Fat Positive Reading List

In the past few years, there’s been a proliferation in fat positive publishing. That’s not hard, given that it was, at best, sparse for decades. Still, we as fat people seem to be expected to be thankful for whatever crumbs we’re tossed. This list is not exhaustive, so feel free to send me suggestions that should be added.

I’m not linking to places to buy the books, but I suggest searching and supporting independent bookstores, like Powell’s or Skylight Books, if you’re able to do so. Also, this list is not an endorsement of these books. I’m not claiming to have read all of them either.

In no particular order :

• Fat!So?: Because You Don’t Have to Apologize for Your Size by Marilyn Wann
• The Fat Studies Reader edited by Esther Rothblum and Sondra Solovay
• Fat Activism: A Radical Social Movement by Charlotte Cooper
• You Have the Right to Remain Fat by Virgie Tovar
• Hot & Heavy: Fierce Fat Girls on Life, Love & Fashion, edited by Virgie Tovar
• Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls: A Handbook for Unapologetic Living by Jes Baker
• Fat: The Owner’s Manual by Ragen Chastain and Marilyn Wann
• The Politics of Size: Perspectives from the Fat Acceptance Movement by Ragen Chastain
• Big Big Love, Revised: A Sex and Relationships Guide for People of Size (and Those Who Love Them) by Hanne Blank
• Lessons from the Fat-o-sphere: Quit Dieting and Declare a Truce With Your Body by Kate Harding and Marianne Kirby

Fat-positive memoirs:

• Landwhale: On Turning Insults Into Nicknames, Why Body Image is Hard, and How Diets Can Kiss My Ass by Jes Baker
• Shrill by Lindy West
• Fat Girl Walking: Sex, Food, Love, and Being Comfortable in Your Skin…Every Inch of It by Brittany Gibbons
• The Not So Subtle Art of Being A Fat Girl: Loving the Skin You’re In by Tess Holliday

Fat-positive fiction:

• Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy
• Puddin’ by Julie Murphy
• Dietland by Sarai Walker
• Fat Assassins by Marita Fowler
• Book Smarts and Tender Hearts by Shelley Pearson (reviewed here)
• For more Fat Positive Fiction, check out this list on Goodreads.

Honorable mentions that are fat-positive adjacent, including about fat movement.

• Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight by Linda Bacon
• Body Respect: What Conventional Health Books Get Wrong, Leave Out, and Just Plain Fail to Understand about Weight by Linda Bacon
• Fat Shame: Stigma and the Fat Body in American Culture by Amy Erdman Farrell
• The Body is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love by Sonya Renee Taylor
• Fat and Faithful: Learning to Love Our Bodies, Our Neighbors, and Ourselves by J. Nicole Morgan
• Every Body Yoga: Let Go of Fear, Get on the Mat, Love Your Body by Jessamyn Stanley
• Curvy Yoga®: Love Yourself & Your Body a Little More Each Day by Anna Guest-Jelley
• Big Fit Girl: Embrace the Body You Have by Louise Green
• Embrace: My Story from Body Loather to Body Lover by Taryn Brumfitt
• The Unapologetic Fat Girl’s Guide to Exercise and Other Incendiary Acts by Hanne Blank
• Curvy Girl Sex by Elle Chase
• Making It Hot: Sex Tips from the Curvy Girl Playbook by Chrystal Bougon
• Color Me Body Positive: A coloring book for all ages by Julie Frey
• Fat Ladies in Spaaaaace: A Body-Positive Coloring Book by Theo Nicole Lorenz

There are many other “body positive” books out there, but I don’t trust them to actually be fat positive. That’s why they aren’t listed.

Please note that I deliberately exclude any authors I know use the O words, are actively pursuing IWL, or have had WLS.