Books by White Writers – Equal Opportunity Reader

[REVIEW] On Tyranny, by Timothy Snyder

On Tyranny, a small tan academic paperback folio, lies face up on a shelf clogged with other books. Someone has written "Gird Your Loins" on the cover with a sharpie.

(Buy this book here.) This book has been everywhere since last year’s election in the US–indie shops, TikTok diatribes, little free libraries and coffee shop share shelves with snarky messages inked on the cover. Something about the idea of a little book of twenty short lessons on how to stem the tide of tyranny, basedContinue reading “[REVIEW] On Tyranny, by Timothy Snyder”

[REVIEW]Several People Are Typing, by Calvin Kasulke

The black and white Kindle cover of Several People are Typing leans against a laptop screen displaying an empty Slack chat. The cover depicts a series of Slack chat bubbles with odd emojis of wolves, weather, and death symbols interspersed throughout.

(Buy this book here.) Read time: 2 minutes Gerald is trapped in his work Slack chat. Literally. While his body sits dormant in his New York apartment, his consciousness has been fully uploaded to the worst thing about every remote job in America. If he doesn’t find a way out, he’ll be in danger ofContinue reading “[REVIEW]Several People Are Typing, by Calvin Kasulke”

[REVIEW]The Free People’s Village, by Sim Kern

The bright orange cover of the hardback edition of The Free People's Village, depicting a punk rocker hitting a robot dog with a baseball bat, sits on a blonde wooden table on top of a booksleeve printed with 1940s Black debutantes.

[Buy this book here.] whew This is a BOOK, y’all. The year is 2020, and COVID-19 doesn’t exist. In 2000, Al Gore became president, declaring a War on Climate Change and ushering in 20 years of Democrat control. Infrastructure is totally green, and carbon taxes keep it that way. Sounds great, right? NOPE. Instead ofContinue reading “[REVIEW]The Free People’s Village, by Sim Kern”

[REVIEW] Milk Fed, by Melissa Broder

In front of a half gallon and a gallon container of plant-based milk, the Kindle cover of Milk Fed is propped up. It depicts a dear God is that a nipple? I just realized that's an art deco nipple!

(Buy this book here.) Rachel is a non-religious queer Jewish woman in L.A. By day she works for a talent agency. By night, she’s a stand-up comedian. She dresses well, goes to therapy, is politically progressive, and is probably the coolest person a lot of her friends know–at least until you factor in her toxicContinue reading “[REVIEW] Milk Fed, by Melissa Broder”

[REVIEW] The Mountain In The Sea, by Ray Nayler

The Kindle cover of The Mountain In the Sea, depicting a giant octopus floating in the ocean, is propped up on a cafe countertop, an empty mug behind it.

(Buy this book here.) Ha Nguyen is many things; a brilliant researcher who studies octopi, the best-selling author of a book on cephalopod thought, an orphan, and the latest addition to a small team assembled on a near-future Vietnamese island to study strange activity in the local tentacled sea life. The local octopodes, protected asContinue reading “[REVIEW] The Mountain In The Sea, by Ray Nayler”

[REVIEW] Wild Spaces, by S. L. Coney

A Black woman's hand holds the cover of Wild Spaces up in front of trees and fallen leaves. The cover depicts a boy and his dog in silhouette, walking in twilight surrounded by tentacles.

(Buy this book here.) This debut horror novella was a very nice surprise. In the double magics of pre-internet childhood and coastal South Carolina, an eleven-year old boy, his biologist father and his pretty, secretive mother have their peaceful beachfront cottage life disturbed when the boy’s grandfather shows up one day. Nothing’s quite right aboutContinue reading “[REVIEW] Wild Spaces, by S. L. Coney”