Book Rx: Literary Prescriptions for This Holiday Season
Years ago, I decided to get creative with my Christmas presents. I spent hours on Pinterest boards searching DIY projects. Once I made homemade bread and mango jelly. Another time, I created collages from lines by my favorite poets. Last year, my sister and I collaborated on gifts. She knit scarves in purples, greens, and blues. I poured candles. Peppermint. Eucalyptus. Lavender. We rolled the candles inside the scarves, secured the bundles with twine, and gave them out as joint presents.
This year, I have decided to combine my DIY tradition with my love of books. Each of my family members will receive a mug designed and decorated by my children and me, loose-leaf tea blended by my eldest daughter, and a novel prescribed by me.
And, because the way we spend money is political, I will buy all the books from Harriett’s Bookshop, a Philadelphia bookstore owned by a Black woman. Each book I have chosen tells stories that are intersectional in their imagining and representation of the world. Like their authors, the characters in these pages combine Black, woman, queer, poor, immigrant, and disabled identities.
Here are some of my prescriptions:
For someone who is weary from protesting injustice and needs a glimpse of what could be:
“Pet,” by Akwaeke Emezi
I read this book with my teenage daughters for our book club earlier this year. Told by a young-adult narrator growing up in an alternate future, it explores what makes a monster, and whether it is possible to eradicate a monster without becoming one.
For someone who is feeling isolated and needs a sense of possibility:
“Good Kings, Bad Kings,” by Susan Nussbaum
This story is told from the perspectives of seven different teenagers living in a Chicago nursing home for young people with disabilities. Much falls outside of their control, but they still find a way to create friendships and make meaningful connections.
For someone who is on an emotional rollercoaster and needs to feel understood:
“I’m Telling the Truth, but I’m Lying,” by Bassey Ikpi
In this book, Bassey Ikpi presents herself as the unreliable narrator of her own life. She shares her journey as an immigrant, a Black woman, a poet, and a person navigating anxiety and bipolar II disorder.
For someone who is trying to figure out who they are and needs inspiration to find their voice:
“On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous,” by Ocean Vuong
A coming-of-age story written by a Vietnamese-American boy in a series of letters to his mother. The letters delicately balance what he shares and what he keeps hidden.
For someone who sees the world in black and white and needs a bit of gray:
“Little Fires Everywhere,” by Celeste Ng
This is a book about the intersection of class and race in Shaker Heights, Ohio. It looks at the sacrifices parents make for their children and the way secrets always come to light.
I have often felt that much can be cured with a cup of tea and the right story. A balm for the spirit. A tincture made from paper and fortified with ink to reduce some of the weight we are feeling. That’s what these books provide.
Satya Nelms
Associate Editor
