This is an essay collection I know I will return to again and again. Hannah McGregor, host of two of my favorite podcasts, Witch Please and Secret Feminist Agenda, tells the story of her own feminist education through six essays written in the first person, a deliberate act to carry over the voice she developed in podcasts into her writing. The first essay introduces a theme that recurs throughout of the uses and agendas of sentimental literature, especially books about white women caring deeply about things, in a way that can spark equal emotion in the reader, which has the potential to either, or both, stir political action or else prop up white supremacy. One of the major questions of the text is whether reading certain kinds of books, or reading in certain kinds of ways, can make the reader a better person- more empathetic, more motivated to strive for justice and equality. Caring about others is a feminist project, and McGregor questions where this care falls inside institutions like the university, who is able to ask for and receive care, who is able to give it or refuse giving it. McGregor asks these questions as a queer, fat, asexual, white university professor with a tenured position and constantly acknowledges her own position and also where her knowledge comes from. One of my favorite pieces is the many quotes woven through the text, as well as references to longer conversations I experienced in podcast form. I am so grateful for this book, and excited to annotate it on my second pass!