Most Anticipated Reads for the Rest of Us 2022

The Feminist Know-It-All: You know her. You can’t stand her. Good thing she’s not here! Instead, this column by gender and women’s studies librarian Karla Strand will amplify stories of the creation, access, use and preservation of knowledge by women and girls around the world; share innovative projects and initiatives that focus on information, literacies, libraries and more; and, of course, talk about all of the books.


Through this column, I provide Ms. readers with a list of new books being published by writers from historically excluded groups.

The aims of the column are threefold:

  1. I want to do my part in the disruption of what has been the acceptable “norm” in the book world for far too long—white, cis, heterosexual, male;
  2. I want to amplify amazing works by writers who are women, Black, Indigenous, Latinx, APIA/AAPI, international, LGBIA+, TGNC, queer, disabled, fat, immigrant, Muslim, neurodivergent, sex-positive or of other historically marginalized identities—you know, the rest of us; and
  3. I want to challenge and encourage you all to buy, borrow and read them! 

You’ve seen the other “most anticipated books for 2022” lists, now read this one… you know, for the rest of us!

I have spent the last few months scouring catalogs and websites, receiving hundreds of books and even more emails from authors, publicists and publishers, reading your book Tweets and DMs, all to find out what books are coming out in 2022 that I think you, my exceptional, inquisitive and discerning Ms. readers, will want to hear about. 

There are 101 books on this list and honestly, for each one I’ve included here, there are at least two (or 10) other great books coming out by women of color, queer and gender-diverse folx that I could’ve picked. It was near impossible to choose from among them, and that is so great! I’ve been a professional book jockey for 15+ years and I am encouraged to see more books each year that reflect the lives we actually lead. There’s always more work to be done and more to be written, but I’ve reason to be hopeful. So let’s get to it!

The fine print:

  • You’ll notice the list is front-loaded because, well, we know about more books coming out in the next few months than those coming in the fall. 
  • Release dates are always subject to change, especially for books due to come out later in the year.
  • I include nonfiction and academic titles because I know you are smart people who are always learning! 
  • I also include young adult (YA) books because they are often on the cutting edge in terms of character inclusion and candor about the realities of the world in which we live.
  • I don’t include poetry (SORRY!) only because the list is already so long but watch for my poetry round-up coming in April.  
  • I am certain to have missed some fine new books or just decided not to include others. (That’s why it’s a damn good thing I give you a list of new releases every month so be sure to come back to check those out.) 

TL;DR: Here’s your TBR for the year! 

most-anticipated-feminist-books-women-lgbtq-writers-reads-for-the-rest-of-us-2022

I hope you enjoy; I’m sure you’ll find plenty here that certain school districts will try banning in the near future. 

Thanks for your continued support and I always love to hear about what you are reading and writing, so keep the emails, tweets and DMs a-coming!   


January

Abolition. Feminism. Now. 

By Angela Y. Davis, Gina Dent, Erica R. Meiners and Beth E. Richie. Haymarket Books. 264 pages. Out now.

Hard-hitting and necessary; read it if you haven’t already. 

The Black Agenda: Bold Solutions for a Broken System

Edited by Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman (@itsafronomics). St. Martin’s Press. 272 pages. Out now.

This is an ode to Black experts and their solutions to contemporary issues in the US. Consider it #RequiredReading.

Breath Better Spent: Living Black Girlhood 

By DaMaris B. Hill (@damarishill). Bloomsbury. 176 pages. Out now.

Hill’s offered readers a moving narrative-in-verse ode to the innocence, wonder and complexities of Black girlhood.

Love, Activism, and the Respectable Life of Alice Dunbar-Nelson

By Tara T. Green (@DrTTGreen). Bloomsbury Academic. 280 pages. Out now. 

This is the first book-length biography of the trailblazing activist, writer, suffragist and educator, Alice Dunbar-Nelson, and it’s remarkably researched and written.

