You’ve read the other “Best of” lists—now read the other one … you know, for the rest of us. Here are Ms. magazine’s top feminist books of 2024.
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.
Each month, I provide Ms. readers with a list of new books being published by writers from historically excluded groups.
The aims of these lists are threefold:
- 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;
- 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
- I want to challenge and encourage you all to buy, borrow and read them!
You’ve read the other “Best of” lists—now read this one. You know, the one for the rest of us.
Each year, I review my monthly Reads for the Rest of Us lists and choose my favorite books of the year. It is such a wonderful challenge to narrow them down. I read so many books I enjoy, but there are always those that rise to the top, the ones I won’t—or can’t—forget.
Because I can’t include all the books, I am extra selective for my end-of-the-year list. If you’ve read my columns in the past, you know that I focus on books by women and people of the global majority. I also pay extra attention to often underrepresented independent and university presses. This usually means that I leave off some very deserving titles that are all over other major lists, and that’s true again this year. Instead, I choose to highlight similarly deserving titles that the other lists have missed. This year, I am also including two books that (for no good reason) I neglected to include in my monthly lists when they were first released but that I especially enjoyed.
So here they are, my top 46 books of 2024 in alphabetical order.
Wishing you a safe, restful, joyful and justice-filled holiday season.
Abolition: Politics, Practices, Promises, Vol. 1
By Angela Y. Davis. Haymarket. 300 pages.
Well, it’s Angela Davis, so it’s automatically a must-read. This is a collection of the brilliant thinker and activist’s essays and interviews from the last 50+ years. It’s the first of two volumes, and it is this month’s #RequiredReading.
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American Diva: Extraordinary, Unruly, Fabulous
By Deborah Paredez (@debparedez). W. W. Norton & Company. 256 pages.
Part memoir and part diva cultural history, Deborah Paredez’s latest book blew me away. When I finished reading it, I wiped my tears and immediately watched Nadine Sierra’s 2022 Met performance of the “Mad Scene” in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor—and you should, too.
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Behind You Is the Sea: A Novel
By Susan Muaddi Darraj (@susandarraj). HarperVia. 256 pages. Out Jan. 16.
Now more than ever, we must hear the voices of Palestinian writers who explore the full spectrum of their lives and experiences. In her dazzling fiction debut, Susan Muaddi Darraj explores generational divides, activism, reproductive justice, labor and tradition, to name a few.
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Black Women Taught Us: An Intimate History of Black Feminism
By Jenn M. Jackson (@jennmjacksonphd). Random House. 368 pages.
Jenn Jackson’s debut pays homage to the Black women who led movements for freedom, justice and liberation in the U.S. and around the globe. From Audre Lorde to Ida B. Wells, Jackson’s 11 critical and thoughtful essays illuminate these leaders and implore us to learn from their legacies.
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The Body Alone: A Lyrical Articulation of Chronic Pain
By Nina Lohman (@nina_lohman). University Of Iowa Press. 328 pages.
In this captivating memoir, Nina Lohman writes candidly and thoughtfully about her experiences with chronic pain. Weaving theology, philosophy and her medical records into the narrative, she brilliantly explores the liminal, paradoxical and nonlinear nature of chronic illness. It’s one of two books that are #RequiredReading this month.
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The Coin: A Novel
By Yasmin Zaher. Catapult. 240 pages.
This is the sometimes uncomfortable but always provocative story of a Palestinian woman in New York City who begins to question all that she thought she knew. With themes of embodiment, class, gender, loneliness and more, this is a striking debut. Read it, and then go back to read it again.
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Confrontations
Written by Simone Atangana Bekono. Translated by Suzanne Heukensfeldt Jansen. Bloomsbury. 192 pages. Out Jan. 30.
This debut centers on a mixed heritage teenage girl in a juvenile detention center in the Netherlands. While she committed the crime and is doing her time, she doesn’t regret it and refuses to play the games of the racist, carceral system she must endure. Bekono handles violent content with care and explores themes of family, identity, carcerality and dreams.
