Chasing Me to My Grave
Winfred Rembert
“An unparalleled account of the devastating legacies of American slavery and a luminous self-portrait of one defiant artist’s extraordinary triumph over white supremacy and segregation.”
– Douglas A. Blackmon
Doppelganger
Naomi Klein
“A dazzling, hallucinatory tour de force that takes the reader through shadow selves and global fascism, leaving them gasping by the end.”
– Molly Crabapple
Roaming
Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki
From the cousins that wrote This One Summer comes a coming-of-age graphic novel about friendship, crushes, loyalties, exploring New York City, and figuring out how to take care of the people you care about without sacrificing yourself. Beautiful, nostalgic, and so, so good.
– Kelsey F.
Fermenter
Aaron Adams and Liz Crain
Portland, OR is the most vegan-friendly city in the US, and with restaurants like Fermenter leading the charge, it's no wonder how. Seaweed kraut, tempeh bacon, and chickpea miso are just a few of the wonders local chef and vegan educator, Aaron Adams, has cooked up for you.
– Stacy Wayne D.
Idlewild
James Frankie Thomas
If the teen friendship isn’t all-consuming, is it even real? Idlewild provides a dark, funny, devastating picture of friendship and dissolution from all angles, wrapped in a campus novel, and sprinkled with “coming of age in the second Bush presidency.”
– Michelle C.
Loved and Missed
Susie Boyt
“Loved and Missed is a story of parental love and human failing that’s more funny than it has any right to be, more heartbreaking than you think you can bear; it’s the sort of book you can’t wait to recommend to everyone you know, the sort of book we are lucky to have.”
– Rumaan Alam
Wild Geese
Soula Emmanuel
“Soula Emmanuel’s prose is breathtaking: searingly sharp, deliciously funny, profound. Wild Geese is a beautiful and devastating read. An extraordinary debut. I loved this deeply intelligent and emotionally powerful novel.”
– Danielle McLaughlin
Daughter
Claudia Dey
Oof. This book is sharp, devastating, prickly, irascible, and so, so feelingly written. Daughter is about shifting loyalties within a volatile family, cannibalizing yourself and others for art, the demands of a life lived on your own terms, and the extreme grief of facing a future you hadn’t planned for.
– Kelsey F.
Land of Milk and Honey
C Pam Zhang
C Pam Zhang’s latest is a meditation on appetite, on merit, on resilience, on identity and inheritance, on planning and chaos, on the future we might be able to build. And, it’s a love letter to food and craft and pleasure, in the face of overwhelming bleakness. I loved every word.
– Michelle C.
Rouge
Mona Awad
You would never guess that Tom Cruise, skincare, jellyfish, cults, and roses would fit together, but here we are. When Belle’s mother dies mysteriously, she follows clues to figure out what happened, and it ultimately leads her down a dangerous path of the pursuit of beauty and youth.
– Vicky K.
The Fraud
Zadie Smith
A rollicking work of historical fiction, Zadie Smith takes readers from Charles Dickens’s London to colonial Jamaica and back. Asking big questions about social roles, public morality, the value of art, and the usefulness of truth; Smith’s latest is entertaining and thought-provoking. A joy to read!
– Keith M.
Dearborn
Ghassan Zeineddine
“Dearborn is one of the funniest, truest, and most heartfelt books I have ever read. Zeineddine writes with so much grace and understanding, so much love and compassion, so much mastery that these stories will become part of who you are.”
– Morgan Talty
The Secret Hours
Mick Herron
“A deft knockout of a story, with an arc of history, written with humor and style. Mick Herron is one of the best writers of spy fiction working today.”
– Martin Cruz Smith
Of Time and Turtles
Sy Montgomery
“Writing from the height of her powers, Sy Montgomery shows us in magnificent and essential ways how much we are connected, even with the most unlikely of animals.”
– Aimee Nezhukumatathil
The Lights
Ben Lerner
These poems seem to tightly spiral in on themselves while simultaneously unraveling, outlining both the awe and fear that language can inspire.
– Kai B.
Dogtown
Katherine Applegate
A three-legged dog, a robot dog, and a (trilingual) mouse that speaks in sign bond at a shelter over the search for their forever homes. This is an early middle-reader with short chapters, charming illustrations, and a heart-string-tugging adventure. I recommend you cuddle up next to your pooch (robot, stuffed animal, or otherwise) and enjoy.
– Sarah R.
Hooky (Hooky #3)
Míriam Bonastre Tur
Dorian, Dani, and all the witches and non-magical people of the kingdom must decide once and for all: who will they be, and will they use their power and influence for good?
Wonderful Seasons
Emily Winfield Martin
I am obsessed with Portland local Emily Winfield Martin’s dreamy artwork, which never fails to feel like it came from from a forgotten, beloved childhood fairytale. This charming board book follows The Wonderful Things You Will Be and Wonderful Babies, highlighting wonderful wee ones in all four seasons.
– Madeline S.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Chalice of the Gods
Rick Riordan
I’m a bit obsessed with Rick Riordan. I’ll try anything he writes, and his Rick Riordan Presents imprint is always quality (and a great example of true allyship), but it all started with Percy — and now he’s graduating! I feel like Mushu in Mulan: “My little baby’s all grown up!”
– Madeline S.
This Book Is Banned
Raj Haldar and Julia Patton
“Well done and adorably funny...a really great introduction to the subject of banned books for little ones.”
– Youth Services Book Review (starred review)
Something, Someday
Amanda Gorman and Christian Robinson
The difficulty of making change can be overwhelming. Amanda Gorman’s beautiful poetry and Christian Robinson’s gorgeous art will inspire readers of any age who want to help make a better world.
– Keith M.
Mall Goth
Kate Leth
Kate Leth’s delightful look at mall culture in the early 2000s has a lot to say about when to keep your guard up, when to let it down, and the problems that come from misjudging that balance.
– Keith M.
Champion of Fate
Kendare Blake
“Immersive from the very first moment — I would follow Kendare Blake into any world she creates”
– Amie Kaufman