Chris Herring
[isbn]
Need a hoops fix before the season starts? Blood in the Garden chronicles the rough-and-tumble New York Knicks teams of the 90s, arguably the best of many good-to-great teams unable to win a title during the Jordan era. Exhaustively researched by Chris Herring and spanning from the hiring of mercurial perfectionist Pat Riley to their miracle run to the 1999 Finals, this book is sure to provide New York fans something they can enjoy (even... (read more)
Recommended by John Ha
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Rey Chow
[isbn]
Roughly a year ago I took a deep dive into Rey Chow's literary criticism and cultural politics. The Protestant Ethnic & the Spirit of Capitalism is perhaps my favorite of all her books. Of any political, philosophical, or cultural text, this book stands out as one I most eagerly wish I could get other people to read and understand. It goes next to Race & Resistance by Viet Thanh Nguyen as one of my resources in my ongoing,... (read more)
Recommended by Jun L.
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Fernando Pessoa, Margaret Jull Costa, Patricio Ferrari
[isbn]
Why, yes. I would like to lose myself in the imaginative musings of an uneducated shepherd that doubles as a latent homosexual, modernist poet's alternate personality. Recondite and for the melancholic, Caeiro (Pessoa) asseverates the incomparable feeling of saudade like a siren song across the Atlantic. I would advise learning to at least read EU Portuguese because the original poems are unbelievably beautiful read aloud.
Recommended by Stacy W.
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Aida Salazar
[isbn]
A Seed in the Sun is compelling, accessible historical fiction with characters that jump off the page. Old ways and new ways of living collide, and bravery is found! I loved that this book focused on the Delano Farm Workers strike (1965) because you can see the progression (and reasons) leading up to the famous March with Cesar Chavez. Well-researched facts and verse with varied layouts makes this story interesting, even for the most... (read more)
Recommended by Erica B.
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Haruki Murakami, Alfred Birnbaum
[isbn]
This book combines Murakami's early writing style with some of his best worldbuilding. Magical subterranean creatures, unicorn skulls, sci-fi brain surgeries, and surreal microworlds combine into a landscape that I wish I could have so much more of. If you haven't yet taken the dive into the fantastic and confusing stories of Murakami, I would recommend this book as an entry point (especially for readers coming from the sci-fi/fantasy genre).... (read more)
Recommended by Jun L.
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Slavoj iek
[isbn]
Zizek is one of the few modern philosophers I've found who seems to understand Walter Benjamin's famous axiom, that understanding and enlightenment is more readily gathered through laughter than through tears. Though it can feel quite dark to find humor in studying the guy who coined the human condition as a "phenomenology of pain," Zizek does so with ease, reframing and reapplying Hegel's nihilistic philosophy to the absurdity of our... (read more)
Recommended by C.J.
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Vince A. Liaguno and Rena Mason
[isbn]
As a peer and self-identified "other," I ran to this book like a madman. It's hard to say I was terrified by any of the stories in this compilation because I'm too focused on the justice of an inclusive horror anthology with Big 5 traction, but that's not to say that you won't be. The stories are both feral and poised, grotesque and dazzling, highlighting Hailey Piper's "The Turning" and Tananarive Due's "Incident at Bear Creek Lodge."
Recommended by Stacy W.
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Randall de S�ve
[isbn]
In the adorable, warm, enchantingly rhythmic This Story is Not About a Kitten, not only do kids learn about community and caring (and, yes, the kitten), they learn an important fact about stories — how they’re capable of being about so much more than you think.
Recommended by Gigi L.
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Prince Shakur
[isbn]
Prince Shakur’s riveting memoir about coming of age, coming out, and standing up to systematic oppression is a moving examination of the many ways we fail each other, and the strength required to recognize it and move forward.
Recommended by Keith M.
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Cormac McCarthy
[isbn]
In his first novel in 16 years, Cormac McCarthy returns with The Passenger — a surprising and propulsive story of a man, his sister, a plane crash, and many more mysteries to unravel. This late career masterpiece from McCarthy demands your full attention, and rewards it mightily.
Recommended by Adam P.
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John Crowley
[isbn]
Crowley's sprawling family saga is fantasy maximalism and it's wonderful. We follow average guy Smokey Barnable as he travels on foot to the Edgewood estate and marries into the odd Drinkwater family. What follows is a miasma of malevolent magical bargains, faerie theosophists, star-crossed lovers, fated tarot readings, dysfunctional family, and the elusive future. Dense, romantic, and tragic by turns, Crowley's beautiful prose is a bonus. A... (read more)
Recommended by SitaraG
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Tori Bovalino
[isbn]
Disguieting, gothic splendor and a deeply robust reimagining of the classic Goblin Market poem. I adore this book. This is the eerie tale read in creaky corners of an old house on a blustery day with tea brewing. Tori Bovalino's voice and prose far exceed the musings of your typical YA gothic fiction. I don't care how toxic it is I WANT TO GO TO THE GOBLIN MARKET AND PEEP AT GOBLIN MEN.
