Staff Picks by Tag

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Monstrilio By Gerardo Sámano Córdova Cover Image
$27.00
ISBN: 9781638930365
Availability: On our shelves now at one or more of our stores
Published: Zando - March 7th, 2023

This story completely devoured me, down to the bone, squeaky clean, with its big unhinged jaw. It is laden with grief, visceral yet tender, sweet and painful. Bizarre and surreal, but portrays the tangible experience of love so perfectly. This book feels like a small and strange creature that you will love unconditionally, no matter how absurd – you can’t help it.


Review by Javi

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Candelaria: A Novel By Melissa Lozada-Oliva Cover Image
$28.00
ISBN: 9781662601804
Availability: On our shelves now at one or more of our stores
Published: Astra House - September 19th, 2023

I never thought I would describe something as One Hundred Years of Solitude meets The Royal Tenenbaums - if both those creators watched Suspiria and Night of the Living Dead back-to-back during a popcorn-heavy slumber party. But then I dove into Candelaria and was met with all my favorite influences, along with the voice of someone entirely beautiful and unique to the genre. 

 


Review by Sarah C.

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Creep: Accusations and Confessions By Myriam Gurba Cover Image
$27.00
ISBN: 9781982186470
Availability: On our shelves now at one or more of our stores
Published: Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster - September 5th, 2023

To call this collection of essays a challenge to the status quo wouldn't get my full point across - Myriam Gurba actively kicks back with an unforgiving ferocity, delivering blows to rape culture, colonialism, familial machismo, and the deifying of Joan Didion as the queen of a (stolen) California.

 


Review by Sarah C.

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The Houseguest: And Other Stories By Amparo Dávila, Matthew Gleeson (Translated by), Audrey Harris (Translated by) Cover Image
By Amparo Dávila, Matthew Gleeson (Translated by), Audrey Harris (Translated by)
$14.95
ISBN: 9780811228213
Availability: On our shelves now at one or more of our stores
Published: New Directions - November 27th, 2018

I hate scary things. I don't get why one would choose to feel fear. But this little book got me. I was mesmerized by the discomfort these stories brought me, in small doses and somehow overwhelmingly. She leans into the eeriness of the everyday and the miniscule uncanniness that lingers in her juicy and transfixing prose. Dávila may have made me less fearful and hesitant of being afraid. 


Review by Sofia

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The Forgery By Ave Barrera, Ellen Jones (Translator), Robin Myers (Translator) Cover Image
By Ave Barrera, Ellen Jones (Translator), Robin Myers (Translator)
$15.95
ISBN: 9781913867157
Availability: On our shelves now at one or more of our stores
Published: Charco Press - July 26th, 2022

Who knew art forgery was so dark and dangerous??! A fun ride that you never want to end. Perfect beach read IMO! 


Review by Rosa

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The Man Who Could Move Clouds: A Memoir By Ingrid Rojas Contreras Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9780593311165
Availability: On our shelves now at one or more of our stores
Published: Anchor - July 11th, 2023

In this memoir, Ingrid Rojas Contreras examines the violence that has impacted her family since the Spanish invasion of pre-colonial Colombia, and the perseverance of her indigenous heritage in the magical practices that have been carried through the (male) generations. Meditations on memory, trauma, beliefs, and history are both lyrical and thought-provoking, especially when Rojas Contreras laser focuses on her relationship with her mercurial mother and their mirror-image experiences with amnesia and supernatural experiences. 

 


Review by Sarah C.

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Dreaming of You: A Novel in Verse By Melissa Lozada-Oliva Cover Image
$15.00
ISBN: 9781662601651
Availability: On our shelves now at one or more of our stores
Published: Astra House - September 27th, 2022

Written as a novel in verse, our main character brings Selena back from the dead to fill the hole in her life that isn't being filled by romance. Beautiful hybrid of poetry and prose brimming with personality that will actually make you laugh out loud and tear you up. Will definitely be one I'll read over and over again!

 


Review by Emily

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The Town of Babylon: A Novel By Alejandro Varela Cover Image
$27.00
ISBN: 9781662601033
Availability: On our shelves now at one or more of our stores
Published: Astra House - March 22nd, 2022

Its only March but this may just be the best book I've read in 2022! A beautiful novel about coming home, confronting the past, and embracing the future. This book put me in ALL MY FEELS and I havent been the same since. 


Review by Rosa

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All Day Is a Long Time: A Novel By David Sanchez Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9780063271524
Availability: On our shelves now at one or more of our stores
Published: Harper Perennial - January 10th, 2023

An unfiltered account of addiction that does not glamorize the disease of addiction. Some of the best writing I've read in a long time. 


Review by Rosa

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Dreaming of You: A Novel in Verse By Melissa Lozada-Oliva Cover Image
$15.00
ISBN: 9781662601651
Availability: On our shelves now at one or more of our stores
Published: Astra House - September 27th, 2022

This is a novel in verse that tells the story of a young woman who decides to being back the singer Selena from the dead. But it's so much more than that. It's about loneliness, feminism, the culture behind fandom and queer/latinidad identity. TOP TEN BOOK 2021 OF FOR ME!  


Review by Rosa

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