Best of 2021: Adult Nonfiction | Indian Prairie Public Library District

Author

Series

Notes

A quiet but intense essay collection that uses art to examine and make sense of our shared humanity. --Dontana, Collection Management Librarian

Description

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"In 'Black paper,' Teju Cole meditates on what it means to keep our humanity--and witness the humanity of others--in a time of darkness. 'Darkness,' Cole writes, 'is not empty.' Through art, politics, travel, and memoir, he returns us to the wisdom latent in shadows, and sets the darkness echoing. The opening essay sets the mood for the book, as Cole travels to southern Italy and Sicily to view a series of Caravaggio paintings. He ponders the suffering...

2) LaBelle cuisine: recipes to sing about

Author

LaBelle, Patti

Notes

This cookbook has many easy-to-follow recipes. It surely contains many recipes to “sing about.” I have cooked three recipes from this book, “Better-Than-Mom’s Mashed Potatoes,” “Candied Sweet potatoes,” and “Red Beans and Rice.” All of the dishes came out perfect! I’m looking forward to trying more of these recipes! --Rashmi, Adult Services Librarian

Formats:

Book, Large Print

Description

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For Patti LaBelle, cooking isn’t simply about food—it’s about love. Raised in a family of fantastic Southern cooks, she has kept the lessons she learned in her beloved parents’ and aunts’ kitchens close to her heart but now, she is ready to share these delicious family heirlooms. Combining mouthwatering and accessible recipes with charming personal reminisces of her remarkable life—from learning to cook by observing her parents to whipping...

3) Three girls from Bronzeville: a uniquely American memoir of race, fate, and sisterhood

Author

Turner, Dawn

Series

Thorndike Press large print Black voices

Notes

A wonderful memoir that manages to be quiet yet powerful. Dawn Turner's writing is beautiful even when she writes about terrible things. --Kathy, Collection Management Librarian

Formats:

Book, Audiobook CD, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle, Large Print

Description

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"They were three Black girls. Dawn, tall and studious; her sister, Kim, younger by three years and headstrong as they come; and her best friend, Debra, already prom-queen pretty by third grade. They bonded--fervently and intensely in that unique way of little girls--as they roamed the concrete landscape of Bronzeville, a historic neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, the destination of hundreds of thousands of Black folks who fled the ravages of the...

4) You'll never believe what happened to Lacey: crazy stories about racism

Author

Ruffin, Amber

Notes

I read the audiobook, and I enjoyed Amber's humor and delivery. Beyond that, the essays were amazing. --Dontana, Collection Management Librarian

Formats:

Book, Audiobook CD, eAudiobook

Description

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Writer and performer on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Amber Ruffin writes with her sister Lacey Lamar, with humor and heart to share absurd anecdotes about everyday experiences of racism. Now a writer and performer on Late Night with Seth Meyers and host of The Amber Ruffin Show, Amber Ruffin lives in New York, where she is no one's First Black Friend and everyone is, as she puts it, "stark raving normal." But Amber's sister Lacey? She's still living...