Rachel Khong
[isbn]
Real Americans is a novel about people doing their best for the people they love, the vast spectrum of what that can mean, and how anyone lives with the impossible choices they make in pursuit of that noble goal. This is also a novel about what makes a person who they are — their experiences, genetics, community, environment, place in history, inheritances, and decisions. It's unexpected and beautiful and heartbreaking, and I will think... (read more)
Recommended by Michelle C.
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Anne Enright
[isbn]
I was caught up in the narration from the outset, finding myself securely in the mind of the daughter. And then it shifted, and I was totally engaged in the mother's thoughts and memories. And so it flitted back and forth, circling around the lives of these women, all the while reflecting back to the famous poet grandfather and the generational trauma he caused. A seemingly simple book that accrues power incrementally. I loved it.
Recommended by Marianne T
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Rebecca K Reilly
[isbn]
If you like books with messy characters and messier relationships, this one's for you. Reilly's prose is super witty, and I caught myself smiling and smirking on several occasions. It's about family and love and trying to find yourself in this crazy world. Rebecca K. Reilly, please be my best friend.
Recommended by Carrie K.
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Xochitl Gonzalez
[isbn]
I was very excited to see there was a new Xochitl Gonzalez novel coming out! This book traverses between two different eras with two different characters but their stories mirror each other in their relationships in the world of art. I loved how this novel showed how some peoples' stories get left behind and whose stories get chosen to be told.
Recommended by Vicky K.
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Sarah Penner
[isbn]
If you like a murder mystery mixed in with your spirits, you’ll enjoy this “can’t put it down” romp through London during the heyday of spiritualism. The subtle sapphic romance is pretty sweet too.
Recommended by Marianne T
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Phyllis Cole Dai, Ruby R. Wilson
[isbn]
This is a beautiful collection of poems. Think of it as a love story to oneself, intended for all of us who multi-task, engage in negative self-talk, forget to look around in wonder and awe. I’ve read it entirely and now open to a random page a day — always the perfect page. Give this gift to yourself or to someone you care about.
Recommended by Marianne T
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Heather Fawcett
[isbn]
This book is FUN! It features a cranky professor and her wonderful dog, a mystery set in an exotic setting, an inside look at the world of FAERIES, and even a bit of romance. I loved it and can't wait to read what comes next.
Recommended by Marianne T
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Isabel Canas
[isbn]
This gothic horror novel reminded me of HBO's series The Last of Us because it is scary, suspenseful, and visceral, while also telling a love story that will make every part of you ache. It was hard to stop myself from skipping to the end of each page.
Recommended by Sarah B.
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Kwame Alexander
[isbn]
This book makes my heart happy. It’s a national treasure of what Kwame calls “an unbridled selfie.” These are the best black poets writing today and saying the very best things. As Mahogany Browne says, “Praise [these] hands & throats/each incantation, a jubilee of a people dreaming wildly.”
Recommended by Marianne T
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Shinichi Sakamoto
[isbn]
I'm ride-or-die for Shinichi Sakamoto at this point. Whatever he writes, I'll read. His trademark art style is on full display here in this intense, lusciously gothic masterpiece that follows the story of Charles-Henri Sanson, the real-life French executioner during the reign of King Louis XVI. What's it like to be born into a dynasty of killing? How does it shape your soul? The answers aren't for the faint of heart!
Recommended by Nicole S
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AK Blakemore
[isbn]
Have you heard of Tarare before? The Bottomless Man, the Ever-Hungry, and yes, the guy who supposedly even ate a whole baby? The Glutton imagines his story in all of its fierce, delicious, and sometimes vulgar glory. I was surprised to find myself genuinely emotional by his desperate quest to belong — despite everything — and blown away by Blakemore's gorgeous, gorgeous prose. I had so much fun reading this book!
Recommended by Nicole S
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Alexandra Tanner
[isbn]
Worry is laced with the fascinating, itchy truth that no one knows you the same way that your family knows you. I loved every disturbingly familiar and magnetically messy moment with Jules, I loved the way Alexandra Tanner so effectively brings us along to eavesdrop on the most chaotic people on the train while wondering if we're the ones having the loud and bonkers conversation, and I need to talk about this book with everyone.
Recommended by Michelle C.
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Tommy Orange
[isbn]
Another instant classic from an author whose career I’m so excited to continue following in the decades to come. Wandering Stars is exactly the book its title promises: a constellation of stories, all orbiting around the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 and the lives and legacies that unravel in its aftermath through the 20th and 21st centuries. Through Orange’s deeply felt characters, written in language that cuts to the quick, we feel the... (read more)
Recommended by Kelsey F.
