Brian S. Ellis
[isbn]
In these vivid drink- and drug-soaked stories of young friends on Cape Cod, Brian S. Ellis’s writing is wry, poetic, highly detailed, and subversively sage. His characters are beautifully particular, their dialogue laugh-out-loud funny. Brian has a jeweler’s eye for finding the fire and flash inside every odd, awkward, and messed-up human trying to play cool in the face of... (read more)
Recommended by Gigi L.
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Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba
[isbn]
For me, this book came at the exact right time, but I also can’t imagine circumstances under which this book wouldn’t transform its reader. It’s written with activists and organizers in mind, but I also can’t imagine a person who identifies as neither reading this book and quietly accepting the status quo. Hopeful, imaginative, invigorating, and so full of wisdom (like, truly staggering amounts of wisdom), Let this... (read more)
Recommended by Tove H.
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E.J. Koh
[isbn]
E. J. Koh’s debut novel, The Liberators is her follow-up to the stunning memoir, The Magical Language of Others. I was so excited to read the novel; I started as soon as I got the galley, and couldn’t put it down. The story covers decades and contents, and follows one family as its members try to figure out what it means to choose a lover, a life, a home. The relationships between the characters are so lovingly and beautifully... (read more)
Recommended by Kelsey F.
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Melissa L Sevigny
[isbn]
I really loved this story. Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter were passionate botanists, and in 1938 they took a harrowing, exhilarating, life-changing journey through the Grand Canyon to map and collect the flora they found there. At the time, it may have felt like their journey was for nothing... companions didn't take them seriously, books of pressed plants were lost, journalists dismissed their work. But their work was recovered and documented,... (read more)
Recommended by Lesley A.
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Rosanna Xia
[isbn]
I was worried this book would be a real downer, but I found myself incredibly inspired and hopeful (and trying to figure out a way to move my family back to the north coast of California (I haven't had a book make me so homesick in quite a long time!)). Rosanna Xia is an environmental journalist, and her writing is engaging and thoughtful. The stories of each community she highlights gives you hope that climate adaptation is possible, and that... (read more)
Recommended by Lesley A.
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Travis Baldree
[isbn]
Bookshops and Bonedust is a love letter to the book all wrapped up in a cozy fantasy setting. I fell in love with the dreamy coastal town of Murk, the hodgepodge of memorable characters, and with the joy of finding the right title at the right time. This book left me longing for books I've never read (and for all of Travis Baldree's future books)!
Recommended by Lindsay P
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Michael Lewis
[isbn]
Michael Lewis has always been smart about the people he chooses to profile. He started shadowing Sam Bankman-Fried for what was sure to be an interesting book about cryptocurrency and philanthropy. Then his subject’s empire crumbled and the result is a much more interesting book than he set out to write.
Recommended by Keith M.
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Curtis Chin
[isbn]
Curtis Chin’s memoir of growing up in his family’s Detroit Chinese restaurant is by turns moving and hilarious as he recounts the growing pains that come with being the third son in a large immigrant family amidst a time of national economic, racial, and health crises.
Recommended by Keith M.
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Andrea Dworkin, Johanna Fateman, Amy Scholder
[isbn]
Legitimately one of the most important books in this store, from one of the greatest thinkers of the late-twentieth century. Andrea Dworkin's writing now feels prophetic, and is at least as relevant and necessary now as when she first published — and this book is currently the only way her work can be read in print. Including essays from the seminal "Woman Hating," the powerful "Intercourse," the shockingly insightful "Right-Wing Women," among... (read more)
Recommended by Devan M
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Alexis M Smith
[isbn]
Glaciers technically spans one day in the life of Isabel, a twenty-something woman who works in the basement of the Central Library in downtown Portland, furnishes her life with vintage postcards and thrift store collections, and gently yearns for her coworker. Emotionally, it spans decades, visiting the memories of her childhood in Alaska and imagined stories of her secondhand treasures triggered by her movements through the day. While... (read more)
Recommended by Michelle C.
