I read two thought daughter books last year. My year of rest and relaxation and the bell jar. I was disturbed to know that the best books these women had to offer were of racist white women drowning in self pity and depression. I think even calling these books feminist literature is somewhat a stretch cause they show very little sympathy for the female characters in the story who aren’t the MC. Thank you for the alternatives!
Love instead of just writing about the whiteness of the subculture, you provided alternatives! It's the point of my Substack (an alternate to the hetero-normative, white-Western canon).
I’ve been thinking about this for so long but truly did not have the energy to speak about it. This is exactly why I think isntead of making hyper niche boxes and categories that can invent conscious or subconscious racial/gender etc issues, people TRULY just need to do what they want when they want I loathe this hyper niche subculture
I appreciate this callout on whitewashing, but agree with another commenter that this piece is overly simplistic. Seeing Chimamanda, Zadie, Roxanne Gay and Maya Angelou in this list makes it feel like “popular black authors” was Googled (circa 2014 tbh) with only a few books in this list being actually read by the author. Think pieces on race by white authors should be geniune experiences and reflections by said author, otherwise it comes off as race bait, and while good-intentioned is often just performative surface-level solidarity.
Not to distract from the point: Everyone should be adding more BIPOC works into their library. But, I think white authors could do a better job of keeping this journey personally focused on books they’ve actually read vs. standing on a soap box with books still on the TBR shelf.
Thank you for your feedback! I actually have read Chimamanda and Roxanne Gay, but you're fully correct some are still in my TBR list, which is why I could not comment on them personally. I also do not want to be reductive in recommendations, but wanted to provide some "intro" options for those who haven't even moved past the minute list of "aesthetic" reads. I am sorry if this feels like race bait -- my intention for this year is to better educate myself while also recognizing that my voice is not the one that should be amplified (yes, I know, ironic since it's my post). I intend to keep reading and recommending books I feel deserve the attention, although only ones I have fully read going forward.
Please do not hesitate to provide further critic or feedback!!
I live for this response! Thank you for taking my feedback constructively ❤️ If I can add some books to to your shelf that are more recent works (and things I’ve recently read):
- Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar — 5/5 for me!
This is truly a remarkable read. It is so so good and beautiful, I don’t even want to reveal too much. I just want to say that it is such an amazing read full of life and humanity; someone said it’s written with warmth (and I couldn’t agree more), a warmth that welcomes lightness through doubt, grief, mortality, companionship, loneliness, addiction, and the horrors of war. It’s one of those books that you just end up loving forever and are grateful exists.
- Real Americans by Rachel Khong — 4/5 for me
It’s very well-written to me; the author depicts mother-daughter dynamics and emotions so honestly I squirmed and cringed as if I were feeling it. It’s three coming-of-age generational stories weaved together. Goes through a lot of heavy and unspoken (but imo honest as a first-gen kid) depictions of the first and second-gen America experience, even if we don’t want to accept some embarassing/controversial thoughts.
- TBR: James — I listened to an editor from the NYT give this book an amazing review and the best of 2024 stamp, so I have it on my TBR shelf right now. It’s a POV retelling of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn through Jim, the runaway slave.
Martyr! has been one I was seeing all over and wasn't too sure about, so I will for sure be adding to my TBR! I am currently reading Tampa by Alissa Nutting and will likely be writing an entire review because it is so disgusting and well written. Followed you also 🥰
yup, became one of Rowling's hypewomen and everything. deeply disappointing. she was pretty much the only fellow African feminist I could look to in the mainstream :/
HIGHKEY recommend anything by Sayaka Murata. Her main characters and themes touch on the nature of Japanese patriarchal order from the eyes of women who read as heavily implied autistic and asexual. It’s expressed the alien(ated) feeling of trying to fall in line to rules that don’t make logical sense, and being gaslit for asking why only get a frustrated “because that the way things are” response.
I’ve read Earthlings! It was not my favorite but I probably need to revisit it because I can honestly say I probably didn’t read it critically the first time. Sometimes I just go in for the vibes
I don’t blame you, it’s a brutal book that has a super unassuming synopsis marketed by the English publishers. I went in with all the trigger warnings and it was a really raw and sad depiction of the types of abuses a (likely) autistic girl can go through. Murata does mess with a lot of taboos in her writing though.
I saw this especially as Pinterest started to rise in popularity with vision boarding / mood-boarding and I found zero pictures or 'aesthetics' where I saw people who looked like me (not talking about that hyper-ethnic / wedding and Bollywood frames). I also inherently know why the publishing industry and mainstream media outlets put palatable white women and their stories front and center -- while non-white creators have to fight and almost tokenize themselves to be seen but the whole system is broken anyway sorry this is a ramble. Recently I've been curious as to why the Didion and Babitz book is trending so hard when we have had Sister Love: The Letters of Audre Lorde and Pat Parker as a book for a while.
