I do not know why, but I watched every single second of season 8 of Love Is Blind. I had a lot of thoughts and feelings and felt like this entire cast needs to do some serious reading. So, this month for Require Reading, I’m giving a book recommendation to every single cast member. I expect book reports from all of them, ASAP!

**Please note, this post contains spoilers for Season 8 of Love Is Blind.**

VIRGINIA

Throughout the season Virginia prided herself on her faith and her moral compass, and she didn’t use her faith as a way to exclude or remove rights from vulnerable communities, she used it as a way to embrace those folks. For the church girlies who get it, like Virginia, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw is a must read story collection. Yes, you can love Jesus and be about sex, vengeance, and a delicious peach cobbler.

DEVIN

Devin came out looking really bad on this season of Love is Blind. He started out as a nice simple guy, but as the season went on we found his political beliefs excluded LGBTQ rights, a woman’s right to chose, and other conservative views (he never said this but at the reunion Virginia said clearly what her beliefs were as a way to highlight what Devin’s were not). My rec for Devin? The Grift: The Downward Spiral of Black Republicans from the Party of Lincoln to the Cult of Trump by Clay Cane which explores the history and present of Black Republicans. Devin’s people.

TAYLOR

Besides loving Christmas and Daniel we know Taylor loves Taco Bell, so what better to read than a book about fast food? Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Schlosser gets into the nitty gritty of the industry which, while interesting, might make her love the Taco Supreme dissolve.

DANIEL

We all know basically one thing about Daniel, it is that he loves Christmas. Christmas as a personality isn’t my thing, but this isn’t about me. This is about Daniel embracing his favorite holiday with a classic short story collection from Truman Capote, A Christmas Memory. It is heartwarming yuletide goodness about a boy and his unlikely bond with his “eccentric old cousin”,  and the holiday that Daniel can’t seem to get enough of.

MONICA

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott is the story of the March sisters who–while they love each other–also find themselves wrapped in  intense moments of jealousy and rivalry, which is all I could think about when I watched Monica and her sister. Not to mention the whole passing around of the boyfriend thing and the “fam jam” sessions that were reminiscent of the March sister’s self produced attic productions.

JOEY

While we all know Joey is nowhere ready for marriage yet, this book, How to Stay Married: The Most Insane Love Story Ever Told by Harrison Scott Key, feels like something that might get through to him. The author is a funny, loveable dude who is actually sort of a jerk, sounds familiar, right? It follows Key and his wife after she cheats on him with their neighbor and tackles what went wrong in their marriage and what, if anything, will work it out. It is very Joey coded.

SARAH

Oh Sarah, there is only one book for you, a woman who wants to be seen as doing good, but who actually betrays her ideals in service of a man, and it is called Mothers of Massive Resistance: White Women and the Politics of White Supremacy. The book is all about the ways white women have fought in service of white supremacy and the patriarchy even when it is not in their best interest. Sarah might claim the moral high ground, but we see you.

BEN

If Ben is anything he is mediocre as hell. Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America by Ijeoma Oluo has Ben’s name written all over it.  The book is about the ways white male mediocrity has triumphed over all other things even and has led to a country that is dead set on continuing the trend. Oluo does a great job of explaining how a guy like Ben (and his fellow castmates) would end up being seen as desirable.

LAUREN

Lauren got dealt a bad hand, not only did she pick a guy who is obsessed with his “sister” she got weirdly and stupidly slut shamed on TV for hooking up with a dude prior to going on the show. Lauren, you need to embrace the pleasure and joy of sex again. My pick? Come as You Are: The Surprising New Science That Will Transform Your Sex Life by Emily Nagoski. This book will get you back in the saddle and feeling good in no time.

DAVE

Because Dave is so obsessed with his “sister”, the only answer here is V. C. Andrew’s Flowers in the Attic about some extremely questionable family dynamics. I think he and his “sister “would approve.

MADISON

My pick for Madison is a classic from Edith Wharton called The Custom of the Country. It’s the story of Undine Spragg, a girl from the midwest who moves to New York with her family after they fall into money. She is beautiful and cunning and has a lot of suitors. Also, she sneaky as hell, always looking for a better option, and is what some might call “unlikable”. But, just like Madison, I was rooting for Undine even when I was annoyed by her behavior. I think Madison will see a kindred spirit in Undine.

MEG

Something we learned very early on about Meg is that she is not one to shy away from conspiracy theories and scenarios whether it has to do with ant holes or aliens. I think she would lose her shit for Nuclear War by Anne Jacobsen which predicts what would happen should a nuclear war break out. It is haunting and horrifying and just the right kind of make you go “hmmmm” for Meg.

ALEX

I don’t want to get into the allegations against Alex, not my job. I’m here to suggest he read Excavations by Wendy C. Ortiz about the five years in her teenaged years where she was groomed by her teacher.

Martyr!

MASON

Mason strikes me as a pretty lost guy who likes things but also needs help figuring out what he is doing with his life, which reminds me a lot of Cyrus from Kaveh Akbar’s Martyr!. That being said, I really loved Cyrus and barely could remember which one Mason was, but thats not super important here. I think mostly, Mason would like the book because there is art and dreams and deciding between a lot of life paths.

BRITTANY

After her rough go in the pods with Devin, I knew I wanted a queer romance for Brittany, but I’m no romance expert so I reached out to my girl, Jess Lee, who I rely on for all things romance and here is the book she said is a must read for Brittany, Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers. It’s about a woman who is feeling stuck in her life and trying to figure out what comes next as she slowly falls in love with a woman she married in Vegas on a whim.

MOLLY

Molly revealed at the reunion that she is open to dating women, she also strikes me as the kind of woman who might get herself entangled in mess easily. Big Swiss by Jen Beagin is about a woman who transcribes sessions at a sex therapist’s office and becomes obsessed with one of the clients. Not only do I think Molly would like it, I could see Molly living it.