Silvia Moreno-Garcia

a mesmerizing reimagining of H.G. Wells’ The Island of Doctor Moreau, set in 19th-century Mexico. The novel follows Carlota, the sheltered yet strong-willed daughter of a scientist whose experiments blur the line between human and beast. As tensions rise on their isolated estate, Carlota must confront dark secrets, colonial oppression, and forbidden love. A must-read for fans of gothic horror, historical fantasy, and richly atmospheric storytelling.

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS' CHOICE * From the bestselling author of Mexican Gothic and Velvet Was the Night comes a dreamy reimagining of The Island of Doctor Moreau set against the backdrop of nineteenth-century Mexico.

"As alluring as it is unsettling, filled with action romance, and monsters . . . Readers will fall into this tale immediately, enchanted."--Booklist (starred review)

"The imagination of Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a thing of wonder, restless and romantic, fearless in the face of genre, embracing the polarities of storytelling--the sleek and the bizarre, wild passions and deep hatreds--with cool equanimity."--The New York Times

Carlota Moreau: A young woman growing up on a distant and luxuriant estate, safe from the conflict and strife of the Yucatán peninsula. The only daughter of a researcher who is either a genius or a madman.

Montgomery Laughton: A melancholic overseer with a tragic past and a propensity for alcohol. An outcast who assists Dr. Moreau with his experiments, which are financed by the Lizaldes, owners of magnificent haciendas and plentiful coffers.

The hybrids: The fruits of the doctor's labor, destined to blindly obey their creator and remain in the shadows. A motley group of part human, part animal monstrosities.

All of them live in a perfectly balanced and static world, which is jolted by the abrupt arrival of Eduardo Lizalde, the charming and careless son of Dr. Moreau's patron, who will unwittingly begin a dangerous chain reaction.

For Moreau keeps secrets, Carlota has questions, and, in the sweltering heat of the jungle, passions may ignite.

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau is both a dazzling historical novel and a daring science fiction journey.

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau

e6d39bf6-b22c-4c6a-8d39-b72333ac28c2-1

Layli Phillips

a foundational anthology that brings together key writings on womanism—a social and spiritual framework centering Black women’s experiences, activism, and scholarship. This collection features essential texts from leading womanist thinkers, covering topics like feminism, religion, social justice, and cultural critique. A must-read for those studying Black feminism, gender studies, and liberation movements.

Heavy Paperback (2 to 4 lbs)

The First Quarter Century of Womanist Thought

Comprehensive in its coverage, The Womanist Reader is the first volume to anthologize the major works of womanist scholarship. Charting the course of womanist theory from its genesis as Alice Walker's African-American feminism, through Chikwenye Okonjo Ogunyemi's African womanism and Clenora Hudson-Weems' Africana womanism, to its present-day expression as a global, anti-oppressionist perspective rooted in the praxis of everyday women of color, this interdisciplinary reader traces the rich and diverse history of a quarter century of womanist thought. Featuring selections from over a dozen disciplines by top womanist scholars from around the world, plus several critiques of womanism, an extensive bibliography of womanist sources, and the first ever systematic treatment of womanist thought on its own terms, Layli Phillips has assembled a unique and groundbreaking compilation.

The Womanist Reader

71337835-8152-4988-b138-5b36dcde84ee-1

Cole Arthur Riley

a powerful collection of meditations that blend spirituality, justice, and Black identity. Drawing from Christian tradition, poetry, and historical narratives, Riley offers prayers and reflections that speak to the experiences of grief, joy, rest, and resilience in Black life. A must-read for those seeking spiritual nourishment, healing, and liberation.

