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Ursula K. Le Guin is an Oregon icon and one of the best-known female science fiction writers. Most people interested in science fiction and fantasy have heard of her, but with such a large body of work, it can be difficult to figure out where to start! Here are my recommendations for layered, thought-provoking stories from Le Guin for many different interests...

New year, new books in translation! We’re so excited to be featuring our favorite new translated releases from the past two months. On this list, you’ll find a Hungarian exploration of Kafka’s relationship with his father; the story of a scandalous love affair from a late Italian author; a German novel about a lonely archivist; a Norwegian doctor’s friendship with a plastic skeleton; a Slovakian story about being young and alone in a metropolis; "a bewitching tale of memory, monsterhood..

In 2018, a study from the Cooperative Children’s Book Center revealed just how severe the lack of diversity in children's literature still was. Children from diverse backgrounds were not only collectively represented less than white children (50% vs. 23% of narratives), but also collectively represented less than animals & non-human main characters (27% vs 23% of narratives). Responding to this, librarians and educators pushed for children to look to books as windows and mirrors...

I’m not a huge believer in new year’s resolutions — they always feel like set ups for failure and disappointment instead of the well-meaning self-bettering they’re intended to be. However, I do believe in the fresh promise of a new year and taking the opportunity to deliberately (and gently) think about your routines and what you might be missing.

I also believe in balance, and that for every good, new routine, you deserve to add in a little bad, too. Toward that end...

If you know anything about the booksellers at Powell's Books, you know we love books and you know we love getting excited about books. Our quarterly book preview is one of our favorite things to put together for the blog, because we get to be loud and enthusiastic about all of the great releases coming out over the next few months, and there are some really great releases...

For the fourth year running, we asked Powell’s booksellers to recommend the book that helped them the most through this past year — 2023 was another rough year in a long line of them, so it should be no surprise that the books that came in were escapist and heartfelt, redemptive and generous, wise and filled with the healing power of love. The books on this list nourished us...

2023 wasn't just a great year for books: it was also a great year for movies — we had movies that were grandiose and intimate, movies that made us yearn and movies that made us cringe (complimentary). For the second year in a row, we wanted to bring you a list of books to pair with your favorite movie from 2023. No matter what flavor you prefer — whether it be stories...

Every December, when the Portland sun disappears, my mental health depends on a steady stream of sugary-sweet holiday rom-coms. While I love the low-budget movies (unlicensed new pop songs with auto-tuned jingle bells! Every scene obviously filmed in the same McMansion, even the ones that take place at "work"! Chemistry between romantic leads that lands anywhere between "wooden strangers" and "sizzling Christmas miracle"!), and while I love the high-budget movies (better music and settings, but chemistry can still be a struggle!), there's no replacing a holiday romance book. Nothing warms my heart more...

While putting this post together, I realized that the original song this is based on, “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” needs very little amending to become horrific: why is someone gifting their lover so many different kinds of birds? That can’t be safe? But we love notching the horror up whenever we can, so in our version of the song — a list of holiday-themed horror novels — we’re exchanging drummers for zombies, leaping lords for mutilated bodies, and milking maids for debaucherous yule lords...

Here we are, with our final literature in translation round-up of 2023! And what a year it’s been, full of great books from around the world, all enthusiastically recommended by Powell’s booksellers. We’ll be back with a new post in January 2024, but until then, we hope you enjoy these eight new titles, released in November. On this list, you’ll find a tender novel about friendship from Mexico; “a sordid tale of a man on the run” from a Brazilian legend; a Lebanese-French author’s wild tale...