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Published: Vintage - September 12th, 2013
An exploration of self discovery in a very honest, human light. This is one of my favorite works of Fiction and I've probably read it three times now. This is the type of book that allows you to see yourself and the people in your own life with more clarity and mercy through the characters and all of their own beautiful messiness.
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Published: First Second - June 11th, 2019
It’s the Autumn Equinox and every year Mikey’s town drops glowing lanterns into the river and every year Mikey and his friends follow the lanterns on bicycle for as far as they dare. This year they’ve made a pact to find where the lanterns go. Rule 1: No one turns for home. Rule 2: No one looks back. But as Mikey and his friend follow the lanterns this year, the road will lead them to places they had no intention of going, odd-ball characters, and bonds of friendship they thought were impossible. Readers will be awed by the breath-taking illustrations where colors tell the story as much as the dialogue. A perfect read for lovers of Studio Ghibli. Ages 10-14
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Published: First Second - April 24th, 2018
Vera doesn’t think she can bear another summer being the only girl her age not going to summer camp, but Russian Camp may not be everything she imagined. Based on Vera Brosgol’s own experience, Be Prepare follows 9 year old Vera as she navigates the social and elemental aspects of camp. This book is an excellent coming of age story and perfect for lovers of Raina Telgemeier’s works. Ages 9-14
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Published: Random House Graphic - September 1st, 2020
When 11 year old Effie arrives on Selimene and Carlota’s doorstep it’s the middle of the night. Selimene and Carlota have been running a successful out-of-home business (I won’t say what service they provide *wink wink*) for decades and an energetic child coming to stay is the last thing they expected. But Effie is here now and each person must adjust and learn to get along. Witches of Brooklyn is a humorous tale with spicy characters and themes of being yourself. Readers will laugh regularly and wish they could be friends with Effie, Selimene and Carlota. Ages 9-12
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Published: Yearling - March 13th, 2007
The four Penderwick sisters are thrilled to be spending their summer on the beautiful Arundel estate. And making a new friend, Jeffrey, means this summer is shaping up to be even more perfect. But the Penderwicks (ages 12, 11, 10 and 4) and Jeffrey find that staying out of trouble and away from Jeffrey’s high-society mother is much harder than they would have thought. The story follows the perspectives of each sister through her own ups and downs of the summer. This book is a joyful, feel-good read. Ages 10-14, and adults ;)
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Published: Del Rey - June 30th, 2020
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “It’s Lovecraft meets the Brontës in Latin America, and after a slow-burn start Mexican Gothic gets seriously weird.”—The Guardian
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Published: Arsenal Pulp Press - November 3rd, 2020
Twin sisters and their mother come together in Lagos to confront themselves and each other and heal the wounds of the past. This beautiful novel woven with Nigerian folklore and lush descriptions of food examines what it means to be connected to life and other humans.
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Published: William Morrow - October 20th, 2020
Alternating between the gothic horror of a girl's school in 1902 and the making of a movie of a book in our current time, this novel unfolds like matryoshka dolls, revealing a narrative within a narrative within a narrative, all of it haunted with the terrifying buzz of yellow jackets and doomed queer romance. Spellbinding!
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Published: Solaris - October 20th, 2020
Can a philosophical exploration of invasion and rebellion and what it means to be an artist also be a page turner? Absolutely yes! This book features a lovable automaton dragon and artist Gyen Jebi, who is trying to find their way in a world that has been occupied by invading forces.
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Published: Graywolf Press - November 5th, 2019
Carmen Maria Machado weaves together a variety of storytelling styles to create a memoir of her time in an abusive relationship with a woman. A difficult, engaging, and surprisingly funny book. Pairs well with dashed dreams, quarantine, and hot tea.
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Published: Knopf Books for Young Readers - September 11th, 2007
This is the type of book I recommend to people who want to read a book that deals with death, considering Death is the sole narrator of the story. Centered around an orphan German girl trying to hold onto the little sparks of light the world has through imagination and reading while her nation falls into fascism.
Although the book doesn't have magc in it, this book is a dark fantasy about what it means to be alive and joyful in the moment, even if you're hiding out from Nazis. Descriptions of human emotions described as colors, as seen by Death and his fascination with a mortal species. Zusak weaves the story together with a great sense of magical realism. This is a great book to gift to anyone, regardless of age.
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Published: Everyman's Library - December 6th, 2011
This trilogy has everything a young adult needs in their lives; magic, a dash of theology, philosophy, and even some quantum level physics.
Welcome to Pullman's HIS DARK MATERIALS, a trilogy where two young adults must face off against the perils of both their worlds, as well as the reality outside of them. This is a book meant for those who are growing up, but even adults can find solace in these stories as well.
