Happiest of Fridays, nonfiction friends! My reading funk has continued through the week, but I think I may have finally diagnosed the problem. My last nonfiction read, Invisible Child by Andrea Elliot, was just so stellar, it’s kind of ruined every other book since then and I don’t know what to read that scratches that reading itch. But I am on the lookout and hope to report back on a success!
Reading Notes Bookmark Printable from AlainaPerryDoodles
I’m trying to get better about taking notes while I read, but I am terrible about remembering to have a notebook nearby. While I could just rip out a notebook page to use as a bookmark, I recently found these cute printable reading notes bookmarks that I think would be both fun and useful to use. Buy the digital download and print as many as you want!
New Releases
Everything I Need I Get from You: How Fangirls Created the Internet as We Know It by Kaitlyn Tiffany
In this book, internet culture reporter Kaitlyn Tiffany dives deep into the world of superfandom, specifically the girls and young women who have shaped how we interact with the internet today. Tiffany herself is a fangirl of One Direction, so she brings the kind of insider-outsider perspective I love most in my reported nonfiction. I haven’t read any of this one, but from the description and reviews, my sense is that it’s a book that has fun with some of the most extreme examples of fandom while also giving it— and the women who participate— the kind of serious attention they deserve.
Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation by Linda Villarosa
In 2018, Linda Villarosa published a blockbuster article exploring the maternal and infant mortality rates of Black mothers and their children. Although many studies had demonstrated these poor outcomes, her article was one of the first to bring them into popular discussion. This book expands on those ideas, looking at the larger forces in healthcare and society that mean Black people “live sicker and die quicker” due to many preventable causes. She also explores the public health impact of racism, a timely and important addition to this topic.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
This Sunday is Father’s Day which, like Mother’s Day, can be both a joyful and complicated celebration depending on your family situation. Today I wanted to share a couple of recent page-turning memoirs that explore complicated father relationships:
Somebody’s Daughter: A Memoir by Ashley C. Ford
As a child, Ashley C. Ford wished that she could turn to her father for advice and encouragement – especially during times when her relationship with her mother was at its worst. The problem is that her father was in prison, no one in her family would talk about why, and he had no idea when he might be getting out. That backdrop sets the stage for a very moving memoir about growing up poor, female, and Black in the Midwest. Ford writes about being surrounded by family but feeling on the outside, her relationships with her mother and grandmother, and the ongoing trauma of a teenage sexual assault. It’s a beautiful, evocative memoir.
Nowhere Girl: A Memoir of a Fugitive Childhood by Cheryl Diamond
As a child, Cheryl Diamond’s family was always on the run. For many years, she assumed this was normal. Didn’t all families constantly change names, rewrite their personal histories, and live in fear of international law enforcement? The ringleader of this adventure was her father, a man Diamond both adored and feared due to his stranglehold on the family. As a teenager, Diamond started to explore the lies their life was built on and the crimes that turned them into fugitives, eventually splitting from her family as an adult. This book is an absolutely bananas ride from start to finish – I read it in less than a day and have pushed it on so many readers who found it equally as vivid and gripping. Trigger warning for childhood sexual abuse.
For more nonfiction reads, head over to the podcast service of your choice and download For Real, which I co-host with my dear friend Alice. If you have any questions/comments/book suggestions, you can find me on social media @kimthedork or send an email to kim@riotnewmedia.com. Happy weekend!