South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation 

By Imani Perry (@imaniperry). Ecco. 432 pages. Out now. 

Part memoir, part history, part travelogue, this lush volume pays homage to the South, with its unique stories, multiple identities and imperfect evolutions.

You Don’t Know Us Negroes and Other Essays 

By Zora Neale Hurston. Amistad. 464 pages. Out now. 

I’m thankful for the first comprehensive collection of Zora Neale Hurston’s essays and articles, spanning 35 years, which illustrate the evolution of the time and the writer. 


February

Black Cake: A Novel

By Charmaine Wilkerson (@charmspen1). Ballantine Books. 400 pages. Out now. 

This debut about family secrets and journeys of the heart is getting rave reviews. 

In the Shadow of the Mountain: A Memoir of Courage

By Silvia Vasquez-Lavado (@silviavasla). Henry Holt & Co. 320 pages. Out now. 

This is a truly invigorating and compelling story of a heroic healing journey to base camp at Mt. Everest.

Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century

By Kim Fu. Tin House Books. 220 pages. Out now.

This collection of kaleidoscopic speculative short stories will have you questioning reality and loving every minute of it.

What the Fireflies Knew: A Novel 

By Kai Harris (@AuthorKaiHarris). Tiny Reparations. 288 pages. Out now. 

A young girl’s difficult coming-of-age is lovingly presented in this layered and moving debut.  

Blood Feast: The Complete Short Stories of Malika Moustadraf  

Written by Malika Moustadraf and translated by Alice Guthrie. The Feminist Press at CUNY. 136 pages. Out February 8.

Now available is the complete collection of published short stories by a Moroccan feminist icon who boldly engaged with themes of feminism, sexuality and female embodiment while openly challenging patriarchal oppression and traditions.

Nobody’s Magic

By Destiny O. Birdsong (@destinyoshay). Grand Central Publishing. 368 pages. Out February 8. 

Hopeful and powerful, this is an original novel in three parts, each centering a Black woman with albinism. 

The Almond in the Apricot 

By Sara Goudarzi (@saragoud). Deep Vellum Publishing. 252 pages. Out February 15. 

This is the compelling debut about an unexpected relationship between two girls across time, space and grief.

Black American Refugee: Escaping the Narcissism of the American Dream 

By Tiffanie Drayton (@draytontiffanie). Viking. 304 pages. Out February 15. 

A Tobagonian woman, Drayton offers a unique and candid perspective of the racial stratification of the U.S. after years of chasing the dream.

The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea 

By Axie Oh (@axieoh). Feiwel & Friends. 336 pages. Out February 22. 

This is a glittering and sumptuous feminist retelling of the classic Korean folktale “The Tale of Shim Cheong.”

How I Survived a Chinese “Reeducation” Camp: A Uyghur Woman’s Story

Written by Gulbahar Haitiwaji and Rozenn Morgat. Translated by Edward Gauvin. Seven Stories Press. 240 pages. Out February 22. 

Of this urgent first memoir about the “reeducation” camps by a Uyghur woman, the author confirms: “I have written what I lived. The atrocious reality.”

Black Trans Feminism 

By Marquis Bey. Duke University Press. 304 pages. Out February 25.

In 2019, Bey’s debut collection Them Goon Rules changed me as a scholar, a feminist, an accomplice and a person; I can’t wait to see what this volume has in store.


March

Black Women and Public Health: Strategies to Name, Locate, and Change Systems of Power

Edited by Stephanie Y. Evans (@Prof_Evans), Sarita K. Davis, Leslie R. Hinkson, and Deanna J. Wathington. SUNY Press. 336 pages. Out March 1. 

This expert volume fills an urgent need for in-depth examinations of race, gender and health. 

Border Less 

By Namrata Poddar (@poddar_namrata). 7.13 Books. 176 pages. Out March 1. 

Not only does this resonant feminist debut challenge normative narratives of immigrant life, it also disrupts the notion of the Western novel in form and function. 

