Can you believe April is almost over? This month absolutely flew by, but I’m looking forward to warmer days ahead. My husband and I spent a chunk of April traveling abroad, and since it’s nearly impossible for me to fall asleep on planes, that means I got plenty of airplane reading done!
Support Independent Bookstores!
Before we get into the books, this is your reminder that this Saturday, April 29 is Independent Bookstore Day! If you’re able, please take some time this weekend to support your favorite indie bookstore! If you’re not sure where your closest indie is, you can use this map to locate one—it also has lists of scheduled bookstore crawls!
Indie bookstores provide amazing events and spaces for local communities, and are far better alternatives to big-box companies like Amazon precisely because of the personal touch they provide. I love heading to independent bookshops because I know I’ll always get amazing staff recommendations, see a smiling face or two, and in some cases grab a warm cup of coffee while I browse. Plus, it always feels good to know that your dollars are going back into the community.
Here’s a few independent bookstores I’ve visited and loved over the past couple of years:
Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee & Books | Philadelphia, PA
Harriett’s Bookshop | Philadelphia, PA
Yu and Me Books | Manhattan, NY
Ida’s Bookshop | Collingswood, NJ
Cafe Con Libros | Brooklyn, NY
The Book Table | Oak Park, IL
If you aren’t able to make it to an independent bookstore tomorrow, don’t worry! You can always support independent bookstores by purchasing books through Bookshop.org, or audiobooks through Libro.fm. As someone who primarily reads physical books, Bookshop.org has always gotten me my books quickly, and I love ordering from them with the knowledge that a portion of each purchase goes to support an indie bookstore of my choosing! If you haven’t already, please consider making the switch from Amazon/Audible to Bookshop.org/Libro.fm today.
A Month in the Books
I had some solid variety in terms of genre and style, which is always great for staving off the dreaded reading slump. Some of my personal favorites this month:
Ghost Season by Fatin Abbas: A deeply thoughtful and personal look at the civil war in Sudan through the perspective of five characters: a Sudanese-American aspiring photographer; a white cartographer; a Nilotic man and the nomadic woman he loves; and a young local boy who struggles to provide for his family. Particularly in light of the horrific ongoing events in Sudan right now, this is an important read that I hope gets more attention. You can read my full review here, and if you’re not familiar with the conflict and its impact on Sudanese locals, please check out Yassmin Abdel-Magied’s page—her “Sudan 2023” highlight in particular provides tons of helpful information and resources.
Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein: A historical fiction centering a barracks of poor workers employed by wealthy farm owners in Trinidad, Hungry Ghosts considers dynamics of class, religion, and community violence. The writing in this character-driven novel is fantastic—I hope more people check it out.
The Late Americans by Brandon Taylor (out May 23): This, along with Ghost Season, was one of my favorite reads of the month. The writing in this book is phenomenal. I’m not sure there’s much I can say to summarize this book other than the fact that it follows a variety of people—students, townies, and others—in a Midwestern college town who are all searching for something. As someone who greatly enjoyed Taylor’s debut, Real Life, I like to think about this book as a further analysis of people, particularly Black queer people, against the void. If you’re a fan of Brandon Taylor’s previous works, you’re absolutely in for a treat with this. Get your preorder in today!
Abolition Geography: Essays Towards Liberation by Ruth Wilson Gilmore: Whew. This is a heck of a book, both in length (clocking in at just over 500 pages) and in substance. Ruth Wilson Gilmore examines the underpinnings of the prison industrial complex in the United States, its development, and responsive movements across the country. This is not a book for passive reading—it’s a heavily academic text that demands your full attention, but it’s absolutely worth it. Make sure you keep a highlighter nearby during your read!
Right now, I’m flipping back and forth between Leslie Marmon Silko’s Almanac of the Dead (a thick classic) and Alice Wong’s Year of the Tiger (an extraordinarily accessible memoir/series of ruminations on disability and identity in the U.S.). Both are absolutely phenomenal. Hoping I can knock out a couple more books before May rolls around!
More Recent and Upcoming Releases
There have been so many buzz-worthy releases recently! Here’s what I’ve got my eye on:
We Are a Haunting by Tyriek White (out now): We Are a Haunting follows multiple generations of Brookynites, considering community ties, gentrification, inheritances, and more. It’s been blurbed by Kiese Laymon, so you know it’s about to be good!
Flux by Jinwoo Chong (out now): A genre-bending debut that examines grief, trauma, and race, following the intersecting lives of three individuals with troubling personal histories. I’ve heard nothing but rave reviews!
Homebodies by Tembe Denton-Hurst (out May 2): A young Black woman is suddenly left grasping at any semblance of order in her life when she is unexpectedly fired from her fancy NYC media job. After posting a scathing “manifesto” against her former employer on Twitter and moving out of the apartment she shares with her girlfriend, she heads back home to Maryland to reassess who she is and what she wants out of life. You can find my full review here.
A History of Burning by Janika Oza (out May 2): An epic saga following one family across three continents, contending with race, oppression, class, and heritage. Check out my review here—you won’t want to miss this one, especially if you love books like Pachinko and/or The Old Drift.
Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (out May 2): People incarcerated at a private prison are forced to fight to the death in an extremely popular and highly controversial program in a dystopian (yet eerily familiar) version of the United States. I’ve heard great things about this one and am planning on reading my copy this weekend!
Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? by Crystal Smith Paul (out May 9): A solid companion read to The Vanishing Half and Passing, Smith Paul’s debut novel follows the life of Kitty Karr, a white movie star from the Golden Age of Hollywood who unexpectedly bequeaths her estate to three twenty-something Black sisters. The novel takes a close look at the motivations people had for passing as white, gender and racial politics in the entertainment industry, and the histories we bury.
Retrospective by Juan Gabriel Vásquez (out May 9): A sweeping family and historical saga following a Colombian family that moves to China during the Cultural Revolution, joins the Red Guard, and face political and social tensions upon their return to Colombia.
Hula by Jasmin ‘Iolani Hakes (out May 2): A young Hawaiian hula dancer explores her family and community history, all while being presented with fraught choices leading up to the Miss Aloha Hula competition.
Welp, that’s all for now! Have a great weekend, and don’t forget to stop by your favorite indie bookstore!