Recommended by Stacy W.
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Megan Bannen
[isbn]
A fun and funky rom-com genre mash-up that's set in a fantasy-western world filled with zombies, demigods, magical mail service, and dogs!! One of my favorite books I've read in 2022 so far. Beware... you might need tissues, but it does have a HEA. xoxo Enjoy!
Recommended by Mecca A.
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Dorothy B Hughes
[isbn]
Often touted as one of the first depictions of a serial killer in media, we follow Dix Steele (yes, that's literally his name) as he stalks women across a seedy, post-World War II Los Angeles. Hughes is a titanic writer and her psychological portrait of Steele is a fascinating look at the fragility of American masculinity and the disintegrating fantasy of the American dream. Watch Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame's famous adaption afterwards... (read more)
Recommended by SitaraG
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Saeed Jones
[isbn]
When I read the opening poem in Saeed Jones’ new collection, I was so struck by his insight into our intractable problems that I felt I needed to set the book down and walk it off. I went back to it. I’ll keep coming back to it.
Recommended by Keith M.
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George Saunders
[isbn]
George Saunders makes a triumphant return to the short story form in Liberation Day. These nine stories revisit the quirky language of his early collections, and in them Saunders continues to find ways to uncover emotionally resonant moments in extremely unusual situations.
Recommended by Adam P.
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Jeff Kinney
[isbn]
I started as a bookseller 20 years ago, not long before Greg Heffley first appeared on the scene. In the time since, it would seem that neither of us has matured, but we’re both still in bookstores. I think he’s having more fun, though.
Recommended by Keith M.
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Randall Munroe
[isbn]
No one speaks to my unending desire for fun facts like Randall Munroe. Always delightful, absolutely hilarious, and yet somehow along the way you’re learning thermodynamics or aerospace engineering. Real science with wacky scenarios — a perfect shared read accessible to curious minds of any age.
Recommended by Sarah R.
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Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda
[isbn]
The team behind Monstress presents a beautiful new graphic horror novel that digs into family dynamics and finds some skeletons buried there. Also, monsters. And creepy dolls. Fun!
Recommended by Keith M.
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Kate Beaton
[isbn]
Kate Beaton’s autobiographical graphic novel about years spent working amidst the fracking boom in Alberta skillfully uses the medium to show the rhythms and realities of a hostile workplace: it often seems fine; it never stays that way.
Recommended by Keith M.
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Mac Barnett, Jon Klassen
[isbn]
My all-time favorite fairy tale could be in the hands of no finer picture book duo. Barnett and Klassen know how to have the last laugh; this troll doesn’t know what’s coming to him. I would talk my way across a BILLION troll bridges to make sure you read this book.
Recommended by Sarah R.
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Lonely Planet Kids
[isbn]
Dogs! All the dogs from all the places! I’m so happy about this development!
Recommended by Lucinda G.
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Ross Gay
[isbn]
In his latest collection, award-winning poet and bestselling author Ross Gay explores — in full-length, heavily footnoted essays that eddy conversationally around their topics — the complex, cathartic, and unifying thing that is joy. Whether you’re seeking it or seeking to better understand it, Inciting Joy delivers.
Recommended by Tove H.
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Ken Forkish
[isbn]
Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast is one of my favorite cookbooks, and I feel incredibly lucky to have this bread master giving us even more knead-to-know knowledge in a second book. (I'm sorry.) The great thing about bread (other than everything about consuming it) is it's a fun, achievable challenge to bake your first loaf, and a lifelong, delicious challenge to expand and perfect a recipe anew with every new technique and change in... (read more)
Recommended by Michelle C.
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Margaret Killjoy
[isbn]
A fast-paced, compelling, and truly marvelous collection: Killjoy delivers the queer, anarchist, and (dare I say it) utopian science fiction I didn't realize I needed until I read this book.
Recommended by C.J.
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Emi Yagi and David Boyd and Lucy North
[isbn]
Yagi does a fantastic job creating an absurd situation that feels all too plausible, letting the reader in the on the secret while simultaneously leaving them in the dark. As we follow Shibata on her journey, we're with her for every hormone shift, weight fluctuation, mommy aerobics class, and doctor's visit... all of which blur our perception of Shibata's reality. Diary of a Void is a wonderfully biting commentary on the lengths women... (read more)
Recommended by Charlotte S.
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Minnie Small
[isbn]
If you have ever struggled to finish a sketchbook or you’ve always wanted to start one, this challenge is for you. This book is full of great exercises that makes those blank pages less intimidating and (dare I say it?) fun. I love Minnie Small’s approachable teaching style and definitely enjoyed working through these prompts. Do you find the first page of a sketchbook daunting? The first prompt on page 10 will change your life.
