Favorite Readings

Fiction

• Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements (2015) edited by adrienne maree brown and Walidah Imarisha
• Ceremony (1986) by Leslie Silko
• The Patternist Series (1976-1984) by Octavia Butler
• A People’s Future of the United States: Speculative Fiction from 25 Extraordinary Writers (2019) edited by Victor LaValle and John Joseph Adams
• The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (1966) by Robert A. Heinlein
• Parable of the Sower (1993) and Parable of the Talents (1998) by Octavia Butler
• Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology (2023) edited by Shane Hawk, Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.
• Kindred (1979) by Octavia Butler
• Annie Bot (2024) by Sierra Greer
• Broken Earth series (2015-2017) by N. K. Jemisin
• Teixcalaan series (2019-2021) by Arkady Martine

Non-fiction

Movement Building and Analysis

• An Abolitionist’s Handbook: 12 Steps to Changing Yourself and the World (2021) by Patrisse Cullors
• Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds (2017) by adrienne maree brown
• What It Takes to Heal: How Transforming Ourselves Can Change the World (2024) by Prentis Hemphill
• If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution (2023) by Vincent Bevins
• How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective (2012) edited by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
• How Nonviolence Protects the State (2007) by Peter Gelderloos
• Women, Race & Class (1981) by Angela Davis
• Healing Resistance: A Radically Different Response to Harm (2020) by Kazu Haga
• Loving Corrections (2024) by adrienne maree brown
• How We Show Up: Reclaiming Family, Friendship, and Community (2020) by Mia Birdsong
• Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good (2019) written and gathered by adrienne maree brown
• American Whitelash: A Changing Nation and the Cost of Progress (2023) by Wesley Lowery

History

• Not “A Nation of Immigrants”: Settler Colonialism, White Supremacy, and a History of Erasure and Exclusion (2021) by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
• An Indigenous Peoples History of the United States (2015) by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
• Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America (2023) by Michael Harriot (fantastic audiobook!)
• A Disability History of the United States (2018) by Kim E. Nielsen
• Rooted: The American Legacy of Land Theft and the Modern Movement for Black Land Ownership (2024) by Brea Baker
• By the Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight for Justice on Native Land (2024) by Rebecca Nagle

Aboliton

• We Do This ’Til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice (2021) by Mariame Kaba
• From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime: The Making of Mass Incarceration in America (2017) by Elizabeth Hinton
• Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America’s Police Forces (2013) by Radley Balko
• The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, 10th Anniversary Edition (2010/2020) by Michelle Alexander
• Are Prisons Obsolete? (2003) by Angela Davis
• Prison by Any Other Name: The Harmful Consequences of Popular Reforms (2020) by Maya Schenwar and Victoria Law
• An Abolitionist’s Handbook: 12 Steps to Changing Yourself and the World (2021) by Patrisse Cullors
• Imagination: A Manifesto (2024) by Ruha Benjamin
• Border and Rule: Global Migration, Capitalism, and the Rise of Racist Nationalism (2021) by Harsha Walia

Technology

• Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines (2023) by Dr. Joy Buolamwini
  • Also see her documentary on Netflix Coded Bias
• Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor (2018) by Virginia Eubanks
• Artificial Unintelligence: How Computers Misunderstand the World (2018) by Meredith Broussard
• Algorithms of Oppression (2018) by Safiya Umoja Noble
• More than a Glitch: Confronting Race, Gender, and Ability Bias in Tech (2024) by Meredith Broussard
• Design Justice: Community-Led Practices to Build the Worlds We Need (2020) by Sasha Costanza-Chock (open access)
• Against Technoableism: Rethinking Who Needs Improvement (2023) by Ashley Shew

Mental Health, Relationships, and Survival

• Mad in America: Bad Science, Bad Medicine, and the Enduring Mistreatment of the Mentally Ill (2019) by Robert Whitaker
• The Shame Machine: Who Profits in the New Age of Humiliation by Cathy O’Neil (author of the groundbreaking book, Weapons of Math Destruction)
• The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love (2004) by bell hooks
• An Abolitionist’s Handbook: 12 Steps to Changing Yourself and the World (2021) by Patrisse Cullors (I know this is on several lists, but it is really good and applicable to so many facets.)
• Medical Gaslighting: How to Get the Care You Deserve in a System that Makes You Fight for Your Life (2024) by Ilana Jacqueline

