POWER TO THE PEOPLE: Books to Read in Solidarity with the SAG-AFTRA Strike Members

With the SAG-AFTRA strike grinding all productions of our favorite films and tv shows to a halt I bet you’re looking for something to keep you brain occupied (and no watching The Office for the 50th time is no longer an option.) While you’re waiting for the hardworking people of Hollywood to get paid a living wage support them by reading a few books that are serving fuck capitalism. 

 

Revolting Prostitutes: The Fight for Sex Workers’ Rights by Molly Smith and Juno Mac

How the law harms sex workers—and what they want instead

Do you have to endorse prostitution in order to support sex worker rights? Should clients be criminalized, and can the police deliver justice?

In Revolting Prostitutes, sex workers Juno Mac and Molly Smith bring a fresh perspective to questions that have long been contentious. Speaking from a growing global sex worker rights movement, and situating their argument firmly within wider questions of migration, work, feminism, and resistance to white supremacy, they make it clear that anyone committed to working towards justice and freedom should be in support of the sex worker rights movement.

 

 

The New Urban Crisis: How Our Cities Are Increasing Inequality, Deepening Segregation, and Failing the Middle Class-and What We Can Do About It by Richard Florida

In recent years, the young, educated, and affluent have surged back into cities, reversing decades of suburban flight and urban decline. And yet all is not well, Richard Florida argues in The New Urban Crisis. Florida, one of the first scholars to anticipate this back-to-the-city movement in his groundbreaking The Rise of the Creative Class, demonstrates how the same forces that power the growth of the world’s superstar cities also generate their vexing challenges: gentrification, unaffordability, segregation, and inequality. Meanwhile, many more cities still stagnate, and middle-class neighborhoods everywhere are disappearing. Our winner-take-all cities are just one manifestation of a profound crisis in today’s urbanized knowledge economy.

A bracingly original work of research and analysis, The New Urban Crisis offers a compelling diagnosis of our economic ills and a bold prescription for more inclusive cities capable of ensuring growth and prosperity for all.

 

Profit Over People: Neoliberalism & Global Order by Noam Chomsky

Why is the Atlantic slowly filling with crude petroleum, threatening a millions-of-years-old ecological balance? Why did traders at prominent banks take high-risk gambles with the money entrusted to them by hundreds of thousands of clients around the world, expanding and leveraging their investments to the point that failure led to a global financial crisis that left millions of people jobless and hundreds of cities economically devastated? Why would the world’s most powerful military spend ten years fighting an enemy that presents no direct threat to secure resources for corporations?

The culprit in all cases is neoliberal ideology—the belief in the supremacy of “free” markets to drive and govern human affairs. And in the years since the initial publication of Noam Chomsky’s Profit Over People: Neoliberalism and Global Order, the bitter vines of neoliberalism have only twisted themselves further into the world economy, obliterating the public’s voice in public affairs and substituting the bottom line in place of people’s basic obligation to care for one another as ends in themselves. In Profit Over People, Chomsky reveals the roots of the present crisis, tracing the history of neoliberalism through an incisive analysis of free trade agreements of the 1990s, the World Trade Organization, and the International Monetary Fund—and describes the movements of resistance to the increasing interference by the private sector in global affairs.

In the years since the initial publication of Profit Over People, the stakes have only risen. Now more than ever, Profit Over People is one of the key texts explaining how the crisis facing us operates—and how, through Chomsky’s analysis of resistance, we may find an escape from the closing net.

 

Work Won’t Love You Back: How Devotion to Our Jobs Keeps Us Exploited, Exhausted, and Alone by by Sarah Jaffe

A deeply-reported examination of why “doing what you love” is a recipe for exploitation, creating a new tyranny of work in which we cheerily acquiesce to doing jobs that take over our lives.

You’re told that if you “do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.” Whether it’s working for “exposure” and “experience,” or enduring poor treatment in the name of “being part of the family,” all employees are pushed to make sacrifices for the privilege of being able to do what we love.

In Work Won’t Love You Back, Sarah Jaffe, a preeminent voice on labor, inequality, and social movements, examines this “labor of love” myth—the idea that certain work is not really work, and therefore should be done out of passion instead of pay. Told through the lives and experiences of workers in various industries—from the unpaid intern, to the overworked teacher, to the nonprofit worker and even the professional athlete—Jaffe reveals how all of us have been tricked into buying into a new tyranny of work.

As Jaffe argues, understanding the trap of the labor of love will empower us to work less and demand what our work is worth. And once freed from those binds, we can finally figure out what actually gives us joy, pleasure, and satisfaction.

 

How to Be an Anticapitalist in the Twenty-First Century by Erik Olin Wright

What is wrong with capitalism, and how can we change it?

Capitalism has transformed the world and increased our productivity, but at the cost of enormous human suffering. Our shared values—equality and fairness, democracy and freedom, community and solidarity—can provide both the basis for a critique of capitalism and help to guide us toward a socialist and democratic society.

Erik Olin Wright has distilled decades of work into this concise and tightly argued manifesto: analyzing the varieties of anticapitalism, assessing different strategic approaches, and laying the foundations for a society dedicated to human flourishing. How to Be an Anticapitalist in the Twenty-First Century is an urgent and powerful argument for socialism, and an unparalleled guide to help us get there. Another world is possible. Included is an afterword by the author’s close friend and collaborator Michael Burawoy.

 

Women, Race, & Class by Angela Y. Davis

From one of our most important scholars and civil rights activist icon, a powerful study of the women’s liberation movement and the tangled knot of oppression facing Black women.

“Angela Davis is herself a woman of undeniable courage. She should be heard.”—The New York Times

Angela Davis provides a powerful history of the social and political influence of whiteness and elitism in feminism, from abolitionist days to the present, and demonstrates how the racist and classist biases of its leaders inevitably hampered any collective ambitions. While Black women were aided by some activists like Sarah and Angelina Grimke and the suffrage cause found unwavering support in Frederick Douglass, many women played on the fears of white supremacists for political gain rather than take an intersectional approach to liberation. Here, Davis not only contextualizes the legacy and pitfalls of civil and women’s rights activists, but also discusses Communist women, the murder of Emmitt Till, and Margaret Sanger’s racism. Davis shows readers how the inequalities between Black and white women influence the contemporary issues of rape, reproductive freedom, housework and child care in this bold and indispensable work.

 

Three Strikes: Miners, Musicians, Salesgirls, and the Fighting Spirit of Labor’s Last Century by Howard Zinn, Robin D.G. Kelley, Dana Frank

Three renowned historians present stirring tales of labor: Howard Zinn tells the grim tale of the Ludlow Massacre, a drama of beleaguered immigrant workers, Mother Jones, and the politics of corporate power in the age of the robber barons. Dana Frank brings to light the little-known story of a successful sit-in conducted by the ‘counter girls’ at the Detroit Woolworth’s during the Great Depression. Robin D. G. Kelley’s story of a movie theater musicians’ strike in New York asks what defines work in times of changing technology.

 

 

 

Going Down Jericho Road: The Memphis Strike, Martin Luther King’s Last Campaign by Michael K. Honey

The definitive history of the epic struggle for economic justice that became Martin Luther King Jr.’s last crusade.

Memphis in 1968 was ruled by a paternalistic “plantation mentality” embodied in its good-old-boy mayor, Henry Loeb. Wretched conditions, abusive white supervisors, poor education, and low wages locked most black workers into poverty. Then two sanitation workers were chewed up like garbage in the back of a faulty truck, igniting a public employee strike that brought to a boil long-simmering issues of racial injustice.

With novelistic drama and rich scholarly detail, Michael Honey brings to life the magnetic characters who clashed on the Memphis battlefield: stalwart black workers; fiery black ministers; volatile, young, black-power advocates; idealistic organizers and tough-talking unionists; the first black members of the Memphis city council; the white upper crust who sought to prevent change or conflagration; and, finally, the magisterial Martin Luther King Jr., undertaking a Poor People’s Campaign at the crossroads of his life, vilified as a subversive, hounded by the FBI, and seeing in the working poor of Memphis his hopes for a better America.

 

It Started in Wisconsin: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Labor Protest by Mari Jo Buhle (Editor), Paul Buhle (Editor), John Nichols (Introduction), Michael Moore (Afterword), Patrick Barrett (Contributor)

In the spring of 2011, Wisconsinites took to the streets in what became the largest and liveliest labor demonstrations in modern American history. Protesters in the Middle East sent greetings—and pizzas—to the thousands occupying the Capitol building in Madison, and 150,000 demonstrators converged on the city.

In a year that has seen a revival of protest in America, here is a riveting account of the first great wave of grassroots resistance to the corporate restructuring of the Great Recession.

It Started in Wisconsin includes eyewitness reports by striking teachers, students, and others (such as Wisconsin-born musician Tom Morello), as well as essays explaining Wisconsin’s progressive legacy by acclaimed historians. The book lays bare the national corporate campaign that crafted Wisconsin’s anti-union legislation and similar laws across the country, and it conveys the infectious esprit de corps that pervaded the protests with original pictures and comics.

 

A History of America in Ten Strikes by Erik Loomis

Powerful and accessible, A History of America in Ten Strikes challenges all of our contemporary assumptions around labor, unions, and American workers. In this brilliant book, labor historian Erik Loomis recounts ten critical workers’ strikes in American labor history that everyone needs to know about (and then provides an annotated list of the 150 most important moments in American labor history in the appendix). From the Lowell Mill Girls strike in the 1830s to Justice for Janitors in 1990, these labor uprisings do not just reflect the times in which they occurred, but speak directly to the present moment.

For example, we often think that Lincoln ended slavery by proclaiming the slaves emancipated, but Loomis shows that they freed themselves during the Civil War by simply withdrawing their labor. He shows how the hopes and aspirations of a generation were made into demands at a GM plant in Lordstown in 1972. And he takes us to the forests of the Pacific Northwest in the early nineteenth century where the radical organizers known as the Wobblies made their biggest inroads against the power of bosses. But there were also moments when the movement was crushed by corporations and the government; Loomis helps us understand the present perilous condition of American workers and draws lessons from both the victories and defeats of the past.

In crystalline narratives, labor historian Erik Loomis lifts the curtain on workers’ struggles, giving us a fresh perspective on American history from the boots up.

Strikes include:

  • Lowell Mill Girls Strike (Massachusetts, 1830–40)
  • Slaves on Strike (The Confederacy, 1861–65)
  • The Eight-Hour Day Strikes (Chicago, 1886)
  • The Anthracite Strike (Pennsylvania, 1902)
  • The Bread and Roses Strike (Massachusetts, 1912)
  • The Flint Sit-Down Strike (Michigan, 1937)
  • The Oakland General Strike (California, 1946)
  • Lordstown (Ohio, 1972)
  • Air Traffic Controllers (1981)
  • Justice for Janitors (Los Angeles, 1990)

 

Culture Strike: Art and Museums in an Age of Protest by Laura Raicovich

A leading activist museum director explains why museums are at the center of a political storm

In an age of protest, cultural institutions have come under fire. Protestors have mobilized against sources of museum funding, as happened at the Metropolitan Museum, and against board appointments, forcing tear gas manufacturer Warren Kanders to resign at the Whitney. That is to say nothing of demonstrations against exhibitions and artworks. Protests have roiled institutions across the world, from the Abu Dhabi Guggenheim to the Akron Art Museum. A popular expectation has grown that galleries and museums should work for social change.

As Director of the Queens Museum, Laura Raicovich helped turn that New York muni- cipal institution into a public commons for art and activism, organizing high-powered exhibitions that doubled as political protests. Then in January 2018, she resigned, after a dispute with the Queens Museum board and city officials. This public controversy followed the museum’s responses to Donald Trump’s election, including her objections to the Israeli government using the museum for an event featuring Vice President Mike Pence.

In this lucid and accessible book, Raicovich examines some of the key museum flashpoints and provides historical context for the current controversies. She shows how art museums arose as colonial institutions bearing an ideology of neutrality that masks their role in upholding conservative, capitalist values. And she suggests ways museums can be reinvented to serve better, public ends.

 

 

Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor by Steven Greenhouse

We live in an era of soaring corporate profits and anemic wage gains, one in which low-paid jobs and blighted blue-collar communities have become a common feature of our nation’s landscape. Behind these trends lies a little-discussed problem: the decades-long decline in worker power. 

Award-winning journalist and author Steven Greenhouse guides us through the key episodes and trends in history that are essential to understanding some of our nation’s most pressing problems, including increased income inequality, declining social mobility, and the concentration of political power in the hands of the wealthy few. He exposes the modern labor landscape with the stories of dozens of American workers, from GM employees to Uber drivers to underpaid schoolteachers. Their fight to take power back is crucial for America’s future, and Greenhouse proposes concrete, feasible ways in which workers’ collective power can be—and is being—rekindled and reimagined in the twenty-first century.

Beaten Down, Worked Up is a stirring and essential look at labor in America, poised as it is between the tumultuous struggles of the past and the vital, hopeful struggles ahead.

 

Books Written by Left-Handed People to Celebrate International Left-Handed Day!

Today is International Left-Handed Day and in order to celebrate we have created a list of lefties that have also written books. Now, did they write the entire book with their left hand? The world may never know. Anyway, there are a bunch of lists out there about left-handed authors and they mostly feature the same folks over and over again I mean okay, we get it H.G. Wells was like one of the only famous left handed authors. 

Well, lucky for you I took a deep dive. That’s right, I did a deep dive to find some fresh and new folks to spotlight for International Left-Handed Day. And I found a lot of cool people on those lists. Did you know Carid B is left-handed? Because I surely did not. Unfortunately I cannot officially highlight her in this list because she hasn’t written any books, only bars. *Sigh* 

Without further ado I present to you a list of lefty authors and some books they have written! 

Another Country by James Baldwin

From one of the most important American novelists of the twentieth century–a novel of sexual, racial, political, artistic passions, set in Greenwich Village, Harlem, and France. – “Brilliant and fiercely told.” –The New York Times

Stunning for its emotional intensity and haunting sensuality, this book depicts men and women, blacks and whites, stripped of their masks of gender and race by love and hatred at the most elemental and sublime.