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Hisashi Kashiwai
[isbn]
Kamogawa Food Detective is a comfort read that’s guaranteed to make you hungry. Set in Kyoto, the story revolves around a detective duo — a father-and-daughter team — with a unique skill for recreating dishes from their customers' past. If you’re a fan of Midnight Diner or Food Wars!, this one’s for you.
Recommended by Rudy K.
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GennaRose Nethercott
[isbn]
I've really been loving short story collections and this one is no exception. The stories are for all those wonderful weirdos that we embrace or get warned about. It gives huge Kelly Link and Angela Carter vibes, so if you're into those authors, this will enchant you.
Recommended by Vicky K.
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Clint McElroy, Carey Pietsch, Griffin McElroy, Travis McElroy, Justin McElroy
[isbn]
The McElroys' brilliant graphic novel adaptation of their beloved podcast (with fantastic artwork by Carey Pietsch) has finally caught up to my favorite arc, and it was well worth the wait! In the vein of Groundhog Day or Palm Springs, our heroes have found themselves caught in a time loop on their most recent (Wild West-inspired) quest, and we begin to see a number of glimpses into the larger series' plot. I laughed, I teared... (read more)
Recommended by Madeline S.
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Kelly Barnhill
[isbn]
A few things to know about me as a reader: I’m a sucker for a literalized metaphor; I’m very invested in the expression of female rage; and I love dragons. I’m also a huge fan of Kelly Barnhill’s middle grade writing (The Girl Who Drank the Moon is a masterpiece that should be devoured by readers of all ages), so when I found out she was writing an adult fiction novel in which unhappy, furious women spontaneously turned into dragons, my... (read more)
Recommended by Madeline S.
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Mo Willems
[isbn]
The award-winning duo of Gerald the Elephant and Piggie the — well, Piggie — is back! This second “Biggie” gathers five of their previous adventures into one sure-to-be-loved volume (including my favorite, the fourth-wall-breaking We Are in a Book!). As Piggie and Gerald would say: “Five is a LOT of adventures for one book! Also, how did we get in this blurb?”
Recommended by Madeline S.
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Clint McElroy and Griffin McElroy and Justin McElroy
[isbn]
The second volume of this graphic novel adaptation of the McElroys' much-beloved D&D podcast grants +2 to all stats and delivers the goods. Longtime listeners and first-time readers alike are sure to be delighted by Carey Pietsch’s joyous rendering of this classic train mystery — featuring, as all good train mysteries do, a secret moon base (with no dogs allowed), a mystical being known as Garfield the Deals Warlock, questionable physics, and... (read more)
Recommended by Madeline S.
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Leigh Bardugo
[isbn]
Civil war left the country of Ravka scarred — quite literally in the case of its king, Nikolai Lantsov. But scars are the least of his worries: there are monsters lurking in Nikolai’s past, and if he wants to save his country, he’ll need to vanquish his demons. Bardugo is in fine form in this return to her compelling Grishaverse!
Recommended by Madeline S.
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Django Wexler
[isbn]
Isoka, a ward boss in the slums, is used to violence. She’ll gladly confront and create it to keep her younger sister safe. But when her hidden magical talent is discovered, that dedication is held over her head: to save her sister, she must become a sacrifice to a ghost ship of legend and claim it for the emperor. With a compelling cast of characters and world building reminiscent of Brandon Sanderson, I can’t wait to see where this series goes... (read more)
Recommended by Madeline S.
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Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
[isbn]
YA greats Albertalli and Silvera’s collaboration is more than a love story: it’s an ode to the people whose edges line up with ours like puzzle pieces, who shape our lives and bring out the best in us. A summer — a life — can change in a single moment, if we open our hearts and let it.
Recommended by Madeline S.
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Brandon Sanderson
[isbn]
Spensa has lived her whole life in the underground caverns of Detritus, the shipwreck planet that houses the last bastion of humanity. Her father inspired her to fly, but his desertion branded her a coward’s daughter. How can she claim the stars if the admiralty won’t let her reach them? A thrilling start to a sweeping new series!
Recommended by Madeline S.
