Dream Count (publication day March 4, 2025) is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s first novel since 2013’s Americanah. Like Americanah, the setting of Dream Count goes back and forth between the United States and Nigeria, but Dream Count follows four African women, three living in the United States and one in Nigeria. Chiamaka’s story begins and endsContinue reading “Dream Count”
Category Archives: Mixed: Includes anti-fat, neutral, and fat positive portrayals
What You Are Looking For is In the Library
I both enjoyed and was annoyed by What You Are Looking For Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama, translated by Allison Watts (2020). It’s really a series of interconnected short stories, with a couple characters that are in each story–two people that work in a very small library that is located in a communityContinue reading “What You Are Looking For is In the Library”
Only Big Bumbum Matters Tomorrow
I didn’t know what to expect from Only Big Bumbum Matters Tomorrow (publication day August 30, 2024) by Damilare Kuku, Described as “a powerful and hilarious debut novel about family secrets, judgmental aunties, and Brazilian butt lifts,” I was interested to see how it handled anti-fatness. Told from the multiple perspectives of the women inContinue reading “Only Big Bumbum Matters Tomorrow”
Bodies to Die For
I have mixed feelings about Bodies to Die For (publication date June 11, 2024) by Lori Brand. Many of the characters live their lives as fitness influencers, tracking every gram of carbs they eat every day, terrified of becoming fat. Gemma is the main character, and she is a former fat person, now a fitnessContinue reading “Bodies to Die For”
Darius the Great is Not Okay
Darius the Great is Not Okay (2018) by Adib Khorram is a sweet YA coming-of-age book about depression, tea, Star Trek, family, and embracing all of the different sides of oneself. Darius is a fractional Persian–his mother is Persian and his father is American. He is a high-schooler in the Pacific Northwest with his parentsContinue reading “Darius the Great is Not Okay”
Housemates
I was beyond excited to read Housemates (pub. Date May 28, 2024) by Emma Copley Eisenberg because she writes the Substack Frump Feelings, where in 2023 she wrote about anti-fat bias in books. I was not disappointed. Eisenberg herself, at ElectricLit, described Housemates as “about falling in romantic love and art love with your housemateContinue reading “Housemates”
Funeral Songs for Dying Girls
In Funeral Songs for Dying Girls (2023), Cherie Dimaline has beautifully captured the yearning and loneliness of motherless teenager Winifred, who lives with her father and her pug Mrs. Dingleberry in a house located at a cemetery. Winnie has the habit of wandering the cemetery, which leads to the rumor that it is haunted. ButContinue reading “Funeral Songs for Dying Girls”
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”
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”
Reading While Fat 