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Susannah Felts

NonfictionArtLifestylesArt

Force of Nature

Review by Susannah Felts

I dare you to page through Force of Nature: A Celebration of Girls and Women Raising Their Voices and not feel moved. The triumphant (and so affordably priced!) book from Strong Is the New Pretty creator Kate T. Parker overflows with photographs of girls and women speaking and living their truths, cultivating their voices and using them to effect change, whether in one-on-one friendships, school settings, the corporate world or broader social contexts. An 8-year-old in fairy wings uses her voice “to be silly and make [people] laugh to try to cheer them up”; a 49-year-old heart attack survivor raises awareness about a type of heart disease common in women under 40. Athletes, activists, advocates and those who have overcome terrific obstacles are well accounted for in the compelling profiles. But equally arresting are the images, both in color and black-and-white, of ordinary girls and women. I can almost hear Tina Turner singing, “We don’t need another hero.” What we do need are girls and women who wholeheartedly believe in their own worth and power, however they decide to be in the world. 

The triumphant Force of Nature overflows with photos and profiles of girls and women who wholeheartedly believe in their own worth and power.
NonfictionLifestylesAging

Tough Broad

Review by Susannah Felts

Why do so many men over 50 trumpet their desire to climb mountains—and do so—while fewer women over 50 act similarly? Caroline Paul, author of The Gutsy Girl, isn’t having it. In Tough Broad: From Boogie Boarding to Wing Walking—How Outdoor Adventure Improves Our Lives as We Age, she profiles numerous women who scuba dive, surf, race BMX bikes and more in defiance of what our culture might not-so-subtly suggest about age-appropriate outdoor activities for women. She begins with herself: 57 years old, riding an electric skateboard into Yosemite, en route to meet a 52-year-old grandmother and adventure trainer who also happens to be a BASE jumper. As Paul details, science confirms that having a positive attitude on aging can do a body good; refusing to bend to fear or stereotypes is as solid advice as “use it or lose it.” Her storytelling here goes deep, exploring the nuances of each woman’s quest to understand her own pull to outdoor adventure. Tough Broad is as engrossing as it is inspiring.

Caroline Paul profiles women over 50 who buck stereotypes and embrace outdoor adventure in the engrossing, inspiring Tough Broad.
NonfictionLifestylesHumor

Unbecoming a Lady

Review by Susannah Felts

Contrarian at heart that I am, Unbecoming a Lady: The Forgotten Sluts and Shrews Who Shaped America is very on-brand for me. Stories of turn-of-the-century gals who were anything but well-behaved—unashamed, unvirtuous, flagrant, selfish, transgressive, weird—and are mostly unsung today? Sign me up. Therese Oneill’s zippy narratives of drama queens, business broads, big mouths and brilliant harpies begin with Celesta Geyer, aka Dolly Dimples, “The World’s Most Beautiful Fat Lady,” who turned shame into game. Many of the dames here did the same, while others quietly (or loudly) pursued their schemes, passions and hijinks in real estate, entertainment, vice, fashion and much more. They are not always role models, but they are fascinating figures, and O’Neill has a blast telling their stories. “ ‘Resting Bitchface’ isn’t an insult if you do it so well men literally fold under the strength of it,” she writes of Poker Alice, a card shark and brothel keeper of the Wild West. Give this one to all your lady friends who give no Fs.

Unbecoming a Lady is a raucous ode to turn-of-the-century drama queens, business broads and bigmouths who were anything but well-behaved.
NonfictionMemoirLifestylesAging

How to Be Old

Review by Susannah Felts

In her 60s, Lyn Slater, a professor of social work, became internet-famous for her fashion sense. In her memoir, How to Be Old: Lessons in Living Boldly From the Accidental Icon, she tells the story of riding that wave for a decade before deciding it was time for a move out of NYC and a life in writing. Now we can add Slater’s memoir to our essential texts that rethink aging in an image-centric world. Of her social media success, she writes, “Is it really about fashion embracing older consumers, or is it about valuing those individuals who have the capacity to adapt, remain relevant, and be comfortable with experimentation, reinvention, and an interest in culture and the world they live in? These are the folks who know what to make of a lucky accident when one happens to them. Perhaps it’s really not about age but about feeling starved by superficiality.” Mic drop.

In her memoir, "accidental icon" and fashion influencer Lyn Slater rethinks aging in an image-centric world.
NonfictionLifestylesBody, Mind & Spirit

Breathe

Review by Susannah Felts

Last year I told everyone who would listen about a book I was reading—Breath by James Nestor—and how radically it had impacted my thinking. Most of us breathe poorly, and it’s a real problem. Another excellent, easy-to-browse resource to get your breathing back on track is Jean Hall’s Breathe: Simple Breathing Techniques for a Calmer, Happier Life. You might think of it as the “now do this” counterpart to Nestor’s researched narrative. The breathing exercises offered here, many of which are adapted from yogic philosophy, are designed “to return the breath to its natural optimum pattern of slow, soft, steady spaciousness,” Hall writes. The outcome? Better mental and physical health (and yes, science backs this up). Some breath patterns are designed to enable sleep, others to energize or focus the mind, some to prep for meditation. If a class-based yoga practice isn’t the right fit for you, this book offers some of the basic teachings in a clear, succinct format.

