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!
Happy new year, feminist readers! Here I am with my annual plea for you to read.
As we enter a new year and an uncertain future, it’s clear that some of us need to read more than others, but we all need to read for relaxation, inspiration and knowledge.
I hope you’ll make it a goal to carve out some time to read, and I’m here to give you my top books that I am excited about this year.
I’m proud to say that I’ve always focused on independent and university publishers, debut writers and, of course, authors of the global majority. By this, I mean writers who are women, queer, aro/ace, intersex, trans, nonbinary or gender expansive; those who are fat, neurodivergent, poly, sex workers, immigrants, justice-involved or speak English as a second or third language; those who have, for any number of reasons, been marginalized or excluded.
While I do include books from the big publishers, it’s only on the talent or reputation of the author or because an imprint is doing some valuable work. Because of this focus, you may notice that I’ve not included some of the year’s most talked-about books on this list. It’s not that I think they are undeserving or that you shouldn’t read them; I just want to shine a light on those that are just as deserving (or more so) but that might not have the funding or marketing machines behind them. Every year, I also unintentionally miss some or release dates may change, especially for those publishing later in the year. Apologies in advance, but I do what I can!
I scour catalogs and websites, search my favorite authors, keep up with socials and try to get through as much email as I can to find the gems that I know Ms. readers will love and learn from. I look for feminist, queer, anti-racist, anti-colonial, original, radical and reflective books. Subversive books. Books that’ll make you think and feel. It’s a lot of work, but as a librarian and Ms. Feminist Know-It-All, it’s what I do! And it’s labor I love.
So, here are the top 100 books I am looking forward to in 2025. Whether these or others, let’s read. Read and encourage others to do so. Gift books to others. Read one and pass it on. Visit and support your local libraries. But please read. Read as though your life (or someone else’s) depends on it. Because it just might.
January
Black Panther Woman: The Political and Spiritual Life of Ericka Huggins
By Mary Frances Phillips. NYU Press. 320 pages. Out now.
This groundbreaking volume is more than the first book-length treatment of Ericka Huggins. Phillips’ most poignant contribution is focused on Huggins as a spiritual seeker and leader.
*
The Gloomy Girl Variety Show: A Memoir
By Freda Epum. Feminist Press. 224 pages. Out now.
In her debut memoir, Freda Epum tackles identity, mental illness, self-acceptance and belonging with candor, curiosity and poetry.
*
Love in a F*cked-Up World: How to Build Relationships, Hook Up, and Raise Hell, Together
By Dean Spade. Algonquin Books. 352 pages. Out now.
Dean Spade is a force, and I am psyched for his latest, which challenges us to put our money where our mouths are in relationships.
*
Unassimilable: An Asian Diasporic Manifesto for the Twenty-First Century
By Bianca Mabute-Louie. Harper. 256 pages. Out now.
Goddess knows I love a good manifesto. And thanks to sociologist and activist Bianca Mabute-Louie, we have this accessible, intersectional, anti-colonial, anti-assimilationist guide for Asians in Diaspora.
*
Dark Laboratory: On Columbus, the Caribbean, and the Origins of the Climate Crisis
By Tao Leigh Goffe. Doubleday. 384 pages. Out now.
This is a long-overdue examination of the history, mythology, significance and legacy of the Caribbean.
*
No Human Involved: The Serial Murder of Black Women and Girls and the Deadly Cost of Police Indifference
By Cheryl L. Neely. Beacon Press. 264 pages. Out now.
In this urgent and necessary volume, sociologist Cheryl L. Neely examines the infuriating and terrifying impacts that racial prejudice in policing has on Black women and girls.
*
Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People
By Imani Perry. Ecco. 256 pages. Out Jan. 28.
It’s about blue, it’s about Black, it’s about how they mesh and meld, how they web and weave. Imani Perry has given us something bold and original—again!
*
Written in the Waters: A Memoir of History, Home, and Belonging
By Tara Roberts. National Geographic. 400 pages. Out Jan. 28.
Tara Roberts is a National Geographic explorer-in-residence who documents shipwrecks of the transatlantic slave trade. Her memoir describes her journey and findings, both personal and universal.
February
Calling In: How to Start Making Change with Those You’d Rather Cancel
By Loretta J. Ross. Simon & Schuster. 288 pages. Out Feb. 4.