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Clint McElroy and Griffin McElroy and Justin McElroy
[isbn]
Dungeons and dragons and gerblins, oh my! I’m a big fan of the McElroy family’s D&D/live play podcast, and its first graphic novel adaptation is everything I hoped for and more. The McElroys' clever storytelling and Carey Pietsch’s charming illustrations give new life to this sweeping fantasy adventure without sacrificing the comedy or heart that make the podcast so wonderful. +10 to merriment, -5 to time management (listen, you’re not going to... (read more)
Recommended by Madeline S.
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Garth Nix
[isbn]
Sabriel lives in Ancelstierre, where magic isn't real — or so they say. Across the Wall in the Old Kingdom, the living dead walk, and Sabriel must take up the bells of the Abhorsen, a Necromancer tasked with keeping the dead at rest. A fascinating, unforgettable blending of worlds from a master storyteller!
Recommended by Madeline S.
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Philip Pullman
[isbn]
This oft-banned book is a must-read for any fan of sci-fi or fantasy. In a world where the soul takes the shape of an animal companion, or daemon, young Lyra Belacqua and her daemon, Pan, leave their home in Oxford to embark on a dangerous adventure to the Arctic — and beyond. This trilogy contains some of the most thoughtful, beautifully written genre fiction I've ever encountered.
Recommended by Madeline S.
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Jandy Nelson
[isbn]
The best contemporary YA fiction I've ever read, hands down. Twins Noah and Jude (both artists) alternate as storytellers, with a three-year gap between their narratives. Both have beautiful, clear voices, and you won't be able to rest until you see their stories through (and find out what happened in the years in between).
Recommended by Madeline S.
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Neil Gaiman
[isbn]
"I think
that I would rather recollect
a life mis-spent on fragile things
than spent avoiding moral debt."
So begins Gaiman's introduction to this collection of "short fictions and wonders," which reads as a short story itself. The writing herein is some of Gaiman's best, and this oft-overlooked book makes an excellent gift for any fan of this master storyteller's other works.
Recommended by Madeline S.
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Galway Kinnell
[isbn]
Shattering. Rapturous. Kinnell's often-baroque language belies one of the most frank and powerful reckonings with death I have ever come across. This ten-part poem also wrestles with what it means to build a family and live with tenderness in a world that runs on cruelty.
Recommended by Kai B.
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Neil Gaiman
[isbn]
This slim book holds heavy truths about the human heart, family, friendship, and sacrifice, all written in classic Gaiman style. Steeped in mythology and longing, it's a book I could not put down but nonetheless didn't want to finish.
Recommended by Marianne T
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Annie Carl
[isbn]
Unique stories, profound stories, wacky stories, highly imaginative stories, all offered through the lens of disability representation. This collection is as compelling — and fun — as it is important.
Recommended by Gigi L.
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Brian S. Ellis
[isbn]
Brian S. Ellis’s poems are heady, human, philosophical, sometimes dark, sometimes funny, beautifully nerdy, and always full of story.
Recommended by Gigi L.
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Temim Fruchter
[isbn]
I honestly can't get enough of folklore and queer protagonists. So, whenever a title has both, I'm instantly intrigued. This debut is beautifully constructed and will remain in your thoughts long after you put it down.
Recommended by Lindsay P
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Kim Harrison
[isbn]
As a long-time reader of Kim Harrison's urban fantasy books, the upcoming arrival of her newest series almost slipped past my radar. Once found, I pounced on a copy of Three Kinds of Lucky, and then quickly devoured it. It was so enjoyable to dive into a completely new series, with unique new magical elements and complicated characters. I am now enamored of the world where certain people can see the residue left over from using magic,... (read more)
Recommended by Mecca A.
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Rene Denfeld
[isbn]
"This time will be different," I tell myself. "This time, I won't tear through the new Rene Denfeld book in twenty-four hours and then be sad I don't have it to look forward to anymore," I lie as I turn another page. "This time, I'll savor it," I mutter unconvincingly as I look up from my half-read book to discover day has turned to night.
Recommended by Tove H.
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Roshani Chokshi
[isbn]
Dark and dreamy. Haunting and beautiful. Seeing is deceiving in this gothic fairytale that serves as Chokshi's adult debut. Even in our greatest fantasy, the past won't stay buried long.
Recommended by Sarah J
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Bryan Lee O'Malley
[isbn]
How far would you go to make your life not just good, but great? Join Katie as she answers this question and learns the value of "mistakes," how the future is what we make it, and that you shouldn't always go back for seconds.
