Josh's Staff Picks
By Underground Books
By Underground Books
Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything about the World
Tim Marshall
$18.99 $17.66An excellent introduction to the complex ways that geography influences national and regional identities. Whether it is the food we eat, the daily ways we do business and conduct trade, or the geopolitical fears we are indoctrinated with, geography and place have an outsized, if little acknowledged role, in who we are. Prisoners of Geography made me think about these things in ways I hadn't considered before.
Poverty, by America
Matthew Desmond
$28.00 $26.04Yeah, yeah we all know how income inequality has skyrocketed in recent decades, but do you want to get fired up about it? Matthew Desmond targets the usual suspects in this damning manifesto, but he also asks complicated, nuanced questions about how all of us are complicit in the status quo. An important read for everyone interested in creating a more sane and equitable society. I seriously wish I had a 100 copies of this book to give to everyone I know!
Hummingbird Salamander
Jeff VanderMeer
$18.00 $16.74Is this postmodern eco-noir mystery, with its dark, twisty, dystopian currents a book that everyone will love? No. But fans of Vandermeer's other work will find plenty to love, as he lets his unique imagination unravel the mystery of an enigmatic eco-terror plot that is either meant to save the world... or destroy it!
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
David Grann
$30.00 $27.90Few authors are able to write nonfiction history that reads like a page turning adventure novel, but David Grann is one of them. The gripping story of The Wager’s shipwreck and the survivors’ divergent tales of the events that followed kept me on the edge of my seat as I devoured this book. Martin Scorsese has already acquired the film rights.
The Creative ACT: A Way of Being
Rick Rubin
$32.00 $29.76Legendary music producer Rick Rubin has written a book on creativity that will take its place among the best of its kind. This is like bottle inspiration for leading a creative life! Rubin's advice on creativity is inspired by eastern/Buddhist tinged philosophy and his long career mentoring some of the modern era's most influential musical artists. An exceptional book, highly recommend!
The Deluge
Stephen Markley
$32.50 $30.23This madly ambitious, sprawling, epic work of near future climate fiction packs a serious punch. Yes, it is 900+ pages, and yes it is a little demanding. The emotional depth of the multiple character storylines provides balance for the heavy political themes in a way that really pays off. If you enjoyed The Overstory by Richard Powers, The Ministry For The Future by Kim Stanley Robinson, or Stephen King’s The Stand then this will knock you out!
Animals Strike Curious Poses
Elena Passarello
$19.95 $18.55The 16 essays in this collection each feature some animal of historical significance, but they sprawl brilliantly across topics as diverse as science, myth, pop culture, poetry, and humor. Slyly subversive, Passarello skewers our modern conceptions of who we are in relation to the natural world by revealing the absurd, careless violence of our historical relations with animals.
Pirate Enlightenment, or the Real Libertalia
David Graeber
$27.00 $25.11The Dawn of Everything blew my mind, and fans of Graeber will find much to appreciate here. One of his major themes is that the European Enlightenment was a collection of ideas stolen from (or very influenced by) various indigenous people. Here he explores how early 18th century pirates fostered radical new social forms (“pirate utopias”) in partnership with local Madagascar cultures, and how tales of these places were influential back in Europe.
Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution
R. F. Kuang
$27.99 $26.03This book absolutely consumed me. On the surface, Babel is an alternate historical fantasy about a magical school in Oxford in the nineteenth century. But as Babel’s layers of complexity unfold, the story confronts us with powerful questions about the nature of colonialism, capitalism, institutional power, comfort & compromise, and our own complicity with injustice. The effect is deeply profound, moving, and unsettling in the very best way.
The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture
Gabor Maté
$30.00 $27.90An absolutely epic synthesis of an emerging consensus on mind/body research and it’s implications for public health. Mate is already a well respected doctor specializing in addiction treatment (see his bestseller In The Realm of a Hungry Ghosts). The impacts of trauma (both major and minor), especially during childhood, cannot be overstated, and we are only beginning to become a “trauma literate” society. A must read title for a better world.
Inciting Joy: Essays
Ross Gay
$27.00 $25.11I consider Ross Gay’s Inciting Joy to be a true masterpiece. Gay repeatedly took my breath away with his quiet emotional power, which dazzles in these essays in a wild, satisfying dance between the personal and political. There were at least a dozen occasions where I wanted to stand up and applaud, or weep, or cheer out loud, or reach out and hug my loved ones. Spend some time hanging out with Ross Gay in these essays, you’ll be glad you did!
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
Gabrielle Zevin
$28.00 $26.04Zevin’s book The Storied Life of AJ Fikry devastated me in the best way so I was so excited for this new one. Tomorrow does not disappoint, and is a perfectly heartfelt exploration of love, creativity, art, failure, loss, grief, and complicated friendships. While the gaming industry element isn’t central in a way that would turn off the casual reader, it is bound to be a bonus for those interested in modern gaming. One of my favorite books of the year!
We Are the Light
Matthew Quick
$27.99 $26.03We Are The Light is an emotionally riveting novel that will break your heart, then heal it. The town of Majestic, PA is recovering from a tragic massacre in their historic theater, as told in letters from survivor Lucas Goodgame to his Jungian therapist. As Lucas grieves for the loss of his wife, he takes in Eli, a teenager with an unfortunate connection to the shooting. Together they devise an unlikely plan to heal their broken community.