A Promised Land by Barack Obama

In the stirring, highly anticipated first volume of his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama tells the story of his improbable odyssey from young man searching for his identity to leader of the free world, describing in strikingly personal detail both his political education and the landmark moments of the first term of his historic presidency–a time of dramatic transformation and turmoil.

Obama takes readers on a compelling journey from his earliest political aspirations to the pivotal Iowa caucus victory that demonstrated the power of grassroots activism to the watershed night of November 4, 2008, when he was elected 44th president of the United States, becoming the first African American to hold the nation’s highest office.

Reflecting on the presidency, he offers a unique and thoughtful exploration of both the awesome reach and the limits of presidential power, as well as singular insights into the dynamics of U.S. partisan politics and international diplomacy. Obama brings readers inside the Oval Office and the White House Situation Room, and to Moscow, Cairo, Beijing, and points beyond. We are privy to his thoughts as he assembles his cabinet, wrestles with a global financial crisis, takes the measure of Vladimir Putin, overcomes seemingly insurmountable odds to secure passage of the Affordable Care Act, clashes with generals about U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, tackles Wall Street reform, responds to the devastating Deepwater Horizon blowout, and authorizes Operation Neptune’s Spear, which leads to the death of Osama bin Laden.

A Promised Land is extraordinarily intimate and introspective–the story of one man’s bet with history, the faith of a community organizer tested on the world stage. Obama is candid about the balancing act of running for office as a Black American, bearing the expectations of a generation buoyed by messages of “hope and change,” and meeting the moral challenges of high-stakes decision-making. He is frank about the forces that opposed him at home and abroad, open about how living in the White House affected his wife and daughters, and unafraid to reveal self-doubt and disappointment. Yet he never wavers from his belief that inside the great, ongoing American experiment, progress is always possible.

Bossypants by Tina Fey

Before Liz Lemon, before “Weekend Update,” before “Sarah Palin,” Tina Fey was just a young girl with a dream: a recurring stress dream that she was being chased through a local airport by her middle-school gym teacher. She also had a dream that one day she would be a comedian on TV. She has seen both these dreams come true.

At last, Tina Fey’s story can be told. From her youthful days as a vicious nerd to her tour of duty on Saturday Night Live; from her passionately halfhearted pursuit of physical beauty to her life as a mother eating things off the floor; from her one-sided college romance to her nearly fatal honeymoon — from the beginning of this paragraph to this final sentence. Tina Fey reveals all, and proves what we’ve always suspected: you’re no one until someone calls you bossy.

What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing by Oprah Winfrey and Bruce D. Perry 

Have you ever wondered “Why did I do that?” or “Why can’t I just control my behavior?” Others may judge our reactions and think, “What’s wrong with that person?” When questioning our emotions, it’s easy to place the blame on ourselves; holding ourselves and those around us to an impossible standard. It’s time we started asking a different question.

Through deeply personal conversations, Oprah Winfrey and renowned brain and trauma expert Dr. Bruce Perry offer a groundbreaking and profound shift from asking “What’s wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?”

Here, Winfrey shares stories from her own past, understanding through experience the vulnerability that comes from facing trauma and adversity at a young age. In conversation throughout the book, she and Dr. Perry focus on understanding people, behavior, and ourselves. It’s a subtle but profound shift in our approach to trauma, and it’s one that allows us to understand our pasts in order to clear a path to our future–opening the door to resilience and healing in a proven, powerful way.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll

In the magical world of Wonderland and the back-to-front Looking-Glass kingdom, order is turned upside-down: a baby turns into a pig; time is abandoned at a tea-party; and a chaotic game of chess makes a 7-year-old a Queen.

Gordon Ramsay’s Home Cooking: Everything You Need to Know to Make Fabulous Food

Based on a new cooking show, this book will give experienced as well as novice cooks the desire, confidence and inspiration to get cooking. Ramsay will offer simple, accessible recipes with a wow factor. Gordon has traveled the world from India and the Far East to LA and Europe, and the recipes in this book will draw all these culinary influences together to show us simple, vibrant and delicious recipes that reflect the way we eat today. For example: Miso braised salmon filet with Asian vegetables, Pork and Bacon slider with homemade bbq sauce, Curried Sweetcorn Soup, Wild Mushroom Risotto Arancini, and Baked Lemon Cheesecake with Raspberries.

Each chapter will concentrate on a different area of cooking–from the classics to the secret of cooking with Chili and spice, through roasting, baking, and helpful sections on cooking good food for less and cooking for a crowd. Woven into the book will be useful tricks and tips–from ways to save time and money, to cleaning and prepping ingredients, to pan frying like a pro.

Stuffed full of delicious recipes, invaluable tips and lashings of Gordon’s trademark cheeky wit, Gordon Ramsay’s Home Cooking is the ultimate cooking lesson from the ultimate chef.

Yearbook by Seth Rogan 

Hi! I’m Seth! I was asked to describe my book, Yearbook, for the inside flap (which is a gross phrase) and for websites and shit like that, so… here it goes!!!

Yearbook is a collection of true stories that I desperately hope are just funny at worst, and life-changingly amazing at best. (I understand that it’s likely the former, which is a fancy “book” way of saying “the first one.”)

I talk about my grandparents, doing stand-up comedy as a teenager, bar mitzvahs, and Jewish summer camp, and tell way more stories about doing drugs than my mother would like. I also talk about some of my adventures in Los Angeles, and surely say things about other famous people that will create a wildly awkward conversation for me at a party one day.

I hope you enjoy the book should you buy it, and if you don’t enjoy it, I’m sorry. If you ever see me on the street and explain the situation, I’ll do my best to make it up to you.

*I was beaten by Bill O’Reilly, which really sucks.

 

33 books to celebrate 33 years of the Americans with Disabilities Act

In case you didn’t know, the month of July is Disability Pride Month! Earlier this month, we spotlighted several disabled bookish influencers and highlighted a book by a disabled author they’d recommend. If you haven’t checked out that list, be sure to do so! 

Disability Independence Day is celebrated every year on July 26! Why July 26? Great question, I’d love to tell you. July 26, 1990, was the day that the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law. 

“The landmark legislation has served as a de facto bill of rights for Americans with disabilities by assuring their access to economic and civic opportunities. Its passage represented an unprecedented bipartisan effort to acknowledge the centuries of discrimination suffered by the disability community, and a fundamental change to how they live their lives.​​”  — Celebrating National Disability Independence Day, Inclusion Hub. 

To honor the ADA and the incredible grassroots organizing that went into its fruition we’ve created a book list of 33 books to celebrate 33 years of the Americans with Disabilities Act! 

NONFICTION 

Disability Visibility edited by Alice Wong

One in five people in the United States lives with a disability. Some disabilities are visible, others less apparent — but all are underrepresented in media and popular culture. Activist Alice Wong brings together this urgent, galvanizing collection of contemporary essays by disabled people, just in time for the thirtieth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act,

From Harriet McBryde Johnson’s account of her debate with Peter Singer over her own personhood to original pieces by authors like Keah Brown and Haben Girma; from blog posts, manifestos, and eulogies to Congressional testimonies, and beyond: this anthology gives a glimpse into the rich complexity of the disabled experience, highlighting the passions, talents, and everyday lives of this community. It invites readers to question their own understandings. It celebrates and documents disability culture in the now. It looks to the future and the past with hope and love.

Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

In this collection of essays, Lambda Literary Award-winning writer and longtime activist and performance artist Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha explores the politics and realities of disability justice, a movement that centers the lives and leadership of sick and disabled queer, trans, Black, and brown people, with knowledge and gifts for all.

Care Work is a mapping of access as radical love, a celebration of the work that sick and disabled queer/people of color are doing to find each other and to build power and community, and a tool kit for everyone who wants to build radically resilient, sustainable communities of liberation where no one is left behind. Powerful and passionate, Care Work is a crucial and necessary call to arms.

Stim: An Autistic Anthology edited by Lizzie Huxley-Jones

Around 1 in 100 hundred people in the U.K. are autistic, and the saying goes that if you’ve met one autistic person, you’ve met one autistic person. Autistic people’s personalities, differences and experiences outweigh the diagnostic criteria that link them, yet stereotypes persist and continue to inform a fundamental misunderstanding of what it is to be autistic.

Rarely do autistic people get a chance to speak for themselves, but this insightful and eye-opening collection of essays, fiction and visual art showcases the immense talents of eighteen of the world’s most exciting autistic writers and artists.

Stim invites the reader into the lives and minds of the contributors, and asks them to recognise the challenges of being autistic in a non-autistic world. Inspired by a desire to place the conversation around autism back into autistic hands, editor Lizzie Huxley-Jones has brought together humorous, honest and hopeful pieces that explore the many facets of being autistic.

Crip Kinship: The Disability Justice & Art Activism of Sins Invalid by Shayda Kafai

In recent years, disability activism has come into its own as a vital and necessary means to acknowledge the power and resilience of the disabled community, and to call out ableist culture wherever it appears.

Crip Kinship explores the art-activism of Sins Invalid, a San Francisco Bay Area-based performance project, and its radical imaginings of what disabled, queer, trans, and gender nonconforming bodyminds of color can do: how they can rewrite oppression, and how they can gift us with transformational lessons for our collective survival.

Grounded in their Disability Justice framework, Crip Kinship investigates the revolutionary survival teachings that the disabled, queer of color community offers to all our bodyminds. From their focus on crip beauty and sexuality to manifesting digital kinship networks and crip-centric liberated zones, Sins Invalid empowers and moves us toward generating our collective liberation from our bodyminds outward.

In Between Spaces: An anthology of disabled writers edited by Rebecca Burke

In Between Spaces centers the experiences of thirty-three disabled poets, short-story writers, and essayists as they navigate the physical and emotional complexities of disability, chronic illness, neurodivergence, and mental illness. Compiled by an editorial team of disabled writers, this timely collection of often-overlooked voices celebrates joy, freedom, and the power of agency, while at the same time confronting and challenging the stigmas and barriers, visible and invisible, that too often come to define life with a disability.

We Are Never Meeting in Real Life: Essays by Samantha Irby

Whether Samantha Irby is talking about how her difficult childhood has led to a problem in making “adult” budgets; explaining why she should be the new Bachelorette (she’s “35-ish, but could easily pass for 60-something”); detailing a disastrous pilgrimage-slash-romantic-vacation to Nashville to scatter her estranged father’s ashes; sharing awkward sexual encounters; or dispensing advice on how to navigate friendships with former drinking buddies who are now suburban moms (hang in there for the Costco loot!); she’s as deft at poking fun at the ghosts of her past self as she is at capturing powerful emotional truths.

The Collected Schizophrenias: Essays by Esmé Weijun Wang

An intimate, moving book written with the immediacy and directness of one who still struggles with the effects of mental and chronic illness, The Collected Schizophrenias cuts right to the core. Schizophrenia is not a single unifying diagnosis, and Esmé Weijun Wang writes not just to her fellow members of the “collected schizophrenias” but to those who wish to understand it as well. Opening with the journey toward her diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder, Wang discusses the medical community’s own disagreement about labels and procedures for diagnosing those with mental illness, and then follows an arc that examines the manifestations of schizophrenia in her life. In essays that range from using fashion to present as high-functioning to the depths of a rare form of psychosis, and from the failures of the higher education system and the dangers of institutionalization to the complexity of compounding factors such as PTSD and Lyme disease, Wang’s analytical eye, honed as a former lab researcher at Stanford, allows her to balance research with personal narrative. An essay collection of undeniable power, The Collected Schizophrenias dispels misconceptions and provides insight into a condition long misunderstood.

Pain Woman Takes Your Keys, and Other Essays from a Nervous System by Sonya Huber

Rate your pain on a scale of 1 to 10. What about on a scale of spicy to citrus? Is it more like a lava lamp or a mosaic? Pain, though a universal element of human experience, is dimly understood and sometimes barely managed. Pain Woman Takes Your Keys, and Other Essays from a Nervous System is a collection of literary and experimental essays about living with chronic pain. Sonya Huber moves away from a linear narrative to step through the doorway into pain itself, into that strange, unbounded reality. Although the essays are personal in nature, this collection is not a record of the author’s specific condition but an exploration that transcends pain’s airless and constraining world and focuses on its edges from wild and widely ranging angles.

Huber addresses the nature and experience of invisible disability, including the challenges of gender bias in our healthcare system, the search for effective treatment options, and the difficulty of articulating chronic pain. She makes pain a lens of inquiry and lyricism, finds its humor and complexity, describes its irascible character, and explores its temperature, taste, and even its beauty.

MEMOIRS 

Year of the Tiger: An Activist’s Life by Alice Wong

In Chinese culture, the tiger is deeply revered for its confidence, passion, ambition, and ferocity. That same fighting spirit resides in Alice Wong. Drawing on a collection of original essays, previously published work, conversations, graphics, photos, commissioned art by disabled and Asian American artists, and more, Alice uses her unique talent to share an impressionistic scrapbook of her life as an Asian American disabled activist, community organizer, media maker, and dreamer. From her love of food and pop culture to her unwavering commitment to dismantling systemic ableism, Alice shares her thoughts on creativity, access, power, care, the pandemic, mortality, and the future. As a self-described disabled oracle, Alice traces her origins, tells her story, and creates a space for disabled people to be in conversation with one another and the world. Filled with incisive wit, joy, and rage, Wong’s Year of the Tiger will galvanize readers with big cat energy.

Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body by Rebekah Taussig

Growing up as a paralyzed girl during the 90s and early 2000s, Rebekah Taussig only saw disability depicted as something monstrous (The Hunchback of Notre Dame), inspirational (Helen Keller), or angelic (Forrest Gump). None of this felt right; and as she got older, she longed for more stories that allowed disability to be complex and ordinary, uncomfortable and fine, painful and fulfilling.

Writing about the rhythms and textures of what it means to live in a body that doesn’t fit, Rebekah reflects on everything from the complications of kindness and charity, living both independently and dependently, experiencing intimacy, and how the pervasiveness of ableism in our everyday media directly translates to everyday life.

Disability affects all of us, directly or indirectly, at one point or another. By exploring this truth in poignant and lyrical essays, Taussig illustrates the need for more stories and more voices to understand the diversity of humanity. Sitting Pretty challenges us as a society to be patient and vigilant, practical and imaginative, kind and relentless, as we set to work to write an entirely different story.