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Kim Kelly
[isbn]
In Fight Like Hell, Kim Kelly celebrates the untold stories and unsung heroes of the American labor movement, taking great care to center voices that have historically been sidelined or silenced in mainstream conversations around workers' rights. The result is an inclusive, fascinating, and galvanizing retrospective that mines the depths of the history of the working class to extract precious insight and inspiration for its future. A... (read more)
Recommended by Tove H.
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Lydia Kiesling
[isbn]
Mobility is a pitch-perfect look at one woman's life, a snapshot in geologic time that captures so much about how we're catastrophically harming the planet, even with the best of intentions. Lydia Kiesling gets so many precise feelings so perfectly right — workmanlike teen anxieties and activities; finding pride and ambition in a career you did not necessarily choose; prescient arcs in your personal story that only make... (read more)
Recommended by Michelle C.
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Dian Greenwood
[isbn]
Dian Greenwood's writing is precise, beautifully described, full of heart and insight. And what's the best treasure of all in this complex, moving, and thoroughly entertaining book? The way she puts her characters on the page. How can you not fall in love with these sisters? Every last wonderful, snarky, sad, funny, wise, raging, captivating, broken, human part of them.
Recommended by Gigi L.
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Tom O'Neill and Dan Piepenbring
[isbn]
As someone with no knowledge of Charles Manson beyond his caricatured depictions in pop culture, this book blew open my notion of sixties counterculture and left me with an equal number of questions and answers regarding the dominant narrative of its decline. Follow Tom O'Neill's ambitious project from its genesis as a magazine article about the Manson murders into Chaos: an investigative vortex exposing the darkest recesses of the... (read more)
Recommended by Nadia N.
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Leonard Shlain
[isbn]
An exploration into the power of linguistics in the realm of symbology, myth, religion and history — all from a critical, feminist perspective. Basically — a wild rollercoaster of an academic theory: that alphabetic literacy changed our minds so significantly that it destroyed the Fertility Goddess of many preliterate cultures.
Recommended by Grace B
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Tricia Hersey
[isbn]
A truly exceptional manifesto. Her wisdom and guidance cannot be overstated when it comes to resisting capitalist productivity. Listen to Black women! This is required reading.
Recommended by Charlotte S.
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Tressie McMillan Cottom
[isbn]
Straddling academic expertise and personal memoir, Cottom's sociology-inflected essays are a sucker punch that forgo abstract platitudes in favor of embodied intersectionality. Ranging in subject matter from money and beauty to the elasticity of whiteness, these stories coalesce as a reminder to resist individualist mythologies and instead look toward a future where we must all work together collectively if we're going to survive. Words for your... (read more)
Recommended by SitaraG
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Jane Wong
[isbn]
Jane Wong's poetry has already established her as one of our finest writers at the intersection between food, family, and identity. Her memoir delves even more vulnerably into this vein, exploring what it means to grow up as a working-class artist swirling between depths of care (from friends, family, and sliced fruit) and carelessness (from boyfriends, family, and food bloggers). With playful free-associative prose and a multiplicity of styles... (read more)
Recommended by Kai B.
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Willy Vlautin
[isbn]
I liked this one a lot. As a Portland local (and a fan of the Delines), Vlautin's Portland references made me giddy within the heaviness of the all-too-real story of gentrification and poverty in the area. It's a satisfying slap in the face to the "Keep Portland Weird" tourism steamrolling what's at the heart of the city. The sentences are tight, punchy. Hard to not compare them to Carver (for me at least, given that I'm a big Carver fan).... (read more)
Recommended by Jimbo C.
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Thi Bui
[isbn]
This deeply moving, graphic-novel memoir is nuanced, brave, and beautifully illustrated, a feat of visual storytelling. Intimate and powerful, Thi Bui's exploration of her family's experiences as refugees from the Vietnam War asks complex questions and refuses easy answers. Mesmerizing.
Recommended by Claire A.
