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Emily B's Picks

Things Emily enjoys: anarchism, backlist, baking, baroque prose, birds, book history, bread, cocktails, conmen, crafts, crime, death and dying, Dungeons and Dragons, experimental fiction, fantasy, the feminine middlebrow, gender-bending, genre-bending, ghosts, the grotesque, heists, historical fiction, horror, the Jewish diaspora, Judaism in general, knitting, labor history, leftism, lesbians, magic, manga, Mitfords, novellas, the paranormal, pastry, purple prose, revolutions, Russia, science fiction, sewing, socialism, speculative fiction, the supernatural, tarot, textiles, weird-the-adjective, Weird-the-genre, wizards, witches, women.



Emily tends not to enjoy books with covers of dramatically-lit women either turned with their back to the camera or pictured from the neck down (unless they are about lesbians). In 2020, between long droughts, she exclusively but inadvertently read books that contained cannibalism.

Ahead of the Curve is the first sewing book to empower curvy and plus size women to feel body confident by sewing a wardrobe that fits. Don't change your body to fit your clothes – change your clothes to fit your body! Ahead of the Curve includes 5 basic garment patterns (US sizes 12–32/UK sizes 16– ... Read More about
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Emma Mieko Candon
Current price: $28.99
War machines and AI gods run amok in The Archive Undying, national bestseller Emma Mieko Candon's bold entry into the world of mecha fiction. WHEN AN AI DIES, ITS CITY DIES WITH IT WHEN A CITY FALLS, IT LEAVES A CORPSE BEHIND WHEN THAT CORPSE RUNS OFF, ONLY DEVOTION CAN BRING IT BACK When the robot ... Read More about
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Ann Vandermeer (Editor)
Current price: $26.00
WORLD FANTASY AWARD WINNER • A true horde of fantasy tales sure to delight fans, scholars, and even the greediest of dragons—from bestselling authors Ann and Jeff VanderMeerStep through a shimmering portal ... a worn wardrobe door ... a schism in sky ... into a bold new age of fantasy. When worlds b ... Read More about
Alison Rumfitt
Current price: $17.99
“Smart, seething social horror…Rumfitt gives her worms the grotesque and triumphant glory they demand.” —The New York Times Book Review From Alison Rumfitt, the author of Tell Me I’m Worthless — “a triumph of transgressive queer horror” (Publishers Weekly) — comes Brainwyrms, a searing body horror n ... Read More about
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On bookshelves around the world, surrounded by ordinary books bound in paper and leather, rest other volumes of a distinctly strange and grisly sort: those bound in human skin. Would you know one if you held it in your hand?In Dark Archives, Megan Rosenbloom seeks out the historic and scientific tru ... Read More about
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Ryoko Kui
Current price: $15.00
When young adventurer Laios and his company are attacked and soundly thrashed by a dragon deep in a dungeon, the party loses all its money and provisions...and a member! They're eager to go back and save her, but there is just one problem: If they set out with no food or coin to speak of, they're su ... Read More about
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Michael Witwer, Kyle Newman, Jon Peterson, Sam Witwer, Official Dungeons & Dragons Licensed
Current price: $50.00
An illustrated guide to the history and evolution of the beloved role-playing game told through the paintings, sketches, illustrations, and visual ephemera behind its creation, growth, and continued popularity.FINALIST FOR THE HUGO AWARD • FINALIST FOR THE LOCUS AWARD • NOMINATED FOR THE DIANA JONES ... Read More about
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A new "farm-to-closet" vision for the clothes we wear--by a leader in the movement for local textile economies There is a major disconnect between what we wear and our knowledge of its impact on land, air, water, labor, and human health. Even those who value access to safe, local, nutritious food ha ... Read More about
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Sarah Waters
Current price: $19.00
“Oliver Twist with a twist…Waters spins an absorbing tale that withholds as much as it discloses. A pulsating story.”—The New York Times Book Review  The Handmaiden, a film adaptation of Fingersmith, directed by Park Chan-wook and starring Kim Tae-Ri, is now available. Sue Trinder is an o ... Read More about
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Dorothy L. Sayers
Current price: $17.99
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A.K. Blakemore
Current price: $28.00
A New York Times EDITORS’ CHOICE | Shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize | MOST ANTICIPATED by The Guardian • Paste Magazine • LitHub • The Millions • Library Journal From the prizewinning author of The Manningtree Witches, a subversive historical novel set during the French Revolution, inspired by ... Read More about
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Rebecca K. Reilly
Current price: $28.00
A New York Times Editors’ Choice • “Laugh-out-loud-funny.” —Harper’s Bazaar • “Quintessential rom-com meets the delicious family sprawl of a Russian classic.” —Vanity Fair • “Say hello to your new favorite fictional family.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) For fans of Schitt’s Creek and Sally Roone ... Read More about
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“A practical and inspirational guide to a new style of planting.” —Country Homes & Interiors In this practical and inspirational guide, Greg Loades presents a new style of planting: a fusion between classic cottage style and the new perennial movement. Using real gardens as examples, The M ... Read More about
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Alex Pheby
Current price: $29.99
Alex Pheby's Mordew launches an astonishingly inventive epic fantasy trilogy. God is dead, his corpse hidden in the catacombs beneath Mordew. In the slums of the sea-battered city, a young boy called Nathan Treeves lives with his parents, eking out a meagre existence by picking treasures from the Li ... Read More about
HARVEY AWARD WINNER The heart-rending autobiographical manga that’s taken the internet by storm! My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness is an honest and heartfelt look at one young woman’s exploration of her sexuality, mental well-being, and growing up in our modern age. Told using expressive artwor ... Read More about
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Victoria Kielland
Current price: $25.00
