Staff Picks: Taylor Noel’s Favorites

From one of the country’s leading organizers and co-creator of Black Lives Matter,  The Purpose of Power is one of the most urgent, powerful, and inspiring books I’ve ever read. It’s the story of Alicia Garza’s lessons through years of bringing people together to create lasting change. It’s also an educational and deeply personal guide for building transformative movements to address the challenges and inequalities of our time. It’s easily the most important books I’ve read this year.

Holy hell this book! About three women who must defy the traditions that have held them captive to a mountain ruled by men, Shiner is a crackling and fierce novel of myths, miracles, and moonshiners. It’s a powerful testament to women fighting for their lives in a culture that doesn’t value them. I was sucked in from the first sentence and couldn’t look away from the page as these women experience devastating heartbreak and immense resolve. The writing is gorgeous, the setting is captivating, and I’ll be thinking about these characters for some time. Absolutely stunning.

I listened to the audiobook of  What We Carry months ago and I couldn’t get this memoir out of my head so I went out and got a hardcover for my shelves! I was completely captivated by Maya’s story and her voice (both literally and in the larger literary sense) and found myself listening for hours without realizing how much time had passed. This book broke my heart and healed it several times over. I often had to stop the audio soundtrack to rewind and listen to a sentence or paragraph again, because her words were so beautiful and profound.

I love Evie Wyld’s novels so much! I read her debut—All The Birds, Singing—years ago, and was instantly obsessed with her eerie and mesmerizing storytelling, and how deftly she captured the hardships of being a woman in a man’s world. I was so excited for Wyld’s newest novel—The Bass Rock—and read it within 24 hours of getting my copy. This book is haunting, propulsive and blistering, intricately weaving together the stories of three different woman. It’s a damning indictment of the violence men inflict on women and powerful reminder of women’s resilience. But it’s also mordantly funny at times, with parts that reminded me a lot of Fleabag. The Bass Rock is a masterful gothic novel that completely bewitched me. And a perfect cozy winter read!