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Bad Indians Book Club: Reading at the Edge of a Thousand Worlds
"A fascinating advanced seminar about how to think, read, think about reading, and think about Indigenous lives." --Booklist, starred review
In this powerful reframing of the stories that make us, Anishinaabe writer Patty Krawec leads us into the borderlands of history, science, memoir, and fiction to What worlds do books written by marginalized people describe and invite us to inhabit?
When a friend asked what books could help them understand Indigenous lives, Patty Krawec, author of Becoming Kin, gave them a list. This list became a book club and then a podcast about a year of Indigenous reading, and then this book. The writers in Bad Indians Book Club refuse to let dominant stories displace their own and resist the way wemitigoozhiwag--European settlers--craft the prevailing narrative and decide who they are.
In Bad Indians Book Club, we examine works about history, science, and gender as well as fiction, all written from the perspective of "Bad Indians"--marginalized writers whose refusal to comply with dominant narratives opens up new worlds. Interlacing chapters with short stories about Deer Woman, who is on her own journey to decide who she is, Krawec leads us into a place of wisdom and medicine where the stories of marginalized writers help us imagine other ways of seeing the world. As Krawec did for her friend, she recommends a list of books to fill in the gaps on our own bookshelves and in our understanding.
Becoming Kin, which novelist Omar El Akkad called a "searing spear of light," led readers to talk back to the histories they had received. Now, in Bad Indians Book Club comes a potent challenge to all the stories settler colonialism tells--stories that erase and appropriate, deny and deflect. Following Deer Woman, who is shaped by the profuse artistry of Krawec, we enter the multiple worlds Indigenous and other subaltern stories create. Together we venture to the edges of worlds waiting to be born.
In this powerful reframing of the stories that make us, Anishinaabe writer Patty Krawec leads us into the borderlands of history, science, memoir, and fiction to What worlds do books written by marginalized people describe and invite us to inhabit?
When a friend asked what books could help them understand Indigenous lives, Patty Krawec, author of Becoming Kin, gave them a list. This list became a book club and then a podcast about a year of Indigenous reading, and then this book. The writers in Bad Indians Book Club refuse to let dominant stories displace their own and resist the way wemitigoozhiwag--European settlers--craft the prevailing narrative and decide who they are.
In Bad Indians Book Club, we examine works about history, science, and gender as well as fiction, all written from the perspective of "Bad Indians"--marginalized writers whose refusal to comply with dominant narratives opens up new worlds. Interlacing chapters with short stories about Deer Woman, who is on her own journey to decide who she is, Krawec leads us into a place of wisdom and medicine where the stories of marginalized writers help us imagine other ways of seeing the world. As Krawec did for her friend, she recommends a list of books to fill in the gaps on our own bookshelves and in our understanding.
Becoming Kin, which novelist Omar El Akkad called a "searing spear of light," led readers to talk back to the histories they had received. Now, in Bad Indians Book Club comes a potent challenge to all the stories settler colonialism tells--stories that erase and appropriate, deny and deflect. Following Deer Woman, who is shaped by the profuse artistry of Krawec, we enter the multiple worlds Indigenous and other subaltern stories create. Together we venture to the edges of worlds waiting to be born.
249 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 16, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews
January 18, 2026
Grab your annotation tools and take a seat! This book is absolutely brilliant. This book takes a look at stories, history, even science and medical research written by "bad indians" and other marginalized people. The author gives recommendations from other under represented authors. For example I read Flowers of The Killing Moon and there is another book that is written by someone who actually was part of the Osage tribe! The writing was incredible and truly made you consider what else is overlooked because we tend to focus on the mainstream.
May 26, 2025
There is a lot of good information in this book, but I think it needs a touch more editing. I found the beginning to be repetitive, almost like the author didn’t think I would be able to grasp her concepts without her spelling it out for me.
The stories she included were meaningful and I think there are a lot of good talking points. The author references a ton of other books, essays, speeches etc that really help bring her thoughts to life.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me this arc in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
The stories she included were meaningful and I think there are a lot of good talking points. The author references a ton of other books, essays, speeches etc that really help bring her thoughts to life.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me this arc in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
September 21, 2025
I’ve mentioned before how much I enjoy books about books, so when Bad Indians Book Club , Reading at the Edge of a Thousand Worlds by Patty Krawec came across my doorstep, I jumped at the chance to read it. This is a work of challenging non-fiction as it comes across more as an academic text than a book club advice manual or reading guide, but I’m always looking to stretch my reading skills so I’m glad I gave it a chance. For those who actively seek out writing from marginalized folks this will be a particularly fascinating book, as it blends opinions and quotes from not only Indigenous peoples, but many of those whose culture or race has ever been under attack. Black and Jewish writers play a predominant role in those who are referenced, so Krawec widens her scope in a way that forces readers to consider the harmful effects that colonialism, racism, and xenophobia have had, and the way writing can become resistance against these forces.
Book Summary
Split into nine sections, Krawec follows a year of reading about “Bad Indians”, i.e. those who will not conform to the stereotypes that colonialism has thrust upon them. Krawec also taught classes on these themes as well as recorded podcasts on them, so at the back of the book is a long list of additional resources one can further explore, in addition to the numerous footnotes. The eight writing themes are: Clearing Space for Story, Science and Nature Writing, History, Stories about Refusing Patriarchy, Memoir, Fiction, Horror, and Speculative Fiction. The ninth section is a work of fiction by Krawec that breaks up the literary analysis; it’s a story that takes place over hundreds of years, following a female character named Kwe who shifts from a human to a deer shape, as she witnesses the transition of the Americas from pre-colonial time, to the present day.
My Thoughts
Krawec introduces herself as a Bad Indian at the beginning of the book, which by her definition, “are experts at refusal and creating hostile spaces, and we tell our own stories, even when they aren’t pretty.” (p. 21, Bad Indians Book Club by Patty Krawec). Omar El Akkad echoes these sentiments in his foreword when he refers to the “Grateful Immigrant” and the “Untroublesome Minority”. I found these phrases particularly striking, because I think this is the root of so much racism – if you weren’t born here, shouldn’t you be grateful you were allowed in at all? But how do we square that with our expectations of Indigenous folk, who are truly native to this land, then got pushed into reserves across North America – why do we still expect them to be grateful? Because they are now the minorities?
Canadian readers will appreciate the references to numerous Canadian authors that they may already be familiar with. I personally found I could understand Krawec’s arguments quicker when I was familiar with the books she was using as an example. Her analyses of genre fiction written by Indigenous people were most fascinating to me, including the following quote from a character in a work of speculative fiction by bestselling Canadian writer Waubgeshig Rice:
“Aileen, one of the elders in Moon of the Crusted Snow, tells Evan, the protagonist, that we don’t have a word for apocalypse-and that the world isn’t ending anyway. The world actually ended for us a long time ago, she says, when the settlers arrived. We’ve been adapting and surviving ever since” (p.199 of Bad Indians Book Club).
Akkad’s foreword introduces his relationship with the author this way; she sent him a message after the release of his famous book American War which I review here, basically asking where the Native population was in his breakout book – they were never mentioned, and she felt this was an obvious gap. He graciously admitted that she was right, which began a relationship between the two writers, even prompting Akkad to include a reference to Indigenous populations in a future novel of his. And this is what much of this book truly is – a dialogue. The ideas don’t feel fully formed, similar to a discussion during a book club. Instead Krawec cites other authors and their work to expand our thinking of Indigenous writing and how it’s reflective of the experiences of Indigenous people. Often Indigenous writing has been forced to defend itself or educate settlers, but as it gains in popularity, it has flourished in other ways, now becoming a pushback against the corners they have been relegated to. The expansion of Indigenous and marginalized writing and publishing allows us to see different facets of the Indigenous or marginalized experience that have previously been hidden, or in many cases, punished.
