Author: Violet Pandya

Violet Pandya is an editorial intern for Ms. and an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, double majoring in gender & women’s studies and sociology. She is also co-interning at the Office of the Gender & Women’s Studies Librarian in Madison. She is especially interested in feminist literature and media, pleasure activism, reproductive justice, and the impacts of postfeminism on girlhood.

February 2026 Reads for the Rest of Us

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Each month, Ms. provides readers with a list of new books being published by writers from historically excluded groups.

There are hundreds of books being released every month, and it is challenging to narrow down the titles to a manageable list of 20-ish. I pride myself on finding the hidden gems—the ones you may not hear about otherwise. That means that I sometimes forgo some of the most buzzy books for ones that haven’t gotten as much publicity, even though they deserve it.  

So all that said, here is February’s list of 28 books. It was one of those months where it was tough to decide—enjoy the extra titles!

Reads for the Rest of Us: The Most Anticipated Feminist Books of 2026

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Happy new year, feminist readers! I hope you’ll make it a goal to carve out time to read, and I’m here to share the top books we are excited about this year. 

We’ve scoured catalogs and websites, searched our favorite authors, kept up with socials and tried to get through as much email as we can to find the gems that we know Ms. readers will love and learn from. We 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. 

Here are the top 94 books we’re looking forward to in 2026. 

Tools of the Patriarchy: How Communication Double Standards Silence Women

“Sorry, but—”

I paused as the words flew from my mouth, forming an apology before I could even consider why I felt the need to begin my confrontation with one. A moment earlier, my friend had interrupted me during a heated debate, and I wanted to finish making the point I had been in the middle of.

“No worries, it’s all good,” he said with a smile, continuing with his argument. I sat stunned by how in a matter of seconds, I had been interrupted, then enabled to apologize for trying to address the interruption—all with the end result of my friend getting to speak over me.

These types of interactions happen to women all the time. Compulsive apologies, interruptions, mansplaining and emotional weaponization are all barriers that get in the way of women getting their point across, and being heard.

Communicating is already complicated enough, but it is even more difficult as a woman—so let’s talk about it.

September 2025 Reads for the Rest of Us

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Each month, Ms. provides readers with a list of new books being published by writers from historically excluded groups.

If you’ve read this column before or follow book publishing, you may know that September is a giant month for new releases. Excellent books are being released this month that you won’t see on this list, and you may wonder why we neglected to include them. Most of the time, this is intentional. We will forego a book with a Big Name publisher and lots of marketing power behind it for a book published by an indie label. We may opt to include a debut author instead of someone who’s got a few books to their name. No matter what, we put time and effort into ensuring we choose the right books for the list and you, our readers.  

Let’s get into the 25 books we’ve chosen to highlight for September 2025.