A couple of years back I published 17 Blues and Jazz Songs by Black Women to Add to Your Black History Month Playlist because I think music is a beautiful way to explore history and blues and jazz are genres firmly rooted in Black history. I’m once again sharing a list of some of the incredible Black women throughout history who have impacted the genres of gospel and soul, genres that cannot be separated from Black history. These genres and the artists that pioneered them are fluid enough that there are many artists featured known for multiple genres, but I have chosen to focus here on go ..read more

Black History Month may be the shortest month of the year, but it’s always a wonderful opportunity to learn more about Black history and to find great reading resources. Picture book readers are at a distinct advantage, because they can read a book a day without overdoing it. With that in mind, I’ve compiled one picture book per day (and it’s fortunately a leap year, so there’s an extra day) for the month to learn about different aspects of Black history. I hope adults and children alike will find new information, new stories, new creators, and more from these picture books. The People Remembe ..read more

I may be an adult, but I love picture books. The stories, the style, the illustrations, they all fill me with joy. It always brings me great joy to share my favourite recently released picture books at the end of the year, and this year is no exception. So without further ado, here are my favourite picture books released in 2023. Let me know in the comments if I missed your favourite! Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine by Hannah Moushabeck, illustrated by Reem Madooh With warm, vibrant, tender illustrations, Homeland is the picture book memoir of author Hannah Moushabek as she describes ..read more

I love reading short stories. I literally did over a hundred unique entries to our short story club Lite Reads (currently on hiatus, hopefully back before long!), so perhaps this is stating the obvious. Any kind of short story can be a blast, but there’s something about the format that makes for brilliant fall reading. Mysteries, gothic literature, ghost stories, dark fantasy, and horror all offer up brilliant spooky pieces for some quality October reading. I’ve included a mixture of all these story types here. Lite Reads devotees will find a number of short stories we read together (with link ..read more

I’m definitely a Halloween person, probably because of my love of all things horror, spooky, mysterious, etc. that has steadily built throughout my life. I love a good spooky movie, and I’ve watched my share, and I have a list of some recommendations to share! I’ve refrained from putting anything too obvious in here (no matter how much I love Scream [1996] or The Cabin in the Woods [2011]), so hopefully you can find something new to check out here no matter how many spooky vibes movies you’ve seen. Raw (2016, dir. Julia Ducournau, French) This French coming of age body horror film follows a s ..read more

I’ve been a fan of Cassandra Khaw for awhile now. As part of our Lite Reads short story club we read their story “These Deathless Bones” (intro post here and review post here), which I loved, and I reviewed their novella Nothing But Blackened Teeth in 2021, which I also loved. When I got the chance to read an advanced copy their new fairy tale horror novella The Salt Grows Heavy from Netgalley, I jumped at the chance. My reading pile is a bit absurd at this point, so I didn’t get to it as quickly as I would have preferred, but luckily for those reading this review it means the book is availab ..read more

Spooky Season is one of my favourite times of year! I love the excuse to engage in all my favourite spooky media and while I don’t ignore those things the rest of the year it’s really great to be so focused. While I do love horror, I think sometimes I just want wholesome Halloween vibes or things that feel spooky without getting into anything too horrifying. I’m also aware of many people who enjoy this time of year without enjoying horror as a genre at all. I’ve put together this list of graphic novels that have great Halloween vibes without being intense horror stories. Note: I’ve personally ..read more

The month of July is Disability Pride Month. As a disabled woman I’ve been trying to be more aware of this because pride is a feeling I’m still working towards on that front, so it’s something I’ve been trying to consciously celebrate. July may be coming to an end (being disabled sometimes means not always being well enough to be prompt), but disability lit is something we can always read and explore, and something I’ve personally been trying to expand my reading in. With that in mind, I wanted to share some of the poetry collections I have read by disabled and chronically ill authors with rel ..read more

Every year I post a new list of songs from LGBTQ+ artists for Pride Month. As a queer person and a music lover, I love getting the chance to share some of my favourite LGBTQ+ artists and songs. Curating these lists always ends up being a great time for me, and I hope that listeners will find a few new jams among the mix. I’ve included a mixture of different genres in the hopes that there’s something for everyone. Celebrate Pride by supporting queer artists! Previous lists: 2018 2019 2020 2021 Quebrada Queer – Metralhada Quebrada Queer is a queer hip hop group out of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Orville ..read more

Here at The Feminist Bibliothecary, I have always loved hosting Lite Reads, our weekly short story club. It is always a pleasure to share short stories, explore the ideas within them, and see what others comment about them here and on social media. I’ve been hosting Lite Reads since 2018, and I have no wish to stop. However, for a multitude of reasons, I will be extending our current hiatus indefinitely. During covid, Lite Reads has become difficult for me to manage with my mental health and my physical health. I am disabled, which I have written about here before, and I have my symptoms and ..read more