Prayers, Poems, and Meditations for Staying Human

A collection of prayer, poetry, and spiritual practice centering the Black interior world, from the New York Times bestselling author of This Here Flesh and creator of Black Liturgies “A true spiritual balm for our troubled times.”—Michael Eric Dyson, author of What Truth Sounds Like For years, Cole Arthur Riley was desperate for a spirituality she could trust. Amid ongoing national racial violence, the isolation of the pandemic, and a surge of anti-Black rhetoric in many Christian spaces, she began dreaming of a more human, more liberating expression of faith. She went on to create Black Liturgies, a digital project that connects spiritual practice with Black emotion, Black memory, and the Black body. In this book, she brings together hundreds of new prayers, along with letters, poems, meditation questions, breath practices, scriptures, and the writings of Black literary ancestors to offer forty-three liturgies that can be practiced individually or as a community. Inviting readers to reflect on their shared experiences of wonder, rest, rage, and repair, and creating rituals for holidays like Lent and Juneteenth, Arthur Riley writes with a poet’s touch and a sensitivity that has made her one of the most important spiritual voices at work today. For anyone healing from communities that were more violent than loving; for anyone who has escaped the trauma of white Christian nationalism, religious homophobia, or transphobia; for anyone asking what it means to be human in a world of both beauty and terror, Black Liturgies is a work of healing and empowerment, and a vision for what might be.

Black Liturgies

9a0f48a0-d2a7-4d53-b967-e3679e3f1815-0

Alison Kafer

a groundbreaking work that challenges traditional narratives about disability, gender, and sexuality. Blending feminist, queer, and disability studies, Kafer reimagines what a just and accessible future could look like. This book is essential reading for those interested in intersectionality, activism, and radical rethinking of the body and society.

Paperback (1 to 2 lbs)

History

"In Feminist, Queer, Crip Alison Kafer imagines a different future for disability and disabled bodies. Challenging the ways in which ideas about the future and time have been deployed in the service of compulsory able-bodiedness and able-mindedness, Kafer rejects the idea of disability as a pre-determined limit. She juxtaposes theories, movements, and identities such as environmental justice, reproductive justice, cyborg theory, transgender politics, and disability that are typically discussed in isolation and envisions new possibilities for crip futures and feminist/queer/crip alliances. This bold book goes against the grain of normalization and promotes a political framework for a more just world."--Publisher's website.

Feminist, Queer, Crip

1e5e870b-b692-44c5-ba33-6c99409235cd-1

Imani Perry

a deeply insightful exploration of the American South and its profound impact on the nation’s identity. Blending history, memoir, and cultural analysis, Perry examines how the South has shaped America’s politics, culture, and racial landscape. A must-read for those interested in history, Black studies, and the complexities of regional identity in the U.S.

A Journey below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

"An elegant meditation on the complexities of the American South--and thus of America--by an esteemed daughter of the South and one of the great intellectuals of our time. An inspiration." --Isabel Wilkerson

An essential, surprising journey through the history, rituals, and landscapes of the American South--and a revelatory argument for why you must understand the South in order to understand America

We all think we know the South. Even those who have never lived there can rattle off a list of signifiers: the Civil War, Gone with the Wind, the Ku Klux Klan, plantations, football, Jim Crow, slavery. But the idiosyncrasies, dispositions, and habits of the region are stranger and more complex than much of the country tends to acknowledge. In South to America, Imani Perry shows that the meaning of American is inextricably linked with the South, and that our understanding of its history and culture is the key to understanding the nation as a whole.

This is the story of a Black woman and native Alabaman returning to the region she has always called home and considering it with fresh eyes. Her journey is full of detours, deep dives, and surprising encounters with places and people. She renders Southerners from all walks of life with sensitivity and honesty, sharing her thoughts about a troubling history and the ritual humiliations and joys that characterize so much of Southern life.

Weaving together stories of immigrant communities, contemporary artists, exploitative opportunists, enslaved peoples, unsung heroes, her own ancestors, and her lived experiences, Imani Perry crafts a tapestry unlike any other. With uncommon insight and breathtaking clarity, South to America offers an assertion that if we want to build a more humane future for the United States, we must center our concern below the Mason-Dixon Line.  

A Recommended Read from: The New York Times * TIME * Oprah Daily * USA Today * Vulture * Essence * Esquire * W Magazine * Atlanta Journal-Constitution * PopSugar * Book Riot * Chicago Review of Books * Electric Literature * Lit Hub 

South to America

c56ce112-80a5-4ed5-ae04-69165cc5f26b-1

Jennifer C. Nash

a powerful exploration of Black motherhood, feminism, and reproductive justice. Through critical analysis, Nash examines how Black mothers are represented and celebrated in contemporary culture while also highlighting the systemic challenges they face. This book is essential reading for those interested in Black feminist thought, maternal health, and social justice.