Recommended by Sarah J
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Alison Rumfitt
[isbn]
This has to be one of the most intense, searing, hits-you-like-a-bus, disturbing books I've read this year. I loved every minute of it. This is definitely NOT for the faint of heart as this is as extreme as extreme horror can get. But if you can stomach it, this is definitely worth your time.
Recommended by Chris P.
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Zoe Thorogood
[isbn]
Zoe Thorogood, a cartoonist, recorded six months of her life as it fell apart as an attempt to put it all back together. I can't say whether or not this worked for her but it was certainly helpful to me. This story chronicles her struggles with mental health, her family, and her art as the endless wave of day-to-day trials and tribulations make these struggles easier or harder to keep a grip on. Though some parts of this story are silly and we... (read more)
Recommended by Aster A.
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Genki Kawamura, Eric Selland
[isbn]
This small book tackles some big questions and will leave you wondering — what would you be willing to give up to live just one more day?
Recommended by Sarah J
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Jhumpa Lahiri and Jeff Portnowitz
[isbn]
If you love Rome, either because you've visited this stunning city or because you long to visit it, these stories will sweep you into its contemporary, throbbing heart. The characters — friends and families, some deeply rooted in the city and some marginal — are authentic in the way that all Lahiri's characters are, and their circumstances are familiar despite their splendid setting. And then there's something extra and intimate, perhaps because... (read more)
Recommended by Marianne T
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Kelly Link
[isbn]
Kelly Link's debut novel is as expansive, funny, human, and strange as I could've possibly hoped. The Book of Love reads like it has a heart, beating so strongly and desperately, it strains at its container. The story is full of grief and friendship and acrimony, teenagers trying to sort through impossible feelings and circumstances, memories that erode and rewrite themselves and turn inside out. It's such a phenomenal feat; I'm so... (read more)
Recommended by Kelsey F.
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Frederika Amalia Finkelstein and Isabel Cout and Christopher Elson
[isbn]
A twenty-something-year-old woman wanders the streets of 2010s Paris at night battling insomnia and intergenerational trauma. Her grandfather was a Holocaust survivor but has recently passed, and as she begins the difficult journey of processing that grief she begins to find a deeper understanding of how what he went through continues to affect her and her family and she begins to reconsider how the events of his life lead her to where she is... (read more)
Recommended by Aster A.
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Stephen King
[isbn]
Stephen King sets a macabre table, inviting you to feast on a traditional hard-boiled detective story, with his signature flourishes of horror sifted into the mix. First introduced in King's novel, Mr. Mercedes, detective Holly Gibney, recovering from the death of an icy mother, is hired to investigate the disappearance of a young girl. What initially appears to be a simmering, straightforward case rapidly erupts into a chaotic mystery... (read more)
Recommended by Gary C. G.
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Kimberly Lemming
[isbn]
A romantasy that will satisfy readers of either genre, and give them a little something extra, too. She’s a spice trader who isn’t interested in adventures. He’s a demon, but that’s not as bad as it sounds. Off they go to defeat a witch and maybe… fall in love?
Recommended by Keith M.
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Kiley Reid
[isbn]
Reid’s second novel follows a cast of messy and charming characters whose lives intersect at the University of Arkansas. There are so many awkward and cringe-worthy moments that I live for in a book and it gets uncomfortable in different ways for everyone. I love the delicate yet biting nature of Reid’s work that reels the reader in to a world that's relatable and engrossing.
Recommended by Vicky K.
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Julie Myerson
[isbn]
Oh man, this book broke me — in the best way. A beautiful, blistering autofiction about a woman doing what she can to, without being able to do very much, to look after a daughter, while also working to reconcile her own history with her mother, her art, and the world. Fans of Rachel Cusk and Sheila Heti will love this one.
Recommended by Kelsey F.
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David Mazzucchelli
[isbn]
This book changed the way I look at the world. It explores how memories change as we age and look back at them with more and newer understanding. Mazzucchelli challenges you to change your perspective in more ways than one. It's a fantastic read that I keep coming back to.
Recommended by madmythandy
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Eliza Barry Callahan
[isbn]
As soon as I picked up this book, I couldn’t put it down. The writing is fresh and sharp and quietly devastating. After the narrator, a woman who makes money by scoring short films, is diagnosed with Sudden Deafness, her relationship to the world and people around her shifts. As she attempts to understand what her new circumstances mean and how to reconstruct a meaningful life for herself within these freshly drawn limits, she thinks about music... (read more)
Recommended by Kelsey F.
