dystopian

My new book release lists are undergoing a name change!

Welcome to New Reads for the Rest of Us for July 2018.

I updated the title to better represent my purpose for these lists. You’ll be able to read more about this soon in a new post and an updated values statement but for now, just know that I will continue to offer you all the latest titles by womxn writers. (You might also notice that I added additional info about each title including tags and page counts.)

Essentially, I aim to amplify the books written by those who are historically underrepresented including, but not limited to: women of color, women from the Global South, women who are black, indigenous, disabled, queer, fat, immigrants, Muslim, sex-positive, and more. My lists are intersectional, feminist, and trans-inclusive. I also want to highlight books by gender non-conforming people (who may or may not be described by the term “womxn”).

So here’s July’s list! There are so many great titles here, which will you read??

I Remember Nelson Mandela by Vimla Naidoo and Sahm Venter (eds.)

July 1

Tags: South Africa, women writers, biography, #OwnVoices, Black women, Mandela

Jacana Media, 224 pages

“The idea to gather the memories of those who served Madiba into a book came from an understanding that most people in South Africa, and those around the world, knew him as an icon; as a public figure. It was important to me that the stories of those close to him be published so that fifty years from now, even a hundred years from now, when future generations want to know who Nelson Mandela was, they would not only be told the story of the head of state, but they would be able to read the story of a human being with a caring heart and generous soul.“–Mrs. Graça Machel

Without A Country by Ayse Kulin, Kenneth Dakan (translator) 

July 1

Tags: Historical fiction, World War II, Turkey, Jewish women, women writers

Amazon Crossing, 316 pages

“World War II scattered families across the globe, with only the luckiest remaining together in their new homes. In this poignant, timely novel, we meet the Jewish scientists who move from Germany to Istanbul to develop their vision of the world’s best universities. Based on the true story of neuropathologist professor Philipp Schwartz, Without a Country tells the story of one family’s migration, with all the challenges and triumphs of laying down roots in a new land.”–Gabriella Page-Fort (editor)

My review of this book is coming soon!

Marriage, Divorce, and Distress in Northeast Brazil: Black Women’s Perspectives on Love, Respect, and Kinship by Melanie A. Medeiros

July 2

Tags: Brazil, women writers, black women

Rutgers University Press, 222 pages

“Using an intersectional approach, Marriage, Divorce, and Distress in Northeast Brazil explores rural, working-class, black Brazilian women’s perceptions and experiences of courtship, marriage and divorce. In this book, women’s narratives of marriage dissolution demonstrate the ways in which changing gender roles and marriage expectations associated with modernization and globalization influence the intimate lives and the health and well being of women in Northeast Brazil. Melanie A. Medeiros explores the women’s rich stories of desire, love, respect, suffering, strength, and transformation.”–Description

When a Bulbul Sings by Hawaa Ayoub (@HawaaAyoub ‏)

July 2

Tags: Child marriage, Yemen, #OwnVoices, debut, women writers

Hawaa Ayoub, 402 pages

Hawaa Ayoub, author of When a Bulbul Sings, has experienced the traumas of forced child-marriage first hand. She hopes to raise awareness through writing about child-marriage.

This is a story about the inequality, injustice and violations of human rights millions of girls around the world face due to their gender when forced or entered into underage marriage as child brides.”–Description

The Detroit Project: Three Plays by Dominique Morisseau

July 3

Tags: Plays, Michigan, black women, #ownvoices, women writers

Theatre Communications Group, 240 pages

“Detroit ’67 is Morisseau’s aching paean to her natal city. . . . A deft playwright, Morisseau plays expertly with social mores and expectations. She also reframes commonplace things so that we see them in new light.”–StarTribune on Detroit ’67

“A deeply moral and deeply American play, with a loving compassion for those trapped in a system that makes sins, spiritual or societal, and self-betrayal almost inevitable.”–The New York Times on Skeleton Crew

