Author: Alice Burton

Until this year, I had never watched RuPaul’s Drag Race. Now it is my favorite thing to talk about out of anything in the entire world. Drag Race came out of a long history of queer queens of color making a safe space for themselves, and now drag is experiencing a massive moment in the culture, with multiple DragCons a year (in NYC and LA) and a slew of spin-off shows. Quick side note before we dive into books — I saw no one as enterprising and QUICK to respond to the current pandemic as the drag community. This was so notable, Rolling Stone did a March article about it. Drag kings and queens are creative, they are savvy, and they are talented. I’m so happy we’re recognizing their contributions to art and to activism. Let’s look at some books!

Unicorn: The Memoir of a Muslim Drag Queen by Amrou Al-Kadhi. This memoir goes from Iraq to the U.K. and tells the story of Al-Kadhi, or “Glamrou,” if you call them by their drag name. They discuss their: “teenage obsession with marine biology, and how fluid aquatic life helped me understand my non-binary gender identity; about my two-year scholarship at Eton college, during which I wondered if I could forge a new identity as a British aristocrat (spoiler alert: it didn’t work); about discovering the transformative powers of drag while at university;” as well as their relationship with their mother and new and queer interpretation of Islam. Also, they have a TED Talk!

Trixie and Katya’s Guide to Modern Womanhood by Trixie Mattel and Katya. Trixie and Katya are the Carrie Underwood of the Drag Race world, and not only because they’re all approximately the same shade of blonde. When you think of Underwood, do you think American Idol? No! These two became intensely popular mostly through their show UNHhhh and Mattel’s music. This short guide is hilarious and has gorgeous photos. If you’ve ever wanted to see Katya in an open relationship with two mannequins dressed like her, here y’go.

Female Masculinity by J. Jack Halberstam. Drag Race came out and drag kings got pretty left in the dust. Halberstam looks at the “diversity of gender expressions among masculine women from nineteenth-century pre-lesbian practices to contemporary drag king performances.” This goes from Anne Lister of Gentleman Jack fame to Radclyffe Hall, and “the enigma of the stone butch.” Which is a phrase that is fun. This came out in 1998, but a 20th anniversary edition with a new preface was released in 2018.

GuRu by RuPaul. Look. I can’t NOT include a book by RuPaul. Whatever her personal life choices, in the drag community, she has provided a huge platform for dozens of queens, which has allowed them do what they love full time. If you enjoy gasping whenever RuPaul walks down a runway (my fiancée and I do), then this is perfect, because it’s a LOT of photos. There are also sections like “Glamazon Defined” and random pithy remarks. But — mainly photos.

The Diva Rules: Ditch the Drama, Find Your Strength, and Sparkle Your Way to the Top by Michelle Visage. I OWN THIS ON AUDIOBOOK. Oh man, Michelle Visage. Just livin’ her life, comin’ on too mean sometimes, pushing people too far in one direction at other times, but at the end of the day, I like her because she seems like she should be on Real Housewives of New Jersey at all times. You don’t have to take this book super seriously, but it’s light and fun and nice to hear Life Coach Visage tell you how GREAT you are.

Do you have favorite Drag Race contestants? Please tell me on Twitter. I’m there @itsalicetime and you can also find me co-hosting the nonfiction For Real podcast with Kim here at Book Riot. Until next time, enjoy those facts, fellow nerds.

How’re your reading stats for this year? Normal? Low? Not caring about reading stats anymore because of The Times in Which We Live? (this is very fair) Well! If you’re feeling in a rut, don’t worry, ’cause we’ve got some good new picks this week:

Disposable City: Miami’s Future on the Shores of Climate Catastrophe by Mario Alejandro Ariza. I cannot explain why I’ve felt obsessed with this book, but I have. Maybe it’s the color scheme on the cover?? Ariza writes about how Miami is likely, by century’s end, to be underwater. He shares “not only what climate change looks like on the ground today, but also what Miami will look like 100 years from now, and how that future has been shaped by the city’s racist past and present.”