Recommended by Rose H.
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Clinton Walker
[isbn]
You spend enough time as a gigging musician and you start to think you know it all. And then you pick up a book that blows the doors wide open and really makes you question your preconceptions. Clinton Walker has done that to me twice now. Buried Country: The Story of Aboriginal Country Music is an excellent work of scholarship that is as much fun to read as these impeccable artists are to listen to.
Recommended by Fletcher O.
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Neil Shubin
[isbn]
While it's easy to imagine how simple adaptations occur in nature, the question "how do BIG evolutionary changes happen?" can be difficult to grasp for the average layperson. Author Neil Shubin, with his talent for revealing the intuitiveness of hard science, unveils life's capabilities for change beyond variation, and does so in a way both engaging and accessible.
More than just "interesting," I had several "wow!" and "oh my gosh, of course!"... (read more)
Recommended by Nickolas J.
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Martin Duberman
[isbn]
I was looking for a book to "teach me my history" (and then some) and this book was it!
Expanding well beyond the famous event itself, author Duberman explores not only Stonewall and the pre-Stonewall queer rights movement, but also the day-to-day life of LGBTQ+ individuals in a pre-Stonewall world. The details of these events are shown through the eyes of six people who lived through it all. In making this work part-history and part-biography,... (read more)
Recommended by Nickolas J.
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Mark Savage
[isbn]
Is Mark Savage the author real, or merely a figment in the imagination of my co-worker, also named Mark Savage? The name of the book is "Fictional..." and yet I could swear I've seen trailers for some of these films. Either Mark has magicked away my dreams, or I'm merely a character, a plot point if you will, in the unwritten sequel to Fictional Film Club, a book that will surely come to be seen as a classic of Weird Literature.
Recommended by Fletcher O.
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Sayaka Murata, Ginny Tapley Takemori
[isbn]
Earthlings is at once heartbreaking and wildly preposterous. The author doesn't shield us from Natsuki's reality; from her pain, her oddities, or her determination. Murata deftly explores themes of trauma, community, and otherness. Every time I thought to myself "this book can't get any weirder," it did! Can these aliens carve out a space for not only themselves but also their found family in an overbearing, foreign world?
Recommended by Charlotte S.
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H D Carlton
[isbn]
Please note this is a very dark romance, please check trigger warnings online. A stalker with a heart of gold and an unsolved murder mystery are only the beginning of this dark romance. Adeline, an author, moves into her grandmother's old mansion and with the discovery of a secret diary, finds she may have more in common with her ancestor than originally thought. Who was the man who stalked and loved her grandmother? What made him eventually... (read more)
Recommended by Lauren M
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Satya Doyle Byock
[isbn]
Psychotherapist Satya Doyle Byock has penned a soulful, socially aware take on Quarterlife that shifts the conversation away from just social media, or helicopter parenting or elite college students. This is a book that is accessible and insightful for anyone between adolescence and midlife, and beyond.
Recommended by Gigi L.
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Aiden Thomas
[isbn]
Portland author Aiden Thomas (Lost in the Never Woods, Cemetery Boys) is bringing all my favorite YA things in this duology opener: rich mythology, perilous competitive trials, teen drama, witty banter, found family, joyful queerness, and dazzling worldbuilding. Plus, if that wasn’t enough, there are so many fun birds. More YA books should have fun birds.
Recommended by Sarah R.
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Jennifer Dugan and Kit Seaton
[isbn]
Esmy’s life is pretty good until her parents abruptly announce that they’re moving across the country. Now she has to adjust to a new school — oh, and there’s maybe a death witch coming for her, too. This fast-paced graphic novel delivers both angst and action.
Recommended by Keith M.
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Sarah Andersen
[isbn]
Sarah Andersen’s new collection is everything we’ve come to expect from her, and more: smartly conceived, truly funny, and monstrously heartwarming.
Recommended by Keith M.
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Andrew Sean Greer
[isbn]
In this worthy follow-up to Andrew Sean Greer's Pulitzer Prize–winning Less, we again follow Arthur Less on a journey of self-discovery, this time on a road trip through the United States. Less is Lost is a witty, poignant, and often hilarious book.
Recommended by Adam P.
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Leigh Bardugo and Dani Pendergast
[isbn]
Fans of the Grishaverse (and its Netflix adaptation of Shadow and Bone) should be sure to pick up Bardugo’s first graphic novel entry to the series: Demon in the Wood, finally illuminating the backstory of the complicated, compelling villain the Darkling. Illustrated by fantastically talented newcomer Dani Pendergast, this prequel will serve as an interesting entry point for new Grishaverse readers as well.
Recommended by Madeline S.