Burning My Roti: Breaking Barriers as a Queer Indian Woman

By Sharan Dhaliwal (@sharanshaliwal_). Hardie Grant. 208 pages. Out March 1.

It’s a memoir, it’s a guide, it’s a celebration of South Asian women. 

Assata Taught Me: State Violence, Racial Capitalism, and the Movement for Black Lives 

By Donna Murch (@murchnik). Haymarket Books. 224 pages. Out March 8.

Murch gives us an exceptional reexamination of the Black Panther Party and the Movement for Black Lives more generally through a redistributive, queer, and feminist framework.

Glory: A Novel 

By NoViolet Bulawayo. Viking. 416 pages. Out March 8.

Glory is a singular, surreal and satirical modern parable aimed at global social and political upheaval.

The Inheritance of Words: Writings from Arunachal Pradesh 

By Mamang Dai. Zubaan Books. 198 pages. Out March 8. 

This is a groundbreaking collection of writings from women from Arunachal Pradesh in Northeast India, many of which have been traditionally handed down orally.

The Intersectional Environmentalist: How to Dismantle Systems of Oppression to Protect People + Planet

By Leah Thomas (@Leahtommi). Voracious. 208 pages. Out March 8.

Eco-activist @greengirlleah shares her important work on intersectional environmentalism in this slim and accessible volume.

Lakelore 

By Anna-Marie McLemore (@laannamarie). Feiwel & Friends. 304 pages. Out March 8.

Starred reviews abound for this story of two neurodivergent, nonbinary teens pulled into a magical lake world with a lesson to teach.  

Messy Roots: A Graphic Memoir of a Wuhanese American 

By Laura Gao (@heylauragao). Balzer + Bray. 272 pages. Out March 8.

Laura Gao shares her story of being a queer, Wuhanese American daughter of immigrants in Texas… in the middle of the COVID pandemic.  

Panpocalypse 

By Carley Moore (@fragmentedsky). Amethyst Editions. 208 pages. Out March 8.

Moore’s latest features a queer, poly, disabled woman journeys through NYC on her bike looking for the connections most of us lost during the pandemic. And it reads like a conversation with a friend.

Red Paint: The Ancestral Autobiography of a Coast Salish Punk 

By Sasha LaPointe (@sasha_louise_lapointe). Counterpoint. 208 pages. Out March 8.

I love this poetically punk debut memoir about ancestry, loss, colonialism, rebuilding, power, hope and healing. 

Seeking Fortune Elsewhere

By Sindya Bhanoo (@sindyabhanoo). Catapult. 240 pages. Out March 8.

This is an extraordinary debut collection centering the complex and diverse experiences of South Asian immigrants.

Squire 

Written by Nadia Shammas (@Nadia_Shammas_) and illustrated by Sara Alfageeh (@foofination). Quill Tree Books. 336 pages. Out March 8.

This graphic novel features a young heroine challenging tradition, patriarchy and imperialism in an expansive and fantastical world. Also watch for Shammas’ Where Black Stars Rise coming this fall. 

The Way Spring Arrives and Other Stories

Edited by Yu Chen and Regina Kanyu Wang (@regina_kanyu). Tordotcom. 400 pages. Out March 8.

To paraphrase the accurate subtitle, this is an original and visionary collection of Chinese science fiction and fantasy by women and nonbinary creators.  

A Ballad of Love and Glory: A Novel 

By Reyna Grande (@reynagrande). Atria Books. 384 pages. Out March 15.

From the bestselling author comes this new historical romance saga set during the Mexican-American War. And in June, check out Somewhere We are Human: Authentic Voices on Migration, Survival, and New Beginnings, edited by Grande and Sonia Guiñansaca (@theSoniaG).

The Cartographers: A Novel

By Peng Shepherd (@pengshepherd). William Morrow. 400 pages. Out March 15.