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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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Mircea Cartarescu and Sean Cotter
[isbn]
You might not think you need a 630-page Romanian surrealist novel to take over your life for a month, but I'm here to encourage the incineration of your to-read list in favor of this sui generis trip through the underbelly of 1970s/80s Romania. From the childhood visions of a schoolteacher with a predilection for termites and dreams of revelation, to meandering notes on philosophy, undecipherable manuscripts, and the fourth dimension, this is a... (read more)
Recommended by Nadia N.
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Lorraine Heath
[isbn]
How can you go wrong with a woman bent on revenge? This time, it's Regina Leyland. She was jilted at the altar and now, five years later, she's writing a scandalous, "fictional" tell-all under a pen name about "her" seduction and ruination. The book's "Lord K" bears an uncanny resemblance to Lord Knightly, who's furious to have his good reputation questioned. Fake reconciliation between the two leads to unquestionable sparks with a second chance... (read more)
Recommended by Mecca A.
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Raven Leilani
[isbn]
A dark, literary, funny, impossible-to-put-down book, Luster is centered on 23-year-old Edie. The novel covers a period of her life intersecting with a much older lover, his wife, and their adopted teenage daughter. In phenomenal prose (Edie's descriptions and observations about the world are impeccable), Raven Leilani has captured complex, intimate ways that people help and hurt each other, the drudgery of modern workplaces and the gig... (read more)
Recommended by Michelle C.
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Zadie Smith
[isbn]
A rollicking work of historical fiction, Zadie Smith takes readers from Charles Dickens’s London to colonial Jamaica and back. Asking big questions about social roles, public morality, the value of art, and the usefulness of truth; Smith’s latest is entertaining and thought-provoking. A joy to read!
Recommended by Keith M.
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Kate Leth
[isbn]
Kate Leth’s delightful look at mall culture in the early 2000s has a lot to say about when to let keep your guard up, when to let it down, and the problems that come from misjudging that balance.
Recommended by Keith M.
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Eliza MacArthur
[isbn]
Hank is the anti-hero we didn't know we needed. He's a big guy with an even bigger heart and once he's committed to you, he's yours forever. I love that a book about witches and vampires has some of the most realistic conversations about loving yourself and finding your special one! I'll never look at recliners the same way again!
Five Flannel Stars out of five!
Recommended by Jennifer V.
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Tom Stoppard
[isbn]
Follow Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two minor characters in Hamlet, as they live through the events of the play. However, from the first scene, it is clear that what they're experiencing is not quite reality... after all, what are the odds of a coin landing heads-up ninety-two times in a row?
Witty, bittersweet, and strange, this play is a breathtaking reflection on art and storytelling — as well as one of the most brilliantly surreal... (read more)
Recommended by Edme G.
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Jacqueline Carey
[isbn]
Come back to the world of Terre d'Ange, a land full of secrets. Relive the action of the epic fantasy, Kushiel's Dart, now told from the eyes of Joscelin. Kushiel's Dart followed bond servant Phedre as she rises through the court as a courtesan/spy, and the betrayals that land her and her guard, Joscelin, in the hand of the enemy as they fight to save their country. Cassiel's Servant is Joscelin's experiences from their... (read more)
Recommended by Mecca A.
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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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Bill Watterson and John Kascht
[isbn]
The Mysteries is an unsettling and eerily familiar fable about a world that loses direction. The images are gorgeous, wonderfully evocative, and just a little disturbing. This is a book to reread many times and to put its message into your own frame of reference and keep it close to your heart.
Recommended by Marianne T
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ND Stevenson, Nate Stevenson, Noelle Stevenson
[isbn]
I will read anything by ND Stevenson. This book gives you the warm fuzzies and restores your faith that your queer love is out there. A must read.
Recommended by madmythandy
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Ross Gay
[isbn]
Ross Gay is a beautiful human, and reading this book makes you feel like he’s your good friend. These essays will restore your hope for humanity and remind you of the exquisite joy the natural world brings. This book makes a perfect gift.
Recommended by Marianne T
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Lorrie Moore
[isbn]
Lorrie Moore has always been a writer whose words root into my veins, setting up camp for months after I think I’m done with them. I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home — a book about love and death and passion and grief and how all of it can be messy and muddy and bad but also sometimes, somehow, occasionally good and worthwhile — has already found a home in my bones. This book is so beautifully written and filled with such wild pathos... (read more)
Recommended by Kelsey F.
