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Becky's Picks

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Chain Gang All Stars: A Novel By Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah Cover Image
$27.00
ISBN: 9780593317334
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Pantheon - May 2nd, 2023

This book is electrifying. Convicts on death row fight to the death gladiator style for mass entertainment. Adjei-Brenyah uses footnotes to describe real-life injustices in our mass incarceration system, which brings the narrative uncomfortably close to home, but he never loses sight of his characters or plot in his effort to maintain his allegory. It's a novel of great emotional depth and full of redemption. An important book, and it has rocketed to the top of my all-time favorites list. 


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Greek Lessons: A Novel By Han Kang, Deborah Smith (Translated by), Emily Yae Won (Translated by) Cover Image
By Han Kang, Deborah Smith (Translated by), Emily Yae Won (Translated by)
$26.00
ISBN: 9780593595275
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Hogarth - April 18th, 2023

Somehow, with language (and translation work) that will make you want to read every sentence aloud, Han Kang brings together two characters who barely exchange a word, yet are so believably and magnetically brought together. Absolutely stunning. 


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Birnam Wood: A Novel By Eleanor Catton Cover Image
$28.00
ISBN: 9780374110338
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Farrar, Straus and Giroux - March 7th, 2023

This book is like a massive punch in the gut. Catton collects characters from different socio-economic backgrounds and we watch as their worlds collide. It's a very readable book, uncomfortable in its honesty, funny and compelling. A total slam dunk. 


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Y/N: A Novel By Esther Yi Cover Image
$26.00
ISBN: 9781662601538
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Astra House - March 21st, 2023

The most literary KPop fanfiction you'll ever read. This book is hilarious, weird, and dreamlike. A mediation on celebrity and fandom and our desire to separate ourselves from the masses. For fans of Murakami. Fans of surrealism. 


The Memory of Animals By Claire Fuller Cover Image
$27.95
ISBN: 9781953534873
Availability: Coming Soon - Available for Pre-Order Now
Published: Tin House Books - June 6th, 2023

I would not have chosen to read a pandemic novel, except this one is written by Claire Fuller and she's one of my favorite authors. It's brilliant. Terrifying. And as always with Claire Fuller, a book full of fully realized, flawed, and beautiful characters. I read it in a day. 


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Bliss Montage: Stories By Ling Ma Cover Image
By Ling Ma
$26.00
ISBN: 9780374293512
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Farrar, Straus and Giroux - September 13th, 2022

Short stories seem to give insight into an author's style and themes even more than a full novel, and this collection cements Ling Ma as an absolute hands-down, brilliant writer. Funny, engaging, weird, and powerful - I couldn't get enough. 


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If I Survive You By Jonathan Escoffery Cover Image
$27.00
ISBN: 9780374605988
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: MCD - September 6th, 2022

These were brilliant, linked short stories about a Jamaican family living in Miami. It's a book about identity and family. It follows Trelawny - the youngest son of the family - as he struggles to find his way in the world. One of the most memorable chapters for me was about his time working in a retirement home. His hilarious attempts to outsmart a bureaucratic system in order to provide real assistance to the residence was a stunning example of character development. Escoffery is a fantastic writer. I'm so excited to see what he comes out with next. 


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Age of Vice: A Novel By Deepti Kapoor Cover Image
$30.00
ISBN: 9780593328798
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Riverhead Books - January 3rd, 2023

A fast-paced, character-driven novel with a compulsive plot and writing that will have you stopping to read aloud to whoever happens to be nearby. This book is absolutely stunning. 


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Ghost Music By An Yu Cover Image
By An Yu
$26.00
ISBN: 9780802159625
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Grove Press - January 10th, 2023

A piano teacher finds solace in the home of a former piano prodigy who long ago disappeared from the world. An Yu's fiction is strange and otherwordly and ventures into the world of the disturbed mind in such creative and unusual ways. Very like Murakami, but without the sexism. 


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Exiles: A Novel By Jane Harper Cover Image
$27.99
ISBN: 9781250235350
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Flatiron Books - January 31st, 2023

If you're already a Jane Harper fanatic like I am, you'll be happy to be reunited with many of the characters in Harper's latest mystery. Aaron Falk is back, investigating a cold case involving a missing mother. As always, Harper's characters drive the plot forward making this nearly impossible to put down. 


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What We Were Promised By Lucy Tan Cover Image
$15.99
ISBN: 9780316437196
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Back Bay Books - August 6th, 2019

What struck me most about Lucy's novel is how much empathy she gives to her characters as they attempt to understand their surroundings and each other. The plot is meticulously woven together and the setting and history jumped off the page. I genuinely loved this book! 


