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Nov/Dec Books 2018 -[3 Books!] Sister Outsider, Eloquent Rage AND Good and Mad
I just put holds on the books at my local library.
Wonderful choice of books and perfect for the current political climate in the US. I've devoured as much of Audre Lorde as possible. I'm looking forward to reading Brittney Cooper’s book in relation to Lorde's challenge. Three books for two months, best get reading in between upcoming Christmas planning!
Mod
Does anyone recommend an order to these? I ask, as Brittany Cooper's book summary it says In the Black feminist tradition of Audre Lorde, Would it be better to read Lorde's book first and then the other two?
Mod
That would certainly be my recommendation :)
Pam wrote: "Ohh three books! Does anyone recommend an order to these? I ask, as Brittany Cooper's book summary it says In the Black feminist tradition of Audre Lorde, Would it be better to read Lorde's boo..."
I was wondering the same thing :)
Wow! What a way to end this year! 😄 can't wait to start reading them.
wow, 3 books! Can't wait! I can't seem to find them at my library but hopefully there are places online I can get them :)
I just finished reading Good and Mad, it is a great choice for these times!
cannot let the progress so hard fought be lost we have to make sure voices that have been quite are raised.
I've read Eloquent Rage and Good and Mad and they're both outstanding. Looking forward to the discussion.
Great choice, hopefully I will find the time to read all of them. I've wanted to read Sister Outsider for some time
Bit disappointed, not at the selection but at how hard all three books are to get hold of. And if they are hard for me in the U.K., then it will be even worse for many others. My library doesn’t have them, betterworldbooks.com doesn’t have them and if I buy them new it would cost me over £50 from Foyles. Not looked at Amazon yet, but trying very hard to avoid giving them any of my heard-earned cash so very reluctant.Anyone else having issues or have found affordable options?
Surely the recommended books should be relatively easy and affordable for everyone to get hold of, otherwise aren’t we maintaining privilege instead of breaking down barriers?
Kim xx
Kim wrote: "Bit disappointed, not at the selection but at how hard all three books are to get hold of. And if they are hard for me in the U.K., then it will be even worse for many others. My library doesn’t ha..."Hi! I agree with you.
I'm from Spain and these books would cost me 50 euros and I'm an student, and just in Amazon (I don't like buy things there, no respect for the workers, etc...) in the book shops is more expensive.
This should be easier for everybody. 🧐
Thanks for sharing! ;)
Hi, I am looking forward to reading these 3 interesting books (they’ve been on my TBR list) asap or in near future as soon as I can get them from my library or affordably. Have to say I’m frustrated about the barriers to be able to read and fully participate in the upcoming book discussions. Unfortunately none of these 3 titles are available in my (quite well stocked UK) library and none are affordable on various online bookshops :(, will keep looking. Looks like a few of us will have pick and choose and book swap etc....So it feels a tad exclusive rather than inclusive. Don’t mean to put a damper on these choices - perhaps it would’ve been better to chose these books in 2019 when they come out in paperback (thus hopefully cheaper and more accessible to all!) Appreciate the community discussions and this book group :)
I was always mad whrn i was younger, mad about the injustice &inequality around the world, but as i grow older, some of them faded, some of them became a more rational emotion to drive me to think what i can do to make the world just a little bit better, so I'm really looking forward to reading these three book, have a feeling i will learn a lot from them !thank you for recommending them !
@Kim and Mara: understandable, I hope your opinion will be heard since I am pretty sure than more than a couple of people have the same feeling. Personnaly, I am... let's say... sceptic regarding this announcement (not about the books themselves), I do not know what to think about it...
Kim wrote: "Bit disappointed, not at the selection but at how hard all three books are to get hold of. And if they are hard for me in the U.K., then it will be even worse for many others. My library doesn’t have them, betterworldbooks.com doesn’t have them and if I buy them new it would cost me over £50 from Foyles. Not looked at Amazon yet, but trying very hard to avoid giving them any of my heard-earned cash so very reluctant.Anyone else having issues or have found affordable options? "
Yes, same here. All three books in print version would cost me 55€ via Amazon (France), and are even more expensive in French bookstores... Even if I buy them in Kindle version, the whole lot would cost me 35€, which I still think is a lot. I might just read one or two and add the other(s) to my to-read list and get them when the price has gone down a bit.
I'm really looking forward to these reads though! They all look very interesting.
Thanks Meelie for Wordery bookseller links. Here’s a few more booksellers or marketplace I found - I appreciate some of those titles are still pricy but just FYI (apologies it’s a UK-centric list, I don’t really know any free or inexpensive worldwide shipping other that Book Depository.)
