Category: True Story

This incredible cookbook is a 2019 James Beard Award Finalist. Plus it was named a Best Cookbook of the Year by The New Yorker, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, New York Times Book Review, Houston Chronicle, Food52, PopSugar, and more. This phenomenal cookbook invites readers into the diverse range of Filipino cuisine with all of its many influences, including Chinese, Arab, Mexican, and Spanish cooking techniques. The authors invite readers to learn more about the origins of their recipes, creating a cookbook that is such a wonderful celebration of Filipino cooking.

One of the most famous cookbook writers from Southern Appalachia, Edna Lewis is a true treasure of the region. Her recipes are structured around the four seasons. She encourages readers to cook with what is in season and to cherish every flavor. When reading her recipes, I can’t help but think that Lewis’ recipes harken back to another time. With recipes like Cornpone and Brandied Peaches, I wonder if my own Southern grandmother would have cooked these dishes, too. Lewis is such a phenomenal cornerstone for Southern Appalachian cuisine.

Jeanna Kadlec grew up with her church being her whole world. If the doors were open, her family was there. She volunteered, participated in Bible studies galore, read devotionals — she did anything and everything to find a way to draw closer to God. Eventually she married a Pastor’s son, moved to the East Coast for school, and started her new life far from the midwestern world in which she grew up. But there was always something…missing. She tried to be the best wife, the best example of Biblical womanhood that she could. Somehow, her work on herself and on her marriage was never enough. As her marriage begins to slowly crumble, she falls in love with a woman, and she realizes that she’s gay. From there, she must decide what her life will look like and if faith will be part of it. Kadlec’s memoir is a beautiful testament to a woman who loves her community and faith, but never truly fits in. She looks around and wonders how is all of this seemingly so easy for everyone else?

Lamya’s family moves from South Asia to the Middle East, hoping to start a new life. Lamya attends an international Muslim school, and when she’s 14, she realizes that she’s gay. After Lamya moves to the U.S. for school, she has more freedom to decide what her life, and her faith, will look like. Lamya continues to wear her hijab, despite family discouraging her. She’s not wearing her hijab for them. She’s wearing her hijab for God. Lamya finds a balance of her life as a hijab-wearing queer person trying to date women in New York City. She finds an incredible queer Muslim community and a close group of friends she will forever see as family. Lamya’s memoir is incredibly emotionally intimate as she ties her story to the stories of the prophets she loves so dearly. She pushes back against the narrative that queer people can’t be people of faith. For her, her faith is just as much a part of her as her queerness, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

Shawna Kay is from an Eastern Kentucky family that’s firmly rooted in a conservative religious community. After the family returns from living up north to be with the commune full time, her family settles back into the familiar routines of life in the heart of Appalachia. She begins to wonder what her life could be like if she doesn’t choose her parents’ life. But she doesn’t want to be away from her family. How can she find a life that she enjoys AND keep a relationship with her family? Shawna Kay’s memoir is so heartfelt, such an intimate portrait of a woman looking for her place in the world.

I adored Michael W. Twitty’s book The Cooking Gene and have been waiting for his new book for SO LONG. And Koshersoul didn’t disappoint. In his latest book, Twitty describes his experience as a Black, Jewish convert and how that experience is expressed in his food. Each chapter is full of incredible insights and, of course, great food. Twitty has such an incredible way of writing that invites readers into his life, creating such an emotional connection between the text and its readers.

I adored The Warmth of Other Suns and couldn’t wait to pick up her next book. In Caste, she compares America’s systemic racism to the Caste systems in India and Nazi Germany. She argues that America has a similar Caste system, just by a different name. I really appreciated her insight. Her writing is always thought-provoking, but Caste asks readers to reconsider how they view America’s history of racism. It’s definitely a read you won’t want to miss.

In Evicted, Matthew Desmond followed several different families as they faced eviction. Desmond describes the complex system of housing and how it’s so expensive to be poor. In Poverty, by America, Desmond examines why America has such an incredible issue with poverty when it’s the richest country in the world. This is a short book, more a summary of the different issues at hand than anything else. But it makes for an interesting conversation starter. And if readers want to know more, Evicted would be a great next step.

Alissa Quart follows several different working class and lower middle class families as they try to navigate a world growing more and more expensive. From childcare to healthcare, American families can barely afford the necessities, let alone anything “extra” that might come up. Quart really pushes the idea that our country should better value caregiving, both for early childhood care and for seniors. You can really tell a lot about a country by how it treats its less wealthy citizens, and for America, it’s not always looking good.

Marie Mutsuki Mockett is a biracial Japanese American writer whose family has been farming in Nebraska for generations. So Mockett decides to follow the migrating wheat harvesters on the journey through Texas, Oklahoma, and eventually back to her family’s farm in Nebraska. As someone who has spent most of her life in urban centers, Mockett begins to reevaluate the assumptions that she has about the wheat harvesters. She begins to realize that there is a lot more to these men and women than she first thought.

