You don’t have to be familiar with any food programs to have great fun reading these essays. Funny, quirky, and honest, they are as much about life as food, or even food as life.
Food for Thought by Alton Brown, (List Price: $28.99, Gallery Books, 9781668064214, February 2025)
Reviewed by Jan Blodgett, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina
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I’m SMASHING that “like” button on Racebook, Onyebuchi’s foray into essay collection, all centered around the hot button topic of the internet. Onyebuchi talks about Xbox live chats, the edgy-older-siblingness of Sonic the Hedgehog (sorry y’all; my allegiance lies with Shadow), and Facebook content moderation, all to the end of deciphering just what role the internet plays in the last thirty years of cultural history. Most striking about this collection is the refreshing way that Onyebuchi does not unilaterally dismiss the internet, instead acknowledging the good that the web has offered us. I love essay collections that don’t have easy answers, and this one sure doesn’t have one, but it left me thinking deeply about my own interfacing between my “self” and my “internet self” in a way that has shaped my fall already. If you, too, have distinct memories of choosing the perfect MCR lyric for your AIM away message, or teaching yourself HTML to code a glittery monstrosity of a Geocities, Neopets, or Myspace page, this collection will speak to your soul. And even if you don’t have those nostalgia glasses, still take a dip – I promise you’ll find something new here anyway.
Racebook by Tochi Onyebuchi, (List Price: $27, Roxane Gay Books, 9780802166258, October 2025)
Reviewed by Mikey LaFave, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia
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Weaves together Butler’s own words with a well-researched, illuminating background to produce an excellent biography of one of the greatest writers of the 20th century, and all in under 300 pages. Masterful.
Positive Obsession by Susana M. Morris, (List Price: $29.99, Amistad, 9780063212077, August 2025)
Reviewed by Doron Klemer, Octavia Books in New Orleans, Louisiana
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A quiet and compelling book about a shepherd in Vermont. That’s the simple premise but Whybrow brings the reader so much more. It’s also about living close with the land, with animals, with the seasons. It’s about grief and change. I absolutely loved it.
The Salt Stones by Helen Whybrow, (List Price: $26, Milkweed Editions, 9781571311627, June 2025)
Reviewed by Holly Wunsch, The Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, North Carolina
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The 1619 Project from Nikole Hannah-Jones asserts that to truly understand America today – politically, socially, culturally- and to begin to make repairs, you must move the timeline back to 1619, when the first enslaved people from Africa arrived in Jamestown. In this book—which is 50% more material than the original New York Times project—we hear from all the people who should have been included when we were initially taught American history and social studies. Herein lies a star-studded collection of thinkers, writers, poets and artists and an attempt to fully understand America’s origin story. Required reading for all who care to create a more just America.
The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story by Nikole Hannah-Jones, (List Price: $25, One World, 9780593230596, June 2024)
Reviewed by Jamie Fiocco, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
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Here, Benoit Gallot, the head curator of Paris’ Pere Lachaise (arguably the most famous cemetery in the world) shares his unique work-life experience. I so thoroughly enjoyed this book! Gallot beautifully details the history and everyday working routines of this famous cemetery but also its wildlife (complete with photos) and the life of its visitors (both living and dead). The space is an oasis of solace, a green space that is also home to red foxes, birds, trees, lichen, and moss. A love letter to the cycles of existence – life and death and the return to renewal. There is such quiet, contemplative delight and magic in these pages!
The Secret Life of a Cemetery by Benoît Gallot, (List Price: $28.95, Greystone Books, 9781778401589, February 2025)
Reviewed by Sarah Goldstein, Old Town Books in Alexandria, Virginia
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Imagine you have an insightful, articulate friend who’s created a deeply personal playlist to share with you. Niko Stratis has done it in The Dad Rock That Made Me a Woman. Hers is a memoir of intense honesty, one that provides a freewheeling musical education. Niko uses songs from her dad’s love of music that connect with pivotal times in her life as she discovered who she was and found the courage to transition into who she was meant to be. I was absorbed in her journey, even as I had to resort to YouTube to discover most of the artists. (Now I know you, Wilco.)
The Dad Rock That Made Me a Woman by Niko Stratis, (List Price: $27.95, University of Texas Press, 9781477331484, May 2025)
Reviewed by Rosemary Pugliese, Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe in Asheville, North Carolina
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Zadie Smith’s latest book, Deand and Alive: Essays, is illuminating, engrossing, and thought-provoking. Smith engages in a conversation with the reader — because that is what each essay is, a conversation between author and reader — by sharing her thoughts on art, politics, identity (with an emphasis on racial and gender), the algorithm, socioeconomic status, what it means to be an American versus an immigrant, and the relationship between writer and reader. The unifying theme throughout the entire collection is the author’s viewpoints on the individual and the collective, about who I am versus the Other. Many readers are aware of Ms. Smith’s fiction, but, in my humble opinion, not enough are familiar with her essays. I suspect that I am an atypical fan. The first books I read were Changing My Mind and Feel Free, two previous collections of non-fiction. The majesty of her essays, the radiance of her prose — she conveys so much in a single sentence, handpicking each word — was so intoxicating that I rushed to the nearest library to pick up whatever was available of her fiction. “Fascinated to Presume: In Defense of Fiction,” “Shibboleth,” “The Realm of the Unspoken,” and “Conscience and Consciousness: A Craft Talk for the People and the Person” — each of which is included in Deand and Alive: Essays — should be required reading. In “Conscience and Consciousness,” Smith writes, “Art is one of the ways we reveal the peculiarities of consciousness.” In this latest collection, it is the author’s consciousness that is on display. Because of this aspect, I feel I understand her a little better, and I suspect many readers will appreciate this all too rare quality of the book. I learned a great deal while reading, and I found myself re-considering my own notions about a great many topics simply due to having access to the author’s vantage point. This collection requires careful reading and deliberation. Please, savor each individual work.
