Stephanie's Picks

Stephanie's to-be-read pile usually includes sci-fi/fantasy, lyrical literary fiction, and books about who we are and how we can work to make things better. She also has a weakness for British TV and loud action movies.

 

 

 

Books: 
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My Monticello: Fiction By Jocelyn Nicole Johnson Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9781250848536
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Holt Paperbacks - October 11th, 2022

My Monticello is a gorgeously written, audacious, and indelible collection. 


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Do the Work!: An Antiracist Activity Book By W. Kamau Bell, Kate Schatz Cover Image
$22.95
ISBN: 9781523514281
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Workman Publishing Company - July 19th, 2022

This useful, thoughtful workbook balances sobering reality and a serious call to action with a healthy dose of humor. 


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Remote Control By Nnedi Okorafor Cover Image
$19.99
ISBN: 9781250772800
Availability: Not Currently On Our Shelves. Usually Ships in 1-5 Days.
Published: Tordotcom - January 19th, 2021

How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question By Michael Schur Cover Image
$28.99
ISBN: 9781982159313
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Simon & Schuster - January 25th, 2022

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Perfect Black By Crystal Wilkinson, Nikky Finney (Foreword by), Ronald W. Davis (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Crystal Wilkinson, Nikky Finney (Foreword by), Ronald W. Davis (Illustrator)
$19.95
ISBN: 9780813151168
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: University Press of Kentucky - August 3rd, 2021

Crystal Wilkinson's writing is magic. In revealing herself, she reveals worlds.


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The Secret Lives of Church Ladies By Deesha Philyaw Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9781949199734
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: West Virginia University Press - September 1st, 2020

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies is just an amazing collection of stories--visceral, incisive, intimate, and real.


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Deaf Republic: Poems By Ilya Kaminsky Cover Image
$16.00
ISBN: 9781555978310
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Graywolf Press - March 5th, 2019

Gorgeous, devastating, and indelible. 


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The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America By Carol Anderson Cover Image
$28.00
ISBN: 9781635574258
Availability: Not Currently On Our Shelves. Usually Ships in 1-5 Days.
Published: Bloomsbury Publishing - June 1st, 2021

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Animals By HEBE UHART, Robert Croll (Translated by) Cover Image
By HEBE UHART, Robert Croll (Translated by)
$20.00
This book is currently on backorder. Please call or email for availability.
ISBN: 9781939810922
Published: Archipelago - June 22nd, 2021

Uhart shows us the remarkable in the usually unremarked lives of our non-human fellow earthlings. Engrossing, poignant, and delightful.


Wilmington's Lie (Winner of the 2021 Pulitzer Prize): The Murderous Coup of 1898 and the Rise of White Supremacy By David Zucchino Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9780802148650
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Grove Press - January 19th, 2021

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Black Buck: A Read with Jenna Pick By Mateo Askaripour Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9780358627982
Availability: Not Currently On Our Shelves. Usually Ships in 1-5 Days.
Published: Mariner Books - January 18th, 2022

In his debut, “Black Buck”, Mateo Askaripour offers up a raucous, biting, funny, and finally, affecting skewering of corporate culture and festering racism. The book is constructed as a self-help memoir for the aspiring Black salesperson and this generates a few laugh-out-loud moments. There are also a few moments that induce the urge to slap Darren square in the mouth, and others that might make you want to stand up and root for him or fold him into your arms for a long hug. In the end, “Black Buck” asks necessary questions about America, capitalism, bias, and the nature of success while being a blast to read.


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One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy By Carol Anderson, Dick Durbin (Foreword by) Cover Image
By Carol Anderson, Dick Durbin (Foreword by)
$18.00
ISBN: 9781635571394
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Bloomsbury Publishing - September 17th, 2019

This tiny little book packs a vital wallop. We have choices and we need to exercise them while we still can. 