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Crazy Like a Fox: Adventures in Schizophrenia
By Christi Furnas (@christifurnas). Street Noise Books. 240 pages.
Based on her own experiences, Christi Furnas’s debut graphic novel tackles a tough subject with humor and simplicity. Through sweet line drawings of animal friends, Furnas helps to alleviate the stigma of a schizophrenia diagnosis, reinforces the validity of being okay (or not), and illustrates the importance of continually “working on it.”
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dear elia: Letters from the Asian American Abyss
By Mimi Khúc (@slothprof). Duke University Press. 272 pages. Out Mar. 26.
With dear elia, Mimi Khúc throws out the playbook for scholarly books published by university presses, and I am here for it. Her outstanding exploration of mental health, with particular attention paid to Asian American peoples, is focused not on wellness as we know it but on the game-changing notion that we are all “differently unwell.”
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Disability Intimacy: Essays on Love, Care, and Desire
Edited by Alice Wong (@disability_visibility). Vintage. 384 pages. Out Apr. 30.
Alice Wong has curated a groundbreaking collection of first-person narratives, poetry, photo essays, and stories on the intersections between disability and intimacy. This essential volume includes pieces by Sarah A. Young Bear-Brown, Mia Mingus, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Moya Bailey, Jaipreet Virdi, Naomi Ortiz and more.
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The Eyes Are the Best Part
By Monika Kim (@monikakimauthor). Erewhon Books. 288 pages. Out June 25.
Monika Kim’s debut is scary, gross and gripping. With themes of immigration, racism, sexism and family trauma, it centers on a woman’s descent into a dark, hungry and violent obsession. This is feminist serial killer horror not to be missed.
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Greasepaint
By Hannah Levene. Nightboat Books. 172 pages.
Hannah Levene’s debut is fresh, experimental, unique and exhilarating. Come for the anarchist butch lesbians, stay for the 1950s swag, the smoky bar conversation and the jukebox when the band’s not playing. I didn’t read this book, it read me.
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How to Live Free in a Dangerous World: A Decolonial Memoir
By Shayla Lawson (@shaylalawson). Tiny Reparations Books. 320 pages. Out now.
Spectacularly talented writer and journalist Shayla Lawson is back with this collection of essays examining race, travel, disability, emotion, gender and more. This is a book that will enrage and engulf you, soothe and seduce you; it will have you looking at the world (and yourself) in liberatory new ways.
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I Just Keep Talking: A Life in Essays
By Nell Irvin Painter (@nellpainter). Doubleday. 464 pages.
Critical, artistic and complex, the work of the incomparable Nell Irvin Painter is gathered here into one essential volume. The essays explore history, politics, race, identity, and more and are poignantly punctuated by Painter’s original artwork.
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I Love You So Much It’s Killing Us Both: A Novel
By Mariah Stovall (@stove.stove.stove). Soft Skull. 336 pages. Out now.
If Mariah Stovall’s debut doesn’t have you pining for the past and reliving your own coming-of-age era, you may just be the Tin Man looking for a heart. Centering on a tender and tumultuous friendship and its killer soundtrack, this story is dynamic, agile and auspicious. Content warning for disordered eating.
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I’m a Fool to Want You: Stories
Written by Camila Sosa Villada (@camilaomara). Translated by Kit Maude. Other Press. 256 pages. Out May 28.
From the author of Bad Girls, one of my favorite books of 2022, comes this collection of short stories that are just as imaginative, captivating and titillating as the debut. Centering on themes of gender, sex work, love and justice, Villada continues to shine a light on lives so often hidden in the dark.
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A Kind of Madness: Stories
By Uche Okonkwo (@UcheAnne). Tin House Books. 224 pages. Out Apr. 16.
Set in Nigeria, this collection explores how relationships, traditions and hardships can drive us to different kinds of madness. Be it mental illness, broken promises or unmet expectations, life’s complexities are the main characters in these striking and insightful stories.
