Staff Picks Books, Maya M - Powell's Books

Don't Miss

Visit Our Stores

Kelsey Ford: New Year, New You: 9 Books for a Better You, 9 Books for a Worse You (0 comment)

I’m not a huge believer in new year’s resolutions — they always feel like set ups for failure and disappointment instead of the well-meaning self-bettering they’re intended to be. However, I do believe in the fresh promise of a new year and taking the opportunity to deliberately (and gently) think about your routines and what you might be missing...

Keith Mosman: Powell's Picks Spotlight: Gene Luen Yang and LeUyen Pham's 'Lunar New Year Love Story' (0 comment)
Kate Brody: What If the Real Monsters Were Inside Us All Along: Kate Brody’s Movie Playlist for ‘Rabbit Hole’ (0 comment)

I Really Didnt Think This Through Tales from My So Called Adult Life

Beth Evans

As someone who has had varying degrees of anxiety, it's nice to have a book that validates that and says it's okay to have anxiety, in whatever form that may look like. Beth Evans's book is the accessible foray into self-care, and acceptance of the fact that we're not perfect, that we all need to be reminded of once in a while.
Recommended by Maya M.

Home After Dark: A Novel

David Small

David Small's gripping graphic novel, Home After Dark, is both gritty and tender, a look into a young teen's life as he navigates a tumultuous, dysfunctional relationship with his father and burgeoning friendships, which in 1950s California has undercurrents of violence, racism, and homophobia. Although it's set decades in the past, the prejudices and cruelty have an all-too-real feeling in the modern day, which makes reading books like... (read more)
Recommended by Maya M.

Onyx and Ivory

Mindee Arnett

I really loved Onyx and Ivory by Mindee Arnett — it's one I wish was around when I was a teenager. It features a strong female protagonist, Kate, who's highly competent and smart, but also caring and sensitive, and angry and sad — basically, an actual person — but without any of those characteristics becoming her entire personality. There's action, politics, social commentary, and a surprisingly scorching romance that's on Kate's terms.... (read more)
Recommended by Maya M.

Bonjour Tristesse

Francoise Sagan

Short but sweet, although thematically not so sweet, French novelist Françoise Sagan wrote this extremely amoral (for its time) novel when she was only 17.
Recommended by Maya M.

The Mothers: A Novel

Brit Bennett

Brit Bennett's debut is a beautifully told story about deep love and friendship and unintended consequences. It will make you think a lot about the decisions we make, how much of that is really in our control, what it means to love someone, both romantically and as a friend, and how improbable it is, imperfect as we are, to go through life without hurting anyone.
Recommended by Maya M.

A Visit from the Goon Squad

Jennifer Egan

If you liked the TV show Lost, you might like this book. It features a host of interconnected characters, not always honorable, but definitely entertaining.
Recommended by Maya M.

Touch

Courtney Maum

A trend forecaster (which is pretty much what it sounds like) gets hired to work for a big name capitalist and is fully immersed in the world of the digital. After several leaps and bounds and twists in the plot, her life takes an unexpected and welcome return to the physical, a compelling and interesting read for our modern times. Like the protagonist, author Courtney Maum has worked as a trend forecaster, and the insider knowledge of what that... (read more)
Recommended by Maya M.

Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant?: A Memoir

Roz Chast

Roz Chast's moving graphic novel chronicles her parents' lives and final years. You'll recognize her illustrations from cartoons in The New Yorker and other places. She writes with humor, but is also unafraid to talk about the unpleasant: the all-too-serious hardships we face in witnessing our parents getting old.
Recommended by Maya M.

Don't Miss

Browse by Subject

Browse by Staff Member