What I'm Reading Now
Some Substacks you may not know and are not to be missed!
I spend a lot of time paddling around in the family history/genealogy pool here on Substack, and often restack and share many of my favorite writers and essays that are part of this community. Today I wanted to share some other accounts that may not be known to my readers or fellow family history Substackers. These writers are so good I stop what I am doing to read their work whenever it’s posted.
So, in no particular order, here is my Substack holiday gift guide.
In Pigments, Colors and Other Stories María Castro Jiménez writes the history of color. Along the way we not only learn about pigment, but also art, architecture, textiles, design, history, anthropology, and economics. Our relationship to color is something profoundly human. Each one of her essays about the origins and uses of color is a story about our collective humanity.
Jörgen Löwenfeldt is a Swede who writes in English. His Bagatelles are a kind of flashfiction that startle and delight. Each one a beguiling mini-novel in the tradition of Borges and Calvino.
Here are some of his very shortest short stories:
I love taking walks in London with Caroline Howard. I recommend her Substack The Ambient City if you love London, or love cities, or just love walking and looking. Her writing transforms the city landscape into something mysterious and magical. And it inspires me to look at New York streets more closely to find the places of enchantment in my own city.
This was one of my favorite walks, and a part of London I have never seen:
Versailles Century is the ultimate one-place study. David Gemeinhardt chronicles the extraordinary community that was Versailles and goes deep into the minds of its people through diary entries of eye-witnesses. The text is accompanied by little-seen portraits as well as David’s own photographs of the stunningly beautiful architecture of the Grand Siècle.
Here is a sample entry, a letter from Louis XV to his grandson, the Duke of Parma: 14 November 1768
Like many people, I have developed a late-life interest in birds. (Noticing backyard birds seems to coincide with getting glasses and waking up too early.) Robert Francis’s Bird History has taught me so much social history as well as natural history of North America along the way.
Background Noise Comic by Lisa Burdige and John Hazard is a relative newcomer to Substack. When I was a kid I used to love reading the funnies in the daily newspaper. I never get to do that anymore, but for a number of years now I have been enjoying this comic strip on Instagram about a quirky couple in Brooklyn navigating midlife and kids, staying creative while paying the rent, taming their backyard jungle and their sometimes “not-so-sweet feelings about each other.” The comics are little slices of life that are recognizable, funny, and moving.
The Silent Sod is my favorite kind of history writing. Two sisters, Charlotte Zureick and Sarah Zureick-Brown, explore their individual obsessions—ocean liners, US Presidents, cemeteries, centenarian true crime stories—and reflect on the meaning of the intersection of public and personal history.
This was a fascinating acccount of an Underground Railroad conductor who was also a Presidential valet.
Nothing to Declare is captivating travel writing. I am less interested in actual travel nowadays, but I am still curious. Scott Monaco reminds us that the most rewarding experiences of travel comes not from documenting ourselves, or tracing the well-trod paths, but allowing the small unexpected moments and places transform our ways of seeing.
Here is one of my favorite essays about the transformative power of travel and what travel tells us about ourselves:
The Florida War is a gripping account of a conflict I knew nothing about. John Lowndes shares the story of the Florida Seminole War. Because I don’t know the history, I don’t know what will happen next, so it has me on the edge of my seat.
For this Substack, begin at the beginning:
Book Stories-Histoires de livres is a journey through a life of reading that is part memoir, part literary salon, written by a bilingual Montrealer who publishes in both French and English. It’s the most Montreal thing you will read on Substack. Lin.e Richer reminds me of the uniqueness that is my hometown and its cultural heritage, as well as the many extraordinary people who live there.
This is a wonderful appreciation and personal memory of the works of Marguerite Duras, with some additional links.
In Paper Trails, Kaye Prince-Hollenberg shares recipes from Hadassah ladies in mid-century Canada. This is a wonderful time capsule of Jewish home cooking from women who were first or second generation immigrants from Europe.
I have yet to try Mrs. Levine’s Honey Cake, but it’s on my list. (Confession: I usually spike my high holiday honey cakes with a shot or two of Irish whiskey.)
What are your favorite lesser known Substacks?
Also, what other baked goods are improved with a shot of whiskey?
Thanks for the mention, and for alerting to me some newsletters that I wasn't aware of. Also, how perceptive of you to recognize that it's the community I write about, not so much the building.
Thank you Lisa! You've been such a supporter of The Ambient City. I really appreciate it. Looking forward to checking out your other recommendations, and delving into a bit more of your work.