Category: In The Club

I was looking at Kwanzaa recipes when I came across this bad boy. I don’t celebrate the holiday, but wouldn’t be opposed to it. I was just looking out of curiosity when realized that a lot of the recipes are just ones that are usually made in Black American homes for special occasions, which makes sense. Seeing the coconut cake recipe took me back! I swear I can almost taste the fresh coconut shreds. This one is given a bit of a special kick by adding vanilla and almond extract.

I read this super long ago, but still remember liking the magic system. Most of the magic in fantasy I’d read before this book was more overt, while the magic here was more subtle. Intuitive, even.

In it, Brian has a natural connection to the natural world around him that results in him having abilities and knowledge that others don’t. This isolates him until the wizard Od requests him to be her gardener. There’s a power inside Brian that he isn’t yet aware of — one that Od knows could threaten the oppressive rule of the kingdom.

This one was a more recent read, but still more than five years ago. I’ve been a fan of Locke ever since. Here, Caren is busy with the duties of her job managing the historic Belle Vie plantation house in Louisiana when the gardener tells her he’s found the body of a young woman. What follows is Caren realizing she doesn’t know as much as she thought she did about the other people who work there, or the history of Belle Vie.

I read this around 2018, but am just realizing it’s a retelling of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.” So I guess if you’re familiar with that, you may recognize the structure of the story. It was all new (and glorious) for me, though.

George and Cocoa’s relationship are the focal point of this story, and each chapter changes perspective so we have complete depictions of who they are as people — their past and present. Cocoa brings George to meet her family — Abigail and the titular Mama Day, who is the last in the family to have the magic touch — off the Georgia coast. There was so much in this book that was pleasantly familiar to me, but make no mistake, it will have you sobbing at the end.

This is another one that’ll have you messed up. The writing is so imaginative and beautiful, with fantastical elements strewn throughout. It’s also about the worst humanity has to offer, and is shown through the perspective of a death row inmate. He keeps to himself, reading and imagining the prison violence all around him as something more magical. When an investigator visits the prison to save a man who is about to be executed, the man’s past comes to light, revealing just how easily one can go from victim to perpetrator. This rec comes with all the content warnings if you hadn’t already guessed.

This is one that The New York Times, The Washing Post, and Amazon all say was one of the bests of the year. It’s also an Oprah Book Club pick and a book I already mentioned as a most-anticipated read for this fall. Well, I still haven’t read it, but I just might need to bump it up the list a bit.

It’s a retelling of David Copperfield, but with its critique of poverty, it feels like more somehow? Charles Dickens’ inspiration for David Copperfield was his own experiences with poverty as a child in England, and here, Kingsolver writes about a boy who grows up in the United States’ Appalachia. He’s the son of a single mother and survives foster care, bad schools, addictions, and other traumas endemic in poor, forgotten areas.

The NYT and Barnes & Noble both have this book on their lists. In it, science journalist Yong paints a vivid picture of all that can be sensed in the world. Turtles can outline the Earth’s magnetic fields, giant squids see sparkling whales, plants hold the songs of courting insects, and there are even humans who use sonar like bats. I love books that show how rewarding it is to step outside of our own, singular experiences as humans. This is definitely on my list.

Trust appears on The NYT’s, The Washington Post’s, and was even long listed for this year’s Booker Prize. Diaz was also a finalist for the Pulitzer for fiction and other awards. Suffice to say, my mans can write, and his latest is a layered story. There’s a book titled Bonds that tells a seemingly fictionalized story of a couple rising to wealth and status in the ’20s. But the main character of the novel has a lot in common with the real world (real world in the book, that is. Layers!) investor Andrew Bevel. If the novel was based off of a real person, are the rumors of how they got their money true? And did the mental health of the tycoon’s wife really decline? Now, one woman sets out to discern fact from fiction.