Now Is Not the Time to Panic
Kevin Wilson
$27.99 $26.03I truly loved this short, odd little book about two misfit teenagers in the pre-internet 1990s, the art they made, and the town that freaked out about it. It is alternately sad, funny, weird, and deeply moving. If you were a socially awkward, artsy teen in the 1990s you’ll probably appreciate this book. Kevin Wilson has such a delightfully strange way of seeing the world and I am here for it!
Lark Ascending
Silas House
$27.00 $25.11Lark, now an old man, tells the story of his journey as a young man from America to Ireland, as he and his family sought refuge from a war torn America ravaged by “fundies” (militant Christian fundamentalists). They have a special hate for LGBTQ people (Lark is gay). This dystopian thriller had me on the edge of my seat as Lark encounters relentless violence and tragedy. Relief is found in natural beauty, the love of a dog, and a caring friend.
Gilded Mountain
Kate Manning
$28.00 $26.04This satisfying, well written historical novel is set in a marble mining town in Colorado in the early 20th century. Young Sylvia Pelletier comes of age in the town of Moonstone as her beloved father’s work to bring a union to the exploited mine workers is raising tensions. A romance with the labor sympathizing mine owners’ son, and a mentor in the hard drinking news woman KT Redman makes Sylvia’s story into a genuinely page turning adventure!
The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness, and Greed
John Vaillant
$17.95 $16.69The Hidden Life of Trees meets Devil in the White City. This masterpiece of environmentalist true crime writing had me spellbound from start to finish. Lifelong Canadian logger Grant Hadwin experiences a spiritual transformation into an environmental activist. His increasingly quixotic quest to change the industry in the 1990s leads to a bizarre and seemingly inexplicable protest with a truly epic backstory. Hadwin remains missing to this day.
The Mountain in the Sea
Ray Nayler
$28.00 $26.04What would happen if we discovered a species of brilliantly intelligent octopus that had developed its own symbolic language and culture. Oh and also they are deadly dangerous and are actually discovered by the planet’s biggest and greediest corporation. This is the premise of Ray Nayler’s The Mountain in the Sea and it is a deeply inventive work of speculative fiction, perfect for readers who enjoy anthropological/ecological/linguistic themes.
Ways of Being: Animals, Plants, Machines: The Search for a Planetary Intelligence
James Bridle
$30.00 $27.90An extraordinary exploration of the meaning and nature of intelligence, and its many forms, from an initial out-of-the box take on Artificial Intelligence to the many forms of natural intelligences science is learning more about. Bridle takes you on a wild, bold, and slightly unsettling philosophical adventure with an ultimately (if tentatively) hopeful tone regarding our species’ future grappling with issues of nature & technology.
Embrace Fearlessly the Burning World: Essays
Barry Lopez
$28.00 $26.04As much nature writing as I read I’m sorry to admit that I’ve never read Barry Lopez before this. I had him pigeonholed in my mind as a writer of the western US specifically and he is so much more than that. He is a one of those soulful, virtuosic writers who can effortlessly surf from talking about a penguin to climate policy to childhood trauma to the philosophy of place before bringing you back to the hike he started on. I’m hooked!
How to Catch a Mole: Wisdom from a Life Lived in Nature
Marc Hamer
$17.95 $16.69I loved this strange, powerful little book. It is kind of about mole catching but really about the author’s perspectives on nature and the world after a life spent living and working outdoors. But this isn’t your everyday nature writing, Marc Hammer has a unique view on the world and a talent for sharing it.
Remarkably Bright Creatures: A Read with Jenna Pick
Shelby Van Pelt
$29.99 $27.89This delightfully offbeat novel strikes just the right balance between weird and funny on the one hand and tender and big hearted on the other. Marcellus is a clever giant Pacific Octopus with a slightly misanthropic bent who lives in a public aquarium. Tova is the aquarium’s recently widowed janitor who’s stuck in a rut and still mourns the unsolved loss of her son. Tova and Marcellus become best friends and mysteries get solved. What’s not to love?
Nightcrawling
Leila Mottley
$28.00 $26.04This astonishingly intense debut novel from Leila Mottley (who wrote the book when she was SEVENTEEN!) follows the story of Kiara, an Oakland teenager whose difficult life circumstances land her in a nightmare of abuse and scandal at the hands of a group of corrupt Oakland police officers. Inspired by a real case, Mottley puts her brilliant, dazzling poetic skills to work (she was the 2018 Oakland Youth Poet Laureate) telling a story as powerful and tender as it is disturbing.
The Lincoln Highway
Amor Towles
$30.00 $27.00I LOVED A Gentleman in Moscow and have been so excited to read The Lincoln Highway. IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT! Towles is such a master storyteller, it’s impossible to not find yourself rooting for every character. It’s such a different book than his previous work. Lincoln Highway is a fun, fast-paced adventure tale with a lovable cast of characters who exemplify Towles’ signature wit and charm. Highly recommend!
Groundskeeping
Lee Cole
$28.00 $26.04Every character in this book felt so much like someone I’ve known. I have lived most of my life in southern college towns, where professors and liberal arts types live in tense bubbles amidst a sea of religious conservatism and working class anti-intellectualism. This familiar setting forms the backdrop of Lee Cole’s debut novel Groundskeeping, which is at its heart a love story between Owen and Alma, from two very different backgrounds. But more than a simple love story it is also a pitch perfect exploration of the nuanced ways race and class form the boundaries of relationships in these communities. I laughed, I cheered, I cringed with recognition, I shared the characters’ pains and sorrows, and I absolutely could not put this book down.
