monday midday reading dispatch
I mostly shopped for books last week, and now you get to read about it.
Welcome to another edition of Amateur Bibliotherapy, my weekly newsletter about book-y things. Use this Google Form at any time to tell me about what you’re reading—you might be featured here or on my Bookstagram! I’m an affiliate of Bookshop.org, which means that I may make a small commission if you make a purchase through my affiliate links. That commission will be donated to Welcome To Chinatown before the year’s end.
Time is relative. Enjoy this Monday dispatch with your midday coffee. If you’re feeling especially decadent, might I suggest an at-home bicerin if you can’t enjoy one from Turin’s Caffè Al Bicerin or New York’s Bar Pisellino?
things to do
In her latest edition of True Colors, Rosalie Chan talks about being retraumatized by consistently horrifying news in the US. She also compiled funds, resources and organizations related to the shootings in Indianapolis, the police shootings of Daunte Wright and Adam Toledo, and the continued violence against Asian Americans. True Colors regularly features 10 stories by women of color per issue.
In response to the news that Simon & Schuster imprint Post Hill Press will publish a book by one of Breonna Taylor’s murderers (despite S&S’s weak statement that they “will not be involved in the distribution of this book”), Dear Publishers is amplifying petitions, action items and other news related to combating white supremacy in the American publishing industry.
The newly formalized Bluestockings Cooperative is expanding their in-store mutual aid programming by adding new membership tiers. Memberships at any level now let you join their book club and contribute to their supplies like menstrual products, condoms, fentanyl strips and more.
the books
Last week, I read The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner in one sitting. That’s all I’m going to say about that one…
Upon Kasey’s recommendation, I also finished Go Home!, an anthology edited by Rowan Hisayo Buchanan with stories and poems from an array of Asian diasporic writers. My favorites were “Mothers, Lock Up Your Daughters Because They are Terrifying” by Alice Sola Kim (cutting, creepy); “Cul-de-sac” by Chaya Babu (an eerily familiar story of deeply white suburbia); “Esmeralda” by Mia Alvar (beautiful, devastating, 9/11); and “The Faintest Echo of Our Language” by Chang-Rae Lee (poignant, intimate). What a wonderful collection.
the buys
I stopped by the absolutely delightful Sweet Pickle Books on the Lower East Side this week, where I enjoyed sifting through used books and curated shelves to come away with Things to Do When You’re Goth in the Country and Other Stories by Chavisa Woods. I also ended up with two jars of pickles and gasped at the selection of L. Ron Hubbard paperbacks on a high shelf.
I also made my way into Codex Books on Bowery and Bleecker to look through their outdoor racks of books for a buck, but came away with a copy of In The Miso Soup by Ryu Murakami (who the shopkeeper described as “the evil Murakami”). Their selection skews towards literary fiction, philosophy, and art books.
From the comfort of my bed, I also ordered myself a custom curated book stack from Good Books Atlanta as an early birthday gift. Stay tuned for that stack pic.
That’s all for today. If you need something else to read, this incredible Twitter thread of absolute Goodreads fuckery is fun.