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Mo Willems
[isbn]
Mo Willem's beloved, recalcitrant, tricky Pigeon is back (for the first time since 2019's The Pigeon Has to Go to School), and he will ride the roller coaster! It's going to happen! Even if he's nervous! Wait, are you nervous? Why would you think the Pigeon is nervous? He's definitely going to ride this roller coaster...
Recommended by Madeline S.
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Colleen Hoover
[isbn]
The much anticipated sequel to It Ends with Us, Lily and Atlas's story continues as they embrace this second chance. With the dual perspectives of Lily and Atlas, we see Lily navigating civil co-parenting while Atlas reminisces about his past that ultimately lead him to Lily. I loved the first book and am very excited to see these two characters come back together after facing so much adversity.
Recommended by Crystal T.
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Danny Caine
[isbn]
One happy byproduct of Amazon’s unending cartoon villain-like quest for world domination: we get an updated and expanded edition of Danny Caine’s wonderful book! This is the hours-long conversation I wish I could have with every customer about what Amazon's business model means for small businesses, and what small businesses mean for the communities they serve; about the hidden implications of those low, low prices and hyperfast shipping times;... (read more)
Recommended by Tove H.
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N. K. Jemisin
[isbn]
N. K. Jemisin is undoubtedly one of the most creative voices out there today. Her Great Cities Duology wraps up with The World We Make and I have decided I am obsessed with New York and the concept of cities personified. Jemisin's writing is vibrant and powerful and I always lose myself in her books. I definitely believe that this is urban fantasy at its best.
Recommended by Rose H.
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Alison Cochrun
[isbn]
A Powell's meet-cute, snow days, and a queer love trapezoid is apparently the perfect equation for a holiday romance book because I stayed up until 3 a.m. reading this and wishing it was already winter. Ellie trying to make ends meet while struggling with her art career is so relatable to me, and I fell in love with Jack's quirky family. Not your typical holiday romance novel and that's what makes it so good.
Recommended by Rose H.
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Emma Smith
[isbn]
This is less of a commentary on the power of the written word and more of a love story dedicated to the history of physical books. I personally prefer holding an actual book in my hands and flipping through pages, so finding out how books evolved from scrolls to mass market paperbacks is super fascinating. Thoroughly researched and well written, I had so much fun learning all the different ways the book has taken shape throughout time.
Recommended by Rose H.
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Sam Wallman
[isbn]
So, so excited about this one! The first book-length comic from Australian comics journalist, cartoonist, and labor activist Sam Wallman is a stunner — a bold visual history of workers’ struggles; a mini-memoir of Wallman’s time working as a picker (and shop floor organizer) in an Amazon warehouse; and a compelling intro-slash-invitation to union activism. Buy one for yourself and one for a coworker!
Recommended by Tove H.
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Billy-Ray Belcourt
[isbn]
I can't wait to read Billy-Ray Belcourt's first novel, Minor Chorus, about a queer, indigenous scholar who goes back to his Northern Alberta reservation to write a novel and reconnect with his family and childhood friends. Belcourt has written poignantly of the queer, indigenous experience and the "Ministry of Historical Ignorance" in his prize-winning poetry collections, This Wound is a World and NDN Coping Mechanisms.... (read more)
Recommended by Jennifer K.
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Elspeth Barker
[isbn]
Elspeth Barker is one of those rare writers whose charisma can be felt through the page. Originally released in 1991, her only novel is an enigmatic, poetic, and dark-but-humorous story that plays with genre and Gothic aesthetic. Our young heroine, Janet, is ill-fated and yet the story is not about her end; it is an illumination and a celebration of her life in spite of the end. To fans of castles, brooding landscapes, witty narrative, or the... (read more)
Recommended by Katie P
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Hiroko Oyamada and David Boyd
[isbn]
Hiroko Oyamada is my new hero! She consistently writes the most wonderful, strange fiction (The Factory, The Hole) and it's so short and bite-sized, usually about 80 pages. How she fits all that she's exploring into such a small package, I don't understand. Weasels in the Attic consists of three deeply linked stories that share most of their characters and are perhaps separated in time by six months. Each story has its own... (read more)
Recommended by Jennifer K.
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Amina Cain
[isbn]
If we look beyond conventional metrics of literary success, what is it exactly that makes a writer a writer? How have the mundane realities of everyday life influenced the creation of the books we love? If, like me, you are fascinated by these questions — perhaps scrolling often to the Personal Life sections of your favorite authors' Wikipedia pages — Amina Cain's latest book is sure to enchant you. Against a backdrop of luminaries, from Woolf to... (read more)
Recommended by Alexa W.
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Haruki Murakami and Philip Gabriel and Ted Goossen
[isbn]
Murakami has countless dedicated fans around the world, many of whom have probably long been hungry to learn more about his creative process. So far, in the US, we’ve gotten translations of his musings on running, music, and t-shirts, but this will be the first time (outside of the occasional interview) that we get to read Murakami’s thoughts on his own writing and the nature of the novel as a whole. I’ve always been inspired by his work, making... (read more)
Recommended by Mar S.
