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Her Body and Other Parties: Stories

Carmen Maria Machado

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Finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction.

“[These stories] vibrate with originality, queerness, sensuality and the strange.” —Roxane Gay.

“In these formally brilliant and emotionally charged tales, Machado gives literal shape to women’s memories and hunger and desire. I couldn’t put it down.” —Karen Russell.

In Her Body and Other Parties, Carmen Maria Machado blithely demolishes the arbitrary borders between psychological realism and science fiction, comedy and horror, fantasy and fabulism. While her work has earned her comparisons to Karen Russell and Kelly Link, she has a voice that is all her own.

In this electric and provocative debut, Machado bends genre to shape startling narratives that map the realities of women’s lives and the violence visited upon their bodies. A wife refuses her husband’s entreaties to remove the green ribbon from around her neck. A woman recounts her sexual encounters as a plague slowly consumes humanity. A salesclerk in a mall makes a horrifying discovery within the seams of the store’s prom dresses. One woman’s surgery-induced weight loss results in an unwanted houseguest.

And in the bravura novella “Especially Heinous,” Machado reimagines every episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, a show we naïvely assumed had shown it all, generating a phantasmagoric police procedural full of doppelgängers, ghosts, and girls with bells for eyes.

Earthy and otherworldly, antic and sexy, queer and caustic, comic and deadly serious, Her Body and Other Parties swings from horrific violence to the most exquisite sentiment. In their explosive originality, these stories enlarge the possibilities of contemporary fiction.

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Posts about this title from Celestial

Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Jun 30

your friend really, really needs to read these books …

your friend really, really needs to read these books …

📚 books mentioned: - Our Sister’s Keeper by Jasmine Holmes - Her Body and Other Parties: Stories by Carmen Maria Machado - Delicate Condition by Danielle Valentine - Girls Who Play Dead by Joelle Wellington - Canon by Paige Lewis - You Should Have Been Nicer to My Mom by Vincent Tirado - Sick Kids in Love by Hannah Moskowitz - The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar - Open Throat by Henry Hoke - Singer Distance by Ethan Chatagnier - Until the Clock Strikes Midnight by Alechia Dow - Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson - Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino - The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter - Fury by Shirley Marr

👗💄: - shirt is from Hill House Home - eyeshadow is The Lord of the Rings Middle Earth Palette from Glamlite and In A Trance from Colourpop - eyeliner is Vegan Longwear Eyeliner (Ocean) from Pacifica Beauty - shimmer is a single (Enchanted) from Adriana Nichole Cosmetics - mascara is Clean Volume from Merit - lip combo is Suede Matte Lip Liner (Moonwalk) from NYX Cosmetics and Wonder Blading Top Gloss (Holographic) from Wonderskin

thank you to Bindery Books, Sourcebooks Landmark, Simon Teen, Viking Books, William Morrow, Tordotcom, and Tin House for the gifted copies!

#fantasybooks #horrorbooks #scifibooks #nycinfluencer #bookstagram @bindery_books @graywolfpress @sourcebooks @bookmarked @simonteen @vikingbooks @williammorrowbooks @entangledteen @tordotcompub @mcdbooks @tin_house @fiercereads @groveatlantic @fsgbooks @orbitbooks_us @hillhouse @glamlite @adriananicholecosmetics @merit @wonderskin @colourpopcosmetics @nyxcosmetics


15 books

Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Jun 29

💭 are you a chaotic gamer?

💭 are you a chaotic gamer?

i’m way too nice while playing video games. this is for the people who are BEACONS OF CHAOS and always choose the responses that feel like they were dropped in as a weird joke?!?

📚 books mentioned: - Canon by Paige Lewis - Her Body and Other Parties: Stories by Carmen Maria Machado - Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart: And Other Stories by GennaRose Nethercott

👗💄: - eyeshadow is Blends Artistry Palette from Blend Bunny Cosmetics - eyeliner is Vegan Longwear Eyeliner (Minty) from Pacifica Beauty - mascara is B-Structural Volumizing Mascara from Haus Labs - lip combo is Suede Matte Lip Liner (OG Cold Brew) and Jelly Job Lip Gloss (Jelly Filled) from NYX Cosmetics

thank you to Viking Books and Random House/Vintage for the gifted copy!