Without giving too much away, readers will fall quickly in love with Lyra's wit and fast nature. Pullman does an excellent job creating a large and diverse cast of characters (from an armored bear king who must regain his throne, a Texan aeronaut with hot air balloon and a quick shot, a maternal figure who is wealthy but is deeply flawed, and many many others).
Whether you're just getting into these books because of the fantastic HBO adaptation or just out of curiousity, you will not be disappointed by the joyride of HIS DARK MATERIALS.
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Published: St. Martin's Press - October 13th, 2020
I initially picked up the book just based off the title alone; who wouldn't want to read a story about a woman named Zoey punching The Future in the dick?
This novel carries that similiar raw and often-times crass energy that Wong's previous work JOHN DIES AT THE END has, however, don't just assume that "ZOEY" isn't a book without some decent themes. This book is the second in the series, the first being Futuristic Violence & Fancy Suits.
Our protagonist is charged with running a super-villain city, and has to deal with a lot of dangers at every turn. Wong definitely has fun in this chaotic future society, and it shows not just through the descriptions of these characters, but you get the feeling (as one does vistiing any metropolis in the real world) that Tabula Ra$a is as much a living, breathing organism as any of the sci-fi heroes and villains that run on its surface.
Enjoy this violent, but fun story! I promise you won't get bored.
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Published: Mariner Books - October 18th, 2011
I started reading this book in 2014 right before I took a work trip to Greece.
There was a beach that I finished the book on; the sand warm and crisp beneath me and the ocean's water was cold to the touch but pleasant once acclimating to.
A SCANNER DARKLY is like a hot beach mixed with cold water; you'd think that wouldn't be a fun or good comparison, but bear with me. The plot, characters, and themes will all come at you fast but once you're in, you're in.
A story told by a man who is surrounded by drugs and an overwhelming presence of the state. It's a book that'll make you second guess a lot of people or decisions you've made in your life.
A classic through and through, Philip K. Dick will take you on a psychoactive ride. Just remember to wear your seatbelt.
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Published: Scribner - May 3rd, 2016
Stephen King is well known for his horror prowess, but another fun fact is that he can also write fantasy just as well.
THE GUNSLINGER is the first book in a series titled THE DARK TOWER; an epic that encompasses all of King's fiction.
The story starts off as so:
"The man in black fled across the desert while the gunslinger followed close behind."
A story that starts off as innocent as a man chasing a wizard leads to some of the best, dense speculative fiction I've read in years. You'll meet characters from various worlds and points of time, and while it is a lot, never feels like too much.
If you've read any of King's other works, you'll know that he isn't afraid to show life in its light and darkness. This first book is a great introduction to King's style of writing, and I suggest it to anyone who is wanting to read Stephen King.
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Published: Picador - April 18th, 2006
This was a fun read back when I first read the book in middle school; some of the adult topics went over my head but I still argue that this book is worth it no matter the age.
The novel is three short stories all tied together across time and genre.
The first pertains to a "ghost in the machine" dynamic during the early Industrial Revolution; the second a murder thriller, and the third a sci-fi escapade.
The three characters are essentially a man, a woman, and a child. In each story, they all serve and have different purposes; however the connections are strong and palpable throughout the text.
I recommend this book for those who enjoy differing genres in one over-arching story, as well as anyone who enjoys Walt Whitman (trust me, he plays an intregal role for the novel).
Once started, it'll be hard to put down!
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Published: Simon & Schuster - October 6th, 2020
In an unforgettable novel that traces a centuries-old curse to its source, beloved author Alice Hoffman unveils the story of Maria Owens, accused of witchcraft in Salem, and matriarch of a line of the amazing Owens women and men featured in Practical Magic and The Rules of Magic.
Where does the story of the Owens bloodline begin?
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Published: Tor Books - May 29th, 2018
A trade paperback repackage of New York Times bestseller V.E. Schwab's Vicious, a masterful tale of ambition, jealousy, and superpowers which will include:
*A new cover by Wil Staehle, cover artist of the iconic Shades of Magic trilogy covers *Schwab's Tor.com short story set within the Vicious universe, "Warm Up"
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Published: Katherine Tegen Books - September 15th, 2020
An instant New York Times bestseller! “Grown exposes the underbelly of a tough conversation, providing a searing examination of misogynoir, rape culture, and the vulnerability of young black girls.
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Published: Berkley - May 19th, 2020
THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!
"Original, sparkling bright, and layered with feeling..."—Sally Thorne, author of The Hating Game
A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters.
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Published: Wednesday Books - September 1st, 2020
A REESE WITHERSPOON x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB YA PICK
Filled with all of the action, emotion, and lyrical writing that brought readers to Sky in the Deep, New York Times bestselling author Adrienne Young returns with Fable, the first book in this new captivating duology.
