Staff Picks
Ever's pick!
Ever says: Intrigue! On every page! And also a very profound meditation on how we are changed by our life experiences, traumatic or benign. Hit the "well I can't stop reading *now*" point and stayed up til 1:30 am to finish this one.
Elayna's Pick!
Elayna says: LOVED this!! Aside from being just a really fun story and a pleasure to read - great pacing, just enough historical info to make it interesting without getting bogged down, wonderful characters - this is such a moving meditation on self-acceptance and the concept of gender.
Emilie's pick!
Emilie says: I haven’t purchased a self-help book in years, but facing a major life decision and confronting ongoing familial stresses, I luckily came across Ethan Kross’ Chatter; The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It. Out just this year, the book provides a tool kit of truly helpful techniques, is well researched and full of real-world case studies. I’m so very glad I found it.
Naomi's pick!
Elayna's pick!
Elayna says: Fun read! Very different book from his last two, though still playing with the same theme of race in America. Funny and touching, I enjoyed it!
Naomi's pick!
Elayna's pick!
Emilie's pick!
Emilie says: In August of 1958 Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita was published in the United States. By September, it had become the first book since Gone With the Wind (in 1936) to sell over 100,000 copies in its first three weeks of publication. Lolita in the Afterlife, edited by Jenny Minton Quigley, the daughter of Lolita’s original publisher in America, examines how to continue to think and talk about this book. Containing 30 contributions from prominent contemporary writers as they reflect upon Lolita (Roxane Gay, Mary Gaitskill, Andre Dubus III, Cheryl Strayed, Alexander Chee, etc. etc.), this fascinating compilation focuses on issues of art and politics, gender and power, race and whiteness which remain prominent in our discourse today.
Justyn's pick!
Justyn says: Barbellion's journal is timely in sofar as any book is timely that speaks to the brevity of live with humor, wit, and pathos. Written over 100 years ago the voice of this author will feel more alive, and present to you than most of the conversations you had yesterday. His curiosity and joy for life will not be overcome by the depravation of world war or his impending death from MS.
Emilie's pick!
Emilie says: This series is new to me, but what a find! Since 1988, each year a distinguished poet is enlisted to cull the best from large and small literary journals published over the past year. (Editors in the past have ranged from John Ashbery to Jorie Graham to Sherman Alexie and Rita Dove). Also included in each volume are contributors' notes and comments on the poems included.
Paul's Pick!
Paul says: With her typically well-thought-out and challenging takes, hooks is a like a hot bolt to anyone comfortable and complacent in their understanding of modern love.
Elayna's pick!
Elayna says: A great read for fans of Lab Girl! Beautiful writing alongside fascinating science (nearly 80 pages of notes at the back of the book tells you this is legit). Makes me excited for our next steps on Mars!
Kelsey's pick!
Kelsey says: Read this book! Patrisse Khan-Cullors uses her life experiences to shine a light on the racism and injustices experienced by Black people in this country, specifically her experiences of injustice as a young Black woman in Los Angeles. This book is required reading for anyone who a) doesn't understand the Black Lives Matter movement, b) believes themselves to be anti-racist, and c) wants to be a better ally in the fight for Black lives.
Elayna's pick!
Elayna says: Such a fascinating way to write and read history! I love this choral history, focusing on unknowns, lesser knowns, and the famous and infamous.
Elayna's pick!
Elayna says: So freaking good. Grittier than I usually read but a fitting follow up to the masterful The Sympathizer. Such fabulous writing, so fearless in its exposure of the complex hypocracies of Western racism. Just absolutely brilliant.
Justyn's pick!
Justyn says: I rarely so inhabit a work of fiction that my memories of the reading of the book pass for my own visual memories. In the interstices between reading Baby's world interjected into my own. O'Neill's knack for left field metaphor is strong and never twee.
Naomi's pick!
Naomi says: Perfectly paced, delightfully illustrated, positive inclusive message, and a happy ending. We have a lot of skateboarders in our town, many of whom are girls, and I cannot wait to share this with them!
Blake's pick!
Blake says: Yoon's empathetic portrait of a handful of Lao people living amid the deadly landscape of the Vietnam era is a deftly woven novel of opposites that resist easy reconciling: Compact in size yet capacious in its humanity, haunting yet hopeful, a story of both survival and surrender.