#weirdbooks #fantasybooks #horrorbooks #nycinfluencer #bookstagram @vikingbooks @graywolfpress @ireadvintage @penguinrandomhouse @blendbunnycosmetics @hauslabs @nyxcosmetics


3 books

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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Dec 28 2024

WEIRD & WHIMSICAL & WACKY BOOKS

WEIRD & WHIMSICAL & WACKY BOOKS totally not a video i created just to show off the @selkie dress i rented from @nuuly. idk what you mean.

(yes the mic was unplugged, no i don’t want to talk about it 😞, yes capcut saved my life with their vocal isolation function)

📚 books mentioned: - The Ballad of Perilous Graves by Alex Jennings - Open Throat by Henry Hoke - Vagabonds! by Eloghosa Osunder - Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

#weirdbooks #whimsicalbooks #horrorbooks #strangebooks #fantasybooks #starrysteph #nycinfluencer #bookstagram #IGShareYourPassion @redhookbooks @orbitbooks_us @mcdbooks @riverheadbooks @graywolfpress #selkie #nuuly


4 books

Posts about this book from across Bindery

Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Jun 30

your friend really, really needs to read these books …

your friend really, really needs to read these books …

thank you to Bindery Books, Sourcebooks Landmark, Simon Teen, Viking Books, William Morrow, Tordotcom, and Tin House for the gifted copies!


15 books

Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Jun 29

💭 are you a chaotic gamer?

💭 are you a chaotic gamer?

thank you to Viking Books and Random House/Vintage for the gifted copy!


3 books

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Fat Forward Books\ \ Samantha Puc\ \ • May 7

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\ \ Join for free or login](https://fatfwdbooks.binderybooks.com/item/zLMnPNfXDNSd9wpYYjwk/)

1 Year of Fat Forward Books 🎂

What's in a year? Lessons learned and plans for the future on Fat Forward Books' first anniversary.


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Fat Forward Books\ \ Samantha Puc\ \ • Apr 29

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✨ Our May Book Club Pick ✨


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Boozhoo Books\ \ Naomi\ \ • Jan 10

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[Hello Friends!\ \ Happy New Year! You may think I'm late, but the French say Happy New Year for the entire month of January and I like this tradition! So HAPPY NEW YEAR!\ \ I spent the New Year in the Redwoods (The North Coast is my favorite part of California)!\ \ Publishing Updates\ \ I am so thankful for all of you and your support of What Feeds Below. One of my immediate goals was to get 1,000 adds on Goodreads and because of you, in just over two weeks we are at 927! That is so incredible! You may have heard me say it before, but supporting indie and marginalized authors on Goodreads is so important! Adding books to your Want to Read shelf helps these books get noticed, gets them on media lists, gets book box attention and signals to publishers that the book is going to do well. This can help author's land future contracts. I know many of my supporters have migrated to author platforms, but if you want to support marginalized author's, I strongly urge you to consider using both. If you haven't added What Feeds Below to your Goodreads shelves yet, please do so here.\ \ PREORDERS: I've been pretty blunt (surprise, surprise lol) about my very ambitious preorder goal for What Feeds Below. I want to hit 1,000 preorders early, like by tomorrow haha! There are 2 BIG reasons why:\ \

  1. I am absolutely obsessed with this book. I think it has the potential to be such a huge hit (I'm thinking big: movies! I'm already preparing my red carpet dress. PLEASE! Dare I say...TRILOGY?) I think this is the best book Tatiana has written so far. I think most people will read it in one sitting. I think there are so many cosplay opportunities! I think you're going to sleep with the lights on! I want this book to compete with trad pub releases this year. I want book box options. I want to hit a best seller list.\ \
  2. I want to publish more books. I want the books I publish to be in conversation with some of the hottest books of the year. (I have great taste, so they should be LOL). After WFB, we have Cracks in an Ocean of Glass, an incredible literary horror coming out in Spring 2027. I want ensure a book for Fall 27. (I've already received a pitch for an Indigenous sci-fi fantasy that I'm pretty sure the world needs). The way to make sure we get there is to hit these preorders early!\ \ \ There are over 2,000 of you here now! That's 2,000 readers who believe in this mission, who believe traditional publishing has failed us, who believe women in horror deserve equal conversation time to their male counterparts and Indigenous authors need more books on the shelves at your local bookstore. If all 2,000 of you pre-ordered this book today, you would not only change my life, but the lives of our current and future authors. The book is $16.73 on bookshop right now. GRAB IT HERE. If you can spare the $16.73 this month, investing in marginalized authors, investing in indie publishing, investing in this change we want to see in the world is a great way to spend it.\ \ READING UPDATES\ \ I've read 3 books so far this year:\ \