The Pretty One: On Life, Pop Culture, Disability, and Other Reasons to Fall in Love with Me by Keah Brown

From the disability rights advocate and creator of the #DisabledAndCute viral campaign, a thoughtful, inspiring, and charming collection of essays exploring what it means to be black and disabled in a mostly able-bodied white America. Keah Brown loves herself, but that hadn’t always been the case. Born with cerebral palsy, her greatest desire used to be normalcy and refuge from the steady stream of self-hate society strengthened inside her. But after years of introspection and reaching out to others in her community, she has reclaimed herself and changed her perspective. In The Pretty One, Brown gives a contemporary and relatable voice to the disabled — so often portrayed as mute, weak, or isolated. With clear, fresh, and light-hearted prose, these essays explore everything from her relationship with her able-bodied identical twin (called “the pretty one” by friends) to navigating romance; her deep affinity for all things pop culture — and her disappointment with the media’s distorted view of disability; and her declaration of self-love with the viral hashtag #DisabledAndCute. By “smashing stigmas, empowering her community, and celebrating herself” (Teen Vogue), Brown and The Pretty One aims to expand the conversation about disability and inspire self-love for people of all backgrounds.

Access Your Drive and Enjoy the Ride: A Guide to Achieving Your Dreams from a Person with a Disability (Life Fulfilling Tools for Disabled People) by Lauren Spencer

Lauren “Lolo” Jones provides a candid and real inside look into the life of being a person with a disability. This disability advocate embarks on the importance of visibility for the disabled community because representation matters!

Deaf Utopia: A Memoir — And a Love Letter to a Way of Life by Nyle DiMarco & Robert Siebert

Before becoming the actor, producer, advocate, and model that people know today, Nyle DiMarco was half of a pair of Deaf twins born to a multigenerational Deaf family in Queens, New York. At the hospital one day after he was born, Nyle “failed” his first test — a hearing test — to the joy and excitement of his parents.

In this engrossing memoir, Nyle shares stories, both heartbreaking and humorous, of what it means to navigate a world built for hearing people. From growing up in a rough-and-tumble childhood in Queens with his big and loving Italian-American family to where he is now, Nyle has always been driven to explore beyond the boundaries given him. A college math major and athlete at Gallaudet — the famed university for the Deaf in Washington, D.C. — Nyle was drawn as a young man to acting, and dove headfirst into the reality show competitions America’s Next Top Model and Dancing with the Stars — ultimately winning both competitions.

Deaf Utopia is more than a memoir, it is a cultural anthem — a proud and defiant song of Deaf culture and a love letter to American Sign Language, Nyle’s primary language. Through his stories and those of his Deaf brothers, parents, and grandparents, Nyle opens many windows into the Deaf experience.

Deaf Utopia is intimate, suspenseful, hilarious, eye-opening, and smart–both a memoir and a celebration of what makes Deaf culture unique and beautiful.

What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo

By age 30, Stephanie Foo was successful on paper: She had her dream job as an award-winning radio producer at This American Life and a loving boyfriend. But behind her office door, she was having panic attacks and sobbing at her desk every morning. After years of questioning what was wrong with herself, she was diagnosed with complex PTSD — a condition that occurs when trauma happens continuously, over the course of years.

Both of Foo’s parents abandoned her when she was a teenager, after years of physical and verbal abuse and neglect. She thought she’d moved on, but her new diagnosis illuminated the way her past continued to threaten her health, relationships, and career. She found limited resources to help her, so Foo set out to heal herself, and to map her experiences onto the scarce literature about C-PTSD.

In this deeply personal and thoroughly researched account, Foo interviews scientists and psychologists and tries a variety of innovative therapies. She returns to her hometown of San Jose, California, to investigate the effects of immigrant trauma on the community, and she uncovers family secrets in the country of her birth, Malaysia, to learn how trauma can be inherited through generations. Ultimately, she discovers that you don’t move on from trauma — but you can learn to move with it.

Powerful, enlightening, and hopeful, What My Bones Know is a brave narrative that reckons with the hold of the past over the present, the mind over the body — and examines one woman’s ability to reclaim agency from her trauma.

Easy Beauty: A Memoir by Chloé Cooper Jones

So begins Chloé Cooper Jones’ bold, revealing account of moving through the world in a body that looks different than most. Jones learned early on to factor “pain calculations” into every plan, every situation. Born with a rare congenital condition called sacral agenesis which affects both her stature and gait, her pain is physical. But there is also the pain of being judged and pitied for her appearance, of being dismissed as “less than.” The way she has been seen — or not seen — has informed her lens on the world her entire life. She resisted this reality by excelling academically and retreating to “the neutral room in her mind” until it passed. But after unexpectedly becoming a mother (in violation of unspoken social taboos about the disabled body), something in her shifts, and Jones sets off on a journey across the globe, reclaiming the spaces she’d been denied, and denied herself.

From the bars and domestic spaces of her life in Brooklyn to sculpture gardens in Rome; from film festivals in Utah to a Beyoncé concert in Milan; from a tennis tournament in California to the Killing Fields of Phnom Penh, Jones weaves memory, observation, experience, and aesthetic philosophy to probe the myths underlying our standards of beauty and desirability and interrogates her own complicity in upholding those myths.

Easy Beauty is the rare memoir that has the power to make you see the world, and your place in it, with new eyes.

Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot

Having survived a profoundly dysfunctional upbringing only to find herself hospitalized and facing a dual diagnosis of post traumatic stress disorder and bipolar II disorder, Terese Marie Mailhot is given a notebook and begins to write her way out of trauma. The triumphant result is Heart Berries, a memorial for Mailhot’s mother, a social worker and activist who had a thing for prisoners; a story of reconciliation with her father — an abusive drunk and a brilliant artist — who was murdered under mysterious circumstances; and an elegy on how difficult it is to love someone while dragging the long shadows of shame.

Mailhot trusts the reader to understand that memory isn’t exact, but melded to imagination, pain, and what we can bring ourselves to accept. Her unique and at times unsettling voice graphically illustrates her mental state. As she writes, she discovers her own true voice, seizes control of her story, and, in so doing, reestablishes her connection to her family, to her people, and to her place in the world.

Sick: A Memoir by Porochista Khakpour

A powerful, beautifully rendered memoir of chronic illness, misdiagnosis, addiction, and the myth of full recovery. For as long as author Porochista Khakpour can remember, she has been sick. For most of that time, she didn’t know why. Several drug addictions, some major hospitalizations, and over $100,000 later, she finally had a diagnosis: late-stage Lyme disease.

Sick is Khakpour’s grueling, emotional journey — as a woman, an Iranian-American, a writer, and a lifelong sufferer of undiagnosed health problems — in which she examines her subsequent struggles with mental illness and her addiction to doctor prescribed benzodiazepines, that both aided and eroded her ever-deteriorating physical health. Divided by settings, Khakpour guides the reader through her illness by way of the locations that changed her course— New York, LA, Santa Fe, and a college town in Germany — as she meditates on the physiological and psychological impacts of uncertainty, and the eventual challenge of accepting the diagnosis she had searched for over the course of her adult life.

A story of survival, pain, and transformation, Sick candidly examines the colossal impact of illness on one woman’s life by not just highlighting the failures of a broken medical system but by also boldly challenging our concept of illness narratives.

ROMANCE

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

Chloe Brown is a chronically ill computer geek with a goal, a plan, and a list. After almost — but not quite — dying, she’s come up with seven directives to help her “Get a Life,” and she’s already completed the first: finally moving out of her glamorous family’s mansion. The next items? Enjoy a drunken night out. Ride a motorcycle. Go camping. Have meaningless but thoroughly enjoyable sex. Travel the world with nothing but hand luggage. And … do something bad.

But it’s not easy being bad, even when you’ve written step-by-step guidelines on how to do it correctly. What Chloe needs is a teacher, and she knows just the man for the job. Redford ‘Red’ Morgan is a handyman with tattoos, a motorcycle, and more sex appeal than ten-thousand Hollywood heartthrobs. He’s also an artist who paints at night and hides his work in the light of day, which Chloe knows because she spies on him occasionally. Just the teeniest, tiniest bit.

But when she enlists Red in her mission to rebel, she learns things about him that no spy session could teach her. Like why he clearly resents Chloe’s wealthy background. And why he never shows his art to anyone. And what really lies beneath his rough exterior…

Act Your Age, Eve Brown by by Talia Hibbert

Eve Brown is a certified hot mess. No matter how hard she strives to do right, her life always goes horribly wrong. So she’s given up trying. But when her personal brand of chaos ruins an expensive wedding (someone had to liberate those poor doves), her parents draw the line. It’s time for Eve to grow up and prove herself — even though she’s not entirely sure how…

Jacob Wayne is in control. Always. The bed and breakfast owner’s on a mission to dominate the hospitality industry and he expects nothing less than perfection. So when a purple-haired tornado of a woman turns up out of the blue to interview for his open chef position, he tells her the brutal truth: not a chance in hell. Then she hits him with her car — supposedly by accident. Yeah, right.

Now his arm is broken, his B&B is understaffed, and the dangerously unpredictable Eve is fluttering around, trying to help. Before long, she’s infiltrated his work, his kitchen — and his spare bedroom. Jacob hates everything about it. Or rather, he should. Sunny, chaotic Eve is his natural-born nemesis, but the longer these two enemies spend in close quarters, the more their animosity turns into something else. Like Eve, the heat between them is impossible to ignore … and it’s melting Jacob’s frosty exterior.

Always Only You by Chloe Liese

Ren

The moment I met her, I knew Frankie Zeferino was someone worth waiting for. Deadpan delivery, secret heart of gold, and a rare one-dimpled smile that makes my knees weak, Frankie has been forbidden since the day she and I became coworkers, meaning waiting has been the name of my game — besides, hockey, that is.

I’m a player on the team, she’s on staff, and as long as we work together, dating is off-limits. But patience has always been my virtue. Frankie won’t be here forever — she’s headed for bigger, better things. I just hope that when she leaves the team and I tell her how I feel, she won’t want to leave me behind, too.

Frankie

I’ve had a problem at work since the day Ren Bergman joined the team: a six foot three hunk of happy with a sunshine smile. I’m a grumbly grump and his ridiculously good nature drives me nuts, but even I can’t entirely ignore that hot tamale of a ginger with icy eyes, the perfect playoff beard, and a body built for sin that he’s annoyingly modest about.

Before I got wise, I would have tripped over myself to get a guy like Ren, but with my diagnosis, I’ve learned what I am to most people in my life — a problem, not a person. Now, opening my heart to anyone, no matter how sweet, is the last thing I’m prepared to do.

A Time to Dance by Padma Venkatraman

Padma Venkatraman’s inspiring story of a young girl’s struggle to regain her passion and find a new peace is told lyrically through verse that captures the beauty and mystery of India and the ancient bharatanatyam dance form. This is a stunning novel about spiritual awakening, the power of art, and above all, the courage and resilience of the human spirit.

Veda, a classical dance prodigy in India, lives and breathes dance — so when an accident leaves her a below-knee amputee, her dreams are shattered. For a girl who’s grown used to receiving applause for her dance prowess and flexibility, adjusting to a prosthetic leg is painful and humbling. But Veda refuses to let her disability rob her of her dreams, and she starts all over again, taking beginner classes with the youngest dancers. Then Veda meets Govinda, a young man who approaches dance as a spiritual pursuit. As their relationship deepens, Veda reconnects with the world around her, and begins to discover who she is and what dance truly means to her.

Love from A to Z by S. K. Ali

A marvel: something you find amazing. Even ordinary-amazing. Like potatoes — because they make French fries happen. Like the perfect fries Adam and his mom used to make together. An oddity: whatever gives you pause. Like the fact that there are hateful people in the world. Like Zayneb’s teacher, who won’t stop reminding the class how “bad” Muslims are. But Zayneb, the only Muslim in class, isn’t bad. She’s angry.

When she gets suspended for confronting her teacher, and he begins investigating her activist friends, Zayneb heads to her aunt’s house in Doha, Qatar, for an early start to spring break.

Fueled by the guilt of getting her friends in trouble, she resolves to try out a newer, “nicer” version of herself in a place where no one knows her. Then her path crosses with Adam’s. Since he got diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in November, Adam’s stopped going to classes, intent, instead, on perfecting the making of things. Intent on keeping the memory of his mom alive for his little sister.

Adam’s also intent on keeping his diagnosis a secret from his grieving father.

Alone, Adam and Zayneb are playing roles for others, keeping their real thoughts locked away in their journals.

Until a marvel and an oddity occurs…

Marvel: Adam and Zayneb meeting.

Oddity: Adam and Zayneb meeting.

Sick Kids in Love by Hannah Moskowitz

Isabel has one rule: no dating. It’s easier. It’s safer. It’s better — for the other person. She’s got issues. She’s got secrets. She’s got rheumatoid arthritis. But then she meets another sick kid.

He’s got a chronic illness Isabel’s never heard of, something she can’t even pronounce. He understands what it means to be sick. He understands her more than her healthy friends. He understands her more than her own father who’s a doctor.

He’s gorgeous, fun, and foul-mouthed. And totally into her.

Isabel has one rule: no dating. It’s complicated. It’s dangerous. It’s never felt better — to consider breaking that rule for him.

Taxonomy of Love by Rachael Allen

The moment Spencer meets Hope the summer before seventh grade, it’s … something at first sight. He knows she’s special, possibly even magical. The pair become fast friends, climbing trees and planning world travels. After years of being outshone by his older brother and teased because of his Tourette syndrome, Spencer finally feels like he belongs. But as Hope and Spencer get older and life gets messier, the clear label of “friend” gets messier, too.

Through sibling feuds and family tragedies, new relationships and broken hearts, the two grow together and apart, and Spencer, an aspiring scientist, tries to map it all out using his trusty system of taxonomy. He wants to identify and classify their relationship, but in the end, he finds that life doesn’t always fit into easy-to-manage boxes, and it’s this messy complexity that makes life so rich and beautiful.

FANTASY

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general — also known as her tough-as-talons mother — has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.

But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away…because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.

With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter — like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.

She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise. Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom’s protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.

Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda — because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price — and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone… A convict with a thirst for revenge; a sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager; a runaway with a privileged past; a spy known as the Wraith; a Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums; a thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.

Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction — if they don’t kill each other first.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo returns to the breathtaking world of the Grishaverse in this unforgettable tale about the opportunity— and the adventure — of a lifetime.

The Unbroken by C. L. Clark

Touraine is a soldier. Stolen as a child and raised to kill and die for the empire, her only loyalty is to her fellow conscripts. But now, her company has been sent back to her homeland to stop a rebellion, and the ties of blood may be stronger than she thought. Luca needs a turncoat. Someone desperate enough to tiptoe the bayonet’s edge between treason and orders. Someone who can sway the rebels toward peace, while Luca focuses on what really matters: getting her uncle off her throne. Through assassinations and massacres, in bedrooms and war rooms, Touraine and Luca will haggle over the price of a nation. But some things aren’t for sale.

The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid

In her forest-veiled pagan village, Évike is the only woman without power, making her an outcast clearly abandoned by the gods. The villagers blame her corrupted bloodline — her father was a Yehuli man, one of the much-loathed servants of the fanatical king. When soldiers arrive from the Holy Order of Woodsmen to claim a pagan girl for the king’s blood sacrifice, Évike is betrayed by her fellow villagers and surrendered.

But when monsters attack the Woodsmen and their captive en route, slaughtering everyone but Évike and the cold, one-eyed captain, they have no choice but to rely on each other. Except he’s no ordinary Woodsman — he’s the disgraced prince, Gáspár Bárány, whose father needs pagan magic to consolidate his power. Gáspár fears that his cruelly zealous brother plans to seize the throne and instigate a violent reign that would damn the pagans and the Yehuli alike. As the son of a reviled foreign queen, Gáspár understands what it’s like to be an outcast, and he and Évike make a tenuous pact to stop his brother.

As their mission takes them from the bitter northern tundra to the smog-choked capital, their mutual loathing slowly turns to affection, bound by a shared history of alienation and oppression. However, trust can easily turn to betrayal, and as Évike reconnects with her estranged father and discovers her own hidden magic, she and Gáspár need to decide whose side they’re on, and what they’re willing to give up for a nation that never cared for them at all.

A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

Fall in love, break the curse.

It once seemed so easy to Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall. Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year over and over, he knew he could be saved if a girl fell for him. But that was before he learned that at the end of each autumn, he would turn into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. That was before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope. Nothing has ever been easy for Harper. With her father long gone, her mother dying, and her brother barely holding their family together while constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, she learned to be tough enough to survive. But when she tries to save someone else on the streets of Washington, D.C., she’s instead somehow sucked into Rhen’s cursed world.

Break the curse, save the kingdom.

A prince? A monster? A curse? Harper doesn’t know where she is or what to believe. But as she spends time with Rhen in this enchanted land, she begins to understand what’s at stake. And as Rhen realizes Harper is not just another girl to charm, his hope comes flooding back. But powerful forces are standing against Emberfall … and it will take more than a broken curse to save Harper, Rhen, and his people from utter ruin.

FICTION

True Biz by Sara Novic

True biz? The students at the River Valley School for the Deaf just want to hook up, pass their history finals, and have politicians, doctors, and their parents stop telling them what to do with their bodies. This revelatory novel plunges readers into the halls of a residential school for the deaf, where they’ll meet Charlie, a rebellious transfer student who’s never met another deaf person before; Austin, the school’s golden boy, whose world is rocked when his baby sister is born hearing; and February, the hearing headmistress, a child of deaf adult(s) who is fighting to keep her school open and her marriage intact, but might not be able to do both. As a series of crises both personal and political threaten to unravel each of them, Charlie, Austin, and February find their lives inextricable from one another — and changed forever.

This is a story of sign language and lip-reading, disability and civil rights, isolation and injustice, first love and loss, and, above all, great persistence, daring, and joy. Absorbing and assured, idiosyncratic and relatable, this is an unforgettable journey into the Deaf community and a universal celebration of human connection.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

On a bitter-cold day, in the December of his junior year at Harvard, Sam Masur exits a subway car and sees, amid the hordes of people waiting on the platform, Sadie Green. He calls her name. For a moment, she pretends she hasn’t heard him, but then, she turns, and a game begins: a legendary collaboration that will launch them to stardom. These friends, intimates since childhood, borrow money, beg favors, and, before even graduating college, they have created their first blockbuster, Ichigo. Overnight, the world is theirs. Not even 25 years old, Sam and Sadie are brilliant, successful, and rich, but these qualities won’t protect them from their own creative ambitions or the betrayals of their hearts.

Spanning 30 years, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Venice Beach, California, and lands in between and far beyond, Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow examines the multifarious nature of identity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play, and above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love.

You’re Welcome, Universe by Whitney Gardner

When Julia finds a slur about her best friend scrawled across the back of the Kingston School for the Deaf, she covers it up with a beautiful (albeit illegal) graffiti mural.

Her supposed best friend snitches, the principal expels her, and her two mothers set Julia up with a one-way ticket to a “mainstream” school in the suburbs, where she’s treated like an outcast as the only deaf student. The last thing she has left is her art, and not even Banksy himself could convince her to give that up.

Out in the ‘burbs, Julia paints anywhere she can, eager to claim some turf of her own. But Julia soon learns that she might not be the only vandal in town. Someone is adding to her tags, making them better, showing off — and showing Julia up in the process. She expected her art might get painted over by cops. But she never imagined getting dragged into a full-blown graffiti war.

Told with wit and grit by debut author Whitney Gardner, who also provides gorgeous interior illustrations of Julia’s graffiti tags, You’re Welcome, Universe introduces audiences to a one-of-a-kind protagonist who is unabashedly herself no matter what life throws in her way.

Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens by Marieke Nijkamp

This anthology explores disability in fictional tales told from the viewpoint of disabled characters, written by disabled creators. With stories in various genres about first loves, friendship, war, travel, and more, Unbroken will offer today’s teen readers a glimpse into the lives of disabled people in the past, present, and future.

The contributing authors are award winners, bestsellers, and newcomers including Kody Keplinger, Kristine Wyllys, Francisco X. Stork, William Alexander, Corinne Duyvis, Marieke Nijkamp, Dhonielle Clayton, Heidi Heilig, Katherine Locke, Karuna Riazi, Kayla Whaley, Keah Brown, and Fox Benwell. Each author identifies as disabled along a physical, mental, or neurodiverse axis — and their characters reflect this diversity.

DISABLED BOOK INFLUENCERS TO FOLLOW AND THEIR DISABILITY BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS 

Did you know that July is Disability Pride Month? July was chosen because the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed on July 26, 1990. This year we will celebrate 33 years of the ADA which gives countless folks in America access to resources and accommodations. We reached out to some disabled book influencers and asked them to share a book recommendation by their favorite disabled author! 

For more disability lit recs, watch for our upcoming blog post: 33 books to celebrate 33 years of the ADA! 

Haley, they/ she | @spoonie.reads

Haley (they/she) is a queer and disabled educator, activist, and life-long book lover. They live with a variety of chronic pain and fatigue disorders, and they also identify as neurodivergent (pure-O OCD, ADHD, anxiety, and depression). They recently graduated with their Master of Arts degree in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies after writing a thesis on pregnancy, possession, and patriarchy within the paranormal setting of the 1999-2004 television series Angel. Though they spend most of their time reading and journaling, they can also be found scream-singing to Taylor Swift or Marianas Trench songs in their car; head on over to their Instagram page, @spoonie.reads, to check out some of their top book recommendations or chat about their recent reads!

The book I’m recommending this month not only features a disabled main character— it’s also written by a disabled author who used her lived experiences to craft a compelling and creative narrative! It’s Where You See Yourself by Claire Forrest, which I read back in April 2023 as part of an Instagram book tour for Hear Our Voices; it’s a new release YA contemporary story that follows Effie Galanos, a high-school senior and wheelchair user with cerebral palsy, as she navigates her college selection journey and confronts ableism in academia. As someone who, like Effie, struggled a lot with institutionalized ableism throughout my collegiate experiences, and as I am now preparing to move to a new city and start my career, the story really spoke to me— it’s not just about the systemic barriers of the world around me, but how people treat me as different and lesser because of my needs. Reading this book, and getting to know the author Claire Forrest as well, reminded me that I’m not obnoxious by fighting for my inclusion— I’m being brave in ways I never thought I could be.

Juliana, she/her | @heyjulianahey 

Juliana was born and raised in Brazil, and now lives in the United States. She has been living with multiple chronic illnesses for 26 years, and recently started sharing more of her journey with disability to raise awareness. She is an avid reader of translated fiction and obsessed with Formula 1. 

“Breathe and Count Back from Ten” by Natalia Sylvester is a fun YA summer read that is also a raw and powerful coming of age story exploring disability and bodily agency, immigration, first love, friendship, and family dynamics. As a disabled person who was also a disabled teen, this story felt deeply personal to me. I wish I could go back in time to the weeks following my diagnosis, and give teenage me this book. I wish that girl could read this story and feel seen, feel safe. 

Britanie, she/her | @britbehindabook

My name is Britanie. My pronouns are she/her. I am a happily married mother of two living with Friedreich’s Ataxia or FA. FA is a rare genetic neuromuscular disease that affects my balance, coordination, and heart. 

A book recommendation from me is also my favorite read of the year so far. Where You See Yourself by Claire Forrest. This book is a coming of age young adult novel. I am a wheelchair user, like the main character, so I found this book very relatable. It gives the reader so much to reflect on and enjoy. The main character has cerebral palsy and so does the wonderfully talented author, Claire Forrest.

Autumn, they/she  | @autumnintheoaks 

Born & raised in the Midwest & currently living in Minnesota, I’m a queer disabled book lover & advocate with a soft spot for cane using characters, sad girl lit fic, & nature! I’ve found pride & solidarity through embracing disability as an identity, & I love sharing my personal experiences & building community online. I can be found on Instagram @autumnintheoaks where I’m often publicly crying, rambling about my favorite books & TV shows (slide into my DMs to chat The Last of Us please), & being just as sappy as my favorite trees. 

Though it’s hard to recommend just one book by a disabled author, Crip Kinship by Shayda Kafai is a nonfiction book about Disability Justice & the art activism of Sins Invalid that I often find myself returning to. Written with the care & love that is found within the pages of so many Disability Justice narratives, Crip Kinship reminded me of the importance of operating from a love ethic within social justice movements. Additionally, there are chapters dedicated to the importance of crip art & storytelling, community, pleasure, beauty, & more. It’s a wonderful follow up to Disability Visibility edited by Alice Wong & Care Work by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, two formative works.

Andrea, no pronouns | @readandyread

Hi there, Andrea here (no pronouns)! I’m a 26-year-old queer and disabled Spanish bookstagrammer. I’m a voracious reader who reads across all genres, but I’ll always have a soft spot for fantasy and romance. Poetry will always be my first love, Animal Crossing has saved me countless times, and sunsets by the sea are my happy place. I also love all things fantasy, dancing, listening to the saddest sad songs (making good decisions is not exactly my forte, oops), doggies, going on hikes, learning about nail art, and spending way too many hours on Pinterest. I must admit that my special interests change from time to time, though, so who knows what I might love doing or learning about tomorrow!

“Breathe and Count Back from Ten,” by Natalia Sylvester became an instant all-time favourite. This is one of the most honest, relatable and rawest portrayals of disability I’ve ever encountered and as a disabled person, I felt so safe reading this book: this story felt like the most comforting hug in the entire world, a hug that gave me a place to rest, to be myself and to thrive. Sylvester created a safe space that I find myself coming back to so often. I truly cannot recommend it highly enough!

Sydney, she/her | @sydneyblondellauthor 

Sydney Blondell is a disabled indie author most commonly known for her YA trilogy (The Stars in My Heart) featuring chronic illnesses. Sydney has POTS, fibromyalgia, and bipolar disorder. She is a dog mom to 9 year old Jeter and 7 month old Frankie who are often featured on her bookstagram. 

I would recommend “Sick Kids Love” by Hannah Moskowitz which has RA and Gaucher Disease representation. I recommend this book because the representation is authentic and it shows that disabled people are still deserving of love. I also love that the front cover tells the reader that no one dies in the end because that is often the outcome of disability rep books. 

Sophie, she/they | @sick.stories

Sophie (she/they) has a passion for ensuring everyone has an opportunity to tell the stories within them. Growing up an ambulatory wheelchair user, Sophie now lives with an invisible disability and mental health illnesses. An avid reader their whole life, Sophie has turned their advocacy into a bookish and writing community, Sick Stories. She is currently working on her debut novel, featuring a protagonist with the same diagnosis as Sophie.

A book by a disabled author I’m recommending is BREATHE AND COUNT BACK FROM TEN by Natalia Sylvester. This story hits on so many points I’d never seen represented this well before: bodily autonomy, finding balance between cultures and identity, so many subtle and overt forms of ableism, the trauma and challenges that come with growing into a young person with a congenital disability, and the passions we still have despite it all. Natalia kept Verónica’s voice so strong and authentic throughout and boldly showed there’s nothing about having a disability that people should be shamed into hiding.

Gwen, she/her | @gwen.reads.most.ardently

Gwen (she/her) is a disabled teacher in Central Indiana. She started her bookstagram while recovering from her spinal fusion (at the old age of 27) so that she could build connection during recovery. Gwen’s diagnosis list is never ending and always changing, but ultimately she is learning to be confident with her illnesses, disabilities, and mobility aids. When not resting, icing, or advocating for herself, Gwen loves reading romance, snuggling with her puppies, and watching baseball with her husband.

My book recommendation is “Always Only You” by Chloe Liese because it contains Frankie Zeferino, my disabled icon. Chloe believes that “everyone deserves a love story” and that sentiment is felt in every one of her books. Always Only You begins with Frankie proudly brandishing her cane and explores her journey to inviting someone else (a hunky, cinnamon-roll hockey player!) into her independent, disabled, bubble.

