Staff Picks

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Finlay Donovan Is Killing It: A Novel (The Finlay Donovan Series #1) By Elle Cosimano Cover Image
$14.39
ISBN: 9781250830449
Availability: In Stock: Click Title to See if it's in CAMBRIDGE or BOSTON
Published: Minotaur Books - January 4th, 2022

Because what else do you do when a random lady in Panera misinterprets your conversation with your literary agent and hires you to kill her husband for a heck ton of money?

Chaotic, hilarious, and seriously troubled, Finlay Donovan is the perfect struggling protagonist and accidental hitwoman for hire. This tale of triumph and tribulations (and there are many) will leave you laughing your socks off and anxiously flipping the pages to see if Finn manages to scrape by yet another close call. A gateway, if you will, for murder mysteries, perfect for the reluctant reader.

- Cindy


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The Herd: A Novel By Andrea Bartz Cover Image
$13.60
ISBN: 9781984826381
Availability: In Stock: Click Title to See if it's in CAMBRIDGE or BOSTON
Published: Ballantine Books - March 16th, 2021

Eleanor Walsh had the perfect life—she was the CEO of two companies, she had just gotten married, her company was on the edge of something big—but now she’s missing. And everyone in her life has secrets. This is a propulsive and twisty thriller about feminism and female friendship that is very of-the-moment. Great for fans of Big Little Lies and Gone Girl.

- April


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The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy By Anne Ursu Cover Image
$6.39
ISBN: 9780062275134
Availability: In Stock: Click Title to See if it's in CAMBRIDGE or BOSTON
Published: Walden Pond Press - December 6th, 2022

When Marya makes a terrible mistake in front of a sorcerer, she is summoned to Dragomir Academy, where she is to be taught to be a “proper girl.” An utterly unique and spellbinding fantasy, this one takes on the ways we condition girls to be small and encourages curiosity and adventure through gasp-worthy twists and delightful characters.

- April


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My Autobiography of Carson McCullers: A Memoir By Jenn Shapland Cover Image
$13.56
ISBN: 9781951142292
Availability: In Stock: Click Title to See if it's in CAMBRIDGE or BOSTON
Published: Tin House Books - January 5th, 2021

A genre-defying melding of memoir and biography rooted in archival and academic research as much as in personal experience. Carson McCullers (The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Ballad of the Sad Cafe, etc) is an oft-misunderstood and oft-forgotten Southern gothic novelist whose own story has been posthumously overwritten. Shapland draws from transcriptions of McCullers’ therapy sessions with Mary Mercy, who was both psychologist and lover to the author, to craft a meditation on how we tell queer love stories and how we preserve them in history, while she also considers her own queerness. For those who have a fascination with literary history, an appreciation for the archival record, and maybe a bit of an identity crisis, this is a brilliant experiment in both form and content.

- Catherine


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Agatha May and the Anglerfish By Nora Morrison, Jessie Ann Foley, Mika Song (Illustrator) Cover Image
$15.19
ISBN: 9780593324752
Availability: In Stock: Click Title to See if it's in CAMBRIDGE or BOSTON
Published: Dial Books - December 13th, 2022

Poor Agatha May. No one seems to appreciate her bizarre and curious nature (and inability to focus). But I sure do! That two staff members thought of me while reading this AND ensured I saw it makes me feel seen and appreciated. Really, there aren't many better feelings you could get from a picture book. Need another reason dangled in front of you like an anglerfish's esca? Enjoy Agatha May's wonderful science project and learn some deep-water factoids.

- Stacey


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Crochet Creatures of Myth and Legend: 19 Designs Easy Cute Critters to Legendary Beasts By Megan Lapp Cover Image
$23.16
ISBN: 9780811771481
Availability: In Stock: Click Title to See if it's in CAMBRIDGE or BOSTON
Published: Stackpole Books - March 1st, 2023

A creature crocheter's dream! These designs are simply stunning. Definitely an aspirational pattern book, but the steps are presented in a straightforward fashion that is more achievable than one may think at first blush.

- Stacey


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World Made of Glass By Ami Polonsky Cover Image
$13.59
ISBN: 9780316462044
Availability: In Stock: Click Title to See if it's in CAMBRIDGE or BOSTON
Published: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers - January 17th, 2023

When Iris loses her dad to AIDS in 1987, she turns to poetry and activism to deal with her grief.

