Zoe Thorogood
[isbn]
Zoe Thorogood, a cartoonist, recorded six months of her life as it fell apart as an attempt to put it all back together. I can't say whether or not this worked for her but it was certainly helpful to me. This story chronicles her struggles with mental health, her family, and her art as the endless wave of day-to-day trials and tribulations make these struggles easier or harder to keep a grip on. Though some parts of this story are silly and we... (read more)
Recommended by Aster A.
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Frederika Amalia Finkelstein and Isabel Cout and Christopher Elson
[isbn]
A twenty-something-year-old woman wanders the streets of 2010s Paris at night battling insomnia and intergenerational trauma. Her grandfather was a Holocaust survivor but has recently passed, and as she begins the difficult journey of processing that grief she begins to find a deeper understanding of how what he went through continues to affect her and her family and she begins to reconsider how the events of his life lead her to where she is... (read more)
Recommended by Aster A.
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Chris L Terry, James Spooner Spooner
[isbn]
This anthology of modern fiction, nonfiction, art, and comics describe punk today and gives a broader perspective as it delves into all the subgenres, styles, and personalities within Black Punk that are thriving and growing. The anthology approach to this book mixes generations and medias in a way that perfectly reflects the contents of the book and the scene they are highlighting. This technique also allows music lovers, history aficionados,... (read more)
Recommended by Aster A.
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Catherine Leroux and Susan Ouriou
[isbn]
This incredible work tackles problems both fictional and very real. Alongside the poisoned rivers and regenerative houses, Leroux also beautifully addresses ongoing racial and economic injustice, pollution, and violence. However, in this same struggle, we find strength, resilience, and power in community. In the strange world we live in today, this book is important and a great reminder that we are strongest as a community.
Recommended by Aster A.
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Amy Fleisher Madden
[isbn]
This book truly hit the nail on the head when it comes to what emo was then and now and what it means to so many people. If you ever considered yourself emo, even if it was “just a phase,” and even if the second and third waves weren’t your time, you should absolutely get this book. The only thing that has ever made me feel as seen as this book is the music it's about. This book is for anyone who had their whole world changed by a song. It's for... (read more)
Recommended by Aster A.
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Neil Gaiman
[isbn]
One of the best books I have ever read. I had never read Neil Gaiman before picking up this book, but now I want to read all his work. It's an incredible story in such a small book. The book puts you right where Coraline is and makes you really, truly feel every emotion, every anxiety. Even if you know what's going to happen next, you'll still find your heart racing. A great start for any young scare fanatic or a perfect addition for a seasoned... (read more)
Recommended by Aster A.
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Geoff Rickly
[isbn]
By far one of the best books I have ever read. This is one of those books that you want to tell everyone about because you can’t put it down, but is also so deeply personal that you want to keep it all to yourself. Rickly’s voice is stunningly creative and detailed and the world he has created here is the best modern adaptation I’ve read of any classic, but especially of Dante’s Divine Comedy. I genuinely cannot say enough good things... (read more)
Recommended by Aster A.
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Djuna and Anton Hur
[isbn]
The Korean conglomerate LK is creating an elevator into Earth’s orbit on the fictional island of Patusan, much to the displeasure of the Patusan people. This new hub of travel to and from our planet has turned their once quiet one-time stop tropical resort into a bustling gateway to the beyond. Originally planned to be a low-budget sci-fi movie, this antic novel features a maze of fake identities, neuro-implants, and political grievances from the... (read more)
Recommended by Aster A.
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Erika Kobayashi, Brian Bergstrom
[isbn]
Kobayashi continues to weave generations of women into stories of the wounds of nuclear power and the hubris of war, this time in a lyrical collection of eleven short stories. These stories follow the growth and change of nuclear power and how it mirrors the lives of the women in these stories. Though these generations are simply trying to live their lives, they each become their own perfect example of the irrevocable consequences of... (read more)
Recommended by Aster A.