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Liberating Abortion: Claiming Our History, Sharing Our Stories, and Building the Reproductive Future We Deserve
By Renee Bracey Sherman (@reneebraceysherman) and Regina Mahone (@byreginamahone). Amistad. 416 pages.
By laying plain the relationship between abortion and racism, activist Renee Bracey Sherman and journalist Regina Mahone offer an invaluable perspective, rigorous research and invigorating interviews of Black women who have fought for abortion rights throughout history.
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Loving Corrections
By adrienne maree brown (@adriennemareebrown). AK Press. 200 pages. Out Aug. 20.
In her latest in the Emergent Strategy Series, the gracious and glorious adrienne maree brown offers readers practical reflections on relationships, accountability and belonging.
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The Lucky Ones: A Memoir
By Zara Chowdhary (@zarachowdhary). Crown. 288 pages.
Zara Chowdhary is a survivor. In 2002, when she was 16 years old, Chowdhary and her family were thrown into a three-month bloodbath of anti-Muslim violence by Hindu nationalists. This phenomenal debut memoir is both a powerful testimony and an urgent warning.
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My Life: Growing Up Native in America
Edited by IllumiNative (@illuminative). MTV Books. 224 pages.
I’m always surprised and disappointed when I miss out on a book I would’ve otherwise included in my lists during its publication month. There are two in this list that I missed when they first came out. Released in October, this compelling volume of twenty pieces highlights modern Native life across the country. Edited by IllumiNative, it includes poems, essays, and more by contributors such as Angeline Boulley (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians), Kimberly Guerrero (Colville, Salish), Sherri Mitchell Weh’na Ha’mu Kwasset (Penobscot, Passamaquoddy) and Mato Wayuhi (Lakota).
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Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People
By Tiya Miles (@TiyaMiles). Penguin. 336 pages.
Well-researched and endlessly readable, Night Flyer invites readers to experience the many sides of Harriet Tubman, most of which we’ve not fully understood until now. Miles focuses on her mysticism, knowledge of the natural world and boundless dedication to truth and liberation.
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Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk
By Kathleen Hanna (@mskathleenhanna). Ecco. 336 pages.
If you are a third-wave feminist like me, you probably wanted to be Kathleen Hanna at some point in your life. In her candid memoir, the unapologetic singer of Bikini Kill shares her journey from a challenging childhood through her first shows to love, Lyme disease and Le Tigre. I double dare ya to miss this one.
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Reservoir Bitches: Stories
Written by Dahlia de la Cerda (@dahliadelacerda). Translated by Heather Cleary and Julia Sanches. The Feminist Press at CUNY. 160 pages. Out Sept. 10.
This debut by one of Mexico’s most exciting new writers is a cut-throat, no-holds-barred delight. Wickedly satirical and shockingly candid, these linked stories focus on 13 Mexican women who live (and die) in tradition, sexism, violence and power. I couldn’t put it down.
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The Rise and Fall of the Second American Republic: Reconstruction, 1860-1920
By Manisha Sinha (@ProfMSinha). Liveright. 592 pages.
With this groundbreaking volume, renowned historian Manisha Sinha offers a critical reexamination of the Reconstruction era. By extending the time frame and including other important events such as imperialism, conquest of Indigenous peoples and women’s suffrage, SInha presents a new understanding of the consequences of its defeat.
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The Rocks Will Echo Our Sorrow: The Forced Displacement of the Northern Sámi
Written by Elin Anna Labba (@elin_anna). Translated by Fiona Graham. University of Minnesota Press. 168 pages. Out Apr. 23.
Once nomads who spent winters in Sweden and summers in Norway, the indigenous Sámi people were forcibly removed when Norway became an independent country in 1905. In this groundbreaking volume, the sirdolaččat (the displaced) tell their grim story of bággojohtin (forced displacement) through poetry, letters, lyrics, photos and histories.
