If there’s one thing author Claribel Ortega knows, it’s how to remain booked and busy—even in the midst of an international crisis. Like so many debut authors this year, 2020 was meant to be a time of celebration as she ushered her first book into the world. For Ortega, the new reality is just one more way she’s managed to push through and make her presence known. Ortega is one half of the Write or Die hosting duo, a weekly podcast that gives authors an...

These three new books, all reviewed in our Spring 2020 print issue, address feminism in all its forms. Hood Feminism: Notes From The Women That A Movement ForgotBy Mikki Kendall(Viking)      Continuing in the style of her no-nonsense Twitter persona, Mikki Kendall (aka @Karynthia) carries that same energy into her third book, Hood Feminism: Notes From The Women That A Movement Forgot. Much like her viral hashtags, #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen (for racism in feminism), #FastTailedGirls (for the hypersexualization of Black girls), and #FoodGentrification (for criticisms of marginalization within the...

Jen Gotch wants you to feel better.  That’s the title of a chapter in Gotch’s new memoir, The Upside of Being Down (Gallery Books, out now) – actually, the complete chapter title is "Jen Gotch Wants You To Feel Better (Just Like She Does!)." And beyond that, Jen Gotch wants you to know that you’re not alone. Years before Gotch founded the beloved lifestyle brand ban.do, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. As she writes in her book, the diagnosis wasn’t scary: everything leading up to it was. Having...

When things become overwhelming, sometimes it’s just nice to crack open a book and get lost in the worlds that skilled authors manage to weave together out of nothing. If you’re like me and YA novels are your heart and soul, or you’re merely looking for quality books to help you through these quarantine days, check out this list of 11 YA fantasy and supernatural books by badass women that will let you escape for a spell. An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir Official synopsis:...

Margaret Atwood, the queen of science fiction and a feminist icon, may have prepared us for dystopia, but not this one. Thankfully, our hero is locked away safely in her home somewhere, social distancing just like the rest of us. And in our time of need, she is here to give us recommendations for the following: plague books, comforting books, and poetry books to read while in quarantine as well as stupid, weird, and mundane things she has done to pass the time. OK Twitterpals, as...

Right now, it’s hard to think of anything but what is happening in the world. In almost all countries, there have been major lockdowns, quarantines, and regulations put into place to avoid the spread of COVID-19. New York City, in particular, has closed schools, universities, restaurants, bars, gyms, cinemas and more. Offices have also closed, leaving many people working from home. And while it would be optimistic to think that everything could be the same, or even similar, with working remotely, or for some, not...

HOW TO BE FINE: What We Learned From Living By The Rules Of 50 Self-Help Books By Jolenta Greenberg and Kristen Meinzer(William Morrow) Authors Jolenta Greenberg and Kristen Meinzer have done the Lord’s work with this self-help reference guide. An endeavor first explored in the duo’s popular podcast By the Book, How To Be Fine takes readers inside their relentless quest to—for a limited time—live exactly the way self-help books tell them to, including such classics as The Secret and The Subtle Art of Not...

Harley Quinn took over this year at C2E2, Chicago’s annual comic and pop culture convention. The Brooklyn native mistress of mischief, clown princess of crime has struck out on her own – she’s left behind her abusive ex-boyfriend, the Joker, and found her own identity and friends.  But the iconic Harley Quinn we know from the recent film, Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn, wasn’t an entirely new creation. Her character was inspired by the comic Harley Quinn, written by Amanda Conner and...

On Thursday more than 100 employees of publishing house Hachette Book Group walked out in protest over the company’s acquisition of Woody Allen’s memoir Apropos of Nothing, slated for release in early April 2021. On Friday Hachette announced that they will no longer be publishing the memoir. The events of that twenty-four-hour window ramped up pretty quickly and displayed just how effect the voice of a collective can be. When it was announced on Tuesday that HBG would be putting out Allen’s memoir, the fallout online was...

When I read Too Much: How Victorian Constraints Still Bind Women Today, I knew I had to interview Rachel Vorona Cote. Cote outlines the book with personal anecdotes from throughout her life and analyzes constraints she's faced and beauty standards she's noticed alongside stories from both the Victorian era and popular culture today. Ultimately, she encourages women to reconsider what is, in fact, beautiful. This interview has been condensed for clarity. What prompted you to write this book?  I’m personally invested in the conversations surrounding women’s excess, the way...