Jess' Picks

This list is organized: Horror, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Nonfiction, Fiction & Mystery, Children's Books. If you don't see something you like, keep scrolling. Jess's tastes are wide-ranging and varied. 

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The Salt Grows Heavy By Cassandra Khaw Cover Image
$21.99
ISBN: 9781250830913
Availability: Coming Soon - Available for Preorder Now
Published: Tor Nightfire - May 2nd, 2023

From USA Today bestselling author Cassandra Khaw comes The Salt Grows Heavy, a razor-sharp and bewitching fairy tale of discovering the darkness in the world, and the darkness within oneself.

“This brilliant novella is not to be missed.” —Publishers Weekly, STARRED review


What Moves the Dead By T. Kingfisher Cover Image
$19.99
ISBN: 9781250830753
Availability: Available at One of Our Locations
Published: Tor Nightfire - July 12th, 2022

An Instant USA Today & Indie Bestseller
A Barnes & Noble Book of the Year Finalist
A Goodreads Best Horror Choice Award Nominee


My Heart Is a Chainsaw (The Indian Lake Trilogy #1) By Stephen Graham Jones Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781982137649
Availability: Available at One of Our Locations
Published: Gallery / Saga Press - March 29th, 2022

Winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel

In her quickly gentrifying rural lake town Jade sees recent events only her encyclopedic knowledge of horror films could have prepared her for in this latest chilling novel that “will give you nightmares.


All the Murmuring Bones By A.G. Slatter Cover Image
$15.95
ISBN: 9781789094343
Availability: Available at One of Our Locations
Published: Titan Books - March 9th, 2021

For fans of Naomie Novik and Katherine Arden, a dark gothic fairy tale from award-winning author Angela Slatter.

'Harrowing and beautiful, this is the grim, fairy-tale gothic you've been waiting for' CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN, New York Times bestselling author of Ararat


Spinning Silver: A Novel By Naomi Novik Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9780399180996
Availability: Available at One of Our Locations
Published: Del Rey - May 7th, 2019

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “One of the year’s strongest fantasy novels” (NPR), an imaginative retelling of the Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale from the bestselling author of Uprooted.


The Blacktongue Thief By Christopher Buehlman Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9781250799975
Availability: Available at One of Our Locations
Published: Tor Books - May 10th, 2022

Set in a world of goblin wars, stag-sized battle ravens, and assassins who kill with deadly tattoos, Christopher Buehlman's The Blacktongue Thief begins a 'dazzling' (Robin Hobb) fantasy adventure unlike any other.


The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi: A new fantasy series set a thousand years before The City of Brass By Shannon Chakraborty Cover Image
$32.00
ISBN: 9780062963505
Availability: Available at One of Our Locations
Published: Harper Voyager - February 28th, 2023

"A thrilling, transportative adventure that is everything promised–Chakraborty's storytelling is fantasy at its best." -- R.F. Kuang, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Babel and The Poppy War


Saint Death's Daughter (Saint Death Series #1) By C. S. E. Cooney Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9781786188526
Availability: Available at One of Our Locations
Published: Solaris - February 14th, 2023

A blackly funny, gloriously queer coming-of-age fantasy with love, beauty and necromancy by World Fantasy Award-winning author C.S.E. Cooney.

Nothing complicates life like Death.

Lanie Stones, the daughter of crown-appointed killers, was born with a gift for necromancy—and a literal allergy to violence.


The Spare Man By Mary Robinette Kowal Cover Image
$19.99
ISBN: 9781250829177
Availability: Available at One of Our Locations
Published: Tor Books - October 11th, 2022

Hugo, Locus, and Nebula-Award winner Mary Robinette Kowal blends her no-nonsense approach to life in space with her talent for creating glittering high-society in this stylish SF mystery, The Spare Man.

A 2022 Locus Magazine Recommended Reading List pick!


Hench: A Novel By Natalie Zina Walschots Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9780062978585
Availability: Available at One of Our Locations
Published: William Morrow Paperbacks - November 9th, 2021

“This book is fast, furious, compelling, and angry as hell.” —Seanan McGuire, New York Times bestselling author


The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth #1) By N. K. Jemisin Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9780316229296
Availability: Available at One of Our Locations
Published: Orbit - August 4th, 2015

At the end of the world, a woman must hide her secret power and find her kidnapped daughter in this "intricate and extraordinary" Hugo Award winning novel of power, oppression, and revolution. (The New York Times)

This is the way the world ends. . .for the last time.


Firebreak By Nicole Kornher-Stace Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781982142759
Availability: Available at One of Our Locations
Published: Gallery / Saga Press - April 26th, 2022

One young woman faces down an all-powerful corporation in this “profound…resonant” (NPR), all-too-near future science fiction debut that reads like a refreshing take on Ready Player One, with a heavy dose of Black Mirror.

Ready Player One meets Cyperpunk 2077 in this eerily familiar future.

“Twenty minutes to power curfew,


This Is How You Lose the Time War By Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone Cover Image
$15.99
ISBN: 9781534430990
Availability: Available at One of Our Locations
Published: Gallery / Saga Press - March 17th, 2020

HUGO AWARD WINNER: BEST NOVELLA

NEBULA AND LOCUS AWARDS WINNER: BEST NOVELLA

“[An] exquisitely crafted tale...Part epistolary romance, part mind-blowing science fiction adventure, this dazzling story unfolds bit by bit, revealing layers of meaning as it plays with cause and effect, wildly imaginative technologies, and increasingly intricate wordplay...This sh


Staff Pick Badge
The Chosen and the Beautiful By Nghi Vo Cover Image
By Nghi Vo
$17.99
ISBN: 9781250820129
Availability: Available at One of Our Locations
Published: Tordotcom - March 29th, 2022

An Instant National Bestseller!
An Indie Next Pick!
A B&N Reads April Pick!