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The Sapling Cage: A Novel
By Margaret Killjoy (@margaretkilljoy). The Feminist Press at CUNY. 320 pages. Out Sept. 24.
With her latest novel, Margaret Killjoy begins a captivating new series, “Daughters of the Empty Throne.” A sweet and entrancing coming-of-age story, The Sapling Cage is centered on autonomy, friendship, belonging and bravery. With magic, adventure and trans witches, I loved this one.
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The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World
By Robin Wall Kimmerer. Scribner. 128 pages.
Remember a couple of books ago when I said there were two that I missed this year when they were first published? This is the second and the one I was particularly horrified about missing. Released in November, The Serviceberry is Robin Wall Kimmerer’s latest beauty and builds on one of my favorites, Braiding Sweetgrass, to inspire, encourage and coax us into a more loving relationship with the land and its loves.
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Sex Work Today: Erotic Labor in the Twenty-First Century
Edited by Bernadette Barton, Barbara G. Brents and Angela Jones (@drjonessoc). NYU Press. 440 pages. Out Nov. 19.
This definitive anthology brings together experts in sexual labor from around the globe and across the disciplines. In 31 essays, they tackle topics such as racism, job satisfaction, criminalization, labor rights, feminism, binarism, capitalism and the future.
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Sound Museum
By poupeh missaghi (@poupehmissaghi). Coffee House Press. 136 pages.
This darkly unique story centers on the proud curator of a new groundbreaking museum that uses sound and audio recordings as the basis for its exhibits. The kicker? This is a museum of torture. Unflinching and unsettling, this book speaks to bystander culture, witnessing, violence and power.
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Survival Is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde
By Alexis Pauline Gumbs (@alexispauline). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 544 pages.
Alexis and Audre? Audre and Alexis! This is a magnificent ode to Audre Lorde by the endlessly talented Alexis Pauline Gumbs. With it, Gumbs ushers in a new era of biography that you won’t want to miss.
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Table for One: Stories
Written by Ko-eun Yun. Translated by Lizzie Buehler. Columbia University Press. 256 pages.
Ko-eun Yun’s quirky and provocative stories explore modern urban life, solitude, technological advancements, progress, and the future. Surreal and comedic, this story collection mostly terrified me. I loved it.
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Thunder Song: Essays
By Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe (Coast Salish). Counterpoint. 256 pages.
Following her award-winning memoir, Red Paint, Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe offers readers this incandescent collection of essays reflecting on family, tradition, art and music, climate change, spirituality and more. Her way with words is powerful; her distinctive style is fresh, magnetic and compelling.
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The Unfinished
By Cheryl Isaacs. Heartdrum. 336 pages. Out Sept. 3.
In her compelling debut, Cheryl Isaacs (Mohawk) writes tradition into horror with the talent of a seasoned veteran. Full of monsters and mystery, Isaacs centers her story on a high school athlete whose life is turned upside down after straying from the path as her elders warned her.
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Vengeance Feminism: The Power of Black Women’s Fury in Lawless Times
By Kali Nicole Gross. Seal Press. 256 pages. Out Sept. 24.
The latest book by esteemed historian Kali Nicole Gross shares well-researched and previously untold stories of Black women who fought back against the violence, oppression and inequity they experienced, often in ways outside the realm of civility or respectability.
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Wake Up America: Black Women on the Future of Democracy
By Keisha N. Blain (@keishanblain). W. W. Norton & Company. 256 pages. Out now.
Urgent and empowering, this remarkable collection of essays edited by the indomitable Keisha Blain showcases some of the most significant Black women fighting for justice and liberation today. Heavy hitters such as Mariame Kaba, Alicia Garza, Andraéa LaVant, Rhea Butler and Raquel Willis take on themes of reproductive justice, healthcare, reparations, abolition, disability justice, queer rights, and so much more.
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We Choose To: A Memoir of Providing Abortion Care Before, During, and After Roe
By Dr. Curtis Boyd, MD, and Dr. Glenna Halvorson-Boyd, RN. Disruption Books. 240 pages.
