January 2026 Reads for the Rest of Us

Hello, feminist reader friends! Each month, we provide Ms. readers with a list of new books being published by writers from historically excluded groups. The aims of these lists are threefold:

1. We want to do our part in the disruption of what has been the acceptable “norm” in the book world for far too long—white, cis, heterosexual, male;
2. We want to amplify indie publishers and amazing works by writers who are women, Black, Indigenous, Latinx, APIA/AAPI, international, queer, trans, nonbinary, disabled, fat, immigrant, Muslim, neurodivergent, sex-positive or of other historically marginalized identities—you know, the rest of us; and
3. We want to challenge and encourage you all to buy, borrow and read them! 

Note: This article was originally published by Ms. magazine on Jan. 20, 2025.

As we are now more than a few days into the new year, it becomes increasingly clear that this year will be a long one. 

I, Violet, have always been a proponent of January as a time of transformation, of building new habits and tossing out what no longer works. However, that attitude feels exceptionally difficult to channel this year, as most things I would typically change seem trivial compared to the horrors so many face daily. 

But that is why now, more than ever, we must use the opportunity of a new day, every day, to continue to change, and force those around us, those who oppress us, and the very systems in which we exist to do the same. 2026 cannot be as devastating as 2025, because we will not let it.

It will be exhausting. Most days, I am so exhausted with the increased reality of danger that I find it hard to be present, even with my loved ones. On those days, I turn to introspection, to finding the deepest dregs of my endurance, and to the imagination of a better world. This month, many of the books on this list aided in my reflection and reinvigoration. I hope at least one of the 25 books on this list can be that for you.

But that energy didn’t stop on the days when the fire and passion were back. Living and breathing revolution is the only way to make it come about. For me, that means continuing to build community, support small businesses and creators, and those putting their lives on the line. It means using my days of reflection as a jumping-off point for action, and taking what I’ve learned from the books below and the many others we cover as a blueprint for tomorrow.

There is no doubt in my mind that it will be a long year. The question is, will we let that time pass us by, as we are slowly desensitized to the violence and hatred around us, or will we use the time to organize, to protect those most vulnerable, and to fight back? Personally, I will be choosing the latter.

Ace of Hearts: Lessons in Love from an Asexual Girl

By Cooklin. Street Noise. Out now.

As she was growing up, Cooklin did all the things any “normal” kid would do—making friends, getting a boyfriend, experimenting, etc.—and yet, something always felt off. In this lovingly written and illustrated graphic memoir, she shares her story of asexuality. 

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Life After Ambition: A “Good Enough” Memoir

By Amil Niazi. Atria/One Signal Publishers. Out now.

This memoir is definitely more than “good enough.” As she describes the challenges, ambitions, loves and losses throughout her life thus far, it’s Amil Niazi’s relatability and candor that had me from the start.  

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Talking with Boys 

By Tayyba Kanwal. Black Lawrence Press. Out now.

Magical, intricate and disarming, this collection explores the stories and lives of those in the Pakistani diaspora in Houston. Covering topics ranging from immigration and class to family dynamics and cultural history, each story is multifaceted and complex, and reading even just one is a transformative experience.

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World Making in Nepantla: Feminists of Color Navigating Life and Work in the Pandemic

Edited by Gloria González-López, Sharmila Rudrappa, & Christen A. Smith. University of Texas Press. Out now.

For the academics in the house, we have this essential new collection of essays on how feminist scholars of color experienced and navigated COVID-era changes and legacies in their worlds. Contributors include Ada Cheng, Jyoti Puri, Sara Rezvi and many more.

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The Abortion Companion: An Affirming Handbook for Your Choice and Your Journey

By Becca Rea-Tucker. Running Press. Out Jan. 13.

This book serves as an educational and supportive guide through the abortion process. From the history and science of abortion to the feelings and experiences you may have, this is the comprehensive and compassionate information we need now.

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Fire Sword and Sea: A Novel

By Vanessa Riley. William Morrow. Jan. 13.

This might be the pirate book of 2026! Exploring how women, especially women of color, navigated the world of piracy through the story of Jacquotte Delahaye, this captivating novel is the perfect getaway read.

