This week, the Corgis, my spouse, and I are in Kentucky! Dylan loves nothing more than playing in the backyard and can usually be found waiting by the back door, begging for someone to go outside and play fetch with him. Gwen can’t figure out if she’s in love or if she’s terrified by my parents’ three cats. She’s constantly following them around and stealing their food, so I suspect it’s a little of both. This week we have new titles and books about food! But first, let’s jump into bookish goods.
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Bookish Goods
Cats on Bookshelves by C Pickering Co
I love book sleeves, especially for paperbacks that can get torn up in bags. And this pattern! I mean, come on — books AND cats? This was made for me! Just love it so much. $14
New Releases
A Stranger in Your Own City: Travels in the Middle East’s Long War by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad
For far too long, outsiders have reported on war zones, creating a never-ending series of parachute journalists. But Ghaith Abdul-Ahad writes about the war in Iraq as someone from there and someone personally invested in every piece he writes. This book draws from his long career in journalism on the Iraq war.
What Looks Like Bravery: An Epic Journey Through Loss to Love by Laurel Braitman
When her dad is diagnosed with terminal cancer, Braitman doesn’t know how she’ll cope with the grief of losing him. She ends up traveling around the world running away from so many of the difficulties she faces, but eventually, she has to return to confront the feelings she fears enough to leave the modern world behind.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
Black, White, and the Grey: The Story of an Unexpected Friendship and a Beloved Restaurant by Mashama Bailey and John O. Morisano
I love a memoir that plays with format, and Black, White, and the Grey is the perfect example of why that is. This memoir is written in turn by Mashama Bailey and John O. Morisano, the two co-owners of The Grey, a restaurant in Savannah, Georgia. Their memoir describes how Morisano, a Italian from Staten Island, and Bailey, a Black chef from Queens, came to become business partners. They write in alternating sections, each author’s text appears in different fonts. They each share their perspective on their story, but working in tandem. On the audiobook, they each read their own section, creating this unique back and forth feel, like you’re listening to them describe their experience starting the Grey on some panel at a food festival. I loved every minute of it.
Koshersoul: The Faith and Food Journey of an African American Jew by Michael W. Twitty
Michael W. Twitty is no stranger to connecting his cultural background to the food he cooks. I loved his first book, The Cooking Gene, which followed the results of his commercial genetics test that showed his different racial and ethnic backgrounds. He shared the different foods from his heritage and how they connect to who he is now. His latest book, Koshersoul, follows his spiritual and cultural journey as an African American Jewish man. He describes the history of African and African American Jewish people and how their experiences have deeply impacted Jewish cuisine. I just love learning more about how food connects us with our culture, and Twitty’s books are always so incredible and engrossing.
That’s it for this week! You can find me over on my substack Winchester Ave, over on Instagram @kdwinchester, or on my podcast Read Appalachia. As always, feel free to drop me a line at kendra.d.winchester@gmail.com. For even MORE bookish content, you can find my articles over on Book Riot.
Happy reading, Friends!
~ Kendra