speculative fiction

New Reads for the Rest of Us for April 2019

New Reads for the Rest of Us – April 2019

April 3, 2019 2 Karla Strand Books Reads for the Rest of Us

Here are your New Reads for the Rest of Us for April 2019!

Since I've begun a regular column over at Ms. Magazine, I've been posting the Reads for the Rest of Us that I am most excited about there. Reads for the Rest of Us here used to be everything I found being published by women that I could find. Over at Ms., I've shortened the list due to time and space limits. Well, you've told me that while you love the Ms. lists, you also miss my more comprehensive lists, so I have decided to reinstate them here!

They'll be a bit different from those I used to post as I won't be able to take as much time to describe them fully; I'll need to leave that to my Ms. column. Instead, I'll just compile a quick and dirty list of covers with links for you to browse! So let's try this out for April and see how it goes! Let me know what you think in the comments below.

A Life Well Lived: A Review of Rachel Heng’s SUICIDE CLUB

July 15, 2018 12 Karla Strand Books Reviews

Would you want to live forever?

In her debut novel Suicide Club, Rachel Heng reaffirms the notion of “be careful what you wish for” and challenges her readers to reflect upon the price they would pay for immortality.

The author, Rachel Heng.

We live in a world where the quest for long life is a multimillion dollar industry. In Heng’s near future setting, people live for hundreds of years. But at what cost?

In this engaging story, Lea Kirino is a successful woman with the potential to live forever. By all accounts, she has a profitable career, a loving relationship, a comfortable apartment.

They burst out laughing. Todd laughed too, right on cue. Their laughter was rich and cascading, a golden ribbon unfurling through the party, making people turn to look, people who were until then perfectly secure of their position in life but at that moment felt something was missing. (page 7)

Lea follows all of the suggested guidelines for nutrition (juicing), exercise (low impact, including no running), and avoiding stress (even too much smiling causes unwanted wrinkles).

It wasn’t often, these days, that things broke anymore. Everything was toughened, reinforced, enhanced. You really had to try to break something. (page 132)

Then one day, she sees her estranged father on the street and it changes everything. Lea begins to question being a “lifer” as she is confronted by the divergent and illegal ideas of her father and the mysterious Suicide Club.

The Suicide Club is made up of people who challenge the status quo that immortality – and the price one pays for it – is a worthwhile goal. The members are committed to exercising autonomy and control over the course of their lives: to eat what they want, live how they please, and die how (and when) they choose.

“Something has to change. In being robbed of our deaths, we are robbed of our lives.” (page 2)

Lea begins to question everything; everything she thought was true and right. Heng challenges her readers to consider issues of longevity but also family relationships, wealth and consumption, and what truly makes life worth living – and dying. For me, it brought up contemplation about the right to die with dignity and autonomy, though not specifically taken on in the book.

One of the strengths of Heng’s writing – and there are many – is her commitment to detail. Her ability to describe this world is rivaled only by her presentation of it; while she is descriptive in her storytelling, Heng also trusts her reader to put the various pieces together. She takes her time and brings the reader into Lea’s world day by day. The result is a dynamic, multidimensional setting and intriguing characters that set the stage for the readers’ reflections.

Lea felt a heaviness in her lower back, as if the weight of all their problems, all their pain, had crept into her body, wrapped itself around the base of her spine, settled there. Calcified, anchored, immovable. (page 274)

Suicide Club is a thought-provoking novel perfect for readers who like dystopian or speculative fiction that makes you think. I was both entertained and intrigued by the book; it held my interest throughout. With characters you will relate to and a story that will draw you in, Suicide Club is one of the strongest debuts of the year.

Find Rachel Heng online at https://www.rachelhengqp.com/ and on Twitter @rachelhengqp.

For further reading:

Five Questions with Rachel Heng by Megan Leigh for Breaking the Glass Slipper
Letting Go of What We Love: Talking With Rachel Heng by Kristen Iskandrian for The Rumpus
Rachel Heng talks about her debut novel Suicide Club – Sceptre (video) for Hodder Books
Suicide Club review on Kirkus
Suicide Club: What if burgers and beer were illegal? by Annabel Rackham for BBC

Summary:

Title: Suicide Club: A Novel About Living
Author: Rachel Heng
Publisher: Henry Holt
Pages: 352
Publication Date: July 10, 2018
My Rating: Highly Recommended

Content information (potential spoilers):
Animal cruelty pages 100-103; several descriptions and discussions of suicide; bullying and violence pages 177-181; self-harm page 98; descriptions of sickness, hospitalization, dying, and death; family estrangement and death; sex pages 278-280; murder.

Disclosures:
I received an advance reader’s edition of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Henry Holt, Declan Taintor, and Rachel Heng.
This review contains affiliate links. Please support independent booksellers!

Shadows We Leave Behind: A Review of Peng Shepherd’s THE BOOK OF M

July 14, 2018 21 Karla Strand Books Reviews

I’ve always enjoyed dystopian and post-apocalyptic books and films but admittedly, I am no expert in these genres. I appreciate the creativity and uniqueness of these types of stories. I think it takes courage to write a book of speculative fiction; there’s a risk in letting your imagination run free and create a world for the reader that is idiosyncratic while still allowing them to see the familiar in this fictional setting.

The author, Peng Shepherd.

Peng Shepherd is one of these risk-takers.

Her debut novel, The Book of M, is set in the near-future where people’s shadows begin randomly disappearing. The phenomenon starts with one man in India but soon spreads inexplicably across the world and is soon dubbed The Forgetting.

Why The Forgetting? Because while people afflicted with it gain a new power, they pay the price by losing their memories along with their shadows. The book turns eerie quickly when we learn that as the stages of the Forgetting continue, the person who loses their shadow soon forgets who people are, how to drive, where to find food, how to speak, that fire is hot. The thought of dying by forgetting is terrifying and all too real.

The book is focused on two main characters, a couple named Max and Ory. Each chapter is centered on one of them or on one of the other characters we meet throughout the story. Shepherd is adept at these changes of voice and this method lends to the feeling of instability and fear in the world during this terrifying catastrophe. The Forgetting hits home when Max loses her shadow and, instead of waiting until the day when she loses her memory completely, she runs away. Ory sets out after her in a desperate attempt to find her and salvage any time that they may have left together.

Ory held his breath and ran east, straight into the low-hanging morning light, as if he could outrun his terror. If he could just make it far enough, the rising sun would turn into a bridge, and then he’d be in D.C. And Max would have to be there. She’d have to be (page 75).

While she travels, Max reluctantly beings to record herself on a small tape recorder Ory had given her. This is a genius tool that Shepherd employs on various levels. While it allows us to hear Max’s narration, thoughts, and feelings, it also gives us clues into her evolution during The Forgetting. As the bits and pieces come together throughout the book, they are like pieces of a puzzle fitting together just so.

There are so many things to tell you, Ory! I’m desperate to record them all before I start to forget. I want to tell you all about the others I’m with now, who they are, what they do, where we’re going. I don’t say this to hurt you, I hope you wouldn’t take it that way– but until I met them… I didn’t realize how lonely I’d been (page 188).

The Book of M is spooky and mysterious; I was never quite sure what to expect next. Shepherd is able to make her characters come distinctly alive, so that you can see yourself in them and wonder how you would feel or react in the midst of The Forgetting. As we would, some of the characters take risks and some play it safe.

On a deeper level, this is a story of humanity and what makes one “human.” It challenges us to examine embodiment and self, as well as science and medicine. Through The Book of M, we can explore our deepest memories and the shadows we leave behind, willingly or not.

To learn more:

“‘The Book Of M’ By Peng Shepherd Is A Powerful Post-Apocalyptic Masterpiece About The Power Of Memory” by Sadie Trombetta on Bustle
“10 Questions With The Book of M Author Peng Shepherd” by Sean Tuohy on Writer’s Bone
BookPage review
Publisher’s Weekly review

Find Peng Shepherd online at http://pengshepherd.com/ and on Twitter @pengshepherd.

Summary:

Title: The Book of M: A Novel
Author: Peng Shepherd
Publisher: William Morrow
Pages: 496
Publication Date: June 5, 2018
My Rating: Highly Recommended

This post was originally published in June 2018.

