Category: True Story

Ronni Lundy won a James Beard Award for this incredible Appalachian cookbook. It examines the ways the recipes have been handed down, from family member to family member, turning into the recipes we love and know today. Some people outside the region might be surprised to learn that South Appalachia’s cuisine is made up of a diverse range of food traditions that often overlap in unique ways. Using some of the world’s simplest ingredients — like beans, corn, and greens —Lundy gives readers a walkthrough on how to create incredibly delicious and complex dishes. Johnny Autry’s photos are an incredible companion.

Edna Lewis is an Appalachian treasure. Every time I begin looking for new recipes from this book to try, I find myself immersed in detailed discussions about why Lewis has crafted a recipe in a certain way. Sometimes she describes why she doesn’t want to use baking powder for a biscuit recipe because of its aftertaste. Or maybe she’s describing why a certain ingredient must be in season for the recipe to work. These seemingly small details (to the modern home cook, anyway) are vitally important to Lewis’ approach to food. These recipes represent a master at work.

I first read Roxane Gay after her essay collection Bad Feminist hit shelves. Since then, Gay has written essays, celebrity profiles, and advice columns. Opinions includes the best of Gay’s writing, giving readers little snapshots of Gay’s life over the course of the last decade. There’s a profile of Janelle Monáe describing how Afrofuturism influenced their album Dirty Computer. Gay writes about #MeToo from her perspective as a survivor of sexual assault and pushes it further, discussing what it’s like to be well-known for being a survivor of sexual violence. In other less-serious pieces, Gay includes her delightful sense of humor and a practical take on what’s going on in the world.

Sometimes, you read a writer, and you just find yourself mesmerized by their prose, wondering how on earth they do it. For me, Jenn Shapland is one of those writers. Her essays are beautiful. They would feel otherworldly if she didn’t anchor each piece in lived reality. In one essay, she writes about being diagnosed with thin skin, a condition that makes her ultra-sensitive to things like pollen and certain foods.

Jody Lulich saw his mom die by suicide when he was just 9 years old. His Black mother and white father met at a civil rights rally. After his mother died, Lulich’s father became withdrawn. Left to deal with these traumatic events on his own, Lulich became determined to go to college and take care of himself. Eventually, he becomes a veterinarian, and caring for animals helps him heal. The memoir is full of heart. There are happy moments before his mom died. His elderly neighbor becomes a second mother to him, encouraging him to push himself, rethink what’s possible, and pursue his dreams. Throughout the memoir, Lulich examines what it means to be a biracial Black man in America while pursuing a career as a veterinarian. (University Of Minnesota Press)

Perfect for photography fans, The Unintended looks at the innovation in photography at the end of the 19th century. Huerta presents readers with a book that examines how systemic forms of oppression impacted the aesthetics and concepts of identity in America. While industrialization increased, the world of photography changed as well. This impacted property law as society began to try to control what photographs could legally be taken and what could not. These laws were driven by ideas around capitalism, such as what forms of expression could be owned and controlled. Huerta does a deep dive on this topic, deftly describing the different philosophies that impacted America’s intersection of photography and property law. (NYU Press)

I adore the intersection of food and culture. So much of the connection between human beings happens over a good meal. Christine Ward writes about how religious movements have impacted food traditions and what society eats as a whole. Pythagoras told his followers not to eat beans, and Kosher and Halal food rules dictate that shrimp are off limits. Throughout history, food culture has evolved, and Holy Food looks at the impact of the Great Awakenings on what and how people eat. The book also features dozens of recipes from different religious communities. (Process)

Culinary historian Diane M. Spivey writes about how Black cooks created the cornerstone of American cuisine as we know it today. Enslaved African people brought their cooking traditions to the U.S., using local ingredients to recreate the dishes from their homelands. Black cooks have historically been left unacknowledged for their careful cultivation of African American cuisine. Spivey shines a light on the cultures and traditions that Black cooks have preserved throughout the centuries. There are recipes and discussion of how certain staples of cuisine came to be, so readers can recreate many of the dishes Spivey discusses in the text. (University of Pittsburgh Press)

Last year during the HarperCollins strike, a lot of great books flew under the radar. So I wanted to feature one that I adored. Heretic by Jeanna Kadlec is the story of Kadlec’s experience growing up as an evangelical Christian. She tried to do everything she was supposed to do. She tried to dress modestly, she married a pastor’s son, and she tried to follow what she thought God wanted her to do. But as her marriage begins falling apart, she starts to realize that she certainly is not straight, and the evangelical faith tradition isn’t actually as loving and inclusive as she thought it was. This is an incredible memoir about a crisis of faith and coming of age in your late 20s and early 30s.

