This book is for booksellers, writers, history buffs, abolitionists, radicals, and anyone in the book industry.
From Chapter 1:
“One of the many prevailing truths about bookstores is their ability to build on one another’s work and move the industry forward with new ideas. I liken the “Black book ecosystem,” a term coined by Troy Johnson, creator of the African American Literature Book Club, to a tree in this way. There are branches and leaves of booksellers, writers, publishers, and more that all exist on a single root system grounded in a desire to educate at the very least and mobilize at most.”
This is the book you give to The Reader in your life. This isn’t just a love letter to books-this is 121 love letters to books! Each letter by an author, historian, journalist, musician, scientist, explorer, director, etc. is paired with an art piece from a different creator. That relative who only talks about literature? That friend whose desk and floor are covered in books? That person you know who could spend 4+ hours in a bookstore smelling each book as they browse? This book is for them. And for you. And for anyone who feels absolute love and adoration for books and reading.
If you only read one book this year ...it should be this one. Dripping with humanity, empathy, and an understanding that is both personal and global, El Akkad has written something that is fiercely and painfully needed. Finalist for the National Book Award, Finalist for the PNBA Book Awards, Short-Listed for the 2025 Palestine Book Awards and future winner of all, this book has rewired my brain and I hope, will do the same for many others.
“And it may seem now like it’s someone else’s children, but there’s no such thing as someone else’s children.”p.s. I highly recommend the audiobook, which El Akkad reads himself. Hearing the emotion in his voice adds a layer of depth and gravity.
Can I write a staff pick for something that isn’t a book? Well, I’m going to! I was initially drawn to the dreamlike artwork–gorgeous mixed media illustrations with colors and natural elements you'll want to dive into. After a single use, I knew this would become my go-to recommendation for tarot decks. A take on the classic Rider-Waite, this deck is great for beginners or seasoned readers. With a focus on growth, mental wellness, and personal fulfillment, this deck is encouraging, grounding, prompts introspection, creativity, and mindfulness. Simply put, this deck (and you) are made of magic.
Revolutionary Letters is as much a poetry collection as it is unabashed, radical, stream of consciousness speeches. Di Prima was one of the few female beatnik writers allowed in the boys’ club of the literary movement. Certain letters seem most pertinent to the time they were written, while others hold ideas that give perspective on radical movements and anti-establishment mindsets of today.
It seems too cliche to use "powerful" to describe this poetry collection….impactful? Beautiful? Wrenching? Introspective? Thoughtful? Intentional? There isn’t a word succinct enough to encapsulate the muchness of this work. Based on her one woman show of the same name, Are You Listening? is composed of the poems from the show and then some (reflections on home, belonging, grief, empowerment). It’s poetry. It’s memoir. It’s now on your TBR.
This book could just as easily be shelved in our Grief section. The narrative switches between the perspective of a widowed father, his young boys, and a gigantic crow–a physical manifestation of their grief. The crow adds a welcomed layer of whimsical absurdity to the story. After the death of a close friend, I found a lot of comfort in this story. There were many thoughts expressed by the characters that put to words exactly what I was feeling, when I didn’t know how to articulate it myself.
An ode to the 1850s poem “Goblin Market” by Christina Rossetti, this beautifully illustrated picture book is a tale of caution, cleverness, and sisterhood. Sisters Mina and Millie have been warned about the market. When Mina ventures out and doesn’t return, Millie knows she has been tricked by the goblins. Will Millie’s determination and wit be enough to save her sister?
I love the trope of an unreliable narrator and at points you can’t tell whether the main character is delusional or whimsically fantastical in her thinking. Hunt created some of the best metaphors I have read in quite some time. There were many sentences that I read over and over; entire paragraphs that I wanted to live inside. Intriguing, quick read.
This book is so sweet! Leilah is determined to solve a problem that her mother won’t recognize. She’s curious, honest, flawed, spunky, and adventurous. Loose Threads is a simple story that can flip your perspective inside out!
The moment after I read the last sentence, I sent a message to Lissa thanking her for writing this. In a beautiful combination of linguistics, letters, and love, Lissa shares her story of grief after the unrelated passing of two of her closest friends. As someone with an affinity for language, I deeply appreciate her use of linguistic philosophy and theory to impress the weight of words and meaning and how they emanate beyond their initial utterance. I have sinfully dog-eared many of my copy’s pages in an attempt to squirrel away sentences for when I need to read them most. I hope this book brings readers the same comfort it brought me.
memoir, grief, family & relationships, literary criticism, books & reading
Repression Queen is a memoir, freckled with tg fantasy erotica short stories.
It’s not about gender transition, but what comes before it. It’s about men turning into women, and magic, and shame, and fear, and acceptance, and relationships, and privilege, and sex, and epiphanies, and addiction, and love. I’m grateful this book exists, for anyone who can relate to the feeling of not being at home in your skin.
I knew I was going to make this a staff pick before I even bought it. The list of contributors is both impressive and inspiring. Uniquely presented in a combination of short stories, interviews, graphic memoirs, and other formats, this collection gives perspective on the Black punk experience (and a kick-ass list of bands that you should be listening to). The pieces of this anthology exhibit the creation of community out of places of loneliness, of belonging out of otherness, of acceptance out of rejection of and by family, society, and the punk scene itself. And what’s more punk than rejecting boxed-in notions of what punk is while proclaiming your punkness?
I will likely be recommending all of Nethercott’s books; her blend of folklore, fantasy, and real life makes you question whether the monsters in these pages may exist in your own life. Her magical collection of short stories kept me curious (in the way one might be curious what that shadow is lurking on the other side of a foggy bog). Each monster is inspired by past lovers and partners, some more devious than others…but all with the capacity to
eatbreak your heart.