 

Little Book of Video Games: 70 Classics That Everyone Should Know and Play by Melissa Brinks. I haven’t played video games on a console since Final Fantasy VII, but that doesn’t mean that OTHERS should not hear of this very cute book. For real though, Brinks talks about the history of video games going back to the 1950s, which is awesome (TELL ME MORE OF PONG) and goes up to the early 2000s. If you like learning about the cultural roots of something and how things you love were influenced, bam. Also, tbh, I want to read this just because I like knowing how Things Affect Other Things.

 

A History of My Brief Body: Essays by Billy-Ray Belcourt. This book looks potentially stunning. Belcourt, winner of the Griffin Poetry Prize and member of the Driftpile Cree Nation in Alberta, here writes “essays and vignettes on grief, colonial violence, joy, love, and queerness.” It’s being compared to Ocean Vuong and Heart Berries, so if those are your jam, seriously consider picking this up.

 

Miracle Country: A Memoir by Kendra Atleework. You know how some memoirs are really grounded in places? Ok, so this is one of those. Atleework grew up in California, in the Eastern Sierra Nevada, a parched and somewhat desolate deserty area “forever at the mercy of wildfires, blizzards, and gale-force winds.” Be warned, fair amount about her mother getting sick and then passing away when Atleework is 16. She moves from her home to Los Angeles, Minnesota, and back home again.

Support new books! You can do this by buying them or checking them out from your library. If you don’t have a library card, a lot of libraries are letting you apply for one online now! And then you can use an app like Libby. And remember, if the library doesn’t have a book you want, you can always request that they buy it.

As always, you can find me on social media @itsalicetime and co-hosting the For Real podcast with Kim here at Book Riot. Until next time, enjoy those facts, fellow nerds.

Over the last few decades, we’ve started to see books coming out that emphasize different histories of the United States. I’m gonna say it right now; a lot of these are published by Beacon Press, because Beacon does some good good work. Here on this 10th of July, let’s check these out:

A Black Women’s History of the United States by Daina Ramey Berry and Kali Nicole Gross. This came out this year and is by two awesome academics. They tell the story of Black women in America from “the first African women who arrived in what became the United States to African American women of today.” They highlight enslaved women, freedwomen, religious leaders, artists, queer women, activists, and “women who lived outside the law.” And they do it in less than 300 pages. Amazing.

 

A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn. This starts with Christopher Columbus coming over and destroying people’s lives and continues up through President Clinton’s first term in office. Zinn focuses on America’s “women, factory workers, African Americans, Native Americans, the working poor, and immigrant laborers.” This book was groundbreaking in terms of its emphasis that there are other stories to be told, and we should pay attention to them.

 

An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz. “Native peoples have vast claims to reparations and restitution,” yet “[n]o monetary amount can compensate for lands illegally seized, particularly those sacred lands necessary for Indigenous peoples to regain social coherence.” Dunbar-Ortiz speaks against the founding myth of the U.S. and walks you through the blatant colonial and genocidal ambitions of those in power regarding Indigenous populations.

 

A Disability History of the United States by Kim E. Nielsen. Published in 2012 and covering pre-1492 to then, this is the first book to “place the experiences of people with disabilities at the center of the American narrative.” I am super psyched for this, because who is FREQUENTLY left out of the narrative? Yes, people with disabilities. Nielsen is a professor and director of the disability studies program at the University of Toledo.

Have a good weekend! Be safe! And as always, you can find me on social media @itsalicetime and co-hosting the For Real podcast with Kim here at Book Riot. Until next time, enjoy those facts, fellow nerds.