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Blacktop Wasteland: A Novel By S. A. Cosby Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9781250252692
Availability: Not Currently On Our Shelves. Usually Ships in 1-5 Days.
Published: Flatiron Books - June 1st, 2021

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Begin Again: James Baldwin's America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own By Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. Cover Image
$27.00
ISBN: 9780525575320
Availability: Not Currently On Our Shelves. Usually Ships in 1-5 Days.
Published: Crown - June 30th, 2020

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Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix of the National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning By Jason Reynolds, Ibram X. Kendi Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9780316453691
Availability: Not Currently On Our Shelves. Usually Ships in 1-5 Days.
Published: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers - March 10th, 2020

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A Bound Woman Is a Dangerous Thing: The Incarceration of African American Women from Harriet Tubman to Sandra Bland By DaMaris B. Hill Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9781635574616
Availability: Backordered at Our Warehouse. ETA Unavailable.
Published: Bloomsbury Publishing - January 14th, 2020

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How to Be an Antiracist By Ibram X. Kendi Cover Image
$27.00
ISBN: 9780525509288
Availability: Not Currently On Our Shelves. Usually Ships in 1-5 Days.
Published: One World - August 13th, 2019

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The Nickel Boys: A Novel By Colson Whitehead Cover Image
$16.00
ISBN: 9780345804341
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Anchor - June 30th, 2020

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Vegetable Kingdom: The Abundant World of Vegan Recipes By Bryant Terry Cover Image
$30.00
ISBN: 9780399581045
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Ten Speed Press - February 11th, 2020

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When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir By Patrisse Cullors, asha bandele Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9781250306906
Availability: Not Currently On Our Shelves. Usually Ships in 1-5 Days.
Published: St. Martin's Griffin - January 14th, 2020

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Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love, and Liberation By Rev. angel Kyodo Williams, Lama Rod Owens, Jasmine Syedullah, Ph.D. Cover Image
$12.95
ISBN: 9781623170981
Availability: Not Currently On Our Shelves. Usually Ships in 1-5 Days.
Published: North Atlantic Books - June 14th, 2016

This powerful and thoughtful book calls for clear-eyed reckoning with the inequity and systemic racism that infect all corners of society, including Buddhist communities. The authors eloquently call to action with love and commitment to diminishing suffering, making the work valuable for anyone interested in all forms of liberation.


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Heavy: An American Memoir By Kiese Laymon Cover Image
$16.00
ISBN: 9781501125669
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Scribner - March 5th, 2019

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Pale By Edward A. Farmer Cover Image
$16.99
This book is currently on backorder. Please call or email for availability.
ISBN: 9781799956440
Published: Blackstone Publishing - May 18th, 2021

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The City We Became: A Novel (The Great Cities #1) By N. K. Jemisin Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9780316509886
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Orbit - July 27th, 2021

N. K. Jemisin is a master world builder. This time, she starts with a world we think we know (NYC) and gives it an entirely new, harrowing, mind-blowing life. 


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How Long 'til Black Future Month?: Stories By N. K. Jemisin Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9780316491372
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Orbit - August 13th, 2019

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Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment Is Killing America's Heartland By Jonathan M. Metzl Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781541644977
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Basic Books - May 12th, 2020

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Counternarratives By John Keene Cover Image
$16.95
ISBN: 9780811225526
Availability: Not Currently On Our Shelves. Usually Ships in 1-5 Days.
Published: New Directions - May 17th, 2016

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Barracoon: The Story of the Last
By Zora Neale Hurston, Alice Walker (Foreword by), Deborah G. Plant (Introduction by)
$16.99
ISBN: 9780062748218
Availability: Not Currently On Our Shelves. Usually Ships in 1-5 Days.
Published: Amistad - January 7th, 2020