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Dinosaurs: A Novel By Lydia Millet Cover Image
$26.95
ISBN: 9781324021469
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: W. W. Norton & Company - October 11th, 2022

Author of the National Book Award-nominated "A Children's Bible" is back with a beautiful, slice-of-life novel set in Arizona. I love this book for its subtlety and quiet brilliance. It's engaging and compelling but without any of the stress that conflict in novels usually provides.

 


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The Book of Goose: A Novel By Yiyun Li Cover Image
$28.00
ISBN: 9780374606343
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Farrar, Straus and Giroux - September 20th, 2022

Set in a rural town in France in the 1950's, about poverty and privilege and the fickle nature of truth. This book is beautifully written, strange and fascinating. 


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The Last White Man: A Novel By Mohsin Hamid Cover Image
$26.00
ISBN: 9780593538814
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Riverhead Books - August 2nd, 2022

This book floored me. It's written with a dreamlike quality and touches so intimately on the universality of human experience - love and loss. It's somehow so incredibly hopeful. It's the book we all need right now. 


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Woman Running in the Mountains By Yuko Tsushima, Geraldine Harcourt (Translated by), Lauren Groff (Introduction by) Cover Image
By Yuko Tsushima, Geraldine Harcourt (Translated by), Lauren Groff (Introduction by)
$17.95
ISBN: 9781681375977
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: NYRB Classics - February 22nd, 2022

Slice-of-life novel, written in 1980, about an unmarried woman raising a baby in Tokyo. Quiet and atmospheric and suprisingly angsty at times. It's the perfect book to bring back for our current time. 


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Moon Witch, Spider King (The Dark Star Trilogy #2) By Marlon James Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9780735220218
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Riverhead Books - February 14th, 2023

It is rare to come across a sequel that is so good it makes its predecessor better, but that is exactly what this book does. The Dark Star Trilogy is not a linear trilogy, but the same story told from a different character's perspective and James deftly manipulates the subtle shifts in the narrative, while crafting a stunning, heartbreaking backstory for Sogolon. It's difficult to put into words just how much I love and admire these books. 


Black Leopard, Red Wolf (The Dark Star Trilogy #1) By Marlon James Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9780735220188
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Riverhead Books - February 4th, 2020

One of my favorite books in the last decade. This book is like nothing I've read before. Set in an Africa-like fantasy world, Tracker is called on to find a missing child. Unforgettable characters and richly imagined worlds and customs move this book into a category of its own. I loved it and can't wait for the next installment! 


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Matrix: A Novel By Lauren Groff Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9781594634505
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Riverhead Books - September 6th, 2022

Lauren Groff's latest is an absolute masterpiece. Slice of life historical fiction, every sentence carefully crafted. The book follows the life of Marie in 1158 as she enters an abbey in crisis and transforms it into a thriving community. 


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Elsewhere: A Novel By Alexis Schaitkin Cover Image
$26.99
ISBN: 9781250219633
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Celadon Books - June 28th, 2022

Atmospheric and unsettling, this book was a bit of a throwback to "Never Let Me Go" by Ishiguro and I hope it gets just as much attention. I was obsessed with everything about it and could not put it down. One of my favorite reads of the year so far. This one deserves to be on all the award lists! 


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Little Foxes Took Up Matches By Katya Kazbek Cover Image
$26.95
ISBN: 9781953534026
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Tin House Books - April 5th, 2022

Set in Moscow in the late 1990's, the story follows 11-year-old Mitya as he navigates loss, a difficult family life, and his own gender identity. Mitya is such a loveable character and has taken his place among my favorite literary characters of all time. This book has so much heart and hope. Loved every second of it. 


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Either/Or By Elif Batuman Cover Image
$27.00
ISBN: 9780525557593
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Penguin Press - May 24th, 2022

The follow-up to Batuman's 2017 novel, "The Idiot" - we meet Selin again, now in her sophomore year at Harvard. It's a year of discovery and experimentation. "Either/Or" brings the same humor, self-awareness, and philosophical musings that made "The Idiot" one of my all-time favorite novels. It was everything I was hoping for and more! 


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The Family Chao: A Novel By Lan Samantha Chang Cover Image
$16.95
ISBN: 9781324050469
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: W. W. Norton & Company - September 20th, 2022

Loosely based on The Brothers Karamazov and utterly brilliant from beginning to end. Fantastic characters, riveting plot - but what grabbed me most was the creative way she rewove a classic into a modern immigrant story that is just as timeless as its source. 