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Anna Burke
[isbn]
I discovered Anna Burke this year with Compass Rose and immediately got my hands on every book of hers I could. Roses of Pieria was an absolute delight. Dark academia! Urban fantasy! Vampires! Greek (alternate) history! Mushroom fae! Shapeshifters! I know it sounds like an impossible mishmash, but it does everything with a clear purpose and a skillful execution. The characters were stunning and the sapphic dynamics were so... (read more)
Recommended by Carlee B
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Chris L Terry, James Spooner Spooner
[isbn]
This anthology of modern fiction, nonfiction, art, and comics describe punk today and gives a broader perspective as it delves into all the subgenres, styles, and personalities within Black Punk that are thriving and growing. The anthology approach to this book mixes generations and medias in a way that perfectly reflects the contents of the book and the scene they are highlighting. This technique also allows music lovers, history aficionados,... (read more)
Recommended by Aster A.
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Barbara Kingsolver
[isbn]
This is a beautiful, timely, and compelling book that does NOT require you to reread David Copperfield to appreciate it. Just know that Kingsolver is at her best, showing us the downside of the foster care system and the destruction to young lives and communities wrought by easy access to opioids. Always a superb storyteller, Kingsolver manages to break hearts while still offering glimmers of hope.
Recommended by Marianne T
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LouAnne Brickhouse, Jennifer Rea
[isbn]
I devoured this book in one sitting and desperately want more. The pacing is perfect, with great use of suspense. I am also a major history nerd, so I love when vampire media uses historical figures and details in interesting ways that are genuinely important to the plot, not just as a window dressing. For my vampire diaries fans out there: if you watched that show, but wished Bonnie and/or Carolyn was the main character, I think you'll like this... (read more)
Recommended by Kathleen F
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Edward Cahill
[isbn]
This historical novel captures the complexities of life as a gay man living in New York City in the early 1960s. In part a romance, in part a mystery, Disorderly Men is a thrilling and infuriating, but ultimately hopeful, read.
Recommended by Adam P.
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Sean Michaels
[isbn]
I'm honestly tired of hearing or thinking about AI, but this book about an aging, accomplished poet (modeled after Marianne Moore, tricorne hat and all) being asked to co-write a poem with an AI engineered to write poems enthralled me. What is the inherent power of language and what of art relies on the fact of an artist, a human being who has lived a real human life and creates with intention? This book takes up these huge questions to... (read more)
Recommended by Claire A.
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Lydia Davis
[isbn]
Lydia Davis's stories absolutely hum with strange beauty — contemplative, inventive, confident in their own singular power. This is the kind of book I want to throw across the room for being too good and also hug to my heart for existing. And it's only available at libraries and independent bookstores like Powell's!!
Recommended by Claire A.
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Sigrid Nunez
[isbn]
Another stunner from the inimitable Sigrid Nunez. The Vulnerables is a meditative, wry book that picks apart what it means to live in a world as unnerving as ours currently is, and what it means to create art (or at least, try to create art) in the midst of everything. The narrator is stuck in New York City during the height of the pandemic, caring for a friend of a friend’s parrot, trying to make meaning even as her brain feels like... (read more)
Recommended by Kelsey F.
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Ben Lerner
[isbn]
For poets who hesitate to call themselves poets, this essay is a reminder of the futility of our beloved form. Lerner incisively guides the reader through transcendent and terrible poems, all of which are failures of a different kind, only some of which succeed by virtue of their failure. I'm partial to Lerner's idea that every poet harbors some resentment towards poetry, and every poetry hater masks a certain envy, maybe even a curiosity, of... (read more)
Recommended by Nadia N.
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Catherine Leroux and Susan Ouriou
[isbn]
This incredible work tackles problems both fictional and very real. Alongside the poisoned rivers and regenerative houses, Leroux also beautifully addresses ongoing racial and economic injustice, pollution, and violence. However, in this same struggle, we find strength, resilience, and power in community. In the strange world we live in today, this book is important and a great reminder that we are strongest as a community.
Recommended by Aster A.
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Heather Fawcett
[isbn]
Besides a grumpy, young professor, this book has FAIRIES and adventure, romance, mystery… and did I say FAIRIES? This is a highly entertaining read that I thoroughly enjoyed. (And even the professor isn’t so grumpy in the end!)