Birthing Black Mothers

58708309-ad9a-4e43-b606-99a1dc4ee9e3-0

Tabitha Brown

a heartwarming and inspiring cookbook filled with delicious, plant-based recipes infused with love and positivity. Known for her uplifting personality and passion for healthy living, Brown shares flavorful dishes that nourish both the body and soul—no measurements, just creativity and intuition in the kitchen. A must-have for food lovers, vegan cooks, and anyone looking to embrace joyful, spirit-led cooking.

Easy, Delicious, and Joyful Plant-Based Inspirations

Tabitha Brown, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Feeding the Soul, presents her first cookbook--full of easy, family-friendly vegan recipes and stories from the spirit, inspired by her health journey and love of delicious food.

Sometimes people say to Tabitha Brown, "I've never eaten vegan before." As Tab says, "Have you ever eaten an apple?"

After living with a terrible undiagnosed illness for more than a year and a half, Tab was willing to try anything to stop the pain. Inspired by the documentary What the Health, she tried a thirty-day vegan challenge--and never looked back. Wanting to inspire others to make changes that might improve their own lives, she started sharing her favorite plant-based recipes in her signature warm voice with thousands, and now millions, of online fans.

Tab's recipes are flexible, creative, and filled with encouragement, so you trust yourself to cook food the way it makes you happy. If you're already a "cooking from the spirit" sort of person, you'll love how much freedom Tab gives to make these delicious vegan dishes your own. If you're newer to cooking--or to vegan cooking--Tab will help you get comfortable in the kitchen and, most important, have fun doing it!

In this joyful book, Tab shares personal stories, inspirational "Tabisms," and more than eighty easy, family-friendly recipes, including:

 * Yam Halves Topped with Maple-Cinnamon Pecan Glaze
 * Stuffed Avocado
 * Jackfruit Pot Roast
 * Crab-less Cakes with Spicy Tartar Sauce
 * Who Made the Potato Salad?
 * Kale and Raspberry Salad
 * Strawberry Cheesecake Cups

Cooking from the Spirit is for anyone interested in plant-based eating and all lovers of food, plus anyone who wants a little warm inspiration in their lives. As Tab says, "Honey, now let's go on and get to cooking from the spirit. Yes? Very good!"

Cooking from the Spirit

e02f05f5-dab1-434d-ab6c-f593a2771d45-1

Gayatri Gopinath

explores the intersections of queer theory, diaspora studies, and visual culture. Through an analysis of art, film, and literature, Gopinath examines how queer aesthetics challenge colonial and national narratives, offering new ways to think about identity, belonging, and resistance. A must-read for those interested in feminist theory, postcolonial studies, and LGBTQ+ cultural criticism.

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

The Aesthetic Practices of Queer Diaspora

In Unruly Visions Gayatri Gopinath brings queer studies to bear on investigations of diaspora and visuality, tracing the interrelation of affect, archive, region, and aesthetics through an examination of a wide range of contemporary queer visual culture. Spanning film, fine art, poetry, and photography, these cultural forms—which Gopinath conceptualizes as aesthetic practices of queer diaspora—reveal the intimacies of seemingly disparate histories of (post)colonial dwelling and displacement and are a product of diasporic trajectories. Countering standard formulations of diaspora that inevitably foreground the nation-state, as well as familiar formulations of queerness that ignore regional gender and sexual formations, she stages unexpected encounters between works by South Asian, Middle Eastern, African, Australian, and Latinx artists such as Tracey Moffatt, Akram Zaatari, and Allan deSouza. Gopinath shows how their art functions as regional queer archives that express alternative understandings of time, space, and relationality. The queer optics produced by these visual practices creates South-to-South, region-to-region, and diaspora-to-region cartographies that profoundly challenge disciplinary and area studies rubrics. Gopinath thereby provides new critical perspectives on settler colonialism, empire, military occupation, racialization, and diasporic dislocation as they indelibly mark both bodies and landscapes.

Unruly Visions

803a881d-4e3d-4e97-a992-3afe56a8064e-0

Edna Lewis

a timeless classic that captures the essence of Southern farm life through food. Filled with seasonal recipes and heartfelt storytelling, Lewis shares the traditions of rural Virginia, emphasizing fresh, local ingredients and the joy of cooking with care. A must-have for home cooks, food historians, and lovers of authentic Southern cuisine.

