To the Corgis, this week is known as “food week.” A number of delicious smells enter the house on a weekend, and half a week later, I start cooking all of the things, often dropping tasty morsels of green beans and potatoes on the floor. For most of my adult life, I’ve cooked Thanksgiving at home, inviting college students, international grad students, or chosen family to come over and spend time with my spouse, the Corgis, and me. But this year, it’s just the four of us.
Besides learning how to halve all of my recipes written to feed 8-12 people, I’m learning to sit in the quiet, to appreciate the small joy that comes from cooking a meal for my favorite people (errr Corgis?). Whenever I’m cooking, I listen to audiobooks. So today is all about great nonfiction books on audio. But first, new books!
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Bookish Goods
Dark Academia Book Blanket by Ink and Shadow
This blanket is perfect for a chilly night on the couch reading a good book. There’s even a cat! So cute. $68
New Releases
Critical Hits: Writers Playing Video Games edited by Carmen Maria Machado and J. Robert Lennon
In this anthology, writers explore the impact that video games have had on our lives. From Elissa Washuta to Alexander Chee, each author has their own take on the fantastical world to be explored, all through their TV and computer screens.
Longstreet: The Confederate General Who Defied the South by Elizabeth R. Varon
It’s about that time of year when we all scramble to find and present the best dad books we possibly can. One potential candidate is Longstreet, a biography of a Confederate General who changed his perspective after the war. He went on to push for Black voting rights and led a militia against white supremacists in Louisiana.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
Crazy Brave by Joy Harjo, Performed by Joy Harjo
“I loved poetry. It was singing on paper.” In this memoir of her early life, Joy Harjo describes her experience coming into her own as a young woman and as a poet. Harjo, of the Mvskoke/Creek Nation, describes how the stories passed down to her sparked her imagination. She paid close attention to the plants, trees, and animals around her, taking her time to better understand the natural world. On the audio edition, Harjo gives a stunning performance, often singing the poems in the text rather than just reciting them.
The Fire This Time edited by Jesmyn Ward, Performed by Cherise Boothe, Michael Early, Kevin R. Free, Korey Jackson, Susan Spain
Back in 2016, Jesmyn Ward edited this phenomenal collection of essays responding to the ideas in James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time. The collection includes writers like Kiese Laymon, Edwidge Danticat, Honoree Jeffers, Carol Anderson, Jericho Brown, Clint Smith, Claudia Rankine, Isabel Wilkerson, and more. Ward’s essay centers around the idea that knowing where you come from is a privilege that many Black people don’t have. Through the course of the essay, she describes how she bought her parents DNA tests. Her dad found out that he was 51% percent Native American. Eventually, her dad was able to reconnect with his Indigenous heritage by enrolling with the Choctaw of Slidell, Louisiana.
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