Author: Erica Ezeifedi

After standing around while earthlings (poorly) tell her story, Ms. Milky Way is finally speaking her piece. Born of clouds of gas, absorber of black holes, and mourner of countless star deaths, Ms. Way has had quite the life, and astrophysicist and folklorist (I love that someone is both of those things at the same time) Dr. Moiya McTier helps our galaxy out by committing her story to paper.

Anthropomorphizing jokes aside, this is such a cool way to present astrophysics and I’ve been loving seeing more star books coming out.

Book Club Bonus: What is the most surprising thing this taught you about the universe? Does it change how you contextualize your life at all?

When Jennette is six, she has her first acting audition. After that follows years of her trying to please her mother by becoming a star. Once she actually lands a really big role on iCarly, it seems like her mother finally gets her wish. She’s excited to email fan club members and becomes extra chummy with paparazzi, all while abusing her daughter— s*exually, emotionally, and financially— behind the scenes. When her mother dies of cancer years later, she quits acting and contends with her childhood, and the addiction, eating disorders, and toxic relationships that came as a result of it. She recounts all of that here with refreshing honesty (see: title) and humor. It’s wild to think back to how my younger siblings used to watch iCarly and remembering her as a kid now that I know all the awful stuff that was happening to her at the time. I’m proud of her for sharing her story and being so bold with it (again, see: title ). I don’t usually feel like that with celebrities I don’t know, but I think in this case it’s because I associate her with my younger siblings, and I know how nasty people can be with assault victims.

Book club bonus: From what is discussed in this memoir, what do you think makes the entertainment industry so full of abusers?

This collection of essays partially tell Indigenous climate activist Aguon’s life story as well as demand action. He mixes poetry and prose to tell of his childhood in Guam, life-changing experiences, and how strongly tied to Indigenous rights climate justice is. He also lays out a path for the future.

Book Club Bonus: Years ago (it feels like another life time, *lolsob*) when I was studying for the MCAT, there was a passage detailing how when European colonizers came to the Americas, they destroyed entire ecosystems, the effect of which can still be felt today. This was because, just as human beings adapt to our environment— or evolve— so, too, does the environment adapt to us. By destroying the people, you destroy the environment. Discuss this and whether it is possible for those with a colonialist mindset to ever inherently respect the land they’ve taken over.

I used to be really into fashion magazines. I loved the artistry and creativity that went into the designs, the makeup (shout out Pat McGrath!), the photoshoots, everything! The model choices were obviously not very inclusive, though. A part from being morally wrong and not reflective of the world we live in, it was also just artistically boring, which is the last thing I want from a creative outlet. Well once Enninful became the first Black editor-in-chief of British Vogue, people with different body types and of different ages were featured, as were real life heroes like first responders and civil rights activists. This memoir walks readers through his beginnings as a working-class refugee and his experiences within the fashion industry as a Black gay man.

Book Club Bonus: I’ve noticed how certain previously adored fashion houses/outlets lost some popularity and then suddenly started featuring more diverse models with different body types. Meanwhile, some that started off diverse are only growing in popularity (a good example of this is Victoria Secret vs. Fenty lingerie). Discuss whether these trends were bound to happen anyway (things just eventually lose popularity, etc.) or if it’s something else.

Four years ago, Rosalind Lang was brought back to life and essentially made immortal. Now, in the Shanghai of 1931, she hopes to make amends for her past by lending her country her skills as an assassin. When a string of murders disrupts Shanghai, her mission changes. She’s to pose as the wife of the playboy spy Orion Hong and go under cover to determine whether the Japanese Imperial Army has any involvement. Naturally, both Rosalind and Orion find that things aren’t as simple as they first thought.

Cassandra was 12 when there was an accident and her younger brother Wayne was lost forever. His body was never found, and the loss of him tears her family apart. Her father starts a new family elsewhere and her mother starts an organization that focuses on other missing children. All her life since the accident, Cassandra has seen her brother in her everyday life — from restaurant windows to grocery aisles — but another accident brings her into contact with a mysterious man. Something about him is oddly familiar, and his name is Wayne.

Harjo was the 23rd United States Poet Laureate, and with this memoir, she reflects on why she writes poetry. She details her life through personal stories that go from her childhood in the ’60s to her fight to center Indigenous culture. For Harjo, poetry comes from broken and silenced histories and is a way to reclaim narratives. I love books by writers about writing, and I’m especially excited for this one since I haven’t read a book about poetry specifically yet.

First of all, let’s get into this title, which is a play on David Copperfield, but adapted to an Appalachian setting. I love the idea of superimposing a Victorian novel over the American South. It just seems like it works. Here, a boy is born to a teenaged mother in the mountains of Appalachia and has nothing other than his intelligence and tenacity for survival to help carry him through foster care, terrible schools, and addiction.

The experiences with abject childhood poverty Charles Dickens injected into his stories are still being experience by many in parts of the southern U.S., and are on full display in this book that was inspired by his work.

This one’s blurbs starts off:

It’s watching

It’s taking.

Phew! Liz, a young Black woman, reluctantly goes back to her small Pennsylvania hometown for her bestie’s wedding. Although she’s grown and has learned how to deal with racist passive aggressions, she’s still not looking forward to them once she’s back. On the actual day of the wedding, though, she has a new worry: the daughter of the bride, Caroline, has gone missing. And all there is to go on is a white fabric covered in blood. That, and the pattern Liz noticed of a Black girl going missing after a summer party in the woods. The last time it happened, though, the girl was found with her chest open and her heart missing. Liz needs to get to the bottom of what’s going on in the town before it’s too late.

In Henderson’s latest gothic novel, Marion Shaw is from the poorest part of the city and desperate to get out. One day she finds an odd opportunity that may just help her: in the newspaper is a listing for a bloodmaid. She knows that bloodmaids serve wealthy houses in the north by allowing their masters to drink their blood, but she doesn’t know much else. She applies to the position and is soon the newest bloodmaid for the House of Hunger. She’s eagerly serves her new, charismatic mistress, Lisavet, but when she starts to notice other bloodmaids disappearing in the night, she’ll need to figure out some things in order to survive.

When securing the bag goes wrong, case #1,001. You hate to see it.

After years of economic uncertainty and violence, 12-year-old Bird has been taught to uphold what’s seen as “American culture” by his father who was once a linguist. In order to uphold this so-called culture, authorities are allowed to take away children of those who disagree. These children just so happen to often be of Asian descent. One day, Bird receives a cryptic letter that leads him to trying to find the “unpatriotic” poet mother who left him years ago. The journey brings back memories of the folktales she told to him, and may have him thinking differently about injustice.

So I know this one will be fun. Lila’s life is looking pretty sweet. She’s got a great business going, the Brew-ha Cafe, and is starting a new romance with her friend Jae. But her messy cousin, who hasn’t been in contact with the family for 15 years, is back and claiming he’s on the up-and-up. Lila knows better, though, and her suspicions are soon validated when he’s accused of murder. Now, being the dedicated Macapagal family member she is, she sets out to clear her cousin of any (murderous) wrong doing. Unless…he did it?