In her debut novel, Jane Kotapish puts the fun back in dysfunctional. Salvage is a creative trip down memory lane for an unnamed narrator, as she struggles to deal with her unconventional relationship with her mother. When this narrator was a young girl, she started to talk to her dead sister Nancy in her closet. As a grown woman, she witnesses a horrible accident in New York City, and decides to move to a small Virginia town near her mother to get away from life. As she revisits her past delusions and current eccentricities, the narrator finds that she has more in common with her mother, Lois than she ever could have thought. Lois has also taken up talking to imagined people, only instead of her conversations being with her unborn daughter, she speaks with Catholic Saints. As these two women navigate their relationship to each other and the world, our narrator grows into a fierce and feisty nonconformist. Told through wonderful prose and a constant shifting between past and present that keeps the reader wanting more, Kotapish has created a magnificent story.

Wrestilng with issues of identity, sexuality, family, and the social construction of a "normal" body, Hillman shows us the comlexities of living life in the margins. A quick read, each chapter delves into personal experiences with with, humor, and an open mind. Part memoir, part personal manifesto, Intersex: (For Lack of a Better Word) is the smartest and most enjoyable book I've read in a long time.

Even if you know that this country was built on genocide and violence, you can't even begin to imagine how this violence is still perpetrated and used as a source of control over Native people, specifically women of color. Andrea Smith explains these roots and interconnecting ways of violence in Conquest. From critiquing how women of color are often forced to "chosse" between gender or race, to how our culture of sexual violence against women extends to the rape of the land and spiritual appropriation, Smith not only details and critiques our ideas of history and abuse, she actually offers solutions. After 100 pages of intense discussions about the intersections of racism, ableism, sexism and violence, Smith provides examples of organizations that are actually doing the work that needs to be done. I honestly believe that a social revolution will not happen until we all read this book.

This young adult novel contains all of the good and complicated things about life. Meet Maggie Keller. She used to be the popular girl. Then she got in a car accident. Her mother died, and she's left with a limp. Now no one pays attention to her. But then a new girl at school arrives. Dahlia is a self-chosen freak, where Maggie is named a freak because of her disability. But Dahlia enjoys being weird and goth, and finds no problem with her bipolar and kinda crazy mom. Dahlia and Maggie automatically fall in love with each other-first in the only way they know how to: as best friends trying to survive high school cliques together. But then their emotions grow, and the intensity between them can't be resisted. Dealing with grief, disability, mental illness, queer identity, and the importance of friendships, My Tiki Girl has it all

As an atheist, you might think that I would hate a book about a woman finding her connection to God and Judaism. But no, Danya Ruttenberg's memoir took me by complete surprise. Ruttenberg was a punk atheist teenager who evolved into a passionate feminist-turned-Rabbi. She understands that each one of her identities and past beliefs have informed her current career. More than a book about one woman finding Judaism, Surprised by God is most importantly about community-whether in religious settings or in life. As the author states, community is about "creating spaces in which people can let down their guard and reveal what's hidden, about encouraging others to grow in new and challenging ways." This feminist approach to community made me reconsider my own ideas about spirituality. Ruttenberg's feminist and non-judgmental position also allows the reader to discover her own spirituality-she's not trying to convert you, she's just trying to make you think. A wonderful read for any person who's ever wondered about the bigger picture in life, and has struggled with what that even means.-

The Age of Dreaming is a deliciously silent novel that eventually swings into a curious mystery: a who-dunnit set in early Hollywood. Addressing issues of racism, classism, and the media in early 1900's, Revoyr's third novel points out the sacrifices that some people have to make in order to discover a new sense of happiness.

I've been wanting to learn about women in other cultures lately without having to read boring history books written by old dead white dudes. I came across Benazir Bhutto's first autobiography which has recently been reprinted. Originally published in 1988, this memoir covers the history of Pakistan, her father's assassination, her own multiple experiences of torture in prison, and her coming into power democratically in a country immersed in a dictatorship. Daughter of Destiny is a comprehensive look at Pakistani politics told in a fresh, fierce, and female voice. Bhutto's writing is both simplistic and wonderfully complex. This book is a must-read for anyone wanting to understand the US's past and current relations with Pakistan, as well as the position of women in Muslim society.

Ali Liebegott's sophomore work is fabulous, fabulous, fabulous! The IHOP Papers is the story of a scruffy dyke, nicknamed Goaty, who moves to San Fran to live with her old philosophy professor, Irene. She's desperately in love with Irene, so the story is the tale of our beloved Goaty winning over the prof's heart. Mixed in this madness is the horror of waitressing at a chain restaurant, attending AA meetins, and falling in love with soap opera characters. To make everything even a bit more interesting--Goaty is also a cutter, so we learn along with her how pain and love are interconnected in our hearts.

Myriam Gurba's writing has been compared to that of Michelle Tea's, and I have to agree with this comparison. She's witty, sharp, politically conscious, and knows how to tell a great story. Gurba's debut book, Dahlia Season is a collection of short stories and one novella. The four short stories are told from a variety of gendered narrators, each one dealing with a different life crisis associated with racism, homophobia, sexism or sexuality. From a boi dyke learning to cruise the gay hot spots in Long Beach, to a high school Latino student helping his girlfriend abort their unwanted baby, Gurba doesn't leave any subject untouched. In the short novella, she continues her fabulous writing style to take on the subject of a Goth dyke, who has both OCD and Tourette's, and is learning how to deal with her Latina identity. Simply put, Gurba knows how to work out the complexity of multiple identities in an addicting narration style. She is the hottest new queer writer and is not to be missed!

Indestructible is awesome! Teen-age angst, sexuality discoveries, punk feminists, and radical rebels that don't care what anyone thinks about them. This is Cristy C. Road's high school world, detailed by her amazing writing and astounding drawings. You gotta read it.

Broken Verses is about a smart, fun, and feminist woman living in Pakistan. She's trying to deal with her emotions about her overtly-feminist and politcal leader mother who disappeared decades ago. (And who kinda reminds me of the late Benazir Bhutto, but I have no idea if Shamsie had the former Prime Minister in mind when she wrote it). Forgetting the disappeared, however, is hard for Aasmani to do when she keeps receiving clues about her mother's existence. Part mystery novel, part social commentary, and a whole bunch of feminist quips about the status of women, Broken Verses is a delightful and rewarding story.

400 women brutally raped and murdered in one city in the past 12 years. Their bodies turned up as bones in the desert. These stories are true. Why haven't you heard of them? Because you haven't read this book. Daughters of Juarez is the first non-fiction book to come out about the femicides in Juarez, Mexico. If you can stop crying long enough to finish it, you won't be disappointed.

Baby Remember My Name is an awesome new collection of queer writing handpicked by our queer girl Goddess, Michelle Tea. These 22 stories are not limited to the genre of lesbo fiction--which is what is so great about them. There's a story about a young Hispanic boy who doesn't understand why everyone insists that he is a girl, a graphic novel excerpt about free cable, a sassy story about bondage sex, and a love story between two pigeons. All of the contributers are burgeoning queer girl writers, making their way onto the scene. Tea has broken queer literary ground with this new collection.