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She Come By
It Natural
SARAH SMARSH
In her insightful
essay collection,
Smarsh gives Dolly
Parton and working-
class women in
rural America their
due for redefining
womanhood even
as their class and
culture worked to
keep them down.Why We Swim
BONNIE TSUI
The journalist
explores the human
love of swimming
in five sections:
on survival, well-
being, community,
competition and
flow, the state of
oneness with water
that people find when
truly immersed in the
rhythms of swimming.The Purpose
of Power
ALICIA GARZA
The Black Lives
Matter co-founder
traces the evolution
of the movement
and where it could
go in a call to action
that takes readers
back through her first
lessons in politics
taught by her mom to
the Ferguson uprising.
Wow, No
Thank You.
SAMANTHA IRBY
Irby’s latest essay
collection is joyfully
self-deprecating as
she considers things
many are too guarded
to discuss: the
difficulty of making
new friends, being
addicted to your
phone, hiding bills
under your pillow.You Never Forget
Your First
ALEXIS COE
The first George
Washington biog-
raphy written by a
woman in 40 years
offers an enjoyable,
accessible portrait,
stripped of a com-
mon obsession in
past biographies with
the Founding Father’s
“manliness.”Unfree Speech
JOSHUA WONG
Wong began
organizing against
Chinese government
propaganda as a
teenager, and is now
one of the primary
leaders of the Hong
Kong protests for
democracy. He charts
his improbable rise
from Marvel-loving
teen to revolutionary.Recollections of
My Nonexistence
REBECCA SOLNIT
Solnit’s memoir is
at its most powerful
when she shares
personal stories
that humanize
feminist theory,
painting a resonant
and moving portrait
of how challenging
life can be in the
female body.
African American
Poetry
KEVIN YOUNG
In his breathtaking
anthology, Young uncovers
the work of lesser-known
African-American poets
deserving of a place in the
canon, and features them
alongside more famous
figures.Postcolonial
Love Poem
NATALIE DIAZ
A queer Aha Makav
woman, Diaz explores in
her tender collection the
dissonance between the
mysticism forced upon
her by the white gaze
and the miracle of her
continued existence.Obit
VICTORIA CHANG
Although she initially
balked at writing an obitu-
ary for her mother, Chang
soon found herself writing
eulogies for the small
losses that preceded and
followed her death, and
captures the ache of grief
in her visceral poetry.—Andrew
R. Chow, Eliana
Dockterman,
Mahita Gajanan,
Annabel
Gutterman,
Suyin Haynes,
Nate Hopper,
Cady Lang and
Lucas WittmannWRITING BY
Reaganland
RICK PERLSTEIN
The historian’s
latest picks up in
the late ’70s, when
Ronald Reagan
launched a bid for
the presidency,
tracing the strategic
choices that laid the
groundwork for Mitch
McConnell, Donald
Trump and their party
as we know it today.
The Sword
and the Shield
PENIEL E. JOSEPH
Joseph unpacks
the intertwined
impact of Malcolm X
and Martin Luther
King Jr., who wanted
the same thing—
equality for Black
Americans—but
approached that
vision from different
perspectives.