All in all there were many moments of reading this book where I felt a bit lost as some of Krawec’s ideas were hard for me to truly grasp, but there were many more ‘aha’ moments too. For those who want to explore more writing by Indigenous folks, I recommend dedicating some time to this book as well as taking a few examples from the extensive bibliography. It’s a challenging read, but worth the effort.
To read the rest of my reviews, please visit my blog:
https://ivereadthis.com/
Book Summary
Split into nine sections, Krawec follows a year of reading about “Bad Indians”, i.e. those who will not conform to the stereotypes that colonialism has thrust upon them. Krawec also taught classes on these themes as well as recorded podcasts on them, so at the back of the book is a long list of additional resources one can further explore, in addition to the numerous footnotes. The eight writing themes are: Clearing Space for Story, Science and Nature Writing, History, Stories about Refusing Patriarchy, Memoir, Fiction, Horror, and Speculative Fiction. The ninth section is a work of fiction by Krawec that breaks up the literary analysis; it’s a story that takes place over hundreds of years, following a female character named Kwe who shifts from a human to a deer shape, as she witnesses the transition of the Americas from pre-colonial time, to the present day.
My Thoughts
Krawec introduces herself as a Bad Indian at the beginning of the book, which by her definition, “are experts at refusal and creating hostile spaces, and we tell our own stories, even when they aren’t pretty.” (p. 21, Bad Indians Book Club by Patty Krawec). Omar El Akkad echoes these sentiments in his foreword when he refers to the “Grateful Immigrant” and the “Untroublesome Minority”. I found these phrases particularly striking, because I think this is the root of so much racism – if you weren’t born here, shouldn’t you be grateful you were allowed in at all? But how do we square that with our expectations of Indigenous folk, who are truly native to this land, then got pushed into reserves across North America – why do we still expect them to be grateful? Because they are now the minorities?
Canadian readers will appreciate the references to numerous Canadian authors that they may already be familiar with. I personally found I could understand Krawec’s arguments quicker when I was familiar with the books she was using as an example. Her analyses of genre fiction written by Indigenous people were most fascinating to me, including the following quote from a character in a work of speculative fiction by bestselling Canadian writer Waubgeshig Rice:
“Aileen, one of the elders in Moon of the Crusted Snow, tells Evan, the protagonist, that we don’t have a word for apocalypse-and that the world isn’t ending anyway. The world actually ended for us a long time ago, she says, when the settlers arrived. We’ve been adapting and surviving ever since” (p.199 of Bad Indians Book Club).
Akkad’s foreword introduces his relationship with the author this way; she sent him a message after the release of his famous book American War which I review here, basically asking where the Native population was in his breakout book – they were never mentioned, and she felt this was an obvious gap. He graciously admitted that she was right, which began a relationship between the two writers, even prompting Akkad to include a reference to Indigenous populations in a future novel of his. And this is what much of this book truly is – a dialogue. The ideas don’t feel fully formed, similar to a discussion during a book club. Instead Krawec cites other authors and their work to expand our thinking of Indigenous writing and how it’s reflective of the experiences of Indigenous people. Often Indigenous writing has been forced to defend itself or educate settlers, but as it gains in popularity, it has flourished in other ways, now becoming a pushback against the corners they have been relegated to. The expansion of Indigenous and marginalized writing and publishing allows us to see different facets of the Indigenous or marginalized experience that have previously been hidden, or in many cases, punished.
All in all there were many moments of reading this book where I felt a bit lost as some of Krawec’s ideas were hard for me to truly grasp, but there were many more ‘aha’ moments too. For those who want to explore more writing by Indigenous folks, I recommend dedicating some time to this book as well as taking a few examples from the extensive bibliography. It’s a challenging read, but worth the effort.
To read the rest of my reviews, please visit my blog:
https://ivereadthis.com/
Read
May 17, 2026“Bad Indians wield stories like weapons in the war against imagination.”
🪶
In this nonfiction text Anishinaabe writer Patty Krawec explores how books by marginalized writers challenge dominant narratives and open doors to new ways of understanding history, identity, science, gender, and community. Blending memoir, literary discussion, history, and fiction, including interconnected stories about Deer Woman, Krawec invites readers to rethink the stories they’ve inherited and imagine worlds shaped by Indigenous and other underrepresented voices.
📖
I loved the content and ideas in this book, even if the prose was sometimes harder for me to fully engage with, especially in audio format. There are so many quotations, references, and layered discussions that it occasionally felt more academic than conversational, though that “brain-stretching” quality is also part of what makes it so rewarding. This feels like the kind of book that absolutely belongs in course curriculum because it encourages readers to approach Indigenous literature, and each other’s stories, with openness and curiosity. I’m especially excited to dive into the extensive bibliography and recommended works mentioned throughout.
CW: racism, colonization, grief, misogyny, violence, death, animal death
🪶
In this nonfiction text Anishinaabe writer Patty Krawec explores how books by marginalized writers challenge dominant narratives and open doors to new ways of understanding history, identity, science, gender, and community. Blending memoir, literary discussion, history, and fiction, including interconnected stories about Deer Woman, Krawec invites readers to rethink the stories they’ve inherited and imagine worlds shaped by Indigenous and other underrepresented voices.
📖
I loved the content and ideas in this book, even if the prose was sometimes harder for me to fully engage with, especially in audio format. There are so many quotations, references, and layered discussions that it occasionally felt more academic than conversational, though that “brain-stretching” quality is also part of what makes it so rewarding. This feels like the kind of book that absolutely belongs in course curriculum because it encourages readers to approach Indigenous literature, and each other’s stories, with openness and curiosity. I’m especially excited to dive into the extensive bibliography and recommended works mentioned throughout.
CW: racism, colonization, grief, misogyny, violence, death, animal death
January 12, 2026
3.5⭐️
Loved the content but the prose was a little hard to engage with, it was a lot of listenings and quotes,, maybe i shouldn’t have listened on audio? A great read nonetheless, excited to go through the recommended/mentioned books 😋😋
Loved the content but the prose was a little hard to engage with, it was a lot of listenings and quotes,, maybe i shouldn’t have listened on audio? A great read nonetheless, excited to go through the recommended/mentioned books 😋😋
November 4, 2025
"This book is, ultimately, a book about refusal: refusing political categories, and the borders and violence that comes with them, refusing to assimilate by becoming the kind of person the state cannot assimilate. It's written by a Bad Indian, who doesn't just want to survive this current apocalypse, I want to join with others – Bad Indians and more – to midwife new worlds into being."
This was a brain stretching, sometimes academic feeling read. It is a book that could and should be adopted into course curriculum. Arranged into themes, including science/nature writing, memoir, horror and speculative fiction … and interwoven between chapters is Krawec's short story Kwe, her retelling of the Deer Woman story. So many pages, passages, book titles and author names highlighted, I know I’ll come back to Bad Indians Book Club time and time again.
Because we can best understand each other when we know each other's stories, Krawec encourages readers to approach indigenous writing "with a willingness to clear mental space where curiosity encourages us to make room for new ideas to permeate into our thinking rather than to just let them float on the surface."
When I finished Krawec's book, I was rewarded with an extensive bibliography of many authors I've read and loved and plenty of new ones to explore. There's also a list of recommended podcasts and a history and explanation of the book's stunning cover.
"Bad Indians wield stories like weapons in the war against imagination." pg 21
This was a brain stretching, sometimes academic feeling read. It is a book that could and should be adopted into course curriculum. Arranged into themes, including science/nature writing, memoir, horror and speculative fiction … and interwoven between chapters is Krawec's short story Kwe, her retelling of the Deer Woman story. So many pages, passages, book titles and author names highlighted, I know I’ll come back to Bad Indians Book Club time and time again.
