Hello, bookish friends! Gwen and Dylan are staying at their aunt and uncle’s house while my husband and I are in San Francisco for the holiday weekend. From the first time I laid eyes on it, I’ve loved this part of California. Whether you like vibrant cities, cozy towns, or lush landscapes, there’s always something new around the corner to discover. And, of course, there are plenty of great bookstores. So let’s jump into a couple of books I’m keeping my eye out for!
Bookish Goods
Banned Book Club Dad Hat by Standout Shirts Studio
Here’s one for all the dad hat lovers out there! Support banned books all year around with this conversation-starting hat. $32
New Releases
Tiny Beautiful Things (Tenth Anniversary Edition) by Cheryl Strayed
Before her book Wild became a national sensation, Cheryl Strayed wrote an advice column called “Dear Sugar.” Strayed collected some of her columns and published them as Tiny Beautiful Things. Now, 10 years later, Strayed has added a few more columns to this incredible collection.
The White Mosque by Sofia Samatar
Science fiction and fantasy writer Sofia Samatar has written something different this time: a memoir that draws heavily from travel writing, creating something wholly unique. Samatar retraces the steps of German-speaking Mennonites who traveled from Russia into Central Asia. She combines her study of this history as she reflects on her own heritage as a Swiss-Mennonite and Somali-Muslim.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories of Social Upheaval by Saidiya Hartman
Saidiya Hartman writes incredibly beautiful prose. She describes the lives of young, urban Black women as they go about their lives. Hartman wanted to tell the story of the Black women she read about that were mentioned in passing or that appeared unnamed in photographs. She investigates their lives, researches their pasts, and invites readers to bear witness to these women who are all too often lost from history. This book is incredibly captivating and intricately crafted. I found myself mesmerized while wandering through the past.
The Recovering: Intoxication and Its Aftermath by Leslie Jamison
I’ve read a lot of Leslie Jamison’s essays, and her sentences are incredibly well crafted, and her narrative voice draws me in like few others. So when I saw she had a full-length memoir/contemplation of the nature of alcoholism and art, I knew I had to read it. In The Recovering, she describes her experience with alcoholism and her slow acceptance that she needed to get sober and that she couldn’t do it on her own. She examines so many moving parts, I wondered how she would stick the landing. But she does. And so much of her writing has stayed with me.
That’s it for this week! You can find me over on my substack Winchester Ave or over on Instagram @kdwinchester. As always, feel free to drop me a line at kendra.d.winchester@gmail.com. For even MORE bookish content, you can find my articles over on Book Riot.
Happy reading, Friends!
~ Kendra