Becca's Staff Picks
I love Virginia Woolf more than words and To The Lighthouse is my favorite book that she ever wrote (to the point where I wrote not one but two seminar papers about in undergrad.) Lily Briscoe is one of my favorite characters in literature, complex and haunting. The section "Time Passes" is one of the most brilliantly rendered pieces of writing you'll ever read.
This book was completely nuts but in the best way possible. Video games and alien linguistics might seem like a weird mix at first, but somehow Scotto Moore got it to work. Main character Isobel provides a fun point-of-view and I promise the book features enough twists and turns that you'll never know whats coming next.
First published as De nos fráeres blessâes in 2016 and winner of the prestigious Prix Goncourt, Tomorrow They Won't Dare To Murder Us is a powerhouse of a novel, heart-wrenching in its descriptions of the effects of French colonialism in Algeria. Iveton's character is brilliantly rendered and this translation does justice to the orginal.
This new Scalzi standalone is a romp of a read reminiscent of Jurassic Park and Godzilla that will capture every nature lover and environmentalist's heart. With an incredible cast of characters (Dr. Healy is the best of the bunch and I may be slightly obsessed with them) you will laugh, rage, and maybe even feel a little hope.
This was such a sweet and funny queer rom-com! I read it during one of my grad school breaks and it was like eating a slice of cake after chewing on rocks for a semester: light, easy, and delicious. Main character Phoebe is such an iconic character and her internal monologue is just hysterical. I loved every moment of it.
An new book of poetry that touches on queer identity, American imperialism, and reckoning with trauma. This eloquent and innovative collection plays with vocabulary, syntax, and form, and is overall an incredible debut collection.
An incredible new book of poems from my dear friend, mentor, and don Victoria Redel. Lyrical, beautiful, and brilliant were the first words I could think of to describe this collection. I deeply admire her work and I know you will too.
Marie Rutkoski's first foray into adult fiction is a heart-wrenching nail-biter with just enough hope in it that it'll make you cry. The dancers of the Lovely Lady strip club are all incredibly memorable and fully fleshed out characters and Rutkoski's prose will break your heart with its beauty. If you like Gillian Flynn, this one will be right up your alley.
In the vein of Guillermo Del Toro's Crimson Peak, this tale of a haunted home in a mirror universe version of Britain builds up and then breaks all of the typical genre conventions of gothic horror. If you ever wished that Jane Eyre knew how to do magic, this is the book for you. Be forewarned, though, if you can't deal with blood or medical gore this might be one of my picks that you should skip.
Embattled by Emily Katz Anhalt (a.k.a. 'my undergraduate thesis advisor') is a fantastic new book that makes classical reception and ancient myths more accesible to the public. Through readings and analysis of Homeric epics, Antigone, and the Oresteia, Anhalt teaches us how we can still use ancient texts to resist tyranny today.