In this volume, Loretta J. Ross has committed her invaluable work on “calling in” to paper. Through poignant and personal storytelling, Ross candidly calls us all in, and you’ll want to answer.
*
Junie: A Novel
By Erin Crosby Eckstine. Ballantine Books. 368 pages. Out Feb. 4.
On the precipice of the Civil War, a young girl enslaved on an Alabama plantation awakens her sister’s ghost when confronted with secrets, changes and choices in this haunting debut.
*
Land of Mirrors
Written by Maria Medem. Translated by Aleshia Jensen and Daniela Ortiz. Drawn & Quarterly. 332 pages. Out Feb. 4.
This graphic novel is centered on a woman in a deserted town who finds her purpose in a flower until she meets someone who shows her there may be life and hope beyond her current surroundings.
*
Punished: A Novel
Written by Ann-Helén Laestadius (Sámi and Tornedalian). Translated by Rachel Willson-Broyles. Scribner. 448 pages. Out Feb. 4.
I can’t wait to read this historical fiction based on Laestadius’ own family’s story. It centers on five Indigenous children stolen from their homes to attend a government-run boarding school in 1950s Sweden.
*
Mainline Mama: A Memoir
By Keeonna Harris. Amistad. 224 pages. Out Feb. 7.
As a young mother with an incarcerated partner, Keeonna Harris knows firsthand how challenging life as a “mainline mama” can be. In her debut memoir, she shares her experiences, wisdom and lessons for an abolitionist future.
*
Marginlands: A Journey into India’s Vanishing Landscapes
By Arati Kumar-Rao. Milkweed Editions. 280 pages. Out Feb. 11.
I love reading about nature and people’s relationship to the land. In a volume illustrated with her own photos and drawings, Arati Kumar-Rao shares her journeys through India and the lessons she’s learned.
*
Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism
By Eve L. Ewing. One World. 400 pages. Out Feb. 11.
Scholar-organizer Eve L. Ewing presents us with a critical re-framing of the systems designed to educate our kids and challenges us to envision a new, more equitable path for all.
*
A Perfect Day to Be Alone: A Novel
Written by Nanae Aoyama. Translated by Jesse Kirkwood. Other Press. Out Feb. 11.
Winner of the prestigious Akutagawa Prize in Japan, this English-language debut explores loneliness, satisfaction and independence during a year in the life of a young woman who moves in with an elder relative.
*
Tsunami: Women’s Voices from Mexico
Translated by Heather Cleary, Gabriela Jauregui, Julianna Neuhouser, Gabriela Ramirez-Sanchez and Julia Sanches. The Feminist Press at CUNY. 312 pages. Out Feb. 11.
From historical essays and theoretical reflections to poetry and experimental pieces, the works included here illustrate the depth and breadth of the feminisms, knowledges, concerns and queries of Mexican and Latin American women.
*
Waiting for the Long Night Moon: Stories
By Amanda Peters (Mi’kmaq). Catapult. 256 pages. Out Feb. 11.
Amanda Peters has written this searing and insightful collection of stories highlighting Indigenous lives and experiences. If you enjoyed Peters’ The Berry Pickers, don’t miss this one.
*
Black Girls and How We Fail Them
By Aria S. Halliday. University of North Carolina Press. Out Feb. 18.
In this urgent volume, Dr. Aria S. Halliday examines how hatred and mistreatment of Black girls have actually risen with the increase in their representation and how we can counteract this trajectory.
*
The Portable Feminist Reader
Edited by Roxane Gay. Penguin Classics. 672 pages. Out Feb. 18.
This volume includes newer feminist classics chosen by the incomparable Roxane Gay. From Anna Julia Cooper and Cherríe Moraga to Mona Eltahawy and Sara Ahmed, the pieces here expand the canon just when we need it most.
*
The Voices of Adriana
Written by Elvira Navarro. Translated by Christina MacSweeney. Two Lines Press. 178 pages. Out Feb. 18.
Death, online dating, ghosts and voices … this metafiction is innovative, surreal and dark, with a lot to say about grief, care, memory and love.
*
Death Takes Me: A Novel
Written by Cristina Rivera Garza. Translated by Robin Myers and Sarah Booker. Hogarth. 320 pages. Out Feb. 25.