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Chris Scott and Sarah Zorn
[isbn]
The latest from Top Chef favorite Chris Scott, Homage explores the convergence of Dutch-German Amish food and Black Soul Food. Told through seven generations of family stories, photo collages, and one hundred down-home recipes, this is a perfect choice for anyone who loves a little history to go with their cooking adventures.
Recommended by Deana R.
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April Genevieve Tucholke and Khoa Le
[isbn]
What a delightful book! With poetic and charming language and lush, quirky, magical artwork that makes you love both the light and the dark, Beatrice Likes the Dark is a sweet tale that celebrates curiosity, sisterhood, and the differences between us.
Recommended by Gigi L.
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Jasmine Guillory
[isbn]
Whether you’re new to Guillory’s writing or a longtime fan, you’ll find this book intoxicating. This charming and cozy autumn read is set in a lush Napa Valley winery and showcases a workplace romance with real and relatable characters. You’ll definitely enjoy this to the very last drop!
Recommended by Deana R.
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Elise Bryant
[isbn]
I have been singing the praises of Happily Ever Afters for months, and I'm still just as excited to share my feelings about this book with you as I was in January. Happily Ever Afters is such a charming and refreshing story, one that I think of often and smile. When Tessa suddenly develops writer's block after transferring to a prestigious arts school, her best friend Caroline comes up with a brilliant idea: turning Tessa's life... (read more)
Recommended by Katherine M.
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Julia Armfield
[isbn]
A meandering but eloquent descent into bereavement and the instances where grieving precedes the loss itself. Our Wives Under the Sea is atmospheric horror at its finest, with each chapter a slow crescendo of desperation, of asking "how do you hold onto someone when they're actively slipping from your grasp?" Armfield masterfully leads us to what we perhaps knew all along — that sometimes you must let go.
Recommended by Charlotte S.
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Melissa de la Cruz
[isbn]
Dona Esmeralda is from the country of 7,000 islands and eats all the food that naughty children don't want to eat. What happens when she gets her hungry little hands on real food? This is such an adorable (and definitely less scary) take on a Filipino folktale. It made me laugh so hard and also brought back a lot of memories of my own childhood.
Recommended by Rose H.
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Harry Sword
[isbn]
From the underground chambers of Malta to the Master Musicians of Joujuka; from the all-encompassing ur-drones of La Monte Young to the majestic metal of Sunn 0))), Monolithic Undertow is a book about the joy of being surrounded by sound. Whether you are an acolyte of the drone or merely curious about others' search for sonic oblivion, Harry Sword has written a book that is a joy to read.
Recommended by Fletcher O.
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Zen Cho
[isbn]
This collection rocketed to the top of my personal favorites list. Malaysian author Zen Cho's stories crackle with wit, history, and some of the most accurate Malay familial dynamics I've ever seen in writing. An anthology that chronicles myriad exchanges and encounters between the living and dead, Cho brings the spirit world and the Malaysian diaspora's religious and cultural history alive. Tender, sly, and totally magical.
Recommended by SitaraG
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Kim Stanley Robinson
[isbn]
I knew I had to read this the second I saw the title. I too, love California's High Sierra, though I have spent far less time in the Range of Light compared to Robinson. Part memoir, part history lesson, part geological survey, this is a book for those that fall in love with a magnificent sky-kissing landscape that they cannot shake from their soul. The pictures and maps — so often lacking in books that deserve them — are superb. If you or... (read more)
Recommended by Lesley A.
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Natalie Lloyd
[isbn]
First personal narrative and free verse brings this book to life! You'll be cheering on Olive and her allies as she strives to make her dreams come true. Magical, a fast read, and also informative as the author draws from her own experiences with osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disease). If you enjoyed Wonder by Patricia Palacio, try this book.
Recommended by Erica B.
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Ainslie Hogarth
[isbn]
What an icky book, in the best possible way. Whip-smart writing on Hogarth's part. Some of the lines prompted me for the first time ever to take a highlighter to a printed book (don't worry, I didn't). Both a commentary on motherhood and inherited family trauma, Motherthing takes a foreboding and insidious plot and turns it into something else. Something, dare I say it, cheerful. Dark-horse book of the year for me.
Recommended by Stacy W.
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Caroline Peckham
[isbn]
I'll be honest, I started this series as a joke. The books had gotten very popular on tiktok and I thought there was no way it could actually be good. One week later, I was completely sucked into the world of Solaria and I ended up finishing the six books out at the time in a month, the authors made me feel like the twins were my best friends. Full of romance, a collegiate magic school setting, and lost princesses regaining their throne — I have... (read more)
Recommended by Lauren M
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Scarlett St Clair
[isbn]
This is a wonderful retelling of the Hades and Persephone myth with a modern twist. Persephone is growing out from her mother's evergreen thumb and becomes a journalist! Her first article? Hades. Follow their epic romance as internal and external forces try to keep Persephone and Hades apart. Very spicy — I found myself blushing a few times, which is not something that happens often.
