Books

10 Essential Books About Writing

An illustration shows a person with brown skin and brown hair with a pencil in their mouth, bookshelves with blue, purple, yellow, and pink book covers behind them, and a laptop in front of them.
by Nylah Burton
April 6, 2022 at 12:07pm
Must-read titles for writers include works by Elena Ferrante, Akwaeke Emezi, Meg Wolitzer, Yoko Ogawa, and more.
a white woman with glasses with shoulder-length curls sits on a stage

Fear of a Feminist Lens: How Emily Nussbaum Pioneered TV Criticism

by Jourdain Searles
July 9, 2019 at 7:32pm
Nussbaum provides a roadmap for how to talk about television with an openness that sheds the hand-wringing that has plagued television criticism since its conception. Read more »
a woman in a hat and glasses reads inside of a tent

BitchReads: 5 Nonfiction Books Feminists Should Read This July

by Evette Dionne
July 8, 2019 at 12:38pm
We’re bringing BitchReads back! Read more »
The cover of The Music of What Happens by Bill Konigsberg, which features the two main characters, Max, a gay biracial Mexican baseball player, and Jordan, a gay poet.

A Queerer World: 2019 Is the Year of the LGBTQ YA Novel

by Rachel Charlene Lewis
June 26, 2019 at 2:12pm
This year, LGBTQ young adult novels have finally diversified the queer experience. Read more »
A photo of author Mason Deaver, who is white and non-binary, in promotion of their book "I Wish You All the Best." Mason wears a pink sweatshirt and is smiling.

Moving the Needle: Mason Deaver on Creating One of YA’s First Nonbinary Protagonists

by Rachel Charlene Lewis
June 21, 2019 at 3:21pm
In YA, nonbinary protagonists are rare. Mason Deaver seeks to change that with their debut, I Wish You All the Best. Read more »
a Black mother in a headwrap holds her newborn baby to her chest

Cultivating Joy: Dani McClain Faces Down the Fear of Maternal Mortality

by Evette Dionne
June 17, 2019 at 1:02pm
When you become responsible for guiding a young person through this world, there are a lot of reasons to have some anxiety.  Read more »
a photo of a white woman with short, blonde hair

Not Safe For Work: “Reckoning” Reminds Us That the Fight against Sexual Harassment Didn’t Start with #MeToo

by Bitch HQ
June 14, 2019 at 12:29pm
The book is a fascinating, often dizzying ride through legal history, cultural evolution, feminist-movement dynamics, and media mythmaking. Read more »
a zoomed-in photo of a woman's eye with tears building in it

Invisible Signs: What We’re Still Missing When We Talk about Domestic Violence

by Caroline Reilly
May 28, 2019 at 11:16am
No Visible Bruises will raise awareness and save lives. Read more »
a yellow book cover with a Mexican woman pictured in the past

Cherríe Moraga Honors Her Foremothers in “Native Country of the Heart”

by Roberta Nin Feliz
May 23, 2019 at 4:28pm
Capturing our foremothers’ stories is one of the ways in which women of color remember themselves. Read more »
an illustration of a white woman and a black woman holding spears

There’s No Such Thing as Objective Science

by Abaki Beck
May 20, 2019 at 3:18pm
Science intentionally created, and continues to recreate, race. Read more »
a photo of a bald Asian American man

Monstrous Poetry: Kenji Liu Is Using Frankenstein as a Metaphor for Toxic Masculinity

by Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo
May 8, 2019 at 2:18pm
It’s easy to write something that criticizes toxic masculinity, or our current president, or any number of things in the news about guys acting badly. Read more »

Pages

Best of Bitch

Know & Tell: The Literary Renaissance of Trans Women Writers

by Katherine Cross
Winter 2015 • (Re)Vision
For so long, the people who wrote about us were not us. Finally, that is beginning to change. Read more »

Eat, Pray, Spend: Priv-Lit and the New, Enlightened American Dream

Elizabeth Gilbert, a white woman wearing a navy blue jumpsuit, leans forward and holds hand with and Oprah Winfrey, a Black woman wearing a gray cardigan and jeans
by Joshunda Sanders
Summer 2010 • Action
Even as reports on joblessness, economic recovery, and home foreclosures suggest that no one is immune to risk during this recession, the popularity of women’s wellness media has persisted and, indeed, grown stronger.  Read more »

Hot Under the Bonnet: The Cooptation of Amish Culture in Mass-Market Fiction

a blue and white illustration of a woman in Amish attire standing next to a fan and a chicken
by Audrey deCoursey
Spring 2014 • Maps & Legends
Dubbed “Amish romance novels,” “Amish fiction,” or the more waggish “bonnet rippers,” these novels just one entry point into the varying images of Amish communities in U.S. popular culture. 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 »