Now that we’re back into the new year, I realized I needed to take more photos for my Bookstagram. When I pulled out my camera, Dylan got out of his bed by the Christmas tree (we never get ours down before February, TBH) and plopped down, ready to model. He has eight years of book modeling experience. Few people can say the same! And I have to say, he has excellent taste in books.
2024 is the tenth year of the Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons and diversify our TBRs. To get book recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. We’ll also keep you informed about other cool reading challenges, readathons, and more across the bookish internet. If you become a paid subscriber, you get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with a community of passionate, like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. Sign up today!
Well, today we have some new books to tell you about. Plus, let’s give it up for women in STEM. But first, bookish goods!
Bookish Goods
Cozy Sun Cat Bookmark by SavvyLeaStudio
These are handmade bookmarks depicting five styles of cat in front of a radiating sun. The bookmarks are printed and laminated in the studio, corners are rounded for comfort. I don’t know about you, but I may need one of each. $5
New Releases
So Fetch: The Making of Mean Girls (And Why We’re Still So Obsessed with It) by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
Mean Girls has become a beloved classic, especially for us Millennials. But why? Author Jennifer Keishin Armstrong delves into what has made Mean Girls the cultural touchstone that it is.
Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture by Kyle Chayka
Spend any time trying to create content, and you’ll know that social media algorithms suck. But Kyle Chayka looks deeper, attempting to explain how algorithms are actually narrowing users’ worldviews.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey Into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein’s The Disordered Cosmos took the world by storm when it was released in 2021. This book also received a delightfully ridiculous number of accolades, including the 2021 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Science & Technology, the 2022 Phi Beta Kappa Book Award in Science, the 2022 PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award, and it was a finalist for the 2022 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. Dr. Prescod-Weinstein dives into ideas around physics from her perspective as a Black woman scientist. She discusses how science, like other fields, contains an intense amount of sexism, racism, and other kinds of oppression. I really appreciate her viewpoint, and she deftly explains a scientific field that I have zero background in. There’s something about Dr. Prescod-Weinstein’s enthusiasm for the topic that is infectious.
Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World by Rachel Ignotofsky
I’m always looking to learn more about prominent women in history, especially key figures in traditionally male-dominated fields. So, I love Rachel Ignotofsky’s books about women from history. The first one is about women in science. Each woman is featured on a beautiful two-page spread filled with her biography, fun facts, and incredible illustrations. And if you love this one, there’s also Women in Sports and Women in Art. Yes, I do indeed own them all and would recommend them to anyone and everyone.
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