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Published: Vintage - May 30th, 2017
A New York Times Bestseller This essay collection from the “bitches gotta eat” blogger, writer on Hulu’s Shrill, and “one of our country’s most fierce and foulmouthed authors” (Amber Tamblyn, Vulture) is sure to make you alternately cackle with glee and cry real tears.
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Published: Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books - April 2nd, 2019
“An intense snapshot of the chain reaction caused by pulling a trigger.” —Booklist (starred review) “Astonishing.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “A tour de force.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
A Newbery Honor Book A Coretta Scott King Honor Book A Printz Honor Book A
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Published: Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster - July 7th, 2020
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER * #1 INDIE NEXT PICK
Named a Best Book of the Year: The Washington Post * NPR * The Atlantic * New York Public Library * Vanity Fair * PBS * Time * Economist * Entertainment Weekly * Financial Times * Shelf Awareness * Guardian * Sunday Times * BB
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Published: Katherine Tegen Books - February 4th, 2020
An Amazon Best Book of the Month! A captivating and powerful exploration of the opioid crisis—the deadliest drug epidemic in American history—through the eyes of a college-bound softball star. Edgar Award-winning author Mindy McGinnis delivers a visceral and necessary novel about addiction, family, friendship, and hope.
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Published: Back Bay Books - April 14th, 2020
"A bold and subversive retelling of the goddess's story," this #1 New York Times bestseller is "both epic and intimate in its scope, recasting the most infamous female figure from the Odyssey as a hero in her own right" (Alexandra Alter, The New York Times).
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Published: Ballantine Books - February 4th, 2020
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A gripping novel about the whirlwind rise of an iconic 1970s rock group and their beautiful lead singer, revealing the mystery behind their infamous breakup.
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Published: Feiwel & Friends - January 8th, 2019
The target audience for this lovely little number is ages eight to twelve, but I thoroughly enjoyed it all the same. Drawn from the Irish tradition of hanging one's wishes on a particular tree on a particular day once every year, Wishtree is narrated by Red, a several-hundred year-old (you guessed it) Wishtree with a knack for storytelling. According to Red, trees are not only very much alive, but are able to communicate verbally with non-tree beings. While it's expressly forbidden for trees to talk to people, Red has no problem conversing with the delightful cast of creatures living in her nooks, crannies, and branches. But when a boy carves into Red's trunk a hateful message directed at the Muslim family that just moved to her suburban American neighborhood, Red becomes fed up with all of the intolerance she's witnessed over the years and begins struggle with her role as observer, silently standing by.
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Published: One World - October 30th, 2018
Through a series of essays originally published in The Atlantic (among them "A Case for Reparations" and "The Black Family in the Age of Incarceration"), Coates established himself as one of the most important commentators on race in the United States. We Were Eight years in Power provides us those eight essays - one for each year of the Obama administration - along with an additional eight previously unpublished personal essays in which Coates reflects on his experiences from each of those years. Culminating in an innovative and profoundly sobering piece written about the 2016 election, We Were Eight Years in Power is not one to miss.
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Published: Graywolf Press - September 1st, 2015
For some, reading this book would be tantamount to having teeth pulled or listening to someone recount their most recent dream at length and in great detail. That being said, I love everything about it.
This was easily my number one pick of books I read in the year 2014. The Wake is an utterly unique and imaginative debut novel wherein Kingsnorth crafted a language with his own vocabulary and set of rules, much in the tradition of books like Finnegan’s Wake, Trainspotting, and A Clockwork Orange. Balking at the thought of writing a historical novel using contemporary language, Kingsnorth opted to create what he calls a “shadow tongue” that uses a combination of a phonetic dialect, Middle and Old English, and selective exclusion of words that didn’t enter the English language until after the time-period in which the story took place. The Wake is set in 1066 immediately following the Norman invasion and conquest of England. The story is narrated by and follows an English farmer from the rural North of the country who takes to the forests and swamps of his countryside in hopes of joining the fight in the underground resistance against the Normans. The story itself is an excellent one, but Kingsnorth’s adaptation, modification and mastery of the language in telling this story is what makes this book incredible. At first glance, this “ghost language” can admittedly be daunting to new readers, but with the aid of the brief “Note on Language” and the partial glossary found at the back of the book, the rules and rhythms of the text are remarkably easy to pick up, and it’s profoundly rewarding to find oneself gliding through the sentences without pause – even to the point of hearing the cadence and brogue of the narrator, Buccmaster of Holland. While I fully understand that this kind of book isn’t for everyone, if this sounds like something that remotely appeals to you as a reader, I would strongly encourage you to give it a try; I can’t overstate what a joy this was to read.