Deand and Alive: Essays by Zadie Smith, (List Price: $30, Penguin Press, 9780593834688, October 2025)
Reviewed by Michael Yetter, Joseph-Beth Booksellers Lexington in Lexington, Kentucky
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Calling all indie rock fans! This is the music history book we didn’t know we needed, and for many millennials, it’s about the soundtrack to our teenage years and young adulthoods. With sharp descriptions, thorough research, personal narratives, and self-deprecating humor, Chris DeVille explores the definition of “indie”; the role The OC and other early 2000s media played in popularizing the genre; its intersections with EDM, folk, hip hop, and pop; and much more. Each chapter opens with a playlist on which you’ll find old favorites and maybe also discover some songs you missed when they were first released. Reading this brought back lots of memories and was the most fun I’ve had with a book in a long time!
Such Great Heights: The Complete Cultural History of the Indie Rock Explosion by Chris DeVille, (List Price: $29, St. Martin’s Press, 9781250363381, August 2025)
Reviewed by Sarah Rhu, Scuppernong Books in Greensboro, North Carolina
Kamala Harris’s memoir, highlighting her experience through the shortest presidential campaign in history, left me with just about every emotion. Each chapter being a daily countdown to the election, made this a very fast-paced read and will keep your attention. It is also a very conversational memoir, which I found rather helpful when diving into heavier topics.
107 Days by Kamala Harris, (List Price: $30, Simon and Schuster, 9781668211656, September 2025)
Reviewed by Kenzie Karoly, E. Shaver Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia
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Drawing a line from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to the “Intelligence-Led Policing” scandal in Pasco County, Florida, Corbett lays out a compelling case against the use of criminal profiling. Her argument: In an attempt to understand what makes someone capable of violent crime, we’ve all too often created criminals instead. This book is great for general true crime readers, but goes a step further by prodding readers to consider what the true causes of crime might be, and how that can inform crime prevention initiatives of the future.
The Monsters We Make by Rachel Corbett, (List Price: $28.99, W. W. Norton & Company, 9780393867695, October 2025)
Reviewed by Becca Naylor, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
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In Girl Warrior, Joy Harjo shares advice, wisdom from her life experiences, and a belief in our spiritual connection to our ancestors, to our world, and to one another. Her words uplift and encourage, offer empathy and understanding, provide perspective and healing. This is a book you keep close. Read these words when you need a friendly reminder that you can move forward, that you can take step after step into the future you desire, that you can always ask for help, that you deserve and can find happiness. Give this book to those you love and treasure.
Girl Warrior by Joy Harjo, (List Price: $21.99, W. W. Norton & Company, 9781324094173, October 2025)
Reviewed by Lera Shawver, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
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Jenny Erpenbeck knows exactly where to apply pressure for maximal effect. This collection is an astounding demonstration of intellect shot through with wisdom, insights gathered over a lifetime of deep engagement with art, country, family, and the vagaries of time. Those moments of clarity that are always absconding? Erpenbeck has gathered them all here, made the impermanent permanent with her words (stunningly translated by Kurt Beals).
Things That Disappear by Jenny Erpenbeck, (List Price: $15.95, New Directions, 9780811238113, October 2025)
Reviewed by Kristen Iskandrian, Thank You Books in Birmingham, Alabama
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Loved reading Sally Mann’s Art Work: On the Creative Life, specifically because she makes the creative life so accessible. She reminds us of the real jobs alongside the artist doing the passionate work of art making and the passionate pursuit of the artist. The practicality of being an artist- the scheduling of creativity- becomes a demystifying act of the creative process through this book. Peppered with typewritten excerpts and ephemera from her adulthood- life alongside her art, Sally Mann’s book Art Work is a joy to read.
Art Work: On the Creative Life by Sally Mann, (List Price: $35, ABRAMS, 9781419780714, September 2025)
Reviewed by Kimberley Daniels, The Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, North Carolina
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As a fan of his own music, I was intrigued what a book on Ronson’s early days learning how to DJ in 1990s New York would be like. I cracked the (digital) spine and was finished in less than two days, whisked along by the storytelling, name-dropping, nineties nostalgia. Like Questlove’s recent books on hip-hop and music generally, I found myself regularly pausing my reading to listen to songs I either didn’t know or hadn’t heard for years, a soundtrack that added even more to the reading experience. Ronson floats through NYC and the names fly, from Trumps and Diddys to Lennons and Jay-Z’s as he charts his part-fortuitous, part-hard-working rise through the small club DJ scene (some of whose names inadvertently seem like rejected Stefan scenes from SNL: “At the same time, highly exclusive lounges like Wax, Moomba, and Veruka were redefining nightlife…”). His writing style is simple, fun and friendly, making you feel like one of the crew tagging along as he tells of “burning the candle at both ends with a blowtorch,” or of a teacher being “the kind of person who’d make you want to graduate and open a sociology store, or whatever it was that sociologists did..”Ending with some poignant self-reflection and a look at the changes in contemporary music (and life generally: “Part of what made our era so special was the absence of surveillance. People were completely in the moment.”), I’m already looking forward to the follow-up and Ronson’s shift from record spinner to record maker – it can’t come soon enough for this fellow UK transplant to the US.
Night People by Mark Ronson, (List Price: $29, Grand Central Publishing, 9781538741115, September 2025)
Reviewed by Doron Klemer, Octavia Books in New Orleans, Louisiana
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