RaeAnna + A Nerdy Lifestyle
Alana Saab's debut novel, Please Stop Trying to Leave Me, explores a 27-year-old Norma's journey through her diagnosis of major depressive disorder, anxiety, and derealisation/depersonalization disorder along with navigating being a lesbian, being in love, being 27. Blending intense darkness with definitions, humor, a story within a story, academia, and astrology, Saab immerses the reader in a resonating narrative that is affecting and relatable in equal measure.
Jen Silverman’s novel "We Play Ourselves" is a sharp, humour-filled exploration of the human condition... specifically pertaining to being a queer writer navigating scandal and ambition in her thirties. Running from New York to L.A., Cass encounters a diverse cast of characters, including a filmmaker documenting teenage girls' reinterpretation of the cult classic Fight Club. Silverman skillfully weaves themes of success, joy, criticism, and being human, keeping readers; attention while questioning the nature of good intentions against the backdrop of life's complexity.
The world needs more queer literature, so I'm glad this exists and was published. Ultimately, I'm disenchanted with The Disenchantment by Celia Bell. Muddy and meandering, it leaves the reader bored and a little confused.
"Dame Traveler" curated by Nastasia Yakoub is a visually-driven book, highlighting women through their travel experiences. Yakoub creates a platform and community for women from around the world to display their perspectives on culture, architecture, nature, and water and fosters representation and autonomy in a world that is only just beginning to give women space to exist fully.
It's easy to get in the Christmas spirit with books about love in small town England. Single and independent Kate is coerced into a dating service consisting of twelve dates with twelve men by her best friend.
Shoneyin tackles universal themes by exploring the interior lives of four Nigerian women through the secrets they keep in a conservative, polygamist family.