Books we like
Hand-picked by the TDQ Contributors
Monique Franz
Cack-Handed by Gina Yashere
The book that I would recommend to readers, especially in celebration of feminism, is the memoir Cack-Handed by Gina Yashere. It’s a funny, light-hearted read about Yashere’s courageous break into the male-dominated profession of engineering and then into the male-dominated world of comedy. Her ambitious journeys, as an immigrant’s daughter in the UK, is both hilarious and inspiring.
Dr. Shady Radical
Black Women as/and The Living Archive by Tsedaye Makonnen's
This thoughtful collection of illustrations, writing, and images attends to the ways “Black women encode, preserve, and share memory through community”. Performance artist and editor, Tsedaye Makonnen curates old and new archival materials that center the radical work women do for their own liberation. Published amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, this colorful and beautifully bound book carefully reflects the multi-pivots collaborators made to push the project forward. What a perfect companion to our daily rituals of care and self-preservation.
Theresa Moore
Black Women Will Save the World: An Anthem by April Ryan
“The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman.”—Malcolm X
This recently-released book by April Ryan highlights and celebrates the unrecognized and under-appreciated roles that Black women, in numerous generations, have played to help their families, their communities and this country. Their strength, persistence, resilience, intelligence, faith, empathy and love have been a foundational anchor to so many people.
Ishka Lha
The Soul of Money By Lynne Twist
Lynne Twist is a visionary committed to alleviating poverty worldwide, and supports true sufficiency. She did major fundraising for The Hunger Project for many years and is co-founder of the Pachamama Alliance. There are so many great quotes from her book, but I’ve had this one on my bathroom wall for almost a year now: “When you stop trying to get more of what you don’t really need, it frees up oceans of energy to make a difference with what you already have. What you appreciate appreciates.”
Jeanne Blasberg
The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer
I am a big fan of Meg Wolitzer and I found her 2018 novel, THE FEMALE PERSUASION, a really great read. It is a well-plotted intergenerational story that edifies the waves of feminism in the ’60’s, ’70’s as well as most currently during the women’s march in 2016. The most compelling statement the novel makes about feminism, however, is that it portrays a young male character named Cory, as the truest feminist in the novel.
