Books

Rebekah Weatherspoon, a Black woman wearing glasses, smiles at the camera

Rebekah Weatherspoon Is the Queen of Erotic Romance

July 14, 2020 at 9:00am

If you want to read romances with a bit more erotic heat to them, look no further than Rebekah Weatherspoon. Read more »

an Unsplash photo of an Asian person with shoulder-length brown hair reading a book

BitchReads: 17 Books Feminists Should Read in July

by Evette Dionne

July 13, 2020 at 2:44pm

This BitchReads list is curated to encourage everyone to find the small joys, including books, that will help us through this trying time. Read more »

Leah Johnson, author of You Should See Me in a Crown. Leah is a Black woman with curly hair and a nosering. She wears a black mockneck tank top and smiles at the camera.

Unabashed Triumph: “You Should See Me in a Crown” Reimagines the Prom Queen

by Rachel Charlene Lewis

June 30, 2020 at 10:46am

This is a book that, at its core, offers hope. Read more »

The Herd by Andrea Bartz and Self Care by Leigh Stein. The former cover features a white woman with a purple highlight blocking out her features. The second features a lotion bottle.

Slaying the Girlboss: New Books Explore the Underbelly of Corporate Feminism

by Rachel Charlene Lewis

June 30, 2020 at 9:59am

Against differing backdrops, Andrea Bartz and Leah Stein offer their own look into the darker underbelly of these easily marketable spaces. Read more »

A Multifaceted Beauty: In Emma Dabiri’s “Twisted,” Black Hair Is Both Historic and Personal

by Mary Retta

June 29, 2020 at 10:08am

Emma Dabiri’s analysis also shines in its unexpected critique of today’s natural hair movement in an international context. Read more »

A white woman reads a book. The text next to her reads, “I’m tired of white people ‘trying.’”

Very Online: Anti-Racist Readers Are Plaguing the DMs of Black People

by Rachel Charlene Lewis

June 26, 2020 at 10:53am

We’re in the time of the online anti-racism book club. Read more »

Felix Ever After author Kacen Callender, who is Black and nonbinary and smiles directly at the camera while wearing a pink tee, has blue hair.

Unexpected Connection: “Felix Ever After” Lets Queer and Trans Teens Be Messy

by Rachel Charlene Lewis

June 17, 2020 at 1:15pm

The characterization in this book should serve as an example to others writing queer YA in 2020. Read more »

Zaira Arafat, a Palestinian American writer with shoulder-length brown hair, sits in front of a concrete wall and smiles

Rupture and Reform: “You Exist Too Much” Is a Meditation on Queerness and Desire

by Katherine Connell

June 16, 2020 at 9:00am

Obsession serves a two-pronged function in queer stories. Read more »

A Black woman holds a book. The text overlay reads: They paid you how much?

Very Online: The Literary World May Never Recover from #PublishingPaidMe

by Rachel Charlene Lewis

June 12, 2020 at 12:45pm

For Black writers, Twitter acts as a guiding force. Read more »

These Women, a book cover that features a teenage Latinx girl sitting on a bed and smoking a cigarette while a teen boy lays behind her

Detangling the Web: “These Women” Breaks the Crime Thriller Mold

by Joline Faujour

June 12, 2020 at 9:59am

Ivy Pochoda’s book is about the pitfalls sex workers face and how their precarious position prevents them from seeking and obtaining justice. Read more »

Best of Bitch

A Look at How Media Writes Women of Color

by Victoria Law

November 17, 2014 at 5:07pm

Nearly every Saturday morning, feminists of color hold Twitter discussions taking a deeper look at issues, such as gender violence. It’s the... Read more »

Mock & Awe: Janet Mock on Truth-Telling, Community Building, and Writing the Story She Had Been Waiting for Her Whole Life

Janet Mock, a transgender Hawaiian woman with curly, brown hair, smiles

by Tina Vasquez

Spring 2014 • Maps & Legends

“Redefining Realness” is written with astounding honesty and heart. Read more »

Demanding the Impossible: Walidah Imarisha Talks About Science Fiction and Social Change

by Kristian Williams

April 13, 2015 at 2:23pm

Before she was a poet, journalist, documentary filmmaker, anti-prison activist, and college instructor, Walidah Imarisha was fascinated... Read more »