Feminist Speculative Fiction Book Club
Initially based out of UC Davis, the book club has been funded for some years by the Feminist Research Institute and the Institute for Social Sciences. Funding paid for the books and snacks, and each meeting was hosted at the homes of club members. For the first year (2017-18) it was only an in-person group but since 2018 it has been offering a virtual option for participation. From early-2020 onwards the meeting has been held online.
Reading Calendar
2023-24 - Series 7
October - Naomi Alderman The Power 2016
September - Ray Nayler The Mountain in the Sea 2022
2022-23 - Series 6
July - Charlie Jane Anders The City in the Middle of the Night 2019
June - Annalee Newitz The Terraformers. 2023
May - Ryka Aoki Light From Uncommon Stars. 2021
April - Octavia Butler Kindred. 1979
March - Becky Chambers The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. 2014
February - Lauren Beukes Zoo City. 2010
January - Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman (directors) Neptune Frost. 2022
December - China Mieville Embassytown. 2012
October - Angélica Gorodischer Kalpa Imperial: The Greatest Empire That Never Was. 2003
September - Ursula Le Guin The Dispossessed. 1994
2021-22 - Series 5
August - Arkady and Boris Strugatsky The Snail on the Slope. 1965
July - Rebecca Roanhorse Fevered Star. 2022
May - Larissa Lai Salt Fish Girl. 2002
April - Ruth Ozeki A Tale for Time Being. 2013
March - Annalee Newitz The Future of Another Timeline. 2019
February - Annalee Newitz Autonomous. 2017
January - Martha Wells All Systems Red. 2017
December - Nalo Hopkinson Midnight Robber. 2000
October - N. K. Jemisin The City We Became. 2020
2020-21 - Series 4
September - Ann Leckie, Ancillary Mercy. 2015
July - Ann Leckie, Ancillary Sword. 2014
June - Ann Leckie, Ancillary Justice. 2013
May - N. K. Jemisin, The Shadowed Sun. 2012
April - N. K. Jemisin, The Killing Moon. 2012
March - Louise Erdrich, Future Home of the Living God. 2018
February - Rebecca Roanhorse, Black Sun. 2020
January - Ursula K Le Guin, The Other Wind. 2002
December - Ursula K Le Guin, Tehanu. 1990
November - Ursula K Le Guin, The Farthest Shore. 1972
October - Ursula K Le Guin, The Tombs of Atuan. 1970
2019-20 - Series 3
September - Ursula K Le Guin, A Wizard of Earthsea. 1968
July - Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Talents, 1998
June - Carol Emshwiller, The Mount, 2002
May - Kim Stanley Robinson, The Years of Rice and Salt, 2002
April - Richard Powers, The Overstory, 2018
March - N. K. Jemisin, How Long 'til Black Future Month? 2018
February - Phoebe Wagner and Brontë Christopher Wieland (Editors), Sunvault: Stories of Solarpunk and Eco-Speculation, 2017
January - Cixin Liu, The Three-Body Problem, 2008
November - Leni Zumas, Red Clocks, 2018
2018-19 - Series 2
June - Octavia Butler, Parable of the Sower, 1993
We conducted this book club meeting as a panel, “"Siting 'Para-dise' with Ecofeminist Speculative Futures” at the The Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE) biennial conference, held in Davis, California.
May - Nnedi Okorafor, Who Fears Death, 2010
April - Starhawk, The Fifth Sacred Thing, 1993
March - Joanna Russ, The Female Man, 1975
February - Daniel Mallory Ortberg, The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror, 2018
January - Doris Lessing, The Cleft, 2007
December - Ursula Vernon, Jackalope Wives, 2014
We listened to this story as a group from the podcast Levar Burton Reads.
November - Ursula K. Le Guin, The Word for World is Forest, 1972
October - Nnedi Okorafor, Binti, 2015
2017-18 - Series 1
July - Naomi Clark, Consentacle: A Card Game of Human-Alien Intimacy, 2018 (Board Game)
June - Kim Stanley Robinson, Aurora, 2015
The author, a longtime Davis resident attended this session of the book club.
May - Marge Piercy, Woman on the Edge of Time, 1976
April - Tiffany Tsao, The Oddfits, 2016
The author attended this session of the book club from Australia via videoconference.
March - Lizzie Borden, Born in Flames, 1983 (Film)
February - Samuel Delany, Neveryona, 1983
January - Basma Abdel Aziz, The Queue, 2016
December - Octavia Butler, Dawn, 1987
November - Leena Krohn, Datura, Or A Delusion We All See, 2001
October - Ursula Le Guin,The Left Hand of Darkness, 1969
September - N.K. Jemison, The Fifth Season, 2015
Convenors
2021-24 Covenor: Xan Chacko
2020-21 Convenors: Stephanie Maroney and Xan Chacko
2019-20 Convenors: Stephanie Maroney and Rebecca Jones
2018-19 Convenors: Stephanie Maroney and May Ee Wong
2017-18 Convenor: Xan Chacko