Jean Hall’s Breathe is an excellent, easy-to-browse resource to get your breathing back on track.
NonfictionLifestylesFood & Drink

Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts

Review by Susannah Felts

“I am the keeper of the stories, the writer, the one who has carried the stories in my apron for so many years,” writes Crystal Wilkinson in her culinary memoir, Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks. Wilkinson, a Kentucky native and author of several books of fiction and poetry, shares here the recipes and memories of her Black Appalachian forebears, including her grandmother who raised her. “I am always reaching back,” she writes, recalling her grandmother’s jam cake or imagining the life of a distant ancestor, Aggy, an enslaved woman who married her white enslaver’s son. Cooking a mess of dandelion greens, Wilkinson deepens the connection to her kitchen ghosts and reflects on the lean times her family encountered during the scarcity of winter. She finds delight and abundance in recipes for caramel cake, blackberry cobbler, sweet sorghum cookies, biscuits and cornbread. “I’ve always felt a power larger than myself while cooking,” Wilkinson reflects. We’re lucky that she’s sharing the power with us through this tender and important book. 

Crystal Wilkinson’s tender Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts collects the memories and recipes of her Black Appalachian forebears.
NonfictionLifestylesBiography

The Explorers Club

Review by Susannah Felts

You might believe that the golden age of exploration is far behind us. Editor Jeff Wilser’s The Explorers Club: A Visual Journey Through the Past, Present, and Future of Exploration proves otherwise, revealing that we are in a tremendously exciting new era of discovery. The titular club is an actual New York City-based organization that defines exploration as “curiosity acted upon.” Among its 3,400-strong ranks are some of the world’s most intrepid and determined individuals, and Wilser offers a visually stunning front-row seat to club members’ game-changing explorations past and present. There’s storyteller Asha Stuart, looking at how the Himba people of Namibia are being affected by climate change, and Justin Dunnavant, who dives to explore sunken slave ships. Marine biologist Margaret O’Leary Amsler has revealed secrets of Antarctic krill, and astronaut Ed Lu deflects potentially dangerous asteroids. Today’s explorers both build and provide a needed corrective to the work of those who came before: Their missions ward off environmental devastation, increase conservation and alter perspectives for the better. Armchair explorers, or anyone with a curious mind, will be sucked right into the incredible stories gathered here. 

Jeff Wilser’s stunning The Explorers Club showcases some of today’s tremendously exciting scientific expeditions.
NonfictionLifestylesDesign

House Cat

Review by Susannah Felts

Imagine, if you will, the ultimate swanky home tour—but with cats on display in every abode. Such are the joys of House Cat: Inspirational Interiors and the Elegant Felines Who Call Them Home, a worthy follow-up to Where They Purr, Paul Barbera’s first fur-ray into the territory of interiors featuring felines. Whereas the former title focused on the lifestyles of kitties across Europe and Australia, the new book features stateside dwellings. We meet Lady Penelope, who “runs a tight ship” in a New York City penthouse full of playful artwork, and who, having developed arthritis, relies on her “obedient human elevators.” Or how about the nine cat buddies shacked up in a Beverly Hills hacienda? The homes here incredibly diverse in style—everything from a Connecticut saltbox to a modern Miami apartment to a glass palace in the Santa Monica hills—but it’s the cats, and the care shown to capturing their distinctive selves and backstories, that really tugs my heart: “Even in her golden age, Evita Gaton has yet to relinquish her hunting habits. The 12-year-old lynx point Siamese is an independent and sometimes demanding presence in her 18th-century home.” There’s even a Q&A for each cat. (Diva or devoted friend? Lap cat or not? And so on.) 

In House Cat, Paul Barbera makes his second fur-ay into sumptuous interiors and the distinctive felines who dominate them.
NonfictionLifestyles

1000 Words

Review by Susannah Felts

If you want to write a book, you need to know the name Jami Attenberg. A bestselling novelist and memoirist, Attenberg has gathered more than 30,000 followers for her #1000wordsofsummer project over the past several years. It’s a two-week online accountability sprint, during which she sends quick pep talks—her own and those of author friends—to motivate legions of fellow scribes, who in turn lift each other up online. Her latest book, 1000 Words: A Writer’s Guide to Staying Creative, Focused, and Productive All Year Round, collects and distills that project into a motivational volume every writer should keep close at hand. Wise and frank words from heavy-hitters such as Ada Limon, Deesha Philyaw and Min Jin Lee, and from Attenberg herself, serve to drown out the harsh inner critic, the constant external static and the crushing doubt that threatens to derail any big creative undertaking. It’s like being at a writing retreat with some of the best contemporary authors on the planet. 