The NYT and WaPo both have this one on their lists. Hsu writes of the friendship he had in college with Japanese American Ken. He and Ken became close friends despite their seemingly immense differences — Ken was mainstream while Hsu was more of a rebel. Their friendship came to an abrupt end when Ken was killed during a carjacking only a couple years after they met. Stay True is a tribute to this relationship — it’s about coming of age as an outsider and finding where you belong.

I know this is pretty simple, but I also thought it was a really good idea when I first saw it. I’ve already tried it and it really is a simple, delicious thing to have, and of course, you can use whatever fruit you like! You just need fruit, honey/agave, and coconut whip cream (I bought mine premade, but I’m sure fresh is even better). I also think it would be a good idea to let the fruit sit for at least 30 minutes with the honey/agave to let the flavors meld (but of course not if you use fruit that browns). It’s pretty straight forward — you just finely chop fruit and add it to coconut whip cream — but here’s the original video, anyway.

I already love soup, especially around this time of year. The addition of corn dumplings makes my southern heart sing. The history of the three sisters — corn, beans, and squash — also holds a special place in Indigenous histories. I haven’t made this yet, but judging by the ingredients, it seems like it’ll have a slight chili taste. Well, actually just judging by the cumin because cumin very easily makes everything taste like chili to me. Follow the recipe here.

You may have heard of the botanist/author Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass, a book in which she extols the virtues of looking to plants and animals as teachers, a traditionally Potawatomi Nation perspective. This young adult version does the same thing, just in a way that is more accessible to younger readers (plus there are illustrations!).

Whew, what an intense story Terese packed into a mere 143 pages! After reading this memoir, I almost feel like I can call the author by her first name. Her writing was so personal and raw, after finishing the book, I felt like we needed to go get drinks somewhere and decompress. She talks about growing up on the Seabird Island Indian Reservation in the PNW, her PTSD and bipolar II diagnoses, her problematic relationship, and childhood abuse. Her writing was poetic, fluid, and pulled no punches. Y’all aren’t ready.

The encampment at Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota grew into the largest Indigenous protest movement of the century. In Our History Is the Future, Estes chronicles the history of Indigenous protest that led to standing Rock, and what it might lead to in the future.

Justice speaks on the states of Indigenous literature and Indigenous literature studies, and how necessary they are in dismantling a culture of colonialism. Indigenous writers do this by asking existential and interpersonal questions, and by doing so, challenge colonialist policies that have driven wedges between Indigenous people and their connections to each other and the land.

I am a simple creature. You fry a fish and I’ll eat it. Seriously, it may be a circumstance of my Nashvillian upbringing, but I love a good fish fry. This recipe does something new that I find super intriguing. It uses corn meal (which I’m used to for frying fish), but also ground up roasted pine nuts. You follow the usual steps for frying fish, you just add pine nuts that you’ve roasted and ground for five minutes to the dry fish fry before you coat the fish and fry it in oil at 350 degrees.

Reading the title and looking at the cover had me thinking “Is that…Patricia? With the rather large hand and dripping nail polish??”

Let’s just say it might be because once the weary contestants of a heterosexual dating show make it to the top of an island’s tallest peak and meet her, they have to start fighting for their lives. This is a comedy that’s also a queer love story that I’ve seen compared to X-Files and The Bachelor.

This book won this year’s 2022 Booker Award, proving that extra plots are where it’s at. In this satire, it’s 1990 in Colombo when queer photographer Maali Almeida wakes up in the celestial visa office. Well, his consciousness wakes up, while the rest of him — his actual body — is rotting in the Beira Lake. He has no idea who killed him, and the widespread, varied violence of the time makes the suspect list long. To add to the drama of it all, he has only seven moons to lead two loved ones to photos that will change the course of Sri Lanka.

Tell me you wouldn’t read this cover in a bookstore or at a library and have to pick it up. And the title is pretty spot on. Cinnamon is drunk when she saves the shifter demon Fallon, and after he follows her home and tells her of the evil goddess that has reduced demons to zombie-like states, she accompanies him to free his people. She helps him free some other things, too, if you know what I mean. This is a fun, funny, steamy monster romance with a Black female lead (in other words, you should read it ASAP). Bonus points for Cinnamon’s siblings being named Chili and Cumin.

