Gwen and Dylan have had THE BEST time playing with all of Gwen’s new toys, especially this giant dinosaur egg from Costco. Little dinosaurs fit inside, and Gwen has spent an incredible amount of time trying to get them all out. At our house, the Corgi not having a birthday also gets a toy. This helps keep a happy household. Plus, I love buying more toys for the Corgis. While they were busy shredding their new treasures, I’ve been enjoying seeing all of the incredible disability literature on my social media feeds. Disability Pride Month is such an important moment for disability communities. And I love celebrating all of these incredible books by disabled authors. So we’re going to talk about two more of those today!
But first, what do S.A. Cosby, Khaled Hosseini, Sarah Bakewell, and Yahdon Israel have in common? They’ve been guests on Book Riot’s newest podcast, First Edition where BookRiot.com co-founder Jeff O’Neal explores the wide bookish world. Subscribe to hear them and stay to hear Book Riot’s editors pick the “it” book of the month.
Bookish Goods
Honeycomb Stained Glass Bookends by Nebukitty
I’ve been looking at figuring out more storage for my books (a never-ending problem), and I found these. Ugh, just so cute. I am so glad bees are having a moment right now. $90
New Releases
Under the Eye of Power: How Fear of Secret Societies Shapes American Democracy by Colin Dickey
Colin Dickey is back with another investigation into the hidden and mysterious parts of American culture. This time, he’s talking about secret societies and how they, and the fear of them, has impacted America. I am so ready for this book!
Life on Other Planets: A Memoir of Finding My Place in the Universe by Aomawa Shields, PhD
Dr. Shields is an astronomer and astrobiologist at the top of her field. But one time, she was a young Black woman with an older white professor who told her that she didn’t fit in. After a decade away from her studies in science, she returned to finish her PhD.
For a more comprehensive list, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson
Several years ago, I read Jenny Lawson’s first book Let’s Pretend This Never Happened. It’s a hilarious book about Lawson’s life in Texas. She describes her father’s love of taxidermy and the first — quite eventful — time that her husband met her parents. Her stories are full of the fun and weird things that can happen to us all. Lawson experiences both mental and physical chronic illness. Her work highlights how one can impact the other. And if you are an audiobook fan, she reads her memoir. With her excellent comedic timing, the audiobook of Let’s Pretend This Never Happened is perfection.
Year of the Tiger: An Activist’s Life by Alice Wong
Born long before the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed in 1990, Alice Wong has watched the world change before her eyes. Now in her memoir, she describes trying to find her own accommodations throughout her life, especially at college, which wasn’t prepared for a student like her who needed a number of different kinds of accommodations. Wong includes photos, transcripts, and articles from throughout her life, giving readers a multimedia sort of memoir. Wong’s stories have been so impactful for so many of us, and it was an honor to read her memoir (or listen to it, in my case).
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