Reading Women Challenge: Team OTB Picks

Greetings, readers! As we move ever-closer to the glorious days of summer, we continue to work our way through the 2021 edition of the Reading Women podcast’s yearly reading challenge. Co-founder Kendra Winchester was kind enough to offer some advice on the challenge here on the blog and even joined us for a virtual Challenge check-in last month. If you find yourself stumped on a certain Challenge category or just unsure of where to start, hopefully these recommendations from your very own Team OTB will point you in a new direction. Happy reading!

Note: While the podcast encourages readers to broaden their horizons and “read the world,” all books read for this challenge must be by women or people of other historically marginalized genders who are comfortable being included in feminine-coded initiatives.

Recs from Angie:

• 3) A Book About Incarceration: Prison by Any Other Name by Maya Schenwar (American) & Victoria Law (Chinese-American)

  • As a baby abolitionist, this book made me rethink everything about reforms and how certain policies are marketed as "kinder" alternatives to incarceration, but are actually just as punitive. Grounded in theory but still super approachable.

• 6) A Book by a South American Author in Translation: Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin (Argentine)

  • Reading Fever Dream *felt* like a Fever Dream. I tore threw it in one very short sitting just to try and figure what was happening to make my heart stop racing. Atmospherically unsettling and thought-provoking, I have a love (mostly)/hate relationship with everything Schewblin writes.

• 8) A Memoir by an Indigenous, First Nations, Native, or Aboriginal Woman: Dog Flowers by Danielle Geller (Navajo)

  • A stunning memoir! Geller archives her life in shifting timelines with the help of old family photos, letters, and entries from her mother's diaries. Following her chaotic childhood to her present-day reconnection to her Navajo roots. Perfect for fans of Educated and The Glass Castle.

• 10) A Crime Novel or Thriller in Translation: Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor (Mexican)

  • This book is not for the faint of heart. It's dark and gritty and one of the most violent books I've ever read. But I could NOT put it down. There are run-on sentences that sometimes go for up to 30 pages, making it feel like you're in a trance while reading. It's a mystery, but the real truths live in what's being said between the lines.

• 21) A Book by a Trans Author: Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters (American)

  • An incredible book about motherhood, womanhood, and trans identity. I found it be both surprisingly funny and profound. I loved every minute I spent with these characters and their relationships with each other.

• 22) A Fantasy Novel by an Asian Author: The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang (Chinese-American)

  • Whew! What a ride! Fantasy and world history lovers will be captivated by the world Kuang has created grounded in Chinese history and lore. I loved seeing Rin's character develop and I can't wait to see where the rest of the series is going.

• 28) A Book by Yōko Ogawa: The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa (Japanese)

  • This book is so timely - made me reflect on gaslighting and government propaganda in this day and age.

Rec from Nicole:

• 4) A Cookbook by a Woman of Color: Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking by Samin Nosrat (Iranian-American)

  • I learned so much about the fundamentals of what make flavors work from this book! Breaking everything down into the categories of Salt, Fat, Acid, and Heat allowed me to feel more confident improvising in the kitchen.

Recs from Jen:

• 15) A Muslim Middle Grade Novel: Barakah Beats by Maleeha Siddiqui (Pakistani-American)

  • This book isn't out until October 2021 but I've been in a Zoom publisher presentation with the author and I'm looking forward to reading it. I'm looking forward to reading it. It's a fun school story about peers and family, tolerance, faith and music.

• 24) A Short Story Collection by a Caribbean Author: At The Bottom of The River by Jamaica Kincaid (Antiguan-American)

  • I'm a fan of Jamaica Kincaid in general. At The Bottom of The River was her debut, a collection of short stories revolving around a childhood in the Caribbean. Kincaid's narrative voice can be difficult to settle into, but once you're attuned to the rhythms and a tone that is angry and confrontational at times, reading her prose is like riding a wave as it pushes into the ocean. Her imagery and lush and vibrant and the stories thrum with intense emotion.
    
    The major tension in the stories is between home and the outer world. Family and home strongly shape identity and demand loyalty, but for the same reason they inspire affection and devotion, they generate suffocation and suffering for those who don't fit neatly into the places they come from.

Talia Hibbert is a favorite for several members of Team OTB!

Recs from Shannon:

• 7) Reread a Favorite Book: A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki (American-Canadian)

  • This novel is one of the few assigned to me for course reading during college in which I was truly invested. The two differing timelines drew me in with a longing to know the outcome for our characters. Mental health, the meaning of family, building community, the list of meaningful topics goes on and on.

• 9) A Book by a Neuro-divergent Author: Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert (British)

  • You've got:
    - a powerful bisexual heroine who is unabashedly dedicated to her career,
    - a hero that's a retired rugby player but also a cinnamon roll who teaches kids how to avoid toxic masculinity,
    - a neuro-divergent author who is also a woman of color,
    - a fake dating trope.
    What more could you want??

• 12) A Young Adult Novel by a Latinx Author: Lobizona by Romina Garber (Argentine-American)

  • This book captivated me from the moment I saw it and I just knew that I had to bring it home. I was not disappointed. It has everything: relevant cultural commentary, supernatural beings, supernatural beings, magic, family, school drama, adventure, rebellion, and more.

• 13) A Poetry Collection by a Black Woman: Lilith, but Dark by Nichole Perkins (American)

  • I flew through this book in a single sitting. Passion and loss, self-love and self-loathing, friendship and family, Nichole Perkins covers it all with a grace and voice that left me in tears and/or speechless at multiple points. I cannot wait to see what she will do next.

Recs from Abby:

• 1) A Book Longlisted for the JCB Prize: A Burning by Megha Majumdar (Indian)

  • A gorgeous debut, this novel can't be recommended enough! I alternated between reading it and listening to the audio and loved how I was dropped into a culture that initially seems so foreign from our own, but ultimately showed that human selfish nature is worldwide and omnipresent in the worst way. Majumdar captures human nature in all it's ugly glory and yet one can't look away from the crime that takes up the opening pages and catapults the story forward, and the aftermath that wraps our three main characters together forever.

• 10) A Crime Novel or Thriller in Translation: The Lost Village by Camilla Sten (Swedish)

  • Intensely creepy, this book will have you finishing it late into the night and then leave you terrified to turn off the light. While it's easy to fall into the tropes that The Blair Witch popularized (teens lost in the woods, an unknown figure stalking them, etc), Sten navigates familiar territory with a deft hand and has the reader caring about characters you didn't know about an hour ago and might die any minute.

• 13) A Poetry Collection by a Black Woman: White Blood: A Lyric of Virginia by Kiki Petrosino (American)

  • Petrosino's poetry straddles the personal and the political in brilliant ways that left me unable to stop reading. Having grown up in Virginia myself, I understood her need to grapple and consider our bloody history and she does so with care and understanding. It should be required reading for everyone living in this state, as we continue to examine our past as we move into the future.

Blog contributions by Angie Sanchez, Nicole Blair, Jen Cheng, Shannon McCarthy, and Abby Bennsky.
Photo contributions by Angie Sanchez.
Edited by Shannon McCarthy.