Category: True Story

Although slavery of Native Americans was illegal in much of the United States, it was still practiced for centuries as an open secret in many states, and was not part of the abolitionist movements that sought to end slavery for Black Americans. In this history, Andrés Reséndez argues that mass slavery, rather than disease epidemics, destroyed Indigenous populations across North America. This is a part of American history I’ve never heard about but am eager to learn.

This book challenges some of our received ideas of Native American history, including that history basically ended in 1890 with the massacre at Wounded Knee. Instead, David Treuer shows that Native people didn’t disappear, and that their work to preserve language, traditions, and culture means that their story is “one of unprecedented resourcefulness and reinvention.” This is another book that blends memoir and reporting to look at how challenges of each historical era led to new and creative survival mechanisms among native people.

In his thematic follow up to his first book, The Cooking Gene, Michael W. Twitty is back to discuss more about how his identity is connected to the food in his life. Twitty is a Jewish African American man who finds solace in celebrating both parts of his identity, especially how Jewish African cuisine is wholly unique and deeply meaningful to his community. The book is structured in a series of essays that examine Jewish African culture and experiences from several different angles, always returning to food. Koshersoul is a beautiful tribute to Twitty’s faith and culture, all of which are reflected in the food he cooks. Twitty’s writing always provides a unique perspective on the huge role food plays in people’s lives, and challenges readers to rethink how they view the role of food in their own lives.

The last editor of Gourmet Magazine, Ruth Reichl, writes about her time at the magazine, which was an institution of food writing for decades. Reichl describes how she became the editor, the steep learning curve that she found herself on, and the wild ride that was Gourmet’s last years. As a sucker for anything that sits at the intersection of food and publishing, I adored reading about Reichl’s experience.

This book looks at two big eras of American democracy — the liberal era from the passing of the New Deal through the 1970s, and the neoliberal era “of privatization and austerity” from the 1970s forward. Ganesh Sitaraman, a legal scholar and policy expert, argues that as the neoliberal era starts to fall apart, we have the chance to look at what’s next — nationalist oligarchy or “great democracy.” I’m excited to read this one to get a sense of the kinds of things we may need to do to get to the culture we want.

After the 2016 election, scholars Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt began to ask an almost unheard of question — is our democracy in danger? Both have spent more than 20 years studying the breakdown of democracy in Europe and Latin America, and so in this book, turn what they’ve learned to the United States. They argue that democracy, more often than not, ends with a whimper — a slow eroding and weakening of critical institutions and political norms. I appreciate historians who can make connections to today, so this is definitely on my list.

Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha follows up their incredible book Care Work with The Future Is Disabled. Piepzna-Samarasinha writes about the last two years of surviving COVID-19 as a disabled femme of color in an ableist world that isn’t interested in protecting disabled folks. They also discuss mutual aid and disabled joy in the face of isolation and discrimination.

The pandemic has been incredibly difficult for disabled people who have been asked to “take one for the team” by wider society. Piepzna-Samarasinha writes encouragement to disabled folks, relishing in our community’s creativity in our fight for survival. They also mourn those lost in the pandemic and the care crisis so many of us still face.

Amy Kenny writes a call to the broader Christian community, asking the church to change its mistreatment of disabled people in their midst. She emphasizes that disabled people, and our bodies, are still image bearers of God. But far too often, people ask disabled people what we have done wrong to “deserve” the curse of our body. Or they say we would be healed if we “just prayed enough.” Obviously, these church members are way out of line, and Kenny calls them out on their ridiculous notions.

Heading into this book, I worried that Kenny would hold back, but she did not. Instead, she demands that the church change their behavior and stop harming disabled people with their ableist perspectives. She writes clearly and directly, giving a number of examples, including many from her own life. She also gives readers an introduction to some disability 101 concepts, and recommends further reading. Overall, this is an excellent tool for disabled people to advocate for ourselves and share with others.

Dr. Pamela Munster is one of the top oncologists in the country, treating breast cancer patients who came to the University of California. At 48 years old, Munster learned her mammogram showed “irregularities,” and was diagnosed with breast cancer herself. This book combines her personal experience with the BRCA gene mutation along with her academic research around breast cancer and other inherited cancers. That combination seems particularly powerful for a memoir on this topic.