Unearthing The Secret Garden: The Plants and Places That Inspired Frances Hodgson Burnett By Marta McDowell Cover Image
$25.95
ISBN: 9781604699906
Availability: Ships to Our Store in 1-5 Days
Published: Timber Press - October 12th, 2021

“Affectionate and informative, Unearthing the Secret Garden is not unlike a garden itself, with its smooth lawns of prose and striking shows of illustration and photography.” —The Wall Street Journal

New York Times bestselling author Marta McDowell has revealed the way that plants have stirred some of our most cherished authors, includ


They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us By Hanif Abdurraqib, Eve L. Ewing (Introduction by), Jason Reynolds (Afterword by) Cover Image
By Hanif Abdurraqib, Eve L. Ewing (Introduction by), Jason Reynolds (Afterword by)
$26.00
ISBN: 9781953387271
Availability: Available at One of Our Locations
Published: Two Dollar Radio - November 15th, 2022

* 2018 "12 best books to give this holiday season" --TODAY (Elizabeth Acevedo)


In the Dream House: A Memoir By Carmen Maria Machado Cover Image
$16.00
ISBN: 9781644450383
Availability: Available at One of Our Locations
Published: Graywolf Press - December 1st, 2020

A revolutionary memoir about domestic abuse by the award-winning author of Her Body and Other Parties


Egypt's Golden Couple: When Akhenaten and Nefertiti Were Gods on Earth By John Darnell, Colleen Darnell Cover Image
$29.99
ISBN: 9781250272874
Availability: Available at One of Our Locations
Published: St. Martin's Press - November 1st, 2022

Two celebrated Egyptologists bring to vivid life the intriguing and controversial reign of King Tut's parents.


Exterminate All the Brutes: One Man's Odyssey Into the Heart of Darkness and the Origins of European Genocide By Sven Lindqvist, Joan Tate (Translator) Cover Image
By Sven Lindqvist, Joan Tate (Translator)
$17.99
ISBN: 9781565843592
Availability: Available at One of Our Locations
Published: New Press - May 9th, 2007

Now part of the eponymous HBO docuseries written and directed by Raoul Peck, "Exterminate All the Brutes" is a brilliant intellectual history of Europe's genocidal colonization of Africa--and the terrible myths and lies that it spawned


Hot Dog: (Winner of the 2023 Caldecott Medal) By Doug Salati Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9780593308431
Availability: Available at One of Our Locations
Published: Knopf Books for Young Readers - May 24th, 2022

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • WINNER OF THE 2023 CALDECOTT MEDAL • This glowing and playful picture book features an overheated—and overwhelmed—pup who finds his calm with some sea, sand, and fresh air. Destined to become a classic!


Little Witch Hazel: A Year in the Forest By Phoebe Wahl Cover Image
$19.99
ISBN: 9780735264892
Availability: Available at One of Our Locations
Published: Tundra Books - September 21st, 2021

An earthy and beautiful collection of four stories that celebrate the seasons, nature, and life, from award-winning author-illustrator Phoebe Wahl.

Little Witch Hazel is a tiny witch who lives in the forest, helping creatures big and small. She's a midwife, an intrepid explorer, a hard worker and a kind friend.


Mina By Matthew Forsythe, Matthew Forsythe (Illustrator) Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781481480413
Availability: Available at One of Our Locations
Published: Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books - February 15th, 2022

Five starred reviews!
Named Best Picture Book of the Year by Kirkus Reviews and Shelf Awareness
“Marvelous mouse-sized mischief for all ages.” —Booklist (starred review)

From the creator of the acclaimed and beloved Pokko and the Drum comes an emotionally resonant, “richly imagined” (The Hor


Staff Pick Badge
Hardly Haunted By Jessie Sima, Jessie Sima (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Jessie Sima, Jessie Sima (Illustrator)
$18.99
ISBN: 9781534441705
Availability: Ships to Our Store in 1-5 Days
Published: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers - July 20th, 2021

From the bestselling creator of Not Quite Narwhal comes a delightfully spooky story about an old house who wants to be a home…even if her new family isn’t what she expected.

House has a problem.

She’s a little spooky. She’s a little cobwebby. Oh, no! What if she’s haunted?

She’s not sure, but…her hinges creak.


Beatrice Likes the Dark By April Genevieve Tucholke, Khoa Le (Illustrator) Cover Image
By April Genevieve Tucholke, Khoa Le (Illustrator)
$18.95
ISBN: 9781643751573
Availability: Available at One of Our Locations
Published: Algonquin Young Readers - September 13th, 2022

Beatrice likes the dark. She likes black clothes, graveyard picnics, and a sky full of stars. Her sister, Roo, likes the light. She likes bright clothes, picking strawberries, and hot, sunny days. Beatrice and Roo are nothing alike and don’t understand each other. Can Beatrice help Roo love the dark as much as she does? Can Roo help Beatrice love the light?