Ep. 186: Pumpkin Spice and Bookish Advice w/ Sweetpea Flaherty

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EQ: Which books should be on your fall reading list this year, and how do they reflect and respond to today's societal and current events?

Get ready to spice up your fall reading list with the one and only Sweetpea Flaherty from King’s Books in Tacoma! We’re talking seasonal book cravings, why non-fiction suddenly gets so popular, and the must-read sci-fi and speculative fiction that’s heating up the shelves. Plus, Sweetpea spills the tea (or should we say pumpkin spice latte?) on debut authors, hidden gems, and the best cookbooks and gift sets to grab this season. We’ll also chat about creating the coziest autumn reading nook and why it’s time to decolonize that bookshelf. Join us for laughs, book talk, and a few tips on getting seriously cozy this fall!

Poetry Recs:

  • Latino Poetry: The Library of America Anthology, Rigoberto González

  • Forest of Noise, Mosab Abu Toha

  • Blues in Stereo: The Early Works of Langston Hughes, Langston Hughes

  • What Remains: The Collected Poems of Hannah Arendt, Hannah Arendt

Food & Drink Recs:

  • Good Lookin' Cookin' : A Year of Meals - A Lifetime of Family, Friends, and Food, Dolly Parton, Rachel Parton George

  • Modern Navajo Kitchen : Homestyle Recipes that Celebrate the Flavors and Traditions of the Diné, Alana Yazzie

  • Wild Chocolate : Across the Americas in Search of Cacao's Soul, Rowan Jacobsen

  • Our South : Black Food Through My Lens, Ashleigh Shanti

Memoir/Biography Recs:

  • Survival Is a Promise : The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde, Alexis Pauline Gumbs

  • Thousand Threads : A Memoir, Neneh Cherry

Nonfiction Recs:

  • Turning to Stone : Discovering the Subtle Wisdom of Rocks, Marcia Bjornerud

  • Erasing History : How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future, Jason Stanley

  • Message, Ta-Nehisi Coates

  • Black Utopians : Searching for Paradise and the Promised Land in America, Aaron Robertson

  • Last Stand of the Raven Clan : A Story of Imperial Ambition, Native Resistance and How the Tlingit-Russian War Shaped a Continent, Gerald Easter, Mara Vorhees

  • Resist : How a Century of Young Black Activists Shaped America, Rita Omokha

  • Serviceberry : Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World, Robin Wall Kimmerer

Fiction Recs:

  • She Who Knows, Nnedi Okorafor

  • Absolution, Jeff VanderMeer

  • Mighty Red, Lousie Erdrich

  • Model Home, Rivers Solomon

  • Jamaica Ginger and Other Concoctions, Nalo Hopkinson

  • City and Its Uncertain Walls, Haruki Murakami

Great Gifts:

  • Visualizing Palestine : A Chronicle of Colonialism and the Struggle for Liberation, Jessica Anderson, Aline Batarseh

  • On Freedom, Timothy Snyder

  • Modern Magic : Stories, Rituals, and Spells for Contemporary Witches,  Michelle Tea

  • Korean Feminist Artists : Confront and Deconstruct, Kim Hong-hee, Kim Hyesoon

Do Your Fudging Homework:

  • Annie: Perpetual advice: support your local bookstore. If you don’t have one, support King’s Books via online orders on their website, kingsbookstore.com

    • If you’re a busy reader and haven’t yet, consider starting  your own book list with a rating system. I’ve found that it helps me not only track the books I’ve read, but also making better recommendations for others. 

  • Hope: Another call to decolonize your bookshelf–just pick 1 outside your comfort zone.

  • Sweetpea: jump into a world you know nothing about!

Ep. 30: Decolonize Your Bookshelf

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EQ:  Why is important to decolonize your bookshelf and how do you do it?

Guest: Kristen Sierra, Tacoma born & raised, Lincoln teacher-librarian, TPS mom

Kristen helps us understand what it means to decolonize your bookshelf, including challenging us to read more authors from diverse backgrounds! We also learn more about Project Lit, a Nashville based program that addresses the problem of “book deserts” in urban areas. This program focuses on providing high-quality, culturally relevant books that empower students as readers and leaders.

Support her work to transform the Lincoln Library by:

Learn more information about Project Lit as a Nation wide Movement:

Other useful links:

  • Contact for Tacoma Public Schools Library Director for information on supporting our Milgard Fundraiser & support in general: Ms. Suzanna Panter: spanter@tacoma.K12.wa.us

  • Link to Tacoma Public School Library websites for supportive citizens to contact their local school librarian (scroll down and click on the name of the school) https://www.tacomaschools.org/libraries/Pages/default.aspx

  • Contact for our Superintendent & our Assistant Superintendent to voice your support of school libraries:

  • Superintendent Santorno: csantor@tacoma.K12.wa.us; Superintendent Pace: tpace@tacoma.K12.wa.us

  • Link to requesting materials and sharing suggestions with our Tacoma Public Library (must sign in first to access this feature)  

  • Attendance at events matters and created more opportunities for events! Link to event pages

Come out to Kwame Alexander Author Event on 10/15 at Urban Grace in Tacoma: tickets here

Guilty Favsies:

  • Hope: good ranch dressing (fancy spices)

  • Annie: niiiiice office supplies.

  • Kristen---People, Gossip

Do Your Fudging Homework:

Special Announcement:

We are going to read White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo! #IWLreads #readlessbasic