Disclosures:
I received an advanced reader’s edition of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, William Morrow!
This review contains affiliate links. Please support independent booksellers!

New Reads for the Rest of Us – July 2018 Releases

July 2, 2018 24 Karla Strand Books Reads for the Rest of Us

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

Elle’s 12 addictive books you have to read to get through in 2018
Metro’s best new books you have to get through in 2018
BBC’s hotly anticipated debut authors for 2018

“Arguably the book for 2018”–Arifa Akbar, Observer

The long-awaited, inspirational guide to life for a generation of black British women inspired to make lemonade out of lemons, and find success in every area of their lives.

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

“Name Me a Word is an indispensable guide for readers of Indian writing, animating the powerful impulses of the country’s famous writers and introducing the multiple voices that have gone into the making of the most important literature of our time.”–Simon Gikandi, Princeton University

“This ambitious collection conveys the astonishing and reflective literary vitality in modern India. Alexander guides the reader through this vast area with her well-written and illuminating headnotes for each writer in turn.”–Margery Sabin, Wellesley College

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!

This post contains affiliate links. Please support your local independent bookstore!

New Books by Womxn – June 2018 Releases

May 30, 2018 0 Karla Strand Books Reads for the Rest of Us

Need a new book for June?

Here’s a roundup of the new books by women being released in June that I am most excited about, with a focus on womxn and gender non-conforming people from historically underrepresented and underserved communities.

If you are curious about which books I focus on, see my Review Policy. These are just guidelines and I reserve the right to include (or not!) any books I see fit.

I’ll probably add to this list as I learn of others; if you have a suggestion, please place it in the comments below!

Never Stop Walking: A Memoir of Finding Home Across the World by Christina Rickardsson

June 1

“Both candid and compelling, Rickardsson’s story is not only about a woman seeking to heal the fractures inherent in a transnational identity; it is also a moving meditation on poverty, injustice, and the meaning of family. A thought-provoking and humane memoir of survival and self-discovery.”–Kirkus Reviews

“A haunting story of balancing identities, Rickardsson’s debut is an unforgettable meditation on the weight of early childhood trauma and recovery.”–Booklist

My review coming soon!

The Battle for Paradise: Puerto Rico Takes on the Disaster Capitalists by Naomi Klein (@NaomiAKlein)

June 5

“We are in a fight for our lives. Hurricanes Irma and María unmasked the colonialism we face in Puerto Rico, and the inequality it fosters, creating a fierce humanitarian crisis. Now we must find a path forward to equality and sustainability, a path driven by communities, not investors. And this book explains, with careful and unbiased reporting, only the efforts of our community activists can answer the paramount question: What type of society do we want to become and who is Puerto Rico for?”–Carmen Yulín Cruz, Mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico

“Naomi Klein concisely reveals to us what Puerto Rico has faced, shock after shock, before Hurricane Maria and after it and also the voices of people who believe and build a future for Puerto Rico from the strength of their communities.”–Ana Irma Rivera Lassén, feminist, human rights activist, former president of the Puerto Rico Bar Association

My review coming soon!

The Book of M by Peng Shepherd (@pengshepherd)

June 5

“Sheperd’s debut is graceful and riveting, slowly peeling back layers of an intricately constructed and unsettling alternate future.”–Publishers Weekly

Read my review!

Bruja Born (Brooklyn Brujas #2) by Zoraida Cordova (@zlikeinzorro)

June 5

“An exciting read with a wonderful Latinx feel woven throughout.”–Kirkus

“The book is at its best examining the relationship between Lula and her sisters as brujas, but also as teens, who have the same yearnings and petty arguments as any girls. For readers coming for the ghouls, there are plenty of those, too.”–Booklist

Feminist Freedom Warriors: Genealogies, Justice, Politics, and Hope by Chandra Talpade Mohanty and Linda Carty (eds.)

http://feministfreedomwarriors.org/

June 5

“Feminist Freedom Warriors is a provocation and an inspiration. The political and intellectual life stories of an amazing cohort of radical feminist takes us through five decades of dynamic history and spans the globe.Their stories, ideas, fortitude and courage provide a powerful guide to the freedom-making work of the mid 20th through the early 21st centuries. The book is yet another gift of insight and critical feminist praxis from Chandra Talpade Mohanty and Linda Carty, sister-scholars and collaborators whose own collective passion and commitments are also in every page of this collection.”–Barbara Ransby, author, historian, activist

My review coming soon!

In the Distance With You by Carla Guelfenbein (@carlaguelfenbei) and John Cullen (translator)

June 5

“[A] moving page-turner. Suspense, emotions, and magic course throughout this beautifully narrated book. Highly recommended for fans of Latin American literature and general literary mysteries.”–Library Journal (starred review)

“The subject of this profound and intricate novel is the irreducible mystery at the core of every person, the buried lines of history and desire that render us inscrutable even to ourselves. Carla Guelfenbein is an important and powerful writer, and this translation is a gift to English-language readers.”–Garth Greenwell, author of What Belongs to You

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang (@HHoangWrites)

June 5

“Hoang knocks it out of the park with this stellar debut about an autistic woman who takes a methodical approach to learning about sex and accidentally gets a lesson in love…Hoang gives [Stella] tremendous depth as a character, never reducing her to a walking diagnosis. The diverse cast and exceptional writing take this romance to the next level, and readers who see themselves in Stella will be ecstatic.”–Publisher’s Weekly (starred)

“An unexpectedly sweet romance that left me with a huge smile on my face. I dare you not to fall in love with these two characters and their story. Helen Hoang’s debut is quite simply delightful!”–Nalini Singh, New York Times bestselling author

A Little Piece of Light by Donna Hylton (@DonnaHylton)

June 5

“Donna Hylton’s painful yet liberating memoir will certainly be transformative for many who read her words. As a survivor of sexual abuse and violence–inside and outside prison–she tells the whole truth of her experience, including her deep regret for the moments that she’s harmed others and her passionate commitment to co-creating a justice system that acknowledges the little piece of light that shines within us no matter who we are, what we’ve done, or what has been done to us.”–Michelle Alexander, New York Times bestselling author of The New Jim Crow

“Intimate and disturbing, the book reveals the ways women are silenced and victimized in society, and it also tells the inspiring story of how one woman survived a prison nightmare to go on to help other incarcerated women ‘speak out about the violence in their lives.’ A wrenching memoir of overcoming seemingly insurmountable abuse and finding fulfillment.”–Kirkus Reviews

Tonight I’m Someone Else by Chelsea Hodson (@ChelseaHodson)

June 5

“Reading Hodson’s work feels risky; it’s breathtaking, both in its inherent exhilaration and also, often, because it’s funny. . .But it also makes you feel connected to things, as if you are forging new relationships to the things and people in the world around you, uncovering new understandings about permanence, about intuition, about love and sex and lies and secrets and truth, about life.”–Kristin Iversen, NYLON

“Her essays are a specialized artform where poetry meets philosophy. They reflect on the gruesome side of being a woman in the excellent tradition of Joan Didion and Sylvia Plath. I highly recommend Chelsea Hodson’s book to all readers.”–Atticus Lish, author of Preparation for the Next Life

My Solo Exchange Diary Vol. 1: The Sequel to My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness by Nagata Kabi

June 5

“The sequel to the viral sensation My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness!