The latest from Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Cristina Rivera Garcia challenges what we think we know about gendered violence in this latest literary crime drama.
*
How to Be Disabled in a Pandemic
Edited by Mara Mills, Harris Kornstein, Faye Ginsburg and Rayna Rapp. NYU Press. 392 pages. Out Feb. 25.
This volume chronicles the experiences and activism of disabled people in New York City during the COVID-19 pandemic and includes contributions from scholars, writers and organizers.
*
Kinda Korean: Stories from an American Life
By Joan Sung. She Writes Press. 308 pages. Out Feb. 25.
Joan Sung’s candid coming-of-age memoir speaks to racism, intergenerational trauma and living between cultures and spaces as a first-generation Korean American woman.
*
Portrait of a Feminist: A Memoir in Essays
By Marianna Marlowe. She Writes Press. 288 pages. Out Feb. 25.
In her debut memoir, Peruvian American writer Marianna Marlowe explores the intricacies and meaning of feminism, building on her own life, experiences and evolution.
March
Abortion Stories: American Literature Before Roe v. Wade
Edited by Karen Weingarten. Penguin Classics. Out Mar. 4.
Prof. Karen Weingarten and Penguin Classics have collected writings about abortion before Roe v. Wade in 1973. This singular collection includes poems, stories and essays from famous writers, everyday people, providers and more.
*
Broken Fields
By Marcie R. Rendon (White Earth Nation). Soho Crime. Out March 4.
Not usually one for mysteries, I am a sucker for Cash Blackbear, the reluctant Ojibwe intuitive whose interminable grit and no-nonsense know-how make her a force to be reckoned with.
*
The River Has Roots
By Amal El-Mohtar. Tordotcom. Out March 4.
In this debut fairy tale, two sisters fulfill their agreement to sing to the enchanted willows in exchange for magic, but when one rejects a suitor, they may both be in mortal danger.
*
The Trouble of Color: An American Family Memoir
By Martha S. Jones. Basic Books. Out March 4.
Do you have a favorite historian? Just me? Well, one of mine is Dr. Martha S. Jones, so I am eager to read the memoir of her family across race, place and generations.
*
The Unworthy: A Novel
Written by Agustina Bazterrica. Translated by Sarah Moses. Scribner. Out March 4.
If you like horror, you’re going to love feminist horror. This one centers on a woman in a secret religious order in the midst of climate crisis, violence and extremism.
*
Youth Organizing for Reproductive Justice: A Guide for Liberation
By Chris Barcelos. University of California Press. Out March 4.
Professor Chris Barcelos has written The Guide about the organizing visions and practices of queer and trans youth of color, from whom we can all learn a thing or two.
*
Feminism in the Wild: How Human Biases Shape Our Understanding of Animal Behavior
By Ambika Kamath and Melina Packer. MIT Press. Out March 11.
Kamath and Packer explore how science has long projected human norms onto animal behavior and use feminist, queer and disability theories to challenge this oppressive practice.
*
Luminous
By Silvia Park. Simon & Schuster. Out March 11.
In a future unified Korea, human and robot siblings are also reunited when a murder investigation has them questioning memories, secrets and what it means to be human.
*
Hunchback: A Novel
Written by Saou Ichikawa. Translated by Polly Barton. Hogarth. Out March 18.
Another winner of Japan’s Akutagawa Prize for literature, Hunchback is a funny and feminist story of a woman seeking autonomy, meaning and respect.
*
I Didn’t Come Here to Lie: My Life and Education
By Karen G.J. Lewis and Elizabeth Todd-Breland. Haymarket Books. Out March 25.
Karen GJ Lewis’ passing in 2021 was a huge loss to Chicago educators and workers everywhere. Her memoir will be an inspiration, as Lewis was throughout her life.
*
King of the North: Martin Luther King Jr.’s Life of Struggle Outside the South
By Jeanne Theoharis. The New Press. Out March 25.
Meticulous research and feminist analysis frame this long-overdue examination of Dr. King’s work outside of the Jim Crow South, which pays special attention to the contributions of Coretta Scott King.
*
Outside Women: A Novel
By Roohi Choudhry. University Press of Kentucky. Out March 25.