The 30th Anniversary Edition of a Great Southern Classic Cookbook

In this classic Southern cookbook, the “first lady of Southern cooking” (NPR) shares the seasonal recipes from a childhood spent in a small farming community settled by freed slaves. She shows us how to recreate these timeless dishes in our own kitchens—using natural ingredients, embracing the seasons, and cultivating community. With a preface by Judith Jones and foreword by Alice Waters. With menus for the four seasons, Miss Lewis (as she was almost universally known) shares the ways her family prepared and enjoyed food, savoring the delights of each special time of year. From the fresh taste of spring—the first wild mushrooms and field greens—to the feasts of summer—garden-ripe vegetables and fresh blackberry cobbler—and from the harvest of fall—baked country ham and roasted newly dug sweet potatoes—to the hearty fare of winter—stews, soups, and baked beans—Lewis sets down these marvelous dishes in loving detail. Here are recipes for Corn Pone and Crispy Biscuits, Sweet Potato Casserole and Hot Buttered Beets, Pan-Braised Spareribs, Chicken with Dumplings, Rhubarb Pie, and Brandied Peaches. Dishes are organized into more than 30 seasonal menus, such as A Late Spring Lunch After Wild-Mushroom Picking, A Midsummer Sunday Breakfast, A Christmas Eve Supper, and an Emancipation Day Dinner. In this seminal work, Edna Lewis shows us precisely how to recover, in our own country or city or suburban kitchens, the taste of the fresh, good, and distinctly American cooking that she grew up with.

The Taste of Country Cooking

0235c984-e4b1-4504-8860-5fed248c8e27-1

a celebration of Southern cooking, culture, and the art of creating dishes that honor both tradition and flavor. Known as the “Grand Dame of Southern Cooking,” Edna Lewis offers rich insights into her recipes and the cultural significance behind each dish. A must-read for lovers of Southern cuisine, food history, and culinary craftsmanship.

Provides recipes for fruits, vegetables, meat, poulty, fish, seafood, preserves, breads, and desserts

In Pursuit of Flavor

1123113e-8883-4faa-a667-f6b3c00cfb40-1

Andrea Abi-Karam

a bold collection of poetry that channels the raw energy of trans identity, resistance, and survival. Through experimental language and cutting-edge style, Abi-Karam explores themes of transformation, the body, and the politics of gender. A must-read for fans of queer literature, radical poetry, and those interested in pushing the boundaries of literary expression.

Kill bro/Kill Cop -- Decreation -- Fusion -- Extratransmission.

Extratransmission

56c6653d-1fa1-4c01-8802-2383047fd94c-0

Alan Kaufman

 anthology that celebrates writers who have defied convention and challenged societal norms. Featuring works from marginalized and rebellious voices throughout American literary history, this collection highlights the untold stories and radical perspectives that have shaped American culture. A must-read for lovers of literary subversion, alternative history, and nonconformist writing.

The Outlaw Bible of American Literature will serve as a primer for generational revolt and an enduring document of the visionary tradition of authenticity and nonconformity in literature. This exuberant manifesto includes lives of the writers, on-the-scene testimony, seminal underground articles never before collected, photographs, cartoons, drawings, interviews, and, above all, the writings. Beat, Punk, Noir, Prison, Porn, Cyber, Queer, Anarchist, Blue Collar, Pulp, Sci-Fi, Utopian, Mobster, Political—all are represented. The Bible includes fiction, essays, letters, memoirs, journalism, lyrics, diaries, manifestoes, and selections from seminal film scripts, including Easy Rider, Apocalypse Now, and Taxi Driver. The editors have brought together an extravagant, eclectic, searing, and unforgettable body of work, showcasing Hustlers, Mavericks, Contrarians, Rockers, Barbarians, Gangsters, Hedonists, Provocateurs, Hipsters, and Revolutionaries—all in one raucous cauldron of rebellion and otherness. This prose companion to the best-selling award-winning Outlaw Bible of American Poetry features selections from Hunter S. Thompson, Exene Cervenka, Patti Smith, Dennis Cooper, Malcolm X, Sonny Barger, Maggie Estep, Lenny Bruce, Henry Miller, R. Crumb, Philip K. Dick, Iceberg Slim, Gil Scott-Heron, Kathy Acker, Jim Carroll, Charles Mingus, Norman Mailer, and many others.

