Lindy West’s is the voice we need in 2019 – she’s snarky, sensible, accessible, inclusive and aware, and above all, hilarious. In The Witches are Coming, West takes her reader on a journey through pop culture, visiting Adam Sandler movies (are they actually good?), internet-famous cats (are their owners monsters?), the GOOP wellness convention (will Gwyneth Paltrow’s next step be selling her own literal shit?) and much more. But this is also a very political book – West is constantly asking how one might make change in the world to improve it for marginalised people and future generations.

I think the energy of this book can be summarised pretty neatly with the following quote: ‘Whatever your sphere is, however big or small, you get to make choices within it, and if you care about healing the wounds of the world I hope you become a real demon bitch about diversity and never let anyone sleep.’ Amazing. West’s writing is equally delightful whether she’s putting out a call to arms like she does in this quote, discussing the finer points of internet culture, or comparing what politically right-wing men consider to be a witch hunt to what a witch hunt actually was (spoiler alert: being reprimanded on Twitter is quite different to being burnt at the stake).

This book is firmly situated within the author’s own cultural context, so if you eschew U.S. politics and culture, this might not be the best choice for you. But anyone who calls the internet home will fit right in within these pages. These essays will make you laugh, but they’ll also harness your rage, make you think about how things might be changed or improved, consider why we ridicule what we do, and what impact that has. Lindy West is a force to be reckoned with, and she’ll make you cackle like the witch you surely are.

Ellen Cregan is the marketing and events coordinator.