Beginning with a hot summer trip in the middle of the city, Natsu hosts her sister and young niece, the latter who refuses to talk but spills her heart out about the fears of puberty onto the pages of her journal. Ten years later and in another sweltering summer, Natsu begins a rocky path towards motherhood as her fears of growing older and lonelier mirror that of her niece's past. Her journey reveals the complications that stand in the way of a single woman desiring a life that does not depend on the conventional company of men, especially in a world so ready to dispose of women at a certain age.
A first-rate psychological thriller whose slow-burn comes not from the “thriller” portion of its genre definition, but the “psychological,” Elizabeth Kay’s debut is a soul searching look at women’s friendship. Jane and Marnie have been best friends since they were eleven years old, through school and jobs, broken families, men and marriage, and so, so much death. Who couldn’t forgive Jane for doing everything in her power to keep her best friend close? Who wouldn’t find themselves asking what lengths they would go to for such a friendship?
Sarahland is an acid road trip with writhing bodies stuck together by lip gloss and bodily fluids I can't mention here. The little connections and pop culture references - BUFFY! - made me beam in delight, and one story in particular made me dream of becoming a Sarah who turns into a tree. The fluidity of gender and sexuality, as well as all the different shapes and sizes a body can be, are all celebrated in this collection of messy queer Sarahs.
This has it all: an eating disorder, mommy issues, frozen yogurt, sex, the spirit of Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel, and lots more. The detail Broder brings to this story of appetite (that of spirituality, sensuality, and food) is magnificent. You feel like you're under the neon lights of the kosher Chinese Polynesian American restaurant in the middle of LA, rooting for Rachel as she starts feeding herself in more ways than one. Let me assure you that it's not for everyone, with a big trigger warning and explicit sex scenes, but it could be for you.
An absolutely delightful read for fans of Alexander McCall Smith and Alan Bradley, where Queen Elizabeth must step in to solve a mysterious death at Windsor Castle when England's top investigators have failed. On the eve of the Queen's 90th birthday celebration, the Castle is full of guests, including a dashing young Russian pianist found dead in his guest room. Is it an accident, suicide, a jealous husband or Putin's secret agents? Only Her Majesty can solve this puzzling case!
This short story collection was unlike anything I've ever read. I've never seen women and queerness so front and center in this way and Machado does it all with a breezy air of magical realism. From a retold fable with parenthetical asides to reimagined Law & Order plotlines to an inventory of lovers set against a global virus (which may hit close to home, eesh). I hope it sticks with you like it has stuck with me.
Trethewey comes at writing a memoir like the poet that she is. Her words will break your heart almost as much as her story does, told from a daughter's perspective of her mother suffering through domestic violence. She really shows the thin line between love and hate, passion and anger, especially in the bone-chilling recorded phone calls between her mother and ex-husband. Through her efforts to learn more about the woman she lost when she was 19, Trethewey will take your breath away.
In a time when being queer meant (at best) imprisonment under a brutal dictatorship, five women band together in the beginnings of friendship. They create a safe haven in a beach hut along the coast, where they are free to be who they are and love who they want. A triumph, a celebration, and a mourning all in one.
Once a year a book comes out that truly makes bookselling easy. This is that book. A beautifully written interconnecting family drama that checks all the boxes.
The phrase 'white nationalism' can dredge up a lot of images for people - angry beige men outlined in the glow of tiki torches or homemade militias kitted out in ill-fitting camo and American flags. In this study of three distinct women of white supremacy, the insidious nature of white women and their complicity in violent rhetoric is brought to the light, despite their best attempts to shield it in 'traditional feminine values' like baking and the pure art of... polka dancing? So much for the superior race.