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Published: Graywolf Press - August 1st, 2017
Fans of The Wake will understand the excitement with which I announce that Paul Kingsnorth is back with the second installment of the Buckmaster Trilogy, and he didn't disappoint. Set a thousand years after the events in The Wake, The Beast comes from the mind of Edward Buckmaster (a modern-day 'buccmaster of holland') who has walked away from society, technology and modernity to seek peace and wisdom in the isolation of an empty moor in the west of England. Starting out, Buckmaster harbors romantic notions of himself as some kind of noble hermit-martyr (as opposed to, say, a deadbeat husband and father who couldn't deal) but there's nothing quite like a good and brutal mauling from an unseen (dare I say it?) beast to pull a dreamer out of the clouds. Buckmaster awakens, mangled and confused, his world suddenly one of immediacy and survival. The rest of the world, beyond the moor, fades into mist as Buckmaster embarks on a slow descent into madness or, perhaps, enlightenment. With brilliant demonstration of craft and a narrative intensity that unapologetically demands your attention, Kingsnorth continues to push the boundaries of conventional fiction with resounding success.
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Published: Graywolf Press - October 3rd, 2017
Carmen Maria Machado’s debut is everything I want from a modern collection of short stories; it’s immersive, explosive, surprising, lovely and terrifying. Machado grabs you by the heartstrings from the first and refuses to relax her grip until the very last, and even then her stories stick with you, come to you at night and rehash their darkness and delight. The stories in Her Body and Other Parties are utterly and brazenly unique, never asking that you suspend disbelief, instead suffusing you with their urgent and overwhelming reality. While each story exists independently from the others, narratives involving the lives and bodies of women operate as the thematic thread pulling them all together.
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Published: Penguin Books - March 28th, 2017
I have to give a shout-out to Bloomington's own Adrian Matejka and his fantastic fourth book of poetry, Map to the Stars. Oft-nominated, award-winning Matejka knocked a home-run into outer space with his most recent collection, in which he constructs the narrative of a young black man growing up in poverty and uncertainty in Reagan-Era Indianapolis. These poems interweave depictions of the harsh realities of 1980's midwestern poverty, racism and classism with historical events, and the escapism afforded by (1980's) pop culture and looking to the stars. Within even single stanzas Matejka seamlessly combines the hard city street imagery of concrete and steel with evocations of the other-wordly, celestial and ethereal. This is the kind of poetry we need in this world - the kind that's conscious, bold, and unwilling to look the other way.
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Published: Graywolf Press - September 3rd, 2019
She Would Be King is a rich and enchanting tale, a strikingly original and perfectly executed blend of historical fiction and magical realism. Through an utterly unique narrative perspective, Wayétu Moore presents us with a far-reaching and multifacted story revolving around the Transatlantic slave trade and the formation of Liberia. Yet another excellent, boundary-pushing, bar-raising debut from Graywolf Press.
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Published: Random House Trade Paperbacks - February 6th, 2018
Winner of the 2017 Man Booker Prize(only the second time an American has received the award), the debut novel from acclaimed short-fiction writer George Saunders is a unique, inventive work of fiction unlike any fiction you've ever encountered. Deriving the premise from the Tibetan belief regarding the state of one's existence following death and awaiting rebirth, Lincoln in the Bardo is written in a multitude of disparate voices - mostly comprised of spirits lingering in a D.C. graveyard, but also passages from newspaper articles, personal accounts, memoirs, and letters - pieced together to create a startingly original yet eminently readable narrative. The story begins several years into the American Civil War with ten-year-old Willie Lincoln, the eldest son of President Abraham Lincoln, dying of a fever. Unable to leave Washington, Lincoln temporarily entombs his dead son in a mausoleum in a nearby cemetary, a place he begins to visit late at night. Unwilling to pass over to whatever awaits beyond, the spirit of Willie Lincoln opts to stay in the cemetary, where he meets a slew of other obstinate spirits from various periods of time and walks of life who also (for one reason or another) prefer to remain in limbo - in the Bardo - instead of facing whatever awaits them in the great beyond.
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Published: Seven Stories Press - September 26th, 2017
As far as collected works go, this new volume of (my favorite Hoosier) Kurt Vonnegut's short stories reaches borderline perfection. Edited by longtime friends of and experts on Vonnegut, Jerome Klinkowitz and Dan Wakefield, and with a thoughtful forward by Dave Eggers, this collection is clearly a labor of love. The 97 stories - including five previously unpublished works unearthed not long before the book went to the presses - are organized thematically ("War," "Women," "Science," "Romance," "Work Ethic vs. Fame and Fortune," "Behavior," "The Band Director" and "Futuristic"), each section given a brief introduction by one of the two editors, providing some background and context on Vonnegut's relationship to the theme. Even the book as an object (masterfully constructed by Seven Stories Press) is a wonder to behold.