Struggling with the idea of living alone and adjusting to the effects of her previous book’s success, this follow-up to the award-winning autobiographical comic continues the author’s quest for self-acceptance and love.”–Amazon

Sick: A Memoir by Porochista Khakpour (@PKhakpour)

June 5

Boston Globe’s 25 Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2018

Buzzfeed’s 33 Most Exciting New Books

Bustle’s 28 Most Anticipated Nonfiction Books of 2018 list

Nylon’s 50 Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2018

Electric Literature’s 46 Books to Read By Women of Color in 2018

The Terrible: A Storyteller’s Memoir by Yrsa Daley-Ward (@YrsaDaleyWard)

June 5

One of Elle’s 30 Best Books to Read This Summer

“A powerful, unconventionally structured memoir recounting harrowing coming-of-age ordeals . . . Daley-Ward resists classification in this profound mix of poetry and prose. . . . [She] has quite a ferociously moving story to tell.”–Kirkus (starred)

“Yrsa Daley-Ward is laying her pain bare and turning it into uplifting, unconventional poetry. . . . If readers thought she bared her soul through bone, her memoir The Terrible will be another lesson in how to fearlessly turn the pain of her past into uplifting prose.” —PopSugar

Unbound: Transgender Men and the Remaking of Identity by Arlene Stein

June 5

“If you’ve been trying to make sense of how gender today seems to have slipped the chains that bind it to our bodies in familiar ways, Unbound is a book for you. It’s a sympathetic account by non-transgender sociologist Arlene Stein, aimed at a primarily non-transgender audience, of four people assigned female at birth who surgically masculinize their chests. Stein helps her readers understand that they, too, no longer need be bound by conventional expectations of the meaning of our flesh.” –Susan Stryker, founding co-editor, TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly

“Stein tracks the rapid evolution of gender identity in this provocative group portrait of trans men . . . Her book succeeds in documenting what it means to be trans today.”–Publisher’s Weekly

Fugitive Life: The Queer Politics of the Prison State by Stephen Dillon

June 8

“In Fugitive Life, fugitive women of color emerge as feminist thinkers who expose the inherent carcerality of neoliberalism. This groundbreaking intervention in carceral studies, gender studies, American studies, and literary studies offers deep interrogations of queerness and temporality and an extraordinary model for analyzing the dialectics of freedom and repression. Stephen Dillon provides a dramatic contribution that will reshape urgent debates regarding carceral crisis, influencing future scholarship and activism.”–Sarah Haley, author of No Mercy Here: Gender, Punishment, and the Making of Jim Crow Modernity

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

June 12

An Indie Next Pick
Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2018 by Elle
Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2018 by Electric Literature
Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2018 by April Magazine

“Murata’s strange and quirky novel was a runaway hit in Japan, and Ginny Tapley Takemori’s English translation introduces it to a new group of readers―a slim, entrancing read that can be consumed in one sitting.”–Passport

A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza (@fatimafmirza)

June 12

“Extraordinary in its depth and diligence… Mirza adeptly revisits painful dilemmas from each narrator’s perspective, revealing jolting secrets. Each complex, surprising character struggles with faith, responsibility, racism, fear, longing, and jealousy, while Mirza conveys with graceful specificity the rhythms of Muslim life, from prayer to wearing hijab, gender etiquette, food, holidays, and values, all of which illuminate universal quandaries about family, self, culture, beliefs, and generational change.”–Booklist

“A California-based Indian Muslim family celebrates the wedding of daughter Hadia, marrying for love. Present is her estranged brother Amar, who hasn’t easily mnaged the rough road between youth and adulthood, Old World tradition and America, and the novel effectively unfolds family tensions and Amar’s swirling personal anguish.”–Library Journal

Who is Vera Kelly? by Rosalie Knecht (@RosalieKnecht)

June 12

“A buzzing, smoky, gin-soaked charmer.”–Library Journal, ALA Hot Picks

“When we first meet Vera Kelly, she’s a troubled 1950s teenager who’s overdosed on Equanil. Next she’s in explosive 1960s Buenos Aires after being recruited by the CIA (“I could be charming if I wanted to. There were basic tricks”). Her past and present are told in alternating chapters, with all the edgy fun of classic noir but in an original voice that’s fresh, brisk, and snappy. Hugely buzzing.”–Library Journal, Most Anticipated Books of Spring/Summer

These Bones Will Rise Again by Panashe Chigumadzi (@PanasheChig)

June 14

“A leading writer of Zimbabwe’s ‘born-free’ generation reflects on the November 2017 ousting of Robert Mugabe, radically reframing the history of Zimbabwe to include the perspectives of workers, women and urban movements.”–Description

“Chigumadzi successfully nests the intimate charge of her poignant personal story in the sweeping historical account and mythology of Zimbabwe.”–Brian Chikwava, author of Harare North

“Chigumadzi’s exploration of personal, family and national history reincarnates in stark, vivid images, many of those interred in the shadows of her country’s ‘Big Men’.”–Tsitsi Dangarembga, author of Nervous Conditions

Hybrid Child by Mariko Ohara and Jodie Beck (translator)

June 15

“With the familiar strangeness of a fairy tale, Ohara’s novel traverses the mysterious distance between body and mind, between the mechanics of life and the ghost in the machine, between the infinitesimal and infinity. The child as mother, the mother as monster, the monster as hero: this shape-shifting story of nourishment, nurture, and parturition is a rare feminist work of speculative fiction and received the prestigious Seiun (Nebula) Award in 1991. Hybrid Childis the first English translation of a major work of science fiction by a female Japanese author.”–publisher description

I just finished this book and wow. My review will be coming soon!

Number One Chinese Restaurant by Lillian Li (@ZillianZi)

June 19

Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2018 by The Millions and Cosmopolitan

“[Number One Chinese Restaurant] is a lot of things . . . a multigenerational immigration story, an insider look at the often grueling life of the career server or line cook, a romance, a coming-of-age (at any age). Most significantly, it is a joy to read―I couldn’t get enough.”–Buzzfeed, “30 Summer Books to Get Excited About”

“Li vividly depicts the lives of her characters and gives the narrative a few satisfying turns, resulting in a memorable debut.” —Publishers Weekly

Old in Art School: A Memoir of Starting Over by Nell Painter

June 19

A Library Journal Editors’ Spring Pick: 1 of 34 Titles to Wave a Flag About

“Old in Art School is a glorious achievement―bighearted and critical, insightful and entertaining. This book is a cup of courage for everyone who wants to change their lives. This is not a story about starting over; it’s about continuing on the journey. Nell Painter has taken the coming of age story to a new level―this is what you get when a wise person gets even wiser, when a true artist spreads her wings.”–Tayari Jones, author of An American Marriage

“This is a courageous, intellectually stimulating, and wholly entertaining story of one woman reconciling two worlds and being open to the possibilities and changes life offers.”–Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Trans Like Me: Conversations for All of Us by CN Lester (@cnlester)

June 19

“[A] winning collection of essays…offers perspective and clarity on issues that, time and again, are stumbling blocks to trans acceptance and celebration of human gender diversity.”–Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“The book to give your cis friends.”–Stephanie Burt

What the Eyes Don’t See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City by Mona Hanna-Attisha

June 19

Tags: Health, environment, Michigan

One World, 384 pages

“The Iraqi American pediatrician who helped expose the Flint water crisis lays bare the bureaucratic bunk and flat-out injustice at the heart of the environmental disgrace—revealing, with the gripping intrigue of a Grisham thriller, ‘the story of a government poisoning its own citizens, and then lying about it.’”–O: The Oprah Magazine

“Flint is a public health disaster. But it was Dr. Mona, this caring, tough pediatrician turned detective, who cracked the case.”–Rachel Maddow

When Katie Met Cassidy by Camille Perri (@CamillePerri)

June 19

“Katie and Cassidy are a joy to behold: two whip-smart women grappling with desire and questioning their deeply held notions of love and intimacy. Perri’s book is a real gift—tender, sexy as hell and laugh out loud funny.”–Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, New York Times bestselling author of The Nest

“Fun and fulfilling…[with] honest conversations about female identity and sexuality included throughout. A romance with a big heart and refreshing perspective.”–Kirkus Reviews

My review coming soon!

