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.
Hello, feminist reader friends! 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 indie publishers and amazing works by writers who are women, Black, Indigenous, Latinx, APIA/AAPI, international, queer, trans, nonbinary, 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!
It is just about summer in the U.S., and I, for one, am here for it. I have needed the sun, the weather, the dragonflies and butterflies, and to just be outside in the beautiful Wisconsin woods. It’s often a busy time, one for vacations, friends, food, festivals and celebrations.
It’s also a time for traffic and roadwork! While this is true, it really is just a way for me to segue into a shout-out to my colleague, Ruth E. Goldstein and her new book Life in Traffic: Women, Plants, and Gold Along South America’s Interoceanic Highway, coming June 17 from University of California Press. Be sure to take some time to read and relax this month, either with Ruth’s book or any of the other 22 below.
So, happy June! Happy Pride! Happy Caribbean-American Heritage Month! Happy summer!
Wherever you are and however you spend your month, I hope you are able to slow down, rest and enjoy life with a good book.
Called by the Hills: A Home in the Himalaya
By Anuradha Roy. HarperOne. Out June 2.
Near a forest in the Himalaya, surrounded by jaguars and stray dogs, Anuradha Roy and her husband rebuilt a small cottage, planted gardens and ran their book press within the rural community of Ranikhet. An ode to the places we call home, Roy’s memoir is lovingly rendered and illustrated by her own artwork.
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Chain Reaction: How Chemistry Shapes Us and Our World
By Ijeoma Uchegbu. Mariner Books. Out June 2.
In my efforts to (re)learn the basics of science, I am grateful for Ijeoma Uchegbu’s Chain Reaction, an accessible and engaging introduction to chemistry. Uchegbu includes examples of chemical bonds, reactions and relationships that shape our everyday lives, from our DNA to cooking to PFAS.
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Dreams in Which I’m Almost Human: A Memoir
By Hannah Soyer. Red Hen Press. Out June 2.
In her debut memoir, Hannah Soyer speaks candidly about disability, identity and how we construct our own versions of ourselves. This is an important collection of essays exploring the intersections of disability and chronic illness, bodily autonomy, trauma, queerness, consent and caregiving.
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The Home of the Drowned: A Novel
Written by Elin Anna Labba (Sámi). Translated by Elizabeth Clark Wessel. University of Minnesota Press. Out June 2.
Elin Anna Labba’s first book expertly examined the forced displacement of Sámi peoples. In her somber debut novel, she speaks to this history and its devastating intergenerational effects on the land, cultures, nature and families.
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Mad Eden: A Novel
By Morgan Thomas. MCD. Out June 2.
Morgan Thomas’s debut novel is about a trans healthcare worker whose life and relationship might just go off the rails. Unique in concept and characterization, Mad Eden is a layered and inventive exploration into the intersections of queerness, autism, identity, autonomy and joy.
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Muñeca
By Cynthia Gómez. G.P. Putnam’s Sons. Out June 2.
This short, propulsive debut novel had me on the edge of my seat. Centering a queer, Latine, working-class witch attempting to help a trapped heiress, it’s a creepy gothic horror that is unique and layered. You could read it in one sitting, or draw it over several, like I did, to prolong the pleasure.
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Phoning Faust
By Sophie Mutiara Nova. Ninestar Press. Out June 2.
This slim, beautifully written horror is a queer, mixed Indonesian take on Goethe’s Faust. It opens with our main character, Dian Faust, attempting to call a suicide hotline and misdialing a number that includes “666.” The charming person who picks up isn’t what she seems, and the story spirals from there – in all the best ways.
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Sublimation
By Isabel J. Kim. Tor Books. Out June 2.
If you enjoyed Severance as I did, dive into this story of futuristic immigration and how the choices we make (and don’t make) can haunt us for the rest of our lives. Kim’s debut is original, compelling, layered and poignant.
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Freedom: Essays
By Zinzi Clemmons. Viking. Out June 9.
In her engaging debut nonfiction book, Zinzi Clemmons explores the concept and the unbalanced experiences of freedom across countries, races and genders. From her South African heritage and her mother’s passing to feminism, racism and sexual assault, Clemmons illustrates current events through candid personal experience.
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Seagulls
By Nina Chayka. Black Lawrence Press. Out June 9.
A selection for the Black Lawrence Press Immigrant Writing Series, Seagulls is a collection of linked stories inspired by survivors of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—including her own. This collection demonstrates the violence, precarity, humor, resilience and hope experienced during times of war.