Memoirs, Biographies, and Essay Collections

• Assata (1998) by Assata Shakur
• A Taste of Power: A Black Woman’s Story (1992) by Elaine Brown
• Belonging: A Culture of Place (1990) by bell hooks
• When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir (2018) by Patrisse Khan-Cullors and asha bandele
• Carry: A Memoir of Survival on Stolen Land (2020) by Toni Jensen
• Survival Is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde (2024) by Alexis Pauline Gumbs
• The Future Is Disabled: Prophecies, Love Notes and Mourning Songs (2022) by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
• Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness (2021) by Da’Shaun L. Harrison
• The Message (2024) by Ta-Nehisi Coates
• How to Tell When We Will Die: On Pain, Disability, and Doom (2024) by Johanna Hedva

On My Shelf

2024 Reading List
Fiction Titles in Pink - Favorites in Bold
Title	Author	Genre/Subject	Year	fiction	shorts	read	rec
Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines	Joy Buolamwini	technology, social justice	2023	1	0	1	TRUE
Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution	Cat Bohannon	science, social justice, feminism	2023	1	0	1	FALSE
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness	Michelle Alexander	social justice	2010	1	0	1	TRUE
Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor	Virginia Eubanks	social justice	2018	1	0	1	FALSE
Are Prisons Obsolete?	Angela Y. Davis	social justice	2003	1	0	1	FALSE
Not “A Nation of Immigrants”: Settler Colonialism, White Supremacy, and a History of Erasure and Exclusion	Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz	history, social justice	2023	1	0	1	TRUE
If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution	Vincent Bevins	social justice, movement analysis	2023	1	0	1	TRUE
Wild Seed	Octavia E. Butler	science fiction	1980	2	0	1	FALSE
Artificial Unintelligence: How Computers Misunderstand the World	Meredith Broussard	technology, social justice	2018	1	0	1	FALSE
Mind of My Mind	Octavia E. Butler	science fiction	1977	2	0	1	TRUE
Voices in the Code: A Story About People, Their Values, and the Algorithm They Made	David G. Robinson	technology, social justice	2023	1	0	1	FALSE
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress	Robert A. Heinlein	science fiction	1966	2	0	1	FALSE
Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America	Michael Harriot	history	2023	1	0	1	TRUE
The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation	Anna Malaika Tubbs	history, social justice, feminism	2021	1	0	1	FALSE
Hunger Games	Suzanne Collins	science fiction	2008	2	0	1	FALSE
The Shame Machine: Who Profits in the New Age of Humiliation	Cathy O’Neil	technology, psychology, social justice	2022	1	0	1	FALSE
Chatching Fire	Suzanne Collins	science fiction	2009	2	0	1	FALSE
Mockingjay	Suzanne Collins	science fiction	2010	2	0	1	FALSE
Token Black Girl: A Memoir	Danielle Prescod	memoir	2022	1	0	1	TRUE
More than a Glitch: Confronting Race, Gender, and Ability Bias in Tech	Meredith Broussard	technology, social justice	2024	1	0	1	TRUE
How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective	Edited by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor	social justice, feminism	2017	1	0	1	FALSE
The Hammer: Power, Inequality, and the Struggle for the Soul of Labor	Hamilton Nolan	labor	2024	1	0	1	FALSE
Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code	Ruha Benjamin	technology, social justice	2019	1	0	1	FALSE
Design Justice: Community-Led Practices to Build the Worlds We Need	Sasha Costanza-Chock	technology, social justice	2020	1	0	1	TRUE
When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir	Patrisse Khan-Cullors and asha bandele	memoir	2018	1	0	1	FALSE
A Disability History of the United States	Kim E. Nielsen	social justice, labor, history	2018	1	0	1	FALSE
Go Tell It On the Mountain	James Baldwin	semi-autobiographical novel	1953	2	0	1	FALSE