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Camonghne Felix
[isbn]
This book is like nothing else, both in its radical formal innovation and its bone-deep commitment to being as raw and honest as possible. I don't think I've read anything this open, this real, this unsparing about love and family and desire and pain in a very long time. If you've ever beaten yourself up after a breakup, if you've ever questioned why you gave parts of yourself away to someone or whether it was worth it, this book is for you.
Recommended by Tim B.
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Samira Mehta
[isbn]
There is a unique pain when you live life in the various intersections of human identity. The loneliness can be suffocating because you feel like you never quite fully relate to anyone. You have to find your own joy. Mehta's honest reflections made me laugh and cry. This book made me think of how even the smallest actions can cause great pain or spark deep healing.
Recommended by Rose H.
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Barbara F. Walter
[isbn]
Walter’s meticulous, urgent analysis of the U.S.’s proximity to civil war — and what war will look like in the age of online radicalism and social media — is terrifying, to say the least. But our country’s slide into anocracy is scary too, and Walter’s ambitious program to resist it provides tentative cause for rallying and resistance.
Recommended by Rhianna W.
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China Mieville
[isbn]
If you've never read the Communist Manifesto before, you should read this version; if you've got passages of the Communist Manifesto memorized and you regularly recite them to your roommates at the dinner table, you should still read this version. In a place and time where it's easier to picture the end of the world than the end of capitalism, it takes more than knowledge of theory to cut through the malaise — it takes... (read more)
Recommended by CJ H.
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Rebecca Solnit and Thelma Young Lutunatabua
[isbn]
The first chapter of Young Lutunatabua and Solnit's new manifesto, Not Too Late, says that "hope is not like a lottery ticket you can sit on the sofa and clutch, feeling lucky...hope is an axe you break down doors with in an emergency." It is a call to action and an antidote to doomer-ism, and a must-read for every cynical idealist.
Recommended by CJ H.
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Jen Wang
[isbn]
A cute wholesome fairytale! The Prince and the Dressmaker will charm its way into your heart and restore your faith in humanity. Jen Wang created a world of wholesome growth that I wish we lived in.
Recommended by Lindsay P
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Kesha Ajọsẹ-Fisher
[isbn]
In these far-flung stories, Kesha Ajose-Fisher’s elegant prose explores themes of distance and closeness, motherhood and womanhood. Read this powerful, poetic collection, and you’ll quickly understand why it won the Oregon Book Award.
Recommended by Gigi L.
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Stephanie Danler
[isbn]
If you're seeking a summer read filled with catharsis and palm trees... look no further than Stray.
Recommended by Taylor W.
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Fonda Lee
[isbn]
Woman-led fantasy with middle-eastern mythology? Manticores?? Rocs??? Destructive paths of revenge???? ARE YOU KIDDING ME????? Excuse me while I scream about this book until I get a film adaption.
Recommended by Stacy W.
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David Grann
[isbn]
David Grann’s reputation precedes him — he writes incredibly smart and propulsive nonfiction — and his latest more than lives up to his high standards. This tale of disaster and mutiny in the 18th century British navy is absolutely amazing, in every sense of the word.
Recommended by Keith M.
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Lawrence Wright
[isbn]
Treat yourself to one of the best nonfiction reads of this century! A sprawling epic charting the overlapping paths of Al Qaeda and the CIA, taking them on a collision course that would reshape the world. Truly engrossing.
Recommended by Etan L.
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Billy Ray Belcourt
[isbn]
This powerful, poetic memoir-in-essays lives at the intersection of queerness and "other"-ness. Belcourt basks in vulnerability in such a beautiful way, while exploring sexuality, trauma, colonialism, and love. Really great!
Recommended by Carrie K.
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Gina Frangello
[isbn]
This memoir crackles with an electric, female rage. It's brutal and entrancing and I couldn't put it down. Frangello refuses to be silenced and covers topics of adultery, familial responsibility, parenting, passion, and chronic illness. So good.
Recommended by Carrie K.
