Jia Tolentino
[isbn]
Jia Tolentino’s dazzling debut is one of the most fluid, insightful, and exciting essay collections that I’ve ever read. Comparisons to Joan Didion are both inevitable and totally deserved.
Recommended by Keith M.
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John Zada
[isbn]
John Zada's lifelong interest in the legend of Sasquatch leads him to British Columbia in this well-written travelogue. I loved this exploration of the land and people that have kept these legends alive, especially when he delves into what it says about our society that these legends still hold such interest. Fascinating stuff!
Recommended by Leah C.
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Erika Meitner
[isbn]
These poems paint a grappling portrait of life in Southern Appalachia. Meitner tackles religion, violence, racial tensions, and motherhood, all with ever-present empathy and nuance. This collection is a timely and necessary addition to any poetry lover's library.
Recommended by Haley B.
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Yangsze Choo
[isbn]
For the sheer pleasure of losing yourself in a striking time and place (colonial Malaysia in the 1930s); and in a love story between sharply drawn characters; and in a murder mystery involving ghost tigers, the Confucian virtues, an illicit trade in human fingers, and a train station that ferries the dead, nothing beats Choo’s evocative The Night Tiger. It threw me into that best of readerly conundrums: Racing through to see how it ends,... (read more)
Recommended by Rhianna W.
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Kate Colby
[isbn]
Part internal dialogue on the essence of language, part critical essay on everything from Ben Lerner’s Leaving the Atocha Station to Nancy Milford’s biography of Zelda Fitzgerald, and all framed by a single road trip, Dream of the Trenches somehow meshes that all together into what feels like a remake of William Carlos Williams’s "Spring and All" for the 21st century. In place of Williams’s strident manifesto, Colby gives us a... (read more)
Recommended by Jordan M.
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Richard Kreitner
[isbn]
We love our books, and we love our vacations. How better to combine the two than Booked: A Traveler's Guide to Literary Locations Around the World. Visit West Yorkshire, England, to view Emily Brontë's The Heath; explore Margaret Mitchell's Atlanta, Georgia; or even the famous school bus in Healy, Alaska, from Krakauer's Into the Wild. Vacation planning made easy, for the book lover in your life.
Recommended by Corie K-B.
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Hanif Abdurraqib
[isbn]
A few days after I finished reading this book, I had a dream in which the author and I were discussing race relations while enjoying a concert here in Portland. Needless to say, this is a book that sticks with you.
Recommended by Deana R.
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Katherine Dunn
[isbn]
Written originally as a writing lecture and published posthumously, On Cussing (by the beloved author of Geek Love) may be short but it’s far from sweet. Packed with history and advice on how to wield your foulest language like a true swordsman, On Cussing is a spicy, seductive read.
Recommended by Renee P.
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Peter J. Woodford
[isbn]
What, if anything, do your values signify in the context of evolutionary history? How might moral truths emerge from (and be justified through) the feedbacking chaos of evolution? Peter J. Woodford explores these problems of value-grounding via the historical and philosophical works of Friedrich Nietzsche, Georg Simmel, and Heinrich Rickert, i.e. those who "gazed into the abyss," as Nietzsche phrased it. With this book, your sacred cows are at... (read more)
Recommended by Jonathan V. B.
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James Mustich
[isbn]
As a lifelong passionate reader, this epic compilation enthralled me. It's not only a brilliant guide to what to read next, but a satisfying read all on its own, with illustrations and fascinating sidebars of information.
Recommended by Kathi K.
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Blythe Roberson
[isbn]
Lately, it's been increasingly necessary to remind myself that I don't actually hate men. I hate the system that awards white, cis/hetero men a disproportionate amount of power, enables them to do whatever they want, and shields them from any and every consequence. So this delightful book was like a balm to my perpetually chapped soul. Blythe Roberson channels her well-honed wit (seriously, Google her), her relatable experiences, and her... (read more)
Recommended by Lauren P.
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Chris Hedges
[isbn]
Chris Hedges is one of our most incisive, trenchant thinkers and writers. In his now-classic first book, War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, the former war correspondent (and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist) offers an unflinching portrait of armed conflict’s seductive — and ultimately destructive — allure to soldier and society alike. Blending history, reportage, philosophy, personal accounts, and literary allusions, Hedges makes a... (read more)
Recommended by Jeremy G.
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Georges Bataille
[isbn]
Everything about and behind The Sacred Conspiracy is just so cool that I can barely handle it. Georges Bataille, who obsessed over (and indulged in) all manner of societal taboos and was ;the neurotic philosophical contemporary of French bigwigs like Camus and Sarte, was also known for being a staunch Marxist. He thought that fascism in its many manifestations was a cultural hydra that had to be defeated, but was sure it would continue... (read more)
Recommended by Cosima C.