A collection of short stories by Alexander Weinstein exploring humanity in the technological age. These stories occupy various iterations of our world in the near future; dystopian worlds eerily familiar to present day wherein new technologies have fundamentally impacted the way people live and relate. In one people never leave their homes, and all social interaction occurs in a virtual world populated by avatars and accessed via full-body suits and electrical wires. In another, the internet, computers, and the human mind have synched to the point that our fields of vision are set up like a desktop and with click and scroll with our eyes. We don't know what direction the technological revolution is going to take us, but these stories act as a sobering reminder that just because we can do something doesn't mean we should.
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Published: One World - July 14th, 2015
There isn't anything I can say about this that hasn't already been said more eloquently by someone else. Profoundly thoughtful, this may be the most important book to come out in the last two years. Presented as a letter written from Coates to his sixteen year-old son, Between the World and Me is a meditation on race in America.Invoking the writing of James Baldwin, Coates is candid and clear, and provides a level of perspective and understanding that we need to hear.
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Published: Graywolf Press - June 7th, 2016
Short and sweet, this is a meditation on the process of grief and where it can take us. This little book is weird as hell. In a combination of prose, poetry, narrative, and drama, we're shown a man and his two sons shortly after the death of his wife and their mother. Grief comes to them as a strange and powerful crow to aid them in their process of mourning, albeit in occasionally unconventional ways. Moving, resonant, disturbing, and unique, Grief is the Thing with Feathers is a quick read that will stay with you long after you close the cover.
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Published: Penguin Books - August 16th, 2016
I'm a tiny bit smitten with Ottessa Moshfegh. Her writing is dark and unforgiving, a gritty and unwashed place of moral ambiguity interspersed with glimpses of humanity and an occasional image or turn of phrase so stunning or beautifully crafted as to give us pause. Her first novel, McGlue was a skinny little thing, but fantastic and packing a punch. Eileen is longer, and more of a slow-burn; the title character is a twenty-something wallflower who works at a youth correctional facility in Massachusetts. Quiet, sort-of pretty and unassuming, Eileen is a pretty unremarkable individual. Under the surface, however, she's strange and sinister as hell. There's some action, sure, a bit of violence, but Moshfegh makes you work for it. The entire novel is one of anticipation, but in waiting for the gun to fire, the blade to drop, we're drawn under the spell of a narrator we're cheering for without knowing why, a character we want to like but are repulsed by, a fate we believe in but know we shouldn't. Keep an eye out for Ottessa Moshfegh's forthcoming collection of short stories.
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Published: Picador - March 1st, 2016
This year’s winner of the Man-Booker prize, and the first American author to receive the award, Paul Beatty has presents us with some of the finest satire ever written. In this hilarious, heartbreaking, gut-wrenching, thought-provoking, and incredibly timeless novel, we're told the story of a man who, through a series of strange events and dire circumstances, reinstitutes slavery and segregation in his hometown of Dickens, a suburb of Los Angeles. While I know that doesn't sound even remotely funny, I found myself laughing out loud with tears in my eyes. The humor of Beatty's work lies in his approach to reality and the way he uses the ridiculous aspects of our lives and our society to lambast the status quo, our history, and the things we accept as normative or true.
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Published: Vintage - August 23rd, 2016
In her last book, Just Kids, Patti Smith chronicled her beginnings in New York City as a 20-year-old with no money and no contacts trying to figure out her place in the counter-culture of the sixties. M Train picks up on the other end of her long career, sitting in a coffee shop and musing on a life of creativity and love. The title is ironic, as the progression of M Train isn't remotely straightfoward or consistent, but is rather meanders through personal history, insight and revelation. That being said, it is a lovely meditation on art, the creative process, love, relationships, and the passage of time.
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Published: G.P. Putnam's Sons - February 25th, 2014
This one took me by surprise, had me laughing out loud one minute and suppressing a sob the next, all the while hanging on every word. Fowler here successfully takes some intellectual risks, operating on the outskirts of the comfortable confines of the stylistic and structural norms she established in her previous work; the result is an emotionally complex, pseudo-sibling story within which Fowler dissects and inspects the fragility of the human condition, the nature of familial love, and the ethical ambiguity of scientific research that requires living, breathing subjects. This is one of those books has the capability to renew and reinforce one’s love of reading.
