“Please Don’t Sit on My Bed in Your Outside Clothes”

Bestselling author, actress, comedian, and producer Phoebe Robinson is back in print in all her hilarity, bringing her signature wit (“Everything’s Trash,” “You Can’t Touch My Hair,” “2 Dope Queens”) to this cultural moment. The topics in this essay collection are both enlightening and entertaining: dating at the onset of the pandemic, her experiences as a Black woman building her own business, the absurd commercialism of the self-care industry, and the value of performative allyship. Phoebe’s prose moves at the speed of light, while remaining conversational, thoughtful, and intimate.

“Crying in the H Mart”

Writer and musician Michelle Zauner’s debut memoir outlines a complicated mother-daughter relationship, alongside the stories our senses offer us when we experience grief. “Now that she was gone,” writes Zauner, “I began to study her like a stranger, rooting around her belongings in an attempt to rediscover her, trying to bring her back to life in any way that I could.” These stories will resonate with anyone who has ever considered the healing and connective power of food as it relates to family, identity, and culture. The sense of place provided by vivid descriptions of ingredients and traditions is absolutely transporting.

“These Precious Days”

“Death always thinks of us eventually,” writes Ann Patchett, in her new book of essays, “the trick is to find the joy in the interim, and make good use of the days we have.” Whether the topic is an unexpected friendship with Tom Hanks’ assistant, blended families, or shedding possessions, her self-examination and meditations on private moments offer the reader new ways to view both the outside world, and the passage of time. Those who have enjoyed Patchett’s fiction (“Commonwealth,” “The Dutch House”) will appreciate her narrative voice and taut, direct prose.

“Tacky: Love Letters to the Worst Culture We Have to Offer”

In her first essay collection, Rax King writes: “I still don’t really know what [tacky] means, though like Supreme Court Justice Stewart once said of the threshold for obscenity, I know it when I see it.” For King, who also hosts the podcast Low Culture Boil, nothing is too low-brow for examination, which was refreshing. Her 14 essays weave in and out of pop culture, 90s nostalgia, and things we hate to admit we enjoy: “Sex and the City,” Cheesecake Factory’s obscenely large menu, shopping malls, and even “Jersey Shore” — with which she pleads the case that, when it comes to culture, “quality” does not solely determine value, but also who you experience it with.

By Ann Richmond

Garrett,

Administrative Assistant