Back in 2015, H Is for Hawk was everywhere. All of my bookish friends were talking about it. Acquaintances who knew I worked in books were asking me about it. Family members created impromptu book clubs to discuss it. H Is for Hawk is more than a nature book. That’s what everyone says, anyway. But for me, I think that as human beings, we are part of nature, not separate from it. So Macdonald’s unique way of connecting her grief from the death of her father and the training of her new Hawk made sense to me. That process of grieving and embracing this new creature in her life just worked.

When I first read Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s World of Wonders, it was like magic. She had this way of describing creatures and elements of nature in such a unique way. With each chapter, I felt that deep emotional connection she had for everything from peacocks to narwhals. She also discusses what it was like growing up not seeing many people of color in nature, and how that deeply affected her. Each essay is a gem, giving new insights with every chapter.

I adore Sam Maggs’ quirky sense of style in her illustrations, which makes this book so delightful. This adorable little book features so many incredible women throughout history. Wonder Women features scientists, adventurers, engineers, athletes, and so many more. I wish I’d had a book like this when I was a girl. It would have sparked my imagination, giving me a chance to see myself in so many different professions, so many possible futures. But even reading this for the first time in my late 20s, I felt so encouraged for how far women have come. Even with so far to go, I am proud of all the things we have accomplished so far.

I love Ann Shen’s illustrations. I first found her on Instagram, so when I learned she had a book coming out, I knew I had to get my hot little hands on a copy. It’s a beautifully illustrated book featuring dozens of women who changed the world. Women who have bucked the system and fought for change have long been described as “bad girls.” Shen turns this label on its head, featuring women who used their talents to change the world for the better. If you are looking for the perfect, beautiful book, this one is definitely a fantastic option.

Mikki Kendall discusses how modern day feminism has incredible gaps in its work. Kendall argues that feminism, particularly white feminism, fails to address issues like food insecurity, safe housing, disability, access to education, and ability to earn a living wage. Each essay discusses a different area that modern feminism could improve on, providing an intersectional approach to her writing. Kendall makes so many incredible points as she calls out feminism’s weaknesses and the areas where it could improve. If feminism is to continue to improve the lives of women, it must evolve.

Editor Miriam Khan has gathered together a stunning group of Muslim women writers who all share their experiences. In 2016, Miriam Kahn heard David Cameron had linked the radicalization of Muslim men to the “traditional submissiveness” of Muslim women. Appalled, Khan decided to push back with a collection of essays of Muslim women from around the world. They discuss issues around family, marriage, sex, gender, and so much more. This is such an incredible collection with so many different views and perspectives. A must-read for any nonfiction lover.

Machado’s memoir about her experience with an emotionally and physically abusive partner opens up a dialogue about queer relationships that we often shy away from in queer communities. Each chapter of In the Dream House is written in a different genre, a different style of writing that invites such a rich level of engagement with the text. As we get to know Machado and her partner, at first it seems like a fairy tale love story. But as their relationship progresses, we realize that their story is destined to be much darker. While this book is emotionally difficult, it’s an incredible work of art that I will treasure in my library.

Back in 2016, it felt like a different world. So when I picked up All the Single Ladies, which follows the history of single women in America, I was filled with a sense of hope that America was headed in such a great direction. Of course, that’s not exactly what happened. But All the Single Ladies and its coverage of the history of women in work, politics, and other kinds of independence, still holds up after several years. I was astounded how many ridiculous laws women had to wade through across the country. I still open this book and reread sections, marveling at how far we’ve come and reminding myself how far we still have yet to go.

In response to James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time, The Fire This Time is a collection of essays edited by Ward. It includes pieces by incredible writers, including Carol Anderson, Jericho Brown, Edwidge Danticat, Kevin Young, Claudia Rankine, and Honoree Jeffers. Each selection looks at a different aspect of Black identity — whether that be in the past, present, or future — and often includes the writer’s personal experience engaging with Baldwin’s work. In addition to her introduction to the collection, Ward writes about how she bought commercial DNA tests for her and her parents. She describes what a privilege it is to know where you came from, and how her parents were able to regain so much knowledge by better understanding their background. Her father was even able to reconnect with his Native Nation.

In her memoir, Men We Reaped, Jesmyn Ward alternated between writing chapters about her childhood growing up in the Mississippi Delta region and the stories of five men in her life who died far too young, including her brother. With each new man we meet, Ward describes their vibrant personalities, family histories, hopes, and dreams. Each of these men’s lives ended too soon because of the systemic racism they experienced and the long lasting effects of intergenerational trauma. But her portrait of these men also includes a lot of joy, the happy memories Ward grabs and holds onto tightly through her writing. Her prose is stunning and her observations sharp. This memoir is an incredible tribute to these men and her words are a call for change in the systems that played such a huge role in how these men’s lives ended far too soon.