If you loved The Book of M as much as I did, you don’t want to miss Shepherd’s latest mysterious adventure of speculative brilliance.  

Vagabonds! A Novel 

By Eloghosa Osunde. Riverhead Books. 320 pages. Out March 15.

Set in Nigeria, this imaginative novel features a bounty of characters, queerness, fantasy and realism. 

When We Were Birds: A Novel 

By Ayanna Lloyd Banwo (@ayaroots). Doubleday. 304 pages. Out March 15. 

Bestselling author Marlon James says this debut Trinidadian love story “might just heal you.”

My Volcano 

By John Elizabeth Stintzi (@JEStintzi). Two Dollar Radio. 330 pages. Out March 22. 

I will read anything that comes from JES’s twisted imagination and love it. This ingenious, insightful, unconventional and expansive eco-horror is no exception. 


April

Khabaar: An Immigrant Journey of Food, Memory, and Family 

By Madhushree Ghosh (@WriteMadhushree). University of Iowa Press. 212 pages. Out April 4. 

I’m thrilled that food memoirs are a thing and can’t wait to dive into this South Asian delicacy.

America, Goddam: Violence, Black Women, and the Struggle for Justice 

By Treva B. Lindsey (@divafeminist). University of California Press. 342 pages. Out April 5. 

The title says it all: It’s urgent we reckon with violence against Black women and girls, past and present, and fight for a liberated future.

Burning Butch 

By R/B Mertz (@rbmertz). Unnamed Press. 374 pages. Out April 5.

Trans/nonbinary butch poet R/B Mertz challenges religion, conservatism and tradition in this powerful memoir.

The Color of the Sky Is the Shape of the Heart 

Written by Chesil and translated by Takami Nieda (@tnieda). Soho Teen. 168 pages. Out April 5.

In English for the first time is the stunning debut novel by the award-winning Chesil, who writes of being Zainichi, an ethnic Korean born in Japan. 

Dreams Bigger Than Heartbreak 

By Charlie Jane Anders (@charliejane). Tor Teen. 320 pages. Out April 5.

If you’ve not read Anders before, treat yourself to the super-fun “Unstoppable” series, of which this is book two. 

Easy Beauty: A Memoir 

By Chloé Cooper Jones (@ccooperjones). Avid Reader Press. 288 pages. Out April 5.

Jones has given us a remarkable, no-holds-barred debut memoir about motherhood, disability and visibility. 

Four Treasures of the Sky: A Novel 

By Jenny Tinghui Zhang (@sunspotletters). Flatiron Books. 336 pages. Out April 5. 

This historical novel centers a young Chinese heroine trying to make her way in the West against the backdrop of the Chinese Exclusion Act. 

If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English: A Novel 

By Noor Naga (@noor_naga). Graywolf Press. 192 pages. Out April 5.

The last part of this complex and wholly original three-part novel brings it to a whole other level. I loved it.  

Memphis: A Novel 

By Tara M. Stringfellow (@tarastringfellow). Dial Press. 272 pages. Out April 5.

This character-driven story of three generations of Southern Black women was called “a stellar debut” by beloved writer Jacqueline Woodson. 

Post-Traumatic 

By Chantal V. Johnson (@chantalvjohnson). Little, Brown and Company. 320 pages. Out April 5.

Johnson’s debut is a captivatingly raw, funny and relatable take on the survivor narrative.  

Probably Ruby: A Novel

By Lisa Bird-Wilson (Métis and nêhiyaw). Hogarth. 288 pages. Out April 5. 

Telling the story of an Indigenous woman adopted by white parents, Bird-Wilson has filled a glaring gap in contemporary lit while proving to be a bold and necessary new voice. 

Torn Apart: How the Child Welfare System Destroys Black Families–and How Abolition Can Build a Safer World 

By Dorothy Roberts (@dorothyeroberts). Basic Books. 384 pages. Out April 5. 

