Category: True Story

This incredible cookbook is a 2019 James Beard Award Finalist. Plus, it was named a Best Cookbook of the Year by The New Yorker, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, New York Times Book Review, Houston Chronicle, Food52, PopSugar, and more. This phenomenal cookbook invites readers into the diverse range of Filipino cuisine with all of its many influences, including Chinese, Arab, Mexican, and Spanish cooking techniques. The authors invite readers to learn more about the origins of their recipes, creating a cookbook that is such a wonderful celebration of Filipino cooking.

My favorite cookbooks are those that have at least some little snippet of storytelling in them. I want to know more about where the recipe came from. Where did the cookbook author first discover their love of food? In Bibi’s Kitchen does that and more. Somali chef Hawa Hassan talks to bibis (grandmothers) from South Africa, Mozambique, Madagascar, Comoros, Tanzania, Kenya, Somalia, and Eritrea. They share their recipes and wisdom around their love of food. This cookbook feels like travel writing, a memoir, and a cookbook all rolled into one!

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.

Opinions collects the work of Roxane Gay, and includes celebrity profiles, advice columns, cultural criticism, and opinion pieces. I have enjoyed Gay’s writing since I first read her essay collection Bad Feminist. But it can be hard to keep up with all of her pieces that have been published in different outlets over a decade. But now, the best of her published writing from across the internet is all in one place! She interviews artists like Janelle Monáe and writes about the legacy of Chadwick Boseman’s portrayal of Black Panther. She strikes a beautiful balance of vulnerability and relatability, writing essays that have just the right amount of personal touch. This collection is perfect for stolen moments at holiday parties or family dinners.

Nezhukumatathil’s World of Wonders stands as one of my most recommended books of all time. So, naturally, when I heard about her latest essay collection, Bite by Bite, I knew I had to get my hands on a copy. Each essay centers around one of Nezhukumatathil’s favorite foods. They can be ingredients or finished dishes, but they all hold a special place in Nezhukumatathil’s heart. In one essay, she describes how she has so many wonderful memories around eating mangoes. In another, she shares how her mother taught her that it’s not a party without lumpia. The print edition of the book includes stunning illustrations by Fumi Nakamura. Bite by Bite is the perfect gift book for any food lover.

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. 

I was so pleased to see that Liliana’s Invincible Summer just won a Pulitzer! Cristina Rivera Garza’s sister, Liliana, was in college when she was murdered by an ex-boyfriend. Decades later, Cristina goes to Mexico City in search of her sister’s case file. But when the police inform her that Liliana’s case file was lost, she decides to make a sort of file of her own, an act to force the world to bear witness to her sister’s life. The rest of the book is comprised of memories that Rivera Garza has of her sister while they were growing up. We learn about all the squabbles they had as kids and all the love they shared as they got older. Rivera Garza also interviews Liliana’s friends from college in Mexico City. This way, Rivera Garza creates a collection of snapshots of her sister’s life leading up to the time of her death. This memoir is truly a stunning testament of sisterly love.

Samra Habib grew up as an Ahmadi Muslim in Pakistan, eventually fleeing violence against people from their sect and finding refuge in Canada. At first, Habib thought that all their problems might be solved, but in their new country, they faced racism and Islamophobia. And as they grew up, they began to realize that they weren’t exactly straight. Habib writes their memoir with no fear of presenting themself as a messy, very flawed human being. They work through their sexuality and faith throughout their story, eventually coming to a place that works for them. Their story doesn’t end wrapped up in a pretty bow. Instead, it’s more untidy, glorious in its own imperfections. This is a queer memoir unlike anything I’ve ever read and definitely worth your time.

Dr. William H. Turner introduces readers to the history of Black Appalachian coal towns, places that many outside the region may not have even realized existed. He describes daily life and the economic boom they experienced after WWII. They were also cultural centers with their own magazines and organizations. And, of course, he also follows the region’s decline, which deeply affected these towns and was eventually their downfall. Dr. Turner strives to ensure that these places, the places he loves, are not forgotten.