Because we can best understand each other when we know each other's stories, Krawec encourages readers to approach indigenous writing "with a willingness to clear mental space where curiosity encourages us to make room for new ideas to permeate into our thinking rather than to just let them float on the surface."
When I finished Krawec's book, I was rewarded with an extensive bibliography of many authors I've read and loved and plenty of new ones to explore. There's also a list of recommended podcasts and a history and explanation of the book's stunning cover.
"Bad Indians wield stories like weapons in the war against imagination." pg 21
August 25, 2025
This ARC was provided by NetGalley and wow. Just wow.
I'll be honest, I don't really know how to review this book.
It's unlike any other book I've read before, a combination of essay and critique and history and story telling and memoir and call to action and more.
It is not a book that I read quickly. There were many, MANY times I had to stop and sit and think a moment about what she wrote.
Part of it was the unfamiliarity with this style of writing. The larger part of it was trying to think and understand in a way that is far outside the realm of my lived experience.
This is a book that will sit with me for a while.
I have preordered this book upon finishing and will undoubtedly reread it many, many times. And will definitely make use of the recommended reading list Patty provides at the end, and throughout, the book in order to read more broadly.
I'll be honest, I don't really know how to review this book.
It's unlike any other book I've read before, a combination of essay and critique and history and story telling and memoir and call to action and more.
It is not a book that I read quickly. There were many, MANY times I had to stop and sit and think a moment about what she wrote.
Part of it was the unfamiliarity with this style of writing. The larger part of it was trying to think and understand in a way that is far outside the realm of my lived experience.
This is a book that will sit with me for a while.
I have preordered this book upon finishing and will undoubtedly reread it many, many times. And will definitely make use of the recommended reading list Patty provides at the end, and throughout, the book in order to read more broadly.
August 17, 2025
I picked this up while trying to push my boundaries with genres, and wow I’m so glad I did. Patty Krawec weaves history, memoir, and storytelling in a way that challenges dominant narratives and opens new worlds. It’s powerful, thought provoking, and full of wisdom that lingers long after reading. This ARC reminded me that sometimes the books you don’t think are “your genre” end up being the ones you love most. Never be afraid to reach beyond your usual shelves you might just find magic waiting there.
January 17, 2026
Thanks to NetGalley, Tantor Media and Broadleaf Books for the digital copy of this book; I am leaving this review voluntarily.
As you may be aware if you’ve read Bargain Sleuth Reviews for any length of time, I’ve been making an effort to read or listen to more about diversity and about marginalized communities. Bad Indians Club is a reflective and emotional study of Indigenous literature. This contemplative exploration of perspectives is very much needed.
We need to talk more about the historic violence towards Indigenous people. We need to talk about the genocide perpetrated by the men who escaped religious persecution, only to decide that Native Americans weren’t worthy to live because they weren’t Christian. Generations of Indigenous people have refused to be put into a box, whether it’s their politics or their spiritual beliefs. They have always refused to assimilate.
The book is set up thematically, covering categories as broad as horror stories, writing about science, and part memoir. Woven through all these themes is the author’s own retelling of the Deer Woman story. This makes the book a more academic read, but it’s a compelling narrative.
But the best part of the book is the HUGE bibliography that includes a long list of books, podcasts, and more for further study.
The audiobook was narrated by the author, which I believe was the right move. She knows her material very well, and I really thought her tone throughout was spot-on
As you may be aware if you’ve read Bargain Sleuth Reviews for any length of time, I’ve been making an effort to read or listen to more about diversity and about marginalized communities. Bad Indians Club is a reflective and emotional study of Indigenous literature. This contemplative exploration of perspectives is very much needed.
We need to talk more about the historic violence towards Indigenous people. We need to talk about the genocide perpetrated by the men who escaped religious persecution, only to decide that Native Americans weren’t worthy to live because they weren’t Christian. Generations of Indigenous people have refused to be put into a box, whether it’s their politics or their spiritual beliefs. They have always refused to assimilate.
The book is set up thematically, covering categories as broad as horror stories, writing about science, and part memoir. Woven through all these themes is the author’s own retelling of the Deer Woman story. This makes the book a more academic read, but it’s a compelling narrative.
But the best part of the book is the HUGE bibliography that includes a long list of books, podcasts, and more for further study.
The audiobook was narrated by the author, which I believe was the right move. She knows her material very well, and I really thought her tone throughout was spot-on
May 14, 2026
Patty Krawec (Ojibwe, Ukrainian) invites readers to look more closely at histories, cultural/societal analyses, and fictional narratives, and ask, who’s missing? Who speaks? Who acts? Who matters?
Framing this as an examination of culture through books and through the lens of Bad Indians; i.e., those who don’t sit quietly, who don’t accept their places, who ask hard questions, and who use humour and story to educate and open the eyes of others.
This is a small book, but hefty in its intent and in the ways in which it has prompted me to think hard about content. Already sensitive to the portrayal and lack of appearance, of marginalized peoples in narrative and media, this asks me to look closer, and to demand better of the people crafting narratives, writing histories, and selling conclusions.
Thank you to NetGalley and to Broadleaf Books for this ARC in exchange for my review.
Framing this as an examination of culture through books and through the lens of Bad Indians; i.e., those who don’t sit quietly, who don’t accept their places, who ask hard questions, and who use humour and story to educate and open the eyes of others.
This is a small book, but hefty in its intent and in the ways in which it has prompted me to think hard about content. Already sensitive to the portrayal and lack of appearance, of marginalized peoples in narrative and media, this asks me to look closer, and to demand better of the people crafting narratives, writing histories, and selling conclusions.
Thank you to NetGalley and to Broadleaf Books for this ARC in exchange for my review.
December 6, 2025
What a comprehensive and detailed resource that connects indigenous communicators. There is a lot to dissect here and the format resembles a thesis. It’s a really eye opening book with many moments of beauty.
March 28, 2026
I enjoyed reading Bad Indians Book Club: Reading at the Edge of a Thousand Worlds by Patty Krawek! I’d wanted to read this book since it was featured on the Canadian Independent Booksellers Association Fall 2025 The Booksellers’ List. I liked how this book blends literary criticism, book recommendations, history and mythology. I agreed when she said that poetry makes us feel and it’s important to read widely and diversely including Indigenous authors and marginalized authors and across genres including memoir, fiction, history and horror. It was interesting to read about books and several books and authors I’ve read before such as Alicia Elliott, We Measure the Earth With our Bodies by Tsering Yangzom Lama and Stephen Graham Jones. And I’ve bumped up more books on my TBR from this book such as Seven Fallen Feathers by Tanya Talaga and Buffalo is the new Buffalo by Chelsea Vowel. I listened to the audiobook which is read by the author and it was great to listen to.
Thank you to the publisher via NetGalley for my ALC!
Thank you to the publisher via NetGalley for my ALC!
April 9, 2026
Probably the first book in my adult life where I wanted to read a hard copy and make annotations. The book offers a different perspective, requires you to look at everything through a different lens. There were multiple times where I needed to rewind and listen to a quote all over again.
What really hit me, especially in April of 2026, is the following: “People often say that violence is never the answer, forgetting that their capacity for peace relies on the often, invisible for them, violence of policing and border maintenance.”
Thank you to NetGalley for this advance copy.
What really hit me, especially in April of 2026, is the following: “People often say that violence is never the answer, forgetting that their capacity for peace relies on the often, invisible for them, violence of policing and border maintenance.”
Thank you to NetGalley for this advance copy.
January 20, 2026
This is a book I would recommend to anyone who enjoys books, no matter their background.