Award-winning scholar Roberts provides an overdue and urgent examination of this country’s racist child welfare system, which has its roots in colonialism, slavery and carcerality. 

The Trayvon Generation

By Elizabeth Alexander (@professorea). Grand Central Publishing. 160 pages. Out April 5. 

This is an essential read for our times by the only person who could’ve written it so exquisitely.

True Biz: A Novel

By Sara Nović (@novicsara). Random House. 400 pages. Out April 5.

Bestselling author Celeste Ng says True Biz is “Part tender coming-of-age story, part electrifying tale of political awakening, part heartfelt love letter to Deaf culture” and “wholly a wonder.”

Gathering Blossoms Under Fire: The Journals of Alice Walker, 1965–2000 

Written by Alice Walker and edited by Valerie Boyd. Simon & Schuster. 560 pages. Out April 12.

The edited journals of Alice Walker. I’ve been anxiously awaiting this one!

Take My Hand 

By Dolen Perkins-Valdez (@dolen). Berkley. 368 pages. Out April 12.

This is a searing and ultimately hopeful novel about (in)justice and the importance of learning from history. 

A Tiny Upward Shove: A Novel 

By Melissa Chadburn (@melissachadburn). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 352 pages. Out April 12. 

Inspired by the author’s Filipino heritage and its folklore, this unflinching debut explores two outcasts whose lives overlap in death. 

Woman, Eating: A Novel

By Claire Kohda. HarperVia. 240 pages. Out April 12.

Can’t wait to sink my teeth into this fresh take on the vampire novel from a debut author on the rise.

Forbidden City: A Novel 

By Vanessa Hua (@vanessa_hua). Ballantine Books. 368 pages. Out April 19. 

Hua’s latest provides a unique perspective on China’s Cultural Revolution by centering a young revolutionary who becomes the confidant and lover of Mao Zedong. 

The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer 

By Janelle Monáe (@janellemonae). Harper Voyager. 336 pages. Out April 19. 

Um, it’s Janelle Monáe’s queer, wildly liberatory, Afrofuturist dream on paper. So yes, I wanna read it!

A Feminist Theory of Violence: A Decolonial Perspective 

Written by Françoise Vergès (@phamthikang)and translated by Melissa Thackway. Pluto Press. 160 pages. Out April 20. 

When Angela Davis refers to a book as “a robust, decolonial challenge to carceral feminism,” I read it. And you should too.

Dandelion 

By Jamie Chai Yun Liew (@thechaiyun). Arsenal Pulp Press. 336 pages. Out April 26.

This award-winning debut focuses on family secrets, motherhood, mental health and migration. 

Kaikeyi: A Novel 

By Vaishnavi Patel (@vaishnawrites). Redhook. 496 pages. Out April 26.

This reimagination of the life of the queen in the Indian epic the Ramayana makes for a rich and engrossing debut. 


May 

The Immortal King Rao: A Novel

By Vauhini Vara (@vauhinivara). W.W. Norton & Co. 384 pages. Out May 3.

Vara has gifted us a disarming and engaging debut about a techno-capitalist climate-changed world run by corporations and the woman trying to save it.

You’ve Changed: Fake Accents, Feminism, and Other Comedies from Myanmar

By Pyae Moe Thet War (@pyaestries). Catapult. 224 pages. Out May 3. 

Brilliantly filling a gap in lit from Myanmar, this debut essay collection covers feminism, race, tradition, colonization and more.  

Abolition Geography: Essays Towards Liberation 

By Ruth Wilson Gilmore (@rwgilmoregirls). Verso. 480 pages. Out May 10. 

This is an essential collection of writings from one of the most important thinkers on abolition, geography and racism of our time. Also check out Change Everything: Racial Capitalism and the Case for Abolition, due out from Haymarket Books in October. 

Bitter Orange Tree 

Written by Jokha Alharthi (@jokha_alharthi) and translated by Marilyn Booth. Catapult. 224 pages. Out May 10.

