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Bitter
Akwaeke Emezi
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From National Book Award finalist Akwaeke Emezi comes a companion novel to the critically acclaimed Pet that explores both the importance and cost of social revolution—and how youth lead the way.
After a childhood in foster care, Bitter is thrilled to have been chosen to attend Eucalyptus, a special school where she can focus on her painting surrounded by other creative teens. But outside this haven, the streets are filled with protests against the deep injustices that grip the city of Lucille.
Bitter’s instinct is to stay safe within the walls of Eucalyptus . . . but her friends aren’t willing to settle for a world that’s so far away from what they deserve. Pulled between old friendships, her artistic passion, and a new romance, Bitter isn’t sure where she belongs—in the studio or in the streets.
And if she does find a way to help the revolution while being true to who she is, she must also ask: at what cost? This timely and riveting novel—a companion to the National Book Award finalist Pet—explores the power of youth, protest, and art.
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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Mar 9 2025
30+ trans & nonbinary book recs | trans rights readathon 2025 prep!
feel free to recommend your favorite trans book in the comment section (or pitch your own if you're an author)!!
let's fill these comments with love so this video doesn't end up on the scary side of the algorithm.
☆ featured links ☆ official trans rights readathon website (with TONS of resources): https://transrightsreadathon.carrd.co/ PLEASE sign up here to be included in the data: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/2025-trans-rights-readathon 💫 join me on bindery (celestial - exclusive content, discord, book club, and more): https://celestial.binderybooks.com/
☆ everything I mentioned (in order) ↓ - Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi - Dear Senthuran by Akwaeke Emezi - Pet by Akwaeke Emezi - Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi - The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi - You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi - Content Warning: Everything by Akwaeke Emezi - Little Rot by Akwaeke Emezi - The Deep by Rivers Solomon - Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon - An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon - Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White - The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White - Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White - The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros - Wrath Becomes Her by Aden Polydoros - Bone Weaver by Aden Polydoros - Ring of Solomon by Aden Polydoros - The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey - Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey - Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas - The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas - Celestial Monsters by Aiden Thomas - Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki - Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness by Da’Shaun L. Harrison - Heavyweight by Solomon J. Brager - The Seep by Chana Porter - The Devourers by Indra Das - The First Bright Thing by J. R. Dawson - The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia - Feed Them Silence by Lee Mandelo - Station Six by S.J. Klapecki - Junker Seven by Olive J. Kelley - Hammajang Luck by Makana Yamamoto
↓ find me in more places ↓ 🎵 tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@starrysteph 📸 insta: https://www.instagram.com/starry.steph 🦋 bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/starrysteph.bsky.social 📚 storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/starrysteph 📖 goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/147956803-steph-starrysteph 💌 email: starrystephbooks@gmail.com more: https://beacons.ai/starrysteph
☆ resources ☆ 🇵🇸 learn more about the history of Palestine: https://decolonizepalestine.com/ 🇨🇩 learn more about what's happening in the DRC: https://friendsofthecongo.org/ 🇸🇩 Sudan Solidarity Collective: https://sudansolidarity.com/
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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Feb 9 2025
book recs for the mental space you need
however you most want to engage with reading right now - I’ve got you covered. 💕
📚 books mentioned: - Quietly Hostile by Samantha Irby - Pet by Akwaeke Emezi - Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi - Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler - Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler
#funnybooks #fantasybooks #horrorbooks #dystopianbooks #bookrecommendations #starrysteph #nycinfluencer #bookstagram @faberbooks @faberbooks.us @randomhousekids @grandcentralpub
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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Nov 16 2024
happy birthday to me; read these books because i said so (or face my wrath).
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Alex (Pucksandpaperbacks)\ \ Alex (he/him/his)\ \ • Jun 28
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Over 50 trans book recommendations for the Trans Rights Readathon and Trans Reading Challenge ranging from memoirs, nonfiction, romance, contemporary, YA and middle grade, and some SFF.
