Happy reading to you! I hope in the midst of this world of chaos, you are just letting your reading go with the flow and not putting any undue pressure on it, because things are hard enough, y’know? Also, I’m all about that DNFing now. Have you read Danika Ellis’s I’m Breaking Up With 3-Star Reads? I was a big fan, despite not being able to go quite that far yet (it is a process).
There are so many books out there and maybe we should lean into the ones that really make us think or that we really enjoy, and not spend on our times on just okay ones. Something to think about! Maybe some of these new releases will be your 4 or 5 star reads:
Another Appalachia: Coming Up Queer and Indian in a Mountain Place by Neema Avashia
Avashia is a teacher and writer who grew up in West Virginia and identifies as a queer, Desi, Appalachian woman. She expands the stereotypical notions of Appalachia to show its true complexity, while exploring its “foodways, religion, sports, standards of beauty, social media, gun culture, and more.”
A Block in Time: A New York City History at the Corner of Fifth Avenue and Twenty-Third Street by Christiane Bird
Author Bird looks at one particular block in New York City and tells its history, from the time of the Lenape, through Dutch colonization, the nineteenth century (including the Gilded Age — how relevant!), to the twentieth. This covers theaters, factories, gambling dens, and colorful characters of the time.
What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo
Journalist and producer on This American Life, Foo looks at complex PTSD (C-PTSD) and how it has impacted her life. She travels to her hometown in California and examines the impact of immigrant, as well as inherited, trauma. Be aware that this book discusses physical and emotional parental abuse.
Don’t forget you can get three free audiobooks at Audiobooks.com with a free trial!
For more nonfiction reads, check out the For Real podcast which I co-host with the excellent Kim here at Book Riot. If you have any questions/comments/book suggestions, you can find me on social media @itsalicetime. Until next time, enjoy those facts, fellow nerds.