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Zack Davisson
[isbn]
Zack Davisson does a wonderful job unearthing the history of Japan's "demon cats" in his beautifully illustrated volume from Chin Music Press. Cataloging each iteration of demon cat — its origins, its stories, its predecessors, and its successors — Davisson fleshes out these creepy cats. Whether you're a history buff, a Japanese scholar, an art critic, or just a lover of cats, this unique volume will totally engage you.
Recommended by Dianah H.
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Francine Prose
[isbn]
In this celebratory collection that will delight casual readers, bibliophiles, and everyone in between, Francine Prose shares 33 reasons to love literature through essays on such works as Great Expectations, Jennifer Egan’s Manhattan Beach, and the short fiction of the other Elizabeth Taylor.
Recommended by Renee P.
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Michiko Kakutani
[isbn]
It can be challenging to listen to the events of the day, wondering if there is truth in what is being shared by news outlets amidst the political chaos. In The Death of Truth, Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Michiko Kakutani takes us through the decline of truth, which started years ago with foreshadowing by many writers including George Orwell, and offers thoughts on the path forward.
Recommended by Kim S.
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Matthew Zapruder
[isbn]
Matthew Zapruder is a fantastic poet, and an equally fantastic advocate for why poetry continues to be essential. Why Poetry? is a powerful, beautifully written guide to connecting poetry to all readers and making it an accessible and necessary part of our everyday lives.
Recommended by Jill O.
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Mark Greif
[isbn]
Twenty-first century America needs more critics like this guy. His defense of Thoreau is a modern classic. Fredric Jameson calls his work, "phenomenology of the present."
Recommended by Jason C.
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Alice Bolin
[isbn]
We all know the Dead Girl. She's the reason for the story, but rarely the focus. Instead she's a prop, a symbol, a fetish, a harbinger, or a means to an end. Bolin deftly explores this morbid phenomenon in the first section of her vital new essay collection. From there, she goes on to (among other things) challenge Joan Didion's iconic but problematic portraits of Southern California, reveals the subtle brilliance of seemingly banal pop hits,... (read more)
Recommended by Lauren P.
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Okorafor, Nnedi
[isbn]
This remarkable story is the very reason I read. Okorafor gives us so much heartbreak and joy mixed together, and shows us the very broken world we live in now through depicting the broken world of the future. And then writes it all into a new story. My mind and heart are full from the reading of this book.
Recommended by Doug C.
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Mira Grant
[isbn]
We all know there are lots of creepy-crawlies living deep in the ocean, but in the first book of Mira Grant's latest series, what lurks below is much worse than anglerfish and spider crabs. This book had me hooked at "flesh-eating mermaids," but it delivered more than just novelty. Into the Drowning Deep will suck you in, creep you out, and totally change the way you look at Ariel.
Recommended by Emily F.
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Roland Barthes, Richard Howard
[isbn]
Take a look at the table of contents and off you go; you'll see your own heart broken up and sewn together in Barthes's musings. You'll wince and you'll rejoice, because love is like that.
Recommended by Gin E.
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Hilary Mantel
[isbn]
Hilary Mantel's Giving Up the Ghost is one of the most unusual memoirs I've ever read. In addition to being an extraordinary writer (she is the first woman to have been awarded the Booker Prize twice), she has had an extraordinary life, strewn with loss, pain, and the supernatural. Mantel moved to Botswana and Saudi Arabia with her husband, whom she divorced, then later remarried. She suffered much of her life with an extremely painful... (read more)
Recommended by Jill O.
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Bruce Handy
[isbn]
While revisiting kids’ books can be a lot of fun, reading Bruce Handy’s colorful commentary on beloved children’s classics is even more delightful. His insights are paired with fascinating details about the authors, and while he isn’t afraid to criticize some favorites (The Giving Tree, for one), his passion and enthusiasm are infectious.
Recommended by Renee P.
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Carina Chocano
[isbn]
Part memoir, part cultural critique, You Play the Girl details the countless ways movies, TV shows, and books teach us what femininity should look like. Examining everything from The Philadelphia Story to Flashdance to Frozen, Chocano covers a lot of ground in an intimate, engaging way. A must-read.
Recommended by Renee P.
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Naomi Novik
[isbn]
I found myself reading Uprooted while walking down the sidewalk, on every lunch break, and on the bus. The magic in this story makes it feel as though you could cast the spells yourself!
Recommended by Junix S.
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Michael Robbins
[isbn]
Poetry and pop music are what poet Michael Robbins weaves together, mashes up, and spins into a great web of a book. Robbins has the ability to find common ground between two seemingly disparate topics, and makes grouping them together seem completely obvious.
Recommended by Mary Jo S.