Graffiti Grrlz: Performing Feminism in the Hip Hop Diaspora by Jessica Nydia Pabon-Colon (@justjess_PhD)

June 22

“The graffiti grrlz featured here know how to throw up fresh ways of re-imagining feminism, urban belonging, and world-making practices. Through bright ethnographic accounts of graffiti’s gendered politics and global reach, Pabón-Colón takes down assumed notions of hip-hop culture by passing the mic to a new generation of feminist graffiti artists engaged in writing and speaking on their own terms.”–Juana María Rodríguez, Author of Sexual Futures, Queer Gestures, and Other Latina Longings

“Vibrant, complex, and totally engaging, Graffiti Grrlz recovers women’s presence in graffiti subcultures around the globe. In this ambitious and passionate book, Jessica Pabón-Colón amplifies the resistant and creative practices of women graffiti artists and masterfully highlights their important contributions to contemporary feminism. In doing so, she transforms and expands our ideas about the meaning of graffiti and of feminist political action.”–Jessica Taft, Author of Rebel Girls: Youth Activism and Social Change Across the Americas

Dead Girls: Essays on Surviving an American Obsession by Alice Bolin (@alicebolin)

June 26

“Everything I want in an essay collection: provocative lines of inquiry, macabre humor, blistering intelligence. I love this book. I want to take it into the middle of a crowded room and hold it up and scream until someone tackles me the ground; even then, I’d probably keep screaming.”–Carmen Maria Machado, author of Her Body and Other Parties

“Bracing and blazingly smart, Alice Bolin’s Dead Girls could hardly be more needed or more timely. A critical contribution to the cultural discussion of gender and genre, Los Angeles and noir, the unbearable persistence of the male gaze and the furtive potency of female rage.”–Megan Abbott, Edgar Award-winning author of You Will Know Me

Squeezed: Why Our Families Can’t Afford America by Alissa Quart (@lisquart)

June 26

“Vital to understanding American life today.”–Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Profound, a sweeping, blistering portrait of hard-working people from all walks of life. It’s a rousing wakeup call that also points the way forward to a more equitable, expansive future.”–Astra Taylor, author of The People’s Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age

A Thousand Beginnings and Endings by Ellen Oh (@ElloEllenOh) and Elsie Chapman (@elsiechapman) (eds.)

June 26

“A collection of Asian myths and legends in which beloved stories of spirits, magic, family, love, and heartbreak are combined with elements from modern teens’ lives….With such a variety of emotion and experiences to explore, nearly any teen can find something to relate to…An incredible anthology that will keep readers on the edges of their seats, wanting more.”–Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“All of these stories achieve emotional depth and connection while showcasing each storyteller’s unique literary voice.”–The Horn Book

White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo

June 26

“As a woman of color, I find hope in this book because of its potential to disrupt the patterns and relationships that have emerged out of long-standing colonial principles and beliefs. White Fragility is an essential tool toward authentic dialogue and action. May it be so!”–Shakti Butler, president of World Trust and director of Mirrors of Privilege: Making Whiteness Visible

“A rare and incisive examination of the system of white body supremacy that binds us all as Americans. . . . With authenticity and clarity, she provides the antidote to white fragility and a road map for developing white racial stamina and humility. White Fragility loosens the bonds of white supremacy and binds us back together as human beings.”–Resmaa Menakem, author of My Grandmother’s Hands

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What I’m Reading – 13 May 2018

May 13, 2018 0 Karla Strand Blog

Happy Mother’s Day!

We’ve been working so hard on home renovations that it is nice to have a bit of a break today. I’ve been super busy at work as well but am still carving out time to do some reading. Here are some of the highlights:

I just started and ARC of Hybrid Child by Mariko Ohara which, while it is a classic of Japanese speculative fiction, it is only in its first translation here in the US. It’s actually the first English translation of a major work of scifi by a Japanese woman author, period, so wow, that’s awesome. Always have to wonder what took so long but it’s here now, at least. And so far, I would recommend you get your mitts on this book! It is strange and mysterious and fascinating so far. I may take this Mother’s Day and read it all!

I just finished listening to Beauty Queens by Libba Bray and sorry but I didn’t love it. At all. I posted a little review on GoodReads. I just started listening to This Book is Overdue! by Marilyn Johnson and it’s not too great either actually… I mean, it would be more interesting to someone who didn’t know anything about librarianship I think but it’s also just dated. I am striking out with aduibooks lately… any suggestions? I also recently finished Monsoon Mansion and am working on reviews for A Little in Love with Everyone by Genevieve Hudson and The Book of M by Peng Shepherd, so be watching for those.

There have been a lot of great articles I’ve been reading lately, it’s hard to share them all! I recently created a Resource Guide to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (#MMIW) and so read a lot of those articles as I included them. I just couldn’t find a great bibliography or guide out there, so I figured the least I could do was to create one. So please share it and also let me know what’s missing from it; I plan to continue adding to it.

Articles:

“Louise Thompson Patterson and Black Radical Politics” by Charisse Burden-Stelly in Black Perspectives
“How Our Use of Language Dehumanizes and Demonizes Mental Illness”by Roxanne Sukhan in Wear Your Voice
“Black activist jailed for his Facebook posts speaks out about secret FBI surveillance” by Sam Levin in
“The Egyptian boat buried for 5,000 years” on BBC’s The Travel Show
“‘It’s worse than most people think’—Zinzi Clemmons on Junot Díaz and literature’s latest #MeToo moment” by Jennifer Malec in Johannesburg Review of Books
“Review: Casey Plett’s Little Fish looks forward to trans futures” by Jade Colbert in The Globe and Mail
“After #BlackandHooded goes viral, UW–Madison alums unexpectedly find themselves leading a movement” by Doug Erickson in UW-Madison News
“Contraband Flesh: On Zora Neale Hurston’s Barracoon” by Autumn Womack in The Paris Review
“When Words Become Witchcraft – A review of ‘The BreakBeat Poets Volume 2: Black Girl Magic’” by Kristen Simmons in South Side Weekly
“How Do Race and Gender Show Up in Youth Sexual Health Promotion?” by Chris Barcelos in Gender and Society
“KKK controversy at UW-Madison heats up, with family of prestigious alumnus upset by accusation of racism” by Karen Herzog in Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“The Fierce Feminist Academic Behind ‘Graffiti Grrlz'” by Anna Meyer in The Riveter
“Post-Rape Resources Don’t Help Trans Women, But They Could” by Princess Harmony on Wear Your Voice
“A Fundamentally Absurd Question: Talking with “Motherhood” Author Sheila Heti” by Kate Wolf in LA Review of Books
“‘We can’t complain about people not buying our books when we aren’t writing for them’: Jennifer Malec chats to bestselling author Dudu Busani-Dube” by Jennifer Malec in Johannesburg Review of Books
“Black and Brown Women are Not Here for You” by Lara Witt in Wear Your Voice
“Identity politics has veered away from its roots. It’s time to bring it back” by Kimberly Foster in The Guardian

New Books by WOC, QTBIPOC, GNC, and more – March 2018 Releases

February 23, 2018 0 Karla Strand Books Reads for the Rest of Us

Need a new book for March?

Here’s a roundup of the new books by women being released in March that I am most excited about, with a focus on womxn and gender non-conforming people from historically underrepresented and underserved communities.

If you are curious about which books I focus on, see my Review Policy. These are just guidelines and I reserve the right to include (or not!) any books I see fit.

I’ll probably add to this list as I learn of others; if you have a suggestion, please place it in the comments below!

Corazón by Yesika Salgado (https://twitter.com/yesikastarr)

March 1

“Corazón is a love story. It is about the constant hunger for love. It is about feeding that hunger with another person and finding that sometimes it isn’t enough. Salgado creates a world in which the heart can live anywhere; her fat brown body, her parents home country, a lover, a toothbrush, a mango, or a song. It is a celebration of heartache, of how it can ruin us, but most importantly how we always survive it and return to ourselves whole.”–Amazon

We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965-85, New Perspectives by Catherine Morris and Rujeko Hockley

March 5

“The Brooklyn Museum published two volumes related to its groundbreaking exhibition, We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965–85, which focused on radical approaches to feminist thinking developed by women artists and activists of color. The first volume, a Sourcebook, was published in 2017 and focused on re-presenting key voices of the period by gathering a remarkable array of historical documents. Available in 2018, the second volume, New Perspectives, includes original essays and perspectives by Aruna D’Souza, Uri McMillan, Kellie Jones, and Lisa Jones that place the exhibition’s works in both historical and contemporary contexts. New Perspectives also includes two new poems by Alice Walker.”–Amazon

Ask Me About My Uterus: A Quest to Make Doctors Believe in Women’s Pain by Abby Norman (https://twitter.com/abbymnorman)

March 6

“A fresh, honest, and startling look at what it means to exist in a woman’s body, in all of its beauty and pain. Abby’s voice is inviting, unifying, and remarkably brave.”–Gillian Anderson, Actress, activist and co-author of We: A Manifesto For Women Everywhere

“Required reading for anyone who is a woman, or has ever met a woman. This means you.”–Jenny Lawson, author of Let’s Pretend This Never Happened and Furiously Happy

The Beauty That Remains by Ashley Woodfolk (https://twitter.com/AshWrites)

