Hello friends! Since we got back from the beach, we’ve been fighting colds. So I’ve been thinking A LOT about comfort home cooking. In honor of that, today we’re going to be looking at two of my favorite cookbooks. For your regular Corgi update, Dylan and Gwen are slowly recharging after their vacation spent frolicking around the beach and making friends with my aunt’s cats. They truly had the best time, but now we’re recharging by listening to audiobooks while I play Cult of the Lamb on Switch. Truly, the preoccupations of champions. Okay, enough of all that. Let’s jump into the books!
But before we do, make sure to check out First Edition, the new podcast started by Book Riot co-founder Jeff O’Neal. It explores the wide bookish world, with interviews, lists, rankings, retrospectives, recommendations, and much more, featuring people who know and love books. Subscribe to First Edition on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your podcatcher of choice.
Bookish Goods
emotional support kindle sticker by Yaffa Store
Here is one for all my kindle lovers out there! I don’t see a lot of cute merch for e-readers, so I’m always delighted to see them when I do. And is this not just too cute? $4
New Releases
Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden by Camille T. Dungy
Camille T. Dungy works to diversify her garden, looking to include all sorts of different herbs, vegetables, and grasses. She uses her garden as a metaphor for the beauty diversity brings to society. Soil also includes some incredible nature writing.
We’ve Got This: Essays by Disabled Parents edited by Eliza Hull
Disabled people are parents. That shouldn’t come as a shock. But some nondisabled folks can’t even imagine it. Disabled parents from a wide range of backgrounds and disabilities share their experiences being parents and what that looks like for them.
For a more comprehensive list, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
Simply Julia: 110 Easy Recipes for Healthy Comfort Food by Julia Turshen
I love Julia Turshen. She has such a warm way of describing her love of food. Turshen has written several cookbooks, but Simply Julia is my favorite. This cookbook includes intervals that are like essays in-between sections of the cookbook. There, Turshen describes her inspirations for various recipes and her cooking style. She explains that her wife had to go on a strict medical diet, so to be supportive, Turshen began reworking her recipes so her wife could eat them. The food we cook is often an act of love for the people in our lives, and you feel that truth on every page of Simply Julia. Plus, the recipes are incredible.
In Pursuit of Flavor: The Beloved Classic Cookbook from the Acclaimed Author of The Taste of Country Cooking by Edna Lewis
I don’t hear enough people outside of Appalachia or the South discuss how incredible Edna Lewis is. Her recipes move with the season, always focusing on what is fresh and readily available. She’s practical, often giving you substitutes in the text as needed. But what I love about her best is the descriptions of WHY she makes certain choices with her cooking. Like why she hates using a lot of baking powder because she hates the aftertaste it leaves in baked goods. Her work is truly vital to both Appalachian and Southern cuisines, and although she is gone now, she has left behind such an incredible legacy.
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