Squirrel Girl is my favorite superhero.

I tiptoed my way into graphic novels right after college when I fell into a nasty reading slump. I was afraid of comic books, because the whole superhero thing has never been a trope I followed and I thought comic books were only, like, Superman. But then I listened to a bunch of Book Riot podcasts and heard repetitive love letters to Lumberjanes. I found ’em on my library’s OverDrive collection and spent an afternoon singing about friendship to the max as I read as many issues in one sitting as I could. Now I get SO EXCITED about fun superhero girl comic books. Like Squirrel Girl. Yes.

Part of Conversion Stories: The Comics that Turned Us into Comics Readers at Book Riot.

Fun! This book is beautifully designed and has some great life tips, like shaking everyone’s hand, drinking water, and only talking positively about people. 🤝

Candid. Important. Lindsey was born a perfectionist and spent her childhood picking at her arms and legs. When she got older, she started going after her hair. And it didn’t stop. This short book had me on the edge of my seat and feeling like I was reading my own journals. I had tears in my eyes as I highlighted pages for myself to throw into my commonplace book.

She’s also a therapist, so she has some insights on practices to stop, or at the very least, not feel ashamed.

Part of A Trichy Pull-List: Best Books on Compulsive Hair-Pulling at Book Riot.

This book is important and told through the eyes of a sassy 20something who knows she's made mistakes, and will keep making mistakes, on her way to finding feminism. Every essay resonated with me and my own path to feminism — and likely does for every other young woman who reads this.

Nugent’s voice is excellent, and she puts to words the things women deal with every day that we maybe don’t even think about. Like comments from older women about our bodies and our makeup and our hair and our lack of babies and our lack of husbands and whatever else we are supposed to do as women.

So go. Read it. Soak up the stories, the advice, and the call to action. It's important.

Part of my not-so-accidental month of feminist reading at Book Riot.