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.

“Heartthrobs” Makes Female Desire Only For White Women

by Rachel Vorona Cote
October 17, 2017 at 4:53pm
Heartthrobs: A History of Women and Desire lacks both the intersectional and theoretical rigor crucial to any historical project. Read more »
Gary Oldman and Winona Ryder in Dracula

OG Vampires: “Dracula” Is All About Sex

by Molly McArdle
October 17, 2017 at 12:59pm
Lusty bloodsuckers are running amok.  Read more »
Witches going to their Sabbath

WitchReads: 11 Books to Hex the Patriarchy

by Dahlia Balcazar
October 17, 2017 at 9:28am
It’s the season of the witch. Read more »

“Feminist Fight Club” Is a Manual on How to Destroy Office Patriarchy

by Lee Jutton
October 16, 2017 at 12:38pm
Feminist Fight Club works through male stereotypes one encounters in the office and offers tips on how to counteract their boorish behavior. Read more »

“Spill” Maps a Future In Which Black Women Inherit the Universe

by Zaina Alsous
October 13, 2017 at 1:51pm
Spill invites the reader to join the apocalyptic project of freedom, of refusing the world as we know it and demanding a new one. Read more »
Ink In Water book cover

“Ink in Water” Illustrates a Powerful Journey of Eating Disorder Recovery

by Raechel Anne Jolie
October 12, 2017 at 12:58pm
Lacy J. Davis’s story is engaging because she describes the painful juxtaposition of being a self-identified queer, punk feminist who was also actively trying to shrink herself. Read more »
Meanwhile, Elsewhere book cover

“Meanwhile, Elsewhere” Unapologetically Centers Trans People In Sci-Fi

by Katherine Cross
October 9, 2017 at 2:04pm
A banal world is in the realm of fantasy for trans people. Read more »

Fierce As Fuck: The Future of Poetry Is Brown and Queer

by Soraya Membreno
October 6, 2017 at 9:22am
This is a moment of poetic renaissance and poets of color are paving the way. Read more »
stock photo of woman reading outside

BitchReads: 13 Books You Must Read in October

by Evette Dionne
October 3, 2017 at 2:27pm
YA, a short story collection, and even a novel about hurricanes is on this list. Read more »

“Her Body and Other Parties” Is A Collection Full of Bold Queer Women

by Keah Brown
October 3, 2017 at 9:58am
Her Body And Other Parties is about pleasure, intimacy, and the people who crave it, have it, and witness it.  Read more »

Pages

Best of Bitch

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 »

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 »

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 »

Black Girls Hunger for Heroes, Too: A Black Feminist Conversation on Fantasy Fiction for Teens

by Zetta Elliott
December 17, 2013 at 3:19pm
What happens when two great black women fiction writers get together to talk about race in young adult literature? That's exactly what happens... Read more »