It’s the kind of book that takes hold of you. Chelsea Girls is like sitting in someone else’s heart and mind as they go back through an entire lifetime of becoming who they are in that moment, and those are the kinds of moments you can’t just walk into and out of at random.
It’s best-of list time! Also poetry by QPOC, Jeanette Winterson and Marlon James in discussion, periods as a sign of anger, Victorian lesbians on a killing spree, and more!
This is an especially good installment! Topics include disruptive activism, not writing, pandering to men, gentrification, Hillary Clinton’s relationship with black voters, church sex abuse and more.
Read these f*cking books.
“Let us remember that we become the stories we tell.” Also: an early Horcrux, books women should not read, monstrous bad spelling and more.
Topics include private policing in Detroit, The Hunger Games, AirBnB, the Troubled Teen boot camp, women’s prison, Zola’s true story, being a guest star on “Friends” and moar!
What does Monster have to do with The Hunger Games and Katniss Everdeen? You’re about to find out.
In 26 slight pages, Rabbit Rabbit chronicles a personal unraveling, offering insightful treatment of the intricate connections between family and trauma.
Books that Patti Smith mentions in her memoir, tips for NaNoWriMo, how 21 indie presses got their starts and other things about queer books!
The names of the main characters, Nic and Battle, were gender neutral enough that I projected heterosexuality onto them, not yet knowing that gay YA lit was something even there to be looked for.
Despite its shortcomings when it comes to theory, the story does the important work of allowing the characters to ask questions and struggle with their identities.
Topics include Mary Gaitskill, Terri Gross, witch-hunts, The Church of Satan, murder, Todd Marinovich, pork, Times Square, Adam Lambert fandom and so much more!
If you’re interested in seeing the complexities of polyamorous relationships interpreted through the lens of speculative fiction, or in reading a quietly queer sci-fi great’s exploration of sexual fluidity, Fledgling will be up your alley.
“Zombies signify failure — of political will and social cohesion, of technology and medicine, of the human body and soul. These are all topics that are being battled over right now, among people who care about all three worlds that this series occupies: science fiction, feminism, and bicycling.”
Queer books for Halloween, a new collaborative serial from Malinda Lo, witch history, librarian history and more.
From figuring out your own gender politics to launching massive campaigns and everything in-between, these books have your back as queer people, women, people of color, and other folks living at the intersections. The bonus? They’re also all badass as f*ck.
Topics include the battle for the soul of Oakland, getting rid of tipping, the sex lives of college students, Terence Trent D’Arby, dying alone, the thirst of California and Ryan Murphy.
The Gilda Stories was published in 1991 and hasn’t been out of print since — it uses the vampire myth to tackle new themes, including Black American life and queerness.
An excerpt from Carrie Brownstein’s memoir, tiny beautiful libraries, the best queer sex in literature, Michelle Tea on Eileen Myles and more.
This book is not a manual to create The Feminist Utopia; it is a process that you are invited to share in.