Recommended by Lauren M
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Clive Barker
[isbn]
I read this collection of stories at the tender age of 15 and the stories have stuck with me over half my life. The terror instilled in this collection exudes our most primal fears. Clowns? Check. Being alone on the train? Check. The inherent terror of the English countryside? Check. Clive Barker does it all and everyone will find a story to haunt them.
Recommended by Lauren M
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Sara Freeman
[isbn]
True to the title, author Sara Freeman has structured this novel in small segments that ebb and flow like tides, rolling across the pages and propelling you dreamily through the story of a woman who, after a grave loss, detaches from all structures of her life like a boat pushing out to sea and drifts to a small seaside town. What follows is a delicate and haunting story told as much in the margins as in the prose. I highly recommend this to... (read more)
Recommended by Katie P
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Martin Luther King, Jr. and Michael K. Honey
[isbn]
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is remembered first and foremost as a civil rights leader, but his kinship to the poor, to working people, and to unions helped shape his dynamic legacy. The speeches gathered here — delivered to crowds of union members and striking workers between 1957 and 1968, then left unpublished and largely unknown for decades after — show Dr. King’s dedication to workers’ rights and economic justice, and the scope of his... (read more)
Recommended by Tove H.
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Michael Munk
[isbn]
The coolest guide to our city doesn’t mention donuts even once. Instead, it celebrates Portland’s radical past — the people, organizations, protests, strikes, and movements that have made their mark on the City of Roses, and the vestiges of that past that can still be found today (using one of the maps that accompanies each section, or by following one of the walking tours outlined at the end). My endorsement of this guide has nothing to do with... (read more)
Recommended by Tove H.
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Stephen King
[isbn]
In this difficult world we're in, sometimes we want to wrap ourselves in the fantastic lands and breath and story that Stephen King can bring. Fairy Tale is such a place. It is all we know, but covered with the beautiful skin of King's imagination.
Recommended by Doug C.
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Jonathan Hill
[isbn]
For anyone who hides their true and timid self, who wants to fit in, who wishes they weren't a misfit, this book is for you. Especially if you're convinced you must be an alien or a mutant or maybe a whole other species from all those happy and normal people around you, this book is for you. Or if you're just a nerd, and you like seeing the world through different lenses, this book is for you.
Recommended by Doug C.
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Shannon Stocker, Devon Holzwarth
[isbn]
Evelyn Glennie has long been a personal inspiration of mine, and now with this lavishly illustrated book, the younger generation can be introduced to the joy of a life dedicated to music.
Recommended by Fletcher O.
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Walter Benjamin, Lecia Rosenthal, Jonathan Lutes
[isbn]
He may be dated, but Benjamin's work is a must-read for anyone trying to understand the role the artist plays in the struggle against fascism. (It's dialectic, babyy!)
Recommended by C.J.
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Conner Habib
[isbn]
Hawk Mountain is a queer horror story as tender as a caress to the cheek before the snapping of a neck. It begins when two classmates, Todd and Jack, victim and bully, meet again after fifteen years. Todd, now a single father, is less than thrilled about this reunion — especially as "can we catch up" turns into "can I stay the week" and Jack begins to worm his way into Todd and his son's life. What happens next is as unexpected as it is... (read more)
Recommended by Nicole S
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Mae Murray
[isbn]
Too often queer authors — queer people — are expected to be congenial. Unless queer characters are lawful good and palatable to a broadly heteronormative audience, they are vilified. Even by queer communities who demand that queer writers create within moral guidelines that don't exist for their non-queer contemporaries. The Book of Queer Saints puts fangs back into the mouth of queer authors. It's the queer jailbreak you've been waiting... (read more)
Recommended by Stacy W.
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Alessandra Lynch
[isbn]
Lynch's devastating collection pulls no punches, in spite of its delicate prose. A fragmented trauma narrative pieced together from the author's own experiences, Lynch forces the reader into a body that feels alien and uninhabitable after the violence enacted upon it. Daylily struggles to process and verbalize her memories as she attempts to normalize, drifting through her own life as a spectator, by turns overwhelmed by rage, numbness, grief,... (read more)
Recommended by SitaraG
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Jarrett Melendez, Danica Brine
[isbn]
Utterly adorable. Ben's finished college and now he's the only one of his friend group who hasn't been able to land a job in his field (definitely relatable..). Deciding he just cannot move back in with his parents, Ben applies for a job at a restaurant. He immediately develops a crush on Liam, one of the chefs, and adorably awkward moments ensue. This story is so sweet and cute. I loved it.
Recommended by Rose H.
