[71] What Renee Read in March 2020

An informal solo series reviewing everything FBC founder Renee reads each month.
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Mentioned in this episode:

BookRiot reading log

This is how I track all my reading!

We Were Feminists Once: From RiotGrrrls to CoverGirl, the Buying and Selling of a Political Movement by Andi Zeisler

Genres: Nonfiction, Critical theory
Read if you like: Bitch magazine, Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay, communication and media theory
Also of note: Andi Zeisler is the co-founder of Bitch Media and an expert in all things feminism and popular culture.
FBC rating: 4 stars
FBC interview here

Village of Scoundrels by Margi Preus

Genres: Middle grade, historical fiction
Read if you like: The Little House on the Prairie books, Jojo Rabbit (film)
Also of note: The appendix of this book is full of more information and sources for the true story that this book is based on.
FBC rating: 3.5 stars
FBC interview here

Patsy by Nicole Y. Dennis-Benn

Genres: Literary fiction
Read if you like: The Affairs of the Falcóns by Melissa Rivero, These Ghosts Are Family by Maisy Card, How Stella Got Her Groove Back (film)
Also of note: This book was named one of Washington Post’s 50 Notable Works of Fiction for 2019
FBC rating: 3 stars

The Witches Are Coming by Lindy West

Genres: Memoir, Essay collection
Read if you like: Roxane Gay (author), Rebecca Solnit but wish she were funnier, Mindy Kaling but wish she were more overtly feminist
Also of note: 
FBC rating: 4.5 stars

The Herd by Andrea Bartz

Genres: Feminist thriller
Read if you like: working from flashy coworking spaces, Followers by Megan Angelo, Pretty Little Liars (TV) but all grown up,
Also of note: Andrea Bartz will be on the podcast on April 30!
FBC rating: 4 stars
FBC interview about Andrea’s first book here

Lobizona by Romina Garber

Genres: Young adult, Fantasy
Read if you like: Woven in Moonlight by Isabel Ibañez, Silvia Moreno-Garcia (author), Harry Potter but wish it were more South American
Also of note: The premise of the seventh child becoming a witch or werewolf is based on a real law in Argentina.
FBC rating: 4 stars

Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore

Genres: Fiction, Science fiction, Magical realism
Read if you like: Back to the Future (films), the rock music scene in the 1980s-1990s, Russian Doll (TV)
Also of note: Goodreads says this is magical realism and while it’s technically true, it’s not nearly as bonkers as many books in that genre.
FBC rating: 4.5 stars

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Genres: LGBT Romance
Read if you like: The West Wing (TV) but wish it were more gay, The Crown (TV) but wish it were more gay, Rainbow Rowell (author)
Also of note: This is a delightful escape from our current political administration in the U.S. but will also make you feel really shitty about the current political situation.
FBC rating: 4 stars

Evidence of V: A Novel in Fragments, Facts, and Fiction by Sheila O’Connor

Genres: Historical fiction, Biography
Read if you like: to read books that stretch your way of thinking about literature, Minnesota, The Girls with No Names by Serena Burdick
Also of note: This toes the line between fiction and nonfiction. The author weaves in actual facts and documents about V’s life but creates a fictional narrative from them.
FBC rating: 4.5 stars

The Mountains Sing by Nguyen Phan Que Mai

Genres: Historical fiction
Read if you like: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee, Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, war narratives that don’t center the United States
Also of note: The author is an acclaimed poet but this is her first novel in English.
FBC rating: 3.5 stars

The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus

Genres: Young adult, fiction
Read if you like: the Co-Star app, Slay by Brittney Morris, A Wrinkle in Time (film version especially)
Also of note: There’s a suggested playlist in the back that features everything from Whitney Houston to Janelle Monae and it is so good.
FBC rating: 4.5 stars

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Renee Powers

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Renee Powers founded Feminist Book Club in 2018 to provide a space for intersectional feminists to learn, grow, and connect. When not reading or running the biz, you can find her drinking coffee and trying unsuccessfully to teach her retired racing greyhound how to fetch. Favorite genres: feminist thrillers, contemporary literary fiction, short stories, and anything that might be described as "irreverent"