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Published: Vintage - May 5th, 2015
“You can hide memories, but you can’t erase the history that produced them.” This revelation is the impetus for one young Japanese man’s attempt to confront his painful past in the hope of attaining some measure of enlightenment and redemption. Newcomers to Murakami and long-time fans alike won’t be disappointed with the excellent addition to the celebrated writer’s remarkable oeuvre.
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Published: Picador - October 13th, 2015
Master of the morally ambiguous, our prolific author Denis Johnson is back to deliver us another sock in the gut. Set adrift in the chaotic and labyrinthine society and politics of Western Africa, a jaded ex-CIA operative in a post-9/11 world attempts to navigate a whiplash-inducing thrill ride of cynicism, deceit, absurdity and humanity. Johnson fans think: TreeofSmoke meets NobodyMove.
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Published: Ig Publishing - February 17th, 2015
The debut novel by Kentucky writer and short story virtuoso Alex Taylor. Here Taylor presents us with some Grit Lit at its finest – a ravaged landscape, an all-but-forgotten element of rural Kentucky, and no shortage of violence and vigilantism. Try it out!
Paris, 1941. Nazis have conscripted demons from hell, Surrealist artworks have manifested as corporeal, sentient, violent combatants and adrift in it all is a lone resistance fighter staggering through the nightmarish hellscape of his crumbling city just trying to make it through the occupation with his sanity and body intact.
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Published: Graywolf Press - February 13th, 2018
A spellbinding debut novel about a boy whose typical coming-of-age narrative is abruptly derailed by the death by suicide of his father. In the wake of his father’s wake, our young narrator is must learn to navigate puberty, sexuality, and his burgeoning adulthood under the specter of tragedy and a hazy surreality while what remains of his family dissolves around him.
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Published: Picador - September 24th, 2013
Down an unlikely side street in an underlit part of San Francisco, Sloan presents us with an intriguing crossroads where collides the last gasp of the printed word, the technological overhaul of the 21st Century, a centuries-old secret society and an unlikely cast of oddball characters. Fittingly, a hapless of hopeful (and fairly resourceful) bookseller leads us through this delightful tale of mystery, wit, wonder, wisdom, and no small amount of snark.
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Published: New Directions - December 17th, 2003
Latin-American literary legend Roberto Bolaño delivers a searing, intriguing, thought-igniting treatise on church and state as told from the deathbed of a Chilean Jesuit priest. Although objectively little happens by way of action throughout this tale, the story is driven by remembrances of fast-paced dialogues held between various intellectuals, thinkers and artists of differing backgrounds and opinions and sporadically broken up by alternatively poignant and profound reflections from the dying man on his long and tumultuous life. Chris Andrews’ translation from the original Spanish does well to retain and do justice to Bolaño’s wit and poeticism and renders the text universally accessible – which is to say the reader needn’t have real prior knowledge of the Chilean cultural and historical background to still thoroughly enjoy this work. If you haven’t read Bolaño yet, fix that, and start here.
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Published: Pantheon - September 8th, 1998
Thoughtful, poignant, transportive, artful, exquisite…this book may be flawless. Duras is careful with her words; her story unfolds in paragraphs that almost seem like photographs being spilled out of a near-empty album. This is a story of a place and time told through the bittersweet glimpses of a passionate and tumultuous love affair.
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Published: Graywolf Press - October 16th, 2018
A remarkable short-fiction cycle telling the stories of characters from the fringes of the Bible – soldiers, prostitutes, thieves and more – weaving a harrowing and entrancing tale of good and evil.
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Published: Hogarth - March 6th, 2018
A gripping coming-of-age novel set against the backdrop of Ireland’s Troubles. A young man navigates his own sexuality and his single mother’s shame within the staunchly Catholic Irish society. One of the best books of 2017.
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Published: Scribner - May 16th, 2017
If you aren’t familiar with the work of Don Delillo, you ought to be. In the last forty years, he’s published seventeen novels and a collection of stories, establishing an incredible oeuvre of criticism and observation regarding modern American life and culture. His innate understanding of the human condition renders his work haunting, hilarious, and everything in between.
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Published: Graywolf Press - May 16th, 2017
A boundary-pushing thrill ride, a fantastical story that manages to go beyond itself, questioning the very nature of storytelling and the role of the reader as “impartial observer”
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Published: Penguin Books - January 8th, 2019
A sailor sobering up in the hold of a ship, suffering from a head injury and the DTs and grappling with the possibility that he may have killed a man. Equal parts poetry and brutality, quick and succinct like a knife to the gut, leaving you long after to ponder the wound. I love this book.
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Published: Picador - April 27th, 2009
From the author of Confederates in the Attic, Horwitz is at his best in this exciting exploration of early American history, chronicling the ill-fated European forays into the “new world” prior to the landing of the pilgrims at Plymouth. Witty and thorough, Horwitz retraces the steps of Vikings, conquistadors, French and Spanish explorers, and even one Genoan through the modern American landscape.
