staff picks
Bread and Circus
by Airea D Matthews
Author's website: www.aireadee.com
Drawing upon economics, theology, and psychology, Bread and Circus explores the lived experiences of those impacted by poverty and racial injustice. This poetry collection is innovative not only in its dissection of established ideals but also in its experimentation with poetic form, with a highlight being blackout poems made by subverting key words in economic texts. The final section of the collection is an especially moving series on collective grief and hope.
-Alyssa S., GSSWSR '24
Lost World of the Old Ones
David Roberts continues to recount his adventures through time and the American Southwest in this 2015 book. He continues to reveal hidden archaeological sites throughout the Four Corners region, as well as discuss modern issues surrounding said sites. This book is perfect for learning about the Ancestral Pueblo and American Southwest alike. If you enjoy outdoors books in the vein of Jon Krakaur, you are bound to like this narrative.
-- Mira O, BMC '24
In this thrilling story of intellectual and archaeological discovery, David Roberts recounts his last twenty years of far-flung exploits in search of spectacular prehistoric ruins and rock art panels known to very few modern travelers. His adventures range across Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and southwestern Colorado, and illuminate the mysteries of the Ancestral Puebloans and their contemporary neighbors the Mogollon and Fremont, as well as of the more recent Navajo and Comanche.
Deaf Republic
by Ilya Kaminsky
At the trial of God, we will ask: why did you allow all this?
And the answer will be an echo: why did you allow all this?
Deaf Republic is an intimate confrontation of violence towards the vulnerable, balancing sign language and deaf culture with lyrical reckoning. Kaminsky's attention to moments of tenderness and power in times of oppression is a galvanizing call to care for others. A must-read.
- Alyssa S., GSSWSR '24
Finalist for the National Book Award - Finalist for the PEN/Jean Stein Award - Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award - Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize - Winner of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award - Winner of the National Jewish Book Award - Finalist for the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award - Finalist for the T. S. Eliot Prize - Finalist for the Forward Prize for Best Collection
Ilya Kaminsky's astonishing parable in poems asks us, What is silence?
Fearless Girls, Wise Women, and Beloved Sisters
This anthology features heroines from all across the world. It is a refreshing break from folklore that focuses heavily on male narratives. If you enjoy mythology and folklore, this book is a great addition to the collection, as well as a preview of stories outside the fairytails of the Brothers Grimm.
-- Mira O, BMC '24
Dismayed by the predominance of male protagonists in her daughters' books, Kathleen Ragan set out to collect the stories of our forgotten heroines. Gathered from around the world, from regions as diverse as sub-Saharan Africa and Western Europe, from North and South American Indian cultures and New World settlers, from Asia and the Middle East, these 100 folktales celebrate strong female heroines.
Fearless Girls, Wise Women, and Beloved Sisters is for all women who are searching to define who they are, to redefine the world and shape their collective sensibility. It is for men who want to know more about what it means to be a woman. It is for our daughters and our sons, so that they can learn to value all kinds of courage, courage in battle and the courage of love. It is for all of us to help build a more just vision of woman.
Long Way to a Small Angry Planet
The Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet is a fresh and uplifting approach to the sci-fi genre. By following the diverse crew of the Wayfarer, we are introduced to a thoughtful and character driven story where you can’t help but fall in love with the created found family. After putting it down, I remember looking up at the stars and rethinking my place in the universe.
-- Grace R, BMC '25
National Bestseller!
The acclaimed modern science fiction masterpiece, Hugo Award winner for Best Series!
Follow a motley crew on an exciting journey through space--and one adventurous young explorer who discovers the meaning of family in the far reaches of the universe--in this light-hearted debut space opera from a rising sci-fi star.
Rosemary Harper doesn't expect much when she joins the crew of the aging Wayfarer. While the patched-up ship has seen better days, it offers her a bed, a chance to explore the far-off corners of the galaxy, and most importantly, some distance from her past. An introspective young woman who learned early to keep to herself, she's never met anyone remotely like the ship's diverse crew, including Sissix, the exotic reptilian pilot, chatty engineers Kizzy and Jenks who keep the ship running, and Ashby, their noble captain.
