Category: True Story

Dr. William H. Turner introduces readers to the history of Black Appalachian coal towns, places that many outside the region may not have even realized existed. He describes daily life and the economic boom they experienced after WWII. They were also cultural centers with their own magazines and organizations. And of course, he also follows the region’s decline, which deeply affected these towns and was eventually their downfall. Turner strives to ensure that these places, the places he loves, are not forgotten.

Over the course of half a century, over 8,000 people were involuntarily sterilized across five different institutions in Virginia. This program was not a misguided program from well-meaning people. It was in support of white supremacy, and meant to control women, remove poor people from their land, and eliminate disabled people. The program ended in 1979, but its impact on communities around the state still haunts hundreds and hundreds of people. Catte doesn’t shy away from these harsh realities of America’s love of eugenics in its many forms. And, like the historian she is, she wants to remind Americans of our history so it won’t happen again.

You all already know I adore this book. But the more I think about Black Folk Could Fly, the more I wish more people would read it. Kenan passed away in 2020, and his publisher, Norton, published this collection of some of his best essays from throughout his career. While Kenan was better known for his fiction work, his nonfiction writing shows the same eye for detail and beautiful prose style as his fiction. In Book Riot’s Best of 2022 list, I say, “He’s contemplative, always mulling over other writers’ work and circling back to interrogate his own ideas on what it means for him to be a Black, gay man in America. This collection is a must-read for any nonfiction lover.”

The book that was a close runner-up for my pick for the Best of 2022 list is Another Appalachia by Neema Avashia. Avashia grew up as a queer Indian American girl in West Virginia, and this essay collection invites readers into her life through snapshots. Avashia writes her story with a deep amount of love, sharing about how much she appreciates where she grew up, but also describing how she’s still been hurt by the people who helped raise her. Avashia expresses a tension that so many Appalachians feel in today’s world.

Tracy K. Smith wrote the introduction to this vital collection of essays Lorde called The Cancer Journals. Lorde was diagnosed with breast cancer and began to assess a world that treated her like a warrior for fighting the disease, but also insisted she wear a prosthetic to make sure she appeared as a woman “should look.” But Lorde pushed back. She didn’t need to erase any physical indication of her disease. She didn’t need breasts to be a woman. Lorde’s assessment of norms in the medical industry is spot on. She possesses an ability to clearly see through the ableist expectations of society, and her intersectional approach encourages others to rethink their own perspectives of illness and what that means to women, especially Black women, patients.

National Book Award finalist Meghan O’Rourke writes about her experience with chronic illness and how the medical industrial complex is not designed to care for chronically ill people or make our lives better. O’Rourke began getting sick, and tried to brush it off as nothing. Her initial visits to doctors yielded nothing helpful, and she spent years of her life trying to manage an ever-growing list of horrible symptoms. As O’Rourke shares her own story, she researches the state of the healthcare system and describes how it fails chronically ill patients, especially chronically ill women.

First up, Eloquent Rage by Brittney Cooper discusses the role of Black women’s anger in American culture. She also gives examples of what role her anger played in her own life and in the lives Black women icons of popular culture. Her writing is full of the wisdom given to her by older Black women, and what she wants to share with the next generation. She also reads the audiobook edition, creating an incredible listening experience as she narrates her writing in such a personal way that invites listeners to just sit down and have a seat as she drops some wisdom on us.

In her take on women’s anger, Chemaly looks at different aspects of women’s rage and how it has been treated through history. Each chapter looks at a different topic around women’s anger — how it affects women’s health, how angry women have been treated throughout history, etc. Her writing is so clear and well-researched; there’s something new to learn in every chapter.

Michelle Obama is back with The Light We Carry, a collection of essays that each expand on her ideas around standing her ground, going high when they go low. She also shares about her family’s experience weathering the pandemic. Her essays are kind, supportive, and encouraging, while firmly making her points. I highly recommend listening to the audiobook, which Obama reads herself. Listening to the audiobook feels like you’re sitting down with her for a cup of coffee while she shares encouraging anecdotes from her own life. So if you’ve had a rough year (haven’t we all), then this is a perfect holiday gift for yourself.

Hands down, Hannah Gadsby’s Ten Steps to Nanette is my favorite memoir of the year. In her memoir, Gadsby shares what it was like to grow up as a queer, autistic kid in Tasmania, Australia. Gadsby is well-known for her comedy special Nanette, which you can still watch on Netflix. Her memoir expands on the ideas in Nanette and gives us a closer look into how Gadbsy’s life led to her creating this incredible one-woman show. The audiobook is out of this world. It’s hilarious and heartbreaking all in one book.