Helloooo, nonfiction fan. Very excited to talk about some new releases this week, as we’ve got some great ones. We’re more than halfway through 2020! Let’s celebrate with books:

Say It Louder!: Black Voters, White Narratives, and Saving Our Democracy by Tiffany D. Cross. Political analyst Cross looks at the role Black Americans play and have played in American politics, how they have been shut out from the voting process, and how they have been critical to particular electoral wins (ex: the 2018 Democrats’ blue Wave). She examines “how America’s composition was designed to exclude Black voters, but paradoxically would likely cease to exist without them.”

 

The Cold Vanish: Seeking the Missing in North America’s Wildlands by Jon Billman. When people vanish into the wilderness, what happens? From Search & Rescue to bloodhound handlers, river divers, detectives, and more, this book looks closely at cases of people who have gone missing, and those who search for them. Billman centers his narrative around the case of Jacob Gray and his father, who left everything in his life to search for his son. This is being compared to Into the Wild a lot, so if you like that, give this a look.

 

The End of White Politics: How to Heal Our Liberal Divide by Zerlina Maxwell. Author Maxwell worked on two presidential campaigns and now works as a political analyst. “In 2020, after the Democratic Party’s most historically diverse pool of presidential candidates finally dwindled down to Joe Biden, once again an older white man, Maxwell has posed the ultimate question: what now, liberals?” She urges progressives to empower marginalized groups, lean into identity politics (using the actual definition), and try to level the playing field for all.

 

Lady Romeo: The Radical and Revolutionary Life of Charlotte Cushman, America’s First Celebrity by Tana Wojczuk. Haven’t heard of Charlotte Cushman? Great, ok, so — it’s the 1830s in America, and this actress comes on the scene. She played both men and women, famously playing Romeo opposite her sister in Romeo and Juliet, she was in relationships with other women (hey-o), used her fame to promote the works of African American/Native American sculptor Edmonia Lewis, and generally lived a very dramatic life.

 

How to Take Awesome Photos of Cats by Andrew Marttila. Look. We’re stuck at home. We’re all photographing our cats. And maybe we need some tips. Marttila talks photography basics, photographing your very special cat with your phone, with a regular camera (haha do people own those?), how to edit your photos, and how to best share them. If you’re really bored and want to up your game here, this is pretty ideal.

 

Hokay, happy July! If you want the full list of new releases, don’t forget to sign up for Book Riot Insiders because it has the sweet New Release Index. As always, you can find me on social media @itsalicetime and co-hosting the For Real podcast with Kim here at Book Riot. Until next time, enjoy those facts, fellow nerds.

I am genuinely super excited about these end-of-June releases. A lot of these were spring books that got pushed, and so I’ve been excited about them for a while and they are FINALLY HERE.

A Most Beautiful Thing: The True Story of America’s First All-Black High School Rowing Team by Arshay Cooper. Ok, this is about a group of young men growing up on Chicago’s West Side who formed the first all-Black high school rowing team in the nation. Dangit, I love stories about youths coming together and doing a thing. Author Cooper was the captain of the team and shares their story. There’s also a documentary out about this and I’m super excited about both.

 

Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the 21st Century ed. by Alice Wong. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act, which was “a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability.” If you’ve heard of people asking whether something is ADA-compliant? That’s why. More than 30 essayists contribute to this compilation that brings to the forefront the fact that one in five people in the United States lives with a disability. And we should be talking about their stories more.

 

Action Park: Fast Times, Wild Rides, and the Untold Story of America’s Most Dangerous Amusement Park by Andy Mulvihill and Jake Rossen. Y’know how in the 1970s and ’80s no one really paid attention to things like “safety”? Action Park was a “New Jersey-based amusement playland [that] placed no limits on danger or fun” (good lord). Called a “DIY Disneyland,” it was also nicknamed Accident/Class Action Park. I’m interested in if this book veers more towards “remember the good ole days when no one had safety standards?” or is more like “omg how did this happen” à la Bad Blood. I guess we’ll see! One thing I will say is that this cover is extremely fun.

