We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance

By Kelli Carter Jackson

Genre: Pop Culture Non-Fiction

This book was chosen in recognition of Feburary being Black History Month. It is an in-dept analysis and commentary on the types of resistance that Black Americans have engaged with through history, from the slave era to the modern meme culture. Without judgement, Jackson discusses not just the well-known history of non-violence as preached by Martin Luther King Jr., or the “any means necessary” methodolgy of Malcom X, but instead centers the text back on black women. Many of these women, lost to history, are brought to light through this book and given not only their voice back but a chance at a discussion on what the difference between peace and justice is.

In Defense of Witches: The Legacy of the Witch Hunts and Why Women Are Still on Trial

By Mona Chollet

Genre: Academic Non-Fiction

This book was chosen in honor Women’s History Month and looked at the controversial figure of the Witch. This term has been used throughout history and across cultures to villainize and punish educated, independent and powerful women. In Defense of Witches by Mona Chollet is Chollet’s first text to be translated from her native French and is a feminist breakdown of the history of the term “witch” and its usage in modern day to still hunt and persecute women. It details the history of the european witch hunts and the problems faced by the independant woman, the childless woman, and the older woman in today’s modern world.

This Is How You Lose The Time War

By Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

Genre: Sci-Fi Novella

This book was chosen to highlight that April is Arab American Heritage Month. Our club dove headfirst into the sleeper hit Sci-Fi novella This Is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. A mid-month swap due to the lack of stock of our original choice, it is still none-the-less an exciting new genre for the Club. This epistilitory novel is told between two operatives on opposite sides of an endless war as they track and hunt each other through time. Sapphic, haunting, and drawing from the authors’ experiences in war torn countries it asks what it means to Win a War.