From the first Omani woman to have a novel translated into English, this remarkable novel centers the evolution of one woman’s agency, power and relationships.

Siren Queen

By Nghi Vo (@nghivowriting). Tordotcom. 288 pages. Out May 10. 

If you haven’t read Nghi Vo in the past, I encourage you to start with her latest seductively speculative standalone. Be sure to also check out the Singing Hills Cycle, the third installment of which, Into the Riverlands, is due out in October.

Ma and Me: A Memoir 

By Putsata Reang. MCD. 400 pages. Out May 17.

In her heartfelt and evocative memoir, Reang grapples with familial relationships, displacement and historical legacies of trauma as a queer Cambodian refugee. 

Neruda on the Park: A Novel 

By Cleyvis Natera (@cleyvisnatera). Ballantine Books. 336 pages. Out May 17. 

Bestselling author Robert Jones, Jr. calls this debut “a loud triumph that caresses like a whisper.” I can’t wait to give it a listen.

We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies 

By Tsering Yangzom Lama (@tseringylama). Bloomsbury Publishing. 368 pages. Out May 17.

This is a moving debut centering the little-known experiences of Tibetan exiles, told through the lives of four people throughout 50 years.

You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty: A Novel 

By Akwaeke Emezi (@azemezi). Atria Books. 288 pages. Out May 24. 

Akwaeke Emezi is one of my favorite writers and this novel turns the typical love story on its head. Also check out Emezi’s latest YA novel, Bitter, out in February.

The Merciless Ones

By Namina Forna (@naminaforna). Delacorte Press. 464 pages. Out May 31.  

I’ve eagerly waited for this fantastic, feminist, epic sequel to The Gilded Ones

Sex Is as Sex Does: Governing Transgender Identity 

By Paisley Currah (@paisleycurrah). NYU Press. 256 pages. Out May 31.

This volume will change the way we think, talk about and work for (trans)gender policy and justice.


June 

Border Bodies: Racialized Sexuality, Sexual Capital, and Violence in the Nineteenth-Century Borderlands 

By Bernadine Marie Hernández (@berna18). University of North Carolina Press. 244 pages. Out June 7. 

This important, nuanced volume shines a light on the importance of Mexicana, Nuevomexicana, Californiana, and Tejana women in the evolution of the U.S. (south)west.

Brown Neon 

By Raquel Gutiérrez (@raquefella). Coffee House Press. 200 pages. Out June 7.

In their essential debut collection of essays, Gutiérrez examines class, queerness, aesthetics, citizenship and borders.

Buffalo Is the New Buffalo 

By Chelsea Vowel (Métis) (@apihtawikosisan). Arsenal Pulp Press. 272 pages. Out June 7.

Doing speculative and science fiction through a Métis framework, Chelsea Vowel challenges, entertains and becomes the voice of Indigenous futurism. 

A Down Home Meal for These Difficult Times: Stories

By Meron Hadero (@meronhadero). Restless Books. 224 pages. Out June 7.

This collection of stories not only won the 2020 Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing but also the 2021 AKO Caine Prize for African Writing, so I am all in.

Last Summer on State Street: A Novel 

By Toya Wolfe (@toyawolves). William Morrow. 224 pages. Out June 7.

I’m super-excited to read this debut coming-of-age story about a Chicago woman grappling with notions of home, history and relationships in the face of injustice.  

Muddy People: A Muslim Coming of Age 

By Sara El Sayed (@sarakelsayed). Greystone Books. 256 pages. Out June 7.

From a fresh new voice, this witty, touching memoir illuminates what it’s like to grow up Egyptian and Muslim in Australia.

Woman of Light: A Novel

By Kali Fajardo-Anstine (@kalimafaja). One World. 336 pages. Out June 7.

This unforgettable epic Western saga spans five generations of an Indigenous Chicano family—their lives, loves, secrets, stories.

