The New York Times "Books" Friday June 29, 2018!!!

Friday, June 29, 2018 More Books Coverage »

INDEPENDENCE DAY

Rumaan Alam Tomorrow is the Fourth of July. A holiday is always a welcome thing — but it’s worth remembering that it means more than a day off of work or some cybersale. This week, I decided to focus on putting together some recommended reading appropriate for the Fourth (with an assist from my brilliant colleagues Lovia Gyarkye and Sam Sifton). I hope you have a great holiday.

For Young Readers Many great books for children are grounded in American history. When I was younger, two of my favorites were Robert Lawson’s “Mr. Revere and I” and “Ben and Me,” which imagine the horse that Paul Revere rode into history and a mouse who inspired Ben Franklin’s greatest innovations. I’ve got two young readers of my own, now, and one of the books I most enjoy sharing with them is “I, Too, Am America,” which marries illustrations by Bryan Collier with the enduring text by Langston Hughes. My boys are also huge fans of everything Maira Kalman does; she’s written and illustrated two children’s biographies of great presidents: Thomas Jefferson: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Everything and Looking at Lincoln. (Kalman has also published a wonderful illustrated book for adults that includes her thoughts on those presidents and much more, “And the Pursuit of Everything,” which I recommend highly.)

American Classics (And now, a special dispatch by my colleague Lovia Gyarkye.) Anne Trubek launched Belt Publishing five years ago. “A huge number of readers were thirsty to read stories of their experiences that had been overlooked and underwritten,” she said. This year, the Cleveland-based press, which focuses on the Midwest (the so-called Rust Belt), looked to that region’s literary history for the Belt Revival series, a collection of new editions of Midwestern classics. Each book – there are currently five — is retrofitted with new introductions and arresting covers. (My favorite is for Sherwood Anderson’s “Poor White,” below.) In his introduction to Anderson’s epic — about a young man’s experience with encroaching industrialism — John Lingan concludes that “‘Poor White’ is a social history that reaches uncomfortably deep into its subjects’ psyches, a still-relevant tract that aches with raw feeling. We might still yet heed its example, and appreciate its vision.” Belt Revivals wisely brings Anderson back onto the radar during this political moment. “We think these works will enrich people’s understanding of the Midwest,” Ms. Trubek said. “And also help complicate any attempt to romanticize or be nostalgic or forget the history of the region.”

Courtesy Belt Publishing

Get Cooking Cooking out for the Fourth of July is as indelible an American tradition as fireworks. I’m adept in the kitchen but completely at a loss in the backyard. So I emailed my colleague Sam Sifton, The Times’s food editor, to get an expert’s opinion on the absolutely essential cookbooks for the griller. Here’s what he said: “Start with ‘Let the Flames Begin,’ by Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby. They’re famous for ‘The Thrill of the Grill,’ but ‘Flames’ delivers more amazing recipes. Then read ‘Seven Fires,’ by Francis Mallmann and Peter Kaminsky. It will change the way you cook, teach you to appreciate the dangerous edge of burnt. And absolutely get a copy of ‘The Barbecue! Bible,’ by Steven Raichlen. It’s the ‘How to Cook Everything’ of the live-fire set.” (I also asked Sam what he’s planning to cook tomorrow; now you know.)

Book news of the week: In Australia, a country of 24 million people, Scott Pape has sold more than one million copies of “The Barefoot Investor: The Only Money Guide You’ll Ever Need.”  A bookstore in Scotland allows people to run the shop while renting an apartment upstairs. Dwight Garner recently took his turn at the till. Recommended reading if you have questions about gerrymandering. Alexandra Lange answers a few questions about her new book, “The Design of Childhood: How the Material World Shapes Independent Kids.” The critics: Dwight Garner on Deborah Levy’s “The Cost of Living: A Working Autobiography”  Jennifer Szalai on Alissa Quart’s “Squeezed: Why Our Families Can’t Afford America”  Parul Sehgal on Sallie Tisdale’s “Advice for Future Corpses (and Those Who Love Them): A Practical Perspective on Death and Dying”