Staff Picks by Tag

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If I'm Being Honest By Emily Wibberley, Austin Siegemund-Broka Cover Image
$12.99
ISBN: 9780451478665
Availability: Out of stock, usually available in 3-10 days
Published: Viking Books for Young Readers - February 4th, 2020

Cameron Bright is pretty and popular, but brutally honest. Her crappy home life is no excuse for failure so Cameron works hard and chases her goals: date crush Andrew, get an internship at her father's office, and get into the Wharton School at UPenn. But when Andrew calls her a bitch, her normal teflon-tough exterior chips. Like Katherine in Taming of the Shrew, does she need to be tamed? 

A millenial teen retelling of the film 10 Things I Hate About You that draws heavily from Shakespeare, If I'm Being Honest is crafted with thoughtful, real-world stakes. Cameron's a ringer for Blair Waldorf - and yet she genuinely learns from her mistakes and works to become a better person. Her social circle is rooted in relatable struggles like making new friends, keeping old friendships alive, being supportive, and managing conflict. She's flawed and *almost* unlikeable but the more I learned about her family dynamics, the more I rooted for her to make better choices and follow a path of her own making. 



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Deep River By Karl Marlantes Cover Image
$20.00
ISBN: 9780802148971
Availability: On our shelves now at one or more of our stores
Published: Grove Press - July 14th, 2020

Amazing characters and regional history. One of my top 10 books of the year.


Review by Robert

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Rusty Brown (Pantheon Graphic Library) By Chris Ware Cover Image
$35.00
ISBN: 9780375424328
Availability: Out of stock, usually available in 3-10 days
Published: Pantheon - September 24th, 2019

You can feel the twelve years it took to create this intricate and ingenious contrivance of a comic, in which Chris Ware mines familiar themes of alienation, longing, and being a poorly socialized misfit that gets beaten up by jocks using an extraordinarily sophisticated comics syntax that rewards multiple rereadings.


Review by Stephen

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Our Wild Calling: How Connecting with Animals Can Transform Our Lives—and Save Theirs By Richard Louv Cover Image
$16.95
ISBN: 9781643750842
Availability: On our shelves now at one or more of our stores
Published: Algonquin Books - November 10th, 2020

I love this book because Louv doesn’t lecture the reader. The focus is not on what we might be doing wrong, but on all the ways humans and other animals have done well together—and why. It covers childhood pets, wild encounters, studies of our mutual makeup, ways of communicating, and more! If anything, this combination of diverse anecdotes and research encourages awe  and open observation when we connect with nature, and an acknowledgement of the benefits therein. 


Review by Katelynn

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High School By Sara Quin, Tegan Quin Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9781250758187
Availability: Out of stock, usually available in 3-10 days
Published: Picador - November 17th, 2020

For every young creative who is just trying to find their place in the world. Reading this feels like you’re reading the diary of your best friend.


Review by Rosa

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Nothing Fancy: Unfussy Food for Having People Over By Alison Roman Cover Image
$32.50
ISBN: 9780451497017
Availability: On our shelves now at one or more of our stores
Published: Clarkson Potter - October 22nd, 2019

This is the cookbook of the season. Buy it for newlyweds, buy it for yourself, buy it for babies who will probably cook in the future.


Review by Kitri

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The Starless Sea: A Novel By Erin Morgenstern Cover Image
$20.00
ISBN: 9781101971383
Availability: On our shelves now at one or more of our stores
Published: Anchor - August 4th, 2020

I recommend sinking into The Starless Sea and luxuriating there. This is not a book to rush. The scope is enormous, the plot is stranger and intricate. This book will take you may places and you'll have to trust it but you should you're in very good hands. I found it delicious and rewarding.


Review by Allie

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Tears of the Trufflepig: A Novel By Fernando A. Flores Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9780374538330
Availability: On our shelves now at one or more of our stores
Published: MCD x FSG Originals - May 14th, 2019

If Haruki Murikami had been born in Mexico and raised in southern Texas, this is the book he would have written. It's futuristic and hallucinogenic look at that region gives us a unique and welcome lens to view the border. 


Review by Robert

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Grimm: The Illustrated Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm By Jacob Grimm, Wilhelm Grim Cover Image
$24.95
Unavailable at this time.
ISBN: 9783899557886
Published: Little Gestalten - May 25th, 2017

A classic collection has been given a new makeover. This stylish edition has been stuff with gorgeous new illustrations by a highly curated selection of artists. A perfect gift for the young (or the young at heart) artist/book collector/designer/folktale enthusiast on your list. 


Review by Kitri

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The Trouble with Women By Jacky Fleming Cover Image
$12.99
Unavailable at this time.
ISBN: 9781449479763
Published: Andrews McMeel Publishing - September 20th, 2016

"Women have been retrieving each other from the Dustbin of history for several thousand years now..."

Jacky Fleming is doing just that with this work of wit. In it we are confronted with the laughable ideas about women held by male 'geniuses' of the past, ideas that have facilitated the erasure of women's voices and accomplishments throughout history. Dripping with sarcasm and accompanied by charming illustrations, this is an easy laugh out loud read that you will want to share.