15 Books by Diverse Women Writers for Your Fall Reading List
Hey, Swell Made fam! I hope you all had a wonderful summer and are easing into the fall season. Personally, I'm salty about the fact that summer is over but it's a little less painful because I get to bring you a hot new reading list for the fall/winter season! You’re welcome!
If you’ve read my previous reading list posts you’ll know that I want to share more stories from diverse voices as a way of supporting diversity and inclusivity. Also, because the stories they tell are awesome and we need more people to read them.
Creating these reading lists also allows me to share the love with my Swell Made Squad (we should have t-shirts made, no?). This is but a small selection that includes a mix of fiction, memoir, and mystery from Black, Indigenous, People of Colour (BIPOC) women and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and/or Questioning, Intersex, and Asexual and/or Ally (LGBTQIA) writers and books by or about people with disabilities.
BIPOC BOOKS
1. The Night Watchman: A Novel by Louise Erdrich
This novel won the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and is a bestseller and award-winner many times over. The Night Watchman is based on the life of Louise Erdrich's grandfather, a night watchman and who fought to protect the rights of Native Americans in rural North Dakota.
2. Five Little Indians: A Novel by Michelle Good (Canadian)
Clara, Howie, Lucy, Maisie and Kenny were taken from their families and sent to a church-run residential school, the Mission, as children and released in their teens. The novel tells the story of these five friends, trying to navigate the challenges of life after
3. Swimming Back to Trout River by Linda Rui Feng (Canadian)
Swimming Back to Trout River traces is set in the summer of 1986 in a Chinese village and tells the story of 10-year-old Junie who is separated from her parents when they move to America. Now are years apart Junie finally receives a letter from them. However, for the three of them to reunite painful family secrets must be revealed.
4. Two Trees Make a Forest by Jessica J. Lee (Canadian)
Three Trees Makes a Forest is a memoir by British and Canadian author and environmental historian Jessica J. Lee that came about when she discovered letters written by her immigrant grandfather. This discovery leads Lee to her ancestral homeland, Taiwan in search of her family history/stories and the interconnectedness to the land. The novel was the winner of the 2020 Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Non-Fiction Prize and was shortlisted for Canada Reads 2021.
5. A Glimmer of Death by Valerie Wilson Wesley
A mystery series featuring Odessa, ‘Dessa’, Jones, caterer and psychic whose abilities didn't allow her to see that she would soon be widowed and face the real possibility of losing her catering business and her home. To make ends meet Dessa is forced to take on a job at a shady real estate firm. When her new much-hated boss turns up dead, Dessa gets pulled in to find the killer.
6. The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton
This story takes place in the 70s New York City. Opal is an Afro-Punk artist (before it was called Afro-punk) who has a chance encounter with a British singer/songwriter, Neville Charles – Nev- and the two decide to make music together for Rivington Records. After an event that leads to Opal’s protest and violence, things change for her forever. Decades later a music journalist wants to tell the story of Opal and Nev but revisiting the past proves a test and threatens to ruin things for everyone.
Books about People with Disabilities
7. One Two Three by Laurie Frankel
“In the small town of Bourne, a chemical company — now closed — has poisoned the water supply, leading many children to be born with disabilities. Two out of three of the Mitchell triplets have disabilities: Mab is the eldest and able-bodied; Monday has autism, and Mirabel is a wheelchair user and speaks with the assistance of an augmentative and alternative communication device. When it looks like the chemical company's son plans to reopen the factories, the sisters' revolt.”
8. So Lucky by Nicola Griffith
This novel is based on the author’s experiences with multiple sclerosis. Mara Tagarelli, the head of a multimillion-dollar AIDS foundation and a martial artist. has to deal with two devasting blows, her wife leaves her, and she receives a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Having to deal with ableism in the medical community and society, Mara decides to fight back by starting a new non-profit to change the narrative and help others. But when she is faced with violence against people with multiple sclerosis, Mara must make some tough decisions about what to do.