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Markiyan Kamysh
[isbn]
Part Kerouac. Part Barry Lopez. Totally weird and poetic. Travelers make their journeys to the Zone from all over the world for all different reasons. Kamysh guides them through. No stories here exactly, just life — kind of. Sometimes reality can be much stranger than fiction, and here we get what very well could be a final glimpse of a relatively undisturbed Chernobyl, a place the author calls "the most exotic place on Earth."
Recommended by Eric L.
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Tony Hoagland
[isbn]
The late Tony Hoagland's final book of poems is an amazing collection put together by the writer and his wife, Kathleen Lee. Even in his last years of battling pancreatic cancer, he never lost his wry wit and distinct worldview. Hoagland's incredible work has consistently brought me belly laughs and wrenching tears, and Turn Up the Ocean is no different.
Recommended by Eric L.
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Emily Lloyd-Jones
[isbn]
Part heist novel, part Welsh fairytale, this magnificent standalone follows the kingdom’s last water diviner, Mer, on a quest for vengeance and freedom from the prince that abused her powers. With a former spymaster, a fae-marked fighter, and a princess of thieves, Mer sets out to destroy a prince — but ends up carrying the fate of a kingdom.
Recommended by Madeline S.
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Kayla Miller
[isbn]
I loved Click, so I can’t wait for another story about Olive. This time, she’s trying to do too many things at once. I feel the same way, but about trying to read too many books at the same time! Anyway, I’m starting this one right away.
Recommended by Lucinda G.
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Nick Drnaso
[isbn]
In Acting Class, Nick Drnaso applies his distinctive visual style and singular perspective on modern life to a group of strangers who meet for a series of acting classes. Through their surprising and sometimes surreal experiences, new lessons are learned about truth, performance, and human connection.
Recommended by Adam P.
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Sidik Fofana
[isbn]
I love it when a book leaves me debating with myself whether I responded more to the exciting voice or the skillful craft on display. Such was the case with Stories from The Tenants Downstairs, the stand-out story collection from Sidik Fofana. What an impressive debut!
Recommended by Keith M.
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Jane Campbell
[isbn]
This is a compassionate book, made up of stories that are delightfully caustic. Sometimes it feels like a primal scream, and other times like a withering look. Unwilling to be constrained by form or expectation, Cat Brushing has the dangerous air of a book wherein anything can happen.
Recommended by Keith M.
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Byung Chul Han
[isbn]
File under books that make you want to chuck your iPhone into a quarry, or perhaps some other miscellaneous ravine. Expanding on the work of Benjamin and Hegel, Han is one of the most readable and underrated cynical philosophers of our time.
Recommended by C.J.
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P. Djèlí Clark
[isbn]
A Master of Djinn returns us back to P. Djèlí Clark’s alt-Cairo historical steampunk universe that he first introduced us to in The Haunting of Tram Car 015 and A Dead Djinn in Cairo. Dapper-dressing Agent Fatma el-Sha’arawi — along with her quasi-girlfriend — are joined this time with both new and old colleagues from the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities. It’s another case full of murders and... (read more)
Recommended by Mecca A.
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Samantha Shannon
[isbn]
In this quasi-medieval world, East and West are at odds — the East reveres their water dragons and their dragon riders, while the West hates all dragons after one of the wretched, fire-breathing ones nearly destroyed the world. There’s a large cast of endearing characters, but the hearts of the story are Ead, lady-in-waiting to the queen, and Tané, dragon-rider in training, both harboring dangerous secrets. The Priory of the Orange Tree... (read more)
Recommended by Carly J.
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Ted Chiang
[isbn]
For over 30 years, Seattleite Ted Chiang has slowly and steadily been writing emotionally intelligent, speculative short stories. He’s not a quick writer, or a prolific one. He’s published just 18 stories in that time. But what incredible stories they are. (Sci-Fi award committees agree: Chiang’s won four Hugos and four Nebulas.) Exhalation is Chiang’s second collection, and though it was only published a few years ago, these nine... (read more)
Recommended by Adam P.
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Naomi Novik
[isbn]
Uprooted by Naomi Novik is one of those stories that you feel has somehow always existed. I mean that as a highest compliment. It captures the essence of a classic fairy-tale: what is really in that tower? and just how dangerous are those woods exactly? Novik has proven time and time again that she’s a fantasy collection must-have with napoleonic dragons, magic schools, fable, and more. Still, Uprooted is where... (read more)
Recommended by Sarah R.
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N. K. Jemisin
[isbn]
The Fifth Season brings about devastation, volcanos erupting, the ground beneath your feet falling apart — communities don’t survive it; it’s a complete reset of the world they know. We follow the perspectives of Damaya, Syenite, and Essun — three women coming to terms with their connection to the Earth, their control of the plates, and how to best manipulate this energy for the protection of civilization and their own safety. Jemisin... (read more)
Recommended by Tawney E.