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Ross Gay
[isbn]
Never has there been a book more aptly titled. This one is truly delightful and sure to inspire you, make you ponder, and warm your heart. Having a gratitude practice, or at least taking the time to acknowledge when something makes us happy, is something we could all benefit from. Relish in simple pleasures, you won't regret it!
Recommended by Carrie K.
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Matilda Bickers and peech breshears and Janis Luna and Molly Smith
[isbn]
Stories by/about workers are among my favorite types of stories, so this collection had my heart long before I got my hands on a copy. This diverse anthology of art, essays, poems, conversations, and interviews serves both as a rich archive of sex worker experiences and perspectives, and a potent antidote to the ongoing efforts to malign, marginalize, sensationalize, and criminalize their work. Working It is generous, intimate, vital... (read more)
Recommended by Tove H.
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Liza Mundy
[isbn]
I could not put this book down, and I was so sad when it was over! These gals were amazing. Mundy's storytelling is so engaging, I was absorbed not just in their fascinating crypt-analytic work, but their remarkable friendships as well.
Recommended by Lesley A.
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Claire Dederer
[isbn]
In the introduction to Monsters, Claire Dederer recollects an adage from poet William Emerson, "life involves maintaining oneself between contradictions that can't be solved by analysis." Dederer wants to know what to do with bad behavior — monstrous behavior — and good — even excellent — art. Can the audience think themself out of that contradiction? Can they feel their way out? Do they just have to sit there… maintaining? What do we... (read more)
Recommended by Sarah R.
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Joel Warner
[isbn]
A fascinating history of the Marquis de Sade's most infamous manuscript: 120 Days of Sodom. Warner takes us from Sade's days writing the manuscript in secret in his Bastille prison cell, to its transfer among various private collectors of erotica, all the way to the present day in which the manuscript was one of many historical documents involved in a criminal investment scheme. Filled with intriguing twists and turns, by the end of this... (read more)
Recommended by Alyssa C
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James Baldwin
[isbn]
A masterclass in political discourse that is also one of the most profound treatises on love I've ever read. Baldwin continues to outpace contemporary writers and thinkers on race, American-ness, and the sheer import of our entanglement with and responsibility to other people. Hugely compelling and as contemporary ideologically as it was in 1963 (for real, his speech "Talk to Teachers" from the same year reads with the same urgency as when he... (read more)
Recommended by SitaraG
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Seimone Augustus and Kate Fagan and Sophia Chang
[isbn]
I am so excited for this cool, comprehensive history of women’s basketball! It covers just about everything, from Senda Berenson, the first woman to discover the game, to Candace Parker returning to Chicago and winning the 2021 WNBA championship. On top of all the history and info about the best teams, players, and coaches, the book is full of awesome illustrations by Sophia Chang. One of my favorite sections is The Movies That Should Have Been... (read more)
Recommended by Jennifer H.
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Elizabeth Bradfield and Cmarie Fuhrman and Derek Sheffield
[isbn]
Cascadia: the region that stretches from Southeast Alaska down to Northern California, and from the Pacific Ocean to parts of Idaho and Montana. Cascadia Field Guide: Art, Ecology, Poetry is exactly as promised. Various writers and artists, spanning style and content, share their love of the Cascadia region through illustrations, poems, and natural history.
Recommended by Corie K-B.
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Alastair Gee, Dani Anguiano
[isbn]
My elderly mother was evacuated from the Camp fire by a kind neighbor and came to stay with me for three months. The fire missed her house by 1500 ft. When I took her home, seeing the devastation firsthand was overwhelming.
Gee's well-written book is intense and personal! A staggering read.
Recommended by Lesley A.
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David Sedaris
[isbn]
Sedaris at his candid and mischievous best! "I'll Eat What He's Wearing" still brings a little smile and snort/chuckle when I think of it.
Recommended by Adam B.
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Emily Ruskovich
[isbn]
I'm glad I read this book. Beautiful writing, unique and engaging story, but nearly prohibitively sad! A rural couple reels from and tries to make sense of tragedy. So good, and so sad.