Warrior Princesses Strike Back: How Lakota Twins Fight Oppression and Heal through Connectedness 

By Sarah Eagle Heart (@ms_eagleheart) and Emma Eagle Heart-White. The Feminist Press at CUNY. 296 pages. Out June 21.

These sisters take healing into their own hands with this part-memoir, part-guidebook that’s focused on strategies of Indigenous knowledge, collectivism and reciprocity.

Rehearsals for Living

By Robyn Maynard (@policingblack) and Leanne Betasamosake Simpson (Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg). Haymarket Books. 320 pages. Out June 28.

Bear witness to the dialogue between two of our most brilliant contemporary writers and activists as they grapple with creating a new way forward.


July

Fruit Punch: A Memoir 

By Kendra Allen. Ecco. 208 pages. Out July 5.

As a fan of Allen’s previous writing, I am looking forward to reading her memoir of Black girlhood, family, rebellion and coming of age in the South.

Big Girl: A Novel 

By Mecca Jamilah Sullivan (@mecca_jamilah). Liveright. 320 pages. Out July 12.

Of this novel centering Black girlhood, Kiese Laymon has said: “I know I have just read and reread a new American classic that we as a culture and country desperately need.”

The Man Who Could Move Clouds: A Memoir 

By Ingrid Rojas Contreras (@ingrid_rojas_c). Doubleday. 320 pages. Out July 12.

Contreras’ 2018 debut, Fruit of the Drunken Tree, was one of my favorites of the year, so I look forward to reading the memoir that R.O. Kwon calls “the work of a genius.”

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau 

By Silvia Moreno-Garcia (@silviamg). Del Rey. 320 pages. Out July 19.

This Island of Doctor Moreau retelling is set in 19th-century Mexico and written by the bestselling author of Mexican Gothic

Abolition Feminisms Vol. 1: Organizing, Survival, and Transformative Practice

Edited by Alisa Bierria, Jakeya Caruthers and Brooke Lober (@brookespeeking). Haymarket Books. 270 pages. Out July 26.

This groundbreaking analysis examines abolition based in Black and women of color feminisms, anti-violence organizing, survivor knowledge production, radical strategizing and more. 

Pina

Written by Titaua Peu and translated by Jeffrey Zuckerman. Restless Books. 320 pages. Out July 26.

Available for the first time in English, this powerful novel centers a Tahitian girl trying to hold her family together in the face of the struggles wrought by colonialism.


August 

Asian American Histories of the United States 

By Catherine Ceniza Choy (@ccenizachoy). Beacon Press. 240 pages. Out August 2.

While you are waiting for this one, you can catch up by reading the other spectacular volumes in the ReVisioning History series from Beacon Press (including A Black Women’s History, A Disability History, A Queer History, An Indigenous Peoples’ History, and more).

Our Voice of Fire: A Story of Survival and Pursuit for Justice 

By Brandi Morin (Cree/Iroquois/French) (@Songstress28). House of Anansi Press. 232 pages. Out August 2.

Written by a survivor, this is one of two sorely needed memoirs/investigations on this list about the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women.

The Portable Anna Julia Cooper 

Edited by Shirley Moody-Turner (@docmoodyturner). Penguin Classics. 592 pages. Out August 9.

This collection brings together Cooper’s major essays as well as previously unpublished poems, plays, correspondence and journalism.

The Book Eaters 

By Sunyi Dean (@Blind_Nycteris). Tor Books. 304 pages. Out August 9.

This fantasy debut combines motherhood and monsterhood, queerness and cautionary tales. 

The Last Karankawas: A Novel 

By Kimberly Garza (@kimrgarza). Henry Holt & Co. 288 pages. Out August 9. 

This is the singular debut novel about a Mexican and Filipino American family along the coast of Texas said to be descended from the Karankawas, an extinct Texan tribe.

The Women Could Fly: A Novel 

By Megan Giddings (@megiddings). Amistad. 368 pages. Out August 9.