This Actually Happened in the Book World


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Boozhoo Books\ \ Naomi\ \ • Dec 1 2025

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[Hello Folks,\ \ Women in Horror Book Club 2026 is gonna be lit! If you aren't in the club, simply connect to the Discord and join us! Book club takes place primarily in the Discord and occasionally, the authors join us for a chat! I will update these photos again once What Feeds Below and Our Cut of Salt have covers out!\ \

Women in Horror Book Club 2026


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Read Rant Review\ \ Kaylee\ \ • Oct 5 2025

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[Over the summer, I kept getting posts popping up on my feed talking about "weird girl lit". Books like Bunny by Mona Awad, Boy Parts by Eliza Clark, Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado, etc.\ \ Big Swiss by Jen Beagin was also a common occurrence on these lists and caught my attention, marking my first step into the world of weird girl lit. So let's talk about it. I'll give you a quick spoiler-free recap of what the book is about, and talk about my feelings at the end.\ \

Instead, Greta quit therapy. Then she quit her job, ended her relationship, moved across the country, and switched careers.\ \ Greta is a 45-year-old woman who has just come out of a long-term, unfulfilling relationship and is starting life fresh across the country.\ \ Everyone behaved as if they’d been banished from their native country, or had simply withdrawn allegiance, or were on the lam, and now that they were all living abroad, they bonded with people they never would’ve ended up with back home.\ \ She moves to a small, weird town, and is working as a transcriptionist for the local therapist. While doing this, she becomes obsessed with a 25-year-old client whom she has nicknamed "Big Swiss."\ \ Big Swiss: Do you think I could get a copy of this transcript at some point?\ \ Therapist: Sure, of course.\ \ Big Swiss: I had a transcript of my grand jury testimony, but it was destroyed in a flood.\ \ Therapist: Was it something you looked at often?\ \ Big Swiss: Never. But I liked having it in a drawer.\ \ Big Swiss is in therapy after a traumatuc event. The above quote occurs after she finally talks about it in a session. There were a few quotes throughout the book that really stuck with me, and this conversation was one of them. She also talks pretty extensively about not letting her trauma define her and not wanting to use it as a reason for her doing anything. I found it deeply, deeply relatable and this idea in particular made me take pause. As much as you want to move on, there is something important about having 'proof' of it happening. I don't think I can really explain the feeling beyond that. If you know, you know - I guess?\ \ "I miss you. Grievously."\ \ I won't provide any context for this, but the word grievously has become my new favorite adverb.\ \\\_______\ \ Anyway. All in all. Was this book weird? HELL YES. There were a lot of insane descriptions, jump scare esque trauma dumping, and half the time I couldn't tell if we were speaking literally or metaphorically. I have no idea what happened in this book and this book has the definition of an unreliable narrator. It was often times gross yet intriguing. It also gave very ugly truths in such plain language that it felt like a slap to the face.\ \ Check the trigger warnings before reading! I'd recommend it if you're wanting a unique reading experience that explores the lasting impacts of trauma and how people cope.\ \ Do you have weird girl lit that you recommend? I tagged the other books that are on my TBR for this series. Let me know your thoughts!](https://readrantreview.binderybooks.com/item/GhES5TNSc3WS4OmkEeh3/)

Weird Girl Lit Chronicles: Big Swiss by Jen Beagin


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Fat Forward Books\ \ Samantha Puc\ \ • Jun 4 2025

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Fat Forward Books: Pride Recommendations 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Happy Pride from Fat Forward Books! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ If you’re looking for fat & LGBTQIA+ books to add to your TBR, we’ve got you covered.


