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AMY Amy has been reading books for a very long time. She always figured she'd end up working in a bookstore, figured right, and has been doing so for quite a while now. She's hoping that's a sign of untapped clairvoyance. When not reading she can usually be found trying to perfect a new Vegan/GF recipe, attending a local arts event, or hanging out with her dog. When reading she likes books that teach her something new, or expand upon one of her favorite subjects. |
A beautifully written piece of historical fiction set to the background of Oscar Wilde's libel trial. Our main characters together, but for their own reasons, are writing a book on "sexual inversion" what we would now call homosexuality. Their goal, the complete societal acceptance of a normal variety of sexual expression. Of course, the historical moment in England was not kind to those who were not "traditionally" inclined. We see these hopes and fears play out, as well as see the effect this effort has on each of their lives and the lives of those around them.
I grew up with a lot of Russian, Ukrainian, and other Eastern European foods on my table. This book has me revisiting favorites like Borscht, but also trying my hand at curing my own salmon (amazing by the way), and making a vegetarian version of the potato salad I remember so fondly from many get-togethers with family and friends. I highly recommend adding this to your collection of cookbooks. I love cookbooks. I love this cookbook.
Tessa Miller has shared a supremely important and vulnerable memoir with us. Detailing her experience with chronic incurable illness (Chron's/Celiac) - she has provided us with both the service of sharing what this is like with the able-bodied world, and also has made those of us with chronic illnesses feel seen and less alone. This book is a gift.
This made my heart happy. For all of us girls who aren't "dress girls" out there - or who are only sometimes "dress girls". I like Nicki, will always prefer a suit.
Exercise is difficult for me. It hasn't always been this way, I used to do 15-20 hours of exercise a week for 15 years. Then I stopped. Life, health, and other things got in my way, and here I am trying desperately to start again, but finding myself unable to keep it up despite that history, and despite my desire. This book helped me reframe my all-or-nothing approach to fit my current needs. It also helped me stop associating the days I just can't do it with "failing". A refreshing look at truly caring for ourselves physically and mentally when it comes to exercise.
She may not be for everyone, but I for one love Marie Kondo! This book focuses less on the tidying - though she mentions it plenty - and more on the joy of finding the lifestyle or "kurashi" that fits best for you, and how this helps you create and curate a home in which you'll always feel at ease.
If you like books that make you hungry - this is for you. All I want to do after reading this is go grocery shopping, and then immediately cook a massive meal to share with someone.
Absolutely incredible. A memoir of time, place, politics, and ideologies. Of family. Of differing notions of "freedom". A glimpse into Albania that only someone who lived it could show us all. This memoir is stunning, and thought provoking, and important.
Brandon Taylor has yet to disappoint. The Late Americans is a novel told from the perspectives of an intertwined group of friends and acquaintances in an Iowa college arts community. Dancers, poets, and painters discuss life and art, sleep with one another, and try to make sense of what life looks like after their time together.
I had never thought much about the lost age of "browsing". Perhaps, in no small part, this is due to my working in a bookstore - so even if diminished, my browsing life hasn't exactly halted entirely. Regardless, reading ON BROWSING brought back that very specific feeling of pouring over shelves of books, tapes, and CDs. Of flipping through record bins, and wandering antique malls. In search of that serendipitous discovery that can only happen when browsing aimlessly. I do this far less often now, even though I know I find so much joy in the activity. Read ON BROWSING for a sense of nostalgia, but also for some encouragement to continue your browsing habits, and to hold on to all the physical media you've collected that means something to you.
Paradise Kiss continues to stand out in a genre where it's not uncommon for art and story style to feel homogenized across storytellers and artists. Yazawa's style is just as refreshing now as it was when ParaKiss was originally released. The fringe kids, the outcasts, and the art kids all find a voice in Paradise Kiss. It was a treat looking at this classic with new eyes, and finding new familiarity in the plots and the characters as an adult that I may have overlooked as a teen.
It's not often that a sequel - especially a literary sequel - shine as bright as the first installment. TALES FROM THE CAFE picks up not long after BEFORE THE COFFEE GETS COLD left off. It continues to introduce you to those seeking to visit the past, and you get to know the staff at the café better - and learn more about their lives. Splendid. Looking forward to the third installment.
Sparse, poetic, beautiful, and haunting. Em traces a family through generations of trauma visited upon them by colonialism, war, and white supremacy. A story of history and survival in Vietnam.
An absolute delight. Eve Brown is a ray of sunshine, wildly relatable, and a breath of fresh air. Once again, the care with which Hibbert writes a couple is shown with Eve and Jacob. And as always after a Brown Sisters novel - I want more of these characters. I might just have to start the whole series over again.