Don’t Let Them See Me Like This by Jasmine Gibson

July 3

Tags: Black women, poetry, women writers

Nightboat, 96 pages

“In Don’t Let Them See Me Like This, Jasmine Gibson explores myriad intersectional identities in relation to The State, disease, love, sex, failure, and triumph. Speaking to those who feel disillusioned by both radical and banal spaces and inspired/informed by moments of political crisis: Hurricane Katrina, The Jena Six, the extrajudicial executions of Black people, and the periods of insurgency that erupted in response, this book acts as a synthesis of political life and poetic form.”–Publisher description

Empress: The Astonishing Reign of Nur Jahan by Ruby Lal

July 3

Tags: India, women writers, history

WW Norton and Co., 336 pages

“An enchanting evocation of the brilliant Mughal Empire and a tender tribute to India’s first female leader. Lush and sensuous, a jewel box of a book.”–Rosalind Miles, author of Who Cooked the Last Supper? The Women’s History of the World

“This is an outstanding book, not only incredibly important but also a fabulous piece of writing. Here, India’s greatest empress is reborn in all her fascinating glory in a luminescent account of her life and times. Ruby Lal has written a classic―one of the best biographies to come out this year and certainly the best ever of Nur Jahan.”–Amanda Foreman, author of The World Made by Women

Every Body Has a Story by Beverly Gologorsky

July 3

Tags: Fiction, political, poverty, women writers

Haymarket, 320 pages

“What a book! Gologorsky is at her best, weaving a tapestry of the lives of very real people, people whose lives deserve her care, her unsparing eye, and her compassion. Here is a story that cuts to the core of the way things are, and the way they can — all of a sudden — become. You heart might be ripped out by this book, but it will get placed back inside with a larger capacity to love and beat on — what a book, indeed.”–Elizabeth Strout, author of My Name is Lucy Barton and Pulitzer Prize-winning Olive Kitteridge

The Great Flowing River: A Memoir of China, from Manchuria to Taiwan by Chi Pang-yuan

July 3

Tags: China, women writers, memoir, Taiwan, history

Columbia University Press, 480 pages

“The Great Flowing River is one of the great memoirs of modern China. Telling the story of one woman’s odyssey through the twentieth century, this is not just a deeply moving account of Chi Pang-yuan and her family, but a window into how the Chinese people came through the trauma of war and turmoil, and created a new set of civilized values in their aftermath.”–Rana Mitter, author of Forgotten Ally: China’s World War II, 1937-1945

“This is a memoir of epic proportions. Chi’s work is a testimony of this tremendous historical period that is the long twentieth century for the Chinese and the Taiwanese peoples. The English translation of this epochal memoir is most certainly significant.”–Letty Chen, author of Writing Chinese: Reshaping Chinese Cultural Identity

Idiophone by Amy Fusselman (@AmyFusselman)

July 3

Tags: Feminism, memoir, essays, art, women writers

Coffee House Press, 132 pages

“This small and beautiful book about feminism and motherhood and art is perfect for those of us who like thinking outside of the box when we’re looking for something lovely to read.”–Vulture

“. . . Fusselman bounds with great dexterity from theme to theme—covering topics including addiction, motherhood, gender, and art—until she has transformed the traditional essay into something far wilder and more alive.”–Publishers Weekly, starred review

It All Falls Down by Sheena Kamal 

July 3

Tags: Thrillers, Michigan, Canada, women writers

William Morrow, 336 pages

“Last year author Sheena Kamal introduced readers to Nora Watts in what Kirkus called ‘a searing debut’ in their starred review for The Lost Ones. […] Now Kamal returns with her highly-anticipated follow-up, It All Falls Down and the brilliant, fearless, deeply flawed Nora Watts is back and in deadly trouble…”–Publisher’s description

“Kamal laces her narrative with a palpable melancholy, effectively capturing the urban decay of Detroit while emphasizing the vibrancy and hope of the people who inhabit it. An explosive finale…sets the stage for more to come from this complicated, flawed, and utterly enthralling heroine. A stunning, emotionally resonant thriller.”–Kirkus Reviews (starred)

Pyre at the Eyreholme Trust by Lin Darrow

July 4

Tags: Queer, pansexual, bisexual, genderqueer, urban fantasy

Less Than Three Press, ebook (30k words)

“In Temperance City, the streets are ruled by spelled-up gangsters, whose magic turf wars serve as a constant backdrop to civilian life. With magic strictly regulated, Eli Coello—whip-smart jewelry salesman by day, sultry torch singer by night—has always found it advantageous to hide his magical affinity for ink.