Ever's Pick!
Ever says: It has been a long time since I copied so many quotes I loved from a book. Parakeet is all that the synopsis describes and so much more. Through a series of increasingly surreal events our nameless narrator discovers an indentity far beyond those given to her by the labels of bride, daughter, sister, friend.
Elayna's pick!
Elayna says: Truly, how does Claire Fuller do it? She's the master at writing books where not that much happens but sooooooo much happens. Another stunner filled with lush depictions of the natural world (what's her obsession with gardens??) and familial betrayal.
Naomi's pick!
Naomi says: My 4yo requested this one to be read again and again and again. Very fun read aloud and love the visuals.
Emilies's pick!
Elayna's pick!
Alexa's Pick!
Alexa says: The AIDs epidemic is ruthless and heart wrenching. This memoir of Ruth Coker Burks deep dive into the heart of AIDs and how this country has turned their back on the victims of this virus had my eyes filled with tears from start to finish.
Ever's Pick!
Ever says: I read/watch/consume a lot of horror-I didn't think there would be twists or elements that could surprise me anymore. Stephen Graham Jones showed me that I was very wrong. Incredibly character driven horror that blends the psychological with the supernatural, Only Good Indians is a fantastic recommendation for Stephen King fans looking to diversify their reading lists.
Kelsey's pick!
Blake's Pick!
Blake Says: Gripping, enlightening debut from the first Kurdish woman author printed in English. Homa makes up for at times novice-like writing with a page-turning narrative and a nuanced protagonist that provide us a window into a reality both grim and galvanizing.
Ever's Pick!
Ever says: Whether or not you can relate to protagonist Edie's experiences, her thoughts and her world are rendered in such lush and beautiful prose. Raven Leilani could write about *anything* and I would still be completely entranced.
Emilie's pick!
Elayna's pick!
Elayna says: This is the most powerful memoir I've ever read.
Paul's Pick!
Paul says: An insightful and powerful rethinking of race in America. Wilkerson draws a compelling analogy with India's hierarchical system, which is non-racial, to highlight the ways in which humans internalize arbitrary ideas of who in society is superior and inferior and how institutions reinforce those ideas. The real strength of the book is the way it is able to humanize these classically abstract concepts.
Naomi's Pick!
Naomi Says: Award-winning romance writer Alyssa Cole's debut thriller has a level of can't-put-down-ness that will leave you throwing this into the lap of your best friend/spouse/coworker exclaiming they just need to read this, and right now please. A historically Black neighborhood in Brooklyn is facing gentrification as a huge medical company is moving into the neighborhood. Endearing protagonist Sydney Green has recently moved back in with her mom after her divorce and she's frustrated with all of the changes. She dives into the creation of a neighborhood walking tour with an unwanted assistant, one of the new arrivals to the block, Theo. This perfectly crafted thriller starts to get super tense when she begins to notice that her longtime neighbors are disappearing without a word...where are they going? A must-read this fall! (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Ever's Pick!
Ever says: This cookbook is the greatest tool imaginable! I am very guilty of optimistically buying vegetables only for them to wilt beyond recognition in my fridge. This book doesn't have recipes but rather ingredient pairing and cooking method suggestions for nearly every vegetable. I've found several dishes that are now staples of my work lunch rotation, many of which I could make with what ingredients I already had in my kitchen. If you're starting a cookbook library I definitely recommend it!
Elayna's pick!
Kelsey's pick!
Alexa's pick!
Alexa says: I loved everything about this story. The roads to and from separation of these two sisters and what ends up being the priorities of both, and then their offspring engulfed me.
Ever's Pick!
Ever says: Daisy Johnson does it again! Sisters is a contemporary Gothic masterpiece reminiscent of Helen Oyeyemi's White is for Witching. Johnson's incredible prose and knack for creating settings that feel like characters in their own right make Sisters a fast paced read that begs to be read again as soon as the last page is finished.
Naomi's Pick!
Naomi Says: Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman, two long-distance and badass besties, celebrate friendship and inspire readers to prioritize these important relationships. The audiobook from @librofm was fantastic as is their podcast Call Your Girlfriend. I was so uplifted by this book!
