Happiest of Fridays, nonfiction friends! The next few days are not looking especially releaxing for me (yay, helping with a move!), but I’m still excited to be away from screens and seemingly endless emails for a few days. For this week’s newsletter, I’m excited to recommend a couple of great memoirs for Hispanic Heritage Month, along with some great new books.
Bookish Goods
Book Lover Watercolor Print from BeWildandFree
I am absolutely in love with this beautiful watercolor bookshelf print. And if the rainbow isn’t your thing, it comes in a bunch of different colors and sizes. Love. $16+
New Releases
The Future is Disabled: Prophecies, Love Notes and Mourning Songs by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
I feel like I am taking inspiration from Kendra in sharing this book with you, which is great – her attention to disability in nonfiction has been opening my eyes to books I may have overlooked previously. This book was written during the pandemic, during two years of isolation which offered Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha some space to ask questions like “What if disability justice and disabled wisdom are crucial to creating a future in which it’s possible to survive fascism, climate change, and pandemics to bring about liberation.” It sounds so interesting.
All That is Wicked: A Gilded Age Story of Murder and the Race to Decode the Criminal Mind by Kate Winkler Dawson
Gilded Age criminology! In this book, a crime historian explores the story of Edward Rulloff, a prolific serial killer many thought was too smart to ever be caught. During his time, Rulloff chose his victims “out of revenge, out of envy, and sometimes out of necessity,” across multiple states and decades. Once he was finally caught, “mindhunters” of the time tried to understand him through the limited techniques available at the time. This sounds so, so good.
And don’t forget that for a more comprehensive list of new releases, you can always check out our New Books newsletter!
Riot Recommendations
September 15 – October 15 is Hispanic Heritage Month, so I wanted to highlight a few books you could read to celebrate. This week, I’m sharing two memoirs I really loved:
In The Shadow of the Mountain by Silvia Vasquez-Lavado
I just finished reading this one in September, and I am going to be recommending it a lot (although content warnings abound). As a child, Silvia Vasquez-Lavado experienced violence and sexual abuse at home. She came to the United States for college, then managed to make it big in Silicon Valley… all while hiding her sexuality, trying to manage her alcoholism, and repressing her trauma. After hitting a deep low, she turned to mountain climbing as therapy. The book tells her story, along with following her quest to lead a group of female sexual assault survivors on a climb to Mount Everest Base Camp before attempting the summit herself. That sounds like a lot, but the whole book comes together beautifully, with emotional highs and lows as well as a terrifying mountain climb. I tore through it.
Ordinary Girls: A Memoir by Jaquira Díaz
This is another memoir about overcoming childhood trauma and violence that’s equally as moving and inspiring. Jaquira Díaz grew up in housing projects in Puerto Rico and Miami Beach, first with her family and then with friends and relatives after her mother’s schizophrenia became too much to deal with while parenting. She writes about coming into herself amidst violence, discovering her sexual identity, and connecting with her found family. This one is so vivid and evocative and full of heart.
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!