Author: Erica Ezeifedi

There is a long history of people in the medical field not taking women seriously. Leghorn experienced this firsthand after finally being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. But the diagnosis only came after a long period of being gaslit into thinking she was imagining her symptoms. Here, she examines the intersection of women, illness, and the field of medicine— which has largely been controlled by men. The history of how women and their illnesses have been treated by medicine goes all the way from the wandering wombs of Ancient Greece to the sterilization that was forced on Black women in the American South.

Book club bonus: Women have worked as midwives all over the world and in different cultures for a long time. As medicine became more standardized, though, it seems as if the profession decreased. Discuss this. Why do you think that happened and do you think women would be better served if there were more midwives, or would patriarchal views still be upheld?

In this book, Snorton details the rich history of Black transpeople, especially how they have been cut out of the narrative of trans and queer history. By using the narratives of enslaved people seeking freedom, Afro-modernist literature, journalism, and other sources, Snorton shows just how much race has determined how topics like queerness and gender have been represented.

Book club bonus: Discuss why you think heteronormativity and race are so strongly linked.

Through this memoir by world renowned artist Ai Weiwei, we’re shown how some of the major forces in China shaped it the last 100 years. He tells the story of his father, Ai Qing, who was a poet and formerly close to Mao Zedong. Once he fell out of favor, he and his family — including a young Ai Weiwei— were exiled to Little Siberia where he was sentenced to hard labor. Once Weiwei returns to China after having studied art in America, his art becomes known all over the world, as does his work as a human rights activist. By telling the story of his and his father’s lives— and their struggles to express themselves as artists while contending with totalitarianism— he tells the story of China.

Book club bonus: Discuss the parallels between Ai Weiwei and his father. They both had things in common, but vastly different outcomes. What do you think was the turning point for either one?

This is inspired by the Chinese legend of the moon goddess, which, if you haven’t noticed already, is totally my jam. Xingyin has grown up on the moon, hidden away from the Celestial Emperor because of her mother being exiled. When her magic flares, she’s no longer hidden and she has to leave her mother, and her home, behind. She’s forced to make her way towards the mystical Celestial Kingdom alone and afraid. Once she disguises her identity, she’s able to learn magic and archery with the emperor’s son and uses her new found skills to go on a quest, with all the romantic spice and mythological creatures, to save her mother.

This has been on my TBR for a hot minute and I’m so ready for it to wreck my life. Like, I know that this story will suck me in and have me in a vice grip after I’ve finished reading, and I’m here for that.

Book club bonus: Certain kinds of stories seem to get retold throughout human history, even by cultures that seemingly had no contact with each other. Discuss which stories the heroine’s journey reminded you of.

Holly Black has an extensive catalogue of dark YA fantasy, and this is her debut adult novel. In this world, people’s shadows hold a lot of weight. They hold the parts of yourself you want to keep hidden, but they can also be manipulated by others, causing your feelings and memories to be altered. The kind of magic this requires comes at a cost, though. Charlie Hall, a low level scammer, is working at a bar while trying to keep her nose out of dangerous shadow magic. When someone from her past reappears, her efforts go in vain, and she’s thrust into the chaotic world of dark magic, secrets, and murder where her survival isn’t guaranteed.

Book club bonus: Shadow work, where you work with your unconscious mind to uncover parts of yourself you keep hidden, is considered vital in some spiritual practices. Discuss this book’s shadow-based magic system, looking at it from a more spiritual and psychological/mental health perspective.

This was only included in the Goodreads list and not the B&N one, but I wanted to add it here since I have already mentioned other books in the B&N list.

Violeta del Valle is born on a stormy day in 1920 and goes on to live 100 years. This novel follows her journey through life as her and her family contend with the effects of the Great War and the Spanish flu, only to be hit with the Great Depression right after. Violeta recounts a life as full of tragedy and heartbreak as it is joy and passion in a letter she writes to a loved one.

Book club bonus: If you’ve read 100 Years of Solitude, how would you compare the two novels?

