A fresh look at how and why we spend our free time. I love how Sheila Liming weaves movie and music references along with personal stories in Hanging Out making this book entertaining and informative. She has me thinking harder about where I hang out and why and the power just hanging out can have.
Hanging Out by Sheila Liming, (List Price: 27.99, Melville House, 9781685890056, January 2023)
Reviewed by Rayna Nielsen, Blue Cypress Books in New Orleans, Louisiana
Subtitled "A Person History –with Fairy Tales," this collection of essays refracts Mark’s fears, losses, family, and more through the prism of fairy tales. There are plenty of jagged edges and tales torn into for new meanings and few happily ever afters. Incisive, probing, Mark gives herself to the stories and leave readers a wealth of questions.
Happily by Sabrina Orah Mark, (List Price: $27, Random House, 9780593242476, March 2023)
Reviewed by Jan Blodgett, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina
An incredible book that includes exclusive interviews with former astronauts and new pictures from NASA’s archive! More importantly, Meredith Bagby tells the story of the first class of space shuttle astronauts incredibly compellingly; this book is accessible and distills an amazing amount of historical and scientific information into a highly readable narrative. It includes in-depth coverage of the Challenger disaster, which makes for difficult but worthwhile reading.
The New Guys by Meredith Bagby, (List Price: $40, William Morrow, 9780063141971, February 2023)
Reviewed by Kate Storhoff, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
A fun and entertaining non-fiction book. Graeber is focused on the information that can be gained from listening to and believing what the Malagasy people had to say, and he is extremely frustrated that no academics seem willing to do this. If you like good footnotes, academic beef, and an interesting take on the age of piracy from multiple points of view, this is for you.
Pirate Enlightenment, or the Real Libertalia by David Graeber, (List Price: $27, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 9780374610197, January 2023)
Reviewed by Lauren Kohnle, M. Judson Booksellers in Greenville, South Carolina
It’s always fun to get behind-the-scenes insight into famous people and Trey uses his great storytelling ability to not only captivate but to educate — to get the reader to think about the power of decisions and what makes a great life. This book is a great read for the new year or for anytime you are entering a new chapter of your life — whether as a grad, switching careers, becoming a parent, or once your kids leave the nest.
Start, Stay, or Leave by Trey Gowdy, (List Price: $28.99, Forum Books, 9780593240977, January 2023)
Reviewed by Jill Hendrix, Fiction Addiction in Greenville, South Carolina
This is one of the best books I read this year. This story is about a friendship between two Yale college students who are members of a secret society they joined as seniors. From there, the book takes us on a forty year friendship that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that when we let people in at the most vulnerable and sincere place where we are in life, that we open our hearts and minds to the possibility that our lives will be enriched by the human connections we make.
We Should Not Be Friends by Will Schwalbe, (List Price: 29, Knopf, 9780525654933, February 2023)
Reviewed by Lauren Zimmerman, Writers Block Bookstore in Winter Park, Florida
The subconscious and conscious manipulations of cult mentality have been studied and discussed many times over. These accounts often come from those closest to cult leaders: family members, close confidants, and in this case, grandchildren. Dowd walks us through her childhood, chapter introductions mimicking a guide for living the way she and the Mountain do. (Note: she does specifically state that this book is not intended, nor should it be used, as a guide for foraging). Her connection to nature and its usefulness in her life is evident in how she writes.
Forager by Michelle Dowd, (List Price: 28, Algonquin Books, 9781643751856, March 2023)
Reviewed by Jamie Kovacs, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Country music encompasses so much more than one would be led to believe by what’s being promoted and by what has been written and rewritten about countless times. Thankfully, Francesca Royster’s new book tells the story of Black songwriters/performers/fans in the white male-dominated world of popular country music. It’s a history that has been obscured, hidden, white-washed, overlooked and outright denied for way too long. This is a really fantastic and inspiring book that opens up a whole new world of country and folk music. If you think you know it all you don’t!
Black Country Music by Francesca T. Royster, (List Price: $24.95, University of Texas Press, 9781477326497, January 2023)
Reviewed by Colin Sneed, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Where this book shines is the author’s ability to almost tangibly describe the emotions she’s experiencing through multiple parts of this book. Along with that, it viscerally relays the experience of dealing with mental illness from a young age, having that impact your life and relationships, and trying survive amidst all of that. This will be enjoyed by people who like these sort of lyrical writings (especially if you like poetry).
