Hello, bookish friends! We just made it back home from Sunny California to chilly South Carolina. The Corgis are exhausted from playing with their canine cousins for a week, so today the whole family has been huddled on the couch recovering from so much excitement. Is there anything better than a Netflix fire playing in the background while you enjoy a warm cup of tea on a cold evening? This week, we have more gift options for the nonfiction lovers on your list. Plus, I share some true crime books — let’s jump right in!
Bookish Goods
2022 Merry Bookmas Ornament by Gift Goddess Co
I love giving ornaments to family and friends during the holidays. It’s like capturing a memory and hanging it on a tree. This one is especially cute and perfect for booklovers. $11
New Releases
Sister Novelists: The Trailblazing Porter Sisters, Who Paved the Way for Austen and the Brontës by Devoney Looser
For the classic literature lovers in your life, Sister Novelists examines the lives of the Porter sisters, two novelists who began publishing their novels at the end of the 18th century. They reached international fame only to have their reputation dragged through the mud by men taking credit for their writing. Now Looser is reintroducing readers to these two talented women.
The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Science lovers abound, and who is better at fascinating science books than Siddhartha Mukherjee? This time Mukherjee is giving us a tribute to the cell: its discovery, and what scientists are investing in it next. I love Mukherjee’s clear and direct writing, and even though I haven’t had a science class since high school, I can understand Mukherjee’s scientific explanations.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
This week on Read or Dead, the podcast I co-host with Katie McLain Horner, we’re talking about true crime! I love this crossover of my work here at True Story and on the podcast. So let’s briefly chat about my picks. You can find the complete episode on Book Riot’s main website, or wherever you get your podcasts!
Seven Fallen Feathers by Tanya Talaga
Journalist Tanya Talaga investigates the deaths of seven Indigenous high school students in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Each one of these students moved from rural locations in the northern part of the province to attend school. Talaga pieces together the students’ lives, trying to better understand why each student died. Woven throughout is the dark history of the residential school system across Canada and its lasting effects on Indigenous communities across the country.
The Third Rainbow Girl by Emma Copley Eisenberg
Eisenberg volunteered to work for a nonprofit in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. She ended up living there for years, falling in love with the region and its people. But while there, she learned of two middle-class, white women who were murdered as they were traveling through the area. The Third Rainbow Girl combines Eisenberg’s own story of working in West Virginia, the case of the two “Rainbow Girls,” and the history of Pocahontas County. Even with its many moving parts, Eisenberg deftly weaves a story together to create something wholly unique.
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