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Published: Back Bay Books - January 8th, 2019
This book turned out to be so much better, so much more than I had hoped for. Gripping, enchanting, thrilling and thought-provoking. An alternate history for our time.
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Published: Anchor - January 30th, 2018
Impossibly, Whitehead has managed to imagine an antebellum South even more dystopian than the real thing. Exceptional, phenomenal, exquisite, flawless. Whitehead has demonstrated the art and craft of fiction at its finest. This book is perfect, and I don’t say that lightly.
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Published: Random House - November 13th, 2018
A darkly comic fable in which a fox’s pack is endangered by the construction of a shopping mall, leading him to pen a letter to the “Yumans” asking them to explain their cruelty. Utterly delightful.
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Published: Random House Trade Paperbacks - January 8th, 2019
The last collection of fiction from one of America’s greatest short fiction writers of all time. His America is sad and beautiful, full of ghosts and dreams deferred.
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Published: Mariner Books - October 23rd, 2018
A debut collection of stories from an absolute powerhouse of a young writer, Adjei-Brenyah puts American racism and consumerism under a microscope, then ties them to a chair and doesn’t pull a single punch. DO NOT MISS THIS BOOK.
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Published: Picador - March 4th, 2008
One of my all-time favorite books. Bolaño here presents us with two young poets adrift in Mexico, isolated in their idealism. While his characters seek to revert Literature from an institution to a discussion, Bolaño himself simply asks that we reevaluate our understanding of how great novels are written.
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Published: Vintage - July 26th, 2016
City on Fire is a panoramic view of New York City in the 1970s. The birth of punk rock, the heroin epidemic, the subsequent AIDS epidemic, the top-down corruption, growing unrest in the city and the disparity between those with and those without, all culminating in the city-wide blackout. It follows the interwining and overlapping stories of a handful of diverse characters, from a teenage anarchist squatting in a run-down tenement to one of the wealthiest families in the city. Reminiscent of Bonfire of the Vanities, this novel goes a lot of different places and strikes a lot of different chords. It's a big one (700-some odd pages) but well worth it.
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Published: Cider Mill Press - September 24th, 2019
"[...] takes readers through a journey of the most beautiful moments in life and ruins them, because there is a certain divine comedy in lackluster internet poetry. This long-anticipated parody of the NYT #1 bestseller mMilk and Honey is divided into no chapters and offers no reral opportunity for personal growth, self-reflection, or deeper-thinking."
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Published: Random House Graphic - October 13th, 2020
Tiến loves his family and his friends…but Tiến has a secret he's been keeping from them, and it might change everything. An amazing YA graphic novel that deals with the complexity of family and how stories can bring us together.
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Published: Beacon Press - September 15th, 2020
An engaging exploration of what it means to be asexual in a world that’s obsessed with sexual attraction, and what the ace perspective can teach all of us about desire and identity.
The first-ever graphic novel adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, an American classic, is one of the world’s great anti-war books.
An American classic and one of the world’s seminal antiwar books, Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five is faithfully presented in graphic novel form for the first time from Eisner Award-winning writer Ryan North (How to
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Published: Levine Querido - September 1st, 2020
When so much of the world is new, you want to go slowly. to stop and enjoy everything; hills to roll down, perfect-sized rocks, trees that seem to whisper their thoughts. It's the same when you're much, much older, and every time 'round the seasons seems precious. Yet the folks in the middle (we know who we are) are always rushing, rushing, rushing.
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Published: Penguin Classics - February 25th, 2020
"Sister Outsider's teachings, by one of our most revered elder stateswomen, should be read by everyone." -Essence
Presenting the essential writings of black lesbian poet and feminist writer Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider celebrates an influential voice in twentieth-century literature, with a foreword by Mahogany L. Browne.
A NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER! A 2021 Alex Award winner! An Indie Next Pick! One of Publishers Weekly's "Most Anticipated Books of Spring 2020" One of Book Riot’s “20 Must-Read Feel-Good Fantasies”
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Published: Random House Graphic - January 21st, 2020
This princess can't resist the lure of adventure, but her parents aren't quite on board in this fantastical graphic novel perfect for fans of Princess in Black and Phoebe and Her Unicorn!
Robin? Robin? Robin?! Where are you?
She couldn't have gone far. . . .
Princesses don't run away to have their own adventures. Right?
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Published: Catapult - November 5th, 2019
This bestselling lyrical, moving book: part essay, part memoir, part surprising cultural study is an examination of why we cry, how we cry, and what it means to cry from a woman on the cusp of motherhood confronting her own depression (The New York Times Book Review).
