Here’s what I shared this month on Good Day Alabama on WBRC Fox 6. An award-winning memoir about a young Native American woman to mark Native American History Month, one of my favorite recent reads and a cookbook I’ll use to navigate Thanksgiving.
by Deborah Taffa
This Native memoir has racked up so many “best-of” awards, and it was a finalist for the National Book Award and longlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Excellence. It’s a tender and bold coming-of-age story on and off the reservation. It’s also a look at the tensions between mainstream America and Native inheritance, assimilation and tradition. Deborah Jackson Taffa is a mixed-tribe native girl—born on the California Yuma reservation and raised in Navajo territory in New Mexico. Her parents want her to transcend her class and “Indian” status, but her family’s tribal history beckons, too.
Her grandparents—citizens of the Quechan Nation and Laguna Pueblo tribe—were sent to Indian boarding schools run by white missionaries; her parents were encouraged to take part in governmental job training off the reservation. But as she grew older, Taffa began to question the ideas held by her elders and by American society: If she gave up her culture, her land, and her traditions, she would not only be accepted, but she would be able to achieve the “American Dream.” Her story is an important one—a blend of specific tribal histories and myths as well as personal stories of a 1970s and 1980s childhood spent on and off the reservation.
By Amor Towles
This is a witty, entertaining, thoroughly enjoyable book about a young woman in post-Depression era New York who suddenly finds herself navigating high society.
On the last night of 1937, 25-year-old Katey Kontent is in a Greenwich Village jazz bar when Tinker Grey, a handsome, wealthy banker, sits down at the neighboring table. It’s a chance encounter with nearly immediate and startling consequences. And Katey embarks on a year-long journey into the upper echelons of New York society—with little to guide and sustain her except her sharp wit and steely self-assurance.
The descriptions of this era of New York and its social strata are mesmerizing. So is Katey. The writing is superb. Rules of Civility is a true work of literature. It’s not a new book, but it’s new to me. And it has more than one million readers worldwide.
Thanksgiving: How to Cook It Well
By Sam Sifton
Sam Sifton, one of America’s best food writers and the founder of The New York Times Cooking section, is someone I’ve trusted for years when it comes to recipes. So, I absolutely trust him to help with Thanksgiving. This book is a definitive, timeless guide to Thanksgiving dinner—preparing it, surviving it, and pulling it off in style.
Thanksgiving is fraught with potential problems and missteps and stress. This smartly written, beautifully illustrated, recipe-filled book offers a comfort and solace and a game plan. You can cook a great meal on Thanksgiving, and you can have a great time, too.
The recipes are simple and include traditional Thanksgiving favorites as well as new takes on old standbys. No more dry turkey! No more lumpy gravy! There are solid cooking techniques here along with menu ideas and recipes for festival cocktails, fun party food, exciting side dishes, delicious desserts and a truly excellent turkey. Follow Sam’s instructions for the meal and the mood. He even has tips for setting the table!
I link to Amazon to show you exactly what book I’m talking about, but I love to shop locally at Church Street Coffee and Books, The Alabama Booksmith, Little Professor, and Thank You Books in Crestwood. And I visit my local library often in person and online!
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