Powell's Picks

The Powells.com bestsellers, picks of the month, and top books chosen by our employees.

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Set in the waning years of the Cold War, a stunning debut novel about a trio of young Armenians that moves from the Soviet Union, across Europe, to Southern California, and at its center, one of the most tragic cataclysms in twentieth-century history — the Armenian Genocide — whose traumatic reverberations will have unexpected consequences on all three lives.

Behind every assassination, there is an anonymous mastermind — a plotter — working in the shadows. Plotters quietly dictate the moves of the city's most dangerous criminals, but their existence is little more than legend. Just who are the plotters? And more important, what do they want?

"Extraordinary...a great American biography" (The New Yorker) of the most important African-American of the nineteenth century: Frederick Douglass, the escaped slave who became the greatest orator of his day and one of the leading abolitionists and writers of the era.

January 2020 Picks of the Month

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Morrison’s forceful, eloquent speeches on globalization, race, and literary criticism made me envious of her generations of lucky students. This is a thoughtful book, to be savored for its wisdom and fierce commitment to justice. Recommended By Lucinda G., Powells.com

Lyrical and raw, Mother Winter is Sophia Shalmiyev’s exploration of leaving Russia with her father at age 11, and of her relationship with her absent mother. Filled with hard-won insight, Shalmiyev’s prose is both searing and meditative. Recommended By Mary Jo S., Powells.com

Tessa Hadley’s new novel, Late in the Day, is an exquisitely precise portrait of four middle-aged friends and lovers whose fragile alliances are challenged by a premature death....With attendant themes of fine art, self-expression, and late-blooming desire, Late in the Day is riveting and beautifully crafted. I heartily recommend it. Recommended By Rhianna W., Powells.com

Powell's Picks 2019

135 Pins

the gimmick's a novel by c m cormick is out now

The Gimmicks by Chris McCormick

Set in the waning years of the Cold War, a stunning debut novel about a trio of young Armenians that moves from the Soviet Union, across Europe, to Southern California, and at its center, one of the most tragic cataclysms in twentieth-century history — the Armenian Genocide — whose traumatic reverberations will have unexpected consequences on all three lives.

the book cover for the plotters un - sukim

The Plotters by Un-Su Kim

Behind every assassination, there is an anonymous mastermind — a plotter — working in the shadows. Plotters quietly dictate the moves of the city's most dangerous criminals, but their existence is little more than legend. Just who are the plotters? And more important, what do they want?

a book cover with an image of a man in a blue suit

African American History

Fiction And Nonfiction

Pdf Book

Wall Street Journal

Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by David W. Blight

"Extraordinary...a great American biography" (The New Yorker) of the most important African-American of the nineteenth century: Frederick Douglass, the escaped slave who became the greatest orator of his day and one of the leading abolitionists and writers of the era.

a black and white photo of two hands with text that reads cleanness, garth greenwell

Joyce Carol Oates

West Virginia University

Cleanness by Garth Greenwell

In the highly anticipated follow-up to his beloved debut, What Belongs to You, Garth Greenwell deepens his exploration of foreignness, obligation, and desire.

the cover to zora neal hurst's hitting a straight lick with a crooked stick

Books By Black Authors

Recommended Books To Read

House Book

Book Suggestions

The Magical Language of Others: A Memoir by E.J. Koh

The Magical Language of Others weaves a profound tale of hard-won selfhood and our deep bonds to family, place, and language, introducing — in Eun Ji Koh — a singular, incandescent voice.

the poster for what doesn't kill you makes you blacker

What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker: A Memoir in Essays by Damon Young

From the cofounder of VerySmartBrothas.com, and one of the most read writers on race and culture at work today, a provocative and humorous memoir-in-essays that explores the absurdities and anxieties of being Black in America

the cover of night theater by vikram paralakar, with two birds in flight

Night Theater by Vikram Paralkar

A surgeon must bring a dead family back to life in this fabulist debut novel set in rural India, which examines power, corruption, and ethics.

a hand holding up a pencil with the words consider this written in black on it

Chuck Palahniuk

The Art Of Storytelling

Consider This: Moments in My Writing Life After Which Everything Was Different by Chuck Palahniuk

Renowned, bestselling novelist Chuck Palahniuk takes us behind the scenes of the writing life, with postcards from decades on the road and incredible examination of the power of fiction and the art of storytelling.

Dead Astronauts by Jeff VanderMeer

Jeff VanderMeer's Dead Astronauts presents a City with no name of its own where, in the shadow of the all-powerful Company, lives human and otherwise converge in terrifying and miraculous ways. At stake: the fate of the future, the fate of Earth — all the Earths.

baby - sitters'little sister karren's witch and the black cat

Grey Hair

Witch Names

The Baby Sitters Club

Karen's Witch by Ann M Martin and Katy Farina

A fresh and fun graphic novel series spin-off of The Baby-sitters Club, featuring Kristy's little stepsister!

the book horizon by barry lopez is shown in blue water with clouds above it

Horizon by Barry Lopez

From pole to pole and across decades of lived experience, National Book Award-winning author Barry Lopez delivers his most far-ranging, yet personal, work to date. Horizon moves indelibly, immersively, through the author's travels to six regions of the world: from Western Oregon to the High Arctic; from the Gal pagos to the Kenyan desert; from Botany Bay in Australia to finally, unforgettably, the ice shelves of Antarctica.

a book cover with a man in a red jacket and hearts on the front, holding his hands up

Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Mister Rogers Neighborhood

How To Express Feelings

What To Say

Television Program

Fred's Big Feelings: The Life and Legacy of Mister Rogers by Laura Renauld and Brigette Barrager

An inspiring picture book biography about the inimitable Fred Rogers, beloved creator and star of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.

the cover of a graphic guide for an upcoming novel, genderer by meca john ca

Gender Performativity

Evolutionary Psychology

Gender: A Graphic Guide by Meg-John Barker and Jules Scheele

Join the creators of Queer: A Graphic History ('Could totally change the way you think about sex and gender' VICE) on an illustrated journey of gender exploration.

Infinity Son by Adam Silvera

Balancing epic and intensely personal stakes, bestselling author Adam Silvera's Infinity Son is a gritty, fast-paced adventure about two brothers caught up in a magical war generations in the making.

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January 2020 Picks of the Month

Powell's Picks 2019