Recommended by Marianne T
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Alice Notley
[isbn]
This is a strange and beautiful epic poem that takes us on a journey to an underworld that’s more authentic than those of old. We feel the brush of bats' wings as we enter caves, caverns, corridors, all on a quest to heal the world. This is at once gorgeous and essentially creepy. So right for now.
Recommended by Marianne T
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Arkady Martine
[isbn]
The most hardcore, creative, complex, compelling world I've had the privilege of inhabiting all year. Mahit travels to the Teixcalaanli empire as ambassador from her tiny independent space station in hopes of keeping the massive, politically hungry neighbor from annexing them, only to somersault into loads of trouble. A phenomenal thought experiment in the tradition of Le Guin or Herbert on the seductive pull of empire, the fraught nature of... (read more)
Recommended by SitaraG
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Roberto Bolaño
[isbn]
Deliriously good. A kaleidoscopic vision of 1970s Mexico City whose heart lies with its young poets. Rich in character and circumstance, with fibrous, idiosyncratic narratives that slither madly and swallow themselves. At once a bildungsroman, a road novel, a collection of worldclass short stories, a book of literary criticism, and a thinly veiled autobiography, The Savage Detectives effortlessly goes where few novels have dared.
Recommended by Nadia N.
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Michael Mann, Meg Gardiner
[isbn]
Lovers of Michael Mann's quintessential heist film Heat will be absolutely riveted by the sequel novel, Heat 2, co-authored by Mann and Meg Gardiner. The book's plot is a pincer, equal parts prequel and sequel to the former film's depiction of robbery and homicide in 1990s Los Angeles. A nuanced and detail-driven tale of criminality, Heat 2 exquisitely depicts the ethos shared by thieves and those tasked with... (read more)
Recommended by Shane H
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Bryan Washington
[isbn]
Bryan Washington's Lot and Memorial were two of my favorite queer fiction books of the past five years. I've also loved the food writing Washington's done. Family Meal combines his interests by telling the story of two queer friends examining their history and figuring out their future, while working side by side at a family bakery.
Recommended by Adam P.
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Brandon Stosuy and Rose Lazar
[isbn]
I’m a crier. I cry easily and often, and for reasons ranging from unwarranted (can’t open a jar) to unavoidable (unexpectedly hearing the song I listened to over and over and over again as a thirteen-year-old wallowing in the heartache of an unrequited love), and even though the aftershock of every outburst lingers on my face long after (please tell me your home remedies for puffy eyes), I love a good cry. So, when I heard about this... (read more)
Recommended by Tove H.
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Liz Marsham, CRITICAL ROLE , Jesse Szewczyk
[isbn]
Stories and food are inseparable, and the food of Exandria is just as good as its stories — truly “exquisite” actually! Just look at the gorgeous pictures, from “Slayer’s Cake” to “Jester’s Sweet Feast,” and your mouth will water. I’m going to start with the chickpea version of “Yasha’s Bug Bites,” washed down with a “Ruby of the Sea” cocktail, while I plan fun dinners for my RPG friends.
Recommended by Marianne T
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Oksana Vasyakina and Elina Alter
[isbn]
This book absolutely delivers on the promise of its simple title: it is a bruising, beautiful book that I couldn’t put down, even as each page pulsed with the heartache of existing in an unforgiving world. The narrator, Oksana, is a queer, Russian poet whose mother has recently passed. As she travels to their former home of Siberia, she thinks about her past with her mom and her mom’s tumultuous relationships; Oksana’s own complicated romantic... (read more)
Recommended by Kelsey F.
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Isle McElroy
[isbn]
Isle McElroy has taken a well-used trope and breathed fresh life into it. People Collide has exactly what I look for in literary fiction: intriguing characters, keen insights, and great pacing, all in service of addressing big themes. This is an immensely enjoyable and thought-provoking novel.
Recommended by Keith M.
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Nona Fernandez, Natasha Wimmer
[isbn]
Chilean novelist Fernandez weaves her own constellation in this book-length essay that roots her mother's brain scans to the stars, to national grief, to loss and the fragility of memory, and to what is left behind for the living. A slow, deep breath in shimmering prose — one of my faves of the year.
Recommended by SitaraG
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Ling Ma
[isbn]
This collection was so good I wanna kiss Ling Ma on the mouth. A wildly funny and deeply sad string of stories about love and delusion, what we do to maintain our sanity, how we navigate identity horizontally and vertically (e.g. generationally vs. by sameness). As someone who tends to feel very comforted by fantasy, this felt like both a celebration and a warning from someone wiser and further along than me. Dark and delightful.