Belonging: A Culture of Place	bell hooks	essays	1990	1	0	1	FALSE
The Selected Works of Audre Lorde	Audre Lorde, Edited by Roxane Gay	feminism	2020	1	0	1	FALSE
Border and Rule: Global Migration, Capitalism, and the Rise of Racist Nationalism	Harsha Walia	social justice, migration	2021	1	0	1	TRUE
Stayin’ Alive: The 1970s and the Last Days of the Working Class	Jefferson R. Cowie	labor, history	2010	1	0	1	FALSE
Ain’t I a Woman?	bell hooks	feminism	1981	1	0	1	FALSE
Carry: A Memoir of Survival on Stolen Land	Toni Jensen	memoir	2020	1	0	1	FALSE
All the Real Indians Died Off: And 20 Other Myths about Native Americans	Dina Gilio-Whitaker and Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz	history	2016	1	0	1	FALSE
Loaded: A Disarming History of the Second Amendment	Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz	history, social justice	2018	1	0	1	FALSE
Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds	adrienne maree brown	social justice	2017	1	0	1	TRUE
Clay’s Ark	Octavia E. Butler	science fiction	1984	2	0	1	FALSE
Prison by Any Other Name: The Harmful Consequences of Popular Reforms	Maya Schenwar and Victoria Law	social justice	2020	1	0	1	TRUE
Patternmaster	Octavia E. Butler	science fiction	1976	2	0	1	FALSE
An Abolitionist’s Handbook: 12 Steps to Changing Yourself and the World	Patrisse Cullors	social justice, radical self-love	2021	1	0	1	TRUE
The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love	bell hooks	feminism	2004	1	0	1	TRUE
Parable of the Sower	Octavia E. Butler	science fiction	1993	2	0	1	TRUE
Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology	Edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.	short stories	2023	2	1	1	FALSE
Parable of the Talents	Octavia E. Butler	science fiction	1998	2	0	1	FALSE
Kindred	Octavia E. Butler	science fiction	1979	2	0	1	FALSE
Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good	Written and Gathered by adrienne maree brown	social justice	2019	1	0	1	FALSE
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer	Mark Twain	adventure fiction	1876	2	0	1	FALSE
Fledgling	Octavia E. Butler	science fiction	2005	2	0	1	FALSE
The Body Is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love	Sonya Renee Taylor	radical self-love	2018	1	0	1	FALSE
What It Takes to Heal: How Transforming Ourselves Can Change the World	Prentis Hemphill	social justice, radical self-love	2024	1	0	1	TRUE
Dawn	Octavia E. Butler	science fiction	1987	2	0	1	FALSE
Adulthood Rites	Octavia E. Butler	science fiction	1988	2	0	1	FALSE
Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A.	Luis J. Rodriguez	memoir	1993	1	0	1	FALSE
Imago	Octavia E. Butler	science fiction	1989	2	0	1	FALSE
Trippy: The Peril and Promise of Medicinal Psychedelics	Ernesto Londono	psychiatry, mental health	2024	1	0	1	FALSE
All Systems Red	Martha Wells	science fiction	2017	2	0	1	FALSE
Artificial Condition	Martha Wells	science fiction	2018	2	0	1	FALSE
Imagination: A Manifesto	Ruha Benjamin	technology, social justice	2024	1	0	1	TRUE
Rogue Protocol	Martha Wells	science fiction	2018	2	0	1	FALSE
Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements	Edited by adrienne maree brown and Walidah Imarisha	short stories	2015	2	1	1	TRUE
Exit Strategy	Martha Wells	science fiction	2018	2	0	1	FALSE
Rooted: The American Legacy of Land Theft and the Modern Movement for Black Land Ownership	Brea Baker	history, social justice	2024	1	0	1	TRUE
All About Love: New Visions	bell hooks	feminism	1999	1	0	1	TRUE
Network Effect	Martha Wells	science fiction	2020	2	0	1	FALSE
Fugitive Telemetry	Martha Wells	science fiction	2021	2	0	1	FALSE
American Indian Stories	Zitkála-Sá	memior	1921	1	0	1	FALSE
A People’s Future of the United States: Speculative Fiction from 25 Extraordinary Writers	Edited by Victor LaValle and John Joseph Adams	short stories	2019	2	1	1	TRUE
System Collapse	Martha Wells	science fiction	2023	2	0	1	FALSE