 

This Is Major: Notes on Diana Ross, Dark Girls, and Being Dope by Shayla Lawson. Ok, speaking of good covers. I love this so much? Lawson is “on a mission to move black girls like herself from best supporting actress to a starring role in the major narrative. Whether she’s taking on workplace microaggressions or upending racist stereotypes about her home state of Kentucky, she looks for the side of the story that isn’t always told, the places where the voices of black girls haven’t been heard.” Lawson is also a poet and a writer-in-residence at Amherst. POETS. Making things happen.

So many new releases, so little space. If you want the full list, don’t forget to sign up for Book Riot Insiders because it has the sweet New Release Index. As always, you can find me on social media @itsalicetime and co-hosting the For Real podcast with Kim here at Book Riot. Until next time, enjoy those facts, fellow nerds.

More Pride! Pride all the time. We’re at the last Friday newsletter of June, so here we go with some real gay (or queer. or trans!) books:

Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More by Janet Mock. This book is a JOURNEY. Mock tells her story of growing up “young, multiracial, poor, and trans in America.” What is it like to grow up trans and without privilege? When I read this, I felt like it offered tremendous clarity about the breadth of experience out there, how every person’s journey is different, and what humans are capable of accomplishing. If you’ve already read it, check out Mock’s second book, Surpassing Certainty: What My Twenties Taught Me.

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado. Kim on For Real HIGHLY recommends this. I bought it at Powell’s Books in Portland and haven’t read it yet, but I’m expecting it to be amazing. It’s a memoir of the emotionally abusive relationship Machado was in, as well as the aftermath. It’s called beautifully written, but “haunting,” so watch out if you can’t handle that kind of thing right now. What makes it truly stand out is that Machado changes up the style of every chapter, including a Choose Your Own Path and a Haunted House-style section.

Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America by Lillian Faderman. If you were looking for queer history books 5 years ago (and I was), you would come across Faderman all the time, because she was one of the few people writing about it. This is one of her better-known works, where she traces the history of lesbian culture in America. One reviewer accuses her of holding a “culturally-based view of lesbianism,” which is legit, but overall she’s cautious with evidence and does a good job highlighting histories that might otherwise be lost.

All right! Have an excellent weekend, be safe, and as always, you can find me on social media @itsalicetime and co-hosting the For Real podcast with Kim here at Book Riot. Until next time, enjoy those facts, fellow nerds.

Are you continuing to drink water, nonfiction reader? I know it’s weirdly hard to do, but it’s important! Read a page, drink some water, read another page, drink some water. I say this while all my dehydrated cells are most likely glaring at me for the sheer hypocrisy on display here, but do as I say, not as I do, etc etc. Now, let’s look at some new books!

The Great Indoors: The Surprising Science of How Buildings Shape Our Behavior, Health, and Happiness by Emily Anthes. Did you know we spend 90% of our time indoors? Well. Probably more now. Science journalist Anthes looks at how our indoor spaces affect our mental and physical well-being and how “the pain-killing power of a well-placed window and examines how the right office layout can expand our social networks.” Super neat and REAL relevant right now.

 

I Tried to Change So You Don’t Have To: True Life Lessons by Loni Love. I was reading parts from this out loud to my fiancée because Loni Love has that special gift of being able to talk about really vulnerable and sometimes painful things, and then zing! Suddenly there’s a hilarious joke. I am always impressed by that skill. Here she talks about growing up in housing projects to Detroit, being a French horn-playing nerd, getting an engineering degree, and going to Hollywood.

 

Thank You for Voting: The Maddening, Enlightening, Inspiring Truth About Voting in America by Erin Geiger Smith. Why do so few people vote? Geiger Smith looks at the past (history!), present (news!), and future (wild speculation!) of voting. What I’m most interested in — although voting history is pretty good to learn about — is how get-out-the-vote movements + activists “innovatively use technology and grassroots techniques to energize first-time voters.” What technology! What techniques! How are they energizing! So interesting.