Roohi Choudary’s debut centers on two migrant women who are connected across time and space in their fight for autonomy, equality and justice.
*
The Witch Studies Reader
Edited by Soma Chaudhuri and Jane Ward. Duke University Press. Out March 25.
I’m thrilled to see witch studies getting it’s due, and I can’t wait to read this long-overdue anthology of contributions by transnational witch-scholars sharing their feminism, diversity, wisdom, anti-colonialism and interdisciplinarity.
April
Sour Cherry
By Natalia Theodoridou. Tin House. Out April 1.
Words used to describe Natalia Theodoridou’s debut novel examining gender, abuse and toxic masculinity: subversive, transgressive, hallucinatory, haunting, razor-sharp and “a dark delight.” I’m all in.
*
To Belong Here: A New Generation of Queer, Trans, and Two-Spirit Appalachian Writers
Edited by Rae Garringer. University Press of Kentucky. Out April 1.
Writer, oral historian and goat wrangler Rae Garringer has compiled this imperative volume of trans, queer, Two-Spirit writers and writers of color from Appalachia to challenge and expand our understanding of the region.
*
Unsex Me Here
By Aurora Mattia. Nightboat Books. Out April 1.
Even after having read the description of Aurora Mattia’s latest, I have no idea what it’s about. And I can’t wait to read it! If it’s anything like her debut, The Fifth Wound, I will be pleased.
*
Audition: A Novel
By Katie Kitamura. Riverhead Books. Out April 8.
Katie Kitamura, author of Intimacies, is back with a short but sharp novel of perspectives, performances and preconceptions.
*
The Creation of Half-Broken People: A Novel
By Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu. Anansi International. Out April 8.
In what’s being called “African Gothic at its finest,” Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu’s latest novel explores themes of ancestry, colonialism, race, mental illness and love.
*
Happy Land
By Dolen Perkins-Valdez. Berkley. Out April 8.
Inspired by actual events, the latest novel from the award-winning author of Take My Hand is focused on a group of formerly enslaved people who lived as royalty in the mountains of North Carolina.
*
Mending Bodies
Written by Lai Chu Hon. Translated by Jacqueline Leung. Two Lines Press. Out April 8.
In this original body horror, couples are encouraged to conjoin or surgically attach themselves for the good of society. I have to read this one.
*
Precious Rubbish
By Kayla E. Fantagraphics. Out April 8.
I can’t wait to get my hands on Kayla E.’s experimental graphic memoir, which tackles some very serious topics in the style of mid-century children’s comics.
*
Vanishing World
Written by Sayaka Murata. Translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori. Grove Press. Out April 15.
From the author of Convenience Store Woman, comes this wild story of a world where couples no longer have sex but procreate through artificial insemination. Yes, please!
*
The Hollow Half: A Memoir of Bodies and Borders
By Sarah Aziza. Catapult. Out April 22.
In this unique memoir, Sarah Aziza shares her struggles with anorexia, her family’s connection to their Palestinian homeland and the impact that loss, secrets and colonialism have had on generations.
*
Medicine River: A Story of Survival and the Legacy of Indian Boarding Schools
By Mary Annette Pember (Red Cliff Band of Wisconsin Ojibwe). Pantheon. Out April 22.
As someone who researches in the area of (white women’s roles in) Native American boarding schools and an ardent follower of Mary Annette Pember’s journalism, I’ve been anxiously awaiting this one.
*
A Protest History of the United States
By Gloria J. Browne-Marshall. Beacon Press. Out April 22.
I love every volume in Beacon’s ReVisioning History series, so I am excited to read this one at a time when we need all the lessons of protest and resistance of the past to get us through the present.
*
Where the Jasmine Blooms
By Zeina Sleiman. Roseway Publishing. Out April 22.
This debut tells the story of a woman exploring and reconnecting with her Palestinian past, even long-held family secrets. It’s described as “at once a political historical thriller and a Muslim feminist love story,” and I am here for it.
*
Zeal: A Novel
By Morgan Jerkins. Harper. Out April 22.
I am a big fan of Morgan Jerkins, so am excited to see the glowing reviews of her latest novel, which focuses on love throughout time, space and circumstance.
*
The Accidentals: Stories
Written by Guadalupe Nettel. Translated by Rosalind Harvey. Bloomsbury. Out April 29.