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Sabda Armandio, Lara Norgaard
[isbn]
In this incredible twist of genres, Armandio combines futuristic science fiction, crime thrillers, and surreal fiction. In the distant future, Indonesia’s crowded capital city is underwater and a novelist searches the remains of the vast city for the story of an old, infamous crime. Hunting for any trace at all of Gaspar, a private-eye-turned-criminal-mastermind plans a seemingly simple robbery of a jewelry store; however, the heist reveals a... (read more)
Recommended by Aster A.
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Bernardo Zannoni and Alex Andriesse
[isbn]
Archy is a beech marten, born into poverty, maimed by an accident, and sold into servitude by his mother. His master Solomon, a pawn-broking fox, teaches him to read and write based on knowledge he got after a bible fell on his head while he was distracted feeding on a hanged man. Unable to forget what he now knows about God, life, and death, Archy feels torn between intellect and instinct, despite desperately longing to be a “real animal.”
This... (read more)
Recommended by Aster A.
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Blythe Baird
[isbn]
Blythe Baird is one of the first modern poets that truly got to me in the ways that so many classic poets did. The way she writes about struggle and recovery is simultaneously heartbreaking and healing. You can feel the moments behind each and every line, and no matter the content of any individual collection or poem, she shows you there is still hope and beauty, and for each moment out there that hurts you, there is another on the way that will... (read more)
Recommended by Aster A.
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Agustina Bazterrica, Sarah Moses
[isbn]
This collection of nineteen short stories is exactly what you would expect from the author of Tender is the Flesh, and I mean that in the best way. Once again, Bazterrica drags our darkest fears to light with tales of dystopia, alienation, and violence, but in her vivid and clever style, she also manages to make you laugh. This collection is witty, disturbing, and an absolute must-read. In many ways, reading these stories gave me that... (read more)
Recommended by Aster A.
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Virginia Woolf
[isbn]
This deeply poetic novel is often considered Woolf’s masterpiece. The novel itself serves as an excellent example of the complexity and diversity of topics and styles that Woolf includes throughout her work. This story begins with six children playing by the sea and discusses the light and joy in childhood and in friendship; in the very same novel, she uses these characters to show the reality of grief and sadness. Woolf did many interesting... (read more)
Recommended by Aster A.
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Olivia Gatwood
[isbn]
This collection is probably one of the most beautiful yet heartbreaking poetry collections I’ve had the pleasure of reading. From the very first poem, Gatwood begins to question what it really means and how it feels to be a girl, never holding back or shying away from the scariness or sadness of the truth. Far too often in this world, being a girl is about your body — how it looks, how it feels, and what you’re willing to do with it. Gatwood... (read more)
Recommended by Aster A.
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Sylvia Plath
[isbn]
This book is one of my favorite works of fiction. However, stating that has earned me more than one concerned glance over the years. The thing about this book is, even sixty years after its publication, it is something that many young girls, and young people in general, still relate to. Truly the most wonderful thing about this novel is its truth and vulnerability, both of which are often the reason people turn away from it. It is meant to be... (read more)
Recommended by Aster A.
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Blythe Baird
[isbn]
The very first poem lays bare what is to come in such a simple, yet strong way; both the title and the poem “When The Fat Girl Gets Skinny” express so many things that often feel inexpressible. This collection, which largely talks about Baird’s struggle with anorexia and the long road to recovery, truly speaks to the crushing weight that conventional beauty standards and diet culture put on young girls' shoulders and the pain of being... (read more)
Recommended by Aster A.
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Cameron Chiovitti
[isbn]
There is a quiet but powerful way that rejection, love, loss, and memory tangle themselves into our actions and our bodies and the poems within these pages showcase that in a way few other collections could. These poems also beautifully exemplify how we can often feel powerful memories as if those moments and those people are still with us.
Recommended by Aster A.
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Kyung-Sook Shin and Anton Hur
[isbn]
After years of emotional isolation, Hon is finally learning the whole truth about her father, her siblings, and the family's financial hardships
What we see Hon learn is not only a picture of her father and her family but a much larger portrait of a generation and gives a much better look at the scope of their sacrifice and heroism. Through this family and Shin’s beautifully detailed writing, a window is opened for us to look at family, grief,... (read more)
Recommended by Aster A.
