I’m a Rutgers professor of psychology and a body image scientist. Growing up, I was a dancer and learned to be dissatisfied with my body at a young age. These concerns inhabited so much mental space during my adolescence that I ultimately began to study these issues in college as a way to better understand myself and others who had similar experiences. I’ve been doing research on body image and eating behaviors for over 25 years now and write books about these topics to help other kids and adults who may be struggling with these issues. Can you imagine what we could accomplish if we all felt comfortable in our own skin?
I love this book’s focus on mothers and daughters. Although people of all genders experience body image concerns, and parenting children of all genders is unquestionably challenging, I found comfort in Amelia’s exploration of the mother-daughter relationship.
I love her Intentional Feeding Mindset and the gentle way she helps mothers see that they can help instill confidence and resilience in their daughters. As she reminds us, having a female body can be incredibly confusing in our culture, and growing up, learning how to care for that body is essential.
RAISE A DAUGHTER WHO NEVER HAS TO "HEAL" HER RELATIONSHIP WITH FOOD!
★ Endorsed by experts, this thoughtful guide gives you everything you need to raise a girl who feels confident about eating and her body, now and as she grows.
Diet-Proof is both the trusted friend and expert you need when it comes to making sure your daughter can eat with ease and feel at peace with her body, shape, and weight, now and throughout her life! Using a unique, five-pillar framework (called the Intentional Feeding Mindset), the author helps you incorporate non-diet approaches to healthy eating and wellness…
As a contemporary fiction author, I dig down into and expose the dirty underbelly of my characters’ lives and experiences. As a reader and television viewer, I am drawn to stories that do the same. My fascination with reading and writing gritty stories about queer characters figuring their lives out stems from my own confused upbringing. I have written four full-length contemporary fiction novels that all put the main character’s experiences and choices under a microscope. Additionally, while I didn’t set out to try to destigmatize therapy and friends talking openly about their struggles, reviewers have pointed out that those are themes in my books.
I stumbled upon Milk Fed by accident, and boy am I glad I did. A protagonist after my own heart, Rachel has control issues, which for her manifest in disordered eating, over-exercising, seeking approval and acceptance in the wrong places, and yearning. Ohhh, so much gloriously unhealthy, obsessive yearning. Broder includes a level of grit and physical descriptors that some reviewers deemed “gross,” but to me those details added to the story and made me love it even more. Milk Fed made me laugh, cringe, gasp, and groan.
A scathingly funny, wildly erotic and fiercely imaginative story about food, sex and god from the Women's Prize longlisted author of The Pisces
A STYLIST, INDEPENDENT, THE WEEK AND RED HIGHLIGHT FOR 2021
'Sexy and fun and a little weird ... This riot of carnal pleasure will make you laugh as well as gasp' The Times
'A revelation ... Melissa Broder has produced one of the strangest and sexiest novels of the new year ... Exhilarating' Entertainment Weekly
'A luscious, heartbreaking story of self-discovery through the relentless pursuit of desire. I couldn't get enough of this devastating and extremely sexy…
I have always loved asking the big questions. What is justice? What is freedom? How should we live? I’ve been lucky to turn these questions into a career teaching philosophy, and I’m always inspired by authors who ask “Why?” in ways that shift our paradigms and broaden our minds. I’m also passionate about women who ask these questions—for too long, women were excluded from philosophy and not taken seriously when they wanted to know why. I loved writing a biography of Lydia Maria Child. So my list includes books by and about women like her: smart, witty, powerful women who ask why. Here’s to asking more questions and finding better answers!
This book is a mind-blowing, paradigm-shifting biographical reflection that asks why we see beauty and disability the way we do.
Jones is herself a philosopher and is disabled. Through anecdotes of ways she has been treated (also by philosophers), stories of her own birth and her unexpected pregnancy, and accounts of her travels (including going to see a Beyoncé concert!), she upended my ideas about beauty and about being able-bodied.
She helps us ask why we think of ability the way we do and why expanding our openness to beauty could help build a more beautiful world. I finished it feeling both humbled and exhilarated.
A New York Times Notable Book of 2022 * A Washington Post, Time,Publishers Weekly and New York Public Library Best Book of the Year * “Gorgeous, vividly alive.” —The New York Times * “Soul-stretching, breathtaking…A game-changing gift to readers.” —Booklist (starred review)
From Chloé Cooper Jones—Pulitzer Prize finalist, philosophy professor, Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant recipient—an “exquisite” (Oprah Daily) and groundbreaking memoir about disability, motherhood, and the search for a new way of seeing and being seen.
“I am in a bar in Brooklyn, listening to two men, my friends, discuss whether my life is worth living.”
Twelve Percent Dread is about the curious state of anxiety that underpins living in the 21st Century, when we’re aware of so many current and looming disasters. However, it’s a bit of a misleading title, my book is actually very funny! Most of my work is built around stuffing as many jokes in as possible, and I want the reader to really chuckle and feel joy when they read it. In this book, the jokes come from the state of anxiety that the characters work themselves into. Assuming you, the reader, also experiences a certain level of dread throughout the day, here’s a list of books that will hopefully help relieve it.