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Olivia Laing
[isbn]
Using the lives of four artists — Edward Hopper, Andy Warhol, Henry Darger, and David Wojnarowicz — in addition to aspects of her own life as a jumping off point, Olivia Laing has written a moving and empathetic study of (and meditation on) urban loneliness. The Lonely City is observant, wise, insightful, and beautifully written.
Recommended by Sandy M.
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Edith Hamilton
[isbn]
I treasured and read my first copy of Edith Hamilton's Mythology so much that the cover fell off. Mythology is inherently fascinating but the way Edith Hamilton writes gives the stories new majesty. Her style is enchanting, but there are also notes and lots of historical context to keep the myths relevant, and when reading it is obvious she put in lots of research hours comparing different versions of the myths. As a side note, this is... (read more)
Recommended by Junix S.
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Mary Karr
[isbn]
The author of several bestselling memoirs gives us a look under the hood. What makes a successful memoir? How does one handle the wily beast of memory? Karr elegantly dissects several well-known memoirs and gives clear examples of why they work so well. She also discusses her own work and writing process.
Recommended by Mary Jo S.
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Peter Watson
[isbn]
Peter Watson’s monumental intellectual history covers atheism’s influence in dance, poetry, philosophy, theater, psychology, literature, and so on. Watson strikes me as a modern-day Diderot, and this work as his Encyclopedia (of atheism). Watson develops a subtle but ambient thesis on the atheistic life, that, as Watson quotes Joyce, “lives down to fact” — lives without a transcendental “singular,” but rather with an artist’s sensitivity to the... (read more)
Recommended by Jonathan V. B.
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Menand, Louis
[isbn]
I devoured every essay in this collection of the finest examples of the pragmatist tradition. All the essential and trailblazing pragmatist thinkers are included: Peirce, James, Dewey, Rorty, Putnam, West, and Posner, among others. This book is basically a crash-course in one of America's most important philosophical projects. This is pragmatism 101.
Recommended by Jonathan V. B.
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Maggie Nelson
[isbn]
I hadn't read any of Maggie Nelson's other work before this, so I was unfamiliar with the stream of consciousness style of writing. Once I got into the book, however, I found the notes in the margin helpful guides, and I quickly passed this book along once I was finished with it. This book speaks to so many core human experiences, like childbirth, parenthood, queerness, and just being alive, that I was deeply and unexpectedly moved.
Recommended by Junix S.
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Simon Winchester
[isbn]
Simon Winchester makes everything within his intense gaze come amazingly alive. Here, he turns his attention to Charles Dodgson (better known as Lewis Carroll of Alice in Wonderland fame). Winchester looks at the critical period in Dodgson's life in which he becomes entranced with photography and ultimately turns his camera to a young girl. This young girl, Alice Lidell, would ultimately "become" the Alice in Wonderland. Speculation of... (read more)
Recommended by Dianah H.
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Soren Kierkegaard
[isbn]
The father of Christian existentialism, critic of organized religion and Christendom, and champion of the passionate "single individual," Kierkegaard is a force to be faced — and this book, Provocations, is a perfect sampler. If you want to grapple and wrestle with existentialist thought, especially of the religious variety, you should read this well-curated collection.
Recommended by Jonathan V. B.
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William James
[isbn]
Are you curious about the psychology of conversions? Looking for a defense of spiritual or metaphysical pluralism? Do you consider yourself more or less an empiricist? Read this book. William James, philosopher and psychologist, writes in rigorous and vigorous prose while masterfully mixing psychology, history, religious anthropology, and more into one of the few truly open-hearted and welcoming works of modern philosophy.
Recommended by Jonathan V. B.
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Neil Gaiman
[isbn]
Master storyteller Neil Gaiman brings to life the Norse gods as only he can, from their origins to their twilight. Find out why the handle on Thor’s hammer was forged too short, and how poetry is said to have come into the world. Comic book fans and fantasy readers alike are sure to treasure these classic myths.
Recommended by Aubrey W.
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Eliot Weinberger
[isbn]
The latest essay collection from wunder mensch Eliot Weinberger, The Ghosts of Birds collects nearly three dozen disparate pieces (including further entries in his serial essay, "An Elemental Thing") into another literary achievement. Weinberger's erudition is breathtaking to behold, and he so effortlessly makes each of his subjects seem like the most interesting thing in the world. Read, reflect, and repeat.
Recommended by Jeremy G.