Jeanna Kadlec gives us a peek into her life growing up in conservative Christianity. 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 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 completely 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.

Alissa Quart follows several different working-class and lower-middle-class families as they try to navigate a world growing more and more expensive. From childcare to healthcare, American families can barely afford the necessities, let alone anything “extra” that might come up. Quart really pushes the idea that our country should better value caregiving, both for early childhood and for seniors. You can really tell a lot about a country by how it treats its less wealthy citizens, and for America, it’s not always looking good.

Marie Mutsuki Mockett is a biracial Japanese American writer whose family has been farming in Nebraska for generations. So, Mockett decides to follow the migrating wheat harvesters on their journey through Texas, Oklahoma, and eventually back to her family’s farm in Nebraska. As someone who has spent most of her life in urban centers, Mockett begins to reevaluate the assumptions that she has about the wheat harvesters. She begins to realize that there is a lot more to these men and women than she first thought.

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 a much-needed perspective of their home regions.

Back when Nicole Chung was the editor of Catapult Magazine, she noticed that there were a lot of essays around the themes of immigration. She teamed up with fellow editor Mensah Demary, and they brought together 20 essays by first and second-generation immigrants. These writers share the complex experience of moving to the U.S. Each writer describes their experiences living between cultures and how that has impacted their sense of self.

Raechel Anne Jolie grew up as a working-class kid on the outskirts of Cleveland. When she was just a girl, her father was hit by a drunk driver, which ended their way of life forever. From there, her childhood was spent moving from home to home, never seeming to stay for long. She finds the alt scene downtown and begins to discover a whole new world that she feels irrevocably drawn to. This tiny memoir is a shining testament to a love of working-class people, the Midwest, and queer culture.

Brian Broome couldn’t wait to leave northeast Ohio. He spent his childhood as a queer, Black kid never fitting in. But no matter where he moved, he still faced racism and homophobia. He describes how he coped with sex and drugs, always trying to forget the trauma he’d experienced while searching for belonging. Broome’s prose is incredible, with every word chosen for a reason. His memoir is full of heart and a deep sense of longing.

Literary powerhouse Morgan Parker is out with a new collection of essays that examine Parker’s feelings of alienation in just about every part of her life. She describes living with depression and a deep sense of loneliness. Her experience with disability impacts every aspect of her life. She shares stories of her white therapist, who proved unhelpful in Parker’s experiences as a Black woman with mental illness. In other essays, she expands from ideas of the personal, giving her readers a bigger picture of Black life in America. Morgan Parker is truly a gem of a writer, one with a unique perspective always worth reading.

Ann Gazmarian grew up as a devout evangelical, but when she’s diagnosed with bipolar disorder, she finds that many of the Christians in her community are far from supportive. Some people think that she must have done something wrong to have warranted such a diagnosis, while others don’t believe that mental illness even exists. Her diagnosis starts her journey away from the evangelical church to a spiritual place wholly new to her. Gazmarian’s writing is contemplative, and constantly examines her faith, her place in the world, and how she can move forward with her life.

Iliana Regan grew up on a small farm in Indiana, going out on foraging expeditions with her family members and learning how to live with the land around her. As she grew older and began to realize she was queer, she tried to bury that knowledge with alcoholism and an intense amount of work in the food industry. As she worked her way up through the restaurant world, she discovered her calling, the thing that gave her purpose. She began to focus more on ingredients, remembering her childhood spent searching for ingredients with her family. Regan writes about her complex inner world, struggling to stay sober and create a better world for herself where she accepts who she is and becomes her best self.

I’ve had my eye on this cookbook for years, so you can imagine how excited I was to receive it as a gift. Bottom of the Pot is the winner of the IACP 2019 First Book Award, presented by The Julia Child Foundation. It combines essays and recipes to create that unique pairing of cooking from a very personal place. Deravian gives us a diverse collection of Persian recipes, adding sections about how to treat individual ingredients so we get the best results.