Syd, she/her | @bookswithsyd

I think my [Instagram] bio describes me perfectly. I’m a big ball of queer, autistic, & spicy energy and people either love or hate me… But most love me because of my gnarly arsenal of dad jokes 😂

A book I’d recommend is Act Your Age Eve Brown or the Brown Sisters series in general by Talia Hibbert. She writes disabled characters with grace and compassion 

 

 

 

LGBTQ+ reads to celebrate this Pride Month 

It’s Pride Month and we reached out to some of our favorite queer influencers to give us some recommendations written by LGBTQ+ authors! Read and support queer authors this June and beyond to celebrate the beautiful, unique myriad experiences of all queer people. 

As a queer woman myself, I also wanted to throw in a recommendation: Trans Power: Own Your Gender by Juno Roche. Now, more than ever, uplifting and protecting trans people is necessary and urgently integral to the safety of our community. Trans Power is a beautiful collection of essays, interviews and musings from Juno that expanded my personal perspective of the trans experience and I would highly recommend it. 

Megan, she/her | @booksnblazers 

Megan is a queer bookstagrammer and young publishing professional, living in New York with her partner and her cat and literally thousands of books crammed into one small Manhattan apartment. She enjoys reading all things gay, including YA, adult, literary, graphic novels, horror and romance. 

“I cannot recommend Man O’ War by Cory McCarthy enough. It’s a coming-of-age story about a trans teen athlete where you really see the changes in the main character’s views and feelings in such a genuine and heartfelt way. It’s one of those rare books that I think would hit home with all kinds of readers, cis or trans, queer or straight. It has a message for everyone and no matter who you are, you’ll feel it deeply.”

Cheyanne, they/them | @queer_bookwyrm

Cheyenne has been a bookstagrammer since 2020, and reads mostly YA, fantasy, science-fiction, and queer books. They are Agender and bisexual, and is a self-described Trekkie. “Books are an escape for me. The more dragons and aliens the better!” 

“I recommend The Witch King by H.E. Edgmon because Edgmon is trans and nonbinary, and they are excellent at writing messy queer characters. Edgmon allows his characters to make mistakes, be unlikable, and angsty. I think it’s important for queer teens to see that they don’t have to have it all figured out. There is also a ton of great rep, and well-done discussions around oppression, mental health, and trauma.”

Milly, she/they | @itsabookishworld_

“My name is Jimalion but most people on the internet call me Milly or JP for short. My pronouns are she/they and I identify as a lesbian. I live in North Carolina with my beautiful wife and I work in Clinical Research. When I am not working you can catch me reading, shopping for more books I don’t need, working on my first book, or trying a new restaurant. My favorite genres are thriller/mystery, romance and fantasy. Fun fact about me, I love jingles — if there is a jingle….you can probably bet your last dollar that I know it. 

“My book recommendation would be The Black Flamingo. This book will forever hold a special place in my heart. As someone who was born and raised in the South, I did not encounter people who identified as queer, so it was an isolating time. I went to my first drag show a few years after I graduated high school and it saved my life. To be embraced by a community that is oftentimes misunderstood, made me feel seen, made me feel less alone. And this book had the same effect; after reading it, it felt like the warmest hug, and I wish I had more of that when I was going through the journey of coming out.”

Sam, he/ they | @sam_youngs_books

“Hi, I’m Sam and I love books. More? Okay, I am a small content creator who wishes to share my love of reading as well as my love of photography through Instagram and YouTube. I spend a lot of my time reading either curled up in bed or on my commute to uni, where I indeed spend more of my life studying books. However, I never expected just how much books could bond a community until I began sharing my bookish opinions online and met a myriad of the most wonderful humans.

“If I was to recommend just one (hard as it is from the countless amazing queer authors) I would have to say, Simon Vs the Homosapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli. It’s a book that really helped me out and just a perfect introduction to queer literature. It inspired not only my name on social media but me personally and I would love for it to reach others. It was pretty popular and I’d love to see it come back — also check Albertalli’s other works out as well as her socials where she advocates for queer spaces.”

Adri, they/them | @_perpetualpages_

“I am a queer and trans nonbinary Mexican-American book reviewer, reader, writer and content creator. When it comes to my taste in books, I read widely across all genres, mediums and age ranges, with the goal of connecting people with the stories that are truly going to matter to them!

The Beautiful Something Else by Ash Van Otterloo. This incredibly tender story of self-discovery has already solidified itself as one of my favorite books of the year. Yes, it’s about Sparrow coming into their nonbinary identity, but it’s also about working through trauma and learning to move towards the kinds of beauty and safety that prevail beyond its confines. This is very much a story about the transition between surviving and living, and how growing into exactly who you are will always be a journey worth taking.”

Greg, they/he | @gregslibrary

“Hey! My name is Greg, I’m 27, I’m from the beautiful island of Curaçao and I love to read!

I am a big hopeless romantic so my shelf is full of contemporary romance, if not that than something Percy Jackson or Greek mythology-related because those three things pretty much some up the bulk of my personality. I love sharing queer books that I find because I know how hard it was/is to find books that make you feel seen, which is the main reason I’m on TikTok so much, but also because I like making people happy.

“Nonfiction is not usually my thing, but if I had to recommend one book that everyone should read it is definitely All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson because it made me feel so seen in a way I’ve never felt before, and I need everyone to know its brilliance.”

Tre, she/they | @treofpaperbacks

“Hi! I’m Tre and I love cozy games, kpop and of course books! Some of my favorite genres include monster romance, fantasy and horror. You can catch me on TikTok making silly videos about my favorite books or updating my kpop collection (BTS ARMY). I started a book club last year on the Fable app titled: Paperback Besties, feel free to stop by and join us on our reading adventures!

The Creature Cafe Series by Clio Evans! I cannot rave about the cozy,yet spicy, brilliance that Clio Evans has graced us with. This series covers a vast range of identities and backgrounds and monsters. I would consider this series to be cozy fantasy. It’s a must-read for anyone interested in monster romance.”

Alex, she/her | @thebookadvocate 

“My name is Alex and I live in Florida with my fiancé and our basset hound Penelope! During the week, I work as a therapist providing queer and gender-affirming care to youth and adults. Weeknights and weekends you can find me drinking coffee and reading any LGBTQ+ book I can get my hands on!

“I also have to recommend How to Make a Wish by Ashley Herring Blake (and every other book she writes). As someone who came out later on in life, this book and the stories that Blake writes resonate with me and provided such a safe place to explore my identity and what it means to me. For this book in particular — think “coming of age with tough topics” meets “sweet first romance.” One of her earlier books that still packs a punch and holds up to her recent releases!”

JG, they/them | @theroguerecommender

JG is a midwesterner by birth and New Yorker by trade. They’re an indie bookseller who loves talking about the last great book they read, the collective they live in, the Great Lakes and the wonders of the Trader Joe’s frozen food aisle. Please ask them to wax poetic about any of the above! Some of their favorite genres include fantasy, romance, YA and social science nonfiction.

“My current queer rec is Horse Barbie, which I will definitely be shoving at everyone I know until they all read it! Horse Barbie is a memoir by Geena Rocero and it chronicles her childhood in the Philippines, where Rocero rose to stardom in the trans pageant scene, and her subsequent move to the United States and her life and modeling career there. I loved Rocero’s storytelling, as she takes us through the many versions of herself she’s inhabited, and I think in particular this book stands out to me because of its portrayal of how the trans experience changes within and is informed by different cultures/societies. A groundbreaking memoir and a must read for all!”

Caro, they/she | @sanjariti

Caro is a Mexican-American nonbinary bookworm living in Chicago. They have spent over four years in the book community as an inclusive book influencer, focusing on Latinx and BIPOC authors and literature. They are a huge fan of iced coffee, anime, Squishmallows, and pretty flowers. When they’re not busy reading, you can find Caro watching their favorite anime, My Hero Academia, or jamming out to early 2000s hits.

“I highly recommend Something Wild & Wonderful by Anita Kelly. Not only is it a love letter to hiking and nature, but it’s a beautiful reminder to embrace who you truly are, from head to toe, and that kindness will persist amongst the hate in the world. Alexei and Ben are two wonderful individuals that, while struggling through some deeply painful things in their own lives, come together and find joy in the world around them. This story resonates deeply with me, and I am so grateful that it exists!”

Cristina, she/her | @2bookornot2book

Cristina is an archivist and librarian living in NYC. She’s proud of being bisexual and Puerto Rican and enjoys prioritizing books by queer authors of color. Her favorite kind of queer stories are the ones where being queer is an intrinsic part of the characters but the plot doesn’t revolve around it. When she’s not reading, she’s fostering cats, cooking and watching TV (she recommends Black Sails for pride month watching). 

“I recommend Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez. If you want a sweeping and lyrical science fiction novel with multiple queer characters of color, family by choice, critiques on capitalism, and music as a plot device, then this book is for you. I cried my eyes out reading the last chapter and consider this one of my favorite books of all time. And Jimenez has a more recent fantasy novel out called The Spear Cuts Through The Water that is just as good as well!

Book recommendations for AAPI Heritage Month and beyond 

May is Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage month and we’ve reached out to some of our favorite AAPI bookish influencers to ask for book recs written by AAPI authors. Check out some of these amazing recommendations, give our friends a follow, and don’t forget to read and celebrate AAPI folks and their amazing stories all year long! 

Danielle | @dogmombookworm

“I’m a Korean adoptee living in Philly with my pup Maxi. If you live in Philly, you might see me around the city holding up books against murals trying to get bookstagram photos 🙂 I love literary fiction and memoir with a focus on women authors of color. 

One book that is going down as one of the best books I’ve read this year and best of all times is the latest memoir by Nicole Chung, A Living Remedy. It is so deeply moving and emotional and Chung’s writing always feels so clear and precise, but raw with emotion. An absolute must read.”

Maya | @maya.reads, @mnmbooks

“Hi!! My name is Maya (she/her) and I am a booktoker (@maya.reads) and bookstagrammer (@mnmbooks) from Atlanta, Georgia that loves promoting South Asian books! Since I was a kid, I’ve loved going to my local library and searching the stacks for a good book (or 20) to take home. Some of my favorite genres are romance and fantasy. Outside of reading, I love to swim, go on walks, and attend concerts.

To anyone looking for an incredible coming of age story, I highly recommend TJ Powar Has Something to Prove by Jesmeen Kaur Deo. This is such an amazing book with a great balance of laugh out loud hilarious scenes and serious conversations about beauty standards. Not to mention the academic rivals to lovers romance! Once you start this, it’ll be impossible to put down.”

Cal | @low_keybookish

“Hi my name is Cal, and I’m a Korean American bookstagrammer. Born in the U.S., I’ve lived on both coasts, the Midwest, and in the South! I love exploring and supporting indie bookstores, public libraries, and Little Free Libraries. I predominantly read and review BIPOC and/or queer authors and translated books.  

I’d recommend Which Side Are You On by Ryan Lee Wong because I have a lot of connections to the story, and I think reading is personal! The book is a love story to Los Angeles Koreatown, where I spent many years of my life. It also honors activists who have and continue to build interracial coalitions, which can be absolutely messy, contradictory, but necessary for racial justice work”

Seema | @diversifyyourshelf

“I’m Seema! I’m an Indian-American literary influencer and disability advocate! My goal is to foster a love of reading and encourage folks to seek out more books by women, BIPOC, disabled/chronically ill writers, and authors from the LGBTQIA+ community. I also freely share my experiences as a chronically ill woman, offering advice, support, and solidarity. If you follow me, you’ll also see some origami, tap dancing, accessible fitness, thrifted fashion, and plenty of reminders to hydrate!

The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff is a new favorite! It follows an Indian woman who did not kill her husband, despite what everyone thinks. Everything is fine until the other women in her community ask for help killing their no-good spouses as well. Shroff manages to take kind of a silly concept and completely ground it in reality. It’s sharp and witty and fun but also delves into a lot of serious issues, exploring friendship and patriarchy and romance and abuse and independence and trauma and loyalty and poverty and commitment and caste and colorism and race and religious discrimination and community and corruption and tradition. It’s a really fun one that will still make you think.”

Hannah | @yoon.reads

“I’m a Korean Canadian American freelance photographer living in Philadelphia that has been on bookstagram for 2.5 years. I’m a big mood reader that loves to do buddy reads with friends I’ve met through bookstagram. I love historical fiction, books about mental health and motherhood, and anything related to immigrant diasporic experiences. I also love graphic novels. Books are a way for me to build connections to people around me, just like my photography.

A book I’d recommend is The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui. This is a graphic novel of Bui exploring her family’s story as refugees from Viet Nam. Bui guides readers through the history of Viet Nam, as she tells the deeply personal stories of her parents. It was enough for me to feel and experience the struggle and pain of what people went through during each event.”

Taylor | @taylormadespines

“Hey, y’all! I’m a mixed Japanese-American reader and MLIS (Master of Information Science) grad student currently working on becoming a full-fledged librarian. Although, I thoroughly enjoy a good memoir or YA novel, I make it my mission to read widely across genres, frequently promoting authors and stories from marginalized communities that have been underserved by the publishing industry. Banned books have a particularly special place in this future librarian’s heart and shelves!

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner covers some pretty heavy topics like growing up mixed-race, cultural isolation, and the death of a parent. While  a challenging read at times, Zauner’s raw depiction of grief, identity crisis, and enduring love will resonate long after finishing. Note: ugly-crying may or may not occur when reading this book.”

Anna | @anna.andthebooks

“Hi! I’m Anna, a first generation Korean-American living in sunny Phoenix. I’m a social worker for a non-profit health plan. Consistent with my background, I’m drawn to novels and memoirs exploring identity, cultural commentary, immigration, sociology and mental health. I enjoy most genres though, with the exception of fantasy. 😅 I’m slower these days on account of my two young kids, but I’ll still pop up on the ‘gram.

I’ve read more novels by AAPI authors since joining Bookstagram 4 years ago. My recent favorite is Severance by Ling Ma. I love the dark atmosphere of the book, and Ling Ma’s satire is Sharp. I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I read it a couple months ago.”

Cindy | @cindyheartsbooks

“Born in South Korea, I was adopted at 7 months and grew up in the Midwest. I was always very resistant of the millennial stereotypes, but I have come to terms that I am a geriatric millennial through and through. I love reading all genres but literary fiction is my favorite. Other than reading, I love to consume all things Bravo, early 2000s hip hop, and a good California cab. 