As someone from the 80s, who had a GOODLY chunk of time of straight up just not reading anything, coming back into reading in these 2020s era of books makes me appreciate the diversity that is just much more easily available now than my prior reading life... and yet we have so much farther to go.
I loved how each chapter was broken down by subject, and not just "here is the one non-fiction chapter" as non-fiction so often just gets shoved into one genre in internet reading challenges and a really thoughtful look at indigenous voices and worldview amongst each chapter subject, and how that touches stories as a whole. My favorite especially, as someone who's going back to their roots and enjoying horror, is the look at the "whitestream" (aka mainstream) horror tropes - how many books and movies do we have where ooh, spooky Indian Burial Ground, that takes and co-opts and uses indigenous culture, or the assumption of indigenous culture by the non-indigenous people using it, and twists it for spooky horror needs? So many.
This is a book I want to go out and buy when it's out and go through and for once in my life do highlighting and read so many of the suggested works within. It's rather short (200ish pages) and I think expects someone to be at least vaguely familiar with some concepts and history points (the 60s scoop/residential schools and forced adoptions, for one) but gives a brief overview generally too as stories differ from place to place even if the heart can be similar.
Audio was fantastic for this book as it allowed me to sit with everything (99% of my audiobook listening is done While Driving so I'm not distracted) better, allowed me to hear various pronunciations, and my brain locked in more when a person was introduced with their background as everyone was here, where I may have skimmed that reading with my eyes.
This is something I already recommended to one book club last night and will continue to just unhinge my jaw to talk about as a primer and a great place to just, open the brain and be thoughtful about diversity being so much more than checkboxes on Instagram readathon Bingo cards, and that all of us who grew up in said whitestream society (so, all of us), have to put in the work to expand what major publishers want to generally push at us.... especially considering the day to day events happening in our communities right now.
Thank you to Tantor Media and NetGalley for the ALC in exchange for review.
As someone from the 80s, who had a GOODLY chunk of time of straight up just not reading anything, coming back into reading in these 2020s era of books makes me appreciate the diversity that is just much more easily available now than my prior reading life... and yet we have so much farther to go.
I loved how each chapter was broken down by subject, and not just "here is the one non-fiction chapter" as non-fiction so often just gets shoved into one genre in internet reading challenges and a really thoughtful look at indigenous voices and worldview amongst each chapter subject, and how that touches stories as a whole. My favorite especially, as someone who's going back to their roots and enjoying horror, is the look at the "whitestream" (aka mainstream) horror tropes - how many books and movies do we have where ooh, spooky Indian Burial Ground, that takes and co-opts and uses indigenous culture, or the assumption of indigenous culture by the non-indigenous people using it, and twists it for spooky horror needs? So many.
This is a book I want to go out and buy when it's out and go through and for once in my life do highlighting and read so many of the suggested works within. It's rather short (200ish pages) and I think expects someone to be at least vaguely familiar with some concepts and history points (the 60s scoop/residential schools and forced adoptions, for one) but gives a brief overview generally too as stories differ from place to place even if the heart can be similar.
Audio was fantastic for this book as it allowed me to sit with everything (99% of my audiobook listening is done While Driving so I'm not distracted) better, allowed me to hear various pronunciations, and my brain locked in more when a person was introduced with their background as everyone was here, where I may have skimmed that reading with my eyes.
This is something I already recommended to one book club last night and will continue to just unhinge my jaw to talk about as a primer and a great place to just, open the brain and be thoughtful about diversity being so much more than checkboxes on Instagram readathon Bingo cards, and that all of us who grew up in said whitestream society (so, all of us), have to put in the work to expand what major publishers want to generally push at us.... especially considering the day to day events happening in our communities right now.
Thank you to Tantor Media and NetGalley for the ALC in exchange for review.
January 19, 2026
A distinctive narrative that deconstructs various stories from speculative fiction to memoir – to unite various perspectives from her Indigenous perspective. The remarkable pragmatism is the way she describes the way all these stories connect. The constant theme she emits is that books are meant “to be in conversation with one another” as she claims is the purpose of writing. Marginalized writer’s are putting discussions out there to spark discussions between their readers, writers, and connections between other narratives. The connections that may not be made if these voices were never placed in the mainstream to be heart is the heart of the narrative here.
The pacing for this narrative is perfect because I never felt she lingered on describing one story for too long. Patty Krawec chants “reading does matter, and reading radically with purpose and intention can change your life”. The idea is that with reading we are having conversations with the author indirectly. There is this understanding as reader’s that we are trying to understand a person’s psyche and that is what makes memoir so appealing. We see the world through someone else’s eyes and there is this essence of empathy that is understood through another lens. We cannot achieve a unified understanding in our advocacy if we do not read different perspectives and challenge colonial notions.
Naturally my favorite chapter was focused on horror and the manner that horror tropes play in marginalized voice’s writing. The nature of speculative writing is designed to challenge the way you think and opens the pathways to discuss the horror of the facts that plague our society’s current set of social constructs. There is something benign about the shared comfort in these horror metaphors that forces us to address the horrors of our society with a conversation. Patty agrees that “horror is meant to disrupt places that are normally seen as safe”. She is saying that society is blind to the way social constructs impair their ability to see the truth of how entrenched society is in colonial ways of thinking. Deconstructing comes with understanding the different narratives written for us to have conversations. With deconstruction comes a society fighting harder for real advocacy and real genuine change.
For more recommendations, reviews, and tarot readings, visit my blog, https://brujerialibrary.wordpress.com/
The pacing for this narrative is perfect because I never felt she lingered on describing one story for too long. Patty Krawec chants “reading does matter, and reading radically with purpose and intention can change your life”. The idea is that with reading we are having conversations with the author indirectly. There is this understanding as reader’s that we are trying to understand a person’s psyche and that is what makes memoir so appealing. We see the world through someone else’s eyes and there is this essence of empathy that is understood through another lens. We cannot achieve a unified understanding in our advocacy if we do not read different perspectives and challenge colonial notions.
Naturally my favorite chapter was focused on horror and the manner that horror tropes play in marginalized voice’s writing. The nature of speculative writing is designed to challenge the way you think and opens the pathways to discuss the horror of the facts that plague our society’s current set of social constructs. There is something benign about the shared comfort in these horror metaphors that forces us to address the horrors of our society with a conversation. Patty agrees that “horror is meant to disrupt places that are normally seen as safe”. She is saying that society is blind to the way social constructs impair their ability to see the truth of how entrenched society is in colonial ways of thinking. Deconstructing comes with understanding the different narratives written for us to have conversations. With deconstruction comes a society fighting harder for real advocacy and real genuine change.
For more recommendations, reviews, and tarot readings, visit my blog, https://brujerialibrary.wordpress.com/
February 2, 2026
Is it too early for the best read (listen) of 2026? Because this might be it!
I took my time over this audiobook, listening to a maximum of a chapter a day and in periods where I could actively listen without distractions. Even so, this is one that requires additional reads. There is so much information, so many stories and perspectives that it's worth spending additional time with. I love audiobooks, particularly non-fics, that are read by the authors and this was no exception. Krawec is a gifted orator and I enjoyed spending time with her. A keen listener, observer, and speaker, Krawec shares voices and stories that we desperately need to hear.
I found the pace and structure of the book artful. The whole piece came together so beautifully: building on topics and themes throughout the book, revisiting stories in different contexts. I LOVED how Deer Woman's story was woven into the first chapters, it added something special and each section of her story was relevant to the theme of the preceding chapter.
While there was noticeable repetition -- sometimes verbatim within and across sections -- I can't help but feel this was intentional. Krawec has an astounding way of weaving information, stories, and themes together that I just can't see this being an oversight.