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I Love Myself When I Am Laughing... and Then Again When I Am Looking Mean and Impressive: A Zora Neale Hurston Reader By Zora Neale Hurston, Alice Walker (Editor), Mary Helen Washington (Introduction by) Cover Image
By Zora Neale Hurston, Alice Walker (Editor), Mary Helen Washington (Introduction by)
$19.95
ISBN: 9781936932733
Availability: Not Currently On Our Shelves. Usually Ships in 1-5 Days.
Published: Feminist Press - January 7th, 2020

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (The Inheritance Trilogy #1) By N. K. Jemisin Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9780316043915
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Orbit - February 25th, 2010

The Kingdom of Gods (The Inheritance Trilogy #3) By N. K. Jemisin Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9780316043939
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Orbit - October 27th, 2011

The Broken Kingdoms (The Inheritance Trilogy #2) By N. K. Jemisin Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9780316043960
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Orbit - November 3rd, 2010

Exhalation By Ted Chiang Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9781101972083
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Vintage - June 30th, 2020

How We Fight White Supremacy: A Field Guide to Black Resistance By Akiba Solomon, Kenrya Rankin Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781568588490
Availability: Not Currently On Our Shelves. Usually Ships in 1-5 Days.
Published: Bold Type Books - March 26th, 2019

Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen By Jose Antonio Vargas Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9780062851345
Availability: Not Currently On Our Shelves. Usually Ships in 1-5 Days.
Published: Dey Street Books - September 3rd, 2019

Terra Nullius By Claire Coleman Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9781618731517
Availability: Not Currently On Our Shelves. Usually Ships in 1-5 Days.
Published: Small Beer Press - September 11th, 2018

Not My Idea: A Book about Whiteness (Ordinary Terrible Things) By Anastasia Higginbotham Cover Image
$18.95
ISBN: 9781948340007
Availability: Not Currently On Our Shelves. Usually Ships in 1-5 Days.
Published: Dottir Press - September 4th, 2018

The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth #1) By N. K. Jemisin Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9780316229296
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Orbit - August 4th, 2015

The Obelisk Gate (The Broken Earth #2) By N. K. Jemisin Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9780316229265
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Orbit - August 16th, 2016

The Stone Sky (The Broken Earth #3) By N. K. Jemisin Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9780316229241
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Orbit - August 15th, 2017

The Broken Earth Trilogy: The Fifth Season, The Obelisk Gate, The Stone Sky By N. K. Jemisin Cover Image
$49.99
ISBN: 9780316527194
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Orbit - August 4th, 2015

Three books. Three Hugo awards. A fantasy tour de force that makes a beautiful gift.


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The Power By Naomi Alderman Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9780316547604
Availability: Not Currently On Our Shelves. Usually Ships in 1-5 Days.
Published: Back Bay Books - January 8th, 2019

The Power is the story of a world inexorably changed by the ability of (almost all) women to electrocute with a touch. This is not a fable for the essentialist or the faint of heart. The patriarchy does go, but not quietly. The titular power shifts the balance, but it also corrupts as thoroughly as any other. The narrative is by turns infuriating and exhilarating, hopeful and terrifying, unnerving and wickedly funny--all of which make for an indelible reading experience.


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We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy By Ta-Nehisi Coates Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9780399590573
Availability: Not Currently On Our Shelves. Usually Ships in 1-5 Days.
Published: One World - October 30th, 2018

The title quotes a specific reference to the Reconstruction and its demise amidst resurgent post-Civil War white supremacy. The disheartening symmetry of the more recent eight years of the Obama presidency and what followed is exposed by Coates’s powerful, insightful, beautifully written, meticulously researched, and unflinching essays.


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Lovecraft Country: A Novel By Matt Ruff Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9780062292070
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Harper Perennial - February 14th, 2017

Navigating the daily horrors of Jim Crow leaves the marvelously-drawn protagonists well-prepared to cope with the supernatural challenges Ruff throws at them. The book is creepy, dread-filled, thought-provoking, and darkly witty. Just a great read!