March 6

“The self- and life-defining nature of grief and loss captured so well by authors such as John Green is explored here with humor, intelligence, and grace.” —SLJ, starred review

“An ambitious debut from a writer to watch.”–Kirkus

“[The] protagonists are fully realized, empathetic individuals…and the resolutions of their emotional crises are lucid and deeply satisfying, as, ultimately, is this fine first novel.”–Booklist

Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World by Pénélope Bagieu

March 6

“This is an encouraging, uplifting book to highlight in any library’s women’s history collection. It will be an inspiration to many young adult readers and browsers.”–VOYA, starred review

“Bagieu delivers a pièce de résistance that succinctly summarizes the obstacles and victories of these daring women. Insightful and clever, at times infuriating and disheartening, this serves as a reminder that the hardships women face today have been shared―and overcome―by many others.”–Kirkus, starred review

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi (https://twitter.com/tomi_adeyemi)

March 6

“The next big thing in literature and film.”—Ebony

“One of the biggest young adult fiction debut book deals of the year. Aside from a compelling plot and a strong-willed heroine as the protagonist, the book deals with larger themes, like race and power, that are being discussed in real time.”—Teen Vogue

“A remarkable achievement.”—Campus Lately

“Tomi Adeyemi is about to take both the literature and film world by storm.”—Jet

Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick by Maya Dusenbery (https://twitter.com/mayadusenbery)

March 6

“Ever since the centuries of burning women healers as witches, because they taught women how to govern our own bodies, thus to control reproduction—the medical world hasn’t included all of humanity. Doing Harm shows what is left to be done, and directs both women and men toward healing.”–Gloria Steinem

“Dusenbery’s excellent book makes the sexism plaguing women’s health care hard to ignore…skillfully interweaving history, medical studies, current literature, and hard data to produce damning evidence that women wait longer for diagnoses, receive inadequate pain management, and are often told they are imagining symptoms that are taken seriously in men.”–Publishers Weekly, starred review

The Feminist Revolution: The Struggle for Women’s Liberation by Bonnie J. Morris and D-M Withers

March 6

The Feminist Revolution offers an overview of women’s struggle for equal rights in the late twentieth century…It demonstrates as well that the feminist revolution was enacted by women from all backgrounds, of every color, and of all ages and that it took place in the home, in workplaces, and on the streets of every major town and city. This sweeping overview of the key decades in the feminist revolution also brings together for the first time many of these women’s own unpublished stories, which together offer tribute to the daring, humor, and creative spirit of its participants.–IndieBound

Girls Burn Brighter by Shobha Rao (https://twitter.com/shobharaowrites)

March 6

“A definite must-read for readers who love authors like Nadia Hashimi and Khaled Hosseini…”–Bustle

“Rao’s novel should be a treat for Ferrante fans, exploring the bonds of friendship and how female ambition beats against the strictures of poverty and patriarchal societies.”–The Huffington Post

My review is coming soon!

Happiness by Aminatta Forna (https://twitter.com/aminattaforna)

March 6

“Piercingly empathetic, Forna’s latest explores instinct, resilience, and the complexity of human coexistence, reaffirming her reputation for exceptional ability and perspective.”–Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“The overarching message tucked into Scottish and Sierra Leonian writer Forna’s quietly resonant novel is this: Every living thing is the net sum of its history, and we carry the weight of our past on our shoulders.…Intricately woven…Forna’s novel is ultimately a mesmerizing tale studded with exquisite writing”–Booklist (starred review)

I Have the Right to: A High School Survivor’s Story of Sexual Assault, Justice, and Hope by Chessy Prout, Jenn Abelson

March 6

“A nuanced addition to the #MeToo conversation.”–Vice

“Candid and inspiring…Powerful, essential reading for all high school and college students, parents, and educators.”–Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“The memoir is both heartbreaking and hopeful, an honest and frank testimony; it is an important (if difficult) read that acts as both an eye-opener and a call to action.” —Shelf Awareness for Readers

The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani

March 6

“Believable and heartbreaking…A gripping, nuanced story of the human cost of conflict appropriate for both children and adults.”–Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“This rich, compelling story, which speaks to the turbulence surrounding India’s independence and to the plight of refugees, should be in all libraries.”–School Library Journal, starred review

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo (https://twitter.com/AcevedoWrites)

March 6

“Themes as diverse as growing up first-generation American, Latinx culture, sizeism, music, burgeoning sexuality, and the power of the written and spoken word are all explored with nuance. Poignant and real, beautiful and intense.”–Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Debut novelist Acevedo’s free verse gives Xiomara’s coming-of-age story an undeniable pull, its emotionally charged bluntness reflecting her determination and strength. At its heart, this is a complex and sometimes painful exploration of love in its many forms, with Xiomara’s growing love for herself reigning supreme.”–Publishers Weekly (starred review)

How am I just hearing about this book now?? #ownvoices

She Caused a Riot: 100 Unknown Women Who Built Cities, Sparked Revolutions, and Massively Crushed It by Hannah Jewell

March 6

From 3rd-century Syrian queen Zenobia to 20th-century Nigerian women’s rights activist Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, these are women who gave absolutely zero f**ks, and will inspire a courageous new movement of women to do the same.–IndieBound

Tomorrow Will Be Different: Love, Loss, and the Fight for Trans Equality by Sarah McBride (https://twitter.com/SarahEMcBride)

March 6

“A brave transgender woman experiences both triumph and tragedy in this memoir of transitioning and so much more… Throughout, the author ably balances great accomplishments and strong emotions. Reading McBride’s inspiring story will make it harder to ostracize or demonize others with similar stories to share.”–Kirkus Reviews (starred)

“Sarah McBride’s powerful memoir, Tomorrow Will Be Different, is a brave and moving story that will inspire and galvanize readers to join the urgent fight for LGBTQ rights. The energy and vigor Sarah has brought to the fight for equality is ever present in this book and she starkly defines what is at stake, and how we can do better to advocate on behalf of all people.”–Senator Kamala Harris

The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Right to Vote by Elaine Weiss (https://twitter.com/efweiss5)

March 6

“Anyone interested in the history of our country’s ongoing fight to put its founding values into practice—as well as those seeking the roots of current political fault lines—would be well-served by picking up Elaine Weiss’s The Woman’s Hour. By focusing in on the final battle in the war to win women the right to vote, told from the point of view of its foot soldiers, Weiss humanizes both the women working in favor of the amendment and those working against it, exposing all their convictions, tactics, and flaws. She never shies away from the complicating issue of race; the frequent conflict and occasional sabotage that occurred between women’s suffrage activists and the leaders of the nascent civil rights movement make for some of the most fascinating material in the book.”–Margot Lee Shetterly, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Hidden Figures

Would You Rather? A Memoir of Growing Up and Coming Out by Katie Heaney (https://twitter.com/KTHeaney)

March 6

“Would You Rather? is an extraordinarily generous and affecting book. Katie Heaney has written something with a remarkable amount of room in it–enough for anyone to spread out and connect with. It’s deeply felt, clear-eyed, joyful, and illuminating.”–Mallory Ortberg, author of Texts from Jane Eyre: And Other Conversations with Your Favorite Literary Characters

“What does it mean to find yourself, to know who you are and walk boldly in that truth? Would You Rather? takes readers on that journey along with Katie, reveling in the relief and glee of finding your tribe and frolicking in the exquisite joy of being a woman who loves women.”–Jenna Wortham, staff writer at The New York Times Magazine and co-host of the podcast Still Processing

#MeToo: Rallying Against Sexual Assault and Harassment – A Women’s Poetry Anthology by Deborah Alma (editor)

March 8

“This book came straight out of a long thread on Deborah Alma’s Facebook page in October 2017. Something was released and given a space within social media. Many women felt emboldened by this to share more difficult stories, more details. As a poet, and an editor, it felt natural to Deborah to collect these stories somehow and it was obvious to collect them as poems.

