With just eight shopping days until Christmas, four before the start of Hanukkah and one before we’ve finally finished up our January issue, the time for gift-guide nepotism has come. One of the best things about plying your trade as an editor is getting to work with talented writers, and we’re lucky enough to work with more than a few here at Richmond magazine. And wouldn’t you know it, some of our regular contributors have written books, all of which would make for a great holiday gift.
Before we get to the shameless shilling, one suggestion: I’ve included Amazon links for the books, but please consider buying local this holiday season. (A quick spot check at Fountain Bookstore, Black Swan Books and Chop Suey Books found that all of them have at least a couple of the books I’m about to mention, with Fountain earning the gold star for having five of the six on hand.)
The most recent release from one of our contributors is senior writer Harry Kollatz Jr.’s Richmond in Ragtime: Socialists, Suffragists, Sex and Murder, an account of the years 1909 to 1911 in Richmond, a period filled with all that the book’s subtitle suggests, plus flying machines! (And lest you think I’m totally in the tank for Harry — which I am — other folks like the book, too.) This is Harry’s second book; his previous effort, True Richmond Stories, collects about 40 of the monthly Flashback columns he’s written for Richmond magazine since 1993.
The foreword to Richmond in Ragtime is written by another one of our columnists, Anne Thomas Soffee, who’s been sharing the ups and downs of parenthood in her Parental Rites column each month in the magazine (and now at her blog of the same name). Anne has written two memoirs: Her first book, Snake Hips: Belly Dancing and How I Found True Love, recounts her recovery from heartbreak right here in River City thanks at least in part to the timely addition of belly dancing to her life, while her second, Nërd Girl Rocks Paradise City (I love that umlaut), tells the tale of Anne’s pursuit of her music-journalist dreams in Los Angeles during the heyday of hair metal. If you’ve read Anne’s columns (or blog posts), you know that anything she writes is well worth your time (and dollars).
Last but certainly not least is Nancy Wright Beasley, who’s been penning her award-winning Reflections column for us for 10 years and counting. If you’re one of the many fans of her column, you probably already know that a couple years back Nancy collected some of her favorites in Reflections of a Purple Zebra: Essays of a Different Stripe. (And if you didn't know, we're guessing you're happy to find out.) Also worth a purchase is Nancy’s first book, Izzy’s Fire, which powerfully recounts the true story of Richmond’s own Ipson family and their survival during the Holocaust.
Now I'll finish up with a few more plugs: New posts up at Food Stuff (with a report from Acacia's invitation-only preview night) and The Unseemly House.
