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A decades-old murder. A family secret. Welcome home. Lauren wants nothing to do with her mother, whose false testimony sent her father to prison for a crime he didn’t commit. But returning home to Sacramento as an adult, Lauren must confront her mother… and the secrets of the past. As she settles in, Lauren is haunted by questions of what really happened with her father and what secrets her mother and the family home might be hiding. Amazon Charts bestselling author Victoria Helen Stone returns with a razor-sharp new suspense read.
Welcome to Read This Book, a newsletter where I recommend one book that should absolutely be put at the top of your TBR pile. Recommended books will vary across genre and age category and include shiny new books, older books you may have missed, and some classics I suggest finally getting around to. Make space for another pile of books on your floor because here we go!
Today’s pick is some nonfiction that came out last year that should be considered required reading for anyone who considers themselves a feminist. The term “feminism” can evoke so many different thoughts and feelings in each of us and this book aims to expand our thinking.
Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall
Content warnings for anti-Blackness, eating disorders, and domestic violence. There are definitely a number of heavy subjects in this book but that is part of the point: there are all kinds of difficult things we absolutely must talk about when we talk about feminism. Each chapter discusses the different ways in which “mainstream” feminism has failed and continues to fail so many women who are not white, cisgender, able bodied, affluent, and straight.
While some of the chapters focus on Black women and the author’s experience as a Black woman, they also expand to include a variety of the intersections of identity at which any one of us may exist. A few of the focuses include hunger & food insecurity, eating disorders in the Black community, education access, housing access, colorism, maternal mortality, gun violence, and more.
The chapter on gun violence is particularly powerful, as gun violence isn’t often immediately considered a feminist issue. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV), 1 in 4 women have been victims of severe physical violence and The presence of a gun in a domestic violence situation increases the risk of homicide by 500%. Gun violence in certain areas is keeping girls from going to school. Not only are women victims of gun violence, but also the mothers, wives, and sisters of victims.
This book allows for such great opportunities for readers to step back and examine our own feminist views and learn where they can be expanded and where we each may have some work to do to better include all women. It is a must-read for anyone considering themself a feminist and/or an anti-racist.
That’s it for now, book-lovers!
Patricia
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