Another comic book—this is a collection of Ruby’s comics which are both very silly and always have an emotional core of truth to them. Her loose art style is incredibly evocative of the chaotic experience that is being alive, which is something I also wanted to capture in my own book. Reading her work is like talking to your cleverest and most sensitive friend, who sees the world in a slightly tilted way that reveals a deeper truth. And it’s very, very funny. Her work is also available widely on social media as Ruby Etc so I recommend starting there.
It’s All Absolutely Fine is an honest and unapologetic account of day-to-day life as a groaning, crying, laughing sentient potato being for whom things are often absolutely not fine. Through simple, humorous drawings and a few short narratives, the book encompasses everything from mood disorders, anxiety, and issues with body image through to existential conversations with dogs and some unusually articulate birds.
Building on Rubyetc's huge online presence, It's All Absolutely Fine includes mostly new material, both written and illustrated, and is inspirational, empowering, and entertaining. Hope and tenacity abound in this book that is as heartening as it is…
In That’s What Friends Do, the #MeToo experience that Sammie’s mom shares with Sammie is my story. I was thirteen. I never told anyone. Even as I started writing my novel, it didn’t occur to me to share with my husband, or my teenage children, my experience. But one evening, as the #MeToo movement was exploding in the media, I was sitting around a dinner table with several other couples. All of the women had had a #MeToo experience. Most of us were young teens when it happened. Shame and guilt had kept us silent for far too long. My novel – and the others on my list – are working to break through that silence.
Lydia knows her mom’s boyfriend, Jeremy, makes her mom happy. But sometimes Jeremy makes Lydia really uncomfortable, especially when his hugs go on too long. She already dresses in baggy clothing so the boys in her school will stop saying things about her body. What more can Lyddie do? When her mom buys a run-down house, and Lyddie finds a book of magic spells inside, she thinks she has a solution: the right combination of magic spells will keep her safe. But when Lyddie’s spells don’t work against the boys, or Jeremy, she has to use her voice and her courage instead. I loved the way this wonderful coming-of-age novel confronts and challenges the culture of toxic masculinity that too often is used as a cover for bullying.
From the critically acclaimed author of the ALA Notable and Charlotte Huck Honor Book Forever, or a Long, Long Time comes a poignant coming-of-age novel about the complicated parts of growing up, finding your voice, and claiming your space. Perfect for fans of Rebecca Stead, Laurel Snyder, or Ali Benjamin!
Lydia hasn’t felt comfortable in her own skin since the boys at her school started commenting on the way she looks in her uniform. Her cousin and friends think she should be flattered, but the boys—and sometimes her mom’s boyfriend, Jeremy—make Lydia uncomfortable and confused. Even more confusing is when…
I’m an inclusion consultant working with publishers to help ensure all children are included in books. It’s easy to forget how important embracing all types of bodies is when thinking about diversity and inclusion. But inclusion is essentially about welcoming and appreciating all different types of bodies. The best way to promote this is to build a sense of awe about how bodies are created, understand the science behind why differences occur, and see that bodies come in many shapes and forms, and are all beautiful. There are so many books that can help with this, but alongside my book, the books on this list are a great place to start.
With a real focus on the range of bodies and features that exist, and lovely rhyming text to support this, Bodies Are Cool really does show that all bodies are just that.
With body hair the norm rather than the exception, scars, stretch marks, stoma bags and more depicted, this book focuses on how bodies are different without othering them – just by making them natural and familiar.
This cheerful love-your-body picture book for preschoolers is an exuberant read-aloud with bright and friendly illustrations to pore over.
From the acclaimed creator of Dancing at the Pity Party and Roaring Softly, this picture book is a pure celebration of all the different human bodies that exist in the world. Highlighting the various skin tones, body shapes, and hair types is just the beginning in this truly inclusive book. With its joyful illustrations and encouraging refrain, it will instill body acceptance and confidence in the youngest of readers. "My body, your body, every different kind of body! All of them…
Women’s fiction was my go-to genre after discovering Danielle Steele many years ago. I progressed from epic emotional family dramas to chick lit/romcoms, wanting to read books that made me laugh and gave that feel-good feeling. I love a happy ever after, and don’t mind knowing that the main characters will end up together because for me it’s all about the journey. I’ve been so lucky since being an author, to have received lots of emails and social media messages, telling me how much my books have either helped someone, inspired someone, made them laugh, given them hope, and generally left them with a warm feeling in their heart.
A brilliant thought-provoking and thoroughly entertaining book, Jemima is a young lady who is in need of a number of life changes.
She’s overweight, treated like a skivvy by her flatmates, and belittled by her colleagues.
She does embark on big changes in her life, and when she achieves the goals that she sets for herself, realises that it doesn’t matter how much you change the outside of your body, it’s what’s on the inside that counts.
