“Everything that has never quite made sense about learning their history in high school suddenly became clear...”

As a staff writer at BuzzFeed, I write about all things celeb, pop culture, and books.

"It's so full of details that I actually chased the sources down, because some of them seem kind of bonkers and like the sort of thing we should have learned about in school. Every citation I checked was real and properly used, which led me down a number of interesting rabbit holes. I view history, the patriarchy, and the world we live in with a new understanding. I'm only sad I didn't get to read this earlier in my life."

Reading Lolita in Tehran is the memoir of a teacher who held secret weekly gatherings in her home so that seven of her female students could read Western classics that were forbidden in Iran, where fundamentalists were taking over universities and morality squads were raiding their city.

Strong Female Character is Scottish comedian Fern Brady's memoir about her autism diagnosis, the man who groomed her, her experience with homelessness, her days as a stripper, and her struggles with a Xanax addiction. 

"If you've read his best-selling (and oft-banned) book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, you'll recognize a lot of it because he based that book a lot on his own life. It's hilariously, devastatingly raw and should be read as a reminder that you don't have to like someone in order to love them."

Fearing the Black Body analyzes the origins of fatphobia in racism against Black women, tracing it all the way from the Renaissance to the modern day. Strings argues that idealizing slenderness is used to validate prejudice against people for their race, gender, and class.

Everything is Tuberculosis traces both the history of TB and the story of Henry Reider, a young patient with TB in Sierra Leone. It brings to light the inequality that many people with TB face all across the globe.

—Anonymous, 48, male, Chattanooga, Tennessee

We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families is about the government-sanctioned genocide of the Tutsi minority in Rwanda in 1994. In 100 days, around 800,000 people were killed.

"Also note that some of his books are decades old, so it's really interesting to see what was cutting-edge science at the time of publication."

The Hot Zone is the dramatic origin story of the Ebola virus.

The Beauty Myth critiques restrictive modern beauty standards for women.

The Body: A Guide for Occupants is about the marvel and miracle that is the human body.

Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years analyzes the clothing that ancient women made and wore to give insight into their lives. 

Outlliers examines the origins of high achievers.

Note: Some submissions have been edited for length/clarity.