Book Therapy
Grieving and reading our way through tender times ❤️
If you’re reading this, you’re likely doing the same thing we are - trying to pick yourself back up after a week of shock, sadness and other words we can’t find to describe our current emotional roller coaster.
Over the last few days, we’ve found ourselves digging around piles of books to find anything that will give us comfort in chaos. Considering the looming book ban, we’re holding on tight to the texts that inform, enlighten and reinforce the vision that we have for our lives. A vision of a more connected, engaged and supportive community that can lean on one another to navigate the unknown.
In addition to the books we’re reading for personal nourishment, we’ve also co-curated a selection of books that reinforce the power of connection, with our friends at Reparations Club. We’ve dropped some of our favorites below, with a few personal reviews (JP is text + videos from Miriam), and as a member of our digital community you can purchase these online at Reparations Club using the code NOSMALLTALK20 for a friendly discount.
We hope this inspires you to deepen your connections, read something new and talk about it more. You never know what will unfold.
What’s a book you feel drawn towards in hard times? Do you read to escape? To understand? To comfort? Drop your thoughts in the comments!
Chat soon,
Jennifer and Miriam
The Source of Self-Regard by Toni Morrison - “Arguably the most celebrated and revered writer of our time now gives us a new nonfiction collection—a rich gathering of her essays, speeches, and meditations on society, culture, and art, spanning four decades.”
The Selected Works of Audre Lorde Edited by Roxane Gay - “Self-described "black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet" Audre Lorde is an unforgettable voice in twentieth-century literature, and one of the first to center the experiences of black, queer women. This essential reader showcases her indelible contributions to intersectional feminism, queer theory, and critical race studies in twelve landmark essays and more than sixty poems―selected and introduced by one of our most powerful contemporary voices on race and gender, Roxane Gay.”
The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker - “In The Art of Gathering, Priya Parker argues that the gatherings in our lives are lackluster and unproductive--which they don't have to be. We rely too much on routine and the conventions of gatherings when we should focus on distinctiveness and the people involved. At a time when coming together is more important than ever, Parker sets forth a human-centered approach to gathering that will help everyone create meaningful, memorable experiences, large and small, for work and for play.”
Fighting For Our Friendships: The Science and Art of Conflict and Connection in Women’s Relationships by Danielle Bayard Jackson - “Friendship coach and educator Danielle Bayard Jackson unpacks the latest research about women’s cooperation and communication, while sharing practical strategies to preserve and strengthen these relationships. Fighting for our friendships is one part textbook, one part handbook. Readers will not only learn what the latest research has to say about the mechanics of women’s friendships, but they’ll walk away with real-life solutions for the most common conflicts that arise in their platonic relationships.”
Sula by Toni Morrison - “Two girls who grow up to become women. Two friends who become something worse than enemies. In this brilliantly imagined novel, Toni Morrison tells the story of Nel Wright and Sula Peace, who meet as children in the small town of Medallion, Ohio. Their devotion is fierce enough to withstand bullies and the burden of a dreadful secret. It endures even after Nel has grown up to be a pillar of the Black community and Sula has become a pariah. But their friendship ends in an unforgivable betrayal—or does it end? Terrifying, comic, ribald and tragic, Sula" is a work that overflows with life.”
Big Friendship How We Keep Each Other Close by Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman - “It’s a given that a deep, fulfilling friendship is a key to happiness—everyone from Greek philosophers to Instagram influencers will tell you that! But for all the rosy sentiments surrounding friendship, we don’t talk much about what it really takes to stay close friends for the long haul. Now two friends, the popular podcast cohosts Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman, elaborate on their equally messy and life-affirming Big Friendship in this honest and hilarious book that chronicles their first ten years in one another’s lives.”
Power Moves: Ignite Your Confidence and Become a Force by Sarah Jakes Roberts - “Power Moves will help you to qualify whether you're living life authentically or if you've found a way to maintain status quo. It will reveal the principles required to tap into the most powerful version of who you are, then lead you in how to introduce your authentic self to the world around you.”
The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates - “Coates originally set off to write a book about writing, in the tradition of Orwell's classic Politics and the English Language, but found himself grappling with deeper questions about how our stories—our reporting and imaginative narratives and myth-making—expose and distort our realities.”
View Miriam’s full review here
Glitch Feminism: A Manifesto by Legacy Russell - “The divide between the digital and the real world no longer exists: we are connected all the time. How do we find out who we are within this digital era? Where do we create the space to explore our identity? How can we come together and create solidarity?
The glitch is often dismissed as an error, a faulty overlaying, but, as Legacy Russell shows, liberation can be found within the fissures between gender, technology and the body that it creates. The glitch offers the opportunity for us to perform and transform ourselves in an infinite variety of identities. In Glitch Feminism, Russell makes a series of radical demands through memoir, art and critical theory, and the work of contemporary artists who have travelled through the glitch in their work.”