Ramona Emerson (Diné) (@reelindian). Soho Crime. 312 pages. Out August 2.
Set in Navajo Nation, this sharp debut centers a forensic photographer who is hiding a secret about how she is so helpful in solving cases. This mystery-crime-thriller is beautifully and chillingly rendered.