Since the 1960s, Dr. Curtis Boyd has been performing abortions. After he and Dr. Glenna Halvorson-Boyd teamed up professionally and personally, their commitment to women’s health, freedom and choice is unshakeable, and together, they created a holistic practice based on trust, wellness and empowerment.
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We’re Alone: Essays
By Edwidge Danticat. Graywolf Press. 192 pages. Out Sept. 3.
The incomparable Edwidge Danticat has written this superlative collection of essays covering current events, Haiti, COVID-19, incidents in her own life, and more. With her signature presence, Danticat makes the personal universal and the universal personal with wisdom, grace and candid vulnerability.
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We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance
By Kellie Carter Jackson (@kelliecarterjackson). Seal Press. 304 pages.
Historian Kellie Carter Jackson has outdone herself with this masterfully researched and endlessly readable exploration—and celebration—of Black refusal to racism and oppression. Shedding light on stories formerly hidden, Carter Jackson examines various forms of resistance, from truancy to flight to simply recovering joy in the everyday.
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We Will Be Jaguars: A Memoir of My People
By Nemonte Nenquimo (@nemonte.nenquimo) with Mitch Anderson. Abrams Press. 288 pages.
Nemonte Nenquimo was born in Ecuador’s Amazon and is an internationally renowned activist and leader of the Waorani people. Her captivating memoir is both a dire warning and fierce manifesta. It is powerful, pointed and vital to understanding the climate change crisis and ecological devastation we are currently experiencing.
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What If We Get It Right?: Visions of Climate Futures
By Ayana Elizabeth Johnson (@ayanaeliza). One World. 496 pages. Out Sept. 17.
For a joyful and hopeful peek into the possibilities of how we might handle the climate crisis, look no further than Ayana Elizabeth Johnson’s latest. With the help of experts and activists such as Jade Begay, Leah Penniman, Ayisha Siddiqa and Xiye Bastida, Johnson provides insights, ideas and inspiration for the future.
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Whiskey Tender: A Memoir
By Deborah Taffa (Quechan (Yuma) Nation and Laguna Pueblo) (@deborahtaffa). Harper. 304 pages. Out Feb. 27.
Captivating and utterly original, this memoir is one examining tradition, assimilation and refusal. Taffa’s intimate candor and thoughtful reflections are tender yet challenging and add to the growing number of Native stories that transcend trauma and highlight the autonomy, sovereignty and survival of Indigenous peoples.
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Who’s Afraid of Gender?
By Judith Butler. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 320 pages.
This essential new book by renowned philosopher Judith Butler takes on the growing violence and authoritarianism of right-wing movements at their center: their willfully ignorant and dangerous alarmism around gender. Butler encourages collectivity, imagination and bravery in the continued fight for equality and justice.
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Wilderness and the American Spirit
By Ruby McConnell (@rubygonewild). Overcup Press. 288 pages.
Ruby McConnell has written one two of my very favorite books. She writes with this captivating and accessible combination of geology, geography, history and liberatory storytelling that informs and inspires. In her latest, she presents a fresh exploration into America’s quest for expansion and its toll on the land, the environment, the people and the wilderness.
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A Witch’s Guide to Burning
By Aminder Dhaliwal (@aminder_d). Drawn and Quarterly. 400 pages. Out May 28.
Singe was a witch dedicated to keeping her community safe—until she was burned at the stake. But with a rain and a little help from some friends, Singe may just save her magic after all. This delightful graphic novel puts burnout and self-care in a whole new light that you won’t want to miss.
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1666: A Novel
By Lora Chilton (Patawomeck) (@lorajchilton). Sibylline Press. 224 pages. Out Apr. 2.
Based on a true story passed down through generations on her father’s side, 1666 is focused on three Patawomeck women who survived a massacre of their tribe, were forced to march south, and sold into slavery. The tribe survives to this day in large part because of the escape and survival of these women.
