Lists
by Powell's Staff, December 30, 2021 8:44 AM
There’s such a wealth of exciting books coming out in the first third of 2022 that it can be hard to focus. To help streamline your TBR pile, we’re highlighting 24 of the buzziest books of January through April 2022.
JANUARY
The School for Good Mothers
by Jessamine Chan
I'm a sucker for dystopian novels, particularly those that successfully dissect the most pernicious aspects of modern society. Chan's debut, set in a world where the crushing expectations and judgments placed upon mothers have been taken to a fascist extreme, promises to be one of the best of 2022...
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Lists
by Powell's Staff, December 29, 2021 8:36 AM
In late 2020, we featured a list of books that helped us make it through an extremely difficult year. This year was also pretty rough — in some of the same ways, but also in some surprising, new ones — and it is clear to us that celebrating the books that support us through hard times is a tradition we want to continue, even at the end of a good year (we can look forward to one of those soon, right?).
There are a lot ways to take comfort, but getting lost in a book — ideas distilled and set down on the page with beauty and skill — will always be our first choice. If you’re looking to make a similar choice, here are the titles that sustained us in 2021...
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Original Essays
by Powell's Books, December 23, 2021 4:49 PM
Late lies the wintry sun a-bed
By stars, in silent night we read
A tale without a creature stirring
Save mice, and men
We dream...
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Lists
by Keith Mosman, December 15, 2021 9:10 AM
When it comes to books, I’m multi-modal. I’ll read on a page, I’ll listen on my phone, and on occasion, I’ll even do both. Sometimes, availability will determine which format I read, but I’m always looking for works that I think will make full use of their medium. The list below consists of my favorite audiobooks of 2021. They’re all great books that would work in any format, but I think that in each case the recordings available on Libro.fm serve to enhance and improve them. Happy listening!
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders
Narrated by George Saunders, Phylicia Rashad, Nick Offerman, Glenn Close, Keith David, Rainn Wilson, BD Wong, and Renée Elise Goldsberry
This book is basically a George Saunders masterclass on the short story, written down. For examples, he includes the full texts of several stories by Russian masters, and then examines why the stories work — and what lessons writers can take from them — all in his wise and compelling voice. Saunders’s prose is anything but dry, but still, a book of literary analysis should probably be read on the page, right? My answer in most cases would be yes, except that Saunders assembled an all-star cast to read the stories, and not only are their performances incredibly entertaining, but their readings also highlight the skillfulness of the stories...
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Lists
by Michelle Carroll, December 8, 2021 8:35 AM
I can’t get enough of the overtly seasonal romantic comedies. I will watch every variation of people meeting implausibly (especially if a big city business person needs to learn how to slow it down in a snowy small town); somehow getting into a cookie-decorating fight or toppling a fully decorated tree; and kissing in a wintery gazebo after discovering the true meaning of the season. The wackier the holiday trappings, the better — As Mindy Kaling once put it, “I regard romantic comedies as a subgenre of sci-fi, in which the world operates according to different rules than my regular human world.”
Since I run out of the movies unsettlingly early in the season, I’m making a list (and checking it twice) of giggly, over-the-top, seasonally bright holiday romance novels. This is the only thing I’ll want to read while I’m waiting for the cookies to come out of the oven in two weeks...
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Lists
by Sarah Reif, November 30, 2021 9:30 AM
Fellow procrastinators, this one is for us! Supply chain woes and a season of wonderful books that everyone is excited
about mean that there’s a small chance your favorite bookstore will run out of the specific title on your gift list; but
fear not! Wonderful books come out every week (and they’ve been coming out for centuries, if you can believe
it). To take the stress out of gifting this year, I went through some of the hottest titles of the season to suggest
great alternates.
Maybe your first choice is out of stock, maybe you’re worried your bookish friend already has the hot title of the year,
or maybe you just want to look really cool by picking an unexpected title. Whatever your reason, remember that you can
always ask a bookseller...
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Lists
by Jeremy Garber, November 26, 2021 8:37 AM
Before we say adios, au revoir, arrivederci, auf wiedersehen, do svidaniya, or sayonara to 2021, we offer one last roundup of the world’s finest literature in (English) translation, combining releases for both November and December. Whether you’re seeking gift ideas for your worldly friends and family or simply new titles to help you while away the winter months, below you’ll find the year’s most expansive selection of fascinating fiction from afar...
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Lists
by Rhianna Walton, November 24, 2021 8:51 AM
This list is dedicated to serious readers who enjoy a pun in the oven and murder with two lumps.
Written to be read in one fireside sitting, with a stack of Scottie shortbread and bottomless tea, cozy mysteries must be the most soothing form of popular fiction around, despite their high body count. With their idyllic settings and sweet recipes, cozies are tailor-made for holiday reading; but since yuletide murder isn’t for everyone, and there aren’t a latke new Hanukkah mysteries, I’ve included a handful of fantastic new cozies without an ornament in sight, but which feel like a holiday nonetheless.
Eggnog Trifle Trouble (Murder in the Mix #28)
by Addison Moore
Lottie Lemon sees dead… pets. She’s also the baker of Honey Hollow, and prepping for the Jingle Hop Ball, managing a love triangle, and being six months pregnant are enough to worry about without stumbling upon a corpse in the snow (again)...
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Lists
by Powell's Books, November 22, 2021 8:22 AM
It's a Powell's tradition to ask some of our favorite authors about the books they're gifting this holiday season. Here
are 16 hot recommendations straight from the writer's desk.
 Eager by Ben
Goldfarb
To: All those who love the trees — and every last Oregonian
From: Wendy N. Wagner, author of The Deer Kings...
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Lists
by Gigi Little, November 19, 2021 8:58 AM
I don’t know about you, but at this time of year (read: any time of year), one of the most satisfying and comforting things to me is cooking (read: cooking and eating… okay, read: cooking and eating and eating and eating). Of course, as we head into the holidays, it’s expected that visions of pies and cookies and stuffing dance in our heads, but why limit ourselves to traditional holiday fare?
With victuals as varied as prawn and catfish stew, pork-and-homemade-kimchi mandu, stromboli with arrabbiata, peanut butter cup banana bread, lemon verbena kombucha, and something called pizza salad...
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