The Outlaw Bible of American Literature

d2fd14c6-9674-4cc7-97af-217e0b5df919-0

Toby Beauchamp

an insightful and personal exploration of gender transition and the complexities of navigating the world as a transgender individual. Drawing from his own experiences, Beauchamp examines the journey of “going stealth”—choosing to live without disclosing one’s transgender identity—and the social and psychological challenges it presents. A must-read for those interested in gender identity, LGBTQ+ experiences, and social justice.

Transgender Politics and U. S. Surveillance Practices

In Going Stealth Toby Beauchamp demonstrates how the enforcement of gender conformity is linked to state surveillance practices that identify threats based on racial, gender, national, and ableist categories of difference. Positioning surveillance as central to our understanding of transgender politics, Beauchamp examines a range of issues, from bathroom bills and TSA screening practices to Chelsea Manning's trial, to show how security practices extend into the everyday aspects of our gendered lives. He brings the fields of disability, science and technology, and surveillance studies into conversation with transgender studies to show how the scrutinizing of gender nonconformity is motivated less by explicit transgender identities than by the perceived threat that gender nonconformity poses to the U.S. racial and security state. Beauchamp uses instances of gender surveillance to demonstrate how disciplinary power attempts to produce conformist citizens and regulate difference through discourses of security. At the same time, he contends that greater visibility and recognition for gender nonconformity, while sometimes beneficial, might actually enable the surveillance state to more effectively track, measure, and control trans bodies and identities.

Going Stealth

b59a60f4-f0c2-4abc-9453-79d4febe1156-0

C. Riley Snorton

a powerful exploration of the intersection of race, gender, and sexuality in the Black diaspora. Through a queer theoretical lens, Snorton examines how Black identity has been shaped and policed, while challenging conventional frameworks of race and gender. A must-read for those interested in Black studies, queer theory, and social justice.

A Racial History of Trans Identity

The story of Christine Jorgensen, America's first prominent transsexual, famously narrated trans embodiment in the postwar era. Her celebrity, however, has obscured other mid-century trans narratives--ones lived by African Americans such as Lucy Hicks Anderson and James McHarris. Their erasure from trans history masks the profound ways race has figured prominently in the construction and representation of transgender subjects. In Black on Both Sides, C. Riley Snorton identifies multiple intersections between blackness and transness from the mid-nineteenth century to present-day anti-black and anti-trans legislation and violence. Drawing on a deep and varied archive of materials--early sexological texts, fugitive slave narratives, Afro-modernist literature, sensationalist journalism, Hollywood films--Snorton attends to how slavery and the production of racialized gender provided the foundations for an understanding of gender as mutable. In tracing the twinned genealogies of blackness and transness, Snorton follows multiple trajectories, from the medical experiments conducted on enslaved black women by J. Marion Sims, the "father of American gynecology," to the negation of blackness that makes transnormativity possible. Revealing instances of personal sovereignty among blacks living in the antebellum North that were mapped in terms of "cross dressing" and canonical black literary works that express black men's access to the "female within," Black on Both Sides concludes with a reading of the fate of Phillip DeVine, who was murdered alongside Brandon Teena in 1993, a fact omitted from the film Boys Don't Cry out of narrative convenience. Reconstructing these theoretical and historical trajectories furthers our imaginative capacities to conceive more livable black and trans worlds.

Black on Both Sides

552adc64-5a3d-472c-bba8-8ffbad7e5b2e-1

George S. Schuyler

a bold and satirical novel that imagines a world where a scientific procedure can turn Black people white. First published in 1931 during the Harlem Renaissance, this thought-provoking story critiques race, class, and identity in America with biting wit and sharp social commentary. A must-read for fans of classic literature, satire, and speculative fiction.

Black No More

47f03b2f-b2c0-45f1-bbea-50565805d7e6-0

Nikole Hannah-Jones

a groundbreaking anthology that reframes American history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the center of the national narrative. Featuring essays, poetry, and historical analysis, this book challenges conventional perspectives and deepens our understanding of race, democracy, and identity in the U.S. A must-read for those interested in history, social justice, and cultural criticism.