This collection contains mainly previously unpublished work from 80 of our finest poets…”–Amazon

M Archive: After the End of the World by Alexis Pauline Gumbs

March 9

“Following the innovative collection Spill, Alexis Pauline Gumbs’s M Archive—the second book in a planned experimental triptych—is a series of poetic artifacts that speculatively documents the persistence of Black life following a worldwide cataclysm. Engaging with the work of the foundational Black feminist theorist M. Jacqui Alexander, and following the trajectory of Gumbs’s acclaimed visionary fiction short story “Evidence,” M Archive is told from the perspective of a future researcher who uncovers evidence of the conditions of late capitalism, antiblackness, and environmental crisis while examining possibilities of being that exceed the human. By exploring how Black feminist theory is already after the end of the world, Gumbs reinscribes the possibilities and potentials of scholarship while demonstrating the impossibility of demarcating the lines between art, science, spirit, scholarship, and politics.”–Duke University Press

Go Home! by Rowan Hisayo Buchanan (ed.) (@RowanHLB)

March 13

“The notion of home has always been elusive. But as evidenced in these stories, poems, and testaments, perhaps home is not so much a place, but a feeling one embodies. I read this book and see my people—see us—and feel, in our collective outsiderhood, at home.”–Ocean Vuong, author of Night Sky with Exit Wounds

“Go Home! is a bold, eclectic chorus that provides an invigorating antidote to the xenophobia of our times.”–Ruth Ozeki, author of A Tale for the Time Being

Men and Apparitions by Lynne Tillman

March 13

“With callouts to a mind-revving roster of photographers, writers, filmmakers, intellectuals, and media magnets, erudite, discerning, and everdaring Tillman has forged a mischievous conflation of criticism and fiction. Incantatory, maddening, brilliant, zestful, compassionate, and timely, Tillman’s portrait of a floundering academic trying to make sense of a digitized world of churning, contradictory messages reveals the perpetual interplay between past and present, the personal and the cultural, image and life.”–Booklist (starred review)

Selected as “1 of 60 Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2018” by Huffington Post
Selected as “1 of 101 Books to get excited about in 2018” by BookRiot

The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror by Mallory Ortberg

March 13

“A wholly satisfying blend of silliness, feminist critique, and deft prose makes this a collection of bedtime stories that will keep you up at night for all the right reasons.”–Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Ortberg’s uniquely hilarious voice lends itself well to the dark and twisted milieu of fairy and folk tales and her reimagining of classics is predictably perverse, but also offers wonderful insight into the reasons why humans are so drawn to these stories of horror and loss.”–NYLON

Our Woman in Havana: A Diplomat’s Chronicle of America’s Long Struggle with Castro’s Cuba by Vicki Huddleston

March 13

“As one of America’s top Cuba hands, Huddleston has been a privileged eyewitness to key moments of history as well as backroom policy debates. Huddleston’s anecdotes of her life in Havana―everything from spy stories to an argument with Fidel she had at a cocktail party―are sometimes poignant, at other times hilarious, and always delightfully candid.”–Jon Lee Anderson, author of Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life

The Parking Lot Attendant by Nafkote Tamirat

March 13

“An unsettling, inventive debut novel…On the level of both prose and story, The Parking Lot Attendant feels startling and new.”–Electric Literature, 46 Books By Women of Color to Read in 2018

“A searing novel about identity in America today.”–Book Riot

“This debut novel contains multitudes.”–Bustle, 11 New Books by Women of Color Everyone Needs to Read in 2018

The Red Word by Sarah Henstra (https://twitter.com/sarahhenstra)

March 13

“Set in the 1990s, The Red Word interrogates the prevailing political preoccupations of that time: gender politics, third-wave feminism, and consent . . . A timely and nuanced dissection of rape culture.”–Booklist

“An aesthetically arresting interrogation of rape culture…timely and brilliant.”—Kirkus Reviews

Women of Resistance: Poems for a New Feminism by Danielle Barnhart and Iris Mahan (eds.)

March 13

Cited by Autostraddle as one of the “Queer and Feminist Books to Read in 2018”

“Here we have 49 women and men and queers and inter-sexuals throwing their everything at this moment in time when the patriarch is really shaking, and it looks like he’s about to tumble down. We’ve got this shiny new book. People are scared that nothing will be left after he falls except a bunch of poems. Pick up this glowing book as you’re crawling through the rubble, and poem by poem and page by page you’ll begin to know that you’ll be okay. You’re in there, and so are your friends. You won’t starve, you’re safe and strong thanks to all these proud, funny, violent, trembling words. Start memorizing. Cause the future is here and this stuff is true.” ― Eileen Myles

Understanding Trans Health: Discourse, Power and Possibility by Ruth Pearce

March 15

This is the first book to provide an in-depth sociological examination of the contemporary social and material conditions of health for transgender people. It draws upon the findings of a six-year ethnographic project in the United Kingdom that looked at the challenges faced by trans patients and the practitioners who work with them. Ruth Pearce shows that patients and practitioners are frequently divided by their different understandings of what it means for someone to be trans, a situation that is complicated by the operation of professional power within medical settings and that has profound consequences for both healthcare provision and for trans communities more widely. – IndieBound

Bodyminds Reimagined: (Dis)ability, Race, and Gender in Black Women’s Speculative Fiction by Sami Schalk (https://twitter.com/DrSamiSchalk)

March 16

“In this smart and necessary book, Sami Schalk persuasively argues that black women’s speculative fiction offers a rich archive of alternate framings of (dis)ability, race, sexuality, and gender that move us closer toward justice. Bodyminds Reimagined reveals how nonrealist representations can defamiliarize categories assumed to be self-evident, opening up new ways of thinking about methodology, trauma, metaphor, and politics. Schalk’s work pushes all of us in feminist studies, black studies, and disability studies to reimagine how we understand minds and bodies moving though the world.”–Alison Kafer, author of Feminist, Queer, Crip

Sisters in the Life: A History of Out African American Lesbian Media-Making edited by Yvonne Welbon and Alexandra Juhasz

March 16

“From experimental shorts and web series to Hollywood blockbusters and feminist porn, the work of African American lesbian filmmakers has made a powerful contribution to film history. But despite its importance, this work has gone largely unacknowledged by cinema historians and cultural critics. Assembling a range of interviews, essays, and conversations, Sisters in the Lifetells a full story of African American lesbian media-making spanning three decades.”–Duke University Press

The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan (https://twitter.com/exrpan)

March 20

“Emily X.R. Pan’s brilliantly crafted, harrowing first novel portrays the vast spectrum of love and grief with heart-wrenching beauty and candor. This is a very special book.”–John Green, bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars and Turtles All the Way Down

“In this dazzling debut, author Emily X.R. Pan has created a spellbinding narrative about love, family, and what it means to grieve.”–Bustle

Blood Letters: The Untold Story of Lin Zhao, a Martyr in Mao’s China by Lian Xi

March 20

Blood Letters tells the astonishing tale of Lin Zhao, a poet and journalist arrested by the authorities in 1960 and executed eight years later, at the height of the Cultural Revolution. The only Chinese citizen known to have openly and steadfastly opposed communism under Mao, she rooted her dissent in her Christian faith–and expressed it in long, prophetic writings done in her own blood, and at times on her clothes and on cloth torn from her bedsheets.

Miraculously, Lin Zhao’s prison writings survived, though they have only recently come to light. Drawing on these works and others from the years before her arrest, as well as interviews with her friends, her classmates, and other former political prisoners, Lian Xi paints an indelible portrait of courage and faith in the face of unrelenting evil.–IndieBound

Every Note Played by Lisa Genova (https://twitter.com/LisaGenova)

March 20

From neuroscientist and New York Times bestselling author of Still Alice comes a powerful exploration of regret, forgiveness, freedom, and what it means to be alive.

