August 2020 Book Reviews

An informal solo series reviewing everything FBC founder Renee reads each month.
Listen to this podcast using the player above!

Mentioned in this episode:

Pizza Girl by Jean Kyoung Frazier

Genres: Contemporary literary fiction
Read if you like: unusual pizza toppings, protagonists with complicated relationships, witnessing people make questionable choices like drinking while pregnant.
Also of note: This is an #ownvoices story featuring a Korean-American young woman.
FBC rating: 3.5 stars

White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo

Genres: Non-fiction
Read if you like: understanding how white supremacy operates in the U.S., dismantling racism, leveraging white privilege for good
Also of note: Honestly, only read this if you’ve already read How to Be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi and So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo. This is an excellent supplement to those books but shouldn’t be the only anti-racist book you read.
FBC rating: 4.5 stars

Luster by Raven Leilani

Genres: Contemporary literary fiction
Read if you like: buzzy bestsellers, lush and intricate writing, protagonists making questionable decisions like sleeping with married men
Also of note: Tune into our podcast episode with Raven here!
FBC rating: 4.5 stars

The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson

Genres: Fantasy,
Read if you like: feminist protagonists taking on patriarchal cults, The Handmaid’s Tale, fantasy books that toe the line of horror
Also of note: Interview with the author coming soon!
FBC rating: 5 stars

Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir by Ruth Reichl

Genres: Memoir
Read if you like: watching the Food Network and pretending you know more than they do, food writing, the magazine industry
Also of note: This is a great audiobook experience, narrated by the author.
FBC rating: 3 stars

Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women that a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall

Genres: Non-fiction
Read if you like: leveling up your feminism, gender studies classes in college, prioritizing intersectional feminist texts from the perspective of BIPOC
Also of note: This was our August book of the month for the theme REIMAGINING THE FEMINIST CANON.
FBC rating: 4.5 stars

After the Last Border: Two Families and the Story of Refuge in America by Jessica Goudeau

Genres: Non-fiction
Read if you like: refugee stories, learning how policies influenced and are influenced by culture, compassionate storytelling
Also of note: Interview with the author coming soon!
FBC rating: 5 stars

Crooked Hallelujah by Kelli Jo Ford

Genres: Contemporary literary fiction
Read if you like: incredible writing, short story collections, #ownvoices books about Native American women
Also of note: Interview with the author coming soon!
FBC rating: 3.5 stars

Renee Powers

Renee Powers websiteRenee Powers InstagramRenee Powers Facebook

Renee Powers founded Feminist Book Club in 2018 to provide a space for intersectional feminists to learn, grow, and connect. When not reading or running the biz, you can find her drinking coffee and trying unsuccessfully to teach her retired racing greyhound how to fetch. Favorite genres: feminist thrillers, contemporary literary fiction, short stories, and anything that might be described as "irreverent"