By Ray Kirsch
Looking for a new book to read? Talk Director Ray Kirsch compiled a list of the books they loved reading this summer. While they read these over the summer, they certainly can be read during the school year… or on the weekends when you're looking for a reprieve from classes. Check out the list below!
From most-recently read to first read:
Body Work: The Radical Power of Personal Narrative, Melissa Febos | Nonfiction, Essays
This is one of my current reads; I have been waiting to read this book for months. It was originally recommended to me by a staff member at A Room of One's Own, a local Madison bookstore, and I held myself back from buying it until I got through some other books on my shelf. Ever since I actually declared my second major in English Creative Writing, I've found myself more interested in the craft of writing rather than actually creatively writing. Hence, this book.
This book is all about writing about intimate experiences—especially the kind of intimate experiences that many non-men authors are often told there are already too many books about. I'm not finished with the book, so I could be completely off-base, but it seems that Melissa Febos is considering how writing about your intimate experiences can often be healing and actually more powerful to the author than one might think.
A lot of Creative Writing majors may enjoy writing about the abstract and fantastical elements, but I personally have the most fun taking experiences from my own life and inserting them into my work—not in a trauma-dump kind of way, but in a way that explores how my body and brain moved throughout my life. The point of this book is in the title: personal narrative can be powerful. I'm immensely excited to complete this read!
Alien Daughters Walk Into the Sun: An Almanac of Extreme Girlhood, Jackie Wang | Nonfiction, Memoir
While I was initially drawn to this book because of the cover, I stayed for the content. This is another one of my current reads; Jackie Wang essentially compiled a bunch of her old zine, blog and literary criticism pieces and put them into this book. She hit her target audience right on the head, because I absolutely ate the formatting up. If you grew up with a Tumblr blog, you'll probably love this book, too.
As the title suggests, Jackie Wang goes through several of her experiences growing up, whether it be theorizing on certain political or social theories or rambling about her dating life. Some of the topics do seem to jump out of nowhere, but I think that speaks to the point of the book: sometimes, girlhood is fixating on one topic and then completely switching to another. Tumblr probably isn't helping that process either, right?
This book has queer experiences in it, moments of discussing pop culture, poetry and so much more. While I'm only halfway through, I am excited to continue reading! This is exactly the kind of book that I wish I could write.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Suzanne Collins | Fiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction
If there's one thing all of my friends know about me, it's that I love the Hunger Games franchise. A group of WSUM members went to the film when it was released, we made a podcast episode about it and I wrote several pieces about it. So, it would be fitting if I actually read the book, right? I'm so glad I decided to, because this book was better than the movie in so many ways. People often say that about book and movie adaption comparisons; while I loved the cinematography of the film, knowing Coriolanus Snow's internal monologue made it so much better.
This book is the prequel to the Hunger Games trilogy. It follows Coriolanus Snow as he mentors in the 10th Hunger Games, mentoring District 12 member Lucy Gray Baird. So… as you may have heard, there are reasons why Coriolanus Snow is so hated in the trilogy. He's a hater, he's possessive, he's controlling… and the reasons why he is like he is can be explained in this book. Is he justified in his actions? You'll have to decide after reading his internal monologue.
Giovanni's Room, James Baldwin | Literary Fiction, Classics
This is probably a classic for any queer individual you've ever met, and I was very excited to reread this book. I've read a lot of James Baldwin for my classes and for fun, and I think that this book is one I go back to whenever I want to re-spark my creativity. The writing is just incredible… I don't know if my words could do it justice.
This book is a 1956 novel that follows an American man named David as he lives in Paris and falls in love (?) with an Italian man named Giovanni. The book was banned in the U.S. in 1977 because it was during a period of time when homosexuality was considered a mental illness. It's written in David's perspective, and readers get to experience his own navigation of sexuality, intimacy and internal freedom and acceptance.
I think it's incredible how this is James Baldwin's second novel. So inspiring…
Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear: Poems from Gaza, Mosab Abu Toha | Poetry
I consider this poetry collection to be very timely even though it was published in 2022. Mosab Abu Toha writes about his experience living and growing up in Gaza while under siege—specifically, he references four military attacks he survived.
Although his debut poetry book did exceedingly well, winning several awards for it, Mosab Abu Toha was detained by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) around October of 2023 while trying to evacuate his family from Gaza. There was a petition for his release, and he was released in late November of 2023. He was beaten while being held in an Israeli prison.
Since October 7, 2023, Mosab Abu Toha has published poems and essays about Gaza in several U.S. publications. Still to this day, he is documenting the genocide occurring in Gaza. I deeply love this collection and can't wait to read his upcoming poetry collection, Forest of Noise.
In The Dream House, Carmen Maria Machado | Nonfiction, Memoir
I borrowed this book from my partner, who read it for a book club at A Room of One's Own in Madison. I kind of went in blind—I saw the way the book was formatted and immediately found it appealing—and didn't realize the content until I was already too deep to stop reading. I personally love how it's a memoir but not written in a traditional memoir way.
Carmen Maria Machado does a great job of showcasing the complexities of a queer abusive relationship. While it is definitely a difficult topic to experience, write about and read about, I think the way she wrote this was perfect. This is doing what isn't talked enough about—that queer relationships don't have to work out and often can be complicated and abusive—while also retaining a beautiful prose and storytelling method.
Stone Butch Blues, Leslie Feinberg | Fiction, Historical Fiction
Also recommended by my partner, I was overdue to read this book after hearing so many mixed opinions about it within the lesbian community. It's written from the perspective of Jess Goldberg, a butch lesbian growing up in the 1960s and ‘70s. It should be noted that there are heavy scenes of sexual assault, homophobia and transphobia throughout the book.
The 1993 book was written by Leslie Feinberg (who used she/zie and her/hir pronouns) and covers a lot of similar themes that Leslie Feinberg herself/hirself experienced in life, such as activism within communities and dating stereotypes of lesbians.
Honestly, I wasn't mentally prepared for the depictions of sexual assault, but I really enjoyed reading this book.
The Sorrows of Others, Ada Zhang | Literary Fiction, Short Stories
What can I say—if my English teacher publishes a book, I'm going to read it! Ada Zhang taught a poetry and fiction workshop that I took, and it was one of my favorite workshops from my degree so far. From her class, I always got the vibe that she liked fiction over poetry, as all of her fiction recommendations were such fun reads. She introduced me to my favorite book and is so incredible…
Her book is a collection of short stories set in both China and the U.S. There's countless themes in the book, like immigration, family, death, etc. Each story was written very intentionally, and I enjoyed reading each one!
Time is the Thing a Body Moves Through, T. Fleischmann | Essays, Nonfiction
I genuinely don't remember how I found this book, but it somehow landed in my hands. This book is an essay about one's relationship with their own body, relationships, politics and more. T. Fleischmann drew from the work of Felix Gonzalez-Torres, a visual artist.
I don't remember much about this book, to be honest, as I read it fairly quickly, but I would enjoy reading it again.
Girlfriends, Emily Zhou | Short Stories, Fiction
Another book featured in A Room of One's Own's book clubs, I read this after the actual book club occurred. But, I was very happy to read it! This book is a series of short stories that encapsulate the queer and trans living experience. All of the stories were both painfully and delightfully relatable, and I think they were perfect little doorways into sections of individuals' lives.
Honestly, I wanted it to be longer. I was hoping that the stories would connect into a joint story, but I was still content that they didn't. These stories are all enjoyable to read, and I wish it was longer!