All that goes up in smoke the day Eli is forced to use his magic to foil a jewelry heist, and in doing so unwittingly catches the eye of Duke Haven, leader of the fire-flinging Pyre gang. Seeing a useful asset, Duke promptly blackmails Eli into providing unregistered spellwork.

Duke needs Eli’s ink-magic to help him pull a dangerous con against a rival gang. As the heist comes together, Eli finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into the Temperance underworld—and, perhaps most dangerously, to Duke himself.”–Description

Slay in Your Lane: The Black Girl Bible by Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebinené

July 5

Tags: Black women, women writers, Britain, inspirational

Fourth Estate/Harper Collins, 368 pages

Love War Stories by Ivelisse Rodriguez

July 10

Tags: Puerto Rico, Latinx women, debut, #ownvoices, short stories, women writers

Feminist Press, 200 pages

“Wise, ferocious, and beautifully executed, these tales trace the tangled roots of trauma and desire.”–Patricia Engel, author of The Veins of the Ocean

“An insightful look into girlhood, race, and the wounds of growing up, Love War Stories is a searing collection. Rodriguez has a rare gift for describing the minutiae of contemporary life, the heartaches as well as the dangers, without flinching.”–Mark Haber, Brazos Bookstore

The Marginalized Majority: Claiming Our Power in a Post-Truth America by Onnesha Roychoudhuri 

July 10

Tags: Politics, social justice, non-fiction, women writers

Melville House, 224 pages

“For too long, a privileged, pale, male minority have long claimed to speak for America. But as Onnesha Roychoudhuri shows, they are in fact profoundly out of touch with a society that’s increasingly progressive and diverse. This book is a clear-eyed pep talk for those who stand on the brink of despair and a welcome reminder that a new, true majority has the potential to rise up and change the world.”–Astra Taylor, author of The People’s Platform

“We have the numbers, strength, and vision to beat back the resurgent right and set a new people’s agenda. But it won’t happen until we start telling new stories about change, shedding the tired ones that have silenced and demoralized us. This book is a daring intervention to get us back in the game—and a witty, delightfully personal meditation on collective power.”–Naomi Klein, author of No Is Not Enough and This Changes Everything

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh 

July 10

Tags: Humor, women writers

Penguin Press, 304 pages

“Moshfegh has a keen sense of everyday absurdities, a deadpan delivery, and such a well-honed sense of irony that the narrator’s predicament never feels tragic; this may be the finest existential novel not written by a French author. . . . A nervy modern-day rebellion tale that isn’t afraid to get dark or find humor in the darkness.”–Kirkus, starred review

New Poets of Native Nations by Heid E. Erdrich (@HeidErdrich) 

July 10

Tags: Poetry, Native American women, #ownvoices, women writers

Graywolf Press, 304 pages

New Poets of Native Nations gathers poets of diverse ages, styles, languages, and tribal affiliations to present the extraordinary range and power of new Native poetry.–Description

“This collection is a breathtaking, wide-ranging work of art. . . . It is a modern classic.”–BuzzFeed

The Occasional Virgin by Hanan al-Shaykh

July 10

Tags: Arab women, women writers, humor, friendship, #ownvoices

Pantheon, 240 pages

“Novelist and memoirist al-Shaykh delivers an elegant story of a friendship that is anything but easy. . . . [The] novel is full of quiet regrets as it speaks gracefully to the challenges of friendship, challenges that threaten to drive the two women apart but that, in the end, instead strengthen their bond. Another winning book by one of the most distinguished Arabic-language writers at work today.”–Kirkus Reviews
 
“Lebanese-born, Cairo-educated, and London-based, al-Shaykh writes piercingly about Middle East upheaval and especially women in the Arab-Muslim world. Somewhere along the French Riviera, two young women from Beirut—Muslim-raised Huda and Christian-raised Yvonne—reflect on their tumultuous lives and struggles with work and love.”–Library Journal

An Ocean of Minutes: A Novel by Thea Lim (@thea_lim)