I love Ashley C. Ford’s writing, and back in 2021, I couldn’t get my hands on her memoir fast enough. Ford grows up feeling isolated and misunderstand. Her family says she’s overly sensitive, but her dad gets her. Except, her dad is in prison, and she’s not sure how he got there. This beautiful memoir of working through one’s trauma, learning to let go, and make a new, better life for oneself is incredible. Ford’s insights and observations invite readers to view the world, and their own lives, in a whole new way.

Daisy Hernández’s memoir in essays chronicles her Cuban Colombian upbringing as her family worked to make a home for themselves in the United States. Hernández’s life is filled with the women of her family teaching her the way to love and be loved. They teach her how to be in the world. But her tía disapproves of Hernández’s queer relationships, never accepting her partners. Full of love and loss, A Cup of Water Under My Bed is an incredible story of a woman and her love for her family.

Jaquira Díaz moves with her family from Puerto Rico to Miami Beach. There, she lives a tumultuous childhood as her mother experiences mental illness. She finds refuge in her friends. Ordinary Girls is a story of resilience and coming-of-age as a queer Puerto Rican woman forced to find her own way in the world at an early age. Her prose is beautiful. It has a vibrancy to it that lingers in the mind long after you’ve finished the last page.

As someone with a disability, I love reading other disabled people’s stories and seeing how each is its own unique creation. In Golem Girl, Riva Lehrer was born with spina bifida. At the time she was born, there was very little support for parents with disabled children, and Lehrer internalized a lot of the ableism that she saw around her. But when she discovers a group of artists who use their work to express the deepest parts of themselves, Lehrer finds a new medium to work through her feelings around her identity.

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.

Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? is a hilarious book of discussion questions that kids have about death. In each chapter, Doughty, a mortician, answers one question that a child has asked her over the course of her career. From hair growth to pet death, Doughty tackles each topic with her signature wit and humor. Plus, she narrates the audiobook, giving listeners an incredible performance. If you find yourself on a car trip or just need something to entertain the kids in your life, Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? would be an incredible choice.

World of Wonders is a gorgeous book that’s perfect for giving to someone else or as a special treat for yourself. It’s full to the brim of love and enthusiasm for the natural world. Nezhukumatathil shares her love for everything from plants to animals to marine life. Plus, this book is a gorgeous keepsake, beautifully illustrated by Fumi Nakamura. This book is truly a one-of-a-kind reading experience.

Edited by the incredible disability rights activist, Alice Wong, this collection is a celebration of disabled people. As a disabled person myself, I found this collection such a joy to read. There are difficult circumstances discussed in the book, but each essay focuses on disabled lives and centers disabled people in the conversation. There’s such a broad collection of authors included in this essay, representing a wide range of races, ethnicities, sexualities, genders, religions, and economic status.

Dark humor is a staple of disability humor and few people do it better than Jenny Lawson. In her latest essay collection, Lawson shares hilarious personal anecdotes and gives a frank portrait of her life with chronic illness, anxiety, and depression. Balancing both serious and humorous topics can be quite the challenge, but Lawson is always more than up for the task!

Here’s one for history and biography lovers! The Dead Are Arising is an award-winning biography of Malcolm X. Les Payne worked on this book for decades, and when he passed, his daughter, Tamara Payne, continued his work and finished the book. The Dead Are Arising went on to receive dozens of accolades, including winning the National Book Award for nonfiction. This is definitely a book you won’t want to miss!

When I moved to the South, I realized that the Civil War meant a lot of different things to folks down here. One of the things I learned is how Southerners each go on their own journey with coming to terms with their identity. This book is a fabulous look at the author’s own journey to reckoning with the South’s past and its role in the Civil War. The new South, a more inclusive, accepting South, is on the rise.