Bestselling novelist and memoirist Jamie Attenberg collects and distills her #1000wordsofsummer project in a wise and frank new book.
NonfictionPop CultureLifestyles

Black TV

Review by Susannah Felts

“I’m rooting for, uhmmm, everybody Black,” said actor/writer/producer and “Insecure” creator Issa Rae at the 2017 Emmy Awards. The essential Black TV: Five Decades of Groundbreaking Television from “Soul Train” to “Black-ish” and Beyond, from Washington Post reporter Bethonie Butler, does the same, showcasing prime-time television shows of a “new era in Black television: one in which viewers would have more say in what they watched and Black writers, producers, and talent would have more creative control over the stories they brought to television.” Among these noteworthy series, Butler highlights Donald Glover’s “Atlanta,” Quinta Brunson’s “Abbott Elementary” and Ava DuVernay’s “When They See Us,” swiftly surveying their impact on the industry. Along the way, Butler visits the Jeffersons and the Cosbys, Arsenio Hall and Richard Pryor, the Fresh Prince and the ladies of “Living Single,” and many other icons of television, showing how Black creators opened doors for one another to find success. 

Bethonie Butler’s glossy coffee table book Black TV highlights the impact of Black creators on the entertainment industry.
NonfictionLifestylesEssays

Sad Happens

Review by Susannah Felts

Brandon Stosuy is a master of pulling together the inspiring words of artists: He has gifted us with the stellar online magazine of interviews The Creative Independent, and three elegantly designed creativity guides. Now he returns with Sad Happens: A Celebration of Tears, a book of reflections, illustrated by Rose Lazar, about the experience and catharsis of sadness and weeping, a “collective, multifaceted archive of tears.” As in his previous books, Stosuy sources from his vast artist network: Many contributors here are music-biz folks, including The National’s Matt Berninger and the ultimate #sadgirl Phoebe Bridgers. “The shared emotion of Sad Happens has real power,” writes Stosuy. “It gives us permission to open up, let down our guard, embrace those things that make us feel vulnerable. By sharing, we see that crying is universal, and that tears should, in fact, be celebrated.” Tears come when they will, like it or not: during the “emotional exorcism” of massage for writer Nada Alic, while singing for Gelsey Bell, and while flying for Hanif Abdurraqib. The effect of reading these candid takes on sadness may elicit your own, and maybe that’s a good thing. While paging through the book, I remembered once texting my teenage daughter to see what she was doing, and she said, “Listening to the boygenius album and crying. Don’t worry, I’m making the conscious choice to cry.” And I felt a little sad, then, that I rarely cry. I used to, a lot; but now an SSRI suppresses the tears. There should be a word, I think, for “feeling like crying, but thanks to medication, you can’t.”

Brandon Stosuy collects candid takes on sadness from Phoebe Bridgers, Hanif Abdurraqib and a bevy of other luminaries in Sad Happens.
NonfictionLifestylesBody, Mind & Spirit

The Natural Home Wheel of the Year

Review by Susannah Felts

As I’ve become interested in observing pagan holidays, or sabbats, such as Yule and Mabon, Raechel Henderson’s The Natural Home Wheel of the Year: Crafting, Cooking, Decorating & Magic for Every Sabbat feels right on time. “The sabbats give us a new station roughly every 45 days, at which we can pause and notice the world around us,” she writes. Rituals, special meals and craft projects give meaningful shape and heft to that attention, and can be as simple as a dinner table place setting for a departed loved one, or as ambitious as a homemade oil lamp. As the holiday Imbolc hints at the coming spring, making a bird feeder or a batch of oatcakes with honey butter could brighten the last weeks of winter. In late summer, Lammas marks an ideal moment to forage for berries or bake bread. Henderson also provides journal prompts for a check-in with our internal selves in accordance with the cycle of nature, a way to connect the inner and outer worlds. Decked out in color photos and including helpful templates for some of the crafts, this book is a beautiful year-round resource.

The Natural Home Wheel of the Year is a guide to rituals, special meals and craft projects that give meaningful shape to pagan holidays.
NonfictionLifestylesBody, Mind & Spirit

Njuta

Review by Susannah Felts

Scandi words for better living have been floating around the zeitgeist for a while now, and I’m not mad about it. First there was one of my all-time favorite concepts, hygge, the Scandinavian take on cozy comfort. Then came lykke (happiness) and fika (coffee break). Now meet njuter, the Swedish verb that means “to savor the moment.” Njuta: Enjoy, Delight In: The Swedish Art of Savoring the Moment by Niki Brantmark explores njuta, the art of cherishing the small delights in life, from several angles—at work, in nature, in food and drink, in hobbies and more. Embrace the concept and you might be deemed a livsnjutare, a person who thoroughly enjoys the finer things. (Like a hedonist, perhaps, but without any negative connotation.) There’s much herein about the positives of Swedish culture. Proverbs such as “Hard bread makes the cheek red” dot the book. Brantmark offers recipes for pinnbröd (bread on a stick), gröt (porridge) and kokkafe (a “slow” coffee); she boosts the benefits of spending time in the great outdoors and adding a fulsnygg (“ugly pretty”) piece of decor to your home. While not all of the ideas here will feel new, you’ll definitely learn a lot of fun Swedish terms and customs along the way.

Niki Brantmark’s Njuta surveys the Swedish art of cherishing small delights.

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