Heavy Hardcover (2 to 4 lbs)

A New Origin Story

A dramatic expansion of a groundbreaking work of journalism, The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story offers a profoundly revealing vision of the American past and present. In late August 1619, a ship arrived in the British colony of Virginia bearing a cargo of twenty to thirty enslaved people from Africa. Their arrival led to the barbaric and unprecedented system of American chattel slavery that would last for the next 250 years. This is sometimes referred to as the country’s original sin, but it is more than that: It is the source of so much that still defines the United States. The New York Times Magazine’s award-winning “1619 Project” issue reframed our understanding of American history by placing slavery and its continuing legacy at the center of our national narrative. This new book substantially expands on that work, weaving together eighteen essays that explore the legacy of slavery in present-day America with thirty-six poems and works of fiction that illuminate key moments of oppression, struggle, and resistance. The essays show how the inheritance of 1619 reaches into every part of contemporary American society, from politics, music, diet, traffic, and citizenship to capitalism, religion, and our democracy itself. This is a book that speaks directly to our current moment, contextualizing the systems of race and caste within which we operate today. It reveals long-glossed-over truths around our nation’s founding and construction—and the way that the legacy of slavery did not end with emancipation, but continues to shape contemporary American life. Featuring contributions from: Leslie Alexander • Michelle Alexander • Carol Anderson • Joshua Bennett • Reginald Dwayne Betts • Jamelle Bouie • Anthea Butler • Matthew Desmond • Rita Dove • Camille T. Dungy • Cornelius Eady • Eve L. Ewing • Nikky Finney • Vievee Francis • Yaa Gyasi • Forrest Hamer • Terrance Hayes • Kimberly Annece Henderson • Jeneen Interlandi • Honorée Fanonne Jeffers • Barry Jenkins • Tyehimba Jess • Martha S. Jones • Robert Jones, Jr. • A. Van Jordan • Ibram X. Kendi • Eddie Kendricks • Yusef Komunyakaa • Kevin M. Kruse • Kiese Laymon • Trymaine Lee • Jasmine Mans • Terry McMillan • Tiya Miles • Wesley Morris • Khalil Gibran Muhammad • Lynn Nottage • ZZ Packer • Gregory Pardlo • Darryl Pinckney • Claudia Rankine • Jason Reynolds • Dorothy Roberts • Sonia Sanchez • Tim Seibles • Evie Shockley • Clint Smith • Danez Smith • Patricia Smith • Tracy K. Smith • Bryan Stevenson • Nafissa Thompson-Spires • Natasha Trethewey • Linda Villarosa • Jesmyn Ward

The 1619 Project

19dde2d6-b361-4af2-b4e5-bae95f077652-1

Rebecca Solnit

a sharp, witty, and insightful essay collection that explores the dynamics of gender, power, and silencing. A foundational text in feminist thought, this book examines how women’s voices are dismissed in everyday interactions and broader societal structures. A must-read for those interested in gender studies, social justice, and cultural criticism.

A landmark essay that went viral, inspired the word ?mansplaining,” and prompted fierce arguments.

Men Explain Things to Me

049aa5a0-92a5-4682-9712-c98ef87a8e72-1

Yoel Hoffmann

a profound collection of farewell poems written by Zen monks, haiku poets, and samurai before their passing. This anthology offers deep insights into Japanese culture, spirituality, and the art of facing mortality with grace and reflection. A must-read for lovers of poetry, philosophy, and Japanese traditions.

Written by Zen Monks and Haiku Poets on the Verge of Death

"A wonderful introduction the Japanese tradition of jisei, this volume is crammed with exquisite, spontaneous verse and pity, often hilarious, descriptions of the eccentric and committed monastics who wrote the poems." —Tricycle: The Buddhist Review Although the consciousness of death is, in most cultures, very much a part of life, this is perhaps nowhere more true than in Japan, where the approach of death has given rise to a centuries-old tradition of writing jisei, or the "death poem." Such a poem is often written in the very last moments of the poet's life. Hundreds of Japanese death poems, many with a commentary describing the circumstances of the poet's death, have been translated into English here, the vast majority of them for the first time. Yoel Hoffmann explores the attitudes and customs surrounding death in historical and present-day Japan and gives examples of how these have been reflected in the nation's literature in general. The development of writing jisei is then examined—from the longing poems of the early nobility and the more "masculine" verses of the samurai to the satirical death poems of later centuries. Zen Buddhist ideas about death are also described as a preface to the collection of Chinese death poems by Zen monks that are also included. Finally, the last section contains three hundred twenty haiku, some of which have never been assembled before, in English translation and romanized in Japanese.