Life aboard the Wayfarer is chaotic and crazy--exactly what Rosemary wants. It's also about to get extremely dangerous when the crew is offered the job of a lifetime. Tunneling wormholes through space to a distant planet is definitely lucrative and will keep them comfortable for years. But risking her life wasn't part of the plan. In the far reaches of deep space, the tiny Wayfarer crew will confront a host of unexpected mishaps and thrilling adventures that force them to depend on each other. To survive, Rosemary's got to learn how to rely on this assortment of oddballs--an experience that teaches her about love and trust, and that having a family isn't necessarily the worst thing in the universe.
Mexican Gothic
Mexican Gothic is reminiscent of classics such as Rebecca and Wuthering Heights. It is a dark tale that speaks to the effects of colonization on families and the strength it takes for them to survive. I enjoyed this book as it reads like a psychological thriller with tones of magical realism, evoking similar themes to gothic films of the 1940s and 50s.
-- Taylor W., BMC '23
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
IN DEVELOPMENT AS A HULU ORIGINAL LIMITED SERIES PRODUCED BY KELLY RIPA AND MARK CONSUELOS - WINNER OF THE LOCUS AWARD - NOMINATED FOR THE BRAM STOKER AWARD
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, NPR, The Washington Post, Tordotcom, Marie Claire, Vox, Mashable, Men's Health, Library Journal, Book Riot, LibraryReads
An isolated mansion. A chillingly charismatic aristocrat. And a brave socialite drawn to expose their treacherous secrets. . . . From the author of Gods of Jade and Shadow comes "a terrifying twist on classic gothic horror" (Kirkus Reviews) set in glamorous 1950s Mexico.
After receiving a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemí Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She's not sure what she will find--her cousin's husband, a handsome Englishman, is a stranger, and Noemí knows little about the region.
Noemí is also an unlikely rescuer: She's a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she's also tough and smart, with an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: Not of her cousin's new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemí; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemi's dreams with visions of blood and doom.
Her only ally in this inhospitable abode is the family's youngest son. Shy and gentle, he seems to want to help Noemí, but might also be hiding dark knowledge of his family's past. For there are many secrets behind the walls of High Place. The family's once colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemí digs deeper she unearths stories of violence and madness.
And Noemí, mesmerized by the terrifying yet seductive world of High Place, may soon find it impossible to ever leave this enigmatic house behind.
"It's as if a supernatural power compels us to turn the pages of the gripping Mexican Gothic."--The Washington Post
"Mexican Gothic is the perfect summer horror read, and marks Moreno-Garcia with her hypnotic and engaging prose as one of the genre's most exciting talents."--Nerdist
"A period thriller as rich in suspense as it is in lush '50s atmosphere."--Entertainment Weekly
Pachinko
Pachinko is so soapy! I went through it so quickly and cried my eyes out toward the end. It is the book I recommend to anyone and everyone!
- Angelica C., Book Associate
Thus Was Adonis Murdered
Not, strictly speaking, a campus crime novel, but it's hard to imagine a more academic investigation: the principle narrator is an Oxford don who is explict about applying the tools of scholarship to crime solving. This is the first of four thoroughly delightful mysteries by Sarah Caudwell featuring "a decorative little group" of lawyers in London. Mawrters will find the series irresistable.
- Jim Huang, Bookshop Director
THUS WAS ADONIS MURDERED - THE SHORTEST WAY TO HADES - THE SIRENS SANG OF MURDER - THE SIBYL IN HER GRAVE
Murder Is Academic
P.M. Carlson's campus crime novels are populated by lively, intelligent, good-humored students and grown-ups, just like the people whom we find on real campuses. Carlson also gets how colleges work. Her mysteries feel real, but they're also the best version of real: we wish we could be on Carlson's campuses, hanging out with her people. Murder Is Academic is Carlson's second Maggie Ryan mystery -- a more conventional whodunit than the series opener, Audition for Murder, and a litlte darker. Set in the late '60s and early '70s, they are terrific mysteries and engaging explorations of recent history. Highly recommend, so highly that when the original publishers Avon and Bantam let them go, I brought all eight books back into print so that readers could get them all.
- Jim Huang, Bookshop Director