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Kokun: The Girl from the West 

Written by Nahoko Uehashi. Translated by Cathy Hirano. Europa Editions. Out Jan. 13. 

The first in a series, Kokun is an ecofeminist epic fantasy by the highly regarded Japanese anthropologist and storyteller Nahoko Uehashi. With a focus on agrarian resources in a threatened empire, Kokun is unconventional and timely.

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We Inherit the Fire: A Novel

By Kagiso Lesego Molope. McClelland & Stewart. Out Jan. 13. 

As someone with a soft spot for South Africa’s history and beauty, I am excited about the latest novel by Kagiso Lesego Molope, which is set at the end of the turbulent apartheid era. It centers on a mother and daughter as they come to terms with a violent past and move into a fragile future.

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A Black Queer History of the United States

By C. Riley Snorton and Darius Bost. Beacon Press. Out Jan. 20.

I always like to cover the latest volumes in Beacon’s ReVisioning History series, and this one is especially exciting. I’ve learned from the individual work of Snorton and Bost in the past, so I’m eager to see what good trouble they get into together.

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Discipline: A Novel

By Larissa Pham. Random House. Out Jan. 20

Larissa Pham’s buzzy debut centers on an author of a revenge fantasy who encounters the older professor she had a relationship with years before. The affair didn’t end well, and now he is back in touch after reading the book. You’ll want to see how this one ends.

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Eating Ashes: A Novel

Written by Brenda Navarro. Translated by Megan McDowell. Liveright. Out Jan. 20. 

This lovingly written story centers on an unnamed narrator traveling from Spain to her home in Mexico to deliver her brother’s ashes. Introspective and reflective, Eating Ashes is a candid and stark exploration into loss, grief and familial relationships.

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Getting to Reparations: How Building a Different America Requires a Reckoning with Our Past

By Dorothy A. Brown. Crown. Out Jan. 20.

History shows that the US is capable of providing reparations for harms to communities, and in her latest book, Dorothy A. Brown explores why Black Americans have yet to receive restitution and how this could must finally be achieved.

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How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder: A Novel

By Nina McConigley. Pantheon. Out Jan. 20.

Toeing the line between overly satirical and deeply sincere, this debut novel tells the story of two Indian American sisters who kill their sexually abusive uncle… and blame it on the British. Full of wit and wisdom, Nina McConigley unconventionally captures the intricacies of postcolonialism, and how they play out in the lives of everyday Americans.

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Land, Language, and Women: A Cherokee and American Educational History

By Julie L. Reed (Cherokee). University of North Carolina Press. Out Jan. 20. 

By focusing on women’s roles, land, and language, historian Julie L. Reed explores Indigenous educational practices and reframes how we think about Indigenous schooling and survivance. This is fascinating and significant history. 

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Moving Mountains: Asian American and Pacific Islander Feminisms and the 1977 National Women’s Conference

By Judy Tzu-Chun Wuwith Adrienne A. Winans. University of Washington Press. Out Jan. 20.

Judy Tzu-Chun Wu’s latest book examines the seminal 1977 National Women’s Conference and the underexplored yet invaluable contributions and feminisms of Asian American and Pacific Islander women. A must-read for those interested in women’s history.

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One Aladdin Two Lamps

By Jeanette Winterson. Grove Press. Out Jan. 20.

The new book by the iconic Jeanette Winterson is a mix of memoir, political commentary, essay and imagination that turns the Shahrazad and One Thousand and One Nights lore on its head. No one can write like Winterson.

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When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy

By Beronda L. Montgomery. Holt. Out Jan. 20.

Award-winning plant biologist Beronda L. Montgomery has written this informative and thought-provoking interpretation of Black history and knowledge, tracing it from the pecan and poplar trees to willows and cotton shrubs that were intrinsically intertwined with their communities. 

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A Brief History of a Long War: Ukraine’s Fight Against Russian Domination

Written by Mariam Naiem. Illustrated by Yulia Vus and Ivan Kypibida. Ten Speed Press. Out Jan. 27.

Here, historian Mariam Naiem presents the history of Russian aggression against Ukraine in graphic novel format to highlight the resistance and perseverance of the Ukrainian people.

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Fair Game: Trans Athletes and the Future of Sports

By Ellie Roscher and Anna Baeth. The New Press. Out Jan. 27.