I’m a plebeian and have never read any McCarthy books, but I’ve heard they can be pretty out there as a general rule. This one seems to have core elements that tickle my fancy. It follows Bobby Western, a salvage diver, who, in 1980 Mississippi, has found a sunken jet. Among the wreckage are nine bodies, but what isn’t there is more where the story lies. The black box is missing and so is the 10th passenger, and people are thinking Bobby had something to do with it. This may sound like a kind of so-so set up so far, intriguing but not quite out there, but what made me do a double take with this one was that 1) both Bobby and his sister are mathematical geniuses who are descendants of a scientist who worked on the Manhattan Project, and 2) he’s in love with his sister who spends her last days in an asylum.

It’s settling into colder temperatures in many places, which means this Moroccan staple will come in clutch for many. I love this tomato-based lentil and chickpea soup — which can be vegetarian/vegan or not if you like. Follow Taste of Maroc’s recipe to find out how to make it.

I’ll start with the book itself in case many aren’t familiar, but I have to warn you that I haven’t actually read Akira. Yet. But since watching the movie this past weekend, I am definitely interested. Although the movie was long for an anime, there inevitably were details left out. This follows Tetsuo and Kaneda, two teen boys who are friends and part of a motorcycle gang in Neo Tokyo. They battle other street gangs, occasionally go to a derelict alternative high school, and do all matter of inappropriate activity all while protests and unrest seems to be amping up in the city. Once Tetsuo’s and Kaneda’s gang crosses paths with a boy with psychic powers, their lives change forever. Tetsuo gets taken away and when he’s seen next, he also has psychic powers. Powers that he can’t control. Then there’s the seemingly mythological Akira, who may have caused WWIII and Tokyo’s annihilation years past.

In this version of Japan, human existence and machine existence have intersected. Humans are regularly upgraded with machine parts, and machines with human parts. It’s in this world that Major Motoko Kusanagi is tasked with tracking down the worst kinds of cybercriminals. One in particular, known as the Puppeteer, exploits the human/machine interface by hacking it in order to control people’s bodies. Chasing down this master hacker leads her down a path that shows her a whole new world.

Soo, another confession: I’ve watched several seasons of the show this series was adapted into, but haven’t read one book. Clearly I am slacking! Here, humans have colonized planetary bodies within the solar system. One day Jim Holden’s ice miner team finds an abandoned ship, the Scopuli, and a secret that they could have lived without. Elsewhere, Detective Miller searches for a billionaire’s missing daughter. Eventually, Miller and Holden cross paths and they realize that the missing girl may explain what’s gone wrong.

While I like watching superhero movies, I’ve never been much of one to read comics centered around them. They are just not really my cup of tea. Until now! Sojourner Mullein is a new Green Lantern and protects City Enduring. Her job has been fairly easy as the massive city has known peace for the last 500 years, which it attained by removing its citizens’ ability to feel. Violent crime has been nonexistent ever since. But then a brutal murder breaks this artificially gained era of peace and Sojourner must solve the crime and bring back peace.

Lemme tell you about the amazing eggplant empanadas I had. They were so unexpectedly good! This page has other recipes for more vegetarian Argentinian empanadas, which all sound good, but I chose this one in particular because the chimichurri looked perfect. So, so good.

Now for some nonfiction.

Washuta grew up surrounded by appropriations of her Indigenous spirituality in the form of things like “witch kits” full of sage and other trendy items. Once she experiences addiction, PTSD, abuse, and a psychiatric misdiagnosis, she undergoes a healing process that involves realizing the power of her ancestors. This collection of essays is about her journey, and is full of thoughts on colonization, love, and pop culture.

This just came out and is about iconic magical women and nonbinary people throughout U.S. history. The blurb mentions it covers all matter of witchery, “from Salem to WitchTok,” and everyone from voodoo queen Marie Laveau to Elvira. It also gets into the politics and differences in culture between occult practitioners.

