Essays

It Came from the Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror (Paperback)

By Joe Vallese (Editor), Carmen Maria Machado (Contribution by), Bruce Owens Grimm (Contribution by)

$25.95

ISBN: 9781952177798

Availability: In Stock: Click Title to See if it's in CAMBRIDGE or BOSTON

Published: Feminist Press - October 4th, 2022

Add to Wish List

Last year I spent October reading each essay in this book and then watching the corresponding movie, and let me tell you it made for one of the most magical (and spookiest) Octobers I've had in a while. This book had me nodding along as I read essays that echoed my own thoughts (such as Carmen Maria Machado's take on Jennifer's Body) as well as seeing some old favorites in a completely new way.

- Katherine

101 Horror Books to Read Before You're Murdered (Paperback)

By Sadie Hartmann

$23.99

ISBN: 9781645677802

Availability: In Stock: Click Title to See if it's in CAMBRIDGE or BOSTON

Published: Page Street Publishing - August 8th, 2023

Add to Wish List

It's never too early to plan for Halloween! Let Sadie Hartmann (aka Mother Horror) help you pick out your perfect spooky season read ahead of time! With over 100 books and authors to choose from, there is a horror novel here for everyone. With useful keys for genre, tropes, and content warnings, Mother Horror makes sure to give you the devious details without spoiling the story. Her endearing love for horror shines through every page! Whether you're new to horror or it's old hat, your next read awaits you.

- Jen

The Argonauts (Paperback)

By Maggie Nelson

$16.00

ISBN: 9781555977351

Availability: In Stock: Click Title to See if it's in CAMBRIDGE or BOSTON

Published: Graywolf Press - January 26th, 2016

Add to Wish List

 

An incredibly beautiful and insightful narrative that blends memoir with queer theory, focusing on motherhood within the queer experience. It is a book I still think about long after I finished.

Morgan

The Collected Schizophrenias: Essays (Paperback)

By Esmé Weijun Wang

$16.00

ISBN: 9781555978273

Availability: In Stock: Click Title to See if it's in CAMBRIDGE or BOSTON

Published: Graywolf Press - February 5th, 2019

Add to Wish List

Esme Wang won the Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize, as well as the Whiting Award for Nonfiction for her book, The Collected Schizophrenias.  She writes about schizophrenia related illnesses from her own lived experience, which is a perspective not often enough given a voice.  As such, her writing has the beauty and thorough consideration of someone who’s life is personally impacted by the illness as well as someone who’s an amazing author. 

Seamus

Tacky: Love Letters to the Worst Culture We Have to Offer (Paperback)

By Rax King

$15.95

ISBN: 9780593312728

Availability: In Stock: Click Title to See if it's in CAMBRIDGE or BOSTON

Published: Vintage - November 2nd, 2021

Add to Wish List

This reads more like a memoir in essays than a collection of cultural criticism. By delving into certain pieces of pop culture, King reveals the way “low culture” makes an indelible mark on us. From her introduction to Hot Topic as an antidote to the popular clique, to the bond she shares with her father over Jersey Shore, these “love letters” argue that just because something isn’t “good” doesn’t mean they aren’t perfect.

Dave

A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life (Hardcover)

By George Saunders

$28.00
It's Complicated--Contact Us for More Information

ISBN: 9781984856029

Published: Random House - January 12th, 2021

I’ve read a lot of books on ‘how to write,’ and this is the first one that genuinely resonated with me. George Saunders employs his straight-talking, big-hearted sense of humor as he guides you through the Russians. He slowly deconstructs the each story with discussions and suggested exercises that uncover the core strategies writers use to make good fiction. Keep a pencil nearby because you will take notes. Great for readers and writers alike.

Wendy

Carpe Every Diem: The Best Graduation Advice from More Than 100 Commencement Speeches : A Graduation Book (Hardcover)

By Robie Rogge

$12.99

ISBN: 9780593139752

Availability: Available to Order from Supplier: Arrives at Store in a Week(ish)

Published: Clarkson Potter - March 23rd, 2021

Add to Wish List

 

This is the perfect gift for a recent graduate. Full of great quotes from famous commencement speakers like Neil Gaiman, David Foster Wallace, Spike Lee, Gloria Steinem, John Waters, Barack Obama and Oprah, it's both inspiring and yet amusing. This charming book relays all the wisdom of those eloquent commencement speakers into sage advice for grads of all ages. 

Nathan

Goodbye, Again: Essays, Reflections, and Illustrations (Hardcover)

By Jonny Sun

$19.99

ISBN: 9780062880857

Availability: In Stock: Click Title to See if it's in CAMBRIDGE or BOSTON

Published: Harper Perennial - April 20th, 2021

Add to Wish List

 

Jonny Sun has the amazing ability to write about anxiety in a way that makes you feel settled, and loneliness in a way that makes you feel less alone. From scrambled eggs to plants to jazz to the end of the world, these illustrated essays are deeply personal but encompass the universal. They made me laugh, cry, contemplate life, and breathe a little deeper.

Kate

How to Make a Slave and Other Essays (21st Century Essays) (Paperback)

By Jerald Walker

$19.95

ISBN: 9780814255995

Availability: Available to Order from Supplier: Arrives at Store in a Week(ish)

Published: Mad Creek Books - October 30th, 2020

Add to Wish List

An absolutely brilliant essay collection from an Emerson professor.

Sarah

Grieving: Dispatches from a Wounded Country (Paperback)

By Cristina Rivera Garza, Sarah Booker (Translator)

$16.95

ISBN: 9781936932931

Availability: Available to Order from Supplier: Arrives at Store in a Week(ish)

Published: Feminist Press - October 6th, 2020

Add to Wish List

 

Grieving is a hard read, but the central idea is so beautiful, the heart-punches you take along the way are worth it. To be human is to be vulnerable but we can envelop that vulnerability in community so that no one is helpless. Though directly about the tragedies surrounding the drug war in Mexico, Grieving illuminates more general human experiences of trauma, national myth, and politics. And I might read the last chapter, "Keep Writing," once a month to help me keep going.

Josh