Nonfiction

Erased

By Anna Malaika Tubbs

Anna Malaika Tubbs’ acclaimed 2021 debut, The Three Mothers, explored the lives and influence of Alberta King, Berdis Baldwin and Louise Little—the mothers of Martin Luther King Jr., James Baldwin and Malcolm X, respectively. Erased: What American Patriarchy Has Hidden from Us follows up by confronting the reasons so little was known about these women. Why are Black women so often lost to history? Erased sounds perfect for fans of Isabel Wilkerson (Caste) and Richard Rothstein (The Color of Law), and we can’t wait to read it.

Anna Malaika Tubbs’ acclaimed 2021 debut, The Three Mothers, explored the lives and influence of Alberta King, Berdis Baldwin and Louise Little—the mothers of Martin Luther King Jr., James Baldwin and Malcolm X, respectively. Erased: What American Patriarchy Has Hidden from Us follows up…

So Gay for You

By Leisha Hailey

Stars of groundbreaking early 2000s lesbian drama series The L Word, Kate Moennig and Leisha Hailey reflect on the legacy of the series in their co-authored memoir, So Gay for You: Friendship, Found Family, and the Show That Started It All. Sharing behind-the-scenes stories and on-set anecdotes, Moennig and Hailey reflect on the show’s impact on politics, culture and the queer community. And most of all, they tell the story of the bonds among castmates and their big, gay friendship in this intimate celebrity memoir.

Stars of groundbreaking early 2000s lesbian drama series The L Word, Kate Moennig and Leisha Hailey reflect on the legacy of the series in their co-authored memoir, So Gay for You: Friendship, Found Family, and the Show That Started It All. Sharing behind-the-scenes stories and…

Sucker Punch

By Scaachi Koul

Scaachi Koul made waves with her buzzy, hilarious debut memoir, One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter, in 2017. She’ll treat readers again with its follow-up, Sucker Punch, a memoir-in-essays about what happens when great expectations are dashed but you gotta keep on truckin’.

Scaachi Koul made waves with her buzzy, hilarious debut memoir, One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter, in 2017. She’ll treat readers again with its follow-up, Sucker Punch, a memoir-in-essays about what happens when great expectations are dashed but you…

Saving Five

By Amanda Nguyen

The Sexual Assault Survivors’ Rights Act was unanimously approved in the House and Senate in 2016, establishing more rights for survivors of sexual assault and rape. This historic, bipartisan effort was the result of one woman’s quest for justice after she was raped as a student at Harvard. In Saving Five: A Memoir of Hope, Amanda Nguyen tells the story of her path to healing from the perspectives of different versions of herself at different ages.

The Sexual Assault Survivors’ Rights Act was unanimously approved in the House and Senate in 2016, establishing more rights for survivors of sexual assault and rape. This historic, bipartisan effort was the result of one woman’s quest for justice after she was raped as a…

The Next Day

By Melinda French Gates

As a mother, businesswoman, global advocate for women and girls, and bestselling author of The Moment of Lift, Melinda French Gates shares intimate stories of the most pivotal moments of her life while presenting a new approach for readers when in times of change in The Next Day: Transitions, Change, and Moving Forward. Here, she describes her time stepping down from the Gates Foundation and founding Pivotal Ventures, where she focuses on creating lasting change for women through philanthropy, impactful investments and partnerships.

As a mother, businesswoman, global advocate for women and girls, and bestselling author of The Moment of Lift, Melinda French Gates shares intimate stories of the most pivotal moments of her life while presenting a new approach for readers when in times of change in…

Memorial Days

By Geraldine Brooks

Pulitzer-winning novelist (for March) Geraldine Brooks pens a memoir about grieving the sudden death of her husband, fellow Pulitzer winner Tony Horwitz, in 2019. Besieged by the demands of a partner’s death, Brooks put off grieving for three years. Memorial Days is about the time after, when she retreated to a remote island off the coast of Australia, her home country, to finally attend to the demands of grief.

Pulitzer-winning novelist (for March) Geraldine Brooks pens a memoir about grieving the sudden death of her husband, fellow Pulitzer winner Tony Horwitz, in 2019. Besieged by the demands of a partner’s death, Brooks put off grieving for three years. Memorial Days is about the…

The Loves of My Life

By Edmund White

Novelist, biographer, playwright, essayist and queer icon Edmund White (The Humble Lover, A Saint From Texas) has spent his long career writing about love and sex in a way that shatters taboos and elevates the value of pleasure. His dishy new memoir, The Loves of My Life: A Sex Memoir, explores these themes during different seasons of his life.