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Mary Ruefle
[isbn]
After I finished reading Madness, Rack, and Honey, I looked up and said, “I have found the book that I will take to the You Can Only Have One Book on This Island, island.” Madness, Rack and Honey is intelligent, witty, beautiful, and the closest thing I’ve found to a bible; it takes the hidden mystery of poetry and solves it by pulling back the curtain and exposing that what’s behind is nothing more than a playground with at... (read more)
Recommended by D Lozano
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Patrick Weekes
[isbn]
If you like Terry Pratchett, you are going to adore Patrick Weekes. The Palace Job is an epic heist novel that starts off when a woman by the name of Isafesira de Lochenville, nicknamed Loch, is falsely accused of a crime and sentenced to a lifetime in prison. This, along with her precious family heirloom being stolen by her accuser, motivates her to escape the prison and take back what's hers to clear her name. But no one can go on such... (read more)
Recommended by Nicole S.
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Antoine Laurain, Gallic Books
[isbn]
This is a quirky little novel about French President François Mitterrand's hat, and the life it leads when separated from the man himself. He accidentally leaves it in a restaurant, and for the lucky souls who will next wear it, it is a good-luck charm of immense proportions. Thoroughly engaging, this unlikely story is a quick, fun read. But don't misconstrue "fun" for "insubstantial"; there are clever layers of allegory and meaning to discover... (read more)
Recommended by Dianah H.
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Coralie Bickford Smith
[isbn]
This magical story about a lonely fox and his friend, Star, will capture your heart and dazzle your eyes. Lessons of companionship, hope, and courage augment Fox's journey through a dense forest and into the light.
Recommended by Heather A.
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DeWitt, Patrick
[isbn]
Lucy leaves his childhood home to take a position as "Undermajordomo" at Castle Von Aux; his life will never be the same. A demented Baron, a secret letter, a couple of professional pickpockets, a spawning salmon, a very large hole, and true love, all play integral parts in this quasi modern fairy tale. Portland author Patrick DeWitt carries forward his sparkling wit from The Sisters Brothers, making Undermajordomo Minor a... (read more)
Recommended by Dianah H.
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Gregory Maguire
[isbn]
Maguire has sent new visitors down the rabbit hole, putting a contemplative twist on the madcap world of Wonderland. From iron corsets to slave trade, Victorian mores abound, making this a book to read quietly, by a stream, with plenty of tea and rumination.
Recommended by The Dot
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David Searcy
[isbn]
A collection of 21 essays from novelist David Searcy, Shame and Wonder covers an impressively wide range of subjects, but its salient feature is an entrancing command of language. Searcy's prose, handsome and undulating, could make even the most seemingly mundane topic be of great interest. In Shame and Wonder, he touches on disparate themes, yet each essay is marked not so much by what he's writing about, but how he's writing... (read more)
Recommended by Jeremy G.
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Sjon, Victoria Cribb
[isbn]
Much like The Blue Fox, Sjón's The Whispering Muse is possessed of qualities that linger long after the novel has concluded. Combining elements of Greek mythology with modern storytelling (as well as incorporating his grandfather's fascination with Icelandic and Nordic fish consumption), The Whispering Muse is a lyrical, imaginative work. Set mostly upon a merchant ship in the spring of 1949, the crew is regaled nightly... (read more)
Recommended by Jeremy G.
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Sharma Shields
[isbn]
Did Eli's mother actually leave home with a sasquatch-like creature, or just a very hairy man? To the dismay of those around him, Eli makes it his life's mission to find out. Whether the strange characters and situations we encounter are allegorical or "real," there's no doubt this novel is immensely enjoyable.
Recommended by Jen C.
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Marina Keegan, Anne Fadiman
[isbn]
In 2012, Marina Keegan wrote a commencement essay for her college newspaper called "The Opposite of Loneliness." A few days after graduating magna cum laude from Yale, she died in a car accident. This deeply moving posthumous collection contains that hopeful essay along with a mix of other writings from a talent whose work continues to inspire.
Recommended by Renee P.
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Wilson, Edward O.
[isbn]
Through a brilliant melding of science and philosophy, "The father of sociobiology" boldly tackles humanity's biggest questions — namely, what is our role on earth, and how can we continue to evolve as a species? Wilson's writing style is accessible as always, and his passion and empathy continue to push us toward greater levels of enlightenment.
Recommended by Renee P.
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Gregory Maguire
[isbn]
Maguire has sent new visitors down the rabbit hole, putting a contemplative twist on the madcap world of Wonderland. From iron corsets to slave trade, Victorian mores abound, making this a book to read quietly, by a stream, with plenty of tea and rumination.
Recommended by The Dot
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Lorrie Moore and Heidi Pitlor
[isbn]
If anyone can do justice to 100 years of "the best" American short fiction, it's short story master Lorrie Moore. Thoughtfully edited and handsomely bound, this powerful anthology stitches together a century of vibrant literature through a patchwork of truly remarkable stories, including many lesser-known works that shouldn't be missed.
Recommended by Renee P.
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