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The Ballad of Perilous Graves By Alex Jennings Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9780759557208
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Redhook - January 17th, 2023

An absolutely intense wild ride. Set in an alternate version of New Orleans and full of music and haints and sky trolleys and magic. It's unlike anything I've ever read. A solid debut! 


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O Beautiful: A Novel By Jung Yun Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781250853585
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: St. Martin's Griffin - February 28th, 2023

An incredibly powerful and timely book set in a small North Dakotan town that's in the middle of an oil boom. Yun turns this small town into a condensed version of America. It felt like a modern gold rush novel. Totally brilliant. 


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Cult Classic: A Novel By Sloane Crosley Cover Image
$27.00
ISBN: 9780374603397
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: MCD - June 7th, 2022

A hilarious and witty tale of love and loss. Completely surprising and unexpectedly poignant around every turn. I wanted to underline every other sentence and befriend the main character. There is nothing that I didn't love about this book. It was an absolute delight. 


Popisho: A Novel By Leone Ross Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9781250829634
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Picador - February 1st, 2022

This book is like chocolate - it's so rich in language and character, the world is so colorful and the story one to be savored. It's hilarious and heartbreaking and unforgettable. I absolutely loved it. 


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Fight Night By Miriam Toews Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9781635579789
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Bloomsbury Publishing - January 31st, 2023

Our two main characters, Swiv and her grandmother are an absolute riot, and unforgettable. There were so many moments in this that had me laughing out loud and the ending is an absolute punch in the gut. LOVED this book. 


Scattered All Over the Earth By Yoko Tawada, Margaret Mitsutani (Translated by) Cover Image
By Yoko Tawada, Margaret Mitsutani (Translated by)
$16.95
ISBN: 9780811229289
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: New Directions - March 1st, 2022

A bit philosophical with ideas revolving around identity and language, but mostly this novel is light and hilarious; a ton of fun and a little bit weird. I'm very fond of this book. 


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The Memoirs of Stockholm Sven By Nathaniel Ian Miller Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9780316592581
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Back Bay Books - October 4th, 2022

Set in the arctic between the world wars - this historical fiction book is outstanding! I did not expect to love a book about a man living in isolation in the arctic as much as I did. It is a reflection on the importance and endurance of human relationships. 


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Memorial: A Novel By Bryan Washington Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9780593087282
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Riverhead Books - October 26th, 2021

I loved this book so much. Though it's about the ending of a relationship, it is ultimately hopeful and uplifting. Beautifully written, with some extremely loveable, but flawed characters. 


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Unsettled Ground By Claire Fuller Cover Image
$16.95
ISBN: 9781953534170
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Tin House Books - April 26th, 2022

Less of a thriller and more of a character study, this book was absolutely brilliant. Both the setting and the characters are so richly imagined. I came away feeling like I had personally taken part in their story. My favorite read of the year so far. 


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How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America By Clint Smith Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9780316492928
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Little, Brown and Company - December 27th, 2022

I have so much respect for this book and this author. It's a book that everyone should read. A blend of history, memoir, essay, and poetry. It is such an important book. 


A Master of Djinn (Dead Djinn Universe #1) By P. Djèlí Clark Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9781250267665
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Tordotcom - July 19th, 2022

A fast-paced, steampunk, police procedural - so basically, everything you could ask for from a good fantasy novel. Descriptive and visual with a memorable cast of badass characters, this is a solid fantasy. Loved it. 


Sharks in the Time of Saviors: A Novel By Kawai Strong Washburn Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9781250787316
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Picador - March 2nd, 2021

An absolutely gorgeous family drama set in Hawaii. A really solid debut - I am looking forward to reading more from Kawai Strong Washburn in the future! 


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Winter in Sokcho By Elisa Shua Dusapin, Aneesa Abbas Higgins (Translator) Cover Image
$14.95
ISBN: 9781948830416
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Open Letter - April 27th, 2021

This book subverts expectations at every turn. I read it in one sitting! There is so much to unpack in such a short book. Nominated for the National Book Award for translated fiction. 


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Love in the Big City By Sang Young Park, Anton Hur (Translator) Cover Image
By Sang Young Park, Anton Hur (Translator)
$17.00
ISBN: 9780802160379
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Grove Press - November 15th, 2022

This book is so smart and witty and a total delight to read. Full of surprising and hilarious moments and our main character, Young, navigates life and love in the big city of Seoul.