Happiest of Fridays, nonfiction readers! This week marks my last bit of time away from work for the summer. I’m taking a long weekend Up North, as we Minnesotans like to say, to sit by a big lake and enjoy some quiet time away from screens. I hope your weekend is equally as restful!
In this Friday’s newsletter I’m excited to share books on computers, reading, and gardening. Let’s go!
Bookish Goods
Lake Superior Bookmarks from MichiganLandscapes
Bookmarks with pictures of a beautiful lake? I am sold! You can get this superpack of six for $15, or browse many other options. Michigan isn’t Minnesota, but the view is close enough!
New Releases
Proving Ground: The Untold Story of the Six Women Who Programmed the World’s First Modern Computer by Kathy Kleiman
At the close of World War II, countries around the world were competing for the next great technological achievement. In the United States, six pioneering women were racing to figure out how to program the world’s first electronic computer, the ENIAC. There were no instructions or programming languages to guide them – everything they figured out they did on their own. To write this book, researcher Kathy Kleiman met with four of the six women, recording extensive interviews about their experiences as some of the earliest women in technology. I am such a fan of books that explore the hidden contributions women have made in science, so getting this one is high on my list.
How to Read Now: Essays by Elaine Castillo
Who doesn’t love reading a book about reading? In this linked essay collection, novelist Elaine Castillo explores the politics and ethics of reading, going beyond the traditional arguments about empathy and diversity to find “a more entangled relationship not just with our fiction and our art, but with our buried and entangled histories.” She looks at our relationships with the classics, “settler colonialism” in beloved authors, and more to encourage “a more complicated, embodied form of reading.” That all just sounds so good.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
I have never been particularly good at starting or maintaining a garden, but I love the idea of fresh summer produce or just connecting more deeply with the natural seasons around us. With that in mind, here are two nonfiction reads about growing:
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Robin Wall Kimmerer is a botanist and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, two perspectives she weaves together beautifully in this book about the lessons we can learn from other living beings. While not specifically about growing food, this book argues that we need to expand our environmental consciousness to connect more deeply with the rest of the living world. This book has gotten nothing but rave reviews from everyone I know who has read it.
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver
Originally published in 2007, this memoir from novelist Barbara Kingsolver shared her family’s experience moving to a farm in southern Appalachia and their personal quest to spend a year only eating locally-produced foods. Reprinted in 2017, the 10th anniversary edition expands on the original with new contributions from each member of the family sharing how their original, year-long effort has expanded or changed their lives since then. This book is so charming, and a true inspiration if you want to think more deeply about your food.
For more book recommendations, check out these lists from Book Riot:
- The Books That Are Shaping My Garden by Jenn Northington
- 10 of the Best Books for Plant Lovers by Katherine Packer
- Trying to Grow Your Own? Read These Books about Gardening by Aisling Twomey
For more nonfiction reads, head over to the podcast service of your choice and download For Real, which I co-host with my dear friend Alice. If you have any questions/comments/book suggestions, you can find me on social media @kimthedork or send an email to kim@riotnewmedia.com. Happy weekend!