I didn’t know there was a thought police daughter that stopped you from making your own posts the same hashtags. The fact that you must first make it seem that something wrong with white women posting white women in their own aesthetic page just to uplift Bipoc authors makes it seem like you don’t even like these authors. You just want to point out how you are ‘not like other girls’. You can recommend Bipoc author’s books without all the weirdness
Thanks for your feedback! I actually don’t care at all about the aesthetic or what people choose to do with their time. I just find it interesting that the aesthetic focuses on academia and critical thought and yet cannot diversify their content. As previously noted in another comment, I have read most of these and enjoyed. I don’t think I’m “not like other girls” cause, again, do whatever you want, but I think it’s a valid literary critic. Let me know if you have any other feedback ☺️
Ah yes and then you recommend ‘my sister the serial killer’ a bottom barrel Nigerian novel. Well to each is own but if you wanted to ‘uplift critical thinking’ there are actually better written Nigerian novels that you could have used to camouflage being well read.
I'm not sure where all this "camouflage being well read" snark is coming from since I am trying to have a nice conversation. Just because you did not like the book (I am assuming) does not mean everyone did/ it is not worth a recommendation.
Again, happy to have a constructive conversation, but I am not going to engage if you're just here to attack my (perceived) character
I have devoured Zadie Smith's books White Teeth and NW which are both powerful perspectives on race in England. She also has an amazing short story called "The Embassy of Cambodia" that is a great jumping off point for people who aren't ready to commit to reading a a 500 page book
Been thinking about this for a minute, thanks for getting the conversation going! Remembering how I suggested a Nigerian book I was really excited about for my local book club pick and they went with a book with a bunch of white women with blue eyes on the cover. Lmaooo. I know no one has ill intent and I love those books too but damn can we at least try to read about someone besides ourselves? (A sentiment I extend to everyone not just WW!)
✨Check out my new post: https://allieailis.substack.com/p/ill-off-myself-eventually?r=4d1h21
I read two thought daughter books last year. My year of rest and relaxation and the bell jar. I was disturbed to know that the best books these women had to offer were of racist white women drowning in self pity and depression. I think even calling these books feminist literature is somewhat a stretch cause they show very little sympathy for the female characters in the story who aren’t the MC. Thank you for the alternatives!
MYoR&R was one of those books I only got through cause I was waiting for it to get as good as everyone said. But it never did...
Love instead of just writing about the whiteness of the subculture, you provided alternatives! It's the point of my Substack (an alternate to the hetero-normative, white-Western canon).
Thank you for this piece.
Omg do not thank my lil white-supremacy-benefitting ass for the bare minimum
Thank you for reading!!! 🥰
Also saw this; might be of interest to you: https://substack.com/@scatteredscholar/note/c-85538034?r=4o2hjw&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
I would also recommend The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison !!
That book broke my heart! In the best way!
Yes!! currently reading this and yea for those that want to ascribe themselves as true "thought daughters" The Bluest Eye has to be on their tbr
I’ve been thinking about this for so long but truly did not have the energy to speak about it. This is exactly why I think isntead of making hyper niche boxes and categories that can invent conscious or subconscious racial/gender etc issues, people TRULY just need to do what they want when they want I loathe this hyper niche subculture
I appreciate this callout on whitewashing, but agree with another commenter that this piece is overly simplistic. Seeing Chimamanda, Zadie, Roxanne Gay and Maya Angelou in this list makes it feel like “popular black authors” was Googled (circa 2014 tbh) with only a few books in this list being actually read by the author. Think pieces on race by white authors should be geniune experiences and reflections by said author, otherwise it comes off as race bait, and while good-intentioned is often just performative surface-level solidarity.
Not to distract from the point: Everyone should be adding more BIPOC works into their library. But, I think white authors could do a better job of keeping this journey personally focused on books they’ve actually read vs. standing on a soap box with books still on the TBR shelf.
Thank you for your feedback! I actually have read Chimamanda and Roxanne Gay, but you're fully correct some are still in my TBR list, which is why I could not comment on them personally. I also do not want to be reductive in recommendations, but wanted to provide some "intro" options for those who haven't even moved past the minute list of "aesthetic" reads. I am sorry if this feels like race bait -- my intention for this year is to better educate myself while also recognizing that my voice is not the one that should be amplified (yes, I know, ironic since it's my post). I intend to keep reading and recommending books I feel deserve the attention, although only ones I have fully read going forward.
Please do not hesitate to provide further critic or feedback!!
For full transparency, here is my "read" on Goodreads (I am still migrating over to StroyGraph): https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/159164371-allie-reilly?shelf=read
I live for this response! Thank you for taking my feedback constructively ❤️ If I can add some books to to your shelf that are more recent works (and things I’ve recently read):
- Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar — 5/5 for me!
This is truly a remarkable read. It is so so good and beautiful, I don’t even want to reveal too much. I just want to say that it is such an amazing read full of life and humanity; someone said it’s written with warmth (and I couldn’t agree more), a warmth that welcomes lightness through doubt, grief, mortality, companionship, loneliness, addiction, and the horrors of war. It’s one of those books that you just end up loving forever and are grateful exists.