My favorite cookbooks are those that have at least some little snippet of storytelling in them. I want to know more about where the recipe came from. Where did the cookbook author first discover their love of food? In Bibi’s Kitchen does that and more. Somali chef Hawa Hassan talks to bibis (grandmother’s) from South Africa, Mozambique, Madagascar, Comoros, Tanzania, Kenya, Somalia, and Eritrea. They share their recipes and wisdom around their love of food. This cookbook feels like travel writing, memoir, and a cookbook all rolled into one!

Julia Turshen is a beloved chef and food writer — she even worked with Hawa Hassan on In Bibi’s Kitchen! In Simply Julia, Turshen shares the recipes that she makes at home with her wife. Turshen’s wife had to go on a medical diet several years ago, and that inspired Turshen to take a different look at the way she made comfort food. In addition to these amazing recipes, she writes short essays that give us a little insight into her life and how she approaches the food that she makes.

Journalist Tanya Talaga investigates the deaths of seven Indigenous high school students  in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Each one of these students moved from rural locations in the northern part of the province to attend school. Talaga pieces together the students’ lives, trying to better understand why each student died. Woven throughout is the dark history of the residential school system across Canada and its lasting effects on Indigenous communities across the country.

Eisenberg volunteered to work for a nonprofit in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. She ended up living there for years, falling in love with the region and its people. But while there, she learned of two middle-class, white women who were murdered as they were traveling through the area. The Third Rainbow Girl combines Eisenberg’s own story of working in West Virginia, the case of the two “Rainbow Girls,” and the history of Pocahontas County. Even with its many moving parts, Eisenberg deftly weaves a story together to create something wholly unique.

If you have a reader in your life who loves self-help, memoirs, or essays, then this is the book you need. Over 10 years ago, Cheryl Strayed started writing “Dear Sugar,” an advice column on The Rumpus. Now she has a new 10th anniversary edition that includes extra columns that she’s written on her new Substack. Tiny Beautiful Things is the perfect gift that allows readers to dip in and out of the different columns between holiday celebrations, travel, or as a wind down before bed. Plus, Cheryl Strayed reads the audiobook edition, which gives listeners an intimate performance of her columns.

For the history and sociology lovers in your life, Imani Perry’s National Book Award-winning South to America is the perfect gift. Perry explores the history of Black Americans living in the South. She travels around the country, describing the history of places like Appalachia, Atlanta, and Charleston. She also returns to her Alabama roots, sharing portions of her own family history in the South. Perry challenges readers to rethink their assumptions of the South, whether they are from the region or not. She deftly navigates through complex issues around the region. This will be one that I read and reread; there’s always some new things to learn with each new read through.

Saidiya Hartman writes incredibly beautiful prose. She describes the lives of young, urban Black women as they go about their lives. Hartman wanted to tell the story of the Black women she read about that were mentioned in passing or that appeared unnamed in photographs. She investigates their lives, researches their pasts, and invites readers to bear witness to these women who are all too often lost from history. This book is incredibly captivating and intricately crafted. I found myself mesmerized while wandering through the past.

I’ve read a lot of Leslie Jamison’s essays, and her sentences are incredibly well crafted, and her narrative voice draws me in like few others. So when I saw she had a full-length memoir/contemplation of the nature of alcoholism and art, I knew I had to read it. In The Recovering, she describes her experience with alcoholism and her slow acceptance that she needed to get sober and that she couldn’t do it on her own. She examines so many moving parts, I wondered how she would stick the landing. But she does. And so much of her writing has stayed with me.

The Way Through the Woods is a beautiful example of the grief memoir. Long moved to Norway from Malaysia, and she and her Norwegian husband spent many happy years together, creating a beautiful life. But when her husband died, Long didn’t know how she was going to live without him. Somehow she falls into mushroom foraging, discovering a whole new way to enjoy her home by exploring its forests. And in Norway, they take their foraging very seriously. So Long begins to study for the exam that will solidify her as an official mushroom forager. It’s such a beautiful book about mourning and nature writing.

If you’re looking for a nonfiction book to give someone for the holidays, this is a beautiful option. Nezhukumatathil chooses one creature, plant, or weather element to write about for each chapter. And many chapters come with beautiful illustrations by Fumi Nakamura. I loved the essays in the collection where Nezhukumatathil writes about how she was taught her love of nature by her parents, which she then passed on to her kids. The stories from her life really give you an insight into who Nezhukumatathil is as a nature lover and writer. The essays feel so comforting in a lot of ways, making it the perfect nature book to cozy up with after a long day of holiday celebrations.