 

Twisted: The Tangled History of Black Hair Culture by Emma Dabiri. Yissss this book. Dabiri is Irish-Nigerian and an excellent writer. Here she looks at the history of Black hair culture, while sharing stories from her own life. She takes the reader “from pre-colonial Africa, through the Harlem Renaissance, and into today’s Natural Hair Movement, exploring everything from women’s solidarity and friendship, to the criminalization of dreadlocks, to the dubious provenance of Kim Kardashian’s braids.” This book is great, get it.

That’s it for new books this week! As always, you can find me on social media @itsalicetime and co-hosting the For Real podcast with Kim here at Book Riot. Until next time, enjoy those facts, fellow nerds.

We’re at Friday! This week has felt THE longest and I say that as someone who is writing this on Wednesday. Okay, so who’s ready to be INSPIRED by some activist bios? I hope it’s you, ’cause these’re good. Here we go:

Sylvia and Marsha Start a Revolution!: The Story of the Trans Women of Color Who Made LGBTQ+ History by Joy Ellison & Teshika Silver. Did you know there aren’t any bios of Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera? But this one’s coming out this fall and you can preorder it NOW. It’s for kids ages 4-8 and “introduces children to issues surrounding gender identity and diversity.” Seems like a good one to get for a kid you know or to donate somewhere.

 

Spirit Run: A 6,000-Mile Marathon Through North America’s Stolen Land by Noé Álvarez. Book Riot staff LOVED this book. Álvarez grew up in Washington as the son of Mexican immigrants. At nineteen, he learned of a Native American/First Nations movement called the Peace and Dignity Journeys, “epic marathons meant to renew cultural connections across North America.” This book is about the four-month marathon he took part of through that movement, that went from Canada to Guatemala.

 

One Earth: People of Color Protecting Our Planet by Anuradha Rao. This is so digestible! It’s marketed at young adults, but adults could definitely get into it. Each activist mini biography ends with a “What can you do?” section that gives you next steps. I LOVE ACTION ITEMS. They have chapters like “Feeding the Food Desert” focused on America, “Preserving Forest-People Relationships” in Kenya, “Uniting for Clean Water” in Jamaica and Canada, and a lot more. Dang, I’m gonna order this book right now.

 

When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by Patrisse Khan-Cullors & asha bandele. I recommended this last week and here it is again! Michelle Alexander of The New Jim Crow called it a “must-read.” Khan-Cullors tells the story of her life, growing up queer and Black in Los Angeles, getting a Fulbright Scholarship and known for her activism by age 22. She later co-founded the Black Lives Matter movement with Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi, which is mentioned in the book, but not the focus of it.

 

Take care of yourselves, nonfictionites. As always, you can find me on social media @itsalicetime and co-hosting the For Real podcast with Kim here at Book Riot. Until next time, enjoy those facts, fellow nerds.

Nonfictionites, I hope you’re all taking care of yourselves in this, the mid-month of the year. I hope you’re still into new releases, because I have GOT ‘EM for you.

See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love by Valarie Kaur. Feeling overwhelmed? Looking to figure out how to “fix a broken world without breaking ourselves”? Kaur is a Sikh activist and civil rights lawyer. Another of her callings is the idea of revolutionary love, which “extends in three directions: to others, to our opponents, and to ourselves.” She covers this and her own story, growing up in California, becoming a law student, and then an activist.

 

Call Me American: The Extraordinary True Story of a Young Somali Immigrant (Adapted for Young Adults) by Abdi Nor Iftin. This is the young adult adaptation of Abdi Nor Iftin’s 2018 memoir. It tells the story of his youth in Somalia (more particularly in Mogadishu), flight to Kenya when a radical group rose to power, and move to the U.S. when he won the annual visa lottery (which, by the way, I did not know was a thing). I love young adult nonfiction adaptations, so this is very exciting.