Giddings’s creepy debut Lakewood knocked my socks off, so I am in line for her next feminist dystopian thriller.

The Oleander Sword (The Burning Kingdoms, 2)

By Tasha Suri (@tashadrinkstea). Orbit. 512 pages. Out August 16.

I love a good fantasy novel and I love a fantasy series even more. And this series is fantastic. Also check out Suri’s take on Wuthering Heights with What Souls Are Made Of (out July 5).

Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of The Oxford Translators’ Revolution 

By R. F. Kuang (@kuangrf). Harper Voyager. 560 pages. Out August 23.

From the writer of the Poppy War trilogy comes a wholly unique new fantasy that explores language and translation in imperialism. 

Racial Innocence: Unmasking Latino Anti-Black Bias and the Struggle for Equality 

By Tanya Katerí Hernández (@ProfessorTKH). Beacon Press. 208 pages. Out August 23.

Kimberlé Crenshaw calls this “a critical race theory tour de force for understanding Latino anti-Black bias, from the most important Afro-Latina voice on civil rights today.”

Lady Joker, Volume 2 

Written by Kaoru Takamura. Translated by Allison Markin Powell and Marie Iida. Soho Crime. Out August 30.

If you haven’t read Lady Joker 1, the English-language debut of Japan’s masterful writer Kaoru Takamura, you have plenty of time before the sequel drops! 


Autumn

Year of the Tiger: An Activist’s Life 

By Alice Wong (@SFdirewolf). Vintage. 352 pages. Out September 6.

This is the essential memoir from the founder of the Disability Visibility Project.

How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water: A Novel

By Angie Cruz (@acruzwriter). Flatiron Books. 208 pages. Out September 13. 

From the author of Dominicana comes a new novel brilliantly illustrating the importance of telling one’s story.

Foul Lady Fortune 

By Chloe Gong (@thechloegong). Margaret K. McElderry Books. 528 pages. Out September 27.

I loved the These Violent Delights duet, so of course, I am ready for another thrilling crime fantasy extravaganza!

Unbroken: My Story of Survival and My Fight for Justice and Hope for Indigenous Women and Girls 

By Angela Sterritt (Gitanmaax band of the Gitxsan nation) (@AngelaSterritt). Greystone Books. 312 pages. Out September 27.  

There’s the second memoir/investigation of missing and murdered Indigenous women on this list, from a Gitxsan journalist who experienced life on the streets and survived.

Movements & Moments 

Edited by Sonja Eismann, Maya Schöningh and Ingo Schöningh. Drawn & Quarterly. 308 pages. Out in October.

I’m excited to see the outcome of an open call across 42 countries to spotlight feminist movements and advocacies for Indigenous rebellions in the Global South, a project with the Goethe-Institut Indonesien in Jakarta.

Sinister Graves 

By Marcie R. Rendon (White Earth Nation) (@MarcieRendon). Soho Crime. 240 pages. Out October 11. 

Thank goodness, Cash Blackbear is back! If you like a good mystery, this will be right up your alley.

And a sneak peek at what else is coming later this year…

  • At Certain Points We Touch by Lauren John Joseph
  • The Birdcatcher by Gayl Jones
  • Black Skinhead by Brandi Collins-Dexter 
  • Ocean’s Echo by Everina Maxwell 
  • River Woman, River Demon by Jennifer Givhan 
  • Devil’s Gun by Cat Rambo
  • On the Rooftop by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton
  • Forgive Me Not By Jennifer Baker
  • The Furrows by Namwali Serpell 
  • And will the Untitled Chelsea Manning Memoir finally be a thing we can read?? When I last checked, it was listed for release in October. Hope springs eternal!

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About

Karla J. Strand is the gender and women’s studies librarian for the University of Wisconsin. She completed her doctorate in information science via University of Pretoria in South Africa with a background in history and library science, and her research centers on the role of libraries and knowledge in empowering women and girls worldwide. Tweet her @karlajstrand.