Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed.
I just got back from a work retreat in LA where I got to meet a lot of the awesome people I work with for the first time. I also got to try some amazing food, which I will share in today’s newsletter.
Now for the club!
![vegetarian empanadas](http://newsletters.riotnewmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/MG_7147.jpg)
Nibbles and Sips
Lemme tell you about the amazing eggplant empanadas I had. They were so unexpectedly good! This page has other recipes for more vegetarian Argentinian empanadas, which all sound good, but I chose this one in particular because the chimichurri looked perfect. So, so good.
Now for some nonfiction.
Bewitching Nonfiction
![A graphic of the cover of White Magic by Elissa Washuta](http://newsletters.riotnewmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/White-Magic.jpg)
White Magic by Elissa Washuta
Washuta grew up surrounded by appropriations of her Indigenous spirituality in the form of things like “witch kits” full of sage and other trendy items. Once she experiences addiction, PTSD, abuse, and a psychiatric misdiagnosis, she undergoes a healing process that involves realizing the power of her ancestors. This collection of essays is about her journey, and is full of thoughts on colonization, love, and pop culture.
![Toil and Trouble: A Women's History of the Occult cover](http://newsletters.riotnewmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/51PJZriIBnL._SX331_BO1204203200_.jpg)
Toil and Trouble: A Women’s History of the Occult by Lisa Kröger and Melanie R. Anderson
This just came out and is about iconic magical women and nonbinary people throughout U.S. history. The blurb mentions it covers all matter of witchery, “from Salem to WitchTok,” and everyone from voodoo queen Marie Laveau to Elvira. It also gets into the politics and differences in culture between occult practitioners.
![Mojo Workin': The Old African American Hoodoo System cover](http://newsletters.riotnewmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/13697064.jpg)
Mojo Workin’: The Old African American Hoodoo System by Katrina Hazzard-Donald
Funnily enough, when I try to find nonfiction books on hoodoo, they are usually overly dry looking or written exclusively by white people. There’s nothing inherently wrong with either, but I do think books on a Black spiritual practice should have a few more written by the people from the actual culture. That’s partially why Mojo Workin’ by Hazzard-Donald is so good. It’s engaging and has that extra spark that comes from someone writing about their own culture. And the author’s tracing of hoodoo from traditional African religions to modern-day Black church practices is interesting to say the least.
![In Defense of Witches cover](http://newsletters.riotnewmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/51AlPaFhCeL.jpg)
In Defense of Witches by Mona Chollet, translated by Sophie R. Lewis
Chollet, a celebrated French feminist writer, looks at the history of witches and what they have represented according to society. She identifies three main types of women who were at risk for being labeled a witch, a label that basically meant the inverse of gender norms and ostracization. This has the added bonus of having a forward from Carmen Maria Machado.
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Suggestion Section
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I hope this newsletter found you well, and as always, thanks for hanging out! If you have any comments or just want to connect, send an email to erica@riotnewmedia.com or holla at me on Twitter @erica_eze_. You can also catch me talking more mess in the new In Reading Color newsletter as well as chattin’ with my new co-host Tirzah Price on the Hey YA podcast.
Until next week,
-E