Funnily enough, when I try to find nonfiction books on hoodoo, they are usually overly dry looking or written exclusively by white people. There’s nothing inherently wrong with either, but I do think books on a Black spiritual practice should have a few more written by the people from the actual culture. That’s partially why Mojo Workin’ by Hazzard-Donald is so good. It’s engaging and has that extra spark that comes from someone writing about their own culture. And the author’s tracing of hoodoo from traditional African religions to modern-day Black church practices is interesting to say the least.

Chollet, a celebrated French feminist writer, looks at the history of witches and what they have represented according to society. She identifies three main types of women who were at risk for being labeled a witch, a label that basically meant the inverse of gender norms and ostracization. This has the added bonus of having a forward from Carmen Maria Machado.

Phoooo

I don’t know if I’ve shared this with you all before, but I love soup. I actually love it all times of year (even summer!), but I’ve waited to share soupy things with y’all since I know some people don’t like the idea of sipping on hot broth while it’s 90 degrees outside. I came across this recipe for pho using a left over rotisserie chicken that looks super simple but delicious (I mean, I def don’t have a spice bag, but I can make some arrangements). Naturally, I thought to include a vegetarian option as well. Don’t forget the bean sprouts and hoison!

Now for books! (heh)

This retelling of Frankenstein sees the monster dead set on revenge against the humans that rejected him. To achieve his goal of destroying humanity, he enlists the help of Dr. Baker, who is part of the Frankenstein family and who recently lost her teenage son to police violence.

Shammas just won a Harvey Award for her YA graphic novel Squire. In the newly released Where Black Stars Rise, Dr. Amal Robardin, a Lebanese therapist in training, feels like she isn’t equipped to help her first client, a lady named Yasmin with schizophrenia who claims to be visited at night by an evil spirit. The reality of the malevolent spirit becomes apparent and when Yasmin’s obsession with the classic horror The King in Yellow by Robert Chambers leads to her disappearance, it’s Dr. Robardin who slips through dimensions to save her. Hopefully they can both make it out of the realm of The King of Yellow in time.

Elena Abbott is a chain-smoking journalist in 1970s Detroit who has lost her husband. When she starts investigating a set of gruesome murders the police are curiously ignoring, she realizes the occult forces involved are the same ones that were involved with her husband’s death. As she searches for truth, she has to fight systemic barriers as well as magic and monsters.

The premise of this reminds me a bit of Lovecraft Country (the show since I’ve never read the book). It’s about the Sangerye family who can cure the most tainted souls consumed by racial hatred who turn into jinroo monsters. In fighting against this deep evil, the family has lost a lot, and with this new breed of monster out, there’s the question of whether they can protect humanity any more.

We’re going slightly bougie but still cute, with these crispy rice salmon bites. The recipe calls for sushi grade salmon, but feel free to use cooked salmon if you’re not feeling raw! I was recently on the TikToks and saw this lady who makes the most chaotic cooking videos. The food actually looks good, though, and this was one of the things she made. I’ll include a recipe from a site, but you should def partake in the chaos that is cookingwithlynja.

And now for books…

I have been meaning to read these books for a while, and this fall might just be when I get around to them. After a terrible breakup and quitting her job, Lana Lee returns to her hometown of Cleveland to wait tables at her parents’ Chinese restaurant. She thinks it’ll be the perfect place to restart her life, except that Mr. Feng, the property manager just died because of a delivery of shrimp dumplings from her parents’ restaurant where everyone knew of his severe shellfish allergy. Now everyone at the restaurant is being looked at for the death, and Lana is desperate to clear everyone’s names. And then there’s the detective who keeps popping up for take out, looking like a snack…

Miriam Quinones-Smith is a food anthropologist (which I didn’t know existed!) and has just moved from New York to Miami, where she now has to deal with a totally new environment in addition to her husband’s and son’s middle-age and toddler woes, respectively. She luckily gets a break from all that when her friend offers her a job as a cooking expert on a Spanish-speaking morning show, but when she attends a luncheon with her newfound local fame, a woman dies. This line from the book blurb really tickled me: “a socialite sitting at her table suddenly falls face-first into the chicken salad, never to nibble again.” never to nibble again. Ugh, cozy mysteries are so punny and extra, I love!

