My Time Among the Whites: Notes from an Unfinished Education by Jennine Capó Crucet
Growing up in Miami, Cuban-American author Jennine Capó Crucet saw her ethnicity represented in every facet of her community. Having never been singled out for her otherness, she experienced many of the privileges afforded to most white Americans. Her race is simply rendered invisible by its prevalence. When she is suddenly immersed into affluent white… Continue reading My Time Among the Whites: Notes from an Unfinished Education by Jennine Capó Crucet
Erosion: Essays of Undoing
What if beauty dwells in the margins of our undoing and remaking? Erosion is a collection of essays depicting the ways that modern priorities and lifestyles have led to the spiritual, physical, and political erosion of communities in the United States. At the core of Williams’ melodic, impassioned writing is a deep connection to her… Continue reading Erosion: Essays of Undoing
Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture edited by Roxane Gay
Roxane Gay began this anthology in an attempt to unravel the nebulous concept of “rape culture”– to engage with the question, “What is it like to live in a culture where it often seems like it is a question of when, not if, a woman will encounter some kind of sexual violence?” Ultimately, this piece… Continue reading Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture edited by Roxane Gay
The Collected Schizophrenias by Esmé Weijun Wang
From an outsider’s view, Wang’s identity stands apart from the common conception of someone with schizoaffective disorder—she is ivy-league educated, exceedingly well-dressed, and “high-functioning” when she is not in the grips of psychosis. After being kicked out of her university for her mental health status, Wang begins a never ending journey into a health system… Continue reading The Collected Schizophrenias by Esmé Weijun Wang
Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions by Valeria Luiselli
An essay in 40 questions: Why did you come to the US? Where are your parents? Any problems with the government in your home country? In Tell Me How it Ends, Valeria Luiselli shares her experience as an interpreter for refugee children from Central America arriving in the US. As she fills out the intake… Continue reading Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions by Valeria Luiselli
Everything’s Trash, but it’s Okay by Phoebe Robinson
In her distinctive comedic style, Phoebe Robinson’s essay collection gives us her perspective on how our society has fallen into a state of absolute trash, while also pointing out some things that are not trash. Examples of trash: mistreatment of women of color in male-dominated career fields, the failures of non-intersectional feminism, trying to find… Continue reading Everything’s Trash, but it’s Okay by Phoebe Robinson
we are never meeting in real life. by Samantha Irby
I read this essay collection because Roxane Gay, one of my feminist heroines, said it was amazing, and she never disappoints. It made me laugh and cry and cringe within the same essay. The subjects are broad– normalizing the experience of being treated poorly in relationships during her twenties; disregarding money-saving tips in the most… Continue reading we are never meeting in real life. by Samantha Irby
ode to shelf-care 