* Abe Books (marketplace for multiple booksellers)
https://www.abebooks.co.uk
* Alibris https://m.alibris.co.uk
* Amazon UK New and Used Marketplace
* Book Depository https://www.bookdepository.com
I'm sure the books are important and have some great things to say, but I do want to echo what others are saying about being disappointed with this announcement.I've previously commented on the difficulty of getting hold of new releases, be that due to sourcing or funding, as have others, and was actually told by a moderator on the May/June announcement that there weren't to be any for the rest of the year. Here in the UK both Brittney and Rebecca's books were released this year, one of them, not even two weeks ago... I know it seems like a lot of complaining, but it does come across like not a lot of thought is going into the availability of the books for the various members of this group. Even Lorde's book is expensive though it was published a while ago.
I'd also like to mention the number of books concern that I've seen others speak of previously. I know different people have different reading commitments and speeds, but I thought that was why the decision was made to read one book every two months instead of one, so obviously three books may be a struggle for some who like to take part in discussions.
Anyway, I hope those that will be reading the books get something out of them.
Kate wrote: "Thanks Meelie for Wordery bookseller links. Here’s a few more booksellers or marketplace I found - I appreciate some of those titles are still pricy but just FYI (apologies it’s a UK-centric list,..."
For Europeans:
Blackwell's have free delivery for all of Europe and the prices are below what I would pay in a German bookshop.
It may take a week for the books to arrive, but it's an alternative to Amazon.
Blackwell's
NoraCampi wrote: "Kate wrote: "Thanks Meelie for Wordery bookseller links. Here’s a few more booksellers or marketplace I found - I appreciate some of those titles are still pricy but just FYI (apologies it’s a UK-..."
Good to know thanks @Nora, I did check Blackwell’s too but forgot to include it personally.
Also I checked the Hive but I think Sister Outsider was out of stock. Might be back in stock soon.
Chloe wrote: "I'm sure the books are important and have some great things to say, but I do want to echo what others are saying about being disappointed with this announcement.I've previously commented on the di..."
Thanks for bringing up these points, as you’ll see I also concur with these viewpoints. I also forgot to add myself that I was confused why we are have been “assigned” 3 books when the move was to read 1 book (in rare cases 2) bi-monthly to allow everyone worldwide time to access the books (because for some it takes time to recieve the book due to shipping or library holds waiting lists.) Of course it is understandable that everyone has different reading paces too, but if the majority of us are all reading different books at each time and only say less than 25% are able to contribute to discussions or read the threads (as most like me like to avoid spoilers while reading) within the allotted 2 months, then that isn’t as enjoyable or makes sense of the community spirit that has built up.
Maybe as a workaround to be as inclusive as possible (and also to not to just give up these book choices) we could agree to order the books (eg. Read 2 books in Nov - Dec (maybe Sister Outsider
and Eloquent Rage) and 1 book (Good and Mad or ER) in Jan- Feb 2019, allowing for overlap book discussions (and of course that’s just a loose guide, so ppl can do as they please?)
Just so more of us are more or less reading collectively on the same page (no pun intended!) for the discussion (as we did in the last months) and perhaps extend this round to a 2 to 4 month discussion period to allow for the constraints?
And look forward to book swapping if we can.
Look forward to any thoughts :)
Hi there,I just looked at Better World Books and they had at least one copy of Sister Outsider for US $16.28. Let's hope they will find and list more copies as they see more people searching for it!
https://www.betterworldbooks.com/prod...
Happy reading everyone :-)
I also have issue's with having three books for this month. Not only for reading pace and shipping time, but also regarding money. The books on this list are usually not available in libraries close to me so I always have to buy them myself. As a student struggling with money I can just afford one book in two months. Three books is impossible for me. Of course I can decide to only read one of them, but I think this issue doesn't really fit the spirit of this community.I also have big questionmarks about the fact that the announcement is written by the writers themselves, as it comes across as if this group is used for promoting their books. I'd rather see these books recommended by people who have nothing to gain from it.
Lianne wrote: "I also have issue's with having three books for this month. Not only for reading pace and shipping time, but also regarding money. The books on this list are usually not available in libraries clos..."
Thank you Lianne for your comment! You are not the only one who has those questions in mind! I hope so much we are wrong!
For now I am planning to only read Audre Lorde's book. Then I'll see what happens and if, indeed, people (including me) are wrong about the perception we are having. This announcement makes me think a lot.
Thank you Lianne for your comment! You are not the only one who has those questions in mind! I hope so much we are wrong!
For now I am planning to only read Audre Lorde's book. Then I'll see what happens and if, indeed, people (including me) are wrong about the perception we are having. This announcement makes me think a lot.
Mod
Agreed
I agree the list is long and expensive, but can I also just say how good it feels to have a list of books about women's anger recommended to me? I mean, "rage" in my email! As a recommendation! It's usually like, "be careful, if you talk about the rage you'll just start an argument..." Yay talking about rage!
