A few days after Christmas, the Corgis, my spouse, and I are headed to Kentucky to spend New Year’s with my parents. The Corgis LOVE their big backyard. But my favorite is sitting in front of their fireplace, working on my plans for BookTube content. Of course, there’s an Appalachian Friendsmas and endless tacos.
Are you looking for the perfect gift for that bookish special someone in your life this holiday season? Tailored Book Recommendations is here to help! Here at TBR, we pair our customers with a professional book nerd (aka bibliologist) who just gets them. They fill out a survey and then sit back and relax as we pick books just for them. We’ve got three levels — recs-only, paperback, and hardcover — and you can gift a full year or one time, so there are options for every budget! Get all the details at mybtro.com/gift.
Today, we’re talking about some of the buzziest and best books of the year. But first, bookish goods!
Bookish Goods
Vintage Floral Library Stamp by laseretchedco
I love custom library stamps! This one is the perfect little custom stamp for the corners of one’s favorite books. So cute. $12
New Releases
For these last few weeks of the year, I’m featuring picks from earlier in the year that you won’t want to miss!
A Man of Two Faces: A Memoir, A History, A Memorial by Viet Thanh Nguyen
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen writes about his life coming to the U.S. as a Vietnamese refugee, touching on the larger colonial powers at play and the experience of living out his everyday life.
When My Ghost Sings: A Memoir of Stroke, Recovery, and Transformation by Tara Sidhoo Fraser
In one of my most anticipated disability literature releases of the season, Tara Sidhoo Fraser describes her experience of losing her memory after a stroke in her early 30s. She wakes up, seemingly dropped in someone else’s body. Who is she? And will she ever regain her memories and sense of self?
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter!
Riot Recommendations
A Dangerously High Threshold for Pain by Imani Perry, Read by Imani Perry
Earlier this year, I listened to the audio edition of Imani Perry’s essay, A Dangerously High Threshold for Pain. You may know Perry from her National Book Award-winning book South to America, which was my favorite book of the year when it came out. In this essay, Perry writes about her experiences living with chronic illness and the pressure she feels to be excellent in all things. But the truth is, she can’t do everything. Eventually, Imani is diagnosed with Lupus and Graves Disease, and her doctor warns her that her dangerously high threshold for pain often results in her ignoring her body’s need for rest. Perry narrates the audio version, and her performance has stayed with me since I first heard it.
Wolfish: Wolf, Self, and the Stories We Tell About Fear by Erica Berry, Performed by Lessa Lamb
Sometimes, the very concept of a book catches my eye, and I have to read it ASAP. That’s what happened with Wolfish, a book where Erica Berry delves into societal ideas around wolves. What do wolves symbolize to human civilization? How has that perception impacted society today? These are just a couple of the big questions that Berry examines. Lessa Lamb deftly performs the audio edition, making the listening experience fly by, even in sections that I imagine might be a little dry to read in print. I loved every second of Lamb’s performance.
That’s it for this week! You can find me over on my substack Winchester Ave, over on Instagram @kdwinchester, or on my podcast Read Appalachia. 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