Reading While Fat

Have you ever been annoyed by a description of a fat character in a book and wish the author did better? Me, too. Have you been thrilled to find a fat character that isn’t trying to lose weight? Less often, but it does happen.

In this blog, I’ll review the books I read and report whether I found anything fat positive, anti-fat biased, or weight neutral, but I’ll try to avoid repeating the worst of the anti-fat bias. I’ll focus on fiction and memoir, with an emphasis on diverse and queer-friendly authors. In 2023, I published 56 reviews, and I plan to do at least one per week in 2024 as well, generally published on Sundays, but occasionally on publication day Tuesdays, too, when I’m reviewing something that’s just coming out.

Click on the tags in the cloud at the bottom of this page to filter by topic, or for book cover thumbnails leading to my latest reviews, click here. The list of my 2023 reads, an analysis of my reading year, and short reviews of some fiction and nonfiction that I didn’t have time to review here on Reading While Fat can be found at bbwesquire.

When Women Were Dragons

I”m a little behind, as When Women Were Dragons (2022) by Kelly Barnhill, was a nominee for a Goodreads Choice Awards for Best Fantasy that year. I loved the concept, and have come to realize that I especially enjoy historical fantasy. Told from the perspective of Alex Green, who is recalling her childhood in a…

by bbwesquire April 28, 2024April 21, 2024

The Centre

The Centre (2023) by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi was an interesting listen, though it has some flaws and it may not be for everyone. I’d call it character-driven horror with themes of colonialism. Anisa is a Pakistan-born Londoner, supported by her parents but halfheartedly doing Urdu translations for Bollywood films, when she meets Adam at a…

by bbwesquire April 21, 2024April 14, 2024