Dyscalculia by Camonghne Felix, (List Price: $27, One World, 9780593242179, February 2023)
Reviewed by Ndobe Foletia, Epilogue Books Chocolate Brews in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
British author Katherine May knows exactly what I need when I need it. I read her book, Wintering, during the hardest days of the pandemic. She wrote of a time in her life, pre-pandemic, when she felt hopeless, but her words resonated with my feelings of despair during the isolation of 2020. Her newest book, Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age, is just as timely. Though very personal, she addresses the universality of our shock at the fallout from the pandemic and how we can recover some of our contentment and joy. The book is beautifully written, and there are many lines that will linger with me.
Enchantment by Katherine May, (List Price: $26, Riverhead Books, 9780593329993, February 2023)
Reviewed by Mamie Potter, Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, North Carolina
Last year, I read a sweet little debut novel by Shelby Van Pelt called Remarkably Bright Creatures. You might remember it because I talked about it here and sang the praises of our octopus narrator, Marcellus. Still one of the best characters in fiction I read last year. That book led me to My Octopus Teacher, a documentary on Netflix, and several other sea creature ventures. It eventually led me to Sabrine Imbler’s memoir, How Far the Light Reaches, a memoir I didn’t know I needed.
I consider myself fairly progressive. I love a good gay rom-com and work hard to promote voices that are often found in the margins. Imbler’s book was not only a thoughtful and well written tapestry, weaving together personal experience with life under water, but it very gently allowed me inside the mind of a trans person. They are graciously and carefully sharing experiences with the reader that are so personal but at the same time so universal. Imbler covers every highlight of growing up and learning about her own body, from childhood through those terrible teenage years and into adulthood, and it was such an eye opening experience – for both of us!
The book chronicles the life of a queer, mixed race writer working in a largely white, male field. Imbler is a science and conservation journalist who has always been drawn to the mystery of life in the sea. Each essay weaves together a sea creature and Imbler’s own life experiences. These stories show us seemingly radical models of family, community, and care, but upon deeper reflection, these stories are a lot like our own stories. Stories of finding comfort with our own bodies, cultivating relationships that are important to our own survival, and adapting to severe life changes. In this book, Imbler shows us the ways in which our world – even the parts of it that we know little about or don’t quite understand, is full of miracles.
How Far the Light Reaches by Sabrina Imbler, (List Price: $27, Little, Brown and Company, 9780316540537, December 2022)
Reviewed by Sara Putman from Bookish: An Indie Shop For Folks Who Read in Fort Smith, Arkansas
A February 2023 Read This Next! Title
Patrick Bringley becomes a guard at The Metropolitan Museum of Art after his brother dies and he can’t handle the day to day stress of his former job. Spending his days in the midst of some of the most beautiful art in the world, he slowly heals from his grief. This book provides a behind the scenes look at everyday life in the museum and I loved it. And there is a reference list of the art mentioned in the book which can then be viewed online.
All the Beauty in the World : The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me by Patrick Bringley (List Price: $27.99, Simon & Schuster, 9781982163303, February 2023)
Beth Carpenter from The Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, North Carolina
I’ve read almost everything Tracy Kidder has written and was inspired, again, by Rough Sleepers. For five years, Kidder followed Dr. O’Connell, who’s been providing compassionate, respectful healthcare to the homeless in Boston for decades. Rough Sleepers brings tough statistics to vivid life and shines light on a complex and often overwhelming subject.
Rough Sleepers by Tracy Kidder, (List Price: $30, Random House, 9781984801432, January 2023)
Reviewed by Sarah Goddin, McIntyre’s Books in Pittsboro, North Carolina
Owls, for all their popularity in myths and Harry Potter movies, are elusive and difficult to observe in the wild. But the wild, the reality is what Darlington is seeking and what she brings to this thoughtful account. Her careful descriptions of eight species are deepened by reflections on how much humanity loses when we lose true awareness of the wild. A call for more care of the natural world, protection of spaces needed by our fellow creatures, and a willingness to live with uncertainty, this book offers heart and soul as well as natural history.
The Wise Hours by Miriam Darlington, (List Price: $27.95, Tin House Books, 9781953534835, February 2023)
Reviewed by Jan Blodgett, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina
As an avid fan of Kate Beaton since her days slinging snarky, hilarious comics in Hark, A Vagrant!, I have been waiting for her graphic memoir for years!! Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands is a stunningly beautiful story of Kate’s time working in the male-dominated Alberta oil industry to pay off her student loans, full of gorgeous, melancholy art and powerful emotions just under the surface. It’s an exceptional book about loneliness, labor, survival in a male-dominated world, and finding your way home.
Ducks by Kate Beaton, (List Price: $39.95, Drawn and Quarterly, 9781770462892, September 2022)
Reviewed by Rebecca Speas, One More Page Books in Arlington, Virginia
