books to read if you wanna learn more about country, blues, and folk

Coal Miner's Daughter by Loretta Lynn
The highlight of this book is quite possibly Loretta Lynn's attempt to use her folksy, hillbilly style of talking to explain her drug problems. Y'see, the doctor gave her some special aspirin for her headaches, and she didn't realize she was allergic to it, which is why it made her sleepy and cranky. With that said, it's still a great read in a serious sense. Lynn has had a pretty amazing life, going from about as rural of an upbringing as you can get to an abusive marriage at 14, four children by the time she was 18, and then of course her long musical career. I really respect Lynn's honesty and individuality ... country music is and was notoriously conservative, so her openly pro-choice perspective, her controversial song celebrating "The Pill", and other songs that are empowering for women like "Don't Come Home A-Drinkin' (With Lovin' On Your Mind)" are a real testament to her gutsiness and independence.

Escaping The Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues by Elijah Wald
This book is so fucking amazing ... smart and funny and detailed and critical in all the right places. Wald is a blues fan who was raised during the era when all the hip white guys in college were catching on to blues as a classic but still relevant form of music. What makes him different is that he's spent the rest of his life to date as a blues musician, and developed a lot of knowledge and insight into blues history along the way. Ostensibly presented as an in depth look at Robert Johnson, one of the most lauded Delta blues musicians, Wald chronicles the history of blues, of popular music, of Delta history, of how dominant cultures rewrite history, and a lot more besides. The myth of Robert Johnson having gone to the crossroads one dark night to sell his soul to the devil in exchange for his guitar skills is accorded the last chapter, entitled "Afterthought: So What About The Devil?". Since almost any contemporary account of Johnson's life or review of his music mentions this inane myth, it's refreshing to see Wald pointing out that Johnson only mentioned the devil a few times in a handful of songs (often in a humourous context, which never seems to be mentioned), and that it shouldn't be taken literally any more than any other pop song should be. Through the whole book, Wald explains that blues was the popular music of its time, and should properly be viewed in this context, not seen as a romanticized view of a ragged old guy reclining on the porch of his shanty with a guitar, drivin' his blues away with a jar of 'shine and some sad, sad songs. Yes, there was obviously a lot of abject poverty in the rural south, and of course racism (whether institutional or on a personal level) made life unimaginably hard (well, unimaginably for me as a middle class white kid) for black people, but reducing this situation to a musical caricature is short sighted and insulting. Wald does an impressive amount of research to display information about various musicians, genres, and local scenes, and it's amazing to see how different the conclusions he yields are from popular stereotype. What surprised me most was reading information about jukebox hits, record sales, and interviews with people from that era who are still alive today, and seeing that the musicians most canonized from that time (Johnson, Skip James, etc.) are scarcely remembered compared to the slicker big-band type groups who are seen by white blues enthusiasts today as "inauthentic".

Woodie Guthrie: A Life by Joe Klein
A huge, comprehensive biography of Woodie Guthrie that traces his entire life in lots of detail. I seriously found this book impossible to stop reading once I got started on it. Guthrie's widow gave Klein access to every aspect of their lives, which is brave of her, given the level of personal information included. Her willingness to open up completely and to let Klein go through all their family memorabilia and papers is what makes this book so fascinating. Guthrie obviously had a crazy, varied, and interesting life, and he's presented in a really honest way ... as someone who was troubled and flawed yet still talented and driven. He watched his mother degenerate and die of a condition that basically locks the person afflicted inside their body and leaves them progressively less able to move and communicate. After going through this, he spent his entire life worrying that he had inherited it, and, as it turns out, he did. I can't imagine how terrifying and horrible it would be to have your worst dream realised in this way, and it seems like worrying about this happening to him is part of what drove him to be so prolific and accomplish so much.

I'd Rather be the Devil: Skip James and the Blues by Stephen Calt
Skip James lived from 1902 to 1969 and was one of the greatest of the Mississippi blues musicians. He pioneered a unique style of playing guitar and used a sad, high, falsetto as his singing voice that made his songs different and haunting. This book traces his own personal history through his times as an itinerant worker, a pimp, a bluesman, and eventually a respectable married man. The book is mostly drawn from countless hours of conversation with James himself, so it's a rare case of black blues history being told in something close to the first person, as opposed to being pieced together (and often outright fabricated) by some white dude who never met the musicians or lived through the era. As well as a personal history of James, this book talks a lot about the time when Mississippi bluesmen were "discovered" by white college kids. Collectors found and popularized old 78s, and the musicians who made them were tracked down by music enthusiasts who wanted to get them started touring again. This seems like a good idea and may have been genuinely well intentioned, but the lack of care and consideration shown to these men by their "managers" was deplorable. They were completely ripped off financially, and generally had their health and other pressing concerns ignored.

Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone: The Carter Family & Their Legacy in American Music by Mark Zwonitzer with Charles Hirshberg
A biography of the Carter Family, who basically created and popularized the sounds that became modern country and bluegrass. What makes this book particularly interesting is that it's not just a history of the Carter Family (who are fascinating in and of themselves), but a history of rural folks from Kentucky and Tennessee, as well as the progression of country/roots/folk music in America. There's lots of hillbilly folk wisdom about such topics as tooth jumping, which is worth quoting: "You take a cut nail (not one o' those round wire nails) and place its squar p'int agin the ridge of the tooth, jest under the edge of the gum. Then jump the tooth out with a hammer. [If it doesn't come out on the first try,] you might as well stick your head in a swarm o' bees and ferget who you are." Also, there's scandalous tales of country musicians in Nashville, including descriptions of Johnny Cash showing up at the Carters' house all the time in the middle of the night so wired on speed that "his eyes were as wide as flapjacks". Really fun stuff.

Blues Legacies and Black Feminism By Angela Davis
Awesome on numerous levels ... includes complete transcriptions of obscure blues lyrics, focuses on female musicians (for once), and, of course, since it's written by Angela Davis, there is insanely smart and insightful analysis based on race, class, and gender. Davis concentrates primarily on Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday, but the book serves as a history of blues and of African-American experience after slavery was abolished. I love that even other biographies are dissected in the analysis. For example, when Billie Holiday's song "Strange Fruit" is discussed, Davis lampoons a (white, male) biographer's description of how Holiday apparently didn't understand the song when the lyrics were presented to her, and just said "You wants me to sing it, I sings it." The obvious racist sterotypes at work in phrasing Holiday's supposed words, and the ridiculousness of saying that a woman of colour whose father had died because of racist violence and had spent time touring in the southern states wouldn't be able to comprehend a song about lynchings are dissected in super scathing, articulate ways. Davis also talks about the liberatory aspect of blues music, showing us that queer themes could be subtly (or even fairly overtly) be put across in songs when they would have been unacceptable in mainstream culture, and that travelling songs were especially significant given that slavery had not been long gone, and black people had only recently gained the choice to travel freely. Plus, it's just super rad to read lyrics about women deciding to leave town and go travelling because they're sick of their jerkass boyfriends, especially given that these were written at the same time as Jimmie Rodgers was singing "When a woman gets the blues, she hangs her little head and cries, but when a man gets the blues he grabs him a train and rides."

books to read if you wanna learn about random stuff that interests me

The Skeleton at the Feast: The Day of the Dead in Mexico by Elizabeth Carmichael and Chloe Sayer
I've always really dug the aesthetics of Day of the Dead celebrations (especially the art of Jose Posada) and of Mexican Catholicism in general, so it was neat to read the philosophy behind the holiday. Basically, in early November, families in mexico gather to welcome the souls of the dead on their annual visit home. It's a really personal celebration of families, both the folks who have died and those who are still around. This book has tons of information, and even more amazing pictures of old engravings of skulls, papier mache skeletons engaged in various activities, families hanging out and celebrating, and markets full of sugar skulls and crafts. A super beautiful book.

Where'd You Get Those? New York City's Sneaker Culture: 1960-1987 by Bobbito Garcia
This book is ridiculously fun to read. A history of sneaker culture by a self described reformed sneaker fiend who grew up playing basketball and obsessing over shoes in New York. Full of pictures of kids playing basketball and sporting sweet sneakers, old shoe ads, and an amazingly thorough charting of the evolution of athletic shoes. The best part is the insane amount folks quoted in here, on topics ranging from what sneakers were the dorkiest (called skippies), to shoe maintenance (it's all about going out with a toothbrush tucked behind your ear), and pretty much anything else remotely shoe related. A super cool oral history of the era, basically.

books to read if you wanna cook tasty food

The Garden of Vegan and How It All Vegan by Sarah Kramer and Tanya Barnard
These are two rad vegan cookbooks made by two rad, tattooed vegan ladies from Victoria. Good general info on egg and butter substitutes, vegan sugar, and all that kinda stuff, and excellent recipes. I've made a ridiculous number of these, and while a few aren't so hot, I've re-made most of what I've tried. I particularly recommend their banana bread recipe, rustic tomato lentil soup, dijon scalloped potatoes, and sweet potato cornbread from How It All Vegan, and the balsamic roasted veggies with couscous and chickpea pie from Garden of Vegan.

Anything by Mollie Katzen
I grew up on Mollie Katzen's cookbooks, so they have lots of happy memories associated with them, but they're hella good even if this isn't the case for you. They're all interspersed with Katzen's drawings and paintings of various foodstuffs, and the recipes are tasty and well written. As an extra added bonus, The Moosewood Cookbook and The Enchanted Broccoli Forest have line drawings that are very fun to colour in. Shut up, I'm already aware I'm a dork.