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Alex (Pucksandpaperbacks)\ \ Alex (he/him/his)\ \ • Mar 22
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Alex (Pucksandpaperbacks)\ \ Alex (he/him/his)\ \ • Mar 1
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Basement Books\ \ Kaitlyn\ \ • Jan 7
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[Welcome to my Syllabus Series. I was a high school English teacher for over five years and nothing gives me more joy than to help others learn something new. As someone who also reads a large amount of non-fiction, I wanted to create a new series where I pick a singular topic that you might want to learn more about. This edition is all about resistance. In my exploration of the self-help industry, I often talk about how the solution is actually community-help and systemic change. If you’ve wanted to learn more about this, this is where to start.\ \ First, I’ll take you through books to read through various genres and the order you should read them in to scaffold and layer your learning. But learning isn’t all about reading, so I’ll also share video resources, shorter articles, and give you a list of people to follow on social media in order to stay up to date well beyond today. Finally, learning means nothing without action, so I will also provide you ways that you can do something with what you’re learning.\ \ This isn’t meant to be overwhelming and is laid out in a way that it’s learning you have time for. Therefore, the list isn’t extensive and manageable. Of course, there’s always more learning to be done.\ \ Books to read \ \ A collection of books read to read. For the best learning experience, try to read the books in this order.\ \ (*note: this section contains affiliate links)\ \
- Fiction\ \ “Pet” and “Bitter” by Akwaeke Emezi \ \ In order to best understand resistance and revolution and the role you could play through your talents, I highly recommend these two books by my favorite author. They’re short and easily accessible and while they explore themes in a magical realism setting, the ideas are easily applicable to our own lives.\ \
- Non-fiction\ \ ”Mutual Aid” by Dean Spade\ \ This is the book to help begin to understand the importance of mutual aid and the role and change it plays in our world. It’s great to not only understanding how mutual aid works, but how to effectively create mutual aid networks and participate in them.\ \
- Essays\ \ “Freedom is a Constant Struggle” by Angela Y. Davis\ \ A collection of essays, interviews, and speeches that explores struggles against state violence around the world and how they’re connected. It’s also a call to action for a collective movement towards liberation. This is a nice book to get a brief overview of various topics.\ \
- Non-fiction\ \ “We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance” by Kellie Carter Jackson\ \ If you enjoy “Freedom is a Constant Struggle” and want to dive deeper into the history of Black resistance, pick this up. It’s important that we reframe the narratives surrounding the history and present of Black resistance and this book does just that.\ \
- Non-fiction\ \ “Let This Radicalize You” by Kelly Hayes\ \ After you understand the history and basics surrounding resistance, this book all about sustaining organizing and activism as the systems you are resistance are built to break you down. This is to help you keep going.\ \ \ Other media to consume \ \
- Video\ \ “What is Mutual Aid (Classroom Version) by Dean Spade\ \ A super clear explanation of what Mutual Aid is, if you don’t have time to read Spade’s book from above.\ \ \ \ \
- Case study\ \ “ Farm-to-Community: Critical Elements of a Successful Farm Mutual-Aid Program” by Chris Newman\ \ A breakdown of what a successful mutual aid effort where a farmer started a mutual aid fund to help bring his food to individuals facing food insecurity.\ \
- Article“The co-option of mutual aid” by Regan de Loggans\ \ If you don’t have time to read any of the books above, this article is a great primer on mutual aid and how it differs from charity. It also explores the dangers of white people co-opting the term “mutual aid” when talking about charity.\ \
- Keynote speech\ \ “Designing Rest as Practice” by Tricia Hersey\ \ Hersey wrote a book called “Rest is Resistance” which focuses on the importance and revolutionary act of rest in our capitalistic society. Here’s a speech where she talks about this idea.\ \
- Podcast“Movement Memos”\ \ A podcast that connects experts, activists, and journalists around the world who are on the front lines of movements and mutual aid networks.\ \ \ Who to follow \ \ When learning about a subject where community is key it’s important to find people to help you along the way. Here are a few people and organisations I encourage you to follow:\ \