 

Brag Better: Master the Art of Fearless Self-Promotion by Meredith Fineman. A lot of people seem to hesitate when talking about their accomplishments, because they’re wary of being seen as braggy. Well! You should definitely talk about them, because they’re awesome. I haven’t had a chance to read this one yet, but I am extremely pro-its core message of pushing us to talk ourselves up to the world. Who. Else. Will. Do it. Own the cool things you’re doing! (Also, side note, if you feel prouder about what you’re doing, you’re going to feel less threatened by what other people are doing and then everyone will be nicer and that is awesome.)

 

Sarah Bernhardt: The Divine and Dazzling Life of the World’s First Superstar by Catherine Reef. If you don’t know who Sarah Bernhardt is, she used to be THE name in acting. “Used to” as in the 1860s to the 1920s. This YA nonfiction bio (yayyy YA nonfiction) covers things like how she was “extravagantly eccentric, living with a series of exotic animals and sleeping in a coffin.” This, I did not know. It also has over 60 photos, which is excellent. If you want to know a bit more about her but not jump into a heavy bio, this seems like a good pick.

As always, you can find me on social media @itsalicetime and co-hosting the For Real podcast with Kim here at Book Riot. Until next time, enjoy those facts, fellow nerds.

Pride Month happens in June because the Stonewall Riots were in June. On June 28, 1969, New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, allegedly groped queer women, beat patrons, and finally, someone reportedly shouted, “Why don’t you guys do something?” The ensuing chaos, rioting, and destruction of property are now seen as the foundation of a movement that saved innumerable lives and led to immense social change. I’m just saying.

Stonewall Riots: Coming Out in the Streets by Gayle E Pitman. I love YA nonfiction. It frequently gives you exactly as much information as you really need about a subject. If you want a more thorough understanding of Stonewall than just its most known talking points, this gives you a background on LGBTQ+ NYC before, during, and after the riots, and it does it through objects, which is awesome. A lot of the objects are photographs, but they also include a dress and a matchbox, among other items.

 

No Tea, No Shade: New Writings in Black Queer Studies edited by E. Patrick Johnson. If you like a survey of a topic via essays, do I have the book for you! 19 essays are collected here, focusing on Black gender and sexuality. Authors include scholars, activists, and community leaders. Did you know there was a ’90s magazine by and for Black lesbians called Black Lace? Neither did I.

 

 

Queer: A Graphic History by Dr. Meg-John Barker. This graphic history looks at how we “came to view sex, gender and sexuality in the ways that we do; how these ideas get tangled up with our culture and our understanding of biology, psychology and sexology; and how these views have been disputed and challenged.” I know those are a lot of words! But it’s pretty accessible and does a good job giving a history + breaking down some complicated ideas.

 

Transgender History, second edition: The Roots of Today’s Revolution by Susan Stryker. What a helpful and informative book for a time when certain authors are making all KINDS of claims. I’m really excited to look at this one more closely. Stryker spends a chapter each on terms, history (starting from the mid-19th c.), liberation, and this second edition has a final chapter that focuses on 2000 to present day (present being 2017). If you’re interested in academically nerding out, she also wrote The Transgender Studies Reader, which came out in 2006.

 

Warrior Poet: A Biography of Audre Lorde by Alexis De Veaux. Lorde called herself a “Black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet.” Add librarian and civil rights activist to that list, among other things. De Veaux’s biography won the Lambda Literary Award and leads you through Lorde’s personal and professional growth until passing at the too-young age of 58 in 1992. For further reading, check out Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches.

 

The Stonewall Reader edited by the New York Public Library. Primary sources!! Ok, this is super cool because it gives you lots of pieces important to the LGBTQ+ movement, but they’re bite-sized, so you can read one or two or five things at a time, or pick and choose what you want to read, and it doesn’t have to be in order (I know that idea will make some of you panic). They’re split up into Before/During/After Stonewall. Awesome.

Take care of yourselves, nonfictionites. As always, you can find me on social media @itsalicetime and co-hosting the For Real podcast with Kim here at Book Riot. Until next time, enjoy those facts, fellow nerds.