Robin Roberts is a well-loved anchor for Good Morning America who has experienced many of her most difficult times while being on television. In this memoir, she writes about her breast cancer diagnosis, followed five years later by a diagnosis of a rare blood disorder. She also writes about losing her mother, returning to work after medical leave, and the lessons she has learned along the way. I have to think this one would be excellent as an audiobook. 

For most of his career, Randall Kenan was described as a “writer’s writer,” a writer who isn’t loved by the general public per se, but people in his field really respect and admire his work. Shortly after Kenan died in 2020, his short story collection, If I Had Two Wings, was longlisted for the National Book Award. Its reception introduced Kenan’s work to a whole new audience.

Black Folk Could Fly is a posthumous collection of nonfiction works from throughout his career. In it, he writes about his childhood in rural North Carolina, his move to New York City to work on his writing career, and his travels around the country to interview Black people about their experiences. Kenan was always pondering, what does it mean to be Black in America today? Through his writing, we can see the progression of his thought process as he mulls over this question and reads other Black writers on the topic.

Jeanna Kadlec gives us a peek into her life growing up in conservative Chrstianity. She always felt belittled by the members of her church because she was a woman. Women would take her aside and tell her she needed to dress and behave more modestly. Men wouldn’t take her intellect seriously. And as a woman, she struggled to feel like a full fledged member of the church because the men didn’t want her to speak or pray during services. She always wanted to be the perfect Christian girl. She married a pastor’s son and waited to have sex until she was married. But even doing all of these things didn’t make her happy. She eventually realized that the faith she had been told was the only true way to live was actually very flawed and abusive to her emotionally and spiritually. She filed for divorce, came out as queer, and completly changed the direction of her life.

Like she says in the beginning of the book, she didn’t just leave the church because she’s a lesbian. Long before she realized that she was queer, Kadlec understood that the Christian culture she grew up in was incredibly harmful. From this starting point, Kadlec gives readers a more complex view of her faith experience. She also discusses that healing from religious trauma can take all sorts of different forms, and there is no singular way to come to terms with your faith.

First published in 2011 and updated in 2022, this book is a look at five centuries of Latine history in the United States. Journalist Juan González begins with America’s colonization and continues through the 2020 election, showing the growing impact of Latine people on American culture and politics. He offers profiles of Latine pioneers, including stories about why they came to the United States, giving voice to many different experiences.

This book is described as a “revolutionary, politically charged narrative history” that uses the stories of African American and Latinx people to show how U.S. history is a story of “the working class organizing against imperialism.” Paul Ortiz links historical movements like segregation, Mexican labor organizing, and the Civil Rights Movement to show how different historically oppressed groups worked together to push back against the dominant narrative. I’m interested to learn how these stories all work together.

Fresh Off the Boat and Crazy Rich Asians star Constance Wu went viral when she tweeted that she was disappointed that Fresh Off the Boat was renewed for a sixth season. After receiving such intense backlash, Wu left social media and her mental health began to spiral. She ended up entering a mental health facitility for depression and suicidal ideation. Now she’s returned to the public eye with this new collection of essays. Wu writes about her life as the daughter of Taiwanese immigrants living in Richmond, Virginia. And if you love audiobooks, Wu performs her memoir, creating that perfect pairing when a writer performs their own work.

New Yorker writer Hua Hsu writes about his young adult years in college meeting his friend Kevin. Hsu describes the unique magic of college life, feeling like the world is stretching before you with endless possibilities. Hsu details his days trying to find the most unique, the most well-thought out piece of cultural knowledge that would prove he understood culture more than anyone else. But Kevin didn’t seem to care that Hsu felt he had something to prove. Despite all odds, and incredible differences, Hsu and Kevin became great friends. Hsu’s writing is incredible, succinct, just the right amount of stylized beauty and depth of content.

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.

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.

If you want to dig deep into how weather forecasting works, this is the book for you! Andrew Blum is interested in systems and infrastructure, the nitty gritty of how things we take for granted actually work. The book explores the history of weather forecasting, the current network of weather monitoring stations, the computer models that run current forecasts, and the potential impacts of climate change, privatization, and more on the forecasts we take for granted.

This book is a little more of a stretch, but I didn’t think it was fair to suggest books about the weather without acknowledging the impact that climate change is having on the extreme weather we’re experiencing. This book is a collection of essays by Black intellectuals and experts across disciplines looking at how anti-racist policies would impact all of us. There’s a fascinating section looking at the climate movement, highlighting the systematic changes needed to ensure environmental justice for all.