I just to want to add that we don't have to read everything at the same time, all the time. I'm still to read Reni's book and Radium girls... I read outside the book club, so other things sometimes get in the way...
The discussions will be here, waiting for your contribution, when and if you can make them. That's how I think about my ability of participating or not. The threads don't just stop because it's a new month with a new book...
Happy readings! <3
I personally was SO excited to see three books on here! I just discovered this group a few months ago so have been playing catch up. I try to read the current one and a past one every two months. For me the discussions don’t have to be done in that 2 month time frame. I’ve commented on posts from the first book a year after it was assigned! I decided to pick Audre Lorde to buy, for now. The others are on my list, and I will read them all eventually, but for me this group is more about exposure to new books, not about reading them in a timely manner.
I am excited to be joining this month as we have three books to read, great choice of books. I’m going to need to find some serious me time to read all three books, can’t wait x
Mod
We hear you with regards the pricing of books and the fact that there are three.
Audre Lorde's book should (hopefully) be available at a reasonable price for most - which was part of the thought process for selecting this title.
If it helps, think of Brittney Cooper and Rebecca Traister's books as accompaniments with similar themes. It seemed like a nice idea to tie them all in together.
Please don't feel that you MUST read them all, you are free to pick and choose as you feel. Our Pay if forward section is there if you need it.
If you have any concerns, please PM me and I will do my best to help.
Thanks,
Jo
Amelia wrote: "I agree the list is long and expensive, but can I also just say how good it feels to have a list of books about women's anger recommended to me? I mean, "rage" in my email! As a recommendation! It'..."I was about to comment exactly the same thing. I have no issue with the idea of reading 3 books in this two months period, being unemployed means I have a LOT of time to read, and I do read A LOT. The price was a little more of an annoyance, being unemployed doesn't help on that front, and as a French woman I have no chance to find it in a library. I bought the ebooks, I think it costed me around 30€...
But honestly, talking about rage. Accepting rage. Not talking about how to police it, or how to hide it, but how to embrace it and acknoledge it ? I'm really happy for it.
I'm so so sad! I can't read any of that books because they don't exist in portuguese... :( I hope in January it can be a book that I can read, because I love OSS! :/ <3
Jo wrote: " Hi all,We hear you with regards the pricing of books and the fact that there are three.
Audre Lorde's book should (hopefully) be available at a reasonable price for most - which was part of the thought process for selecting this title.
If it helps, think of Brittney Cooper and Rebecca Traister's books as accompaniments with similar themes. It seemed like a nice idea to tie them all in together."
From this, I'm getting the impression that Sister Outsider is supposed to be more of the primary pick and the other two are more of "additional reads." If this was the intent, it might have been a better idea to have the one book as the chosen book for this time period and mention the other two in the announcement as good accompanying books, as Emma has done in the past (like when Hunger was announced, she mentioned Bad Feminist as an optional additional read, but it wasn't officially added as a book being read fir that time period by the group.) This way, there is still a book chosen for the group at large, but we are made aware if these other books that accompany it well and people also wouldn't be getting the impression that the group is being used promotionally for these other two books. Just a thought.
If I'm not mistaken, you can find "Sister Outsider" ebook and audiobook on Google Play.
Mod
The publisher of one of our new releases this year mentioned that after the OSS announcement, they saw a spike in the number of orders from libraries. She mentioned that the good thing about featuring a book for two months is that people could request books and libraries could order them in time for readers to have access. It reminded me that many libraries are open to requests even if the book is not currently on their shelves.
Our team works hard to bring you choices that are empowering, inspiring and diverse. With every selection, we strive to represent different points of view. Being intersectionally inclusive without being exclusive is an imperfect process. But our selections are always made with OSS readers in mind and with integrity, independent of any author or publisher influence.
Sometimes the introductory letter is written by an OSS team member, sometimes by Emma, and in the future, maybe by a guest editor. This time, our two living authors graciously agreed to write the letter introducing their books and the book by Audre Lorde that influenced them both. This is always a treat for me - to hear from a writer directly and we thought you’d enjoy this, too. Some of you felt this was a mistake. As a community of readers and thinkers who are passionate about books and ideas, we welcome the dialogue and look forward to more conversations with you.
After watching hours of existing interviews that the authors had done, we were excited about the intelligence and quality of dialogue these authors bring and approached them about doing an interview together for OSS. They agreed and we hope to bring you that interview soon. We request author engagements that we feel would interest members and offer us more opportunities to discuss and explore important themes or ask questions directly.
I was lucky enough to read all the books we are suggesting this month and every one of them was revelatory in their own way. But it’s also not necessary to read them all to participate in a meaningful discussion about this topic. Anger at injustice has been a big part of my life and identity and it felt like both such a relief and extremely empowering to read about it in depth. I look forward to unpacking it more with you all. And most definitely respect anyone’s right to feel angry or upset about feeling left out or overlooked. This was not our intention at all.
