December 2024 Reads for the Rest of Us

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

I don’t know where this year went, but it was a tough one on many fronts. For better or for worse, here we are. Enjoy these 12 titles—then keep your eyes peeled for my Best of the Rest for 2024. 

November 2024 Reads for the Rest of Us

I hope, I hope. Until then, I read. 

Reading makes me a better, kinder, more empathetic person. It helps me not to feel so alone and so discouraged. It counteracts the desperation and uncertainty I feel more often lately.

So, friends, here’s to reading. And here’s to hope. And here are the 20 soothing, motivating, educating, loving and ass-kicking books releasing this month that I recommend.

October Reads for the Rest of Us

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

This month, our Ms. book editor recommends Abortion: Our Bodies, Their Lies, and the Truths We Use to Win by Jessica Valenti, Doll Seed by Michele Tracy Berger, Humans in Shackles: An Atlantic History of Slavery by Ana Lucia Araujo, and more.

‘My Life as a Feminist Punk’: An Interview With Kathleen Hanna

In her memoir, Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk (Ecco), Hanna shares her journey from a challenging childhood through college and her first shows to love, Lyme disease and Le Tigre. Intimate and candid, Hanna graciously explores it all, including the duplicity of the punk scene with its caring collectivity and underlying exclusivity, racism and misogyny. 

I was lucky enough to chat with Kathleen Hanna about her book, the writing process and how her feminism has changed over time.

April 2024 Reads for the Rest of Us

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

Here are 25 fantastic books releasing this month that we recommend you dig into. There are stunning debuts, masterful historical fiction, kaleidoscopic short stories, thoughtful manifestas, moving memoirs, groundbreaking nonfiction, and so much more.