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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)

Normal People: A Novel

Sally Rooney

Normal People is an apt title for a book focusing on unspectacular events involving unremarkable characters. A simplistic and superficial reading could call it a love story. However, those elements belie the true heart of the novel: a psychological and emotional exploration of what draws and keeps two people together. Upon introduction to the alternating narrators, Connell and Marianne, Rooney establishes a complex and nuanced power... (read more)
Recommended by Melissa A.

The First Bad Man

Miranda July

July's world is insular and bizarre, her characters socially inept and awkward, her story and prose stunningly original. At once a character study of a borderline recluse and a parade of unsettling relationships.
Recommended by Melissa A.

Transit

Anna Seghers, Peter Conrad, Margot Dembo

An underappreciated author writing about an oft-overlooked topic in the literature surrounding wars: the spaces between. Our narrator finds a way to Marseille amidst the horror of WWII, having escaped two concentration camps. However, those events are mere contextual backdrop for a philosophical and psychological journey into a seemingly endless and futile cycle of paperwork required not only to leave, but to stay; exits depend on a willingness... (read more)
Recommended by Melissa A.

Writers Dreaming 25 Writers Talk about Their Dreams & the Creative Process

Naomi Epel

As Doug Martsch sings, "I wanna see the movies of my dreams." But I don't just want to see my dreams; I want to see the sleep-minds of others. While this book is obviously not a film, it does provide a glimpse of the subconscious minds of writers like Maya Angelou, Art Spiegelman, Isabel Allende, William Styron, Maurice Sendak, and many more. Fascinating!
Recommended by Melissa A.

Zero K

Don Delillo

A stark, sci-fi-esque novel blending in elements of Middle East versus West politics, technology, religion, and philosophy — all done in Delillo's signature precision and brevity. I'll call it science fiction for the poet in all of us.
Recommended by Melissa A.