Anyway, of course you know she starts investigating, and after another body turns up, she realizes she may be at risk because of her amateur sleuthing and what she’s been finding out. The second in this series is coming out early next month.

Is this another foodie-centric cozy mystery, you ask? Why yes, yes it is. It also speaks directly to my Southern soul, since it’s the first in a mystery series called “Books & Biscuits,” which could low-key be a description for at least part of my personality. Part of the premise was also taken right out of the Book of Me, since it follows two twins who are trying to open a bookstore/soul food café (named Books & Biscuits, if you hadn’t guessed). The backstory for the main characters isn’t your typical cozy fare: twins Koby Hill and Keaton Rutledge were separated and orphaned at two. They later reconnect and decide to indulge in their shared interests by opening a bookstore. It’s just unfortunate that Koby’s foster brother is murdered. The police are having trouble solving the murder, but Keaton and Koby acting as amateur sleuths may grant some headway. If they can balance solving crimes and having a grand opening, that is.

This book was just released in the middle of September and says it’s by Agatha Christie, but it’s actually a collection of stories written by an amazing lineup of authors (from Leigh Bardugo to Alyssa Cole!) that features Christie’s iconic sleuth Miss Marple. Each author gives their own interpretation of Miss Marple while staying true to the character and constructing a great mystery. I’ve only read one of Miss Marple’s books (Murder at the Vicarage), but seeing this collection come out makes me not only want to read it, but Christie’s other Marple books as well.

I love punkin pie, but only if it’s coupled with a great crust, and this coffee cake crumb topping sounds perfect! It also doesn’t seem too hard to make.

Now for books!

Raquel, a 16-year-old Bronx native, has been steadfast in her efforts to ignore the string of mysterious disappearances happening around her. To acknowledge them would mean acknowledging how the police aren’t doing anything about them, as they tend to only look for white kids. But when her crush’s cousin goes missing and Raquel’s mother becomes ill, she realizes that she can no long ignore what’s going on. She discovers that all of the mysterious goings-on are tied to an urban legend called the Echo Game, which traps people in an evil world beneath the city. But playing the game will expose Raquel to potentially lethal danger.

This collection has such an amazing line up of Latine authors who tell stories of monsters that come from the folklore of various Latine cultures. There are zombies, vampires, ghost-witches, and more. in addition to providing scares, this collection offers up critiques of things like gender-based violence, environmental injustice, and colonialism.

Fernanda and Annelise are so close they’re basically inseparable mirror images of each other… who happen to share a dark, violent secret. Then there’s their literature teacher, Miss Clara, whose unhealthy relationship with her mother has her on the brink of a break with reality…

The meetings that Annelise leads Fernanda and their other friends in after school — in which they pay tribute to a drag queen god — somehow culminates in Fernanda bound up on the floor of a cabin, isolated and held hostage by her teacher. This is a psychological horror novel that incorporates adolescent daring, mother-daughter relationships, pop culture, Lovecraftian horror, and other elements, making a very unique and unsettling read.

You probably heard a lot about this one last year, but here’s a reminder to pick it up if you haven’t yet — or simply to reread it if you loved it. It follows Noemí, a glamorous young woman who hails from a well-off family in 1950s Mexico. After we get a brief taste of her lifestyle — with its surplus of parties, cocktails, and handsome suitors — she journeys off to save her cousin who sent her a concerning letter. When she gets to the house, she sees how off everything is, including her cousin, who now claims that nothing is wrong. Her cousin’s husband and his family, English people who came to Mexico years ago, are hiding such a dark and terrible secret that you will literally go “wtf” when you get to that reveal. I warned you, friend!