- Real Americans by Rachel Khong — 4/5 for me
It’s very well-written to me; the author depicts mother-daughter dynamics and emotions so honestly I squirmed and cringed as if I were feeling it. It’s three coming-of-age generational stories weaved together. Goes through a lot of heavy and unspoken (but imo honest as a first-gen kid) depictions of the first and second-gen America experience, even if we don’t want to accept some embarassing/controversial thoughts.
- TBR: James — I listened to an editor from the NYT give this book an amazing review and the best of 2024 stamp, so I have it on my TBR shelf right now. It’s a POV retelling of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn through Jim, the runaway slave.
Happy reading!!
Martyr! has been one I was seeing all over and wasn't too sure about, so I will for sure be adding to my TBR! I am currently reading Tampa by Alissa Nutting and will likely be writing an entire review because it is so disgusting and well written. Followed you also 🥰
used to love Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie but she broke my heart by going down the TERF pipeline
Oh no I didn’t know that!!! Rip fuck terfs
yup, became one of Rowling's hypewomen and everything. deeply disappointing. she was pretty much the only fellow African feminist I could look to in the mainstream :/
HIGHKEY recommend anything by Sayaka Murata. Her main characters and themes touch on the nature of Japanese patriarchal order from the eyes of women who read as heavily implied autistic and asexual. It’s expressed the alien(ated) feeling of trying to fall in line to rules that don’t make logical sense, and being gaslit for asking why only get a frustrated “because that the way things are” response.
I’ve read Earthlings! It was not my favorite but I probably need to revisit it because I can honestly say I probably didn’t read it critically the first time. Sometimes I just go in for the vibes
I don’t blame you, it’s a brutal book that has a super unassuming synopsis marketed by the English publishers. I went in with all the trigger warnings and it was a really raw and sad depiction of the types of abuses a (likely) autistic girl can go through. Murata does mess with a lot of taboos in her writing though.
my sister the serial killer is SUCH A GOOD BOOK! thank you for the recs!!!
I saw this especially as Pinterest started to rise in popularity with vision boarding / mood-boarding and I found zero pictures or 'aesthetics' where I saw people who looked like me (not talking about that hyper-ethnic / wedding and Bollywood frames). I also inherently know why the publishing industry and mainstream media outlets put palatable white women and their stories front and center -- while non-white creators have to fight and almost tokenize themselves to be seen but the whole system is broken anyway sorry this is a ramble. Recently I've been curious as to why the Didion and Babitz book is trending so hard when we have had Sister Love: The Letters of Audre Lorde and Pat Parker as a book for a while.
See, I didn't even know about Sister Love! Adding to the TBR
I didn’t know there was a thought police daughter that stopped you from making your own posts the same hashtags. The fact that you must first make it seem that something wrong with white women posting white women in their own aesthetic page just to uplift Bipoc authors makes it seem like you don’t even like these authors. You just want to point out how you are ‘not like other girls’. You can recommend Bipoc author’s books without all the weirdness
Thanks for your feedback! I actually don’t care at all about the aesthetic or what people choose to do with their time. I just find it interesting that the aesthetic focuses on academia and critical thought and yet cannot diversify their content. As previously noted in another comment, I have read most of these and enjoyed. I don’t think I’m “not like other girls” cause, again, do whatever you want, but I think it’s a valid literary critic. Let me know if you have any other feedback ☺️
Ah yes and then you recommend ‘my sister the serial killer’ a bottom barrel Nigerian novel. Well to each is own but if you wanted to ‘uplift critical thinking’ there are actually better written Nigerian novels that you could have used to camouflage being well read.
I'm not sure where all this "camouflage being well read" snark is coming from since I am trying to have a nice conversation. Just because you did not like the book (I am assuming) does not mean everyone did/ it is not worth a recommendation.
Again, happy to have a constructive conversation, but I am not going to engage if you're just here to attack my (perceived) character
Whoa..why are you so nasty in those comments?
I have devoured Zadie Smith's books White Teeth and NW which are both powerful perspectives on race in England. She also has an amazing short story called "The Embassy of Cambodia" that is a great jumping off point for people who aren't ready to commit to reading a a 500 page book
I had a feeling Luster would be on here (as it should)
Loved reading your so well-articulated commentary on each book. It felt genuine and compelling 💌
Absolutely adored Chlorine!! I recommend reading Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi
oooo adding to tbr!!
Been thinking about this for a minute, thanks for getting the conversation going! Remembering how I suggested a Nigerian book I was really excited about for my local book club pick and they went with a book with a bunch of white women with blue eyes on the cover. Lmaooo. I know no one has ill intent and I love those books too but damn can we at least try to read about someone besides ourselves? (A sentiment I extend to everyone not just WW!)
Yes exactly 🙌🏻