My Big Fat Desi Wedding, ed. by Prerna Pickett (pub. date 1/16/2024) was exactly as described–an anthology of short stories set around South Asian weddings featuring primarily young women and men. The stories were each pretty light and didn’t delve into a lot of controversy, generally. I enjoyed the cultural aspect of them, since I’veContinue reading “My Big Fat Desi Wedding”
Author Archives: bbwesquire
Unshrinking: How to Face Fatphobia
In Unshrinking: How to Face Fatphobia (pub. January 9, 2024), Kate Manne has gathered current research and writing about fatness, anti-fat bias (fatphobia), and diet culture, and added her own philosophical analysis (she is a philosophy professor at Cornell), creating something completely original. I’ve been aware of the possibility of being a fat person whoContinue reading “Unshrinking: How to Face Fatphobia”
Big Girl
I have complicated feelings about Big Girl by Mecca Jamilah Sullivan (2022). First, I am glad that a novel about the coming of age of a fat, black, young girl in 1990’s Harlem was written. The author did an amazing job with the story of Malaya and her family (her mother, Nyela, is a professor,Continue reading “Big Girl”
A Holly Jolly Ever After
Finishing up the year right–with the third fat-positive romance review in a row–is A Holly Jolly Ever After (2023) by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone, the team that brought us A Merry Little Meet Cute. This time, we have Kallum, the “funny” member of the boy band INK, who has moved home to run aContinue reading “A Holly Jolly Ever After”
On the Plus Side
I was delighted by On the Plus Side by Jenny Howe (publication date 12/26/2023)! A romance featuring a plus-size female main character in a reality makeover show has been done before, but never incorporating the tenets of fat liberation so well. Everly is a receptionist at a marketing firm, having landed there after obtaining anContinue reading “On the Plus Side”
Season of Love
I don’t know why Season of Love (2022) by Helena Greer sat on my physical TBR shelf for a year, because I was so enthralled by this sapphic romance set at a Christmas tree farm run by a Jewish family. Miriam is an artist with an Instagram following, who spent summers growing up at herContinue reading “Season of Love”
Get a Life, Chloe Brown
Get a Life, Chloe Brown (2019) by Talia Hibbert is the first of the Brown Sisters trilogy, and a sheer delight! I will be putting the other two–Take a Hint, Dani Brown (2020) and Act Your Age, Eve Brown (2021)– on my TBR list in 2024. Why was I so delighted? Hibbert checks all ofContinue reading “Get a Life, Chloe Brown”
The Unfortunates
The Unfortunates (2023) by J.K. Chukwu is probably better read than listened to, although I very much appreciated it, as it deals with themes of microaggressions, body size, queerness, depression, and the alienation of a black college sophomore student at a primarily white institution. Told from the perspective of Sahara, a half-Nigerian pre-med student, inContinue reading “The Unfortunates”
Yours For the Taking
Yours For the Taking (pub. date December 5, 2023) by Gabrielle Korn is a completely-engrossing, near-future (set in 2050) story about one possible solution to climate change–governments building completely-enclosed compounds called “Inside” and taking applications for those who would be chosen to live Inside. Each Inside would be self-sufficient and built strong enough to withstandContinue reading “Yours For the Taking”
For Never & Always
For Never & Always (pub. date November 28, 2023) by Helena Greer was luckily in my NetGalley queue and immediately available for me to read after I read Greer’s first romcom Season of Love (review coming in late December). The cover is gorgeous–a curvy, plus-sized woman looks from afar at a handsome, dark-haired man, soContinue reading “For Never & Always”
Reading While Fat 