Thank you to all the members who have shared their initial thoughts on the books, so far.
With love,
Helen
Please send your purchase wishes to your local public libraries!Libraries purchase many of the desired books from the local community, so I would recommend everyone to send a purchase suggestion to their local library.
The purpose of a library is to serve its community and the interests of the community, so if you say that you want a spesific title, then the chances are high that the library will buy the book(s).
Mod
I have a copy of Sister Outsider and haven't had the chance to read it yet. Thanks for prompting me to bump it up my list this month!
I am not familiar with these authors but I have not been disappointed with any of your recommendations so I will follow them to the best of my ability, I have enjoyed the previous books, I am eager to start with them.
Rebecca Traister on The Daily Show, talking about Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Angerhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAQG-...
I should be able to start Sister Outsider this week after I finish my current book.
Kim wrote: "Bit disappointed, not at the selection but at how hard all three books are to get hold of. And if they are hard for me in the U.K., then it will be even worse for many others. My library doesn’t ha..."I went the amazon route, I was able to download the audiobook of 'Good & Mad' for free when I signed up for a free trial of audible through amazon, and I bought 'Sister Outsider' direct from them. I'm in the UK too, I was hoping these books would be on The Book People (where I buy most of my books) but no such luck.
Merline wrote: "Rebecca Traister on The Daily Show, talking about Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Angerhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAQG-..."
Now I want to read the book even more than before watching this. Thanks for posting.
Rebecca Traister speaks about anger in this video: https://nowthisnews.com/videos/her/go...A subtitled film worth watching.
Anne Elisabeth wrote: "Please send your purchase wishes to your local public libraries!Libraries purchase many of the desired books from the local community, so I would recommend everyone to send a purchase suggestion ..."
Thanks Anne :) I am going to do this Cheers
Our Shared Shelf
Books mentioned in this topic
Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches (other topics)Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower (other topics)
We are honored to be able to begin a conversation with you about the power and consequence of women’s rage, both personal and political. We could not be prouder or more excited that Audre Lorde’s Sister Outsider, Brittney Cooper’s Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower, and Rebecca Traister’s Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger have been selected as the Our Shared Shelf books for November/December 2018.
The famed feminist activist, poet, and essayist Audre Lorde was one of the foremost thinkers on the importance of anger. In her essay, “The Uses of Anger,” which you will get to read in her book Sister Outsider, she wrote, “every woman has a well-stocked arsenal of anger potentially useful against those oppressions, personal and institutional, which brought that anger into being. Focused with precision it can become a powerful source of energy serving progress and change.”
To encounter these words is to be changed by them. We have been changed by them. And we hope that women’s anger, put to use within progressive coalitions in which fury is expressed and treated as instructive, will in turn have the power to change the world.
In this period, as we reckon with the rise of hard right authoritarian regimes around the world, many determined to roll back human rights—the very freedoms generations of angry women before us worked to win—today’s women are again being called to embrace our rage–its force, its potential, its messy complications. The fight against global patriarchy is far from over. Violence abounds but so does the possibility of building a new world from the wreckage of the old one.
To that end, and just as crucial as the call to angry expression, is the responsibility—instilled by Lorde—to listen with curiosity and respect to the rage of the women around us.
Our books, Eloquent Rage and Good and Mad, are an invitation into a conversation across race, across cultural contexts, across the things that make us both different and the same. If you are ready to come to terms with your anger, with the good, the bad, and the ugly of it, then you will enjoy—and perhaps find your tongues, your ears, your heads and hearts—liberated by these books.
Rebecca’s book Good and Mad will give you a deep and engaging (and sometimes enraging) historical deep dive into the way that women’s anger has been used throughout history to drive social movements, as well as about how rage at the inequalities replicated within those social movements has worked to both slow them and make them stronger. The stories will make you mad but they’ll also inspire you.
Brittney’s book invites the question of what it takes to meet Audre Lorde’s challenge: how do we focus our anger with precision? Through a range of personal stories about becoming a feminist, navigating friendships and romance and the white-washed shoals of pop culture, as well as contending with the limits of white feminists and the legacy of white feminism, Brittney demonstrates what it means to harness anger as a superpower.
We hope these books will lead to conversations—honest, real, and tough conversations—about the racial politics that too easily divide us. We hope that you will find useful narratives, historical surprises, and even questions that might expand your thinking and the thinking of those in your communities. We are friends, and we have had the opportunity to grow because we read and take each other’s work and struggles seriously. Now it’s your turn. Read our books. If you aren’t already mad, get mad. If you’ve never asked the women around you—older and younger—if they’re mad, or why they’re mad, now is a great time to start that conversation.
Let’s struggle; let’s read, let’s laugh and talk and think. We’ve got work to do if we’re gonna turn this thing around.
Best,
Brittney and Rebecca