In anticipation of February’s PEN Out Loud event for Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s satirical short story collection Friday Black, here is a list of works that foreground those who have been deliberately placed in socio-economic and historical peripheries. Largely speculative or shattering traditional notions of genre, this collection aims to highlight authors who push past constraints in both society and literature.

Join us February 21 at 7 PM for PEN Out Loud: Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah and Isaac Fitzgerald

by Janna Jesson

For some, it can be easy to see racism as random, individual, and uncommon acts against people of color. But ask any person of color, and they’ll have a different perspective based on their lived experiences. White privilege can act as a sort of blinder that way, skewing a person’s perspective and impeding them from seeing their inherent advantages over others. Recognizing one’s own white privilege can help in the process of dismantling inequality and injustice in society. …

by Janna Jesson

In the fight for equality, whether gender or racial equality, Black women have always been at the forefront. However, Black women rarely if ever receive credit or advancement in society regardless of their hard work to push others forward.

“Black women have had to develop a larger vision of our society than perhaps any other group. They have had to understand white men, white women, and black men. And they have had to understand themselves. When black women win victories, it is a boost for virtually every segment of society.” — Angela Davis

Today and every day…

by Janna Jesson

Trans and Nonbinary authors are creating compelling and beautiful works every day of the year, but sometimes you may feel like you are just hearing from the same few representative authors over and over again. We’ve gathered some names you may not know yet, along with a few quintessential authors who blazed the trail. These authors are vitally important, but not always present in our literary canon until something wonderful or horrible happens to the LGBTQ+ community.

So don’t wait for another ridiculous ban to enrage you. Don’t wait for Pride month. …

by Andrea Klinker

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At first, we were skeptical about Marie Kondō’s philosophy of decluttering because of this scary sentence from her Netflix show, Tidying Up:

Ideally, you should have less than 30 books.

We were in deep, deep, book-loving denial about this concept until we realized that she was trying to be helpful to individuals who struggle immensely with clutter in their lives. Moreover, she gives people the option to keep as many as they want. It was just a suggestion, folks!

Don’t worry, we are keeping our 18+ miles, but if you want to get rid of a few…

Most people are gearing up for the Women’s March on Washington this coming weekend (Strand even has a DIY sign making event!), but this weekend is also an important one for Indigenous people across the world. Scheduled just a day before the Women’s March is the Indigenous Peoples March on January 18. This grassroots initiative’s goal is to “unite the Indigenous peoples across the World to stand together to bring awareness to the injustices affecting Indigenous men, women and children.” Indigenous people face voter suppression, family separation, human trafficking, and an endless array of injustices on top of their marginalized…

Every year, we ask our expert book buyers what titles they are looking forward to in the new year. This year, our buyers chose 5–7 exceptional upcoming books they’ve read and loved from different genres, for you to be ready to snatch up at your local indie when the pub dates arrive. Get your pens and planners ready, and clear some space on the shelf!

by Janna Jesson

At the end of every year, we tell ourselves we’re going to do better in the coming year and read even more than we have in the past. While this is an excellent goal to have, it can be difficult to figure out where to begin. And if we get too caught up in how intimidating this task can be, we may end up giving up and feeling disappointed. Luckily, this year The Strand Book Store has a few tips on how to expand your reading so you can start your best-read year off right!

1. Set your intention — and write it down!