Reading Recommendations

As the weather gets chilly, there's no better time to snuggle up with a good book. Check out these inspiring reads, recommended by the readers from our last event!


Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women's Anger

by Rebecca Traister
Recommended by Kate Johnston

From Simon & Schuster:

“Highlighting a double standard perpetuated against women by all sexes, and its disastrous, stultifying effect, Traister’s latest is timely and crucial. It offers a glimpse into the galvanizing force of women’s collective anger, which, when harnessed, can change history.”

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This is what the [#metoo] movement had done. It had offered women the chance to hear from others that it had happened to them too, and that they too were angry, and that they too could say it aloud.
— Rebecca Traister, Good and Mad

When I was Puerto Rican

by Esmerelda Santiago
Recommended by Lilliam Rivera

Why Lilliam loves it:

“When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago is a memoir depicting Esmeralda's life growing up in Puerto Rico in the 1940s and 50s. Esmeralda's writing is so honest and raw, readers will have a glimpse of what life was like for many in Puerto Rico.”

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White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism

by Robin Diangelo
Recommended by Erica Chidi Cohen

Why Erica loves it:

“It's a powerful deconstruction of race theory and dominant culture. It's eye opening regardless of your ethnicity — it helped me further understand our country's current state and how to participate in shifting it.”

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The key to moving forward is what we do with our discomfort. We can use it as a door out—blame the messenger and disregard the message. Or we can use it as a door in by asking, Why does this unsettle me? What would it mean for me if this were true?
— ROBIN DIANGELO, WHITE FRAGILITY

Honey

by Elizabeth Tallent
Recommended by Marisa Matarazzo

Why Marisa loves it:

“In HONEY, Tallent's specific and wildly delicate attention to and articulation of the unspoken emotional lives of her characters is breathtaking. She gives language, electric with truth and unexpected feeling, to what goes unsaid between lovers, friends, family.”

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Reading Recommendations from Portland Readers

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A Time You Found Hope