A Promised Land by Barack Obama

A Promised Land by Barack Obama

A Promised Land is extraordinarily intimate and introspective—the story of one man’s bet with history, the faith of a community organizer tested on the world stage. Obama is candid about the balancing act of running for office as a Black American, bearing the expectations of a generation buoyed by messages of “hope and change,” and meeting the moral challenges of high-stakes decision-making. He is frank about the forces that opposed him at home and abroad, open about how living in the White House affected his wife and daughters, and unafraid to reveal self-doubt and disappointment. Yet he never wavers from his belief that inside the great, ongoing American experiment, progress is always possible.

This beautifully written and powerful book captures Barack Obama’s conviction that democracy is not a gift from on high but something founded on empathy and common understanding and built together, day by day.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism
  • Homomisia mentioned
  • War & terrorism discussed
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Becoming by Michelle Obama

Becoming by Michelle Obama

In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her—from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it—in her own words and on her own terms. Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations—and whose story inspires us to do the same.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism
  • Terminal cancer
  • Death of a parent
  • Death of a friend
  • Gun violence & mass shootings discussed
  • War themes mentioned
  • Poverty themes
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Along for the Ride by Mimi Grace

Along for the Ride by Mimi Grace

Former hot mess Jolene Baxter is committed to doing better. It’s why she offered to help her sister and brother-in-law move across the country. However, her goodwill is tested when last minute changes forces her to make the journey with a man who is the human version of a pebble in her shoe.

Jason Akana operates on lists and bitter coffee, but none of those things will help him on a sixteen-hour trip with the most infuriating woman. Maybe they can get along and forget their heated confrontation five years ago at his best friend’s wedding… when pigs fly.

Will these two stubborn people successfully navigate the unexpected feelings that follow close behind? Or will they hit a roadblock before reaching happily ever after?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism
  • Sexual harassment
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And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

First, there were ten—a curious assortment of strangers summoned as weekend guests to a little private island off the coast of Devon. Their host, an eccentric millionaire unknown to all of them, is nowhere to be found. All that the guests have in common is a wicked past they’re unwilling to reveal—and a secret that will seal their fate. For each has been marked for murder. A famous nursery rhyme is framed and hung in every room of the mansion.
When they realize that murders are occurring as described in the rhyme, terror mounts. One by one they fall prey… before the weekend is out, there will be none.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism & racial slurs
  • Misogyny
  • Classism
  • Antisemitism
  • Suicide
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Physical injuries
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Poisoning
  • Drowning
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Monster and the Beast, Volume 1 by Renji

Monster and the Beast, Vol. 1 by Renji

Cavo is a hideous monster with a pure heart. Liam, on the other hand, might look like the perfect gentleman, but he’s a beast on the inside, and he has an eccentric personality to boot. When Cavo rescues Liam from an unfortunate situation in the forest, the paths of the monster and the beast cross for the first time. Will their meeting be a fleeting encounter or a timeless entanglement? And will Liam succeed in leading the innocent Cavo astray?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Attempted rape & sexual assault
  • Emotional abuse & gaslighting
  • Blood depiction
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Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry by Joya Goffney

Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry by Joya Goffney

Quinn keeps lists of everything—from the days she’s ugly cried, to “Things That I Would Never Admit Out Loud” and all the boys she’d like to kiss. Her lists keep her sane. By writing her fears on paper, she never has to face them in real life. That is, until her journal goes missing . . .

Then an anonymous account posts one of her lists on Instagram for the whole school to see and blackmails her into facing seven of her greatest fears, or else her entire journal will go public. Quinn doesn’t know who to trust. Desperate, she teams up with Carter Bennett—the last known person to have her journal—in a race against time to track down the blackmailer.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Slut shaming
  • Racism
  • Blackmail
  • Cyberbullying
  • Grandparent with Alzheimer’s Disease
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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling

Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

Dark times have come to Hogwarts. After the Dementors’ attack on his cousin Dudley, Harry Potter knows that Voldemort will stop at nothing to find him. There are many who deny the Dark Lord’s return, but Harry is not alone: a secret order gathers at Grimmauld Place to fight against the Dark forces. Harry must allow Professor Snape to teach him how to protect himself from Voldemort’s savage assaults on his mind. But they are growing stronger by the day and Harry is running out of time…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Fatmisia & body shaming
  • Racism
  • Classism
  • Slavery
  • Child abuse & neglect
  • Trauma & nightmares
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother & father recounted
  • Death of a sibling recounted
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Kidnapping recounted
  • Torture
  • Bullying

If you choose to support this novel or author, please reconsider. You can read about the harmful cultural appropriation here, about how she is endangering trans people here, and donate to the queer Indigenous charity Black Rainbow here.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling

Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter is lucky to reach the age of thirteen, since he has survived the murderous attacks of the feared Dark Lord on more than one occasion. His hopes for a quiet school term concentrating on Quidditch are dashed, though, when a maniacal mass-murderer escapes from Azkaban, pursued by the soul-sucking Dementors who guard the prison. It’s assumed that Hogwarts is the safest place for Harry to be. But is it his imagination that is making him feel eyes watching him in the dark, and should he be taking Professor Trelawney’s ghoulish predictions seriously?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Fatmisia & body shaming
  • Classism
  • Racism & racial slurs
  • Child abuse & neglect
  • Suicide mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Blood depiction & physical injuries
  • Grief & depiction
  • Death of a mother & father mentioned
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Explosion recounted
  • Imprisonment & wrongful incarceration
  • Animal attack
  • Animal death & dead bodies
  • Bullying

If you choose to support this novel or author, please reconsider. You can read about the harmful cultural appropriation here, about how she is endangering trans people here, and donate to the queer Indigenous charity Black Rainbow here.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling

Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter can’t wait for his holidays with the dire Dursleys to end. But a small, self-punishing house-elf warns Harry of mortal danger awaiting him at Hogwarts. Returning to the castle nevertheless, Harry hears a rumour about a Chamber of Secrets, holding unknown horrors for wizards of Muggle parentage. Now someone is casting spells that turn people to stone, and a terrible warning is found painted on the wall. The chief suspect – always in the wrong place – is Harry. But something much more terrifying has yet to be unleashed.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Fatmisia & body shaming
  • Classism
  • Racism & racial slurs
  • Slavery
  • Child abuse & neglect
  • Blood depiction & physical injuries
  • Beheading discussed
  • Infirmary
  • Emesis
  • Death of a mother & father mentioned
  • Attempted murder
  • Car accident
  • Loss of autonomy (possession)
  • Animal attack
  • Animal illness (pet cat)
  • Animal death & dead bodies
  • Bullying

If you choose to support this novel or author, please reconsider. You can read about the harmful cultural appropriation here, about how she is endangering trans people here, and donate to the queer Indigenous charity Black Rainbow here.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by JK Rowling

Harry Potter & the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

When a letter arrives for unhappy but ordinary Harry Potter, a decade-old secret is revealed to him that apparently he’s the last to know. His parents were wizards, killed by a Dark Lord’s curse when Harry was just a baby, and which he somehow survived. Leaving his unsympathetic aunt and uncle for Hogwarts, a wizarding school brimming with ghosts and enchantments, Harry stumbles upon a sinister mystery when he finds a three-headed dog guarding a room on the third floor. Then he hears of a missing stone with astonishing powers which could be valuable, dangerous – or both. An incredible adventure is about to begin!

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Ableism & ableist language
  • Fatmisia & body shaming
  • Classism
  • Racism
  • Graphic emotional, verbal & physical child abuse
  • Child neglect
  • Nightmares
  • Self-sacrifice
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Minor blood depiction & physical injuries
  • Infirmary
  • Blood drinking
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother & father
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Explosion
  • Car accident mentioned
  • Genocide and war themes recounted
  • Animal cruelty
  • Animal death
  • Bullying

If you choose to support this novel or author, please reconsider. You can read about the harmful cultural appropriation here, about how she is endangering trans people here, and donate to the queer Indigenous charity Black Rainbow here.