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Neal Stephenson
[isbn]
Neal Stephenson’s books seem to either have devoted fans or vocal detractors, and Seveneves is perhaps the most polarizing book I’ve ever read! I have always enjoyed books that break the conventions of storytelling, and while I was initially shocked at where Stephenson takes Seveneves two-thirds of the way through the novel, I quickly found myself happily along for the ride. Seveneves explores what humanity will do when... (read more)
Recommended by Lesley A.
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Nnedi Okorafor
[isbn]
Binti runs away from her beloved desert home and family on Earth to go to the most prestigious university in the galaxy. She starts her journey as an outlier, as the first-ever Himba to be accepted. Mid-way, her ship is attacked and she witnesses a horrific massacre — and has to come up with a way to survive and broker peace between two warring groups before the ship lands. The experience colors Binti’s life, world, and sense of self in... (read more)
Recommended by Michelle C.
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Becky Chambers
[isbn]
If you like a healthy dose of hope with your science fiction, there’s no better place to start than with Becky Chambers. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet gives us the gift of a found-family ragtag crew of adventurers, genuinely fascinating alien races, and super cool technology (their spaceship runs on algae!). This book, and the rest of the Wayfarers series, builds its foundation on character-driven kindness: that a better,... (read more)
Recommended by Anna B.
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Ann Leckie
[isbn]
Before there was Murderbot, there was Breq, the AI protagonist of Leckie’s Ancillary Justice, which caused a genderfuss when it was first published in 2013. Breq is non-gendered and the default pronoun for much of society in that civilization is “she,” regardless of gender. Four years later, All Systems Red, the first Murderbot novella, was published. In the space of four years, awareness of gender fluidity expanded.
Recommended by Mary Jo S.
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Paolo Bacigalupi
[isbn]
This story hits the ground running through the dangerous winding streets of a future Bangkok, walled against the rising sea and populated with characters clawing out existence amidst food shortage and energy collapse. One of the single greatest science fiction settings I have every had the pleasure of “visiting.” Calories have become currency, crops are going extinct, and synthetic lifeforms are on the brink (or past the point) of singularity.... (read more)
Recommended by Sarah R.
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Patrick Rothfuss
[isbn]
The Name of the Wind is the story of Kvothe, who grows up in a nomadic troupe of players, the Edema Ruh, where he learns the fundamentals of magic, music, and the dramatic arts. After years as a penniless orphan in Tarbean, he eventually attends the University, where he narrowly avoids expulsion several times. Kvothe is brilliant, full of panache and daring, but certainly not exempt from suffering or heartbreak. The genius of The... (read more)
Recommended by Mary Jo S.
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Cixin Liu
[isbn]
The Three Body Problem is hard sci-fi — the kind of hard sci-fi that will leave you puzzling over astrophysics and researching the particulars of quantum mechanics for days — but the patient reader will be rewarded with a dazzling epic full of mystery and moral dilemma. Liu grapples with the darkness of humanity, but leaves room for hope that someday we will fling ourselves out into space, into a vast life that only visionary sci-fi... (read more)
Recommended by Emily B.
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Brandon Sanderson
[isbn]
Skaa-born teen and street thief Vin is in over her head. Posing as a noblewoman as part of a scheme to steal precious atium requires that Vin amplify her newly discovered powers of Allomancy to influence the nobility and also learn to fight assassins for her own survival. Power gained from this world’s magic, based on internally burning various paired metals, has long been used to assault and murder defenseless skaa workers; now society is ripe... (read more)
Recommended by Sara F.
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William Gibson
[isbn]
Set in the then-present day of 2002, William Gibson’s Pattern Recognition is the work of a mind that is usually thinking ahead, but has paused to look deeply at the present. Reading it today, it’s remarkable how — although it may no longer be about the present — it remains shockingly current. Gibson foresaw — any write-up of a William Gibson novel will contain at least one sentence starting this way — that information merchants would... (read more)
Recommended by Keith M.
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Marlon James
[isbn]
This National Book Award finalist starts with a failure — Tracker, a man with an uncommonly good nose, is telling the story of how he ended up in this jail cell, about the boy he was meant to find, about how he came to have the eye of a wolf. Black Leopard, Red Wolf unspools in spirals, and we learn more about how he came to this quest (and the ragtag rogue’s gallery that he uneasily agreed to work with), when he first met the leopard... (read more)
Recommended by Michelle C.
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Neil Gaiman
[isbn]
In 1992, Neil Gaiman moved to America. In 2001, he released American Gods. In the 10th anniversary edition, he recollects “this strange huge place where [he] now found [himself] living” and the urge not just to understand it but also to describe it. Describe it he did. I hesitate to use the term “masterwork” in book reviewing but here no lesser word applies. American Gods is masterful. Gaiman’s ability as a storyteller and myth... (read more)
Recommended by Sarah R.
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