The only downside of the audio format was not having a list of all the books and reading mentioned. I'd love a copy of Krawec's titles for her Year of Indigenous Reading, and I'd like to learn the spelling of the Anishinaabe words that the audio taught me to pronounce.
It's funny, I'm not usually a gal who enjoys books-about-books but this felt so real, so relatable, and so timely -- and featured authors I'd actually read and LOVED -- that perhaps I've just been exposed to the wrong ones.
Anyway. Read this book. Then, read it again. Better yet, get the audio and let Krawec take you on an emotional, challenging, joyful, and meaningful journey into the borderlands of stories.
Thank you Tantor for the ALC. Now, to track down a physical copy...
I took my time over this audiobook, listening to a maximum of a chapter a day and in periods where I could actively listen without distractions. Even so, this is one that requires additional reads. There is so much information, so many stories and perspectives that it's worth spending additional time with. I love audiobooks, particularly non-fics, that are read by the authors and this was no exception. Krawec is a gifted orator and I enjoyed spending time with her. A keen listener, observer, and speaker, Krawec shares voices and stories that we desperately need to hear.
I found the pace and structure of the book artful. The whole piece came together so beautifully: building on topics and themes throughout the book, revisiting stories in different contexts. I LOVED how Deer Woman's story was woven into the first chapters, it added something special and each section of her story was relevant to the theme of the preceding chapter.
While there was noticeable repetition -- sometimes verbatim within and across sections -- I can't help but feel this was intentional. Krawec has an astounding way of weaving information, stories, and themes together that I just can't see this being an oversight.
The only downside of the audio format was not having a list of all the books and reading mentioned. I'd love a copy of Krawec's titles for her Year of Indigenous Reading, and I'd like to learn the spelling of the Anishinaabe words that the audio taught me to pronounce.
It's funny, I'm not usually a gal who enjoys books-about-books but this felt so real, so relatable, and so timely -- and featured authors I'd actually read and LOVED -- that perhaps I've just been exposed to the wrong ones.
Anyway. Read this book. Then, read it again. Better yet, get the audio and let Krawec take you on an emotional, challenging, joyful, and meaningful journey into the borderlands of stories.
Thank you Tantor for the ALC. Now, to track down a physical copy...
December 25, 2025
I really struggled with this book and in part, I wonder if it’s because I hadn’t listened to the podcasts first. Some of the things echoed what I read in Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall, a book I read a year ago, one that really opened my eyes to how marginalized feminists weren’t included in the Women’s Movement of the 1960s/1970s. Patty Krawec’s book addresses how marginalized writers’ (Bad Indians) books offer a different and more inclusive way than what the dominant culture provides. I simply wish I would have found the book more accessible.
January 17, 2026
This book truly has a lot to say, and it’s one of those experiences where I wish I had read the physical copy over audiobook just so that I could grab quotes and information from this. I loved a lot of what the author had to say, and how eloquently she says it all. This book is super unique in the way it tackles so many subjects. There was some repetition and some spoiling of other books (a lot of her recommendations are already on my list to read!) that made this an imperfect read for me, but I really enjoyed it. Thank you to the publisher for the advanced listening copy.
Read
May 6, 2026Love a good book about books, and especially so when the purpose is about expanding your worldview and refusing complacency within a system that lies right to our faces. I love the way that Krawec uses memoir and storytelling right alongside her history and science; it's such a breath of fresh air. Definitely recommend if you're looking to broaden your horizons but don't know where to start -- with this one, you get a book PLUS recommendations for more!
May 11, 2026
Good info and ideas, but felt disjointed. I found the number of works referenced to be distracting, making it a tough read for me. I appreciate the idea to “root ourselves in our stories” but the book would have benefited from some more focused editing.
January 21, 2026
Thank you NetGalley, Patty Krawec, and the publisher for allowing me to listen to this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I wanted to expand my genre boundaries and I’m pleased! I loved the content, there are amazing stories, and explanations about cultural differences, growing up in Canada and finding her Native roots and her “bad Indian” personality. However, the prose was a little hard to fully follow along with and sometimes I felt lost. I think for me personally, this might have been fixed if I had read this book instead of listened to it. Truly, this book helped me gain perspective of prejudices I didn’t know I had based on appearance. She describes multiple times in this book the white person’s version of Native traditional garments, and how she wasn’t allowed to wear her favorite skirt because it didn’t fit that narrative. This is a small example of me opening my eyes, to something that I had accidentally being contributing to, that does not honor or respect the culture. So, thank you for opening my eyes on a variety of different cultural experiences.
One of my favorite quotes that gave me the chills was "Bad Indians wield stories like weapons in the war against imagination." I listened to this, so I’m not sure of the page number, but it was in the beginning of the book and I wrote it down. This book challenges the mainstream narrative that is mostly full of watered down history or a blatant fabrication of what actually happened. This is a powerful book that really makes you think about other communities and cultures in a beautifully diverse way.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I wanted to expand my genre boundaries and I’m pleased! I loved the content, there are amazing stories, and explanations about cultural differences, growing up in Canada and finding her Native roots and her “bad Indian” personality. However, the prose was a little hard to fully follow along with and sometimes I felt lost. I think for me personally, this might have been fixed if I had read this book instead of listened to it. Truly, this book helped me gain perspective of prejudices I didn’t know I had based on appearance. She describes multiple times in this book the white person’s version of Native traditional garments, and how she wasn’t allowed to wear her favorite skirt because it didn’t fit that narrative. This is a small example of me opening my eyes, to something that I had accidentally being contributing to, that does not honor or respect the culture. So, thank you for opening my eyes on a variety of different cultural experiences.
One of my favorite quotes that gave me the chills was "Bad Indians wield stories like weapons in the war against imagination." I listened to this, so I’m not sure of the page number, but it was in the beginning of the book and I wrote it down. This book challenges the mainstream narrative that is mostly full of watered down history or a blatant fabrication of what actually happened. This is a powerful book that really makes you think about other communities and cultures in a beautifully diverse way.
April 26, 2026
Really intriguing book, and it’s given so many more books to add to my tbr!! Want to read more by this author! 4.25 ⭐️
May 1, 2026
Very interesting audio book with clear information. Love all the references to other books. Some are already on my shelves so I should really get to them!
November 23, 2025
Such a privilege to hear the author speak at Burlington Public Library literary festival - totally changes a reading experience. This book was an interesting summary of many different recommended books organized into several genres. “Be the kind of people that the land wants back”
February 21, 2026
Second Stories
How did the book make me feel/think?
As I started reading The Bad Indians Book Club, every book mentioned — and every book I’ve ever read — began talking to me. Words, passages, reflections. My life fell from the pages.
Thousands of people have origin stories sharing threads with mine — each story individual, yet reduced to a single box. I hesitate to share mine because someone is always ready to tell me how I should feel about it.
I was born in a home for “unfit” mothers. From my first breath, I was labelled “at risk.” Vulnerable. Exploitable. Marginalized.
I’m not sure where my story begins. Not at the beginning. Maybe the second story — the one shaped by silence. Nobody told me who I was. Society prefers comfortable narratives. The rest are controlled, softened, erased.
Erasure isn’t accidental. Columbus “discovered” lands already inhabited by millions. What does discovered mean? Narrative control enriches latecomers and expedites the disappearance of “others.”
Erasure leads to racism. It isn’t just the joke — it’s the story beneath it.
Safe Spaces: How can a place be safe if you don’t see me?
When we speak and are met with dismissiveness, we are lost in time. If my life makes you uncomfortable, don’t sweat it. You aren’t us. Our lives are not yours. I’m sorry if your mind is not open.
A flaw of the vulnerable — even when upset — is that we defend the very people who silence us. Who knows what origin story they were told? What second story are they protecting? We protect at great cost.