July 10

Tags: Debut, dystopian, immigration, women writers

Touchstone, 320 pages

[T]he novel oscillates between the present and future—a jarring juxtaposition that’s equally touching and heartbreaking… Lim’s writing shines brightest when she’s ruminating on time, memory, and love… A beautiful debut exploring how time, love, and sacrifice are never what they seem to be.–Kirkus

Lim’s enthralling novel succeeds on every level: as a love story, an imaginative thriller, and a dystopian narrative.–Publishers Weekly (starred review)

The Poisoned City: Flint’s Water and the American Urban Tragedy by Anna Clark

July 10

Tags: Michigan, non-fiction, politics, environment, women writers

Metropolitan Books, 320 pages

“The story of the Flint crisis is disturbing enough even if one knows only a few details. But the entire case, as laid out by Anna Clark, is enraging. Clark has sifted the layers of politics, history, and myopic policy to chronicle the human costs of this tragedy. Flint is not an outlier, it’s a parable – one whose implications matter not just to a single municipality but to every city in the country and all who live in them.”–Jelani Cobb, Ira A. Lipman Professor of Journalism, Columbia University

“Anna Clark’s book on the Flint water crisis rises to a great challenge: it sacrifices neither complexity nor moral clarity. And by etching this story’s outlines in decades of racist neglect, it is not just a splendid work of journalism. It is a genuine contribution to history.”–Rick Perlstein, author of The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan

Suicide Club: A Novel About Living by Rachel Heng (@rachelhengqp)

July 10

Tags: Speculative fiction, debut, dystopian, women writers

Henry Holt and Co., 352 pages

“Fans of modern speculative fiction and readers who love stories that warn us to be careful what we wish for will be enthralled by Heng’s highly imaginative debut, which deftly asks, “What does it really mean to be alive?”–Library Journal, starred review

“In exquisitely crafted prose, Rachel Heng gives us a startling look at a version of the world that seems simultaneously wild and plausible. Heng is a bold new talent and a writer to watch.”–Liz Moore, author of Heft and The Unseen World

You can read my review now!

What We Were Promised by Lucy Tan (@citizenofspace)

July 10

Tags: China, #ownvoices, women writers

Little, Brown and Co., 336 pages

“What We Were Promised is a big beautiful novel. Lucy Tan’s dazzling debut grapples with the persistence of the past, the inevitability of the present, and the difficulty of balancing individuality with community.”–Hannah Pittard, author of Visible Empire and Listen to Me

“Tan’s talent as a storyteller clearly shines through her strong plot lines and characterization; readers will want to know more about each well-crafted player in the story . . . . A novel of class, culture, and expectations; readers who enjoyed works like Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asians will likely find Tan’s surprising and down-to-earth tale an entertaining read.”–Library Journal

Relating Worlds of Racism: Dehumanisation, Belonging, and the Normativity of European Whiteness by Philomena Essed, Karen Farquharson, et al. 

July 13

Tags: Europe, whiteness, race, women writers

Palgrave Macmillan, 436 pages

This international edited collection examines how racism trajectories and manifestations in different locations relate and influence each other. The book unmasks and foregrounds the ways in which notions of European Whiteness have found form in a variety of global contexts that continue to sustain racism as an operational norm resulting in exclusion, violence, human rights violations, isolation and limited full citizenship for individuals who are not racialised as White.–Description

Baby Teeth: A Novel by Zoje Stage (@zooshka)

July 17

Tags: Thriller, women writers, family

St. Martin’s Press, 320 pages

“Tightly plotted, expertly choreographed…. Stage palpably conveys Suzette’s fear, anger, frustration, and desperation while exploring the deleterious effects that motherhood can have on one’s marriage and self-worth. …Stage fuses horror with domestic suspense to paint an unflinching portrait of childhood psychopathy and maternal regret.”–Kirkus (starred)

“Stage’s deviously fun debut takes child-rearing anxiety to demented new heights. Stage expertly crafts this creepy, can’t-put-it-down thriller into a fearless exploration of parenting and marriage that finds the cracks in unconditional love.”–Publishers Weekly (starred)

I included this one just because… I can’t wait to get my hands on it!

