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.

Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning

By: Cathy Park Hong

Genre: Collected Essays

May honors Asian American Heritage Month and our club took a cloes look at the autobiographical essays of Cathy Park Hong in Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning. Cathy draws upon her life as growing up a 1st generation Korean American and tackles what the concepts of the Model Minority means to those living in its shadow. With wit, humor, and poetic clarity, she invites the reader to dismantle and examine the Asian American immigant diaspora. Coming from a history as a poet and academic, she brings a keen eye towards the specific details of her childhood and generation.

Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex

By Angela Chen

Genre: Non-Fiction Psychology

This book was chosen to recognize that June celebrates LGBTQ+ Pride and this book of the month highlights a lesser known part of the Queer community Asexuality! Angela Chen writes about what it means to be asexual in a world that revolves around sex and sexual attraction, and what the asexual perspective can teach us all about desire, love, and sexual identity. A mix of critical reporting, memoir, and cultural observation, Angela Chen is one of the few writers out there shedding light on what it means to be Ace. It proved to be a lively, enlightening book for our club to meet and discuss, regardless of where our members sat on the spectrum.

Sipping Dom Perignon Through A Straw

By: Eddie Ndopu

Genre: Memoir

This book was chosen in recognition of July being Disablity Pride Month. We chose to dig into Eddie Ndopu’s memoir Sipping Dom Perignon Though A Straw. In his divise memoir, which Ndopu wrote this book with only one finger, he celebrates his life as one of being both profoundly disabled and insanely successful while also calling out the barriers that he had to fight to get there. From reciving a scholarship to Oxford University, to having to fight to be able to get his wheelchair through the door, Ndopu writes about his life with humor, wit, intelligence and honesty. It’s lonely at the top, and Ndopu invites us along for the very unique ride. While the book largely focuses on his one year masters program at Oxford, it gives a glimpse into the type of personality it takes to take on systemic problems and look good while doing it.

What The Eyes Don’t See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, And Hope In An American City

By Dr. Mona Hanna Attisha

Genre: Memoir

This book was chosen to recognize August as Clean and Safe Drinking Water Month, and so often, its easy to take for granted the privilege of having safe, clean drinking water. That’s why in August we read a book the book What The Eyes Don’t See, by Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha. Alongside her team of researchers, parents, friends, and community leaders, she discovered that the children of Flint, Michigan, were being exposed to lead in their tap water. The book is a riveting account of a shameful and avoidable disaster in America’s Heartland. It’s both a pressing look at the dangers of capitalism as it is a indictment of racism in city planning, and should be a standard reading for all people running for office to be aware of the dangers of not considering the possible threats that lurk in the necessary elements to life.

Defectors: The Rise of the Latino Far Right And What It Means For America

By: Paola Ramos

Genre: Non-Fiction/Journalism

This book was chosen because September is a hard month. It is both a full month for plenty of causes but also the start of Hispanic Heritage Month, starting September 15th to October 15th. The Book Club chose to jump headlong into a difficult but pressing topic. Paola Ramos looks into the ultra-consertative latino/hispanic voter population in the United States and pulls back the curtain. From cities to rural towns, Defectors introduces us to underdog GOP candidates, January 6th insurrectionists, Evangelical pastors and culture war crusaders, in an effort to answer Why.

The Paranormal Ranger: A Navajo Investigator’s Search for the Unexplained

By Stanley Milford Jr.

Genre: Memoir/Speculative Non-Fiction

This book was chosen because October is spooky month, heralding Halloween, Samhain, Dias de Los Muertos, and many more spiritual holidays. It also holds Indigeous People’s Day on the 13th. Looking to incorporate all of these, our Club chose to read The Paranormal Ranger by Stanley Milford Jr. This memoir, written by one of two navajo rangers who take on the unexplained cases that happen on the reservation, looks at the bizarre, unexplained, and truly weird cases he saw in his career, one that inspired the hit book and TV series Dark Winds.

The best takeaways of this book were the importance of community based policing, respecting our history, and keeping an open mind.