But resisting the narrative has blessed me with something unexpected: a superpower for seeing people. When you grow up unseen, you learn to notice who else is.
Searching for our stories keeps history alive.
A thousand stories are not enough.
Always carry a book.
WRITTEN: 21 February 2026
How did the book make me feel/think?
As I started reading The Bad Indians Book Club, every book mentioned — and every book I’ve ever read — began talking to me. Words, passages, reflections. My life fell from the pages.
Thousands of people have origin stories sharing threads with mine — each story individual, yet reduced to a single box. I hesitate to share mine because someone is always ready to tell me how I should feel about it.
I was born in a home for “unfit” mothers. From my first breath, I was labelled “at risk.” Vulnerable. Exploitable. Marginalized.
I’m not sure where my story begins. Not at the beginning. Maybe the second story — the one shaped by silence. Nobody told me who I was. Society prefers comfortable narratives. The rest are controlled, softened, erased.
Erasure isn’t accidental. Columbus “discovered” lands already inhabited by millions. What does discovered mean? Narrative control enriches latecomers and expedites the disappearance of “others.”
Erasure leads to racism. It isn’t just the joke — it’s the story beneath it.
Safe Spaces: How can a place be safe if you don’t see me?
When we speak and are met with dismissiveness, we are lost in time. If my life makes you uncomfortable, don’t sweat it. You aren’t us. Our lives are not yours. I’m sorry if your mind is not open.
A flaw of the vulnerable — even when upset — is that we defend the very people who silence us. Who knows what origin story they were told? What second story are they protecting? We protect at great cost.
But resisting the narrative has blessed me with something unexpected: a superpower for seeing people. When you grow up unseen, you learn to notice who else is.
Searching for our stories keeps history alive.
A thousand stories are not enough.
Always carry a book.
WRITTEN: 21 February 2026
September 14, 2025
Bad Indians Book Club by Patty Krawec is unlike any book I’ve ever read. A challenging book, Bad Indians is a mix of nonfiction and fiction based on her podcast and asking hard questions about the importance of marginalized stories.
Krawec describes the genesis of her podcast and the book. A friend asked her to recommend a book that could help him understand the Indigenous perspective. That resulted in a list of many books, a book club, and then a podcast. And then this book collects and analyses the writing from a variety of authors to show that Bad Indians don’t let other people tell their stories.
I love how Krawec looks at the world and books. She tells a story where a woman commented that she was going to write a thesis without using white male academics. The backlash was swift, “how can you write a thesis without real experts???,” even though the woman never stated what her thesis was about. The point is, when we assume only certain people are experts and allowed to tell the “real” story, we shut down important voices. Krawec doesn’t make that mistake. The huge number of books, essays, academic studies, etc., that she references, and the diversity of her references, highlights important voices across the world. You will add so many books to your tbr. (I also want to shout out her analysis of Stephen Graham Jones books, The Only Good Indians and My Heart is a Chainsaw. I just want more people to understand how good he is at what he does).
This is a hard book to categorize and at times it can feel scattered (although I love how she addresses that in the book). But it’s thought provoking and smart. Marginalized stories are important because marginalized people are important. Highly recommended.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of the arc in exchange for an honest review.
Krawec describes the genesis of her podcast and the book. A friend asked her to recommend a book that could help him understand the Indigenous perspective. That resulted in a list of many books, a book club, and then a podcast. And then this book collects and analyses the writing from a variety of authors to show that Bad Indians don’t let other people tell their stories.
I love how Krawec looks at the world and books. She tells a story where a woman commented that she was going to write a thesis without using white male academics. The backlash was swift, “how can you write a thesis without real experts???,” even though the woman never stated what her thesis was about. The point is, when we assume only certain people are experts and allowed to tell the “real” story, we shut down important voices. Krawec doesn’t make that mistake. The huge number of books, essays, academic studies, etc., that she references, and the diversity of her references, highlights important voices across the world. You will add so many books to your tbr. (I also want to shout out her analysis of Stephen Graham Jones books, The Only Good Indians and My Heart is a Chainsaw. I just want more people to understand how good he is at what he does).
This is a hard book to categorize and at times it can feel scattered (although I love how she addresses that in the book). But it’s thought provoking and smart. Marginalized stories are important because marginalized people are important. Highly recommended.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of the arc in exchange for an honest review.
January 13, 2026
"We don't just passively absorb the things we read. Books change us because we engage with them, we wrestle and argue with them. The power of book clubs and reading groups lies not just in who we read but in who we read with and why."
Thank you to NetGalley, Patty Krawec, and Tantor Media for this advanced audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
CW: Discussions of colonialism, violence, trauma
Patty Krawec's Bad Indians Book Club: Reading at the Edge of a Thousand Worlds started when a friend asked for book recommendations to better understand Indigenous lives. That conversation became a reading group, then a podcast, and eventually this book. It's ambitious and unique, though the way it's put together doesn't totally work for me.
The foreword by Omar El Akkad really stuck with me. He connects "good Indians" to "grateful immigrants" and "untroublesome minorities," and talks about how we need to question where these labels come from and recognize them as products of colonialism. I also loved hearing about how he and Krawec met and how she challenged him to improve his own writing. I've read both American War and One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, so getting this glimpse into their relationship was unexpected and meaningful.
This book does two things at once. On one hand, you get really thoughtful nonfiction that combines academic research with personal stories. Krawec clearly did extensive work to bring in different voices and perspectives. The whole book functions as an education, which is the goal. I got excited when books I've already read came up, like Octavia E. Butler's Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents and American War.
On the other hand, there's a short story where the main character is a Deer Woman, and it appears in pieces at the end of each chapter. The sections of the story are supposed to connect to what was discussed in that chapter. It's an interesting idea, but it didn't work well for me. It felt like two separate books awkwardly stitched together. I would have liked to experience the short story both ways - in its intended sections after each chapter AND as a complete whole. Maybe if there had been a reference at the end of each chapter to read pages X through X, readers could have experienced it both ways? Listening to the audiobook made this especially frustrating because I couldn't easily jump around to read the story all at once. I think something important was lost by not being able to experience it as a whole.
Despite that structural problem, I still got a lot out of this book. I learned so much and valued all the different perspectives Krawec includes. This is actually the third time I've encountered Deer Woman stories recently, after reading Mask of the Deer Woman by Laurie L. Dove (published January 2025) and Hemlock by Melissa Faliveno (published January 2026). This book is also coming out in January 2026. It's interesting that all three have been published within the last 12 months. Having Krawec's version adds to that ongoing conversation in an interesting way.
Krawec reads her own audiobook, which I really enjoyed. Hearing the author's voice adds something genuine to the experience. Her tone works well for this material. I sped it up a bit because the delivery felt slow to me, but that's just how I prefer to listen.
This works well for people who want to build a reading list of Indigenous literature, book clubs looking for guidance on what to explore, or anyone trying to learn more as part of their own anti-colonial work. If you're looking for voices that push back against the stories colonialism tells, this gives you a solid place to start.
An educational guide to Indigenous reading that teaches a lot even though the structure gets in its own way for some readers.
January 25, 2026
How we could live differently emerged from the connections between us: readers and writers from a variety of backgrounds who are no longer seeking inclusion into a house that is on fire.
MASHKIKI, AN OJIBWE word, has been translated into English as medicine. Ben, my oldest son, tells me that it means something more like strength from the land. It is related to the word mashkawizi, which means that person has inner strength or is strong, But the ending is like aki, which is the Ojibwe word for land. Mashkiki suggests inner strength belonging to the land rather than a human. “The inner strength of the land” is an interesting way to think about medicine.