Bad Girls by Alex de Campi and Victor Santos

July 17

Tags: Cuba, graphic novels, women writers

Gallery 13, 224 pages

“[A] fierce thriller….de Campi delivers a script packed with righteous femme fatales full of wit and moxie…[and her] masterful writing is punctuated by the coolness of Santos’s block shading artwork and moody coloring; simplistic and reminiscent of the pop art style of the 1950s. Readers will revel in this fast-paced noir, embracing both its elegant period detail and pulpy genre roots.”–Publishers Weekly

“Cuba before the fall has long been a subject of interest in [the crime] genre….[and] Alex de Campi and Victor Santos…both partake of this long tradition and turn it on its head….The gorgeous colors and clean lines of this graphic novel complement the stylish storytelling, for a noir comic not to be missed.”–CrimeReads

Crux: A Cross-Border Memoir by Jean Guerrero (@jeanguerre)

July 17

Tags: Immigration, Mexico, family, women writers, memoir, debut, #ownvoices

One World, 352 pages

“Crux is everything I want in a memoir: prose that dazzles and cuts, insights hard-won and achingly named, and a plot that kept me up at night, breathlessly turning pages. Jean Guerrero has a poet’s lyrical sense, a journalist’s dogged devotion to truth, and a fast and far-reaching mind. This is a book preoccupied with chasing—that is one of its harrowing pleasures—but, like all great memoirs, it is ultimately a story about the great trouble and relief of being found.”–Melissa Febos, author of Whip Smart and Abandon Me

“Jean Guerrero has done excellent reporting from the U.S.–Mexico borderlands. Now she examines the more mysterious borders of family history and that unknown region of the heart. You will be moved by Crux—this book is powerful and true.”–Luis Alberto Urrea, author of The Devil’s Highway

The Death of Truth: Notes on Falsehood in the Age of Trump by Michiko Kakutani (@michikokakutani)

July 17

Tags: Politics, history, women writers

Tim Duggan Books, 208 pages

“This is the book I would have written—but only if I had had a brilliant grasp of literature, politics, and history, and the ability to weave them together in a uniquely original way. The Death of Truth goes indelibly to the dark, dark heart of what is ailing our democracy as no recent book has done.”–Graydon Carter

“Kakutani’s The Death of Truth is politically urgent and intellectually dazzling. She deftly goes behind the daily headlines to reveal the larger forces threatening democracy at home in America, and elsewhere around the globe. The result is a brilliant and fascinating call-to-arms that anyone who cares about democracy ought to read immediately.”–Jane Mayer

Gender Equality in Primary Schools: A Guide for Teachers by Helen Griffin

July 19

Tags: Education, gender, women writers

Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 216 pages

“An increase in the number of transgender children…means that all primary schools need to ensure they are safe environments respectful of all genders. This book draws on the ‘Gender Respect Project’, which identified the need to address gender stereotyping and gender-based violence with children and young people.

The book is full of lesson plans, case studies, clear guidance and recommended actions as well as further reading and resources. Extending beyond awareness of other genders, this book provides a framework for a gender equality approach in the classroom, and empowers children to think critically about gender and to respect themselves and others.”–Description

Raising Rosie: Our Story of Parenting and Intersex Child by Eric and Stephani Lohman (@erlohman)

July 19

Tags: Intersex, family

Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 192 pages

“When their daughter Rosie was born, Eric and Stephani Lohman found themselves thrust into a situation they were not prepared for. Born intersex – a term that describes people who are born with a variety of physical characteristics that do not fit neatly into traditional conceptions about male and female bodies – Rosie’s parents were pressured to consent to normalizing surgery on Rosie, without being offered any alternatives despite their concerns.

