Rachel's Pick
For anyone who has ever loved a horse. Scanlan's original writing style uses the life of horse trainer Sonia to illuminate the world of horse racing. The beauty in this book lies in Scanlan's perseverance as a storyteller. Something unique and ultimately stunning is created. Kathryn Scanlan is one to watch!
Rachel's Pick
A Carmichael's staff favorite, this award-winning and *ahem* Professor at IU, delivers sparkling and beautiful prose time after time. This collection of essays reflect the humanity and joy we find even through our darkest times. You can never go wrong with Ross Gay. He is magic.
Rachel's Pick
The Gastronome in your life will be like a kid in a candy store with this chic and charming French cake cookbook. Simple and irresistible recipes, delicious writing and adorable illustrations. Aleksandra Crapanzano's Gataeu is a keeper!
Rachel's Pick
Nothing else does what poetry can do. Alive at the End of the World does it! Honest, thoughtful and intense. Poetry for our time. That's Not Snow, its Ash is pure perfection.
Rachel's Pick
One of the best books I've ever read, hands down! As fast and violent as a gunshot. Drugs, sex, poverty, colonialism, family, vacation homes, Mexico. Author of the highly acclaimed novel Hurricane Season, Melchor writes in a style like none other. Furious and powerful! Like Roberto Bolano's 2666 crammed into 114 pages.
Rachel's Pick
This book couldn't be more timely. The choice of motherhood. Fans of Maggie Nelson and Eula Biss will find solace in this historical look into motherhood AND birth control. Many artist and author's lives are chronicled in each chapter, giving the reader insite into what it means to be creative and to create a life.
Rachel's Pick
A Chekhov inspired novel full of wit and social observation. Arguably one of Shteyngart's best works takes place during the Covid lockdown of 2020. The equal parts annoying and lovable characters drive the plot into a Chekhovian examination of our current American humanity in all its embarrassments and glory.
Rachel's Pick
Join ambitious and kindhearted Truffle as he makes his way through life's big adventures in these three inspiring tales. Emotionally intelligent and full of wit. Duos Like Fanny Britt and Isabelle Arsenault are the reason EVERY one, at any age, should read children's books.
Rachel's Pick
Fans of Sally Rooney will delight in this beautiful character driven novel. A translator works with war criminals at The Hague and looks for meaning in her personal relationships. Kitamura's work buzzes with intrigue and questions our notions of what it is to be truly intimate.
Rachel's Pick
Tieghan Gerard is truly talented! Open up this cookbook and see for yourself just how decadent and crowd pleasing her recipes are. She not only creates each recipe but also styles and photographs each one. Give one recipe a try and you'll be hooked!
Rachel's Pick
Eric Kim is my favorite! He is a contributing food writer for the NYTimes and is absolutely the best. I've been anticipating his debut cookbook for years. Full of inspiring recipes that truly combines Korean and American cooking cultures. Korean American doesn't disappoint!
Rachel's Pick
My favorite book the year! A rich multigenerational tale wrapped up with the flora, fauna and folklore of the Pyrenees Mountains. Each chapter is written from the perspective of a different person, animal, plant, etc. This is perfect experimental translated fiction!
Rachel's PIck
Think Kelly Link mixed with Ottessa Moshfegh and a pinch of surrealism. You'll find unexpected surprises in each story. Murata's Voice is unique and so much fun to read (as long as you don't mind dark humor and disturbing themes)! 100% weird and absolutely delightful!
Rachel's Pick
So much praise has been given for this debut! Unexpectedly tender and witty. Fans of Crying in H Mart and On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous will love this collection of stories for its depiction of transnational Asian identities, grief and family. I loved Clark's ability to subtly draw the reader in and leave them in a web of complexities.
Rachel's Pick
In Vuong's deeply intimate second collection of poetry, grief is deep and the desire to survive is persistent. Vuong is a miracle worker with words and these are no exception. If poems are a journey, hold on tight...Time is a Mother is quite a ride!
Rachel's Pick
I rarely enjoy nonfiction but when i do, I want to scream from the rooftops "This is the one! Everyone read this one!" On Freedom is the one! Nelson is SMART. Each paragraph gives the reader mountains to digest. It takes some dedication but your brain will tingle with new ideas. If you read one book this year, let it be On Freedom!
Rachel's Pick
Is this the true origin of the vampire myth? Predating Bram Stoker's Dracula by 26 years, this tale is chock full of the eerie gothic eroticism and intrigue we love. Damn it feels good to be a Vampire (and to read about one too).
Rachel's Pick
A page-turning graphic novel that grownups and kids will find hard to put down! Great story, great characters and a great moral. Stand up to bullies and find your own voice with DRAGOSLAVA!
Rachel's Pick
As good as all the reviews say! A memoir of grief, food, music and culture from the Indie rockstar of Japanese Breakfast. Delightful and heart-wrenching from beginning to end. You will find yourself longing for your favorite comfort food and fully appreciating all that it has to offer.
Rachel's Pick
History, memoir and fiction are seemlessly melded to create an inquisitive, metaphorical examination of each "lost" object. From an extinct tiger to an Italian villa in ruin to a long forgotten religion, this book buzzes with the beauty and impermanence of life. The entire book (from the text to the font) is a perfectly conceptualized work of art and it is absolutely stunning!
Rachel's Pick
I love a quick novella, especially when it has the power to alter everyday experiences. This tale of a preoccupation gradually begins to blur the lines of reality and peronal identity. In the tradition of Ingmar Bermans' 1966 film Persona, this Japanese feminist tale of obsession is a HIT!
Rachel's Pick
Mushroom fans and skeptics alike will resonate with this book. Merlin Sheldrake's writing is full of knowledge, skill and passion. His writing magically weaves us into nature and leaves us enthusiastically heading outdoors. Check out the YouTube video of Sheldrake growing mushrooms out of a copy of this very book, sauteeing them, and eating them. Fascinating!!
Rachel's Pick
Limon most know for Dead Bright Things, brings this accessible, heartfelt and absolutely stunning collection of poems. The Carrying touches on the darkness and resilience of the human soul. Bonus- many of these poems are set in Kentucky!
Rachel's Pick
I love this book! Strange and weird hiding under the surface of the mundane.Think a Japanese fairytale infused with David Lynch. Just when you think it couldn't get anymore strange - it wraps up into the neatest little package.
Rachel's Pick
A genre-bending book of awakening, reading Eula Biss makes us better people and better equipped to understand our future. * My top book of 2020*
![Beyond the North Wind: Russia in Recipes and Lore [A Cookbook] By Darra Goldstein Cover Image](https://images.booksense.com/images/books/390/580/FC9780399580390.JPG)
Rachel's Pick
There is whole a section on vodka...need I say more?! This delightful cookbook, full of gorgeous pictures and recipes, will leave you feeling full of Russian hygge. The recipes are easy to follow, the ingredients are easy to find, and the photos will make you want to move to Russia and wear woolen vests.! It is coherent and inspiring, the perfect cookbook combo.
Rachel's Pick
For anyone who has ever loved a horse. Scanlan's original writing style uses the life of horse trainer Sonia to illuminate the world of horse racing. The beauty in this book lies in Scanlan's perseverance as a storyteller. Something unique and ultimately stunning is created. Kathryn Scanlan is one to watch!
