Books

“Who I Was With Her” Explores Queer Grief and Loneliness

Two hands reaching for each other with a sky in the background.
by Rachel Charlene Lewis
September 15, 2020 at 8:55am
Nita Tyndall surveys what it’s like to grieve in silence.
Amanda Leduc, a white woman with wavy dark brown hair, looks at the camera. She has a soft smile and appears to be outdoors.

Amanda Leduc and Fantasy Authors Challenge the Trope of “Broken” Disabled People

by Alaina Leary
March 9, 2020 at 1:54pm
Fairy tales and their contemporary counterparts—superhero tales, science fiction, fantasy—shape our collective ideas about what it means to be powerful and beautiful.  Read more »
Three young adult novels collaged together featuring a variety of characters.

Escapist Young Adult Novels Offer a Breath of Fresh Air in the Current Political Climate

by Nicole Brinkley
March 4, 2020 at 10:19am
These stories are escapist fiction—literature that doesn’t explicitly focus on the social and political issues in our real world, allowing the reader to temporarily forget about them and fall into the story. Read more »
Rachel Vorona Cote, author of "Too Much," sits with her hands on her chin wearing a black shirt and glasses.

Corseted Up: Victorian Ideals Are Still Binding up Women

by Rachel Klein
February 24, 2020 at 6:33am
A woman who meets the world with intensity is a woman who endures lashes of shame and disapproval. Read more »
a collage of two books: Why We Can't Sleep by Ada Calhoun and In Our Prime by Susan J. Douglas

Women of a Certain Rage: Two New Books Tackle Getting Older—and More Pissed Off

by Andi Zeisler
February 13, 2020 at 1:22pm
 Like aging itself, Why We Can’t Sleep and In Our Prime are both reflective and daunting. Read more »
Judy Blume, a white author wearing a white suit, sits on a rooftop and smiles at the camera

Judged Judy: Judy Blume’s 40 Years Old Fight to Tell the Truth about Sex, Religion, and Turtles

by Joanna Miller
February 12, 2020 at 4:06pm
For refusing to condescend to her readers in the face of physical harassment and threats of nonpublication, Blume has been, regardless of whether it was her intention, a protector of intellectual freedom and the First Amendment. Read more »
Erin Khar, a white woman with black hair and brown eyes, stands against a brick wall. She wears a black coat and has a soft smile.

Cleaned Up: “Strung Out” Complicates the Conversation about Women and Opioid Addiction

by Elizabeth Lothian
February 11, 2020 at 9:00am
We can only help people if they’re alive; the only bottom you can’t recover from is death. Read more »
a white teen and an Asian teen face each other lovingly, putting their noses together, and being wrapped in Christmas lights

Paranormal Boyfriends, Purity Myths, and Practical Virgins: The Literature of Losing It

by Christine Seifert
February 10, 2020 at 11:01am
Being abstinent in these books is not empowering for female characters; instead, it’s a consequence of decisions enforced by their male counterparts.  Read more »
a black and white photo of a white teenage girl sitting with her back to the camera and Love Shouldn't Hurt written in black ink across her back

“What Kind of Girl” Flips the Teen Domestic Violence YA Narrative on Its Head

by Rachel Charlene Lewis
February 4, 2020 at 3:27pm
High school is still high school and teenagers still struggle to understand how abuse happens. Read more »
Party of Two, a blue book cover that features an illustration of a couple sitting together at a table

BitchReads: 27 Novels Feminists Should Read in 2020

by Evette Dionne
February 3, 2020 at 5:04pm
We’ve already published our most-anticipated lists of nonfiction and young-adult books, but this one, featuring 27 adult novels, is special. Read more »
Donald Sutherland as President Coriolanus Snow, an elderly white man sitting behind a desk with a crown sitting on top of it, in The Hunger Games

Snow Thank You: “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” Can’t Redeem a Villain

by s.e. smith
January 29, 2020 at 4:38pm
Redemption has to be earned; attempting to retcon it through a perilous backstory is always a dicey proposition. Read more »

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Best of Bitch

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 »

Rewriting the Future: Using Science Fiction to Re-Envision Justice

by Walidah Imarisha
Spring 2015 • Law & Order
Our justice movements desperately need science fiction. 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 »

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 »