Sponsored by Amazon Publishing.
This Black History Month, join Amazon Publishing in celebrating contemporary Black storytellers. Scarlet Odyssey is an epic fantasy read by CT Rwizi. In the short personal reflection Before Her, Jacqueline Woodson reflects on the people who shaped her before she met Juliet, her one and only. Black Boy Out of Time is journalist Hari Ziyad’s eloquent memoir about growing up Black and queer in America. The Unspoken by bestselling author Ian K. Smith is the story of a private investigator seeking justice on the streets of Chicago. Read these books today.
Welcome to your mid-week nonfiction new release check-in. What a great time to be had by all. I know I say this frequently, but I am extremely jazzed about all the new releases coming out now and in the coming months. There’re some really great books! People keep investing their life and time into giving us information, and I continue to be grateful for it. THANKS, AUTHORS. Now here’re some new release highlights for this week:
Midnight’s Borders: A People’s History of Modern India by Suchitra Vijayan
If you want to learn more about India and would like an on-the-ground view, here you go. Stories range from “children playing a cricket match in no-man’s-land, to an elderly man living in complete darkness after sealing off his home from the floodlit border; from a woman who fought to keep a military bunker off of her land, to those living abroad who can no longer find their family history in India.” I’m amazed this is shorter than 400 pages, because there’s so much to encompass here, but she did it. There’s also some truly gorgeous photography included.
The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together by Heather McGhee
Kim talked this up on this week’s episode of For Real! If you listen to her talk about it, you will want to buy this immediately. McGhee is an expert in economic and social policy, and this book explains how we got to such raging inequality: “[t]his is the story of how public goods in this country—from parks and pools to functioning schools—have become private luxuries; of how unions collapsed, wages stagnated, and inequality increased; and of how this country, unique among the world’s advanced economies, has thwarted universal healthcare.” Ahhh I’m so excited about this book! Tell me why things are and what we should do!
Radiant: The Dancer, The Scientist, and a Friendship Forged in Light by Liz Heinecke
Hello, I am in love with this cover. This is a women’s history/women friendship book! Art Nouveau dancer Loie Fuller used radium (I know) in her performances, and through that, became friends with Marie Curie. This is about that friendship, the Art Nouveau movement, and Paris at the turn of the century.
For more nonfiction new releases, check out the For Real podcast which I co-host with the excellent Kim here at Book Riot. If you have any questions/comments/book suggestions, you can find me on social media @itsalicetime. Until next time, enjoy those facts, fellow nerds.