This collection of short stories from Booker Shortlisted writer Guadalupe Nettel features eight characters who are struggling with mystery, connection and meaning.
*
Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng
By Kylie Lee Baker. MIRA. Out April 29.
In this subversive and darkly comical horror, Cora Zeng contends with her sister’s death, hungry ghosts, a serial killer and anti-Asian hate—all during the pandemic.
*
The Sea Gives Up the Dead: Stories
By Molly Olguín. Red Hen Press. Out April 29.
I’m super excited for this debut collection of stories by Molly Olguín, which has been described as witchy, witty, imaginative, fantastical, queer, mouthwatering, wild, lithe and lush.
*
Theory of Water: Nishnaabe Maps to the Times Ahead
By Leanne Betasamosake Simpson (Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg). Haymarket Books. Out April 29.
If you’ve read this column before, you may recall that I am a huge fan of Leanne Betasamosake Simpson’s blending and bending of genre, style and voice. Her latest is an urgent and intimate exploration of water.
May
The Boat Not Taken: A North Korean Mother and Her Daughter
By Joanna Choi Kalbus. Betty. Out May 6.
In this harrowing and humorous memoir, Joanna Choi Kalbus shares her and her widowed mother’s heroic journey from North Korea to make a better life in the U.S.
*
The Gowkaran Tree in the Middle of Our Kitchen
By Shokoofeh Azar. Europa Editions. Out May 6.
Through a story of 12 lost children over 50 years in modern Iran, Azar incorporates themes of family, politics, revolution and love.
*
Searching for Serafim: The Life and Legacy of Serafim “Joe” Fortes
By Ruby Smith Diaz. Arsenal Pulp Press. Out May 6.
Serafim Fortes was a local legend as Vancouver’s first lifeguard and here, Diaz sheds light on his layered life and the roles racism, colonialism and displacement played in his story.
*
Holler: A Graphic Memoir of Rural Resistance
By Denali Sai Nalamalapu. Timber Press. Out May 13.
This debut graphic memoir tells the stories of six activists fighting against the Mountain Valley Pipeline in Appalachia and is a vivid illustration of what a resistance movement looks like.
*
Sing the Truth: The Kweli Journal Short Story Collection
Edited by Laura Pegram. Authors Equity. Out May 13.
I simply could not create this list and not include Kweli Journal’s short story collection in celebration of 15 years! Contributors include Susan Muaddi Darraj, Edwidge Danticat, Ivelisse Rodriquez and many more.
*
So Many Stars: An Oral History of Trans, Nonbinary, Genderqueer, and Two-Spirit People of Color
By Caro De Robertis. Algonquin. Out May 13.
Author Caro De Robertis has collected oral histories from people of color across the spectrum of gender in this groundbreaking volume. It’s the right book at just the right time.
*
Checked Out
By Katie Fricas. Drawn & Quarterly. Out May 20.
A debut graphic novel focused on a queer library worker in NYC looking for the perfect book in a quest to complete her own graphic novel? Yes, please!
*
Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson
By Tourmaline. Tiny Reparations Books. 320 pages. Out May 20.
This is the first definitive biography of Marsha P. Johnson and it’s written by Tourmaline. Need I say more?
*
Lucky Tomorrow: Stories
By Deborah Jiang-Stein. University of Minnesota Press. Out May 25.
I can’t wait to read the stories in Deborah Jiang-Stein’s debut fiction collection. Drawn from her own extraordinary life, I’m sure it will be eye-opening, layered and unforgettable.
*
Amplitudes: Stories of Queer and Trans Futurity
Edited by Lee Mandelo. Erewhon Books. Out May 27.
This volume contains 22 speculative sci-fi stories by and about queer and trans folks. Contributors include Bendi Barrett, Margaret Killjoy, Neon Yang, Sarah Gailey and more.
*
Forest Euphoria: The Abounding Queerness of Nature
By Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian. Spiegel & Grau. Out May 27.
There is so much queerness in the natural world! Mycologist Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian will enlighten readers with fungi, slugs, eels and more.
*
Raging Clouds
By Yudori. Fantagraphics. Out May 27.
This debut by Korean comic book artist Yudori might just be the mid-16th century Sapphic feminist fantasy graphic novel of my dreams. I’ll let you know.