Part memoir, part guidebook, this powerful book tells the authors’ experience of refusing to have Rosie operated on and how they raised a child who is intersex. […] This uplifting and empowering story is a must read for all parents of intersex children.”–Description

How to Love a Jamaican: Stories by Alexia Arthurs (@AlexiaArthurs)

July 24

Tags: Jamaica, Caribbean, black women, #ownvoices, coming of age, short stories, women writers

Ballantine Books, 256 pages

“I am utterly taken with these gorgeous, tender, heartbreaking stories. Arthurs is a witty, perceptive, and generous writer, and this is a book that will last.”–Carmen Maria Machado, author of Her Body and Other Parties

“Stylistically reminiscent of Toni Morrison’s Paradise, this successful debut will appeal to readers of literary and Caribbean fiction.”–Library Journal

JELL-O Girls: A Family History by Allie Rowbottom (@allierowbottom)

July 24

Tags: Family, suicide, business, feminism, memoir, women authors, #ownvoices

Little, Brown and Co., 288 pages

“This is more than a book: it’s a phenomenon. It kept me up nights with its urgency and insistence, following Rowbottom, in her masterfully clear-eyed grief, on the hunt for understanding and explanation. JELL-O GIRLS is a heart-wrenching confession, an exacting cultural history and an important and honest feminist story for right now.”–Aja Gabel, author of The Ensemble

“Allie Rowbotton is a talent not to be overlooked! I love this book with all my heart. I couldn’t put down this strangely sparkling cultural and family history.”–Porochista Khakpour, author of Sick

Motherhood Across Borders: Immigrants and Their Children in Mexico and New York by Gabrielle Oliveira (@GabrielleMRO)

July 24

Tags: Immigration, women writers, family

NYU Press, 272 pages

“Motherhood across Borders is a vivid and engaging ethnography about how mothers, grandmothers, caregivers, and children fare when they are divided by, but also connected despite, the U.S.-Mexico border. Focusing on the voices of those directly impacted—people of all ages, across generations, and in both Mexico and the United States—Oliveira provides an intimate portrayal of the ways that motherhood, and caregiving more generally, is shifting in transnational context.”-Deborah A. Boehm,author of Returned: Going and Coming in an Age of Deportation

Name Me a Word: Indian Writers Reflect on Writing by Meena Alexander (ed.)

July 24

Tags: Indian, women writers, writing, #ownvoices

Yale University Press, 440 pages

Pretend We Live Here: Stories by Genevieve Hudson (@genhudson )

July 24

Tags: Queer, short stories, home, women writers

Future Tense Books, 148 pages

“In Pretend We Live Here, characters bleed and breathe with a caustic energy that dares the reader to keep pace as they are taken from the Deep South to Western Europe and back again. Genevieve Hudson is a new, coming-of-age voice that spotlights rural America, injecting it with a queer freshness that makes her writing impossible to forget.”–Jing-Jing Lee, author of How We Disappeared

Hudson’s A Little in Love With Everyone has been one of my favorite books of the year thus far, so I am super excited to read her latest! My review of this title is forthcoming.

Proud: My Fight for an Unlikely American Dream by Ibtihaj Muhammad (@IbtihajMuhammad) and Lori Tharps (@LoriTharps)

July 24

Tags: Sports, Muslim women, memoir, #ownvoices, coming of age, women writers

Hachette Books, 288 pages

• Named one of TIME‘s 100 Most Influential People
• The first female Muslim American to medal at the Olympic Games
• The first woman in hijab to compete for the United States in the Olympics

“Proud is the inspiring story of how Ibtihaj rose above it all with grace and compassion. She provides an unflinching and honest portrayal of how she managed to stay true to herself and still play by the rules. A coming-of-age story, a hero’s journey, and a moving memoir from one of the nation’s most influential athletes.”–Description

Uncommon Girls by Carla Grant

July 26

Tags: Memoirs, women writers, queer, trans, family, #ownvoices

Bedazzled Ink Publishing, 260 pages

“It is increasingly evident that Eliot is not only autistic, but is also an uncommon girl. Eliot’s mother, Carla, recounts their journey down an unfamiliar path riddled with dismissive medical consultations and mental health referrals to clinics with epic waiting lists. Eliot transitions to Ella, with ambitions of being a trophy wife. Her parents attempt to set limits but Ella, in a typically teenage way, resists anything she deems as trying to squelch her true feminine self. Ella is ‘outed’ repeatedly by teachers she trusted and stops attending school. Carla’s rage morphs into a motivating sense of injustice and she engages in a successful campaign for her child’s civil rights. Carla and Ella are not superheroes, they are just a couple of uncommon girls determined to leave a bumpy road a little smoother for the next travelers.”–Description

