Books of the Year 2022

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When the Night Agrees to Speak to Me By Ananda Devi, Kazim Ali (Translator) Cover Image
By Ananda Devi, Kazim Ali (Translator)
$16.95
ISBN: 9781646051885
Availability: On Our Shelves
Published: Phoneme Media - August 16th, 2022

One of the great Francophone poets working today. Devi's verse is intimate yet epic, and elemental without neglecting the body. The four poems in this book (ably translated by Kazim Ali) make most other contemporary poets seem spectacularly unambitious.

-Hank


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Tell Me I'm Worthless By Alison Rumfitt Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781250866233
Availability: On Our Shelves
Published: Tor Nightfire - January 17th, 2023

No live organism can continue to exist compassionately under conditions of absolute fascism, even the birds in Italy under Mussolini were observed to take part in rallies and violence. [...] Silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of the house, and whatever walked there marched on Rome.

I have defied temporal dictates and declared a book that publishes 1/17/23 as my best of '22. To be fair, I read the UK release (10/28/21), and before that I read the first draft (c. 2020). I spent '22 waiting for it to wash up on this side of the Atlantic. Tell Me I'm Worthless is a thoroughly unpleasant book-- I mean that as a compliment!-- about the tacit cooperation between "gender critical"/trans-exclusionary feminism and fascism.Three girls enter a haunted house. Two girls leave. Alice and Ila can't comprehend what happened at Albion House or what they did(n't? do) to each other. Afterwards Alice scrapes by recording sissy porn, while Ila embraces gender-critical thought. Rumfitt cares deeply for her characters, writing Alice and Ila with equal tenderness and cruelty ("I have to believe that other people have also experienced impossible, horrible things," Alice thinks). But Albion still haunts them, Albion which is Britain, and fascism, and the kind of illusory safety from trauma you achieve only by declaring us vs. them.

-Emily


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Leech By Hiron Ennes Cover Image
$27.99
ISBN: 9781250811189
Availability: On Our Shelves
Published: Tordotcom - September 27th, 2022

Leech is one of those books that has a little something for everyone, yet is weird enough to be wholly unique in this world. Frozen north Gothic tragedies? Medical mysteries? Far-future archaeologies? Philosophical/ethical quandaries? A little body-horror and a LOT of delicious psychological horror?? Yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes! All told by perhaps the most interesting narrator I've ever encountered. Pick it up and let it into your mind!

-Graham


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Witches: The Complete Collection (Omnibus) By Daisuke Igarashi Cover Image
$24.99
ISBN: 9781648278396
Availability: On Our Shelves
Published: Seven Seas - May 3rd, 2022

In my undergraduate studies as a comics artist, fan-translations of Daisuke Igarashi's short stories were passed around surreptitiously in PDF format by students and professors alike. It's a joy to see the work of such a master in print at last. Right from the opening title spread, rendered painstakingly in the style of an illuminated manuscript, Witches seizes you with its uncanny beauty. This is not Disney magic -- this is cunning magic, chthonic magic, as beautiful, terrible, and inscrutable as the universe itself. These seven stories take us from the Amazon to the Alps to rural Japan, joined by a conception of the witch as bridge between the human and the cosmic. Igarashi's taste for striking, dreamlike imagery (occasionally veering into horror that would make Junji Ito jump) makes every splash page unforgettable.

-Graham


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Fighting Is Like a Wife By Eloisa Amezcua Cover Image
$16.95
ISBN: 9781566896344
Availability: On Our Shelves
Published: Coffee House Press - April 12th, 2022

Another Coffee House Press classic!! Beautiful and strange collection of poetry based on the life of boxer Bobby "Schoolboy" Chacon and his wife Valorie Ginn. These poems sing with the brutality of boxing and its physical/mental toll. Amezcua experiments with form and structure. Visually stunning -- wildly imaginative poems. The fights have never been written quite like this.

-Joe


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The Whalebone Theatre: A novel By Joanna Quinn Cover Image
$29.00
ISBN: 9780593321706
Availability: On Our Shelves
Published: Knopf - October 4th, 2022

In the years between wars, the Seagrave siblings - Cristobel, Flossie, and Digby - grow up in a Dorset manse. Fueled by Cristobel's imagination, they establish a summer theater in the skeleton of a beached whale. As WWII looms, all three serve in one way or another as undercover agents. All in all, a whale of a book that touches every emotion.