*
Soft as Bones: A Memoir
By Chyana Marie Sage (Cree, Métis, and Salish). House of Anansi. 296 pages. Out May 27.
After growing up with an addicted and abusive father, Chyana Marie Sage explores intergenerational trauma and healing in her debut memoir.
June
Be Gay, Do Crime
Edited by Molly Llewellyn and Kristel Buckley. Dzanc Books. Out June 3.
If you loved Peach Pit: Sixteen Stories of Unsavory Women, you’ll want to check this one out! Contributors include Myriam Gurba, Aurora Mattia, SJ Sindu, Francesca Ekwuyasi, and more.
*
How to Be Unmothered: A Trinidadian Memoir
By Camille U. Adams. Restless Books. Out June 3.
This debut memoir is at once the story of Camille U. Adams’ life, an exploration into why the women in her family leave and a history of the effects of colonization on her native Trinidad and Tobago.
*
I’ll Tell You When I’m Home: A Memoir
By Hala Alyan. Avid Reader Press. Out June 3.
In her poignant memoir, brilliant poet and writer Hala Alyan shares her journey to motherhood via surrogacy and the questions of identity, family and home that arise along the way.
*
Paradise Once: A Novel
By Olive Senior. Akashic Books. Out June 3.
Olive Senior’s latest historical novel is a fictional take on the Taíno people of the Caribbean in the aftermath of Spanish invasion, colonization and near-destruction.
*
We Are Green and Trembling
Written by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara. Translated by Robin Myers. New Directions. Out June 3.
Argentine writer and founder of the feminist movement Niuna menos, Gabriela Cabezón Cámara turns Argentine history on its head with a trans main character and transformation at its core.
*
Ancestors: A Grievers Novel
By adrienne maree brown. AK Press. Out June 10.
I am always here for a new book by adrienne maree brown! This is the third book of the Grievers Trilogy, and I can’t wait to see what happens.
*
Guardianas: Dispatches from the Association of Midwives Rosa Andrade / Despachos de la Asociación de Parteras Rosa Andrade
Edited by Noemí Delgado. Translated by Emma Lloyd. Seven Stories Press. Out June 17.
This bilingual volume includes testimonials from midwives who worked during the civil war in El Salvador. An imperative archive, it is also a model of collective care and resistance.
*
I Gave You Eyes and You Looked Toward Darkness: A Novel
By Irene Solà. Graywolf. Out June 17.
In a centuries-old Catalonian house, a woman lies dying. All of the women who lived and died there previously surround her in this ghostly novel about memory, promises and the stories we tell.
*
Red Flag Warning: Mutual Aid and Survival in California’s Fire Country
Edited by Dani Burlison and Margaret Elysia Garcia. AK Press. Out June 24.
As survivors of California wildfires, Burlison and Garcia have compiled this guide of lessons, interviews and essays about mutual aid, ecological impacts and living with wildfire.
July
Hot Girls with Balls: A Novel
By Benedict Nguyen. Catapult. Out July 1.
With all the hubbub surrounding trans friends in sports, I can’t wait to read this satire about two women in a men’s pro indoor volleyball league.
*
Putafeminista: A Manifesto of Sex Worker Feminism
Written by Monique Prada. Translated by Thayane Brêtas and Amanda De Lisio. The Feminist Press. Out July 8.
This manifesta by Brazilian activist and sex worker Monique Prada encourages feminists to dump the hypocritical, colonial and classist whorephobia in favor of a feminism that values the labor and solidarity of sex workers.
*
Blowfish: A Novel
Written by Kyung-Ran Jo. Translated by Chi-Young Kim. Astra House. Out July 15.
A sculptor plans to take her own life by eating poisonous blowfish, as her grandmother did, and crosses paths with an architect also contemplating suicide.
*
The Conjuring of America: Mojos, Mermaids, Medicine, and 400 Years of Black Women’s Magic
By Lindsey Stewart. Legacy Lit. Out July 15.
I can’t wait to read this historical exploration into conjure women, their ingenuity and their lasting legacy in American culture and life.
*
Coercion: Surviving and Resisting Abortion Bans
By Kylie Cheung. Pluto Press. Out July 20.
