Feminist Texican Reads

POPSUGAR 2022: A Social-Horror Book

For immigration + urban legend, try “The Queen of the Cicadas” by V. Castro.
For gentrification + monsters, try “BTTM FDRS” by Ezra Clayton Daniels (graphic novel).
For patriarchy + satan, try “Rosemary’s Baby” by Ira Levin.
For high school + mutants, try “Black Hole” by Charles Burns (graphic novel).
For racism + ghosts, try “White Tears” by Hari Kunzru.

POPSUGAR 2022: A Book Set in a Nonpatriarchal Society

*dusts off cobwebs* Well, hello there. Happy New Year! I’m still alive (exhausted, but alive). I usually do feminist-related book suggestions for either Book Riot or POPSUGAR challenges at this point in the year. This year, I’m not going to tackle quite as many, but I still plan to post recommendations for at least a few of the POPSUGAR 2022 Reading Challenge.

First up, naturally, is Prompt #3: A Book Set in a Nonpatriarchal Society. The problem most people seem to be having is that they hate science fiction and fantasy (which…y’all…there’s a world of variety within each genre; it’s not all the same)! But I digress.

If you like animals more than people, try “The Bees” by Laline Paul.
If you like to read the classics, try “Herland” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.
If you like dark fairy tales, try “Tender Morsels” by Margo Lanagan.
If you like feminist science fiction/fantasy, try “Woman on the Edge of Time” by Marge Piercy.
If you like graphic novels, try “Woman World” by Aminder Dhaliwal.

2021 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge, Feminist-Style: Part I

It’s that time of the year again! Here are some feminist-flavored recommendations for the 2021 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge. I’m not doing recommendations for the entire list since several of the prompts are so personal (example: TBR lists), but about 2/3 of the prompts will be on here. Part II will go up in a couple of days:

An Afrofuturist book

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor
Elysium by Jennifer Marie Brissett
Fledgling by Octavia Butler
How Long ’til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemisin
An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

A dark academia book

Bunny by Mona Awad
Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl
Wilder Girls by Rory Power

A Black Lives Matter Reading List

I’ll keep this short: the United States is a hot mess right now, and it isn’t because of the protesters. There are a ton of reading lists currently out there, but I also wanted to contribute my own to the mix. This list could’ve easily been four times as long. I intentionally left out some of the more popular titles, like Ibram X. Kendi’s How to Be an Antiracist, since they’re posted everywhere. But obviously, those should be on your radar too.

Typed list with links to Goodreads after the jump.

Quickies: I’m Telling the Truth, but I’m Lying & Simon the Fiddler

I’m Telling the Truth, but I’m Lying by Bassey Ikpi

Format: Paperback
Pages: 257
Source: Library

What it is: A series of essays detailing the author’s immigration from Nigeria to the United States as a young child. As she gets older, she struggles with self-destructive behaviors, a complicated relationship with her mother, and bouts of severe depression; she’s later diagnosed with Bipolar II disorder.

Why I read it: Several people I know read it, so it’s been on my radar.

What I thought: This is an emotionally heavy book. From the beginning, Ikpi divulges difficult parts of her childhood. Immigration would be difficult for anyone, but she already carried a burden and then moved from Nigeria to Oklahoma of all places. She lets readers into her mental state through the different stages of Bipolar II disorder; she’s brutally honest about how it affected her jobs, her romantic relationships, her friendships, her family dynamics, and of course, her physical and mental health. There aren’t too many books written by people of color about their struggles with mental health, and this book — written by a Nigerian immigrant and published by a major publisher — is important for the Black community in particular.