A New York Times Best Crime Novel of 2023A Wall Street Journal Best Mystery Book of 2023A CrimeReads Best Historical Fiction and International Crime Novel of 2023A Best Book of 2023 - Chicago Review of Books and Marie Claire"An eerily lyrical tour de force . . . [A] horrific, sustained portrait of a ... Read More about
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Vivid and intriguing, Murder Maps plots the nineteenth century’s most dramatic murders from around the world onto meticulous diagrams and period maps, and recounts the brilliant detective work that solved the cases. Elegant period maps and compelling crime analysis illuminate this disquieting volume ... Read More about
The Harvey-nominated manga about a broad LGBT+ community. Not only is high schooler Tasuku Kaname the new kid in town, he is also terrified that he has been outed as gay. Just as he’s contemplating doing the unthinkable, Tasuku meets a mysterious woman who leads him to a group of people dealing wit ... Read More about
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Barbara Burman
Current price: $25.00
From the pleasures of mending to the problems of fast fashion, an intimate look at the creativity, community, and deep meaning sewed into every stitch.   Tens of millions of people sew for necessity or pleasure every day, yet the craft is surprisingly under-appreciated. The Point of the Needle ... Read More about
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Matthew Forsythe
Current price: $18.99
Four starred reviews!A Today Show Best Book of the YearAn NPR Favorite Book of 2019 From E.B. White Read Aloud honor artist Matthew Forsythe comes an “extraordinary” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) picture book about a magical drum, an emerald forest, and the little frog who dares to make her ow ... Read More about
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"We should all be cooking like Adeena Sussman."--The Wall Street Journal"Sababa is a breath of fresh, sunny air."--The New York TimesIn an Israeli cookbook as personal as it is global, Adeena Sussman celebrates the tableau of flavors the region has to offer, in all its staggering and delicious varie ... Read More about
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NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER! The blockbuster danmei/Boys’ Love novels from China that inspired the animated Scumbag System series streaming in English!  This hilarious story of a man reborn as a villain in a fantasy novel series who ends up romancing the male protagonist is now in English, ... Read More about
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Rosemary Kirstein
Current price: $11.99
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION If you ask, she must answer. A steerswoman's knowledge is shared with any who request it; no steerswoman may refuse a question, and no steerswoman may answer with anything but the truth.And if she asks, you must answer. It is the other side of tradition's contract -- and if yo ... Read More about
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Ellen Kushner
Current price: $7.99
The cult classic fantasy of manners, now with three bonus stories   “Swordspoint has an unforgettable opening and just gets better from there.”—George R. R. Martin   Hailed by critics as “a bravura performance” (Locus) and “witty, sharp-eyed, [and] full of interesting people” (Newsday), th ... Read More about
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Alison Rumfitt
Current price: $17.99
Alison Rumfitt’s Tell Me I’m Worthless is a dark, unflinching haunted house story that confronts both supernatural and real-world horrors through the lens of the modern-day trans experience. “Alison is like the twisted daughter of Clive Barker and Shirley Jackson. Tell Me I’m Worthless is an intense ... Read More about
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Mervyn Peake
Current price: $17.00
Dreamlike and macabre, Mervyn Peake’s extraordinary novel Titus Groan—first in the Gormenghast Trilogy—is one of the most astonishing and fantastic works in modern fiction.  Introduction by Anthony Burgess   As the novel opens, Titus, heir to Lord Sepulchrave, has just been born. He stands ... Read More about
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Phyllis Paul
Current price: $18.00
Who could have been so cruel as to do away with poor Vivian Lambert? And why oh why couldn’t she just stay dead? In a rustic, idyllic English village, on a summer’s day, in the midst of a carefree tennis party, a fragile, needy child, left too much on her own, vanishes from her family’s front garden ... Read More about
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Noemi Vola
Current price: $24.99
"My final pleasure of the summer" —Hanna Rosin, The Atlantic "For the discerning gift-giver" —Pub West "Conveys all you needed (and perhaps never needed to know) about worms"—The Huffington Post A wildly original, whimsical, humorous exploration of the human condition told through a worm’s eye view ... Read More about
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A. K. Larkwood
Current price: $17.99
A. K. Larkwood's The Unspoken Name is a stunning debut fantasy about a young priestess sentenced to die, who at the last minute escapes her fate; only to become an assassin for the wizard who saved her.What if you knew how and when you will die?Csorwe does—she will climb the mountain, enter the Shri ... Read More about
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Gavriel Savit
Current price: $18.99
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • A SYDNEY TAYLOR NOTABLE BOOKPerfect for readers of Neil Gaiman and Philip Pullman, a sweeping historical fantasy that follows two teens on a journey through the Far Country, a Jewish land of spirits and demons.For the Jews of Eastern Europe, demons are everyw ... Read More about
Sacha Lamb
Current price: $19.99
Stonewall Book Award Winner Sydney Taylor Award WinnerMichael L. Printz Honor Book National Jewish Book Award FinalistAudioFile Earphones Award Winner BEST OF THE YEAR NPR · New York Public Library · Kirkus For fans of “Good Omens”—a queer immigrant fairytale about individual purpose, the fluid natu ... Read More about
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Kamome Shirahama
Current price: $12.99
Best of the Year — AV Club, New York Public Library, Nerdist, SYFY Wire, Chicago Public Library "Harry Potter meets Kiki's Delivery Service!" -AV Club A beautifully-illustrated story about a girl who longs for magic in her life and learns that, on the inside, she already is what she wishes she could ... Read More about
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