In 2023, Ellie Roscher and Anna Baeth began this project of interviewing 20 actively competing trans athletes. By 2026, only four of these athletes are still legally able to participate in their respective sports. This urgent and necessary volume explores this issue with facts, data and clarity.

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Fear and Fury: The Reagan Eighties, the Bernie Goetz Shootings, and the Rebirth of White Rage

By Heather Ann Thompson. Pantheon. Out Jan. 27.

In her latest book, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Heather Ann Thompson examines the 1984 killings of four Black teens by a white man on a New York City subway and how it led to white fear and rage that reverberates to this day. This month’s #RequiredReading.

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The Hour of the Wolf: A Memoir

By Fatima Bhutto. Scribner. Out Jan. 27.

Journalist and writer Fatima Bhutto has penned this memoir reflecting on loss, longing and the Jack Russell terrier who helped her heal. I have yet to read this one, but I know it’s going to tear at my canine-loving heart.

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On Sundays She Picked Flowers

By Yah Yah Scholfield. Saga Press. Out Jan. 27. 

This Southern Gothic debut promises a haunted house in the woods of southern Georgia, replete with ghosts, haints and horrors. Curl up with it on a dark winter’s night, but don’t do it alone. 

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Persona

By Aoife Josie Clements. LittlePuss Press. Out Jan. 27.

What happens when a trans woman finds pornography of herself online that she has no memory of making? In her debut novel, Aoife Josie Clements explores internet toxicity, capitalistic greed and other horrors. I can’t wait to see what Clements writes next. 

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The Summer My Mother Had Green Eyes

Written by Tatiana Țîbuleac. Translated by Monica Cure. Deep Vellum. Out Jan. 27.

As the mother of a son myself, I am equally eager and terrified to read this coming-of-age story by Moldovan writer Tatiana Țîbuleac, which focuses on a mother and son’s complicated relationship. 

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To Ride a Rising Storm: The Second Book of Nampeshiweisit

By Moniquill Blackgoose (Seaconke Wampanoag). Del Rey. Out Jan. 27.

If you enjoyed Moniquill Blackgoose’s To Shape a Dragon’s Breath, you are going to love the sequel. Not only is there meticulous worldbuilding and character development (and dragons!), but Blackgoose also explores themes of colonialism, classism, and autonomy.

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Also releasing this month:

Call Me Ishmaelle
By Xiaolu Guo. Black Cat. Out now. 

The Conspiracists: Women, Extremism, and the Lure of BelongingBy Noelle Cook. Broadleaf Books. Out now.

Settler Colonialism is the Disaster: A Critique of New Orleans After Hurricane Katrina and During the COVID-19 Pandemic
By Cassandra Shepard. University of Illinois Press. Out now.

The Abortion Companion: An Affirming Handbook for Your Choice and Your Journey
By Becca Rea-Tucker. Running Press. Out Jan. 13.

Fly, Wild Swans: My Mother, Myself and China
By Jung Chang. Harper. Out Jan. 13.

The Last of Earth: A Novel
By Deepa Anappara. Random House. Out Jan. 13.

Light for the Way: Seeking Simplicity, Connection, and Repair in a Broken World
By Sojourners Magazine. Broadleaf Books. Out Jan. 13. 

Mega Milk: Essays on Family, Fluidity, Whiteness, and Cows
By Megan Milks. Feminist Press. Out Jan. 13.

Your Tomorrow Was Today
By Oyindamola Dosunmu. Silver Drive Press. Out Jan. 15.

The Flower Bearers
By Rachel Eliza Griffiths. Random House. Out Jan. 20.

A Wild Radiance
By Maria Ingrande Mora. Peachtree Teen. Out Jan. 20.

A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing: A Novel
By Alice Evelyn Yang. William Morrow. Out Jan. 27.

Currencies of Cruelty: Slavery, Freak Shows, and the Performance Archive
By Danielle Bainbridge. NYU Press. Out Jan. 27.

The Seven Daughters of Dupree: A Novel
By Nikesha Elise Williams. Scout Press. Out Jan. 27.

When the Museum Is Closed: A Novel
Written by Emi Yagi. Translated by Yuki Tejima. Soft Skull. Out Jan. 27.