If You Leave Me by Crystal Hana Kim: There are some books you read where it feels like someone is squeezing your heart throughout the story. Set in Korea during the 50s and 60s, If You Leave Me explores a shift in Korean history most people are unaware of, and also the limitations of being a woman. It shows how the decisions we make in our past, can vastly change the course of our future.”

Ceci | @winstonandbooks

“I’m Ceci, a high school history teacher from Portland, OR. I love reading, cheese, mangoes, sarcasm, and my cat, Winston. I am a multiracial — Chinese, Lebanese, and British. I am the first Chinese-American in my family.

A book by an AAPI author I recommend is, hands down, Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou. I recommend this sharp, hilarious satire because it authentically encapsulates the experience of being an Asian American woman. This book inspires me to be unapologetically me!”

Krithi | @krithiques

“Hello! My name is Krithi and I am an Indian-American bookstagrammer, who loves to read all types of books. I love highlighting stories by LGBTQ+ and BIPOC authors from all genres on my page. I consider myself a lifelong learner and a lifelong lover of literature, and I hope to inspire others to read widely and discover new authors and stories. Aside from reading, I love writing, dancing, and learning languages. And most recently, I’ve developed an affinity for collecting as many houseplants as I can.

I highly recommend American Betiya by Anuradha Rajurkar. American Betiya is a book that I wished I had when I was in high school. I loved the experience of reading a coming-of-age story featuring an Indian-American protagonist. I especially appreciated the nuanced representation of family and the conversations around interracial relationships, friendship, and self-love in this book.”

RA | @definitelyra

“I’m RuthAnn (RA for short), and I live outside Philadelphia in the very cute town of Kennett Square, PA, with my husband and our dog, a Westie named Ted. Since 2014, I’ve had the privilege to advocate with Dressember, a nonprofit that empowers everyday advocates to raise awareness and funds to fight human trafficking. Aside from reading multiple books at a time, my favorite things to do are take long walks, learn about birds, and hear about whatever you’re really into.

The Making of Asian America by Erika Lee is an excellent work of history about how Asian immigrants and citizens have shaped America and American history. One of my favorite aspects is that it was written by a female Asian American historian, and she wove elements of her own family’s immigrant history without drifting into memoir territory. Perhaps the highest compliment for this book is that I bought it as a birthday gift for my mom, a huge history buff and research nut who loves Asian history.”

Saga | @sagarific

I’m Saga (they/she), and I am the face behind (and sometimes on) the bookstagram @sagarific. I read across genres and demographics, and my account reflects that, though I’m partial to stories with intergenerational narratives and coming-of-age themes. 

Unwieldy Creatures by Addie Tsai is an endlessly fascinating spin on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. This book has some of the best prose I have ever read, and I loved the exploration of queerness and transness at the intersections of Asian identities and the ethical and moral questions around scientific advancements in human fertility. And for something more wholesome and personally special to me, I must recommend Shakti by SJ Sindu (illustrated by Nabi H Ali), a lovely graphic novel featuring an Indian American witch and Hindu mythology.

Books to read this April for Autism Acceptance month

It’s April, which means it’s Autism Acceptance Month! We’ve compiled a list of great reads featuring autistic characters and books by autistic authors. Please make sure to add a few of these to your TBR and celebrate the vibrant, creative and innovating autistic community all year long!

Romance

Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde

Charlie likes to stand out. She’s a vlogger and actress promoting her first movie at SupaCon, and this is her chance to show fans she’s over her public breakup with co-star Reese Ryan. When internet-famous cool-girl actress Alyssa Huntington arrives as a surprise guest, it seems Charlie’s long-time crush on her isn’t as one-sided as she thought. Taylor likes to blend in. Her brain is wired differently, making her fear change. And there’s one thing in her life she knows will never change: her friendship with her best guy friend Jamie — no matter how much she may secretly want it to. But when she hears about a fan contest for her favorite fandom, she starts to rethink her rules on playing it safe.

Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert

Eve Brown is a certified hot mess. No matter how hard she strives to do right, her life always goes horribly wrong. So she’s given up trying. But when her personal brand of chaos ruins an expensive wedding (someone had to liberate those poor doves), her parents draw the line. It’s time for Eve to grow up and prove herself–even though she’s not entirely sure how… Jacob Wayne is in control. Always. The bed and breakfast owner’s on a mission to dominate the hospitality industry and he expects nothing less than perfection. So when a purple-haired tornado of a woman turns up out of the blue to interview for his open chef position, he tells her the brutal truth: not a chance in hell. Then she hits him with her car–supposedly by accident. Yeah, right. Now his arm is broken, his B&B is understaffed, and the dangerously unpredictable Eve is fluttering around, trying to help. Before long, she’s infiltrated his work, his kitchen–and his spare bedroom. Jacob hates everything about it. Or rather, he should. Sunny, chaotic Eve is his natural-born nemesis, but the longer these two enemies spend in close quarters, the more their animosity turns into something else. Like Eve, the heat between them is impossible to ignore… and it’s melting Jacob’s frosty exterior.

Two Wrongs Make a Right by Chloe Liese

Opposites become allies to fool their matchmaking friends in this swoony reimagining of Shakespeare’s beloved comedy, Much Ado About Nothing. Jamie Westenberg and Bea Wilmot have nothing in common except a meet-disaster and the mutual understanding that they couldn’t be more wrong for each other. But when the people closest to them play Cupid and trick them into going on a date, Jamie and Bea realize they have something else in common after all–an undeniable need for revenge. Soon their plan is in place: Fake date obnoxiously and convince the meddlers they’re madly in love. Then, break up spectacularly and dash everyone’s hopes, putting an end to the matchmaking madness once and for all. To convince everyone that they’ve fallen for each other, Jamie and Bea will have to nail the performance of their lives. But as their final act nears and playing lovers becomes easier than not, they begin to wonder: What if Cupid’s arrow wasn’t so off the mark? And what if two wrongs do make a right?

Middle Grade

Dragon Pearl (a Thousand Worlds Novel Book 1) by Yoon Ha Lee

But you’d never know it by looking at her. To keep the family safe, Min’s mother insists that none of them use any fox-magic, such as Charm or shape-shifting. They must appear human at all times. Min feels hemmed in by the household rules and resents the endless chores, the cousins who crowd her, and the aunties who judge her. She would like nothing more than to escape Jinju, her neglected, dust-ridden, and impoverished planet. She’s counting the days until she can follow her older brother, Jun, into the Space Forces and see more of the Thousand Worlds.

When word arrives that Jun is suspected of leaving his post to go in search of the Dragon Pearl, Min knows that something is wrong. Jun would never desert his battle cruiser, even for a mystical object rumored to have tremendous power. She decides to run away to find him and clear his name. Min’s quest will have her meeting gamblers, pirates, and vengeful ghosts. It will involve deception, lies, and sabotage. She will be forced to use more fox-magic than ever before, and to rely on all of her cleverness and bravery. The outcome may not be what she had hoped, but it has the potential to exceed her wildest dreams.

Young Adult

The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester by Maya MacGregor

In this queer contemporary YA mystery, a nonbinary autistic teen realizes they must not only solve a 30-year-old mystery but also face the demons lurking in their past in order to live a satisfying life. Sam Sylvester has long collected stories of half-lived lives — of kids who died before they turned nineteen. Sam was almost one of those kids. Now, as Sam’s own nineteenth birthday approaches, their recent near-death experience haunts them. They’re certain they don’t have much time left… But Sam’s life seems to be on the upswing after meeting several new friends and a potential love interest in Shep, their next-door neighbor. Yet the past keeps roaring back — in Sam’s memories and in the form of a thirty-year-old suspicious death that took place in Sam’s new home. Sam can’t resist trying to find out more about the kid who died and who now seems to guide their investigation. When Sam starts receiving threatening notes, they know they’re on the path to uncovering a murderer. But are they digging through the past or digging their own future grave?

Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White

Sixteen-year-old trans boy Benji is on the run from the cult that raised him — the fundamentalist sect that unleashed Armageddon and decimated the world’s population. Desperately, he searches for a place where the cult can’t get their hands on him, or more importantly, on the bioweapon they infected him with. But when cornered by monsters born from the destruction, Benji is rescued by a group of teens from the local Acheson LGBTQ+ Center, affectionately known as the ALC. The ALC’s leader, Nick, is gorgeous, autistic, and a deadly shot, and he knows Benji’s darkest secret: the cult’s bioweapon is mutating him into a monster deadly enough to wipe humanity from the earth once and for all. Still, Nick offers Benji shelter among his ragtag group of queer teens, as long as Benji can control the monster and use its power to defend the ALC. Eager to belong, Benji accepts Nick’s terms…until he discovers the ALC’s mysterious leader has a hidden agenda, and more than a few secrets of his own. Perfect for fans of Gideon the Ninth and Annihilation.

Social Queue by Kay Kerr

Zoe Kelly is starting a new phase of her life. High school was a mess of bullying and autistic masking that left her burnt out and shut down. Now, with an internship at an online media company—the first step on the road to her dream writing career—she is ready to reinvent herself. But she didn’t count on returning to her awkward and all-too-recent high-school experiences for her first writing assignment. When her piece, about her non-existent dating life, goes viral, eighteen-year-old Zoe is overwhelmed and more than a little surprised by the response. But, with a deadline and a list of romantic contenders from the past to reconnect with for her piece on dating, she is hoping one of her old sparks will turn into a new flame.

Even If We Break by Marieke Nijkamp

Five friends take a trip to a cabin. It’s supposed to be one last getaway before going their separate ways—a chance to say goodbye to each other, and to the game they’ve been playing for the past three years. But they’re all dealing with their own demons, and they’re all hiding secrets. And as they start to play the murder mystery game that brought them together in the first place, the lines between the game and reality blend, with deadly consequences. Someone knows their secrets. Someone wants to make them pay. Soon, it’s a race against time before it’s game over—forever. Are you ready to play?

 

Science Fiction 

Rebel Nation by Shaunta Grimes 

Sixteen years ago, a plague wiped out nearly all of humanity. The Company’s vaccine stopped the virus’s spread, but society was irrevocably changed. Those remaining live behind impenetrable city walls, taking daily doses of virus suppressant and relying on The Company for continued protection. They don’t realize that everything they’ve been told is a lie… Clover Donovan didn’t set out to start a revolution–quiet, autistic, and brilliant, she’s always followed the rules. But that was before they forced her into service for the Time Mariners. Before they condemned her brother to death, compelling him to flee the city to survive. Before she discovered terrifying secrets about The Company. Clover and the Freaks, her ragtag resistance group, are doing their best to spread the rebellion and stay under The Company’s radar. But when their hideout is discovered, they are forced, once again, to run. Only this time, The Company has special plans for Clover, plans that could risk her life and stop the uprising in its tracks…

The Outside by Ada Hoffmann

Autistic scientist Yasira Shien has developed a radical new energy drive that could change the future of humanity. But when she activates it, reality warps, destroying the space station and everyone aboard. The AI Gods who rule the galaxy declare her work heretical, and Yasira is abducted by their agents. Instead of simply executing her, they offer mercy — if she’ll help them hunt down a bigger target: her own mysterious, vanished mentor. With her homeworld’s fate in the balance, Yasira must choose who to trust: the gods and their ruthless post-human angels, or the rebel scientist whose unorthodox mathematics could turn her world inside out.

On the Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis

January 29, 2035: That’s the day the comet is scheduled to hit–the big one. Denise and her mother and sister, Iris, have been assigned to a temporary shelter outside their hometown of Amsterdam to wait out the blast, but Iris is nowhere to be found, and at the rate Denise’s drug-addicted mother is going, they’ll never reach the shelter in time. A last-minute meeting leads them to something better than a temporary shelter–a generation ship, scheduled to leave Earth behind to colonize new worlds after the comet hits. But everyone on the ship has been chosen because of their usefulness. Denise is autistic and fears that she’ll never be allowed to stay. Can she obtain a spot before the ship takes flight? What about her mother and sister? When the future of the human race is at stake, whose lives matter most?

Fiction

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the color yellow.

This improbable story of Christopher’s quest to investigate the suspicious death of a neighborhood dog makes for one of the most captivating, unusual, and widely heralded novels in recent years.

 

Nonfiction 

Stim: An Autism Anthology edited by Lizzie Huxley-Jones

Around 1 in 100 people in the UK are autistic, but rarely do autistic people have a voice. They are the ones on the daytime tv sofas, in parliament, or writing about their experiences with us. While these voices are important, the balance is tipped, and rarely do we get to use our own voices to talk about our experiences or to show how creative, smart and funny we are, how different from the stereotype most people have. This anthology represents an important step in reclaiming that power, of using our own voices. This book will bring together some of the best autistic writers, showcasing the immense talents of people who just happen to be on the spectrum. It won’t just feature essays about what it is to be autistic, but also stories, illustrations and art. So this isn’t just a book for autistic people or those who work or live with us; Stim will be an enjoyable, insightful collection for people around the world, who want to discover and champion unheard voices.

Spectrums: Autistic Transgender People in Their Own Words edited by Maxfield Sparrow

Written by autistic trans people from around the world, this vital and intimate collection of personal essays reveals the struggles and joys of living at the intersection of neurodivergence and gender diversity. Weaving memories, poems and first-person narratives together, these stories showcase experiences of coming out, college and university life, accessing healthcare, physical transition, friendships and relationships, sexuality, pregnancy, parenting, and late life self-discovery, to reveal a rich and varied tapestry of life lived on the spectrums. With humour and personal insight, this anthology is essential reading for autistic trans people, and the professionals supporting them, as well as anyone interested in the nuances of autism and gender identity.

Unmasking Autism: Discovering the New Faces of Neurodiversity by Dr. Devon Price

For every visibly Autistic person you meet, there are countless “masked” Autistic people who pass as neurotypical. Masking is a common coping mechanism in which Autistic people hide their identifiably Autistic traits in order to fit in with societal norms, adopting a superficial personality at the expense of their mental health. This can include suppressing harmless stims, papering over communication challenges by presenting as unassuming and mild-mannered, and forcing themselves into situations that cause severe anxiety, all so they aren’t seen as needy or “odd.”