LGBTQIA+ Books
9. The Spectacular by Zoe Whittall
Set in the late 90s, The Spectacular is about the lives of three generations of women, Missy, Carola and Ruth. 22-year-old Missy, a cellist in an indie rock band who is on tour. But the rock-on-roll lifestyle and falling for a tomboy drummer lands her stuck at the border a forgotten flap of cocaine.
40-something Carola is Missy's absentee mother, is hiding from a sex scandal and living at a yoga center. 83-year-old Ruth, Carola’s mother and Missy’s grandmother. Ruth wants to return to the Turkish seaside village of her youth but, Missy shows up. “Definitions of family, romance, gender, and love will radically change as they seek out lives that are nothing less than spectacular.”
10. All My Mother's Lovers by Ilana Masad
The story takes place over nine days. Twenty-something-year-old Maggie Krause's mother's sudden death leaves Maggie with five sealed envelopes addressed to a mysterious man. She decides to go on a road trip to hand-deliver the letters to the stranger. The road trip leads her to learn more about her mother's story than she could have imagined.
11. Under the Rainbow by Celia Laskey
“The small town of Big Burr, Kansas, has just been named "the most homophobic town in the U.S." by a national non-profit. To help them out, a task force of queer volunteers decided to move and live in the Midwestern town for two years. The educational experiment doesn't exactly go as planned but brings everyone together more than they ever would've thought.”
12. Tink and Wendy by Kelly Ann Jacobson (release date - Oct 26, 2021)
“What happens when Tinker Bell is in love with both Peter Pan and Wendy?” This is a queer reimaging of Peter Pan. Peter and Wendy’s granddaughter Hope discovers Tinker Bell, who is a recluse and squatter. Tinker Bell has been living at the Darling's mansion to care for the graves of her two lost friends after a love triangle gone wrong. This encounter leads Tinker Bell to reveal the truth about Wendy and Peter―and her own role in their fate.
13. Fairest by Meredith Talusan
This is a memoir. Talusan shares her journey as a white-passing Filipino immigrant who grows up to become a woman in America, including a scholarship to Harvard and becoming an artist and activist. The memoir explores race, class, sexuality and her place within the gay community.
14. With Teeth by Kristen Arnett
This novel is about queer family dynamics. Sammie Lucas is a work-from-home mom living in Florida with her absent wife Monika, and young son, Samson. Motherhood is a challenge that creates uncertainty for Sammie that she must try navigating as her son becomes increasingly physically aggressive. “Blending the warmth and wit of Arnett’s breakout hit, Mostly Dead Things, with a candid take on queer family dynamics, With Teeth is a thought-provoking portrait of the delicate fabric of family—and the many ways it can be torn apart.”
15. Skye Falling by Mia McKenzie
While in her 20's Skye sold her eggs for needed cash. Now approaching 40, she happily lives out of suitcase and lives life free to do whatever she pleases, without thinking much about settling down. That was until a 12-year-old girl claiming to be her biological daughter—a result of an egg donation finds her. Skye is forced to reconsider her life, what it means to have a meaningful relationship with another human being. Friends and family may be more important to her than she realizes.
I hope there is a title or two that makes you want to get a copy for your fall/winter reading list and to add to your TBR pile (to be read). Once you’ve got your book(s) and some me-time, I invite you to grab your Swell Made Co. blanket, a glass of that wine you love (or cup of tea if you prefer) and light your favourite candle. Settle in your favourite corner of the sofa or designated reading nook and lose yourself in the pages.
Go ahead and save this post and share it with a friend or with folks in your book club! Let's continue to show love to diverse authors, independent bookstores, and our public libraries.
Cassandra is a 9-to-5er and when she’s not at her full-time gig, she’s tapping into her creative superpower as a lifestyle content creator and photographer. Her experience with career burnout has turned her into a wellness warrior who knows the power of healing through slowing down and finding calm in everyday with mindfulness, self-compassion, humour and realistic optimism.
Follow her for some inspiration on Instagram: @swaggerandgreys