Other, Please Specify: Queer Methods in Sociology by D’Lane Compton (@drcompton), Tey Meadow (@dr_tey), and Kristen Schilt

July 27

Tags: Queer, sociology, #ownvoices

University of California Press, 352 pages

“Other, Please Specify illustrates and celebrates the intellectual courage and honesty that are indispensable to truly advance sociology as a discipline and a profession. These deeply engaging and insightful voices will inspire the reader to embrace sociological research without fear and to nurture an academic life with genuine freedom and authenticity.”–Gloria González-López, Professor of Sociology at the University of Texas at Austin

“A testament to the power of collaboration, this bracing and timely collection brings together rigorously self-reflexive, politically committed work by a rising generation of queer, trans, feminist, and anti-racist scholars.”— Heather Love, University of Pennsylvania

Queering Urban Justice: Queer of Colour Formations in Toronto by Jinthana Haritaworn, Ghaida Moussa, et al. 

July 27

Tags: Queer, LGBTQ, Canada

University of Toronto Press, 240 pages

“The volume describes city spaces as sites where bodies are exhaustively documented while others barely register as subjects. The editors and contributors interrogate the forces that have allowed QTBIPOC to be imagined as absent from the very spaces they have long invested in.”–Description

Fruit of the Drunken Tree by Ingrid Rojas Contreras (@ingrid_rojas_c)

July 31

Tags: Debut, #ownvoices, Colombia, mystery, coming of age, Latinx, women of color, women writers

Doubleday, 320 pages

“A coming of age story, an immigrant story, a thrilling mystery novel, thoroughly lived and felt—this is an exciting debut novel that showcases a writer already in full command of her powers.  Make room on your shelves for a writer whose impressive debut promises many more.”–Julia Alvarez, author of In the Time of the Butterflies and How the García Girls Lost Their Accents

“When women tell stories, they are finally at the center of the page. When women of color write history, we see the world as we have never seen it before. In Fruit of the Drunken Tree, Ingrid Rojas Contreras honors the lives of girls who witness war. Brava! I was swept up by this story.”–Sandra Cisneros, author of The House on Mango Street

You can read my review now!

The Incendiaries by R. O. Kwon (@rokwon)

July 31

Tags: Korea, extremism, #ownvoices, debut, women writers

Riverhead Books, 224 pages

“The Incendiaries probes the seductive and dangerous places to which we drift when loss unmoors us. In dazzlingly acrobatic prose, R. O. Kwon explores the lines between faith and fanaticism, passion and violence, the rational and the unknowable.”–Celeste Ng, author of Little Fires Everywhere and Everything I Never Told You

“One of those slim novels that contains multitudes, R.O. Kwon’s debut novel shows how unreliable we are as narrators when we’re trying to invent — and reinvent — ourselves.”–Vulture

A Study in Honor: A Novel (The Janet Watson Chronicles) by Claire O’Dell (@ClaireOdell99) 

July 31

Tags: Black women, queer, mystery, feminism, women writers, series

Harper Voyager, 304 pages

• A selection in Parade’s roundup of “25 Hottest Books of Summer 2018”
• A Paste Magazine’s Most Anticipated 25 books of 2018 pick
• A Medium’s Books pick for We Can’t Wait to Read in 2018 list

“A Study in Honor is a fast-moving, diverse science-fictional Holmes and Watson reinterpretation set in near future Washington DC. As a deliciously intersectional makeover of a famous literary duo it’s enormously satisfying. Clean, clear, and vastly enjoyable.”–Nicola Griffith, Lambda Literary award-winning author of So Lucky

Now, I want to point out that Claire O’Dell is a pseudonym for Beth Bernobich, a middle-aged white woman from Connecticut. Despite the accolades I’ve read about Bernobich’s previous works, I honestly am not sure how I feel about a (straight?) white woman writing black queer women (don’t @ me!). That being said, she is writing queer black women sleuths, a feminist take on Sherlock Holmes they say, so I am not mad about it (yet?). I am very interested in learning more about the author and the inspiration behind this series. I am cautiously optimistic… how do you all feel about this?

What books are you most excited for in July?? Let me know in the comments below!

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