In Unmasking Autism, Dr. Devon Price shares his personal experience with masking and blends history, social science research, prescriptions, and personal profiles to tell a story of neurodivergence that has thus far been dominated by those on the outside looking in. For Dr. Price and many others, Autism is a deep source of uniqueness and beauty. Unfortunately, living in a neurotypical world means it can also be a source of incredible alienation and pain. Most masked Autistic individuals struggle for decades before discovering who they truly are. They are also more likely to be marginalized in terms of race, gender, sexual orientation, class, and other factors, which contributes to their suffering and invisibility. It’s time to honor the needs, diversity, and unique strengths of Autistic people so that they no longer have to mask–and it’s time for greater public acceptance and accommodation of difference. In embracing neurodiversity, we can all reap the rewards of nonconformity and learn to live authentically, Autistic and neurotypical people alike.

But you don’t look autistic at all by Bianca Toeps (Author),  Fay Maccorquodale-Smith (Translator)

Autism — that’s being able to count matches really fast and knowing that 7 August 1984 was a Tuesday, right? Well, no. In this book, Bianca Toeps explains in great detail what life is like when you’re autistic. She does this by looking at what science says about autism (and why some theories can go straight in the bin), but also by telling her own story and interviewing other people with autism. Bianca talks in a refreshing and sometimes hilarious way about different situations autistic people encounter in daily life. She has some useful tips for non-autistic people too: what you should do if someone prefers not to look you in the eye, why it is sometimes better to communicate by email, and, most important of all, why it is not a compliment if you say: “But you don’t look autistic at all!”

How to Be Autistic by Charlotte Amelia Poe

How To Be Autistic charts Charlotte Amelia Poe’s journey through schooldays and young adulthood, with chapters on food, fandom, depression, body piercing, comic conventions, and technology. Poe writes about her memoir: ‘The best way to describe it is to imagine a road trip. If a neurotypical person wants to get from A to B, then they will most often find their way unobstructed, without road works or diversions. For an autistic person, they will find that they are having to use back roads and cut across fields and explore places neurotypicals would never even imagine visiting’. How To Be Autistic challenges narratives of autism as something to be ‘fixed’, as Poe believes her autism is a fundamental aspect of her work. She writes: ‘I wanted to show the side of autism that I have lived through, the side you don’t find in books and on Facebook groups. My piece is a story about survival, fear and, finally, hope. It is an open letter to every autistic person who has suffered verbal, mental or physical abuse and come out snarling and alive. ‘If I can change just one person’s perceptions, if I can help one person with autism feel like they’re less alone, then this will all be worth it. So please, turn the page. Our worlds are about to collide.’

Supporting Transgender Autistic Youth and Adults: A Guide for Professionals and Families by Finn V. Gratton

Providing advice on how professionals working with autistic trans youth and adults can tailor their practice to best serve their clients and how parents can support their trans autistic children, this book increases awareness of the large overlap between trans identities and autism. By including chapters on gender diversity basics, neuroqueer trauma and how to support neuroqueer individuals, this book sets out strategies for creating more effective support that takes into account the unique experiences of trans people on the spectrum. Written by a therapist who identifies as neuroqueer, this book is the perfect companion for professionals who want to increase their knowledge of the experiences and needs of their trans autistic clients.

Noah Kahan Songs as Book Recommendations

If you’re interested in sobbing your heart out then queue up songs by my indie folk king Noah Kahan and crack open one of these recs. He’s most famously known for his gut-wrenching seasonal depression album Stick Season, but his backlist also slaps. From his two other albums (I Was/ I Am & Busyhead) to his EP (Cape Elizabeth) you’ll be crying in the club to all his songs. Check out his music here and our books/ song pairings below! 

Glue Myself Shut & Normal People by Sally Rooney

Connell and Marianne grew up in the same small town, but the similarities end there. At school, Connell is popular and well liked, while Marianne is a loner. But when the two strike up a conversation–awkward but electrifying–something life changing begins.

A year later, they’re both studying at Trinity College in Dublin. Marianne has found her feet in a new social world while Connell hangs at the sidelines, shy and uncertain. Throughout their years at university, Marianne and Connell circle one another, straying toward other people and possibilities but always magnetically, irresistibly drawn back together. And as she veers into self-destruction and he begins to search for meaning elsewhere, each must confront how far they are willing to go to save the other.

Normal People is the story of mutual fascination, friendship and love. It takes us from that first conversation to the years beyond, in the company of two people who try to stay apart but find that they can’t.

Stick Season & Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips

One August afternoon, two sisters–Sophia, eight, and Alyona, eleven–go missing from a beach on the far-flung Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia. Taking us through the year that follows, Disappearing Earth enters the lives of women and girls in this tightly knit community who are connected by the crime: a witness, a neighbor, a detective, a mother. We are transported to vistas of rugged beauty–open expanses of tundra, soaring volcanoes, dense forests, the glassy seas that border Japan and Alaska–and into a region as complex as it is alluring, where social and ethnic tensions have long simmered, and where outsiders are often the first to be accused.

 

 

Young Blood & They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib

In an age of confusion, fear, and loss, Hanif Abdurraqib’s is a voice that matters. Whether he’s attending a Bruce Springsteen concert the day after visiting Michael Brown’s grave, or discussing public displays of affection at a Carly Rae Jepsen show, he writes with a poignancy and magnetism that resonates profoundly.

In the wake of the nightclub attacks in Paris, he recalls how he sought refuge as a teenager in music, at shows, and wonders whether the next generation of young Muslims will not be afforded that opportunity now. While discussing the everyday threat to the lives of Black Americans, Abdurraqib recounts the first time he was ordered to the ground by police officers: for attempting to enter his own car.

Northern Attitude & Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy

Franny Stone has always been the kind of woman who is able to love but unable to stay. Leaving behind everything but her research gear, she arrives in Greenland with a singular purpose: to follow the last Arctic terns in the world on what might be their final migration to Antarctica. Franny talks her way onto a fishing boat, and she and the crew set sail, traveling ever further from shore and safety. But as Franny’s history begins to unspool–a passionate love affair, an absent family, a devastating crime–it becomes clear that she is chasing more than just the birds. When Franny’s dark secrets catch up with her, how much is she willing to risk for one more chance at redemption?

Epic and intimate, heartbreaking and galvanizing, Charlotte McConaghy’s Migrations is an ode to a disappearing world and a breathtaking page-turner about the possibility of hope against all odds.

New Perspective & Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward

In five years, Jesmyn Ward lost five young men in her life–to drugs, accidents, suicide, and the bad luck that can follow people who live in poverty, particularly black men. Dealing with these losses, one after another, made Jesmyn ask the question: Why? And as she began to write about the experience of living through all the dying, she realized the truth–and it took her breath away. Her brother and her friends all died because of who they were and where they were from, because they lived with a history of racism and economic struggle that fostered drug addiction and the dissolution of family and relationships. Jesmyn says the answer was so obvious she felt stupid for not seeing it. But it nagged at her until she knew she had to write about her community, to write their stories and her own.

Jesmyn grew up in poverty in rural Mississippi. She writes powerfully about the pressures this brings, on the men who can do no right and the women who stand in for family in a society where the men are often absent. She bravely tells her story, revisiting the agonizing losses of her only brother and her friends. As the sole member of her family to leave home and pursue higher education, she writes about this parallel American universe with the objectivity distance provides and the intimacy of utter familiarity. A brutal world rendered beautifully, Jesmyn Ward’s memoir will sit comfortably alongside Edwidge Danticat’s Brother, I’m Dying, Tobias Wolff’s This Boy’s Life, and Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

Orange Juice & Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi 

Gifty is a sixth-year PhD candidate in neuroscience at the Stanford University School of Medicine studying reward-seeking behavior in mice and the neural circuits of depression and addiction. Her brother, Nana, was a gifted high school athlete who died of a heroin overdose after an ankle injury left him hooked on OxyContin. Her suicidal mother is living in her bed.

Gifty is determined to discover the scientific basis for the suffering she sees all around her. But even as she turns to the hard sciences to unlock the mystery of her family’s loss, she finds herself hungering for her childhood faith and grappling with the evangelical church in which she was raised, whose promise of salvation remains as tantalizing as it is elusive.

 

False Confidence & Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour

An unambitious twenty-two-year-old, Darren lives in a Bed-Stuy brownstone with his mother, who wants nothing more than to see him live up to his potential as the valedictorian of Bronx Science. But Darren is content working at Starbucks in the lobby of a Midtown office building, hanging out with his girlfriend, Soraya, and eating his mother’s home-cooked meals. All that changes when a chance encounter with Rhett Daniels, the silver-tongued CEO of Sumwun, NYC’s hottest tech startup, results in an exclusive invitation for Darren to join an elite sales team on the thirty-sixth floor.

After enduring a “hell week” of training, Darren, the only Black person in the company, reimagines himself as “Buck,” a ruthless salesman unrecognizable to his friends and family. But when things turn tragic at home and Buck feels he’s hit rock bottom, he begins to hatch a plan to help young people of color infiltrate America’s sales force, setting off a chain of events that forever changes the game.

Black Buck is a hilarious, razor-sharp skewering of America’s workforce; it is a propulsive, crackling debut that explores ambition and race, and makes way for a necessary new vision of the American dream.

Busyhead & A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

In Tokyo, sixteen-year-old Nao has decided there’s only one escape from her aching loneliness and her classmates’ bullying. But before she ends it all, Nao first plans to document the life of her great grandmother, a Buddhist nun who’s lived more than a century. A diary is Nao’s only solace–and will touch lives in ways she can scarcely imagine. Across the Pacific, we meet Ruth, a novelist living on a remote island who discovers a collection of artifacts washed ashore in a Hello Kitty lunchbox–possibly debris from the devastating 2011 tsunami. As the mystery of its contents unfolds, Ruth is pulled into the past, into Nao’s drama and her unknown fate, and forward into her own future.

Full of Ozeki’s signature humor and deeply engaged with the relationship between writer and reader, past and present, fact and fiction, quantum physics, history, and myth, A Tale for the Time Being is a brilliantly inventive, beguiling story of our shared humanity and the search for home.

The View Between Villages & The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom

In 1961, Sarah M. Broom’s mother Ivory Mae bought a shotgun house in the then-promising neighborhood of New Orleans East and built her world inside of it. It was the height of the Space Race and the neighborhood was home to a major NASA plant–the postwar optimism seemed assured. Widowed, Ivory Mae remarried Sarah’s father Simon Broom; their combined family would eventually number twelve children. But after Simon died, six months after Sarah’s birth, the Yellow House would become Ivory Mae’s thirteenth and most unruly child.

A book of great ambition, Sarah M. Broom’s The Yellow House tells a hundred years of her family and their relationship to home in a neglected area of one of America’s most mythologized cities. This is the story of a mother’s struggle against a house’s entropy, and that of a prodigal daughter who left home only to reckon with the pull that home exerts, even after the Yellow House was wiped off the map after Hurricane Katrina. The Yellow House expands the map of New Orleans to include the stories of its lesser known natives, guided deftly by one of its native daughters, to demonstrate how enduring drives of clan, pride, and familial love resist and defy erasure. Located in the gap between the “Big Easy” of tourist guides and the New Orleans in which Broom was raised, The Yellow House is a brilliant memoir of place, class, race, the seeping rot of inequality, and the internalized shame that often follows. It is a transformative, deeply moving story from an unparalleled new voice of startling clarity, authority, and power.

Growing Sideways & Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb 

One day, Lori Gottlieb is a therapist who helps patients in her Los Angeles practice. The next, a crisis causes her world to come crashing down. Enter Wendell, the quirky but seasoned therapist in whose of­fice she suddenly lands. With his balding head, cardigan, and khakis, he seems to have come straight from Therapist Central Casting. Yet he will turn out to be anything but.

As Gottlieb explores the inner chambers of her patients’ lives — a self-absorbed Hollywood producer, a young newlywed diagnosed with a terminal illness, a senior citizen threatening to end her life on her birthday if nothing gets better, and a twenty-something who can’t stop hooking up with the wrong guys — she finds that the questions they are struggling with are the very ones she is now bringing to Wendell.

With startling wisdom and humor, Gottlieb invites us into her world as both clinician and patient, examining the truths and fictions we tell ourselves and others as we teeter on the tightrope between love and desire, meaning and mortality, guilt and redemption, terror and courage, hope and change.

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone is rev­olutionary in its candor, offering a deeply per­sonal yet universal tour of our hearts and minds and providing the rarest of gifts: a boldly reveal­ing portrait of what it means to be human, and a disarmingly funny and illuminating account of our own mysterious lives and our power to transform them.

 

Horror books to whet your appetite ahead of the Scream VI release

We’re getting excited for the next installment of slasher royalty, Scream VI. If you’re gearing up for another heart-pounding performance and are looking to get your pulse racing early, we’ve compiled a list of horror books to get your hands on. Enjoy reading with the lights on with these top tier horror recs! 

Hairspray and Switchblades by V. Castro

When Maya and Magdalena lose their parents to a home invasion, Magdalena puts her dreams on hold and turns to exotic dancing. Cash is what the sisters need to stay together and keep Maya in an elite catholic high school that has set her on the path for an athletic and academic college scholarship.These sisters come from a bloodline of Jaguar shifters from Mexico and have gained unwanted attention. The San Antonio Stripper Ripper is stalking the streets, out for a specific kind of blood. Though Magdalena trades in skin, there is no way she will allow anyone to own her. Steamy. Bloody. Dangerous. Hairspray and Switchblades, what more could a girl need to survive the hot streets?

 

 

The Last Final Girl by Stephen Graham Jones

Life in a slasher film is easy. You just have to know when to die.

Aerial View: A suburban town in Texas. Everyone’s got an automatic garage door opener. All the kids jump off a perilous cliff into a shallow river as a rite of passage. The sheriff is a local celebrity. You know this town. You’re from this town.

Zoom In: Homecoming princess, Lindsay. She’s just barely escaped death at the hands of a brutal, sadistic murderer in a Michael Jackson mask. Up on the cliff, she was rescued by a horse and bravely defeated the killer, alone, bra-less. Her story is already a legend. She’s this town’s heroic final girl, their virgin angel.