Recommended by Adam B.
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Daniel Immerwahr
[isbn]
This book is so good I've read it twice! I learned so much, even the most mundane topics (standards and practices anyone?) were somehow incredibly compelling. Immerwahr is an excellent writer. This will fill in a lot of the gaps left out of school!
Recommended by Lesley A.
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Kristen Jokinen, Cheryl Strayed
[isbn]
A remarkable and wondrous ride that feels like it never happens anymore, as if Cheryl Strayed's Wild were mixed with dreams and love and a miraculous spirit of exploration.
Recommended by Doug C.
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Dilar Dirik
[isbn]
The story of the Kurdish women's movement is a story that every feminist, egalitarian, anarchist — whatever you call yourself, if you dream of a more equal world, you should read this book. Defying impossible challenges, the women of Rojava have proven that they will struggle from here to utopia for a world worth saving.
Recommended by CJ H.
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Sebastian Junger
[isbn]
It had been a long time since I'd read Junger's short, egalitarian manifesto, but his insight never fails to stun me. A wonderful, somewhat nerve-wracking story about the intrinsic desire for freedom within all of us.
Recommended by CJ H.
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Mary Oliver
[isbn]
The perfect selction of poems to reflect and ponder with as we approach the new year! This book was good for my soul and I like that the primary theme was nature.
Recommended by Erica B.
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Lee Mcintyre
[isbn]
This book made me a better communicator.
Whether it be recent vaccine conspiracies or the nearly one-hundred-year war against biological evolution, we have all been witness to the ubiquity of science denial in the U.S.A. (and elsewhere). While it may seem that those who deny scientific consensus are a lost cause, author Lee McIntyre has concluded otherwise. Drawing on both personal experience as well as several political and psychological... (read more)
Recommended by Nickolas J.
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George Orwell
[isbn]
Down and Out is the book I revisit when I find myself spending a lot of time walking around the city without much more than a tote bag full of half-thought-out ideas and vehement ideals. Orwell assures you can make it if you don't have much more than that, and he was a smarter man than I am: I'll take his word for it.
Meanwhile, Homage to Catalonia is the book I revisit when I want to learn about how to drunkenly use 1930's... (read more)
Recommended by CJ H.
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Pablo Neruda
[isbn]
This is a wonderful introduction to and a beautiful distillation of the work of Nobel Prize–winning poet Pablo Neruda. His poems express such loving, honest, awestruck attention to the world with dizzying beauty and powerful clarity of vision. This book spans forty years of Neruda's career and features translations by multiple scholars and poets, which provides a really interesting sense of his poetics. I love that this edition includes the... (read more)
Recommended by Claire A.
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Josh Cook
[isbn]
A book about books by a fellow indie bookseller? Sold. What’s more, the bookseller is Josh Cook, whose 2021 chapbook, The Least We Can Do, has been not-so-quietly making the rounds among indie booksellers since its release, prompting much-needed reflection and conversation about the ideas afforded space on our shelves. I’m eager to see Cook expand on that topic and more in The Art of Libromancy, and to chat about it with the... (read more)
Recommended by Tove H.
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Alison Mariella Désir
[isbn]
Désir's feelings of alienation and "otherness" are so relatable to me as a BIPOC woman living in the PNW. The first few pages where she lines up the history of running as a sport alongside important moments in Black history is absolutely striking. Reading her words, I felt like I was running alongside her, cheering her on as she overcame depression while always carrying around the shared awareness BIPOC know so well: many spaces will not always... (read more)
Recommended by Rose H.
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Josh Cook
[isbn]
This insightful pamphlet from a fellow indie bookseller grapples with the role that independent bookstores play in platforming, legitimizing, and providing a revenue stream for white supremacists and other dangerous ideologues. A small book that asks some big and necessary questions, and urges its reader to do the same.
Recommended by Tove H.