-Jean


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Gut: Poems (Miller Williams Poetry Prize) By J. Bailey Hutchinson Cover Image
$17.95
ISBN: 9781682262023
Availability: On Our Shelves
Published: University of Arkansas Press - March 1st, 2022

Gut made me want to get my feet dirty in the muddy Mississippi riverbanks. It made me want to feel the Memphis sun on my forehead. It made me want to hug Mitzi (you'll meet her). Hutchinson explores life's ebb and flow through nature, the ritual of feasts, family traditions, and death, among other memories. Wise, humble, gritty yet delicate.

-Milan


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My Tender Matador By Pedro Lemebel, Katherine Silver (Translator) Cover Image
By Pedro Lemebel, Katherine Silver (Translator)
$16.00
ISBN: 9780802141873
Availability: On Our Shelves
Published: Grove Press - February 1st, 2005

The book I read last year that I can't stop thinking about is My Tender Matador by the Chilean author Pedro Lemebel. Set during the final days of the Pinochet dictatorship, the novel tells the story of a flamboyantly gay man, eking out a living making dresses for the wives of generals and politicians. When he meets a handsome guerrilla, the two enter a relationship of mutual deception. Soon they're scouting locations for an assassination attempt, under the guise of a Sunday picnic in the country. Politics, love, fantasy, and denial swirl together in a complex story that is as funny as it is searing and caustic. The setting may be the other side of the world, but I know no better portrait of the moral and emotional complexity of life under duress--and the beauty to be found in the cracks of a crumbling system.

-David


New Year, New Experiences!

How's everyone doing on their New Year's Resolutions? If you didn't make any, you know, there's no law against starting in late January... or February or March. New Years Resolutions aren't just about self-care and self-improvement (thought they can be) but also about expanding your world and trying new experiences. If you're not sure what to resolve, we've got a table full of inspirations for ways to make 2023 your best year yet!

Financial Feminist: Overcome the Patriarchy's Bullsh*t to Master Your Money and Build a Life You Love By Tori Dunlap Cover Image
$22.00
ISBN: 9780063260269
Availability: On Our Shelves
Published: Dey Street Books - December 27th, 2022

Plan, Dream, Reflect Journal: A 3-Year Journal for Looking Back and Forward By Katharine Watson Cover Image
$16.95
ISBN: 9781797200705
Availability: On Our Shelves
Published: Chronicle Books - October 18th, 2022

Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away By Annie Duke Cover Image
$28.00
ISBN: 9780593422991
Availability: On Our Shelves
Published: Portfolio - October 4th, 2022

The Artist's Way: 30th Anniversary Edition By Julia Cameron Cover Image
$19.00
ISBN: 9780143129257
Availability: Not in our store, available to order
Published: TarcherPerigee - October 25th, 2016

Wanderess: The Unearth Women Guide to Traveling Smart, Safe, and Solo By Nikki Vargas, Elise Fitzsimmons Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9780593138496
Availability: On Our Shelves
Published: Clarkson Potter - February 1st, 2022

Sourdough by Science: Understanding Bread Making for Successful Baking By Karyn Lynn Newman, PhD Cover Image
$32.95
ISBN: 9781682687000
Availability: Not in our store, available to order
Published: Countryman Press - January 25th, 2022

Beginner Gardening Step by Step: A Visual Guide to Yard and Garden Basics By DK Cover Image
By DK
$22.99
ISBN: 9781465477002
Availability: On Our Shelves
Published: DK - February 12th, 2019

Vogue Knitting the Ultimate Knitting Book: Completely Revised & Updated By Vogue Knitting Magazine (Editor) Cover Image
$39.95
ISBN: 9781942021698
Availability: On Our Shelves
Published: Sixth & Spring Books - February 6th, 2018

Codependent No More: How to Stop Controlling Others and Start Caring for Yourself (Revised and Updated) By Melody Beattie Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9781954118218
Availability: On Our Shelves
Published: Spiegel & Grau - October 25th, 2022