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A Way Home: A Memoir of Losing Yourself, and the Beauty of Returning
By Cinelle Barnes. Little A. Out June 9.
I loved Cinelle Barnes’s first memoir, Monsoon Mansion, and was shocked to learn of her traumatic brain injury in 2023. In her latest memoir, she shares that experience and tells a compelling collective story of migrations, memory loss, recovery, resilience and home.
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The Anti-Defamation League and the Racial State
By Emmaia Gelman. University of California Press. Out June 16.
This first-ever history of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) examines the political foundations and motivations of the often misunderstood organization. Academic and activist Emmaia Gelman expertly uncovers the racial, imperial and neoconservative forces that have driven the ADL despite its portrayal as a defender of social justice.
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Femmephilia: Love Letters to Trans Mermaids, Queer Mothers, and Marilyn Monroe
By Sophie Lewis. Haymarket Books. Out June 16.
In her latest book, Sophie Lewis takes on femmephobia, making the case for a femmephilia that celebrates femme-ness in all its manifestations and honors its labor, love and liberation. Both sharp and cheeky, this one scratches just the right itch.
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Given Away: A Novel
By Nahid Rachlin. Red Hen Press. Out June 16.
Set in 1930s Iran, this novel traces the life of a 10-year-old girl forced into marriage, motherhood and child-rearing. Based on Rachlin’s family’s history, Given Away explores Iranian women’s resistance to patriarchy and tradition.
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The Grief Shop and Other Stories From a Broken World
By Alex DiFrancesco. Seven Stories Press. Out June 16.
Alex DiFrancesco’s latest is a volume of interconnected stories featuring Gemma, a woman coping with life after “the tragedy” in a near-future dystopia that hits a bit too close to home at times. In the curious, sharp and witty imagination of DiFrancesco, this world is in astute hands.
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I Won’t Pretend These Missiles Are Stars: Life in Iran During the 12-Day War
By The Cartoonist Collective. Street Noise. Out June 16.
This is a powerful anthology of 15 stories by cartoonists from Iran, who remain anonymous for safety reasons. I’ll repeat the collective’s own statement from the first page of the book:
“In these dark days, nothing is more important than spreading the voices of Iranians out there. In the end, we have only one request: Remember us, remember Iran, and speak loudly about it.”
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Medea Sang Me a Corrido
Written by Dahlia de la Cerda. Translated by Heather Cleary and Julia Sanches. Feminist Press. Out June 16.
International Booker Prize-nominated author of Reservoir Bitches is back with this “punk revival” of Medea. In her signature voice and style, Dahlia de la Cerda takes no prisoners as she examines women’s lives in modern Mexico
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A Second Sight: How the Wonder and Vision of Black Mediamakers Push America Toward Freedom
By Sarah J. Jackson. Mariner Books. Out June 16.
In a time when the media is under increased scrutiny and distrust, Annenberg School associate professor Sarah J. Jackson has written this extraordinary exploration into the pivotal roles Black storytellers and mediamakers have played in shaping this country, its history and its democracy.
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Sex in Public: The Transformative Social Power of Our Erotic Lives
By Angela Jones. Seal Press. Out June 16.
Sociologist Dr. Angela Jones has a lot to say about how we can take the private shame and taboo away from sexuality and transform it into an empowering foundation for societal change. Candid and recalcitrant, Sex in Public will free you (and your sex life).
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Don’t Breed on Me: A Short History of Abortion
By Madeline Waugh Quasebarth. PM Press. Out June 23.
For the whole of human existence, abortion has been a reality. The practice has been known by a variety of terms, has undergone medical and technological changes, and has experienced fluctuations in acceptance, but it’s always been there. In this fascinating and accessible volume, Quasebarth explores abortion around the world, from 1550 BCE to the present day.
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I Love You So Many: A Native Memoir of Adventure, Culture, and Family
By Terria Smith (Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians). Heyday Books. Out June 23.
With so few contemporary travel books by Indigenous writers out there, I Love You So Many is a gift. Journalist Terria Smith is a talented writer and storyteller for whom life is lived fully through travel, community, risk-taking and relationships. In this honest and engaging volume, she shares her experiences in Alaska, Iceland, Cuba, Native homelands, and more.
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The Summer of the Serpent
Written by Cecilia Eudave. Translated by Robin Myers. Soho Press. Out June 30.
Set in the summer of 1977, this short, captivating novel centers on the strange events in a Guadalajaran neighborhood. I don’t want to say too much here, but The Summer of the Serpent is atmospheric and layered, surprising and satisfying.