Powerful collection of essays about indigenous and BIPOC literature, and a giant extension for my to read list. Maybe I will read nothing but indigenous material for the rest of my life. This guide is for everyone, really, and filled with important wisdom, lessons, humor, and spirit.
What are the conditions we need so that a thirteen-year-old Black kid and their single mom can go look at a dark night sky, away from artificial lights, and know what they are seeing? What health care structures, what food and housing security are needed? What science communication structures? What community structures? What relationship to the land do they need? —Chanda Prescod-Weinstein,The Disordered Cosmos
In his own memoir, film and culture critic Jesse Wente (Anishinaabe) writes about being keenly aware that he is the kind of Indian that residential schools were designed to produce. Made tolerable and acceptable by the system whose intention was to erase and destroy. It is not, he says, an identity to which he aspires and is one that he fights against. He asks himself, working in the midst of colonial systems, “Are you going to be the Acceptable One, or are you going to raise hell and find a way to weaponize your privilege against the very place that’s given it to you?
If we are going to be changed, and then change others, we must read intentionally, but more than intentionally I want to read radically. I want you to feel what is at stake in a world of book bans and alternative facts, to grasp the value of listening to those who are pushed to the edges and the communities we build there. More important than reading these books is protecting them, which means getting involved in the places that control access to them—places like libraries and schools, where the decisions are being made. Hold events at community centres and independent bookstores. Start your own Bad Indians Book Club in the places where they will least expect it but desperately need it. Don’t just read banned books; become engaged in the places where they are being taken off the shelves. And remember, above all, the first rule of Bad Indians Book Club: Always carry a book.
Reading in this way—focusing on books from a particular place or people—requires a willingness to clear mental space. This idea is contained within dawisijigem, which is an Ojibwe word that translates into English as to clear space, like clearing off a table before a meal, or moving books off my desk or side tables to make room for new piles. Like many readers, I often have several books going at one time, layering fiction with nonfiction, or setting conversational books alongside more academic material.
Colonialism and the Enlightenment have given us one story about the world and our place in it. Through dawisijigem, we push everything aside and make room for other ways of telling the stories of the world around us. Dawisijigem invites us into the borderlands by clearing our schedule, clearing our minds of those preconceived ideas of how the world is supposed to work. Even if the centre of influence is one that we have come to respect and admire, the borderlands—or places where the influence of that centre extends and then layers with others—bring us to new ways of thinking and to possibly the creation of new centres.
MASHKIKI, AN OJIBWE word, has been translated into English as medicine. Ben, my oldest son, tells me that it means something more like strength from the land. It is related to the word mashkawizi, which means that person has inner strength or is strong, But the ending is like aki, which is the Ojibwe word for land. Mashkiki suggests inner strength belonging to the land rather than a human. “The inner strength of the land” is an interesting way to think about medicine.
Powerful collection of essays about indigenous and BIPOC literature, and a giant extension for my to read list. Maybe I will read nothing but indigenous material for the rest of my life. This guide is for everyone, really, and filled with important wisdom, lessons, humor, and spirit.
What are the conditions we need so that a thirteen-year-old Black kid and their single mom can go look at a dark night sky, away from artificial lights, and know what they are seeing? What health care structures, what food and housing security are needed? What science communication structures? What community structures? What relationship to the land do they need? —Chanda Prescod-Weinstein,The Disordered Cosmos
In his own memoir, film and culture critic Jesse Wente (Anishinaabe) writes about being keenly aware that he is the kind of Indian that residential schools were designed to produce. Made tolerable and acceptable by the system whose intention was to erase and destroy. It is not, he says, an identity to which he aspires and is one that he fights against. He asks himself, working in the midst of colonial systems, “Are you going to be the Acceptable One, or are you going to raise hell and find a way to weaponize your privilege against the very place that’s given it to you?
If we are going to be changed, and then change others, we must read intentionally, but more than intentionally I want to read radically. I want you to feel what is at stake in a world of book bans and alternative facts, to grasp the value of listening to those who are pushed to the edges and the communities we build there. More important than reading these books is protecting them, which means getting involved in the places that control access to them—places like libraries and schools, where the decisions are being made. Hold events at community centres and independent bookstores. Start your own Bad Indians Book Club in the places where they will least expect it but desperately need it. Don’t just read banned books; become engaged in the places where they are being taken off the shelves. And remember, above all, the first rule of Bad Indians Book Club: Always carry a book.
Reading in this way—focusing on books from a particular place or people—requires a willingness to clear mental space. This idea is contained within dawisijigem, which is an Ojibwe word that translates into English as to clear space, like clearing off a table before a meal, or moving books off my desk or side tables to make room for new piles. Like many readers, I often have several books going at one time, layering fiction with nonfiction, or setting conversational books alongside more academic material.
Colonialism and the Enlightenment have given us one story about the world and our place in it. Through dawisijigem, we push everything aside and make room for other ways of telling the stories of the world around us. Dawisijigem invites us into the borderlands by clearing our schedule, clearing our minds of those preconceived ideas of how the world is supposed to work. Even if the centre of influence is one that we have come to respect and admire, the borderlands—or places where the influence of that centre extends and then layers with others—bring us to new ways of thinking and to possibly the creation of new centres.
September 16, 2025
Rating: 4* of five
The Publisher Says: Bad Indians Book Club continues the conversation Anishinaabe writer Patty Krawec started in Becoming Kin, inviting readers to question the stories of settler colonialism and discover the rich worlds created by Indigenous voices.
"A fascinating advanced seminar about how to think, read, think about reading, and think about Indigenous lives."—Booklist, starred review
In this powerful reframing of the stories that make us, Anishinaabe writer Patty Krawec leads us into the borderlands of history, science, memoir, and fiction to ask: What worlds do books written by marginalized people describe and invite us to inhabit?
When a friend asked what books could help them understand Indigenous lives, Patty Krawec, author of Becoming Kin, gave them a list. This list became a book club and then a podcast about a year of Indigenous reading, and then this book. The writers in Bad Indians Book Club refuse to let dominant stories displace their own and resist the way wemitigoozhiwag—European settlers—craft the prevailing narrative and decide who they are.
In Bad Indians Book Club, we examine works about history, science, and gender as well as fiction, all written from the perspective of "Bad Indians"—marginalized writers whose refusal to comply with dominant narratives opens up new worlds. Interlacing chapters with short stories about Deer Woman, who is on her own journey to decide who she is, Krawec leads us into a place of wisdom and medicine where the stories of marginalized writers help us imagine other ways of seeing the world. As Krawec did for her friend, she recommends a list of books to fill in the gaps on our own bookshelves and in our understanding.
Becoming Kin, which novelist Omar El Akkad called a "searing spear of light," led readers to talk back to the histories they had received. Now, in Bad Indians Book Club comes a potent challenge to all the stories settler colonialism tells—stories that erase and appropriate, deny and deflect. Following Deer Woman, who is shaped by the profuse artistry of Krawec, we enter the multiple worlds Indigenous and other subaltern stories create. Together we venture to the edges of worlds waiting to be born.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.
My Review: The structure of the book makes me think these were written as essays, turned into chapters, and not very thoroughly combed through to make sure reduplicative information was minimized or eliminated.
That said, every chapter is cram-jam full of information new to me, or so distant from my ROM that I needed to dig for it in RAM. I came away very much better informed, educated, and energized. Fortunately, there are footnotes galore to keep me supplied in rabbit-hole bait. Yay. *note to self check data usage*
The character Kwe/Deer Woman as our guide and cicerone is a polarizing addition to the non-fiction nature of the book. Quite sensible in my opinion, as being taught something I'm totally unfamiliar with is always easier for me to contextualize and absorb if there is a person teaching me. I think I might have been okay with just Author Krawec...but this way I felt I was listening in and learning more through it.