Who better to talk us through post-Dobbs life and resistance than Kylie Cheung? Right now, we need all the books on abortion, so add this one to the top of your TBR.
*
The Library at Hellebore
By Cassandra Khaw. Tor Nightfire. Out July 22.
For all my dark academia, monster fantasy, body horror friends, Cassandra Khaw has written this bloody librarian nightmare for us all. I can’t wait.
August
Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler
By Susana M. Morris. Amistad. Out Aug. 5.
I am so excited about this biography of the indomitable Octavia Butler. Susan M. Morris situates Butler within the major historical issues of the times and explores the influences they had on Butler’s life and work.
*
Sunbirth
By An Yu. Grove Press. Out Aug. 5.
If you liked An Yu’s Ghost Music, you’ll be excited for Sunbirth in which she tells the story of two sisters in a faraway village where the sun is shrinking, bit by bit.
*
We Are Each Other’s Liberation: Black and Asian Feminist Solidarities
Edited by Rachel Kuo, Jaimee Swift, and Tiffany Diane Tso. Haymarket Books. Out Aug. 5.
A collaborative project between Black Women Radicals and the Asian American Feminist Collective, this groundbreaking anthology includes essays, interviews, poetry and more from writers, organizers, artists and others.
*
Far Away from Here: A Novel
By Ambata Kazi. SparkPress. Out Aug. 12.
Set in post-Katrina New Orleans, this debut novel is focused on three young African American Muslims reckoning with their trauma, faith and families.
*
Lessons in Magic and Disaster
By Charlie Jane Anders. Tor Books. Out Aug. 19.
Jamie’s a secret witch with a mother who’s stuck. Will teaching her mother witchcraft be the answer to their problems? Or destroy both of their lives? I can’t wait to find out.
*
The Possession of Alba Díaz
By Isabel Cañas. Berkley. Out Aug. 19.
As Roshani Chokshi said, “No one writes gothic like Isabel Cañas,” and Cañas’ latest seems to have it all: plagues, demons, the occult and more.
*
Katabasis: A Novel
By R.F. Kuang. Harper Voyager. Out Aug. 26.
I loved Kuang’s Babel and Yellowface, so I am super stoked about Katabasis, a dark academia fantasy in which two grad students journey to hell to save their professor’s soul.
*
Legendary Frybread Drive-In: Intertribal Stories
Edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith (Muscogee). Heartdrum. Out Aug. 26.
Selected by bestselling author Cynthia Leitich Smith, the stories in this intertribal collection were contributed by writers such as Cheryl Isaacs, Darcie Little Badger, Kaua Mahoe Adams, and more.
Fall
Bitter Over Sweet
By Melissa Llanes Brownlee. Santa Fe Writers Project.
A winner of the Santa Fe Writers Project Literary Award, this collection of stories is about Indigenous Hawai’ian women by an Indigenous Hawai’ian woman.
*
Cannon
By Lee Lai. Drawn and Quarterly.
The latest graphic novel by award-winning cartoonist Lee Lai explores friendship with humor, candor and sensitivity.
*
Dust Settles North
By Deena ElGenaidi. Bindery Books.
Set in a volatile Egypt, this debut novel centers on siblings forced to deal with their mother’s passing, their father’s betrayal and their own identities.
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Everything We Thought Was Beautiful: Interviews with Radical Palestinian Women
Edited by Shoal Collective. PM Press.
“Complied by Shoal Collective, a co-operative of independent writers and researchers writing for social justice and a world beyond capitalism, the voices include Rana Abu, Lina Nabulsy, Mona Al-Farra Zara,” and more.
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A Mouthful of Dust
By Nghi Vo. Tordotcom.
This is the sixth book in the Singing Hills Cycle, which I really enjoy. You should get on it if you haven’t already.
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The New Book: Poems, Letters, Blurbs, and Things
By Nikki Giovanni. William Morrow.
This is the final book of poetry, prose and letters from the brilliant Nikki Giovanni.
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Orange Wine
By Esperanza Hope Snyder. Bindery Books.
Inspired by the story of her grandparents, Orange Wine is a historical novel of love, betrayal, family and autonomy.
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Ravishing: A Novel
By Eshani Surya. Roxane Gay Books.
This debut novel tackles the beauty industry, race and chronic illness.