“Only Lisa Genova could bring such honesty and grace to the war against ALS. Searing writing and a must-read.”–Helen Simonson, New York Times bestselling author of Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand

The Life and Death of Latisha King: A Critical Phenomenology of Transphobia by Gayle Salamon

March 20

“This beautifully crafted work in slow and critical phenomenology allows us to understand the fatal consequences of skewed gender perception. Salamon takes us through the trial of Latisha King, murdered by a classmate who understood transgendered expression as an aggressive assault. Paying close attention to how the participants in the murder trial discuss and enact their normative passions about how the body should appear, Salamon shows us how phenomenological description that open up for strong criticism modes of perception and action that bear lethal consequences for those who contest hegemonic gender norms. This book is a model of careful and thoughtful philosophy and cultural criticism, bringing to life the resources of a phenomenological tradition that can name, describe, and oppose the obliteration of queer and trans lives. This work is as electric as its slow, making us think, and teaching us to see.”–Judith Butler, author of Gender Trouble

Nothing is Okay by Rachel Wiley

March 20

“Nothing is Okay is the second full-length poetry collection by Rachel Wiley, whose work simultaneously deconstructs the lies that we were taught about our bodies and our beings, and builds new ways of viewing ourselves. As she delves into queerness, feminism, fatness, dating, and race, Wiley molds these topics into a punching critique of culture and a celebration of self. A fat positive activist, Wiley’s work soars and challenges the bounds of bodies and hearts, and the ways we carry them.”–Amazon

Oppression and the Body: Roots, Resistance, and Resolutions by Christine Caldwell and Lucia Bennett Leighton (eds.)

March 20

“A must-read for anyone looking to critically explore how innumerable oppressions and indignities take root within our very bodies, and transform the ways in which we move through the world.”–Shanna K. Kattari, power/privilege/oppression scholar, University of Michigan School of Social Work

“With a finely tuned lens on the systems of oppression that traumatize bodies, and validation of worth beyond narrow standards of acceptability, Oppression and the Body is a groundbreaking voice in an intersectional somatic justice movement.”–Willy Wilkinson, MPH, author of the Lambda Literary Award-winning Born on the Edge of Race and Gender: A Voice for Cultural Competency

Stray City by Chelsey Johnson (https://twitter.com/chelseyhotel)

March 20

“This novel has everything: the circa-’99 lesbian indie-rock scene! Zines! Answering machines! . . . Our 90s nostalgia is hella high these days, and this tender, funny story made our aging hipster hearts sing.”–Marie Claire

“Insightful and brilliant, Stray City explores the stickiness of doing what’s expected and the strange freedom born of contradiction. I tore through this novel like an orphaned reader seeking a home in its ragtag yet shimmering world.”–Carrie Brownstein, New York Times bestselling author of Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl

Two Moons: Stories by Krystal A. Smith (@AuthorKASmith)

March 20

“Krystal A. Smith writes of shape shifters, magical herbalists, and women ripe for love. Her collection of stories marries African American mysticism to speculative fiction announcing Smith’s solid place in the next generation of Afro Futurists. With its sensuous language, deftly drawn characters, and engaging narrative style, Two Moons shines bright.”–Jewelle Gomez, The Gilda Stories

“Two Moons takes readers on a whimsical journey to where ordinary women become goddesses and where Black Girl Magic is never denied. You’ll want to dive into these stories and never leave.”–Susana Morris, co-editor of Sycorax’s Daughters and the Crunk Feminist Collection

The Wife’s Tale: A Personal History by Aida Edemariam

March 20

“A rich portrait of her grandmother’s full life…through lyrical prose interspersed with poetry, prayers, and legends…Readers will appreciate Edemariam’s work—part memoir, part history—for its personal look at an eventful century in Ethiopia.”–Booklist

“An ambitious, elegantly descriptive… profoundly lyrical narrative…Edemariam’s book offers a glimpse into a singularly fascinating culture and history as it celebrates the courage, resilience, and grace of an extraordinary woman. A richly evocative tale of family and international history.”–Kirkus Reviews

Written on the Body: Letters from Trans and Non-Binary Survivors of Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence by Lexie Bean

March 21

As trans and non-binary folks, we are often discouraged from advocating for our own bodies, as if we do not know what is best for ourselves. This anthology is filled with such tenderness, resilience and vulnerability; a beautiful love letter to queerness, to otherness, to the power of reclaiming our bodies as our own.–Emmett J. Lundberg, Writer & Filmmaker, Creator of Brothers the series

It’s rare that something can both break your heart and renew your spirit. My heart empathetically broke from the rawness and intimacy these pages hold. As I finished I was left feeling inspired and awestruck at the power of queer people – not just to endure but to use our experiences as a tool to empower others, like these words certainly will.–Karmilla Pillay-Siokos, Director of Slutwalk Johannesburg

Contemporary Taiwanese Women Writers: An Anthology by Jonathan Stalling, Tai-Man Lin, Yanwing Leung

March 23

“These gems of short fiction by women writers from Taiwan are a wonderful treat. Beautifully translated into English, they unfold and flicker with wistful, comic, and enigmatic lights and shadows. The vignettes and snapshots imbue existential anxiety and street life with grim and exquisite lyricism, mixed with unstoppable yearnings for sunlight and romance.” —Ban Wang, William Haas Professor in Chinese Studies and Professor of Comparative Literature, Stanford University

The Beekeeper: Rescuing Stolen Women of Iraq by Dunya Mikhail

March 27

“Iraqi journalist and poet Mikhail lays bare the agonizing experiences of the Yazidi people at the hands of ISIS in this visceral account of the outskirts of modern day Iraq. In 2014, ISIS began invading villages of northern Iraq, killing most of the men and enslaving the women and children. Much of Mikhail’s account is made up of first-person testimonies of several survivors who speak of being repeatedly raped, sold to the highest bidder, and tortured. They recall losing their families and witnessing their children, raised by ISIS supporters, becoming “a distorted version” of who they once were. Mikhail also homes in on the rescue efforts of a man named Abdullah, a local beekeeper who used his knowledge of the region and the money he made selling honey in Iraq and Syria to cultivate a “hive of transporters and smugglers” to save women; he subsequently connected Mikhail to several survivors. Powerful and heartbreaking, this work lets the survivors tell their stories and highlights the courage of those risking their lives to rescue others.”–Publishers Weekly

Hurricane Child by Kheryn Callender (@kheryncasey)

March 27

“Writing in Caroline’s present-tense voice, Callender draws readers in and makes them identify with Caroline’s angst and sorrow and joy and pain. Embedding her appealing protagonist in a fully realized Caribbean setting, Callender has readers rooting for Caroline the whole way.”–Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Lush descriptions bring the Caribbean environment to vivid life…. An excellent and nuanced coming-of-age tale.”–School Library Journal, starred review

“Set against the richly evoked backdrop of the Caribbean, Callender’s novel captures the exquisite agony and pain that accompanies rejection and abandonment. Caroline’s search for answers provides a steady through line for the story, but it’s the deeper questioning and reflection that set this book apart….Visceral, pensive, and memorable.”–Booklist, starred review

Moonstruck Volume 1: Magic to Brew by Grace Ellis (https://twitter.com/gracecellis)

March 27

“Moonstruck makes me happy just thinking about it. I love everything about it. The first issue is a dreamy delight, a slice of life comic infused with queer romance and intersectional diversity.” –Tor.com

“In a year that often felt dark and dystopian, this delightful series from writer Grace Ellis (Lumberjanes), newcomer artist Shae Beagle, and editor Laurenn McCubbin was a wonderful escape. This world is populated by fantasy creatures who are also comfortable in their diverse identities, from lovestruck werewolves Julie and Selena to the upbeat non-binary centaur Chet.”–EW.com

Puerto Rico Strong by various artists and writers

March 27

“Puerto Rico Strong is a comics anthology that explores what it means to be Puerto Rican and the diversity that exists within that concept, from today’s most exciting Puerto Rican comics creators. All proceeds go to UNIDOS Disaster Relief & Recovery Program to Support Puerto Rico…

These stories follow individuals from diverse walks of life but are all part of the culture that is Puerto Rico.Puerto Rico Strong features art and writing by Rosa Colon, Vita Ayala, Naomi Franquiz, Javier Cruz Winnick, Sabrina Cintron, Ronnie Garcia, Fabian Nicieza, Joamette Gil, and many more!”–Amazon

A Genealogy of Islamic Feminism: Pattern and Change in Indonesia (Islamic Studies) by Etin Anwar (@EtinAnwar)

March 29

“A Genealogy of Islamic Feminism offers a new insight on the changing relationship between Islam and feminism from the colonial era in the 1900s to the early 1990s in Indonesia.

Islamic feminism contributes to the rediscovery of Islam as the source of progress, the centering of women’s agency through spiritual equality, and the reworking of the private and public spheres. This book will appeal to anyone with interest in international women’s movements, interdisciplinary studies, cultural studies, women’s studies, post-colonial studies, Islamic studies, and Asian studies.”–Amazon

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12 Must-Reads for the Rest of Us – 2018 – Part I

January 15, 2018 0 Karla Strand Books Reads for the Rest of Us

It’s a new year and that means a whole new host of books to read. And 2018 has no shortage of amazing new books that I can’t wait to get my hands on!