- Sam @expertbooksmuggler: In my opinion, Sam is one of the best examples of how to use social media as a tool for mutual aid. She has consistently been sharing resources and opportunities for you to participate in mutual aid by donating money directly to families currently experiencing genocide around the world.\ \
- JM Heatherly ‘s Substack: A substack dedicated to focusing on community organizing and mutual aid topics.\ \
- Dean Spade: The author of “Mutual Aid” listed above, I would honestly go to Spade’s linktree and read all his articles/interviews.\ \ \ Take action \ \ Donate A large part of mutual aid is supporting members of your community (including your global community). One way to do this (if you’re able) is to financially help. There’s a million ways to do this.\ \ I would recommend finding a cause or community you care about (Palestine, Sudan, natural disaster relief, etc) and search for mutual aid and that community on social media. I find Instagram to be the best place to search for these opportunities.\ \ Start a mutual aid project This might seem like a daunting task, but there are resources to help you. Big Door Brigade has a toolbox for starting a mutual aid project depending on what type of mutual aid you’re interested in.\ \ A good place to start might be through creating a neighborhood pod or create a pod within your local community. Some resources on how to do that can be found here.\ \ Protest If you are able, protesting helps make our voices louder. It’s a tool meant to disrupt and force those in charge to take action. Make sure that you continue to make your voice heard on the issues you care about.\ \ As I mentioned earlier, learning is an ongoing practice. If you would like more resources, don’t hesitate to reach out. And if you have any resources to add to this list, please add them to the comments below.\ \
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Written Reveries\ \ Krystal\ \ • Mar 21 2025
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Trans Rights Readathon 2025 Recs & TBR
Trans Rights Readathon 2025 Recs: A Psalm For the Wild Built & A Prayer for the Crown Shy by Becky Chambers Pet & Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi Light From Uncommon Stars Ryka Aoki Most Ardently by Gabe Cole Novoa The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi House of Frank by Kay Synclaire The Deep by Rivers Solomon Legendborn by Tracy Deonn The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez TBR: Somadina by Akwaeke Emezi Model Home by Rivers Solomon She Who Became the Sun and He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me by Jamison Shea Hammajang Luck by Makana Yamamoto The Unbroken by C. L. Clark
#bookrecommendations #bookish #bookstagram
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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Mar 9 2025
30+ trans & nonbinary book recs | trans rights readathon 2025 prep!
feel free to recommend your favorite trans book in the comment section (or pitch your own if you're an author)!!
let's fill these comments with love so this video doesn't end up on the scary side of the algorithm.
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JemilaBeReadin\ \ JemilaBeReadin\ \ • Feb 20 2025
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You can find trigger/content warnings here: \* Storygraph \* https://booktriggerwarnings.com/index.php?title=Welcome
PETITIONS & FUNDRAISERS: \* Support Palestine: https://linktr.ee/resourcesforpalestine \* Operation Olive Branch: https://www.instagram.com/operationolivebranch/?hl=en \* Black Lives Matter: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/ \* Around the World: https://the2020world.carrd.co/ \* Help the Quileute Tribe Move to High Ground: https://mthg.org/ \* Tigray Crisis: https://linktr.ee/Tigraycrisis
FIND ME ELSEWHERE: 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jemilabereadin/ 🤳🏾 TikTok: https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPdMBQSbg/ 🐥 Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/jemilando 📚 Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4150099-jemila 📧 Email: jemilabereadin@gmail.com
OUTRO: \* Outro Music by Sejji Bonz https://bit.ly/3oG668L \* Outro Template by Sukhasha Dhar https://bit.ly/3nEQHED
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Left Unread Books\ \ Michael LaBorn\ \ • Feb 17 2025
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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Feb 9 2025
book recs for the mental space you need
however you most want to engage with reading right now - I’ve got you covered. 💕
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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Nov 16 2024
happy birthday to me; read these books because i said so (or face my wrath).
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Written Reveries\ \ Krystal\ \ • Jun 2 2024
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These books will may an impact no matter your age.
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