Author: Kendra Winchester

“I loved poetry. It was singing on paper.” In this memoir of her early life, Joy Harjo describes her experience coming into her own as a young woman and as a poet. Harjo, of the Mvskoke/Creek Nation, describes how the stories passed down to her sparked her imagination. She paid close attention to the plants, trees, and animals around her, taking her time to better understand the natural world. On the audio edition, Harjo gives a stunning performance, often singing the poems in the text rather than just reciting them.

Back in 2016, Jesmyn Ward edited this phenomenal collection of essays responding to the ideas in James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time. The collection includes writers like Kiese Laymon, Edwidge Danticat, Honoree Jeffers, Carol Anderson, Jericho Brown, Clint Smith, Claudia Rankine, Isabel Wilkerson, and more. Ward’s essay centers around the idea that knowing where you come from is a privilege that many Black people don’t have. Through the course of the essay, she describes how she bought her parents DNA tests. Her dad found out that he was 51% percent Native American. Eventually, her dad was able to reconnect with his Indigenous heritage by enrolling with the Choctaw of Slidell, Louisiana.

Many of us remember the incredibly popular Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, in which Dee Henderson argued that Indigenous culture functionally ended at the massacre at Wounded Knee. But in The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee, Ojibwe writer David Truer writes about how Indigenous cultures across Turtle Island are very much alive. Following Indigenous history from 1890 to the present, Truer features interviews and research about Indigenous peoples preserving and celebrating their cultures. The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee presents an Indigenous history that is very much alive and ongoing.

Investigative journalist Tanya Talaga writes about the long-lasting impact of residential schools on Indigenous youth today. In the 1960s, a 12-year-old Indigenous boy froze to death while trying to escape a residential school. Talaga follows how this boy’s death is connected to the deaths of seven Indigenous high school students from 2000 to 2011. Talaga combs through archives and interviews Indigenous elders, students, and school administrators, illustrating how this one northern, small-town school is emblematic of Canada’s history of settler colonial violence against Indigenous peoples across the continent.

Before Eyeliner, Zahra Hankir edited a collection of Arab women journalists reporting from the Arab world. Palestine, Egypt, Yemen, Syria — these journalists report on wars, uprisings, and protests. From their vantage point, they are able to tell stories that male journalists would never have access to in their own work. They center women’s experiences as they write about sexual assault or trying to travel without a male relative. Western society often carries a lot of assumptions about the Middle East. These brave Arab women are here to tell their own stories, risking everything to bring their much-needed perspective of their home regions.

After the memoir Hillbilly Elegy hit shelves, everyone began crafting their own opinions about the region. J.D. Vance certainly had his. In Appalachian Reckoning, writers from a wide range of backgrounds respond to Vance’s memoir, sharing what they feel he got wrong (or right, in some cases). Meredith McCarroll and Anthony Harkins write about how they wanted to give Appalachian people a platform to respond to the now incredibly famous book that painted all of Appalachia —millions of people across 13 states — with a single brush. But Appalachia, just like the rest of America, is not a monolith.

Hall’s gorgeous book delves into the world of planting crops by the signs in the stars. It’s a beautiful blend of culture, folklore, and foodways rooted in generations of tradition. Hall talks to central and eastern Kentuckians who have been planting by the signs for decades. They all have their own traditional practices of crop planting. Some gardeners plant by the phases of the moon, while others use the stars to guide their lives as a whole. Wilson’s photos are stunning, making this book an incredible gift for any gardener or general plant lover.

Former Kentucky Poet Laureate Frank X Walker coined the term “Affrilachian” to refer to the unique experiences of Black Appalachians. A is for Affrilachia is a beautiful children’s alphabet book that highlights the accomplishments of Affrilachian people across the region. In the back of the book, there is more detail on each of the people, places, or things mentioned, giving adults more information to share with the kids in their lives. It’s a great way to start conversations about the importance of Affrilachian people to the region. This book makes a great gift, and I’ve already bought several copies for baby showers and birthday presents.

In one of my favorite memoirs of the year, Cristina Rivera Garza chronicles how she tries to track down her sister’s last days before she was murdered. Rivera Garza interviews Liliana’s friends at university, goes through her journals, and looks through official documents. But Liliana’s Invincible Summer is not a true crime story. Instead, it’s a beautiful testament celebrating Liliana’s life and the joy she brought to the world.

Nicole Chung is one of my favorite nonfiction writers. From her memoir All You Can Ever Know to her newsletter for The Atlantic, Chung writes with such vulnerability and clarity. A Living Memory follows Chung’s experience with the death of her father and her mother’s diagnosis of cancer. But when the pandemic arrives, Chung finds herself unable to be with her mother in her last days. This memoir is so intimate, so heart-rending, as Chung voices what many of us experience when a loved one passes away and we can’t be there for them. A Living Memory is truly a stunning book.

I’ve given Salt Fat Acid Heat to everyone I can think of, even going to the length of buying several copies to have on hand just in case I need a last-minute gift. Nosrat walks readers through concepts around cooking, particularly around ideas about the elements of salt, fat, acid, and heat. She doesn’t just tell you what or how to cook; she describes WHY we cook in certain ways. This gives home cooks the tools to create their own delicious dishes without having to follow a recipe from someone else.

Rodney Scott took over his parents’ barbecue place and wanted to take it to the next level. Scott began trying new things with barbecue and worked through the logistics of cooking a ridiculous amount of it. Eventually, Scott received a James Beard Award for his mastery of BBQ, establishing himself as a legend of South Carolina BBQ traditions. His cookbook delves into his story and shares some of Scott’s favorite recipes.

If you love narrative nonfiction, Ghostland will be right in your wheelhouse. In this book, Colin Dickey travels around America to inspect the most haunted places in the nation. Hotels, abandoned hospitals, empty prisons — no location is too creepy or sinister for Dickey. He asks deep questions about how we, the living, relate to these haunted spaces and how these moments and places from our past impact our future.

Heid E. Erdrich (yes, she’s the sister of Louise Erdrich) edited this anthology of new Indigenous poets. There’s such a range of different kinds of poetry in this collection from poets from many different Native Nations, giving you a broad look at Indigenous poetry in the 21st century. After reading these poems, you’ll be itching to look up each contributor to find more of their work.