Vegetarian Classics by Jeanne Lemlin
This is possibly my all time favourite cookbook ... it's really clearly written and I haven't tried anything from it that wasn't ridiculously delicious. Make sure you try the chickpea soup and vegetable soup with dill dumplings, but honestly, everything is more than worthwhile to make.

Cooking zines that I've liked include Soy Not Oi, Please Don't Feed the Bears, and The Frugal Vegan's Harvest & Holiday Survival Guide

books to read if you're a dude who wants to be more pro-feminist

The Story of Jane: The Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service by Laura Kaplan
Jane was, as the title says, an underground feminist abortion service in the days before abortion was legalized. The women in the group started as a referral service to various abortionists, then realized they needed a more reliable option for the women who were depending on them. They found a man who claimed to be a doctor who was willing to set up regular appointments for women in need of abortions, which he provided reliably and safely. When women from the collective began to chafe at the notion of depending on this slightly sketchy guy and subsequently discovered he was not a real doctor, a couple of them began to learn to perform abortions themselves, until they were eventually able to perform all the procedures within the collective, creating a more positive environment for the women who came to them and helping preserve the secrecy of what they were doing. The notion of learning to provide abortions without formal medical training or a clinic setting seems nothing short of terrifying to me, but I guess that's a function of living in an era and location where I have the luxury to choose to go to a free clinic if I get pregnant. Realistically speaking, I guess it's even scarier to condemn yourself or your friend, sister, or mother to the danger of a poorly performed back alley abortion (or self abortion) or to raising a child that isn't wanted. At any rate, some hella gutsy women and a really good story.

Promiscuities by Naomi Wolf
Naomi Wolf can be a bit overly liberal feminist for my tastes, but she's definitely a smart lady and an excellent writer, and I've really enjoyed reading and re-reading this book. She uses historical information from various time periods and anecdotes/personal experience from what she and her friends went through going through their teenage years in San Francisco in the 1960s, and it makes for a compelling combination. This is the only book I've ever read that gives a truly accurate description about what it's like to be a teenage girl, and for that, it's something I think should be read by guys as well. It's interesting (if sad) to see how much of the peer pressure, insecurities, and problems with abusive and predatory men are universal experiences of all girls, no matter where or when they grew up. Really interesting and good stuff.

No Fat Chicks: How Women Are Brainwashed to hate Their Bodies and Spend Their Money by Terry Poulton
Written by a magazine journalist, so not the best writing, but completely heartfelt, sincere, and well backed up with statistics. Poulton did a six month series for Chatelaine that was meant to chronicle her inspirational story of weight loss. Instead of losing the weight healthily, she found herself yo-yo dieting, binging then starving herself, and exercising compulsively, just to be able to put her story together. This experience, as well as her experiences living as a woman who is bigger than our society considers acceptable prompted her to research the diet industry, and discover some horrific practices. It's grotesque and terrifying to read about women literally dying on the steps of diet clinics because the "medical advice" they received therein was so inattentive and ignorant of the amount of food they actually need to survive. Poulton reveals that (big surprise) the diet industry and medical profession (as well as most people) don't seem to value women's health, only our attractiveness as filtered through beauty standards. Buy this book for your mom and little sister, and make all your friends read it, too.

Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg
One of the saddest books I've ever read, and one of the best. A thinly fictionalized account of Feinberg's upbringing as a blue collar dyke in an era where butch and femme roles were firmly entrenched in lesbian culture. Feinberg braves abuse from their family, kids at school, random guys on the street, and repeated rapes and beatings from the cops. In addition, when second wave feminism starts to become popular, they have to deal with other more new school lesbians telling them that butch/femme relationships are wrong and nothing but a misogynistic re-creation of patriarchal gender roles, with no acknowledgement given to history and traditions of queer culture.

Refusing to be a Man: Essays on Sex and Justice by John Stoltenberg
This book explores the ways in which male sexual identity is formed and expressed, and I found it really interesting to read. As someone who only sees and experiences men's behaviour from the outside (aka a lady), it was neat to read a guy's perspective on what it is to be masculine in our society, and to hear a man's pro-feminist ideas on positive ways to express and deal with being male. Although Stoltenberg makes a lot of positive, valid points, I should mention that he's completely anti-porn, which I disagree with. There's something really irritating about reading a man's self-righteous condemnation of women's right to work in the sex trade or enjoy porn/erotica. In one chapter he reprints passages from mainstream porn that he feels depict rape. All are clumsily written, and most are offensive and borderline abusive, but some are clearly consensual depictions of rough sex. It really bothers me when men take it upon themselves to dictate what kinds of sex women are allowed to enjoy under the guise of protecting us. We don't need to be protected from our own genuine desires, dammit. Still, all objections aside, this is definitely a worthwhile read.