So Ben Cook just graduated from college with an English degree and can’t find a job in his field. My friends and I have had many a conversation about the condition of needing five years experience for an entry-level job *sobs in Millenial*. Turns out he should have just looked to his last name (ha!) because he finds a help wanted sign outside a restaurant and gets the job. Naturally, there’s a chef there who’s fine–fine and it’s got Ben even rethinking his career path! I mean… say you’re down bad without saying you’re down bad. This graphic novel is cute enough to make me momentarily forget how much I hated working in restaurants, which is quite the feat.

Kris and D’Vaughn are on a reality show that gives them six weeks to plan their wedding. The only problem is that their relationship is fake and they have to be convincing enough in their affections that family and friends don’t guess what’s going on. If any of them do, neither of the ladies will get the $100,000 reward. It seems like it’ll be easy money since they have natural chemistry, but then the priorities change and it starts to feel like the reality show is getting in the way of real feelings.

Here’s another reality show one! It seems like they are pretty much perfect settings for romance tropes. Here, Dev does his best to make fairy tales come true as the producer of the reality show Ever After. The romantic scripts he writes for the show’s contestants are so good that the show’s popularity has grown since he came on. Too bad his actual love life is in shambles. Meanwhile, tech star Charlie has suffered a blow to his image and seeks to mend it by being on the show. His already terrible dating awkwardness is only exacerbated on camera, and he struggles to connect with the 20 women he’s been matched with. That’s when Dev steps in, but the two find out they have more chemistry than the contestants.

Sara and Emilie both come from dysfunctional families and have both been running away from something. Sara from her home at 16 after someone close to her mysteriously died. Emilie, on the other hand, has been eschewing her Creole heritage in order to pass for white. Both also find themselves in popular L.A. restaurant Yerba Buena where they experience an intense and immediate chemistry. To fully realize whatever feelings could be there, though, they must first reckon with their pasts and heal their trauma.

Book club bonus: It can be easy to establish unhealthy patterns and get trapped in them, effectively making them a part of everyday life. In what surprising ways were Emilie and Sara’s lives influenced by their familial trauma?

This collection of stories celebrates queerness in all its fun, funny, dark, and complex glory. Amongst these stories is one about how a lesbian comic artist and her girlfriend decide to have a baby and get a few surprises along the way. Another follows a trans teen who has a big following on YouTube for sharing his views on things affecting queer people. Conklin’s writing is nuanced and tender enough to cover heavy topics like child abuse and s*xual assault without making the collection too trauma-centered.

Book club bonus: The blurb of this book mentions how Conklin includes an “experience that’s not typically represented: liminal or uncertain identities.” So much of human experience lies on a spectrum and many of us understand how nuanced and complex we can be. Why then, do you think we still tend to view things as either/or? Why don’t we look more at these liminal identities?

I mentioned this in the other newsletter I write, but wanted to mention this one here as well. I mean, the cover alone lives in my head. It pays no rent, no utilities, no nothing! In the book, Luli Wei is a Chinese American girl coming up during the golden age of Hollywood looking to make it big. When faced with the limited kinds of roles offered to Asian women, she’s the kind of girl who’s rather play a monster than a stereotype. And a monster she plays. Thing is, as she learns more about the darkness that goes on behind the scenes, she may end up more than just playing a monster to become successful. Vo casts her usual spell of dreamy prose and subtle magic in this historical novel.

Book club bonus: Do the ends justify the means? Do you think Luli’s actions were justified or even understandable when everything was said and done?

This is described as “part butch memoir, part ekphrastic travel diary,” so right off the bat, we can see it’s spicy in all the right ways. With this debut essay collection, poet and educator Gutiérrez reckons with physical space and how it influences, and is influenced, by art and love. Displacement across Mexico and the Southwestern region of the U.S. is mapped, just as Gutiérrez shows the etched stories across their own body. This reminds me a bit of Postcolonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz.

Book club bonus: As someone who grew up in the U.S., I feel like physical space isn’t something that gets tied to the things Gutiérrez ties it to. It’s interesting because so much of our culture is actually space-based— like property lines, state lines, gerrymandering, etc. What do you think of the role that space plays in different aspects of our lives and why do you think we don’t talk about it much?