The Art of Communicating By Thich Nhat Hanh Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9780062224668
Availability: On Our Shelves
Published: HarperOne - September 2nd, 2014

How to Tell a Story: The Essential Guide to Memorable Storytelling from The Moth By The Moth, Meg Bowles, Catherine Burns, Jenifer Hixson, Sarah Austin Jenness, Kate Tellers, Padma Lakshmi (Foreword by), Chenjerai Kumanyika (Introduction by) Cover Image
$28.00
ISBN: 9780593139004
Availability: Not in our store, available to order
Published: Crown - April 26th, 2022

The Way of Nagomi: The Japanese Philosophy of Finding Balance and Peace in Everything You Do By Ken Mogi Cover Image
$18.95
ISBN: 9781615198696
Availability: Not in our store, available to order
Published: The Experiment - January 3rd, 2023

Comfortable with Uncertainty: 108 Teachings on Cultivating Fearlessness and Compassion By Pema Chodron Cover Image
$16.95
ISBN: 9781611805956
Availability: On Our Shelves
Published: Shambhala - March 27th, 2018

The Love Prescription: Seven Days to More Intimacy, Connection, and Joy (The Seven Days Series #1) By John Gottman, PhD, Julie Schwartz Gottman, PhD Cover Image
$15.00
ISBN: 9780143136637
Availability: Not in our store, available to order
Published: Penguin Life - September 27th, 2022

All That the Rain Promises and More: A Hip Pocket Guide to Western Mushrooms By David Arora Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9780898153880
Availability: Not in our store, available to order
Published: Ten Speed Press - February 1st, 1991

Peterson Field Guide To Birds Of Eastern & Central North America, Seventh Ed. (Peterson Field Guides) By Roger Tory Peterson Cover Image
$19.99
ISBN: 9781328771438
Availability: On Our Shelves
Published: Mariner Books - October 13th, 2020

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking By Samin Nosrat, Wendy MacNaughton (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Samin Nosrat, Wendy MacNaughton (Illustrator)
$37.50
ISBN: 9781476753836
Availability: On Our Shelves
Published: Simon & Schuster - April 25th, 2017

Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal from Distant, Rejecting, or Self-Involved Parents By Lindsay C. Gibson Cover Image
$18.95
ISBN: 9781626251700
Availability: Backordered
Published: New Harbinger Publications - June 1st, 2015

Holiday Staff Picks 2022

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O Caledonia: A Novel By Elspeth Barker, Maggie O'Farrell (Introduction by) Cover Image
By Elspeth Barker, Maggie O'Farrell (Introduction by)
$16.00
ISBN: 9781668004616
Availability: On Our Shelves
Published: Scribner - September 20th, 2022

Misfit Janet navigates sibling rivalry, the judgment of her family, Calvinism, and her own bad reputation in this lyrically beautiful AND nicely grotesque novel-- the natural meeting of I Capture the Castle and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, with a dash of Roald Dahl. It starts and ends unhappily; there's no especially likeable characters; the mood is best described as squalid. The perfect book for a rotten, unlovable child turned wayward woman. -Emily


Staff Pick Badge
Family Traits: The Fantastic Bestiary of a Father and His Sons By Thomas Romain, Itsuki Romain, Ryunosuke Romain Cover Image
$29.99
ISBN: 9781772940923
Availability: On Our Shelves
Published: Udon Entertainment - March 26th, 2019

Courtesy of animator-illustrator Thomas Romain, the most wholesome art book you've ever seen. Each spread features an original character drawn and invented by one of his two young sons, and then his own depiction of the same character. Looking at the second drawing, you see Thomas's incredible talent, and his love for his children. Looking at the first, you see the enthusiasm and imagination he's nurtured in them. It's also impossible not to smile reading their respective descriptions (Romain the elder: "Like many artists of my generation, I find Akira Toriyama to be a big source of inspiration." Romain the younger: "The two left arms do normal attacks, and the two right arms specialize in magical attacks.") The perfect gift for any artist, however young or old. -Graham