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Fat Forward Books\ \ Samantha Puc\ \ • May 19 2025

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Do Our Tastes Align? 📚 Fat Books Edition

How many of these #FatForwardBooks are on your shelves?


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The Inky Phoenix\ \ Kathryn Budig\ \ • Feb 28 2025

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SISTER SNAKE author Amanda Lee Koe’s favorite books

On the last day of February, we’re highlighting SISTER SNAKE author @amandaleekoe’s favorite books, and yes — you’re going to want them all.

Clarice Lispector – The Hour of the Star Han Kang – The Vegetarian Ursula K. Le Guin – The Left Hand of Darkness Carmen Maria Machado — Her Body and Other Parties Bernardine Evaristo – Girl, Woman, Other Andrea Lawlor – Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl Akwaeke Emezi – Freshwater Mariana Enríquez – Things We Lost in the Fire


9 books

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Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Jan 30 2025

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my 2025 physical TBR | if i don't read these books in 2025 i have to unhaul them 😱

Welcome to another ambitious attempt to tackle my physical TBR, this time for 2025. Let me know which books I should definitely get to and which ones I shouldn't bother with! Circle back in a year for the official reaction video :)


25 books

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Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Jan 26 2025

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\ \ Upgrade for $5 or login](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/item/XATcmMHoMMbhbzCPj1UG/)

01.26.25 - journal update #19

life never stops throwing me curveballs truly LOL.


7 books

5

Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Dec 28 2024

WEIRD & WHIMSICAL & WACKY BOOKS

WEIRD & WHIMSICAL & WACKY BOOKS totally not a video i created just to show off the @selkie dress i rented from @nuuly. idk what you mean.

(yes the mic was unplugged, no i don’t want to talk about it 😞, yes capcut saved my life with their vocal isolation function)


4 books

Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Sep 11 2023

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the 40+ books on my fall TBR 🍁🍂 fall book recommendations ☕️

tell me your fall book recommendations in the comments! 🍁🍂

🎃 books mentioned 🎃

Misc. ↳ rouge ↳ she walks in shadows ↳ silver nitrate

Dark Academia ↳ in these hallowed halls: a dark academia anthology ↳ vita nostra ↳ plain bad heroines

“Classic” horror ↳ rebecca ↳ interview with a vampire ↳ dark tales

Real World Horror ↳ natural beauty ↳ lakewood ↳ her body and other parties ↳ bad cree ↳ weight of blood

Vampires ↳ vampires of el norte ↳ a dowry of blood ↳ masters of death ↳ house of hunger ↳ the book eaters

Haunted House books ↳ a house with good bones ↳ she is a haunting ↳ the hacienda ↳ just like home

Deathly Retellings ↳ a haunting on the hill ↳ the death i gave him ↳ one for my enemy

Cozy fantasies ↳ legends & lattes ↳ the very secret society of irregular witches ↳ venco ↳ emily wilde's encyclopaedia of faeries

Fantasies ↳ nettle & bone ↳ gods of jade and shadow ↳ juniper & thorn ↳the wolf & the woodsman ↳ the bone orchard ↳ the adventures of amina al-sirafi

Other ↳ my dark vanessa ↳ station eleven ↳ glass hotel ↳ sea of tranquility

socials 🤍 instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisstoryaintover/ 🤍 twitter: https://twitter.com/jananiekvelu 🤍 tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisstoryaintover?lang=en 🤍 storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/thisstoryaintover 🤍 goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/thisstoryaintover

💌 for business/sponsorship inquiries please contact eric@smallscreenmarketing.com 💌 for all other inquiries please contact me at thisstoryaintover@gmail.com

faqs 🤍 how do you pronounce your name? - my name is Jananie—pronounced JEN-nuh-nee (like a knee!)

🤍 what's your background/ethnicity/etc? - both my parents are Sri Lankan Tamil, and I was born and raised in Canada!

🤍 what is your job? - aside from youtube I also work in product marketing!


40 books

Fat Forward Books\ \ Samantha Puc\ \ • Aug 24 2023

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Fat Liberation Month: Books to Read Pt. 1

#FatLiberationMonth only happens once a year in August, but reading books by and about fat people can be part of your life year-round. Wherever you are in your own relationship to fat liberation, we’ve compiled a ton of book recommendations for you, your book clubs, and your reading groups.