Japanese Death Poems

f13bfa24-5b4c-48e0-b652-b5f18b522eb1-1

James Baldwin

Edward P. Jones

#26 on The Guardian's list of 100 best nonfiction books of all time, the essays explore what it means to be Black in America In an age of Black Lives Matter, James Baldwin's essays on life in Harlem, the protest novel, movies, and African Americans abroad are as powerful today as when they were first written. With films like I Am Not Your Negro and the forthcoming If Beale Street Could Talk bringing renewed interest to Baldwin's life and work, Notes of a Native Son serves as a valuable introduction. Written during the 1940s and early 1950s, when Baldwin was only in his twenties, the essays collected in Notes of a Native Son capture a view of black life and black thought at the dawn of the civil rights movement and as the movement slowly gained strength through the words of one of the most captivating essayists and foremost intellectuals of that era. Writing as an artist, activist, and social critic, Baldwin probes the complex condition of being black in America. With a keen eye, he examines everything from the significance of the protest novel to the motives and circumstances of the many black expatriates of the time, from his home in “The Harlem Ghetto” to a sobering “Journey to Atlanta.” Notes of a Native Son inaugurated Baldwin as one of the leading interpreters of the dramatic social changes erupting in the United States in the twentieth century, and many of his observations have proven almost prophetic. His criticism on topics such as the paternalism of white progressives or on his own friend Richard Wright’s work is pointed and unabashed. He was also one of the few writing on race at the time who addressed the issue with a powerful mixture of outrage at the gross physical and political violence against black citizens and measured understanding of their oppressors, which helped awaken a white audience to the injustices under their noses. Naturally, this combination of brazen criticism and unconventional empathy for white readers won Baldwin as much condemnation as praise. Notes is the book that established Baldwin’s voice as a social critic, and it remains one of his most admired works. The essays collected here create a cohesive sketch of black America and reveal an intimate portrait of Baldwin’s own search for identity as an artist, as a black man, and as an American.

Notes of a Native Son

b24d2798-436f-4f67-a4c9-68a747e115eb-1

Sara L. McKinnon

explores how gender and sexuality shape the asylum process in the United States. Through critical analysis, the book examines legal cases, policies, and narratives of those seeking refuge due to gender-based persecution. A must-read for scholars, activists, and anyone interested in immigration law, feminist studies, and human rights.

Race and Violence in U. S. Law and Politics

Women filing gender-based asylum claims long faced skepticism and outright rejection within the U.S. immigration system. Despite erratic progress, the United States still fails to recognize gender as an established category for experiencing persecution. Gender exists in a sort of limbo segregated from other aspects of identity and experience. Sara L. McKinnon exposes racialized rhetorics of violence in politics and charts the development of gender as a category in U.S. asylum law. Starting with the late 1980s, when gender-based requests first emerged in case law, McKinnon analyzes gender and sexuality-related cases against the backdrop of national and transnational politics. Her focus falls on cases as diverse as Guatemalan and Salvadoran women sexually abused during the Dirty Wars and transgender asylum seekers from around the world fleeing brutally violent situations. She reviews the claims, evidence, testimony, and message strategies that unfolded in these legal arguments and decisions, and illuminates how legal decisions turned gender into a political construct vulnerable to U.S. national and global interests. She also explores myriad related aspects of the process, including how subjects are racialized and the effects of that racialization, and the consequences of policies that position gender as a signifier for women via normative assumptions about sex and heterosexuality.

Gendered Asylum

efb8859e-f75b-4f06-bdac-bedac6f66f94-0

Much of Klarwein's most famous work was inspired by surrealism and pop culture, but also reflected his interest in deities and symbolism. During the 1960s Klarwein's fame grew and some of the decade's most progressive musicians used his artwork for their album covers. Klarwein is still best known for his art of the 1960s and 1970s, with its clear links to surrealism, popular psychedelic imagery, ethnic and exotic themes, erotic, and religious art. He also worked more conventionally across a variety of genres including still life, landscape, and portrait.

