An informal new solo series reviewing everything FBC founder Renee reads each month.
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Mentioned in this episode:
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Genres: Historical fiction, Romance, Queer lit
Read if you like: to believe that Taylor Swift and Karlie Kloss were once in a relationship, Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston, the Golden Age of film and film history
Also of note: This may be called the seven husbands of Evelyn, but it’s very much a queer romance featuring two femme women.
FBC rating: 4.5 stars
Farah Rocks Fifth Grade by Susan Muaddi Darraj
Genres: Middle grade fiction
Read if you like: refreshing literature for young readers that treat them with respect, Aida Salazar (author), #WeNeedDiverseBooks
Also of note: There’s a recipe for hummus in the back – who couldn’t love that?
FBC rating: 4 stars
FBC interview here
A Pure Heart by Rajia Hassib
Genres: Contemporary fiction
Read if you like: The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali but want something more modern, The Beauty of Your Face by Sahar Mustafah, Egyptology
Also of note:
FBC rating: 4 stars
FBC interview here
We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry
Genres: Fiction, Humor
Read if you like: 80s hair and fashion, sneaky references to The Crucible, Now & Then (film), Friday Night Lights (TV) but want more comedy
Also of note: I know it’s early in the year, but this will probably be my favorite book of 2020.
FBC rating: 5 stars
FBC interview here
A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende
Genres: Historical fiction
Read if you like: historical fiction that’s not about WWII, Pablo Neruda (poet), Elena Ferrante (author)
Also of note: Allende is known for her use of magical realism but this book doesn’t incorporate any of that. It’s staunchly in the historical fiction category.
FBC rating: 3 stars
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou
Genres: Nonfiction, True crime
Read if you like: critiques of tech luminaries like Steve Jobs, Scam Goddess (podcast), long-form journalism like Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow
Also of note: Elizabeth Holmes’ trial is set for August 4, 2020.
FBC rating: 4 stars
Smacked: A Story of White-Collar Ambition, Addiction, and Tragedy by Eilene Zimmerman
Genres: Memoir
Read if you like: Strung Out by Erin Khur, The Wolf of Wall Street (film), addiction narratives
Also of note: Zimmerman demonstrates how easy it is to overlook drug addiction in high achieving adults.
FBC rating: 3 stars
Buckskin Cocaine by Erika T. Wurth
Genres: Short stories
Read if you like: Tommy Orange (author), really gritty prose, Heads of the Colored People: Stories by Nafissa Thompson-Spires
Also of note: All of the short stories weave together almost like a novella.
FBC rating: 4 stars
FBC interview here
The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams
Genres: Contemporary romance
Read if you like: thinking about hot men in baseball pants, metadiscussions of romance novels, second chance romance tropes
Also of note: A fun romp of a book but some of the feminist men were a little too woke to be realistic.
FBC rating: 3.5 stars
The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith
Genres: Classic fiction, Queer lit, Romance
Read if you like: The Great Gatsby, queer history pre-Stonewall, books that have been made into movies (the 2015 film adaptation is called Carol, starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara)
Also of note: This was Feminist Book Club’s February book of the month for our Romance theme!
FBC rating: 3.5 stars
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We donate 5% of all our sales to a different feminist organization each month. Our March charity is the National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites.
Get $5 off your Feminist Book Club Box with the code PODCAST at feministbookclub.com/shop.
March 27: The Upside of Being Down book launch (Minneapolis, MN)
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This podcast is produced on the native land of the Dakota and Ojibwe peoples.
Logo and web design by Shatterboxx
Editing support from Phalin Oliver
Original music by @iam.onyxrose