- Sarah


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Murder at Haven's Rock: A Novel By Kelley Armstrong Cover Image
$22.39
ISBN: 9781250865410
Availability: In Stock: Click Title to See if it's in CAMBRIDGE or BOSTON
Published: Minotaur Books - February 21st, 2023

If you loved Armstrong's Rockton series, don't miss the new adventures of Casey and co. as they launch their own refuge in the Canadian wilderness. If you're new to the series, this is a great place to jump in before reading all the earlier adventures of the off-the-grid community with plenty of reasons to hide.

- Sarah


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Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation By Silvia Federici Cover Image
$15.96
ISBN: 9781570270598
Availability: In Stock: Click Title to See if it's in CAMBRIDGE or BOSTON
Published: Autonomedia - September 15th, 2004

Pivotal in Feminist, Marxist, and Early Modern European Studies, this academic exploration of why “the rise of capitalism was coeval with a war against women” ties together, among other things: witch hunts, women’s unpaid labor, appropriation of the female body, and women’s resistance as heretics, herbalists, and thinkers.
- Rachael


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Juniper Harvey and the Vanishing Kingdom By Nina Varela Cover Image
$13.59
ISBN: 9780316706780
Availability: In Stock: Click Title to See if it's in CAMBRIDGE or BOSTON
Published: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers - February 14th, 2023

This middle grade fantasy is a funny, adventuresome romp through dream landscapes, the nature of creativity, the meaning of friendship, realizing your parents are people too, and the horror of Having A Crush. AND!!! It's by bookseller Piera's real life sister. What more could you want!!

- Piera

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Slime: A Natural History By Susanne Wedlich, Ayca Turkoglu (Translated by) Cover Image
By Susanne Wedlich, Ayca Turkoglu (Translated by)
$23.19
ISBN: 9781685890209
Availability: In Stock: Click Title to See if it's in CAMBRIDGE or BOSTON
Published: Melville House - February 28th, 2023

Slime! What's her story? Slime is yucky, funny, dangerous, sexy, and absolutely invaluable to every organism on the planet. There isn't a single organism that does not make use of slime in some way. This is a great little exploration of what slime is all about.

- Piera


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Ms. Demeanor: A Novel By Elinor Lipman Cover Image
$14.39
ISBN: 9780358677888
Availability: In Stock: Click Title to See if it's in CAMBRIDGE or BOSTON
Published: Harper Perennial - December 27th, 2022

The author of thirteen previous novels, Elinor Lipman once again proves she is a must-read author. Her first novel, Then She Found Me became a hit movie with Bette Midler and Helen Hunt in 2008 and her novels Rachel to the Rescue and On Turpentine Lane were both bestsellers. Ms. Demeanor is infused with Lipman’s delightful charm and usual wit, telling the story of Jane – a lawyer confined to her Manhattan apartment due to an unfortunate arrest for public sex on her roof – who makes the best of her home confinement by becoming a TikTok star and finding love in the process.

- Nathan


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We Go Way Back: A Book About Life on Earth and How it All Began By Idan Ben-Barak, Philip Bunting (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Idan Ben-Barak, Philip Bunting (Illustrator)
$15.19
ISBN: 9781250850799
Availability: In Stock: Click Title to See if it's in CAMBRIDGE or BOSTON
Published: Roaring Brook Press - February 14th, 2023

BIOLOGY IS WEIRD (in a very exciting way), and this book totally gets it. If you have a small person in your life who would enjoy discovering that the origins of life are a great big mystery, Idan Ben-Barak gives a wonderful introduction.

- Murphy


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Wild Witchcraft: Folk Herbalism, Garden Magic, and Foraging for Spells, Rituals, and Remedies By Rebecca Beyer Cover Image
$14.39
ISBN: 9781982185626
Availability: In Stock: Click Title to See if it's in CAMBRIDGE or BOSTON
Published: S&S/Simon Element - May 10th, 2022

Ever want to walk into the woods and come out with a plant that will make you feel better? Wished you could grow your own home remedies for bad days? Rebecca Beyer is here with delightful, hopeful, and practical witchy advice! She talks about soil science, folk medicine in America, and even suggestions for what to sing to your plants when you harvest them. Embrace your cottagecore dreams with the help of her glorious bibliography and citations.

- Murphy


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Big Swiss: A Novel By Jen Beagin Cover Image
$21.60
ISBN: 9781982153083
Availability: In Stock: Click Title to See if it's in CAMBRIDGE or BOSTON
Published: Scribner - February 7th, 2023

Dark, humorous, sapphic, and wildly bizarre... This book is my newest obsession.

- Morgan


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