Murota's cookbooks are a staple for any kitchen that wants to incorporate delicious, authentic Japanese cuisine into their everyday repertoire. There are options for everyone in Simply Japanese from classic Tonkatsu, and a vegan ramen, to variations of miso soup - including a turnip shiro miso soup that looks wonderful. Be sure to also grab a copy of her book Tokyo Cult Recipes!
This book is refreshing in its departure from what one expects from memoir as a genre. Experimental prose, essays, and teenage diary entries help Fitzgerald, a PHD in sociology, tell a story of queer coming of age, and a life in sex work. The diary entries explore youth from a lens of fandom (X-Files) and connection to media. Fitzgerald also touches on the many contradictions and false dichotomies involved in our cultural and capitalistic discussions of sex work. Truly a unique work - and one I will be thinking about for quite awhile.
This book is a gift. Alice Wong is a leader in the Disability Justice community - and her project Disability Visibility is what brings us this invaluable collection of stories and essays from disabled/chronically ill/sick/neurodiverse people of all experiences.
I understand why this has become a quick staff favorite here at Changing Hands. Delilah Green was a fun, sexy, summer read - and a romance I'm happy to recommend to anyone looking for some extra snark in their Rom-Coms. I listened to this one via Libro.fm.
Always, always, here for more Nick and Charlie. As the time approaches for Nick to leave for Uni, Charlie and Nick have to take a look at what a long-distance relationship could look like for them while Nick finishes out his last year of high school. I read this in one sitting, absolutely in love with these characters.
Black women truly are leading the way and showing us how to imagine a better world. We're deeply molded by society to refuse rest in favor of the "grind" - causing a myriad of problems simultaneously physical, mental, and societal. We're also taught to look upon those that seek rest, and seek peace, as "lazy". Hersey calls us to examine the white supremacist, capitalist, and ableist structures that founded this culture that vilifies rest - and to push back against it in all its forms. This book is a gift. One that will go down in history with books like bell hooks' All About Love as a manifesto of care and hope.
This book is a look at the deep societal stigma of "laziness" and what that means for all of us. Through personal stories, interviews, and looks at the different areas of personal and social life we have deemed "lazy" Dr. Price gives us a way to reframe the narrative, and to reclaim our right to care for ourselves and rest. Maybe, just maybe, "laziness" doesn't exist at all...
Talia Hibbert's done it again! Dani Brown is the academically-motivated, no-time-for-romance Brown sister. Relationships are not her cup of tea, but she finds no problem agreeing to a fake-dating-turned-friends-with-benefits scheme with the ever-romantic Zafir. I mean, why not have some fun if you're going to the trouble of pretending to date someone?! The question is - can this arrangement work without them falling for each other?
The Eternal Tao Te Ching: The Philosophical Masterwork of Taoism and Its Relevance Today (Hardcover)
The Tao Te Ching is a philosophical text that I frequently revisit, hold dear, and own multiple translations of. Hoff's "Eternal Tao Te Ching" is a different translation, but one that is extensively studied, and an essential addition to the library of anyone who appreciates the Tao Te Ching.
This series is adorable. It's a cozy opposites-attract school romance with beautiful illustrations. I find myself looking forward to each new installment!
Hewitt writes about queerness, depression, poetry and spirituality in the most beautiful and captivating way. A sad read to be sure, but one that has affected me, and that I'll carry with me, better for having read it. It's been a long while since I've read something that made such an impact on me - one that's so difficult to put into words.
If you could go back in time, would you? Even if the parameters for your trip were very strict? The people who visit this cafe with the desire of going back in time do so for their own reasons. This book is such a cozy and calm look at time travel, at what people so desperately want a chance to revisit, and maybe therefore what matters are closest to their hearts.
Exceptional and strange. This small unsettling book is about art, about creating, about defiance and anger. Hval gives us a glimpse of the interior world of a Norwegian artist who "hates". Who is inspired by the "hate" of the Norwegian black metal scene in the '90s. Who creates alone and with others through this motivation of anger. Experimental, darkly lush, and atmospheric.
I don't know what to say other than the fact that this has been one of the best memoirs I've read in a long while. Gadsby has been my favorite comic since I first saw her Netflix special, Nanette - and her next special, Douglas, solidified that position on my personal roster. This book brought me small parcels of feeling understood that were at times cathartic. While we live very different lives, and have very different experiences, and are very different people, it is the small similarities in thought and experience of the world that I relate to, and greatly appreciate her having shared. I continue to look forward to all new work by her.