Monster Vision: Halloween masks floating down that same river the kids jump into. But just as one slaughter is not enough for Billie Jean, our masked killer, one victory is not enough for Lindsay. Her high school is full of final girls, and she’s not the only one who knows the rules of the game.

When Lindsay chooses a host of virgins, misfits, and former final girls to replace the slaughtered members of her original homecoming court, it’s not just a fight for survival-it’s a fight to become The Last Final Girl.

There’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins

It’s been almost a year since Makani Young came to live with her grandmother and she’s still adjusting to her new life in rural Nebraska. Then, one by one, students at her high school begin to die in a series of gruesome murders, each with increasing and grotesque flair. As the body count rises and the terror grows closer, can Makani survive the killer’s twisted plan?

 

 

 

 

Tastes Like Candy: A Slasher Novel by Ivy Tholen

Everyone at Pritchett High wants an invitation to the Senior Scavenge. In 2020, Violet Warren and her friends are the lucky ones. Eight girls will break into the Poison Apple Carnival after hours for a scavenger hunt, then at sunrise they’ll gather for a celebration in honor of their upcoming senior year.

But someone else has another game planned. Minutes after the girls sneak into the carnival, a madman in a rubber mask begins slashing his way through the group and Violet quickly realizes his motives are personal. As she watches her friends die in a series of increasingly bizarre attacks, she must fight to survive while trying to answer the question: What could she have done to earn a fast-pass for a roller coaster ride straight to hell?

 

The Murder Game by Carrie Doyle

What if your roommate is a murderer? Or what if he’s being framed and only you can save him?

Luke Chase made history as a child when he escaped a kidnapping. Now, all he wants is to be a normal teenager. So when he sneaks out to the woods one night to drink with friends and flirt with the new British girl at school, he’s excited to feel some freedom.Except the next morning, one of their teachers is found murdered — in the exact same spot where they had been partying. Soon, Luke’s roommate and best friend Oscar is the #1 suspect

As the evidence and list of suspects builds, Luke attempts to use his famous survival skills to find the killer and clear Oscar’s name. But as Luke gets closer to the truth, the killer is getting closer to Luke.

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

In horror movies, the final girls are the ones left standing when the credits roll. They made it through the worst night of their lives…but what happens after?

Lynnette Tarkington is a real-life final girl who survived a massacre. For more than a decade, she’s been meeting with five other final girls and their therapist in a support group for those who survived the unthinkable, working to put their lives back together. Then one woman misses a meeting, and their worst fears are realized — someone knows about the group and is determined to rip their lives apart again, piece by piece.

But the thing about final girls is that no matter how bad the odds, how dark the night, how sharp the knife, they will never, ever give up.

 

Under the Blade by Matt Serafini

It’s been twenty-five years since Cyrus Hoyt’s infamous killing spree at Camp Forest Grove. A quarter-century since teenage counselor Melanie Holden left him mortally wounded and escaped with her life.

Today, Melanie’s teaching career has bottomed out and left her with no choice but to return to the scene of the crime. Motivated by a lucrative publishing offer, as well as a desire to free herself from recurring nightmares, Melanie’s research into the murderer’s life brings resistance from all directions as she uncovers skeletons in Forest Grove’s past.

Because of Melanie, a long-held secret is about to be revealed–one that somebody is willing to kill for in order to protect. And Melanie is going to discover she has a lot more to lose than just her mind.

The stalk-and-slash suspense of Friday the 13th meets the small town mystery of Sharp Objects in this white-knuckle horror story of a final girl’s revenge.

Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark

In 1915, The Birth of a Nation cast a spell across America, swelling the Klan’s ranks and drinking deep from the darkest thoughts of white folk. All across the nation they ride, spreading fear and violence among the vulnerable. They plan to bring Hell to Earth. But even Ku Kluxes can die.

Standing in their way is Maryse Boudreaux and her fellow resistance fighters, a foul-mouthed sharpshooter and a Harlem Hellfighter. Armed with blade, bullet, and bomb, they hunt their hunters and send the Klan’s demons straight to Hell. But something awful’s brewing in Macon, and the war on Hell is about to heat up.

Can Maryse stop the Klan before it ends the world?

 

Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin

Beth and Fran spend their days traveling the ravaged New England coast, hunting feral men and harvesting their organs in a gruesome effort to ensure they’ll never face the same fate.

Robbie lives by his gun and one hard-learned motto: other people aren’t safe.

After a brutal accident entwines the three of them, this found family of survivors must navigate murderous TERFs, a sociopathic billionaire bunker brat, and awkward relationship dynamics ― all while outrunning packs of feral men, and their own demons.

 

 

Reprieve by James Han Mattson

On April 27, 1997, four contestants make it to the final cell of the Quigley House, a full-contact haunted escape room in Lincoln, Nebraska, made famous for its monstrosities, booby-traps, and ghoulishly costumed actors. If the group can endure these horrors without shouting the safe word, “reprieve,” they’ll win a substantial cash prize — a startling feat accomplished only by one other group in the house’s long history. But before they can complete the challenge, a man breaks into the cell and kills one of the contestants.

Those who were present on that fateful night lend their points of view: Kendra Brown, a teenager who’s been uprooted from her childhood home after the sudden loss of her father; Leonard Grandton, a desperate and impressionable hotel manager caught in a series of toxic entanglements; and Jaidee Charoensuk, a gay international student who came to the United States in a besotted search for his former English teacher. As each character’s journey unfurls and overlaps, deceit and misunderstandings fueled by obsession and prejudice are revealed, forcing all to reckon with the ways in which their beliefs and actions contributed to a horrifying catastrophe.

 

Black History Month Spotlight

Black Books to Read All Year Long

February is Black History Month, and to celebrate we invited some of our favorite Black bookish influencers to share a book recommendation by a Black author. Check out these recommendations and give our featured influencers a follow! 

Ahtiya | @bookinitwithahtiya

I am a native New Yorker currently teaching ELA to middle schoolers as I build up my Etsy shop cliente and expand into other entrepreneurial avenues. I’ve been an avid reader since I was a child and always have a book with me in some format. My favorite genres include Fantasy, Historical Fiction, and Contemporary Romance, and I’ve been exploring my taste in Horror, as well. I don’t genre-discriminate, though; I’ll read just about anything if the plot interests me!

Take A Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert is one of my favorite books of all time because of how it deftly mixes hilarity, the fake dating trope, and depression and anxiety representation without missing a beat. My reading experience with this book was cathartic and filled with bellyaching laughs, as well as moments of contemplation and simply feeling seen. Take A Hint, Dani Brown is a gem of a book.

Kat | @booksenvogue 

I’m just a MLIS (Master of Library and Information Science) grad student and book cosplayer sharing my favorite titles with representation online.  When I’m not studying, you can find me either reading aloud to my new puppy, Yemaya, or researching my ancestry. I read for self-care, and I aspire to one day serve as your go-to neighborhood librarian aiding in your reading enjoyment. 

Because there aren’t enough novels that deal with infertility and pregnancy loss in the Black community, I highly recommend Caul Baby by Morgan Jerkins. This fantasy book read like a contemporary story I was eager to believe and filled with the magical healing I was in denial about needing.

Cayla | @bookitqueen    

Hi everyone, my name is Cayla! From the time I was a kid, I’ve always looked forward to library trips where I could find books with characters who looked like me. I love highlighting books by Black authors and books that may not be popular at the time while tapping into 90s nostalgia. Outside of reading, I enjoy sending snail mail, cruising with my partner, and collecting enamel pins!

I love recommending The City We Became by Three-Time Hugo Award-Winning Author N.K. Jemisin to folks! The premise and characters are so fascinating to me that I constantly think about who would represent cities around the world. When I first read it during the pandemic, I couldn’t stop thinking or talking about it, and there’s a newly published sequel, The World We Make!

Deanna | @deannareadsandsleeps

Hi! I’m Deanna, I’m a late 20s girlie, and I love yelling about books! I’ve tried to be a little quieter but this passion of mine is quite serious, so I’ve moved on to acceptance. While I’m down for anything that catches my eye (send me recs please), you can mostly catch me reading fantasy, sci-fi, contemporary, manga, and a memoir here or there. Shoutout to naps and iced coffee for keeping me going.

The Fifth Season (Broken Earth Trilogy) by N.K. Jemisin is no secret but I still keep running into readers who haven’t jumped into that world yet! Why!? I’ve never seen characters grow (or break) like this, and along with world-building that’s unlike any other, it’s a tale that’s sat with me for YEARS and I can’t recommend it enough! I’m looking forward to rereading it and destroying myself within its pages once more!

Content warning for The Fifth Season: child death, graphic violence, and genocide.

Bri | @bookstarbri

My name is Bri and I’ve been a bookstagrammer for nearly 2 years! My favorite genres are fantasy, sci-fi, and horror. As well as reading, I love writing and pretty anything having to do with books. Sharing BIPOC books with readers is truly one of my favorite things to do!

A book I recommend to anyone who will listen is The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson. It reshapes Stephen King’s Carrie into a nuanced story with compelling themes and a stunning narrative with a complex cast of characters!

Candace | @shygirlediting

Hi, my name is Candace and I live in a small town. So reading offers a way to explore without leaving the comfort of my home. My favorite genre is thrillers, in Adult and YA. But I have started branching into literary fiction, romance, and historical fiction. When I am not reading you can find me playing a game on my phone, watching a tv show, or watching a movie. 

An author that I always recommend is Nora Deloach. Her Mama Detective series is so good. This series is about a woman and her daughter that solves crimes in and around their hometown. My favorite part about these books is the endings. Everyone involved in the case, except the murderer, comes to her house for a home-cooked meal. The ending reminds me of my family on Sundays and the holidays. Sadly, the author is no longer with us, but I am so thankful that she created this series.

Alexia | @bookishends, http://www.bookishends.com/

I’m a beta/sensitivity reader, book blogger, and bookstagrammer that loves highlighting Black and queer books and has a soft spot for anything mythology related.

We Deserve Monuments is one of my new favorites. It’s the kind of book that creeps up on you until you’re at the end and amazed at what you just read. The story is YA with a slow burn mystery, sweet and messy romance, and complicated family relationships.

Reneé | @rensbookishspace

Hi there! I’m Reneé, a Jamaican girl spreading my love for reading. My first loves are thrillers and mysteries but I’ll read just about anything. My platform, RensBookishSpace, was created out of a desire to interact with readers alike and to encourage others to start reading or to read more. 

My book recommendation is Island Queen by Vanessa Riley. This book tells the true life story of Dorothy Kirwan, a black woman who rose against the odds and became one of the wealthiest entrepreneurs in the colonial West Indies. Not only is her story inspiring, it’s a great way to learn about Caribbean history.

Naomie | @naesreadingnook

My name is Naomie and I’m a Haitian-American wife, mom, believer and bookstagrammer. I love reading from diverse authors with views and experiences that are different from mine. I also enjoy reading memoirs and some self-help books that challenge me to be and do better! I’m a bit of a bookaholic and can talk about books for hours if you let me. 

I’m recommending the book Playing a New Game A Black Woman’s Guide to Being Well and Thriving in the Workplace by  Tammy Lewis Wilborn, PhD. In it, Wilborn gives explicit examples of exactly how we can set boundaries and how to respond when others appear to try to overstep. She talks about how to best gain mental clarity and provides self-reflection exercises— which I personally found to be so helpful in all my relationships at work and even personally. 

Aisha | @aishathebibliophile

About me: I am an avid reader and blogger who enjoys critically engaging with books and reading widely. My favourite genres are literary fiction, poetry and short stories, and I am a big fan of reading backlist books.

The book I recommend is The Street by Ann Petry because the writing is stunning, and despite the time it was written, this devastating story holds a lot of relevance to the world we live in today. Its central character is a Black single mother, and we get an insight into navigating what life was like in 1940s America with all the implications and limitations attached to that.

Ashley | @strikingbooks_lover

Hello, my name is Ashley. I’m from Michigan. I’m a mom of a teenager (wish me luck 😂) and have been married to my high school sweetheart for seven years.  I love to read thrillers, and my new favorite genre is smut. I’m a big foodie. I love to try different food and restaurants, but nothing beats pizza 🍕

My favorite book is Take Hint Dani Brown. The book is hilarious and pretty steamy. It’s the perfect book to binge on a lazy day.

Sarah | @bookishandblack 

Sarah Coquillat is the bookstagrammer behind Bookish and Black. A lifelong reader, Sarah turned to social media as a place to build community and foster conversation around books, particularly those written by and featuring people of color. She has been featured on Girls Night In, TheEveryGirl, and more. You can find her on Instagram, subscribe to her newsletter or listen to her podcast, Bound to Happen.

I’m recommending Wash Day Diaries by Jamila Rowser and Robyn Smith. It’s a graphic novel that follows four best friends through several connected short story comics. It follows the four women through the ups and downs of their daily lives in the Bronx. The title and the stories come from the theme and thread found in each comic- the experience of Wash Day as a Black woman. The novel uses that experience to give us a window into the lives of each of the women. I don’t typically read graphic novels but as a Black woman, I absolutely loved this story and felt so seen in each of the characters.

Shonte | @mybookscafe_

My name is Shonte and I’m from Guyana. I first developed my love of reading back in high school and I’ve been reading ever since. Genres I like are romance, fantasy and mystery.

A book I recommend: Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry by Joya Goffney. This was one of the best books I read in 2022. It’s fun, nostalgic and inspiring

Amivi | Bookstagram: @amivireads, Booktok: @amivireads

Hi my name is Amivi, I’m a 24 and run a booktok account under the name amivireads. My account primarily focuses on black and sapphic books. 

D’Vaughn and Kris Plan A Wedding is one of my favorite black books especially since it has black lesbian representation. This book made me feel so seen because finding books that represent both of my identities can be hard at times.

Marissa | @marissareadsitall

My name is Marissa and I am a 24-year-old teacher and book lover residing in South Florida. My love for books is fueled by my love for learning. I believe we can learn so much about ourselves and others through reading everything from sociological nonfiction to our beloved spicy romances.

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, a short story collection by Deesha Philyaw: These stories are tales of complicated women whose lives are plagued by dissatisfaction. Deesha’s prose is raw, pearl clutching, and calls the reader to consider how our inner desires, spirituality, and the values of the cultures we are raised in intersect to inform our public and private lives.