Recommended by SitaraG
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Lauren Groff
[isbn]
I read this book in three delirious days and was so frustrated whenever I had to do anything other than read it! Absolutely stunning — on its surface an adventure, at its beating heart a story of human limitation and fire to survive, of how and why one claims a home, a name, a self, of the divine, and so much more.
Recommended by Claire A.
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Roz Chast
[isbn]
Supposedly, describing your dreams is a faux pas that will bore anyone unlucky enough to be within earshot. This is just another rule that doesn’t apply to Roz Chast. Her new book explores the experience and meaning of dreams with characteristic wit and insight.
Recommended by Keith M.
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Manuel Munoz
[isbn]
I usually struggle to finish short story collections, but the expertly woven connections between some of these narratives immediately drew me in and held my attention till the last page. Each story is so convincingly portrayed that you could easily forget it's a work of fiction.
Recommended by Rudy K.
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Stephen King
[isbn]
Given the context of the story, it may be in poor taste to state that I devoured this book in a sitting; however, that makes the statement no less true. This is easily one of King's most intriguing plots: a serpentine supernatural thriller awash in compelling character arcs and teeming with tension and terror. This book is most certainly a worthy successor to the Mr. Mercedes trilogy — and does fans of Holly Gibney good to see her begin to truly... (read more)
Recommended by Shane H
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Dean Koontz
[isbn]
A supernatural thriller featuring a body-hopping killer, Koontz's What the Night Knows sequelizes the events of his novella, Darkness Under the Sun. While investigating a horrific homicide, detective John Calvino begins to note eerie similarities between the scene and that of crimes perpetrated by deceased killer Alton T. Blackwood... the man who, coincidentally, killed Calvino's family as well. What follows is a gripping... (read more)
Recommended by Shane H
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David Lehman, Elaine Equi
[isbn]
If you’re like me, and you didn’t get around to reading all those journals and new books of poetry that you meant to last year, then you’ll appreciate this slim book of stunningly good poems. You’ll find familiar names, ranging from Armentrout to Zapruder, but a lot of talented new voices as well. I look forward to this book each year, and 2023 is truly stellar!
Recommended by Marianne T
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Matthew Zapruder
[isbn]
This is a beautiful book that talks about the making of a poem while sharing a very intimate portrait of the author as he struggles with the weight of a child diagnosed with autism and a planet that’s fragile and failing. He responds by putting word after word on the page, and we get to read it all.
Recommended by Marianne T
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Stephanie Burt
[isbn]
Stephanie Burt is a talented poet who is really, really good at talking about poems, as she does in this friendly, informative guide to the pleasure of reading and interacting with individual poems, and by extension with “poetry.” With chapters like “Feelings,” “Wisdom,” and “Community,” this book provides a fresh approach that will inform those newer to poetry and will delight everyone.
Recommended by Marianne T
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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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Travis Baldree
[isbn]
We all need more cozy fantasy in our lives and Travis Baldree’s Bookshops & Bonedust hits like a warm cup of cocoa on a stormy day. From fixing up and uplifting a struggling bookstore to fighting a necromancer, you’ll want to spend some time cuddled up with this low-stakes, high-comfort book. Also: Potroast! (you'll get it...)
Recommended by Vicky K.
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Melissa Broder
[isbn]
Melissa Broder's novel about an author dealing with her ailing dad and husband while being lost in the desert searching for a magical cactus speaks to me. Grief is a weird desert that allows you to get lost and parched while you're trying to find magic you thought you lost.
Recommended by Vicky K.
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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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Ann Patchett
[isbn]
You're in the thrall of a fine storyteller when a book that's essentially a family conversation becomes impossible to put down. This is a love story and a timely family tale that calls out memory and the ways we edit it (or does it edit us?).
Recommended by Marianne T
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Sam Rebelein
[isbn]
Okay, so. SO. I honestly have no idea how to accurately sum up Edenville. This book has it all! Struggling author? Check. Strained relationships? Check. Massive amounts of gore and humor? Check. This is going to be the perfect Halloween read and I will be recommending it to my fellow horror enthusiasts!
Recommended by Chris P.
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Olesya Salnikova Gilmore
[isbn]
Just imagine Baba Yaga as a youthful Slavic goddess, fighting for good and maybe falling in love, all during the reign of Ivan the Terrible. There's something here for anyone who enjoys history, mythology, even romance. I could not put this book down!
Recommended by Marianne T
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