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Published: Tin House Books - April 21st, 2020
The celebrated New York Times Bestseller
A Best Book of the Year pick at theNew York Times, NPR, The New Yorker, TIME, Washington Post, Oprahmag.com, Thrillist, Shelf Awareness, Good Housekeeping and more.
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Published: Picador - May 7th, 2019
Maybe it’s the end of the world, but not for Candace Chen, a millennial, first-generation American and office drone meandering her way into adulthood in Ling Ma’s offbeat, wryly funny, apocalyptic satire, Severance.
"A stunning, audacious book with a fresh take on both office politics and what the apocalypse might bring." —Michael Schaub, NPR.org
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Published: Random House Trade Paperbacks - January 8th, 2019
Twenty-five years after Jesus’ Son, a haunting new collection of short stories on mortality and transcendence, from National Book Award winner and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Denis Johnson
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Published: Vintage - June 2nd, 2015
An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days of civilization’s collapse, Station Eleven tells the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.
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Published: Atria Books - June 5th, 2018
It has been long since I have willingly lost sleep to finish a book I chose to read out of pleasure instead of necessity. I am absolutely in love with this book. The way the stories are intertwined is so beautifully crafted, I wish I could go back and re-read this book again for the first time and rediscover the plot over again. I loved the short chapters that held my attention and begged me to keep learning about the complex lives of William, George, and Tao. This book is so beautiful and I feel lucky to have discovered it. What an incredible story with a powerful lesson on the importance of bees and our lives connected to them, all with an aura of hope for the future.
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Published: Running Press Kids - October 6th, 2020
This sweet story follows a young girl moving to a new culture and hearing about the troubles her Persian ancestors faced coming and being accepted into India. She learns the presence of diversity enriches and sweetens our communities, just like sugar in milk.
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Published: Schwartz & Wade - September 8th, 2020
Jose Alberto Gutierrez collected garbage around the streets of Bogota, Colombia and collected the books he found in the trash. Each weekend he would allow children all over his barrio to come and take his books home.
In an inspiring, heart-warming story, we meet a young Jose who cannot WAIT for each Saturday to ride his bike to older Jose's home to pick out his next adventure. Based on a true story literally teaching how someone's trash is another person's treasure, this book will renew your hope in the good people in this world.
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Published: Yearling - March 13th, 2007
Winner of the National Book Award for Young People's Literature, the adventures of Rosalind, Skye, Jane, and Batty (and Hound) will warm your soul.
This book is the first installment of a lovely story of four sisters going on wonderful adventures in Massachusetts (as well as my favourite children's book series I've read so far).
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Published: Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books - June 30th, 2020
What a lovely little mystery novel!
Six brilliant, science-loving girls are chosen to have a snowy sleepover in Amelia Earhart's childhood home the night before the goggles she wore on her trans-Atlantic flight are sent to the Smithsonian in Washington DC. The girls drink hot chocolate, roam the house, play games, and are sent on a scavenger hunt when the goggles go missing from their case. They become sleuths as they try to find out which person in the house took the goggles and why before the sun rises in the morning.
A perfect read for any girls who have a passion for science, planes, and girl-power, or for anyone who enjoys a lighthearted mystery.
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Published: Philomel Books - September 24th, 2019
Oh how I adored this sweet book! Eleven-year-old Tilly has the ability to travel into her favourite books, and the adventures she finds herself in reminded me of books I loved reading as a kid and made me wish I was a bookwanderer, too!
A powerful story highlighted with the importance of family, love, and books made this one of my favourites for 2019!
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Published: Philomel Books - May 5th, 2020
And the sequel is just as fantastic! Tilly and Oskar are thrown back into the world of bookwandering when the creepy, new Head of the Underlibrary decides children should no longer be allowed to go into books on their own... especially fairy tales. They disregard the rules and hop into an old storybook where the fairy tale characters begin to go missing and fall into the inky depths of plot holes.
Can Tilly and Oskar save these characters while escaping themselves and save bookwandering for everyone? Read to find out!
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Published: Andrews McMeel Publishing - May 28th, 2019
As an introvert, I related hard to this book. The experiences and subsequent reactions to the crazy shenanigans she put herself through made me laugh and blush. I initially went into reading this book because I appreciated the cover and the synopsis Jessica Pan provides, but I came out of this book with such a greater knowledge of what it means to be introverted and extroverted and how saying "yes" really isn't the worst thing in the world.
I would highly recommend this book if you're (a) looking for ideas and ways to expand your comfort zone, (b) wanting to laugh at someone else's various successes and/or failures for putting themselves out of their comfort zone, or (c) just wanting to read a really fun story of what it is like to like to continually grow and do things we never thought we would do in our lives.