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Julian Aguon
[isbn]
If I could, I would shelve this book in every applicable section, so as to get the maximum number of eyes on it! It is certainly welcome in the climate change section, as its overarching theme is the threat of rising seas to Guam and other Pacific Island nations. I'd also welcome it in US History, where you can learn about our government's treatment of Guam, its people, its resources. Literature Reference? Yep, the book is full of loving... (read more)
Recommended by Lesley A.
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Yuval Noah Harari
[isbn]
A follow-up to Sapiens, Homo Deus takes a look into the speculative future of mankind and the potential trials and tribulations our species may face in the millennia to come
Recommended by Sarah No
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Aja Barber
[isbn]
Aja Barber's Consumed is the sharply written reminder we need that our consumption habits, big and small, have an impact on many lives besides our own. It's nonfiction but feels conversational, a.k.a. it's very approachable! I recommend this for folks looking to learn more about consumer culture and history.
Recommended by Charlotte S.
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Eric Dean Wilson
[isbn]
After Cooling is an engrossing and entertaining read on a seemingly mundane topic! The history of cooling is really quite fascinating and Wilson's style is super readable. A truly enjoyable book that taught me a lot and challenged my concepts of comfort.
Recommended by Lesley A.
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Steven Pinker
[isbn]
Really a powerpoint presentation as much as a book. If you can make it through all the data, it's quite informative.
Recommended by Justin Horein
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Michelle Obama
[isbn]
Michelle Obama's Becoming put me in a good mood for weeks after I read it. I trust that her new book will do the same. I could really use it!
Recommended by Matt K.
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Esteban Castillo
[isbn]
Look at this cover! I bet your mouth is immediately watering and your oven already is preheating!
Recommended by Lucinda G.
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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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Alice Walker
[isbn]
A phenomenal collection of essays on everything from civil rights and the ethics of nuclear warfare to colorism and the necessity of intersectionality. This text is brimming with at least as much personal wisdom as professional, and Walker's critiques of the academy and the lack of both intersectionality and global perspective in American education systems sounds like it could be pulled straight from contemporary discourse. A call for justice... (read more)
Recommended by SitaraG
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing
[isbn]
Set in the PNW's own Cascade Mountains, Tsing's examination of the Matsutake mushroom trade and its far-reaching affects on trade and currency locally and abroad is at once journalistic, scientific, and socially motivated. A fascinating look at how ecosystems emerge and thrive in spite of capitalist excavation, Tsing helps readers imagine a world where life and humanity coexist and even build new value systems together.
Recommended by SitaraG
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Peter Linebaugh and Marcus Rediker
[isbn]
A must-read for any American (or history enthusiast or pirate fan). Rediker and Linebaugh's history of the revolutionary Atlantic is a portrait of resistance and history from the ground up, and their observations on the creation of American infrastructure, the colonization of the Americas, and the creation of class and racial divides has never been more relevant or applicable to our own social and political landscapes. I can't recommend it highly... (read more)
Recommended by SitaraG
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Casey Parks
[isbn]
In Diary of a Misfit, Casey Parks blends research and memoir to tell a complex story of queerness in her childhood, family, and hometown. Part mystery, part journalism, part personal history — Diary of a Misfit tells an important story about identity and belonging.
Recommended by Adam P.
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Judith Heumann, Kristen Joiner
[isbn]
I first learned about Judy from the amazing documentary Crip Camp on Netflix and wanted to learn more about her story. So thankful that this book exists and shows the effort and challenges that citizens went through for disability rights in the US. Judy's activism helped made a direct positive change.
Recommended by Erica B.
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Yuvi Zalkow
[isbn]
Saul can’t stop messing up his life, but you can’t help but love him for being the sad, funny, awkward, self-deprecating mess he is. With endless wit and quirky charm, Yuvi Zalkow examines the myriad ways we lose touch with our lives and with each other, and the ways we fumblingly inch our way back. I Only Cry with Emoticons is the perfect fun read for all of us other awkward, anxiety-ridden, dis- and misconnected messes in this mess of... (read more)
Recommended by Gigi L.
