December Mid-Month Reading Wrap-Up: Non-Fiction

 I've read some excellent non-fiction so far this month, and I've loved all of it. Most of it isn't published yet but will be soon--at least here. It may be that in your part of the world some of these are already available. I did read one of my own books, Women Who Read Are Dangerous, which I wrote a bit about here. I loved this book and I know I'll be dipping into it again and again. It's a collection of artwork depicting women reading and a short informative piece about the art. The introduction is fascinating. 

Resilient Stitch: Wellbeing and Connection in Textile Art by Claire Wellesley-Smith (library book)

This is a gorgeous book, packed with photographs of textile art created by the author and others. The photos are examples illustrating what Wellesley-Smith is writing about in terms of some of the benefits textiles work provides to the artists who work in this medium. She discusses her practice and philosophy as well as that of others. She describes collaborative community work, points out the environmental benefits of using old textiles, and describes her process. It's a wonderful book for anyone interested in textiles and working with textiles in creative ways. 

And now, the as yet unpublished works I've read this month. starting with some food history.

The Epic History of Macaroni and Cheese: From Ancient Rome to Modern America by Karima Moyer-Nocchi (to be published on Feb 3, 2026 by Columbia University Press)

When I saw this book on NetGalley, my first thought was, 'I had no idea macaroni and cheese had an epic history.' My next thought was that I really wanted to read it. It did not disappoint. You might wonder what could be so important about the history of any food, but as the Curator of Food History at the National Museum of American History, Paula J. Johnson points out in her foreword, ' As culinary historians understand, tracing the history of foods and foodways across time and space reveals intricate threads of history--trading networks and technologies of transport, cultural diasporas resulting from conflicts and disease, the influence of religion and education, and ideas about gender, race, and class that underlie relationships and fuel the dynamics of power.' (p ix-x) The history of macaroni and cheese addresses all of these issues and more. The author sets the record straight on some myths surrounding this dish, provides modernized versions of old recipes that illustrate the evolution of the dish itself and attitudes towards it, shows how various peoples and ethnic groups put their own spin on the dish, discusses the ways in which recipes were copied, and shows how food technology impacted the ways macaroni and cheese was produced by both individual home cooks and food companies. It's a fascinating history. I'll never look at mac and cheese the same way again. If you're interested in culinary history, cultural foodways, issues of gender, race, and class, this book is for you. I'm already recommending it to people I know.

Snack by Eurie Dahn (to be published on Feb 19, 2026 by Bloomsbury Academic)

What do you think of Flamin' Hot Cheetos? For the author of this fun and informative book, they bring happy memories to mind and she opens the book with a discussion of their origin story, what role they played in her own life, and how this product illustrates larger cultural issues. But she doesn't stop there. She explores snacks from many different angles, including personal, economic, cultural, and in terms of gender. There is so much packed into this small, readable, thought-provoking, informative book. It's not meant to be a definitive history of snack foods, but rather "an idiosyncratic take on snacks and snacking" (p. 11) She points out that the book is primarily focused on the US, but through the lens of the author, "a middle-class Asian-American woman, a child of immigrants, who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s." (p 12) She does a fine job of starting with her own experiences and expanding out to look at the larger cultural issues they illustrate, while reminding readers that, "the category of snacks is capacious, changeable, and culturally, historically, and individually dependent." (p 12)

This book is part of the Object Lessons series, which aims to describe the hidden lives of everyday objects. I'll be seeking out more books in this series because I found this book to be fascinating and I wholeheartedly recommend it.

And finally, things get very cold.

Frostlines: And Epic Exploration of a Transforming Arctic by Neil Shea (to be published on Feb 12, 2026 by Pan Macmillan)

In this excellent, thoughtful, and thought-provoking book, Neil Shea takes readers on a journey across the Arctic to illuminate this cold environment, the animals and humans who call it home, and the landscape itself, now changing rapidly as our world gets warmer. He visits Canada, Alaska, Greenland, and Norway at the Russian border, spending time in the wild and learning from the people who live in these places. He reminds us that although we don't think much about this region of the earth, it has a big impact on those of us who live south of the Arctic Circle. He asks, "What can it mean for all of us, if the north ceases to be cold?" (p. 8)

For the people who live in these cold places, things are changing fast and they're adapting as best as they can. Having lived in Alaska for a decade, and having done some work with some Inupiaq people (although not in the same region he describes in the book), I was particularly interested in how things I observed 20 years before he was there had accelerated, both in terms of the environment and with interpersonal relations between Native people and the '-ologists,' who came from outside and objectified them, trying to grab all the knowledge and information they could to use for their own ends.

The author describes his own growing awareness and enlightenment as he learns how Native people see the land and the animals. He describes the ways in which they see themselves as being in relationship with the animals and land--and relationship brings with it responsibility to behave in appropriate ways. For example, it's a common view among Inupiaq whale hunters, particularly elders, that the whales give themselves to the hunter to sustain the community. This requires the hunters to behave properly and share the meat appropriately. Animals are crucial because, on the most basic level, it's how people live. Given the isolation of these communities and the lack of options, hunting is essential.

This is an important book which describes moments of profound connection--something that we'd all do well to cultivate in our own lives, no matter where we live. Highly recommend.

I thank NetGalley, the publishers and the authors for digital review copies of the upcoming books listed above.

And on we go into the second half of the month--time left for many more books! I'm ready!

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