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Bea Setton
[isbn]
A literary mystery which effortlessly switches between the creepy and mundane days of Daphne's new life in Berlin. We get to hear her (possibly paranoid) thoughts about her past and current loves, her stalker, her series of apartment misfortunes, and her continuous need to cut ties and begin again. This book holds you in suspense and makes you care for a main character you aren't even sure you want to like.
Recommended by Aster A.
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Jessica Cuello
[isbn]
A haunting and beautiful, poetic pseudo-biography of Mary Shelly written as a series of letters and notes in verse to her mother. The contents range from mundane pictures of everyday life to confessions of grief and guilt. Each poem in this collection is both connected and wholly its own.
Recommended by Aster A.
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Robert Wood Lynn
[isbn]
I do not often get the chance to look at yet to be released poetry books, but I am so very glad I was able to stumble upon an early copy of this book. Everything about this collection from the way it is sectioned, to the amazing poems titles, to the formatting is clearly a labor of passion and it pays off big time and all works together to enhance the beautiful poetry within. These poems will make you laugh, make you cry, and most importantly... (read more)
Recommended by Aster A.
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Frankie Castanea
[isbn]
This book is in-depth and informative while also not being dense or hard to get through. The information on shadow work and grounding is beautifully explained and can be used by beginners or experienced witches. All in all, a beautiful and well-rounded book meant for anyone who wants to make change in themselves and in their community
Recommended by Aster A.
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Sylvia Plath
[isbn]
Most people know of Sylvia Plath but so few have truly actually read her work, and while her writing will never fully explain who she was, it can give a glimpse. Plath was so much more than sadness and grief — she was also joy and beauty, which is just as important and very lovely to see and to understand.
Recommended by Aster A.
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Neil Hilborn
[isbn]
This is a collection I have read over and over. It is beautiful and heartfelt while simultaneously funny. Each poem lets you into an aspect of Neil's life from how much he loves his wife to how sometimes mental illness can take over our lives and is terrible and hard, but on either end of the spectrum and every step in between, this collection makes you feel so understood and far less alone. Full of nostalgia and longing but also hope for the... (read more)
Recommended by Aster A.
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Krystal Sutherland
[isbn]
House of Hollow is a culmination of every book I wanted to write, and in turn, every book I wanted to read throughout my life, but was never able to find. I have never read a novel quite so original. It contains every strange detail I have wanted a novel to have, from other worlds and creatures to characters and how their relationships develop beautifully throughout, and still manages so many twists I never saw coming. House of... (read more)
Recommended by Aster A.
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Kurt Vonnegut, Suzanne McConnell
[isbn]
An incredible and informative look into the mind of a prolific author. As you read through this book, you can really see how each step and piece of advice he lays out could have been pieced together to create the novels we know now, as well as see how to use these devices yourself. So whatever that project you have is, it's time to start writing
Recommended by Aster A.
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Kurt Vonnegut
[isbn]
Vonnegut's debut novel is just as good as his classics. Our protagonists story is full of twists and gray areas that not only leave you wondering how the story will go but also what you would do.In this futuristic 'utopia,' Vonnegut manages to use his now expected dark humor and meta-fiction to point out and criticize classism as well as mankind's love for war and blind faith in technology — all of which predictably leads to disastrous results.
Recommended by Aster A.
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Paige Vanderbeck
[isbn]
This book was the first book I ever read on the subject of green witchcraft and I absolutely recommend it to anyone considering the green path. It is both insightful and fun and also doesn't read too much like a textbook. Overall very helpful, I still remember and use the information I read here even a few years later.
Recommended by Aster A.
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Taisia Kitaiskaia, Katy Horan
[isbn]
This beautiful deck is as helpful as it is pretty. It will speak to you honestly, but not too bluntly, and direct you where you need to be. This is a great deck and even better for literature and art enthusiasts.
Recommended by Aster A.
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