Code Dependent: Living in the Shadow of AI	Madhumita Murgia	technology	2024	1	0	1	TRUE
Holding It Together: How Women Became America’s Safety Net	Jessica Calarco and Karen Murray	social justice	2024	1	0	1	FALSE
Abolition. Feminism. Now.	Angela Y. Davis, Gina Dent, Erica R. Meiners, and Beth E. Richie	social justice	2022	1	0	1	FALSE
Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the Next)	Dean Spade	social justice	2021	1	0	1	FALSE
Native American DNA: Tribal Belonging and the False Promise of Genetic Science	Kim TallBear	social justice, science	2013	1	0	1	FALSE
How We Show Up: Reclaiming Family, Friendship, and Community	Mia Birdsong	social justice	2020	1	0	1	TRUE
The Fifth Season	N. K. Jemisin	fantasy	2015	2	0	1	TRUE
The Obelisk Gate	N. K. Jemisin	fantasy	2016	2	0	1	FALSE
The Stone Sky	N. K. Jemisin	fantasy	2017	2	0	1	FALSE
Annie Bot	Sierra Greer	science fiction	2024	2	0	1	TRUE
Burn Book: A Tech Love Story	Kara Swisher	technology	2024	1	0	1	FALSE
A Memory Called Empire	Arkady Martine	science fiction	2019	2	0	1	TRUE
Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood	Gretchen Sisson	reproductive rights and family planning	2024	1	0	1	TRUE
Against Technoableism: Rethinking Who Needs Improvement	Ashley Shew	disability justice, technology	2023	1	0	1	FALSE
Healing Resistance: A Radically Different Response to Harm	Kazu Haga	social justice	2020	1	0	1	FALSE
Survival Is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde	Alexis Pauline Gumbs	biography	2024	1	0	1	TRUE
The Future Is Disabled: Prophecies, Love Notes and Mourning Songs	Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha	disability justice	2022	1	0	1	TRUE
Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness	Da’Shaun L. Harrison	Blackness, fatness, and gender	2021	1	0	1	TRUE
Technically Wrong: Sexist Apps, Biased Algorithms, and Other Threats of Toxic Tech	Sara Wachter-Boettcher	technology	2017	1	0	1	FALSE
All Fours	Miranda July	psychological humor	2024	2	0	1	FALSE
By the Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight for Justice on Native Land	Rebecca Nagle	Indigenous studies	2024	1	0	1	TRUE
Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse	Edited by John Joseph Adams	short stories	2008	2	1	1	FALSE
Medical Gaslighting: How to Get the Care You Deserve in a System that Makes You Fight for Your Life	Ilana Jacqueline	health care, feminism, trauma	2024	1	0	1	TRUE
Healing Justice Lineages: Dreaming at the Crossroads of Liberation, Collective Care, and Safety	Edited by Cara Page and Erica Woodland	social justice	2023	1	0	1	FALSE
Invisible Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies Into Reality	Renée DiResta	media	2024	1	0	1	FALSE
American Whitelash: A Changing Nation and the Cost of Progress	Wesley Lowery	social justice	2023	1	0	1	FALSE
How to Tell When We Will Die: On Pain, Disability, and Doom	Johanna Hedva	disability justice	2024	1	0	1	TRUE
Digital Body Language: How to Build Trust and Connection, No Matter the Distance	Erica Dhawan	communication	2021	1	0	1	FALSE
Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement	Angela Y. Davis	interviews & speeches	2015	1	0	1	FALSE
The Message	Ta-Nehisi Coates	essays	2024	1	0	1	TRUE
Our History Is the Future: Standing Rock Versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Long Tradition of Indigenous Resistance	Nick Estes	social justice	2019	1	0	1	FALSE
About Us: Essays from the Disability Series of the New York Times	edited by Peter Catapano and Rosemarie Garland-Thomson	essays	2019	1	0	1	FALSE
A Desolation Called Peace	Arkady Martine	science fiction	2021	2	0	1	FALSE
Loving Corrections	adrienne maree brown	social justice, healing	2024	1	0	0	TRUE
Rocannon’s World	Ursula K. Le Guin	fantasy	1966	2	0	0	FALSE
Who’s Afraid of Gender?	Judith Butler	gender theory	2024	1	0	0	FALSE
Feminist, Queer, Crip	Alison Kafer	feminism, disability justice, queer theory	2013	1	0	0	FALSE