Novelist, biographer, playwright, essayist and queer icon Edmund White (The Humble Lover, A Saint From Texas) has spent his long career writing about love and sex in a way that shatters taboos and elevates the value of pleasure. His dishy new memoir, The…

Kuleana

By Sara Kehaulani Goo

The Hawaiian word kuleana means responsibility and stewardship carried through the generations, and it’s the theme of Sara Kehaulani Goo’s Kuleana: A Story of Family, Land, and Legacy in Old Hawai’i. A veteran journalist (Axios, NPR, the Washington Post), Goo was drawn to investigate her family’s ancestral land in Maui when their property tax rose by 500%, a sum that seemed intended to displace them. Kuleana’s understanding of her own cultural identity deepens as she unfurls her family’s story alongside that of Hawai’i’s.

The Hawaiian word kuleana means responsibility and stewardship carried through the generations, and it’s the theme of Sara Kehaulani Goo’s Kuleana: A Story of Family, Land, and Legacy in Old Hawai'i. A veteran journalist (Axios, NPR, the Washington Post), Goo was drawn to investigate her…

No Straight Road Takes You There

By Rebecca Solnit

For two decades, author, historian and activist Rebecca Solnit (Hope in the Dark, Men Explain Things to Me, The Faraway Nearby, among many) has been an incisive interpreter of the modern age, with a particular talent for laying bare current social and political crises while providing actionable advice to effect positive change. With No Straight Road Takes You There: Essays for Uneven Terrain, Solnit homes in on climate change, prison abolition and more to explore how to harness the lessons of the past to forge ahead with courage and intention.

For two decades, author, historian and activist Rebecca Solnit (Hope in the Dark, Men Explain Things to Me, The Faraway Nearby, among many) has been an incisive interpreter of the modern age, with a particular talent for laying bare current social and political crises…

Toni at Random

By Dana Williams

A great editor works so seamlessly in the range of the author’s voice as to be invisible to readers. It makes sense that when considering Toni Morrison—Nobel Prize winner, stone-cold genius and among the greatest writers of all time—readers might not be thinking about her impact as an editor, even though it was tremendous. Working at top publishing houses, Morrison edited authors like Toni Cade Bambara, Leon Forrest and Lucille Clifton, and profoundly influenced American letters. Before her death, she requested that Howard University dean Dana A. Williams tell this story. Toni at Random: The Iconic Writer’s Legendary Editorship will grant her wish.

A great editor works so seamlessly in the range of the author’s voice as to be invisible to readers. It makes sense that when considering Toni Morrison—Nobel Prize winner, stone-cold genius and among the greatest writers of all time—readers might not be thinking about her…

Positive Obsession

By Susana M. Morris

In her too-short life, Octavia E. Butler redefined science fiction with books like Kindred, Parable of the Sower and Bloodchild. Named for Butler’s 1995 essay, in which she writes starkly about her beginnings as a writer, Susana M. Morris’ Positive Obsession seems akin to Alexis Pauline Gumbs’ 2024 biography of Audre Lorde, Survival Is a Promise. By grounding Butler’s work in the sociological and historical contexts of her time—such as Black Power, women’s rights and LGBTQ+ rights—Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler promises to show how the author was driven to push boundaries, imagine new futures and expand the genre of science fiction.

In her too-short life, Octavia E. Butler redefined science fiction with books like Kindred, Parable of the Sower and Bloodchild. Named for Butler’s 1995 essay, in which she writes starkly about her beginnings as a writer, Susana M. Morris’ Positive Obsession seems akin to Alexis…

Lorne

By Susan Morrison

For five decades, Lorne Michaels has pulled the strings behind the curtain of the late night show he created, Saturday Night Live. Famously private, yet storied and mythologized by countless SNL cast members and writers through the years, Michaels is revealed in full in Susan Morrison’s deeply reported story of his life and career.

For five decades, Lorne Michaels has pulled the strings behind the curtain of the late night show he created, Saturday Night Live. Famously private, yet storied and mythologized by countless SNL cast members and writers through the years, Michaels is revealed in full in Susan…

Misbehaving at the Crossroads

By Honorée Fanonne Jeffers

Honorée Fanonne Jeffers’ The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois was longlisted for the National Book Award, and made our 2021 list of best fiction, for good reason: “Her masterful treatment of the characters and their relationships, paired with the thorough and engaging way the narrative is laid out, makes for a book that is easy to invest and get lost in,” our reviewer wrote. Jeffers’ first work of nonfiction will explore “the emotional and historical tensions in Black women’s public lives and her own private life.”

Honorée Fanonne Jeffers’ The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois was longlisted for the National Book Award, and made our 2021 list of best fiction, for good reason: “Her masterful treatment of the characters and their relationships, paired with the thorough and engaging way…

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