Nonfiction: 📚 Belly of the Beast by Da’Shaun L. Harrison 📚 Fearing the Black Body by Sabrina Strings 📚 “You Just Need to Lose Weight” by Aubrey Gordon 📚 The Body Is Not An Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor 📚 Fat Activism by Charlotte Cooper 📚 Fat and Queer: An Anthology of Queer and Trans Bodies and Lives edited by Bruce Owens Grimm, Miguel M. Morales, & Tiff Joshua TJ Ferentini* 📚 Queering Fat Embodiment edited by Jackie Wykes, Samantha Murray, & Cat Pausé 📚 The (Other) F Word edited by Angie Manfredi 📚 Fat Off, Fat On by Clarkisha Kent 📚 Heavy by Kiese Laymon 📚 Hunger by Roxane Gay 📚 Thick by Tressie McMillan Cottom

Adult Fiction: 📚 Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert 📚 One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London** 📚 If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy 📚 Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade 📚 Dietland by Sarai Walker 📚 The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory 📚 I’m Not Hungry But I Could Eat by Christopher Gonzalez 📚 Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

#FatReads #FatBookRecs #QueerAndFat #FatAndTrans

Cover photo by @allgoapp_ \* My (Samantha’s) work is published in this anthology \\ I (Samantha) consulted on fat representation in this book


20 books

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Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Oct 5 2022

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all 149 books i own but haven't read.... 📚🙈 YET | 😳 my ENTIRE physical TBR 😳

I've done this video once before back in 2019 and I thought it was time for a refresher—here are all 149 books on my physical tbr! My hope with this video is that I'll be able to look back on it and check off all the books I've read in the future. Hope you enjoy!

The 2019 version of this video: https://youtu.be/TrGojZ8sHy0

📚 join my book club 📚 read books by BIPOC each month and join me during monthly liveshows to discuss! 🤍 announcement Video: https://youtu.be/u-aI8tD1RcQ 🤍 discuss on Fable: https://l.fable.co/readincolour 🤍 discuss on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/readincolourbookclub/ 🤍 discuss on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ReadinColorClub

socials 🤍 instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisstoryaintover/ 🤍 twitter: https://twitter.com/jananiekvelu 🤍 tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisstoryaintover?lang=en 🤍 goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/thisstoryaintover

other places to find me 🤍 my website: https://www.jananiekvelu.com/ 🤍 my series # EpicBookRecs on the Epic Reads Channel: https://bit.ly/2XziOfz

discount codes 🤍 get one month FREE on Skillshare using my link: https://skl.sh/MKR96 🤍 use my code STORY to get your first Book of the Month box for only $9.99 https://www.bookofthemonth.com/?utm\_source=youtube&utm\_medium=video&utm\_campaign=This\_Story\_Ain%27t\_Over

💌 for business/sponsorship inquiries please contact eric@smallscreenmarketing.com 💌 for all other inquiries please contact me at thisstoryaintover@gmail.com

faqs 🤍 how do you pronounce your name? - my name is Jananie—pronounced JEN-nah-nee (like a knee!)

🤍 what's your background/ethnicity/etc? - both my parents are Sri Lankan Tamil, and I was born and raised in Canada!

🤍 what is your job? - aside from youtube I also work in product marketing!


97 books

Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Sep 12 2022

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my autumnal reading plans | FALL TBR

BOOK OF THE MONTH is coming to CANADA 🇨🇦 https://www.bookofthemonth.com/ca This video was sponsored by Book of the Month!

other places to find me 🤍 my website: https://www.jananiekvelu.com/ 🤍 my series # EpicBookRecs on the Epic Reads Channel: https://bit.ly/2XziOfz

💌 for business/sponsorship inquiries please contact eric@smallscreenmarketing.com 💌 for all other inquiries please contact me at thisstoryaintover@gmail.com

faqs 🤍 how do you pronounce your name? - my name is Jananie—pronounced JEN-nah-nee (like a knee!)

🤍 what's your background/ethnicity/etc? - both my parents are Sri Lankan Tamil, and I was born and raised in Canada!

🤍 what is your job? - aside from youtube I also work in product marketing!


17 books