A definite life lesson and we should also just be kind, because we never know what is happening in someone’s life.
Discover the addictive and uplifting story of reinvention, self-discovery and the meaning of true love from the bestselling author of Life Swap and The Friends We Keep
'Inspirational, uplifting, made me laugh and left me feeling very happy' 5***** Reader Review 'Compulsively readable' Sunday Times 'Perfect if you want to feel uplifted . . . So relatable' 5***** Reader Review _______
Jemima Jones is overweight. About seven stone overweight.
Treated like a slave by her thin and bitchy flatmates, lorded over at the Kilburn Herald by the beautiful Geraldine (less talented, but better paid), her only consolation is food.
As a child, I was always drawn to stories told through both words and illustrations. Why should that have to end in adulthood? Spoiler: it doesn’t, because there are SO many incredible graphic memoirs and novels written with adult audiences in mind. As a graphic memoirist myself, I love to see how other artists explore the form. I share recommendations in this genre every month in my newsletter, Haley Wrote This.
If ever a book made me want to give myself a massive hug after reading it, this one is it. As someone who has suffered with body image, this book spoke right to my soul, making even the most deeply seeded insecurities feel like parts of me worth loving.
The illustrations are silly and beautiful and moving, which brings to life so much of the messaging! I keep this on my shelf for an instant confidence boost. A total antidote to body shame!
A Beat Most Anticipated Graphic Novel of Fall 2020
The funny, exuberant, inspiring antidote to body shame--a full-color graphic memoir celebrating the imperfections of the author's female body in all its glory.
Too tall. Too short. Too fat. Too thin. The message is everywhere--we need to pluck, wax, shrink, and hide ourselves, to not take up space, emotionally or literally; women are never “just right.” Well, Ariella Elovic, feminist and illustrator extraordinaire, has had enough. In her full-color graphic memoir Cheeky, she takes an inspiring and exuberant head-to-toe look at her own body self-consciousness, and body part by body part,…
As a child raised in abject rural poverty and homeschooled in a Pentecostal Evangelical household, my intense experiences of sexism at home and church piqued my early interest in gender justice. As a Women’s Studies professor, my work centers on how social norms perpetuate patriarchy. Decades of research on body hatred has convinced me that anti-fat bias is a pressing social justice issue that harms us all. These books, especially if read in order, bust myths of fatness, unpack the racist origins of fatphobia, provide a chilling look at the personal wounds inflicted by anti-fat bias, and provide practical tools to reject the body hatred that plagues women by design.
Virgie Tovar’s The Self-Love Revolution: Radical Body Positivity for Girls of Color is exactly what it sounds like: A toolkit for practicing radical self-love.
Tovar challenges harmful diet culture and beauty culture messaging and teaches readers to spot intersecting sexism and racism in media. She encourages readers to reject cultural messages that promote body hatred, and instead, build lasting body empowerment by silencing our inner critic and moving beyond our body as the basis for our worth.
Every book Tovar has written will rock your paradigms about body size and fatness, but I especially recommend The Self-Love Revolution because it opens a space to truly imagine a world without fatphobia. And it comes with the tools and confidence boost to build that world.
It's time to ditch harmful, outdated beauty standards and build real, lasting body positivity. It's time for a self-love revolution! Every day we see movies, magazines, and social media that make us feel like we need to change how we look. This takes a toll on how we think about ourselves-and how we allow others to treat us. And while many teens feel shame about their body, being a teen girl of color can be hard in unique ways. Maybe you feel alienated by the mainstream image of beauty, which is still thin, white and able-bodied. In addition to that,…
I’ve struggled with weight and body issues most of my adult life. When I first wrote Worth The Weight (nearly 20 years ago), I had just lost a lot of weight and was coming to terms with what that meant to my self-image vs my body image. Package deal? Able to be separate the two? The weight loss romances on this list spoke to me. But the “love all those curves” books spoke to me on a different level. And the body-positivity movement has spoken to me on yet another level as I evolve into the imperfect, but hopefully always learning, person I am still becoming.
Rose is dumped by her boyfriend for a thinner woman, throwing her into a body image crisis. But a chef (a chef! How perfect! Or horrific?) makes her appreciate herself just the way she is.
Very, very sexy. It was the first Bella Andre I read (waaaaay back when) and I’ve been a fan since. Much like Too Much Temptation, the fully-realized love scenes with a plus-size heroine (at least, in her mind) are romantic, arousing and so, so satisfying.
In this trio of erotic stories, three friends take a road trip through the Napa Valley wine country and learn to indulge in a world where wine is a sensual delight, food is a decadent feast, and fulfilling pleasure is the only thing that matters. In Tempt Me, Carrie can't explain why she dumped Mr. Perfect...until she meets a gorgeous winemaker who knows as much about female erogenous zones as he does about creating the perfect Pinot Noir. In Taste Me, full-figured Rose isn't surprised when her boyfriend leaves her for a younger, thinner woman, but she's in for the…