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Joan Didion
[isbn]
Didion articulates my mixed feelings towards my home state in a way I've never encountered before. California is a garden of Eden, populated by a dozen or so men who for some godforsaken reason thought the oil underneath Eden was more important than the fruit she bore.
Recommended by CJ H.
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Eric Cervini
[isbn]
An incredibly moving and inspirational story about a veteran and government employee who was fired after being outed as gay. Follow Frank Kameny on his painstaking journey for justice as he fights for the rights of the marginalized. I really appreciated experiencing the Stonewall Uprising and legalization of gay marriage from this unique perspective.
Recommended by Parker W.
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Isaac Fitzgerald
[isbn]
As someone who reads a lot of memoirs, it takes a lot for me to read one and think "This book has changed me as a person, a reader, or as a writer." Dirtbag, Massachusetts manages to hit all three in a way that left me clutching the book to my chest when I finished. This book is for every adult who grew up with a traumatic childhood, made some mistakes, and lived to tell the tale. It's for the misfits, romantics, dreamers, doers, and... (read more)
Recommended by Katherine M.
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New York Public Library, Edmund White
[isbn]
This anthology is so incredibly touching and inspiring. The New York Library has pulled together its extensive collection to bring us multiple first-hand accounts of what happened both inside and outside of the Stonewall, making you feel as if you were there. These are accounts of Stonewall that weren't a part of any documentaries that I'd seen, and I felt lucky to have stumbled upon all the different and unique points of view laid out in this... (read more)
Recommended by Parker W.
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Douglas Wolk
[isbn]
If you have any fondness for any run of Marvel comics — from Golden Age to the introduction of Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur — you will enjoy this remarkable book. Wolk navigates the complex narratives of the Marvel Universe with deftness, while skillfully recounting the biography of Marvel's heroes and villains. I was afraid this book would be dry and overwhelming in scope. Wolk is clearly a fan, but isn't fawning. Thorough, thoughtful, and best... (read more)
Recommended by Lesley A.
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Ben Urwand
[isbn]
A fun tale to revisit as Disney once again unfurls its yearly banner of rainbow capitalism. A truly wild piece of history and a reminder that Hollywood has always and will always have a single overcooked noodle where its moral backbone is supposed to be.
Recommended by CJ H.
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John Higgs
[isbn]
There's something about Blake that speaks to me. Well... not so much "speak" as "slaps me across the face with both hands before shaking me by the shoulders while jumping up and down, ranting and raving about god knows what," and I love it. Sometimes though, it would be nice to understand those ravings a little better, and luckily, John Higgs, scribe of The KLF and I Have America Surrounded: The Life of Timothy Leary, has... (read more)
Recommended by Fletcher O.
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Nic Goodrick Clarke
[isbn]
A deeply important story to understand, especially for us folks here in the PNW. This lady is the unfortunate link that exists between modern environmentalist movements and literal 20th century Nazis. The mother of what we today call Esoteric Hitlerism: the religion-izing of Nazism and the deification of Hitler. Her beliefs are very very stupid and I do not like her one little bit, but they've spread like a cancer to all corners of the world.... (read more)
Recommended by CJ H.
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Bradley W. Hart
[isbn]
A very readable and pertinent history about the (not lacking in quantity, mind you) Americans that would have been happier had Nazism swallowed Europe whole.
Recommended by CJ H.
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Chris Stuck
[isbn]
Chris Stuck consistently dazzles throughout this collection of very funny, occasionally brutal, and stylistically varied short stories. My favorites were the Jordan Peele-esque "Lake No Negro" (featuring a narrator who finds himself the fetishized target of suburban swingers), the surprisingly endearing witness protection story "And Then We Were the Norisses," and the hilarious dialogue-driven barroom scenes in "This Isn't Music."
A strong and... (read more)
Recommended by Kevin S.
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Emme Lund
[isbn]
A fantastical story written with queer-punk, coming-of-age verve. Owen and his (literal) live-in bird companion are an unexpected power duo, navigating a world that baselessly fears them, and somehow still avoiding capture.