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Night Fisher By R. Kikuo Johnson Cover Image
$19.99
ISBN: 9781683964704
Availability: On Our Shelves
Published: Fantagraphics - October 12th, 2021

Masterful brushwork; lived-in environments; chiaroscuro compositions that brilliantly balance richness and sparcity. Nail-biting scenes propelled by careful, deliberate pacing, brought to life with naturalistic dialogue and character acting. And a sense of place so strong that the island-paradise Hawaii of popular stereotype is completely flushed from your mind. It's truly hard to imagine this book is Johnson's first release, because every page is a masterclass on visual storytelling. Its nondidactic story, simple enough on the surface, churns with class tensions and adolescent confusion. Night Fisher leaves you with not much more than an incandescently vivid slice of life, like your own teenaged memories, compressed by the passage of time into raw, irreducible feeling. -Graham


Staff Pick Badge
The Wolf, the Duck, and the Mouse By Mac Barnett, Jon Klassen (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Mac Barnett, Jon Klassen (Illustrator)
$8.99
ISBN: 9781536227796
Availability: On Our Shelves
Published: Candlewick - September 27th, 2022

Fantastic book about friendship and making the best of it in tough situations. Plus, record party in a wolf's belly. Wonderful illustrations. Love how Klassen draws animals. Look at the duck walk! -Joe


Staff Pick Badge
The Whalebone Theatre: A novel By Joanna Quinn Cover Image
$29.00
ISBN: 9780593321706
Availability: On Our Shelves
Published: Knopf - October 4th, 2022

In the years between wars, the Seagrave siblings - Cristobel, Flossie, and Digby - grow up in a Dorset manse. Fueled by Cristobel's imagination, they establish a summer theater in the skeleton of a beached whale. As WWII looms, all three serve in one way or another as undercover agents. All in all, a whale of a book that touches every emotion. -Jean


Staff Pick Badge
Bread Head: Baking for the Road Less Traveled By Greg Wade, Rachel Holtzman Cover Image
$45.00
ISBN: 9780393866742
Availability: On Our Shelves
Published: W. W. Norton & Company - September 27th, 2022

I'm obsessed with the art and science behind bread and yeast. I love how yeast from different landscapes tastes and feels different. Like terroir in wine. Bread Head covers multiple preferments, types of wheat, and dishes from around the globe! Check out the paratha recipe! I plan to spend my winter months heating my cozy apartment with the hearth of baked goods coming to life! And this book will definitely help! -Milan


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Night of the Living Rez By Morgan Talty Cover Image
$16.95
ISBN: 9781953534187
Availability: On Our Shelves
Published: Tin House Books - July 5th, 2022

These interconnected stories are beautifully written and deeply moving. The book and Morgan Talty deserved much more attention than they received.  For fans of Louise Erdrich and Tommy Orange… My favorite book of 2022. -Nick


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The Jesus Cow: A Novel By Michael Perry Cover Image
$14.99
ISBN: 9780062289988
Availability: On Our Shelves
Published: Harper Perennial - May 17th, 2016

Perfect for everyone who moved away and misses the Midwest, fans of Kitchens of the Great Midwest and Lager Queens of Minnesota, and anyone looking for a funny but smart book. Harley Jackson just wants to enjoy his quiet farm life. But when a calf born on Christmas Eve arrives with the face of Jesus staring out from the pattern on its hide, Harley’s life is turned upside down. Soon he’s running a religious theme park in the middle of Wisconsin and wondering if he can ever have a normal Christmas again. Jesus Cow is a warm but clear-eyed ode to smalltown life and a laugh-out-loud funny visit to the loving heart of the Midwest. -David


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The Gospel According To Jesus Christ By José Saramago Cover Image
$15.99
ISBN: 9780156001410
Availability: On Our Shelves
Published: HarperVia - September 28th, 1994

The Portuguese legend revises the New Testament in his ironic, free-wheeling style. Jesus isn't a buzzkilling paragon of morality, but a flesh and blood man full of desire, lust, and doubt. It's the kind of irreverent fun that would have the religious right breaking out their pitchforks, but fortunately they don't read novels in translation. If they actually gave Saramago's gospel a go, they'd have to reckon with the truth: it's an improvement on the source material. -Hank


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