<p>There is a persistent and damaging sexist trope that books written by women and for women are frivolous, light, and devoid of true meaning. On this episode of Velshi Banned Book Club Podcast we subvert that narrative with two powerful “chick-lit” books that have equally important messages: "Ready or Not" by Meg Cabot and “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson. “Ready or Not” focuses on high schoolers grappling with the magnitude of sex and consent. “Speak” poignantly explores the immediate aftermath and emotional repercussions of sexual assault. </p>

There is a persistent and damaging sexist trope that books written by women and for women are frivolous, light, and devoid of true meaning. On this episode of Velshi Banned Book Club Podcast we subvert that narrative with two powerful “chick-lit” books that have equally important messages: "Ready or Not" by Meg Cabot and “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson. “Ready or Not” focuses on high schoolers grappling with the magnitude of sex and consent. “Speak” poignantly explores the immediate aftermath and emotional repercussions of sexual assault.

<p>There is a persistent and damaging sexist trope that books written by women and for women are frivolous, light, and devoid of true meaning. On this episode of Velshi Banned Book Club Podcast we subvert that narrative with two powerful “chick-lit” books that have equally important messages: "Ready or Not" by Meg Cabot and “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson. “Ready or Not” focuses on high schoolers grappling with the magnitude of sex and consent. “Speak” poignantly explores the immediate aftermath and emotional repercussions of sexual assault.&nbsp;</p>

Reclaiming “Chick-Lit”

MSNBC’s Ali Velshi brings you “Velshi Banned Book Club,” an act of resistance against the book banning and censorship epidemic sweeping the nation. In each episode, a different author joins Ali to discuss why their work is being targeted and what is so crucial about the literature itself. “Velshi Banned Book Club” is a series rooted in literary and cultural analysis, in the notion that reading is resistance. Read along with Ali.


Velshi Banned Book Club Season Two Reading List: 
"Small Acts of Courage" by Ali Velshi
“The Giver” by Lois Lowry 
“1984” by George Orwell
“How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents” by Julia Alvarez
“American Street” by Ibi Zoboi
“The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien
“Hunger” by Roxane Gay
“The Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls
“Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
“All the Rivers” by Dorit Rabinyan
“Bridge to Terabithia” by Katherine Paterson
“The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky
“Brown Girl Dreaming” by Jacqueline Woodson
 “Persepolis” by Marjane Satrapi 
“Maus” by Art Spiegelman

Velshi Banned Book Club Season One Reading List: 
“Two Boys Kissing” by David Levithan
“Boy Erased” by Garrard Conley
“All American Boys” by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
“Dear Martin” by Nic Stone
“The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood
"The Tempest" by William Shakespeare
“Nineteen Minutes” by Jodi Picoult
“Give a Boy a Gun” by Todd Strasser
“The 1619 Project” by Nikole Hannah-Jones
“Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe” by Benjamin Alire Saenz
“Out of Darkness” by Ashley Hope Perez
“Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson
“Ready or Not” by Meg Cabot
“Beloved” by Toni Morrison 
“Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston

Society & Culture

Arts

Books

MSNBC’s Ali Velshi brings you “Velshi Banned Book Club,” an act of resistance against the book banning and censorship epidemic sweeping the nation. In each episode, a different author joins Ali to discuss why their work is being targeted and what is so crucial about the literature itself. “Velshi Banned Book Club” is a series rooted in literary and cultural analysis, in the notion that reading is resistance. Read along with Ali. Velshi Banned Book Club Season Two Reading List: "Small Acts of Courage" by Ali Velshi “The Giver” by Lois Lowry “1984” by George Orwell “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents” by Julia Alvarez “American Street” by Ibi Zoboi “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien “Hunger” by Roxane Gay “The Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare “All the Rivers” by Dorit Rabinyan “Bridge to Terabithia” by Katherine Paterson “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky “Brown Girl Dreaming” by Jacqueline Woodson “Persepolis” by Marjane Satrapi “Maus” by Art Spiegelman Velshi Banned Book Club Season One Reading List: “Two Boys Kissing” by David Levithan “Boy Erased” by Garrard Conley “All American Boys” by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely “Dear Martin” by Nic Stone “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood "The Tempest" by William Shakespeare “Nineteen Minutes” by Jodi Picoult “Give a Boy a Gun” by Todd Strasser “The 1619 Project” by Nikole Hannah-Jones “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe” by Benjamin Alire Saenz “Out of Darkness” by Ashley Hope Perez “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson “Ready or Not” by Meg Cabot “Beloved” by Toni Morrison “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston

Share Reclaiming “Chick-Lit”

Sign up to save your podcasts

Reclaiming “Chick-Lit”

Reclaiming “Chick-Lit”

More shows like Velshi Banned Book Club

The Rachel Maddow Show

Morning Joe

All In with Chris Hayes

The ReidOut with Joy Reid

The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle

The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell

Deadline: White House

Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

Way Too Early with Ali Vitali

Bag Man

The Oath with Chuck Rosenberg

So You Wanna Be President? with Chris Matthews

Into America

#SistersInLaw

Velshi

American Radical

Trumpland with Alex Wagner

Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra

The Revolution with Steve Kornacki

Main Justice

Rachel Maddow Presents: Déjà News

Inside with Jen Psaki

The Blueprint with Jen Psaki

Star-Spangled Fascism Podcast

Ayman

PoliticsNation

Rachel Maddow Presents