The emerging romance between Owen and one of his quiet Pixies-loving friends in the second half of the book was beautiful. It's encouraging to see a wild premise like this — it's part allegory, part underdog story, and would... (read more)
Recommended by Kevin S.
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Chelsea Bieker
[isbn]
Proving that her excellent debut novel, Godshot, wasn't a fluke, Bieker comes back with a stunning follow-up. The short stories in Heartbroke explore some of her favorite themes (life in the Central Valley of California, working class characters, coming-of-age, religion versus sexual temptation) and examine them with detailed intensity. Bieker reveals how humans struggle and how they carry on. What a performance.
Recommended by Kevin S.
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Jack Lowery
[isbn]
The past few years have seen some excellent books published that revisit ACT-UP's work during the AIDS crisis in the early 90s (see Sarah Schulman's Let the Record Show). It Was Vulgar & It Was Beautiful focuses specifically on Gran Fury, an affiliate group of artists in ACT-UP, their successes and failures, their iconic images and interpersonal struggles. Jack Lowery has written an eminently readable and ultimately inspiring... (read more)
Recommended by Adam P.
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Dan Saladino
[isbn]
I could not put this book down! An insightful look at how global homogenization has not only shaped what and how we eat, but has ruthlessly reduced the variety as well. Saladino walks us through the rich and varied food choices of the past that were important cultural markers of the societies that nurtured them. He then describes their loss, be it due to habitat cleared for monoculture crops, war, climate change, or simply time. Saladino rounds... (read more)
Recommended by Lesley A.
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Robert A Jacobs
[isbn]
As terrifying as it is that we once again find ourselves potentially inching towards a nuclear standoff, it's even more terrifying to consider the costs already incurred from nuclear weapons testing — a toll we will pay for centuries. This book is a disturbing read, but as the machinations of the military-industrial complex become more distant and obfuscated, it's one that needs our attention.
Recommended by John Ha
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Syan Rose
[isbn]
Open this book to any page and you’re immediately immersed in drawings and conversations that are personal and captivating. From Nube F. Cruz mourning the passing of their Ama, to Kid Cudi sharing people who’ve inspired them, you’ll be touched by their heartfelt words and Syan Rose’s gorgeous art.
Recommended by Marianne T
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Kristin Hannah
[isbn]
This is by far my favorite Kristin Hannah book. With all the well-developed characters surviving against the Alaskan wilderness, you'll have a hard time putting it down. If you like the book Where the Crawdad's Sing, try this one.
Recommended by Erica B.
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Harvey Schwartz
[isbn]
Did you know that Powell's Books is a union shop? Powell's workers chartered their own Local within the ILWU (International Longshore and Warehouse Union) in 2000, and the origin story of ILWU Local 5 appears here, alongside other inspiring tales from and about our ILWU siblings. Labor historian Harvey Schwartz honors the rank and file-led traditions of our Union by allowing workers to tell their own stories, and the result is an engaging,... (read more)
Recommended by Tove H.
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Paul Buhle and Nicole Schulman
[isbn]
Published in 2005 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World), this intricate and info-rich book is as rambunctious and inspiring as the Wobblies themselves. A crash course and a work of art for the rebel in your life!
Recommended by Tove H.
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Heather Ann Thompson
[isbn]
Did you know that the list of demands Attica prisoners sent to the state prison commissioner before their infamous 4-day uprising included demands around wages, benefits, working conditions, and the right to form labor unions? Chances are there's a lot you don't know about the 1971 uprising and the years of mistreatment that prompted it. Let this book enlighten you.
Recommended by Tove H.
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Lorene Edwards Forkner
[isbn]
Lorene Edwards starts each chapter with thoughts that make you feel like you are getting advice from your friendly neighbor. I was impressed with the additional tips that help gardeners navigate our Pacific Northwest weather. My favorite part was being able to focus on one month at a time so I didn't get overwhelmed. A must have!
Recommended by Erica B.
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