Banthology – Edited by Sarah Cleave

Short collection of short stories by authors from Trumps’ Muslim ban countries (authors are from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen). Each story was more powerful than the last – from the woman who follows the ghost of her mother into exile from Somalia to the homeless Iraqi woman in Britain nonchalantly recounting …

Mostly Dead Things – Kristen Arnett

Who doesn’t love taxidermy, parental suicide, and a family falling apart in the aftermath? No? I do love a dark tale. And I loved this book. Arnett’s characters are quirky and lovable. Her eye for how we all act out inner pain and become blind to those closest to us are what makes a novelist …

We Have Always Lived in the Castle – Shirley Jackson

The village peasants are revolting. A classic short by the mistress of horror, this tale follows our witchy, murderous family and the town’s antipathy toward them. We see the women, isolated and feared, only becoming more-so. Honestly, it seemed like a great ending to me – not scary at all! But I’m a bit of …

Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? – Beverly Daniel Tatum

Academic but not dry, Tatum’s book is an updated version of her original (published in 1997, revised in 2017), the unfortunate statistics and studies about American racism remain the same. Tatum talks about growing up as a person of color in America and the stages of understanding your culture, Asian American rejection and assimilation, the …

Infinite Distraction – Dominic Pettman

A great find from a Little Free Library. A fast, fascinating read on social media and whether it is the kind of distraction we think it is. “…for instance, news coverage of race riots now distracts from the potential reality and repercussions of race riots.” Are we more informed now that the world is on …

The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls – Mona Eltahawy

If you’re not following Mona on social media go and do that now. I got to listen to her read a few selections from this book on Instagram at the beginning of the pandemic. She’s brilliant and unafraid. She starts everything out with, “I’m Mona Eltahawy. Fuck the patriarchy!” In this book she talks about …

Sister Outsider – Audre Lorde

Have you read Audre Lorde before? I’ve read maybe an essay here or there, but never a collection of her powerful prose bound up together in a revolutionary text. What an amazing thinker. Sadly, so much of what she writes about is still valid today (how Black women are consistently mistreated by everyone, how Black …

Ain’t I A Woman: Black Women and Feminism – bell hooks

hooks is always brilliant. This 1982 book covers how Black women in the U.S. are the most downtrodden, and by everyone else. When you think of Black, do you think Black men? When you think of Black women do you assign them the categories of “strong,” “fierce mother,” “loud” or more? When you look at …

Beasts – Joyce Carol Oates

When reading one of Oates many, many books you have to be prepared for uncomfortable sexual situations. This story involves that crush you had on your professor in college, but becomes something much more Oatesish really quickly. It’s only 138 pages, but her prose is so tight it feels like I got the story depth …

Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity – C. Riley Snorton

The subject matter is interesting, but unless you’re an academic the prose is mostly impenetrable. I felt like I needed a dictionary handy and to stop every third sentence and translate. I am not a stupid person, and I have and can read academic jargon, but lordy. This was a tough slog. I gave up …