Two Face Outs/ “walk me to the shelf” recs for Brian Juenemann, the Executive Director of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association, from India at Spoke & Word Books in Milwaukie, OR: Klan members are turning into nasty little monsters (their outsides matching their insides) called ku kluxes. Our trio of badasses is unaliving them in …
Elissa Washuta’s White Magic is a collection of amazing essays about loneliness, addiction, cultural devastation, and grief. Washuta, a member of the Cowlitz tribe, explores the persistent trauma of colonization on the native peoples of North America, as well as her own efforts to find her own place and identity in this modern world. Along the …
Gordon-Reed made her name, and won a Pulitzer, as a historian of Virginia, and specifically of Thomas Jefferson’s estate of Monticello, as she told the history of its black residents alongside its white ones in unprecedented detail. But she was raised in Texas, East Texas specifically, and her little handbook about Juneteenth, the local holiday …
Juneteenth, June 19, is now an official US holiday. To celebrate (and perhaps learn more about the history behind it), we recommend the following books: Juneteenth for Mazie by Floyd Cooper This wonderful picture book contextualizes the struggle and the celebration and is available in hardcover, paperback, and board book versions. Although at the time …
I read it all in one go! This book had my heart racing from start to finish. It features alternating perspectives between resourceful and genuine young women. A timely narrative on race and protest, both in broader society and between/within individuals –AND a guaranteed read to raise your blood pressure! –Ellen, Queen Anne Book Company, …
Rediscovered Books, with stores in Boise and Caldwell, ID, asks, What have you been reading for Black History Month? Has it been mostly history, or have you dived into novels as well? On the store’s website, they’ve compiled a great list of recently-published titles by Black authors. There are fantastic selections for a range of …
Initially skeptical to read a book about a young musician with just a couple albums out (who may not have even hit his creative peak yet), I quickly understood just why, in the year 2020, this book needed to come out. Using the framework of the 4 albums of Kendrick Lamar, Marcus J. Moore writes a …
This Is My America released at the beginning of a reckoning that’s been long overdue—the untended roots of race in America. These origins draw parallels not only to slavery and mass incarceration but to open wounds festering below the surface. My novel was born from many early lessons on race as a Black girl growing …
Caste is an essential read, a lucid, no-holds-barred examination of race, our nation’s history, and the rigid caste system that has been such a destructive force to individuals, communities, and our democracy. Most people think of caste as a foreign system found in places like India. But Wilkerson, through her research, insight, and immersion, argues …
As loathe as I am to admit it, it’s not possible to read a single book on a subject and understand. So if you want to understand, you have to read a lot. I read to understand. I have, ever since I was young. This past year, I changed what I read. It was deliberate …
