North by Northwestern

Some may think winter reads should be as far away from the cold as possible, set in warm climates or fantasy worlds to distract from chilly reality. Others might want to confront said reality with some fresh political, sociological or scientific knowledge. Nina Barrett (Medill MSJ ‘87), owner of local bookstore Bookends & Beginnings, has recommendations to please any escapist or realist.

As a former chef and food reporter, Barrett has a special affinity for cozy books about food. Two of her favorite food memoirs are “Gumbo Tales: Finding My Place at the New Orleans Table” by Sara Roahen and “In Winter’s Kitchen” by Beth Dooley.

“Gumbo Tales” takes us south to New Orleans, a city that’s feisty about its food, through the eyes of food reporter Sara Roahen, who grew up in Minneapolis eating “what we would call a sort of white-food diet, you know, really bland and really–bland,” said Barrett. The author characterizes her new home in chapters about the history of famous New Orleans dishes and the cooks who make them.

Rather than tackling a spicy, highly traditional food culture, Beth Dooley chronicles the early farm-to-table movement on the unexpected new frontier of Minnesota through “In Winter’s Kitchen." From an agricultural and high cuisine perspective, yikes! But the possibilities open up as she interviews farmers and praises the cranberry and potato. “It’s a very cozy book. There’s not that much out there that really appreciates Midwest food that way,” Barrett said.

Besides inspiring you to whip up something amazing in the kitchen (or at least order through Postmates), winter reads should also get you up and exploring. An appropriate genre this January (inauguration season, anyone?) is political nonfiction, which sold very well at Bookends & Beginnings during the holiday season. Some of their bestsellers included “Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In” by Bernie Sanders; “White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America” by Nancy Isenberg; and “Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning by the American Right” by Arlie Russell Hochschild.

In “Our Revolution,” Sanders summarizes his Democratic primary campaign and describes a plan for the future. To Barrett, it’s remarkable that such a book is doing so well.

“The Bernie Sanders book has done very well for us, which sort of surprises me because I feel like sometimes when an election is over, it’s really over, and everybody forgets the loser,” she said. “And that is just not what’s happening this time. People who wanted a more liberal agenda are not letting go of that and [are] very seriously concerned about how to not let that disappear from the public conversation.”

“White Trash” and “Strangers in Their Own Land” offer their own voices into this conversation, or at least give you something to talk about over lunch. According to Nancy Isenberg’s website, “White Trash” follows America’s history of poor white people and attempts to deconstruct our “comforting myths about equality” through social class and the American dream. “Strangers in Their Own Land” is less of a history lesson and more of a cool ethnography. Berkeley sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild interviewed Tea Party members in Louisiana to understand how they felt about their government and themselves.

There are a lot of deep questions in these five books: What does food mean to the people it feeds, and how does that change regionally? Why did liberals not see Trump’s election coming? Hey, remember how Bernie Sanders was in the Democratic primary? As you read this winter, whether you choose to escape or take a peek into the brain of an activist, your creativity will stretch beyond the confines of a brutal Chicago winter.

(Bookends & Beginnings is located at 1712 Sherman Ave., Alley #1, Evanston. It’s open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day of the week. Ask for personal book recommendations, and you shall receive. And if you want a bargain, they’re doing a new fiction sale – only $5 a book! – through January while supplies last.)