In a time that feels to me like it is celebrating smallness, valorizing exclusion, and weaponizing authority structures, reading Bad Indians Book Club gave me the feeling of learning while resisting these things I emphatically do not support. I will warn my fellow biblioholics that this is going to be a TBR-fattening read. Big time.
But worth it to discover new storytelling. I think you will agree.
The Publisher Says: Bad Indians Book Club continues the conversation Anishinaabe writer Patty Krawec started in Becoming Kin, inviting readers to question the stories of settler colonialism and discover the rich worlds created by Indigenous voices.
"A fascinating advanced seminar about how to think, read, think about reading, and think about Indigenous lives."—Booklist, starred review
In this powerful reframing of the stories that make us, Anishinaabe writer Patty Krawec leads us into the borderlands of history, science, memoir, and fiction to ask: What worlds do books written by marginalized people describe and invite us to inhabit?
When a friend asked what books could help them understand Indigenous lives, Patty Krawec, author of Becoming Kin, gave them a list. This list became a book club and then a podcast about a year of Indigenous reading, and then this book. The writers in Bad Indians Book Club refuse to let dominant stories displace their own and resist the way wemitigoozhiwag—European settlers—craft the prevailing narrative and decide who they are.
In Bad Indians Book Club, we examine works about history, science, and gender as well as fiction, all written from the perspective of "Bad Indians"—marginalized writers whose refusal to comply with dominant narratives opens up new worlds. Interlacing chapters with short stories about Deer Woman, who is on her own journey to decide who she is, Krawec leads us into a place of wisdom and medicine where the stories of marginalized writers help us imagine other ways of seeing the world. As Krawec did for her friend, she recommends a list of books to fill in the gaps on our own bookshelves and in our understanding.
Becoming Kin, which novelist Omar El Akkad called a "searing spear of light," led readers to talk back to the histories they had received. Now, in Bad Indians Book Club comes a potent challenge to all the stories settler colonialism tells—stories that erase and appropriate, deny and deflect. Following Deer Woman, who is shaped by the profuse artistry of Krawec, we enter the multiple worlds Indigenous and other subaltern stories create. Together we venture to the edges of worlds waiting to be born.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.
My Review: The structure of the book makes me think these were written as essays, turned into chapters, and not very thoroughly combed through to make sure reduplicative information was minimized or eliminated.
That said, every chapter is cram-jam full of information new to me, or so distant from my ROM that I needed to dig for it in RAM. I came away very much better informed, educated, and energized. Fortunately, there are footnotes galore to keep me supplied in rabbit-hole bait. Yay. *note to self check data usage*
The character Kwe/Deer Woman as our guide and cicerone is a polarizing addition to the non-fiction nature of the book. Quite sensible in my opinion, as being taught something I'm totally unfamiliar with is always easier for me to contextualize and absorb if there is a person teaching me. I think I might have been okay with just Author Krawec...but this way I felt I was listening in and learning more through it.
In a time that feels to me like it is celebrating smallness, valorizing exclusion, and weaponizing authority structures, reading Bad Indians Book Club gave me the feeling of learning while resisting these things I emphatically do not support. I will warn my fellow biblioholics that this is going to be a TBR-fattening read. Big time.
But worth it to discover new storytelling. I think you will agree.
February 9, 2026
I realize that it is February of 2026, and even at my pace of one non-fiction book per day (or thereabouts), I'm still pretty confident that this will be one of the best books I have read this year. It would not shock me if it was a Canada Reads pick, if not all around winner, either.
I read the book as a trans, neurodivergent settler so my solidarities were strong. Every chapter of the book left beautiful discursive gifts, written upon my mind, trickling into my soul. I'm a reader who takes copious notes but I hesitated, even though I felt the urgent necessity of wanting to preserve the beauty of the exacting prose. It seemed too presumptuous and almost a little rude, to write down notes from the stories Patty Krawec shares when I could see myself needing its wisdom and wonder in future. While contemplating the book I was brought back to sitting by the Grand River where I live in Ontario, seeing Krawec's book as a similar source of life: you can make notes, you can draw it, you can even photograph it, but nothing will ever be as enriching as returning to its shores to be present with it. It's the kind of book you don't just read once, but return to when the world compels you to forget that you're on the land as much as Indigeneity reminds us that we are the land too. As a trans man I found so much of the book resonant.
There were relentless epiphanies strewn throughout the book. Does Krawec know what kind of gift she has given us? I hope so. The chapter Niinwi was the most moving and from the first few lines onward I was captivated, with an ache of recognition of what "us but not you" means (transness is how I know this feeling well). It reminded me of the importance of spaces where whiteness (and its accordant -isms) has no such power. If it's not self-defined and led by the Indigenous community it is for, what "us" is really being constructed? Each chapter beginning with the story of Kwe, told throughout the book set the tone for each chapter like a satisfying stretch first thing in the morning. The story of Kwe does this with readers' minds a little bit too, mirroring the mycelial, whose interdependent threads was interesting to contemplate in some parts of the book. There are certain ways of seeing the world (privileges) that the book disrupts, or at least shakes loose so the rattle encourages its removal altogether. One example is the use of "whitestream" instead of the smoke and mirrors "mainstream". It made the book feel a little safer for my transness to rest before Krawec's storying.
There's a weird absence now, in the space the book used to be, on my "Currently Reading" list. It's like the weight of the book went from being its individual volume to Krawec's collected works; It is heavy, but not in a load-bearing way. It is the anticipation of what else Krawec has to tell readers about the world, themselves, and Indigenous effervescence. I am so grateful for this book and highly recommend it.
I read the book as a trans, neurodivergent settler so my solidarities were strong. Every chapter of the book left beautiful discursive gifts, written upon my mind, trickling into my soul. I'm a reader who takes copious notes but I hesitated, even though I felt the urgent necessity of wanting to preserve the beauty of the exacting prose. It seemed too presumptuous and almost a little rude, to write down notes from the stories Patty Krawec shares when I could see myself needing its wisdom and wonder in future. While contemplating the book I was brought back to sitting by the Grand River where I live in Ontario, seeing Krawec's book as a similar source of life: you can make notes, you can draw it, you can even photograph it, but nothing will ever be as enriching as returning to its shores to be present with it. It's the kind of book you don't just read once, but return to when the world compels you to forget that you're on the land as much as Indigeneity reminds us that we are the land too. As a trans man I found so much of the book resonant.
There were relentless epiphanies strewn throughout the book. Does Krawec know what kind of gift she has given us? I hope so. The chapter Niinwi was the most moving and from the first few lines onward I was captivated, with an ache of recognition of what "us but not you" means (transness is how I know this feeling well). It reminded me of the importance of spaces where whiteness (and its accordant -isms) has no such power. If it's not self-defined and led by the Indigenous community it is for, what "us" is really being constructed? Each chapter beginning with the story of Kwe, told throughout the book set the tone for each chapter like a satisfying stretch first thing in the morning. The story of Kwe does this with readers' minds a little bit too, mirroring the mycelial, whose interdependent threads was interesting to contemplate in some parts of the book. There are certain ways of seeing the world (privileges) that the book disrupts, or at least shakes loose so the rattle encourages its removal altogether. One example is the use of "whitestream" instead of the smoke and mirrors "mainstream". It made the book feel a little safer for my transness to rest before Krawec's storying.
There's a weird absence now, in the space the book used to be, on my "Currently Reading" list. It's like the weight of the book went from being its individual volume to Krawec's collected works; It is heavy, but not in a load-bearing way. It is the anticipation of what else Krawec has to tell readers about the world, themselves, and Indigenous effervescence. I am so grateful for this book and highly recommend it.
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