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Now By Antoinette Portis Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781626721371
Availability: Not Currently On Our Shelves. Usually Ships in 1-5 Days.
Published: Roaring Brook Press - July 11th, 2017

This children's book is a beautifully illustrated reminder of the value and joy in the present moment.


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The Story of Ferdinand By Munro Leaf, Robert Lawson (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Munro Leaf, Robert Lawson (Illustrator)
$7.99
ISBN: 9780140502343
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Puffin Books - June 30th, 1977

Ferdinand is big and strong. More importantly, he is gentle and kind and he is true to himself. This classic children’s book has as much to say today--to people of all ages--as it did in 1936.


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The Rbg Workout: How She Stays Strong . . . and You Can Too! By Bryant Johnson Cover Image
$14.99
ISBN: 9781328919120
Availability: Not Currently On Our Shelves. Usually Ships in 1-5 Days.
Published: Harvest - October 17th, 2017

I'm not going to be a Supreme Court Justice, but I can work out like one! The exercises are presented with great illustrations of gym and home versions, making them accessible and as challenging as you need them to be.


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Stories of Your Life and Others By Ted Chiang Cover Image
$16.95
ISBN: 9781101972120
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Vintage - June 14th, 2016

Just when you think you know what these stories are revealing, and how, Chiang tells you something else entirely. His writing style is sparse yet lush and utterly compelling. Science, math, linguistics, history, religion, and philosophy share a wonderfully resonant stage in each of the pieces and in the whole.


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Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel By Carl Safina Cover Image
$20.00
ISBN: 9781250094599
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Picador - July 12th, 2016

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Vegan Soul Kitchen: Fresh, Healthy, and Creative African-American Cuisine By Bryant Terry Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9780738212289
Availability: Not Currently On Our Shelves. Usually Ships in 1-5 Days.
Published: Da Capo Lifelong Books - March 3rd, 2009

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Half-Earth: Our Planet's Fight for Life By Edward O. Wilson Cover Image
$16.95
ISBN: 9781631492525
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Liveright - April 4th, 2017

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Afro-Vegan: Farm-Fresh African, Caribbean, and Southern Flavors Remixed [A Cookbook] By Bryant Terry Cover Image
$27.50
ISBN: 9781607745310
Availability: Not Currently On Our Shelves. Usually Ships in 1-5 Days.
Published: Ten Speed Press - April 8th, 2014

The Inspired Vegan: Seasonal Ingredients, Creative Recipes, Mouthwatering Menus By Bryant Terry Cover Image
$19.99
ISBN: 9780738213750
Availability: Not Currently On Our Shelves. Usually Ships in 1-5 Days.
Published: Da Capo Lifelong Books - January 24th, 2012

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Their Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Neale Hurston Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9780061120060
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Amistad - May 30th, 2006

Song of Solomon (Vintage International) By Toni Morrison Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9781400033423
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Vintage - June 8th, 2004

Geek Love: A Novel (Vintage Contemporaries) By Katherine Dunn Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9780375713347
Availability: Not Currently On Our Shelves. Usually Ships in 1-5 Days.
Published: Vintage - June 11th, 2002

An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments By Ali Almossawi, Alejandro Giraldo  (Illustrator) Cover Image
$15.95
ISBN: 9781615192250
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: The Experiment - September 23rd, 2014

A Room with a View (Vintage Classics) By E.M. Forster Cover Image
$11.00
ISBN: 9780679724766
Availability: Not Currently On Our Shelves. Usually Ships in 1-5 Days.
Published: Vintage - October 23rd, 1989

Maurice: A Novel By E. M. Forster Cover Image
$15.95
ISBN: 9780393310320
Availability: Not Currently On Our Shelves. Usually Ships in 1-5 Days.
Published: W. W. Norton & Company - December 17th, 2005

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy By Douglas Adams Cover Image
$7.99
ISBN: 9780345391803
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Del Rey - September 27th, 1995