Don’t let the fact that A Tropical Rebel Gets the Duke (publication date February 4, 2025) by Adrianna Herrera is the third in a trilogy stop you from reading it! Herrera has written a nearly perfect historical romance, featuring Afro-Latinx characters, set in Paris in 1889, with a female doctor who runs underground women’s healthContinue reading “A Tropical Rebel Gets the Duke”
Tag Archives: Anti-Fat Biased
Call Her Freedom
Call Her Freedom (publication day January 21, 2025) by Tara Dorabji is an intense and powerful multi-generational story of a family in the village of Poshkarbal in Kashmir, starting when Aisha is sent to school by her mother, Noorhajan, though few girls attend school. Her mother is the village midwife and herbalist, and is raisingContinue reading “Call Her Freedom”
Apartment Women
I requested Apartment Women (U.S. publication day December 3, 2024) by Gu Byeong-Mo, translated by Chi-Young Kim, from NetGalley because I really enjoyed her The Old Woman With the Knife, about an aging assassin for a shadowy agency. Unfortunately, Apartment Women was missing much of the intrigue, suspense, and action that drew me in whileContinue reading “Apartment Women”
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”
The Guncle
I am a little late to The Guncle party (2021) by Steven Rowley, but better late than never, although I do have mixed feelings about it, primarily because of the anti-fat bias throughout. Patrick, who was an actor in a popular sitcom, lives alone in his Palm Springs house and hasn’t worked for several years.Continue reading “The Guncle”
Tell It to Me Singing
Tell It to Me Singing by Tita Ramírez (publication date 7/9/2024) takes its title from a Cuban and Dominican greeting “dímelo cantando” which translates directly as “tell it to me singing” but means “tell me everything!” It is a fitting title for this book that reads like a telenovela with unexpected twists and turns. AsContinue reading “Tell It to Me Singing”
The Lion Women of Tehran
There were so many things to love about The Lion Women of Tehran (publication date July 2, 2024) by Marjan Kamali, including long-lasting female friendship, the historical setting in 1950s and 1960s Iran, and beautiful writing. I was immediately enthralled by the story of 7-year old Ellie (Elaheh), the only child of a widowed mother,Continue reading “The Lion Women of Tehran”
Such a Fun Age
Such a Fun Age (2020) by Kiley Reid was recommended to me a long time ago, so I finally listened to it, and was mostly impressed by the author’s work, and infuriated with the white characters. Reid introduces us to Emira, a 20-something black woman who is a little adrift after college, not sure whatContinue reading “Such a Fun Age”
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”
Reading While Fat 