February 2022 Staff PicksLike this list

15 items

• Chasing Me to My Grave

  An Artist's Memoir of the Jim Crow South

  Rembert, Winfred,

  Add Chasing Me to My Grave to your for later shelf

  American painter Winfred Rembert (who passed away in 2021) relates his life story in this stunningly beautiful book. Told in short chapters and written in relatable prose, the book relates the experience of growing up in the segregated South, where…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Correspondents

  Six Women Writers on the Front Lines of World War II

  Mackrell, Judith,

  Add The Correspondents to your for later shelf

  Correspondents details the experiences of women reporters in Europe from 1936 to the end of World War II. The Spanish Civil War was a training ground for several of them. At the time, many military organizations had rules that women reporters were…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Devil House

  Darnielle, John,

  Add Devil House to your for later shelf

  John Darnielle is known for his band The Mountain Goats, but his postmodern novels demonstrate the reach of the singer-songwriter's literary talent. His newest book may be his best yet. Adorned in a stark contrasting black and red cover, it gives…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Even Greater Mistakes

  Anders, Charlie Jane,

  Add Even Greater Mistakes to your for later shelf

  This collection of short stories by the brilliant Charlie Jane Anders (All the Birds in the Sky, The City in the Middle of the Night) is the perfect book to start your 2022 right. Anders's writing is funny, clever, and empathetic, always centering…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• In.

  McPhail, Will,

  Add In. to your for later shelf

  New Yorker cartoonist McPhail's debut graphic novel explores what it really means to be fully present with others through the perspective of a socially awkward, millennial hipster-type who's just trying to make sense of it all. Artist Nick Moss…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Lincoln Highway

  Towles, Amor,

  Add The Lincoln Highway to your for later shelf

  Set in 1954, Towles's highly enjoyable road trip novel follows 18-year-old Emmett, just released from a work camp, and his little brother, Billy, as they set out to start a new life in California. But first they have to hop a train to retrieve the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Maid

  a Novel

  Prose, Nita,

  Add The Maid to your for later shelf

  Molly Gray is perfect for her job as a hotel maid because she's got an obsessive need for order and cleanliness. She doesn't always read facial cues well or understand jokes, but her real problems begin when she finds a dead body in one of the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Manywhere

  Stories

  Thomas, Morgan, 1992-

  Add Manywhere to your for later shelf

  Steeped in Southern lore and queer narratives, Thomas's debut collection reads like stories you'd hear passed from generation-to-generation, pieced together from recollections of true-life experiences. Each story is unique in its location, tone, and…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• A Marvellous Light

  Marske, Freya,

  Add A Marvellous Light to your for later shelf

  In this first book in a new series, Freya Marske introduces readers to an Edwardian London where magic exists, just outside the knowledge of the non-magical. Newly titled baronet Robin Blythe didn't expect his new government job to be anything other…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Nineties

  a Book

  Klosterman, Chuck, 1972-

  Add The Nineties to your for later shelf

  With a recent wave of 90s nostalgia such as TV productions about the decade's infamous scandals (there have been recent shows about O.J. Simpson and Bill Clinton's impeachment, with more on the way), it's an apropos time to look back and put the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Please Don't Sit on My Bed in Your Outside Clothes

  Essays

  Robinson, Phoebe,

  Add Please Don't Sit on My Bed in Your Outside Clothes to your for later shelf

  If you aren't already a fan of Phoebe Robinson's writing or of her 2 Dope Queens podcast and TV comedy work, her new book will make you an instant fan. She is just as funny on the page as she is on the screen, but here you can relish her rich…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Punch Me Up to the Gods

  Broome, Brian,

  Add Punch Me Up to the Gods to your for later shelf

  Written with a keen eye to a personal past and a unique perspective on life's lessons, Broome's memoir takes a hold of the reader with engaging, and at times heart-rendering, stories of personal struggles and lessons learned along the way.…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Verifiers

  Pek, Jane,

  Add The Verifiers to your for later shelf

  How can you really know that the people you meet online are who they say they are? How can you let yourself fall for someone if you don't even know if you can trust them? These are the questions that everyone with an online dating profile has to ask…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Violence

  a Novel

  Dawson, Delilah S,

  Add The Violence to your for later shelf

  In the year 2025, Chelsea Martin lives in Florida with her daughters Ella and Brooklyn, and her husband David. Though they were high school sweethearts, David is a narcissistic abuser, controlling every aspect of Chelsea's life from her bank account…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Wildland

  the Making of America's Fury

  Osnos, Evan, 1976-

  Add Wildland to your for later shelf

  Taking a cue from George Packer's 2013 book The Unwinding, author Osnos (a National Book Award winner for Age of Ambition) delves into the coalescing political forces – decades of disinvestment, disillusionment, and dysfunction – which have…Read moreRead more of this annotation