Now I must admit that there are many titles left over from the last year (or two, or three…) that I just didn’t get to. On this list, I stick to fiction titles coming this year. Confession: I will not be able to get through all of the books I want to read this year either (although I am sure going to try), so I have limited this initial list to 12.

I can’t include everything I am interested in on this list so, as usual, I prioritize debut books written by womxn, authors of color, Black women, queer and gender noncomforming authors, authors from the Global South, and other authors of historically marginalized populations. They are listed below by the month in which they will be released.

You’ll see some books left off of this list that you might think should be on it. It doesn’t mean I don’t want to or won’t read them, it just means that they have gotten a lot of attention on other outlets and I wanted to focus on ones you may or may not have heard about yet. Think: An American Marriage by Tayari Jones, The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer, and Binti: The Night Masquerade by Nnedi Okorafor (only because I haven’t read the first two yet).

Another confession? You should come back to this list every once in a while because I will probably keep sneaking more titles on the list throughout the year… and there will be more coming in the second half of the year that I’ve not included. But this is a start, so here we go!

Added July 19: As of today I have read 8 of these 12 books and the others are on my TBR. I’ve added links to my reviews to each book I’ve read below. You can check out my list for the second half of 2018 here! Happy reading.

Red Clocks by Leni Zumas (@lenizumas) – January 2018

In a starred review, Library Journal describes Red Clocks in this way: “In language both poetic and political, Zumas presents characters who are strong and determined; each is an individual in her own right. Inevitably, there will be comparisons to Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, but Zumas’s work is not nearly as dystopic or futuristic, only serving to make it that much more believable. Highly recommended.”

This is Zumas’ second novel and Elle says it is “Spooky-good.”

I don’t want to miss it.

You can read my review here!

Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi (@azemezi) – February 2018

Named one of the most anticipated books of the year by Electric Lit, Bustle, Bitch, Book Riot, and others, this debut by Emezi received starred reviews from Library Journal and Booklist.

Taiye Selasi, author of Ghana Must Go, describes it this way: “Freshwater is one of those dazzling novels that defies these kinds of descriptions. We can gesture to the story―set in Nigeria and America, told by all the selves of its Tamil/Igbo protagonist―but such synthesis fails to convey the magic that awaits its reader. At once fiction and memoir, potent in its spiritual richness and sexual frankness, the text seems not to have been written by but channeled through its brilliant author.” #ownvoices

You can read my review here!

Song of a Captive Bird by Jasmin Darznik (@jasmindarznik)- February 2018

A story about groundbreaking Iranian poet Forough Farrokhzad, this debut was described by Tayari Jones, author of An American Marriage and Silver Sparrow: “Written with the urgent tenderness of a love letter, this soaring novel is a heart-breaker and heart-mender at once—a gorgeous tribute to the brave and brilliant poet remembered in its pages.” #ownvoices

Who can argue with that recommendation?

You can read my review here!

Girls Burn Brighter by Shobha Rao (@ShobhaRaoWrites) – March 2018

I am in the middle of reading this book now and I find it hard to put it down. Rao’s writing allows the reader to access the intricacies and darkness of her protagonist’s life in India in a way that one feels her intense heartbreak and resilience at once.

I’ll finish this one in the next few days, so be watching for a full review soon! #ownvoices

You can read my review here!

Stray City by Chelsey Johnson (@chelseyhotel) – March 2018

If Carrie Brownstein says a book is good, I’m pretty certain I’m going to read it. Of Chelsey Johnson’s debut novel she said: “Insightful and brilliant, Stray City explores the stickiness of doing what’s expected and the strange freedom born of contradiction. I tore through this novel like an orphaned reader seeking a home in its ragtag yet shimmering world.”

Author Michelle Tea described it as “A love letter to Portland in the 90s,” and “a gorgeous, funny, sharply spot-on tale of growing up and making family again and again and again.” So yeah, sign me up.

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi (@tomi_adeyemi)- March 2018

Like many of you, I cannot WAIT to read this book.

Nigerian-American writer Adeyemi’s debut novel features all-black characters in a good versus evil fantasy tale.

In a starred review, Publisher’s Weekly says, “Adeyemi’s devastating debut is a brutal, beautiful tale of revolution, faith, and star-crossed love.” #ownvoices

Heads of the Colored People: Stories by Nafissa Thompson-Spires (@TisforThompson)- April 2018

People are already raving over this debut collection of stories about Black identity, culture, and citizenship. It’s been described as wicked, awkward, wise, intense, inventive, honest, funny, smart, rewarding, original, and urgent.

From Publisher’s Weekly: “Stuffed with invention… Thompson-Spires proves herself a trenchant humorist with an eye for social nuance.”

Author Kelly Link calls it “a knockout.” I am really looking forward to this one. #ownvoices

Added July 19: My review is coming soon!

OK, Mr. Field: A Novel by Katharine Kilalea – June 2018

The description of this debut novel is so compelling… an injured concert pianist impetuously buys a house on the coast of Cape Town (who wouldn’t) but over time, the house seems to affect the man in disturbing and mind-altering ways.

The author, poet Katharine Kilalea, grew up in South Africa and my love for the country makes this an especially intriguing new book for me. She’s got a two-book deal from Faber & Faber and The Paris Review is publishing the book as a serial, so not a bad start. Looking forward to this imaginative story.#ownvoices

The Book of M by Peng Shepherd (@pengshepherd) – June 2018

In her futuristic debut novel, Peng Shepherd examines themes of memory and the darkness that forgetting can bring. I haven’t read a lot about this book except for a Library Journal preview and description from the author’s website but it was more than enough to pique my interest.

I am fairly new to speculative fiction but am looking forward to reading more fantasy, sci fi, and afrofuturism this year. I am eager to dive into these genres and The Book of M is on the list.

You can read my review here!

The Incendiaries by R.O. Kwon (@rokwon_) – July 2018

R.O. Kwon said on Twitter recently that she had been working on her debut novel for a decade and that it’s now a “strange and wonderful feeling” to see it out in the world.

Indeed, The Incendiaries is generating quite a buzz. Celeste Ng, author of Little Fires Everywhere and Everything I Never Told You, says, “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.”

I’m eager to see how Kwon intertwines terrorism, love, loss, and faith into this much-anticipated story. #ownvoices

Suicide Club: A Novel About Living by Rachel Heng (@rachelhengqp) – July 2018

Heng’s debut futuristic novel has been described as glittering. Kristen Iskandrian, author of Motherest, said “Suicide Club bends genre with grace and artistry, delivering us to the outermost reaches of what’s familiar and affirming what dares to still exist there: family, friendship, and forgiveness. With superb writing, Rachel Heng has crafted a world inside of a world gone mad, one where love faces its most difficult test. This is an exciting, bold, inventive novel.”

Will her main character chose to live for the 300 years that many do? Or will she instead opt to join the Suicide Club? I can’t wait to find out.

You can read my review here!

Fruit of the Drunken Tree by Ingrid Rojas Contreras (@ingrid_rojas_c) – July 2018

In her debut novel, Rojas Contreras tells the story of two women making their way in war-torn Colombia in the 1990’s. Called “Spellbinding…” by Cristina Henriquez, author of The Book of Unknown Americans, this book centers women’s experiences with violence, secrecy, and unexpected connections.

Sandra Cisneros, author of The House on Mango Street, had this to say: “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.”

I can’t wait to get swept away too! #ownvoices

You can read my review here!

What is on your reading list this year? What womxn, queer, or gender nonconforming writers need to be on my watch list? Comment below to let me know!

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My new book release lists are undergoing a name change!

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

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

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Need a new book for June?

Here’s a roundup of the new books by women being released in June that I am most excited about, with a focus on womxn and gender non-conforming people from historically underrepresented and underserved communities.

If you are curious about which books I focus on, see my Review Policy. These are just guidelines and I reserve the right to include (or not!) any books I see fit.

I’ll probably add to this list as I learn of others; if you have a suggestion, please place it in the comments below!

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