Milk n Honey

Kwadwo Osei-Nyame

a captivating collection of folklore, legends, and myths from across the African continent. This anthology brings together powerful stories of gods, tricksters, heroes, and spirits, showcasing the rich oral traditions and cultural heritage of Africa. Perfect for lovers of mythology, world literature, and timeless storytelling.

Epic Tales

Africa south of the Sahara is a land of wide-ranging traditions and varying cultures. Despite the diversity and the lack of early written records, the continent possesses a rich body of folk tales and legends that have been passed down through the strong custom of storytelling and which often share similar elements, characters and ideas between peoples. So this collection offers a hefty selection of legends and tales - stories of the gods, creation and origins, trickster exploits, animal fables and stories which entertain and edify - from 'Obatala Creates Mankind', from the Yoruba people of west Africa, to 'The Girl Of The Early Race, Who Made Stars', from the San people of southern Africa, all collected in a gorgeous gold-foiled and embossed hardback to treasure.

African Myths and Tales

64403a84-5c20-4aed-af7e-4e45d79795d7-1

Murasaki Shikibu

Dennis Washburn

 A rendition of Murasaki Shikibu’s 11th-century epic, often considered the world’s first novel. This timeless classic follows the life and loves of Prince Genji, offering a richly detailed glimpse into the aristocratic court culture of Heian-era Japan. A must-read for fans of classic literature, historical fiction, and Japanese storytelling.

Murasaki Shikibu, born into the middle ranks of the aristocracy during the Heian period (794?1185 CE), wrote The Tale of Genji--widely considered the world's first novel--during the early years of the eleventh century. Expansive, compelling, and sophisticated in its representation of ethical concerns and aesthetic ideals, Murasaki's tale came to occupy a central place in Japan's remarkable history of artistic achievement and is now recognized as a masterpiece of world literature. The Tale of Genji is presented here in a flowing new translation for contemporary readers, who will discover in its depiction of the culture of the imperial court the rich complexity of human experience that simultaneously resonates with and challenges their own. Washburn sets off interior monologues with italics for fluid reading, embeds some annotations for accessibility and clarity, and renders the poetry into triplets to create prosodic analogues of the original.

The Tale of Genji

6159f6b6-764f-4a6a-9eeb-a52ca05388a3

David Young

A captivating collection of short stories that blend the ordinary with the extraordinary. Featuring works from renowned authors, this anthology showcases the essence of magical realism—where the fantastical seamlessly intertwines with reality. A must-read for fans of literature that bends boundaries and defies convention.

An Anthology

This capacious anthology has selections from the authors you would expect to find, from others you may be less familiar with, and from writers you might not expect to show up in this company. The result is a treasure trove of unusual fiction, one of the most exciting anthologies to appear in the last decade. This is a poet's companion, a student's delight, great bedside reading: the kind of book you'd take to a desert island!

Browse by categories

Silvia Moreno-Garcia

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau

Layli Phillips

The Womanist Reader

Cole Arthur Riley

Black Liturgies

Alison Kafer

Feminist, Queer, Crip

Imani Perry

South to America

Jennifer C. Nash

Birthing Black Mothers

Tabitha Brown

Cooking from the Spirit

Gayatri Gopinath

Unruly Visions

Edna Lewis

The Taste of Country Cooking

Edna Lewis

In Pursuit of Flavor

Andrea Abi-Karam

Extratransmission

Alan Kaufman

The Outlaw Bible of American Literature

Toby Beauchamp

Going Stealth

C. Riley Snorton

Black on Both Sides

George S. Schuyler

Black No More

Nikole Hannah-Jones

The 1619 Project

Rebecca Solnit

Men Explain Things to Me

Yoel Hoffmann

Japanese Death Poems

James Baldwin; Edward P. Jones

Notes of a Native Son

Sara L. McKinnon

Gendered Asylum

Abdul Mati Klarwein

Milk n Honey

Kwadwo Osei-Nyame

African Myths and Tales

Murasaki Shikibu; Dennis Washburn

The Tale of Genji

David Young

Magical Realist Fiction

Get The App