Subculture Vultue by Moshe Kasher

A “hilarious” (Dax Shepard), “surprisingly emotional trip” (The Chainsmokers) through deep American subcultures ranging from Burning Man to Alcoholics Anonymous, by the writer and comedian Moshe Kasher

“Moshe Kasher has the rare gift to simultaneously celebrate a community while also making fun of it. His writing succinctly captures the insanity, the joy, the ridiculousness, and the radical act of fully embracing these worlds.”—Nick Kroll

After bottoming out, being institutionalized, and getting sober all by the tender age of fifteen, Moshe Kasher found himself asking: “What’s next?”Over the ensuing decades, he discovered the answer: a lot.

There was his time as a boy-king of Alcoholics Anonymous, a kind of pubescent proselytizer for other teens getting and staying sober. He was a rave promoter turned DJ turned sober ecstasy dealer in San Francisco’s techno warehouse party scene of the 1990s. For fifteen years he worked as a psychedelic security guard at Burning Man, fishing hippies out of hidden chambers they’d constructed to try to sneak into the event. As a child of deaf parents, Kasher became deeply immersed in deaf culture and sign language interpretation, translating everything from end-of-life care to horny deaf clients’ attempts to hire sex workers. He reconnects and tries to make peace with his ultra-Hasidic Jewish upbringing after the death of his father before finally settling into the comedy scene where he now makes his living.

Each of these scenes gets a gonzo historiographical rundown before Kasher enters the narrative and tells the story of the lives he has spent careening from one to the next.A razor-sharp, gut-wrenchingly funny, and surprisingly moving tour of some of the most wildly distinct subcultures a person can experience, Subculture Vulture deftly weaves together memoir and propulsive cultural history. It’s a story of finding your people, over and over again, in different settings, and of knowing without a doubt that wherever you are is where you’re supposed to be.

Everyone On This Train Is Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson

From the bestselling author of Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, a fiendishly fun locked room (train) murder mystery that “offers a tip of the hat to the great Agatha Christie novel while at the same time being a modern reinvention of it” (Nita Prose) — perfect for fans of Richard Osman and Anthony Horowitz

When the Australian Mystery Writers’ Society invited me to their crime-writing festival aboard the Ghan, the famous train between Darwin and Adelaide, I was hoping for some inspiration for my second book. Fiction, this time: I needed a break from real people killing each other. Obviously, that didn’t pan out.

The program is a who’s who of crime writing royalty:

the debut writer (me!)

the forensic science writer

the blockbuster writer

the legal thriller writer

the literary writer

the psychological suspense writer

But when one of us is murdered, the remaining authors quickly turn into five detectives. Together, we should know how to solve a crime.

Of course, we should also know how to commit one.

How can you find a killer when all the suspects know how to get away with murder?

Be a Revolution: How Everyday People Are Fighting Oppression and Changing the World—and How You Can, Too by Ijeoma Oluo

From the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of So You Want to Talk About Race and Mediocre, an eye-opening and galvanizing look at the current state of anti-racist activism across America.

In the #1 New York Times bestseller So You Want To Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo offered a vital guide for how to talk about important issues of race and racism in society. In Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America, she discussed the ways in which white male supremacy has had an impact on our systems, our culture, and our lives throughout American history. But now that we better understand these systems of oppression, the question is this: What can we do about them?

With Be A Revolution: How Everyday People are Fighting Oppression and Changing the World—and How You Can, Too, Oluo aims to show how people across America are working to create real positive change in our structures. Looking at many of our most powerful systems—like education, media, labor, health, housing, policing, and more—she highlights what people are doing to create change for intersectional racial equity. She also illustrates various ways in which the reader can find entryways into change in these same areas, or can bring some of this important work being done elsewhere to where they live.

WELCOME BACK ROSI by Jeff Ware

AVAILABLE NOW FOR PRE-ORDER (copies will ship/available for pick up on 2/14/2025)

CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION ON THE VALENTINE’S DAY EVENT

This is the story of Rosi’s first two years of rehabilitation after an AVM brain bleed stroke. Its content is based on regular emails that were sent out to around 100 friends who asked to be kept updated on her progress. Many recipients of the emails suggested that their content be shared with the world, especially with others that had or were going through similar experiences. On one level the book is a caregiver and survivors’ guide to what they might expect to experience as the recovery process takes its natural journey forward. On another level it’s just a love story.


Praise for Welcome Back Rosi

“When the tireless humanitarian, Rosi Ware, suffered a stroke in January 2023 the clock stopped for her devoted husband Jeff, their chosen family in Key West and abroad, and a myriad of other people whose lives intersected with Rosi’s. Endeavoring to keep all of them regularly updated, Jeff penned emails delineating the critical and harrowing experience of diagnosis, treatment and recovery. In Welcome Home Rosi, Jeff has revisited those emails, interspersing them with delightful reminiscences of their life together, always pushing forward to tell the story of Rosi, a one-of-a-kind woman whose unassailable spirit of positivity has brought good cheer to all in her orbit. A joyful book for all readers.” 
– Stephen Kitsakos, Librettist

“Bravo, Jeff Ware! This slim book tells a huge story – of how Jeff and his wife Rosi not only survived Rosi’s sudden stroke, but did it with humor, involving friends and creating community with health-care workers and doctors along the way. It’s a story of optimism against the odds, and the refusal to give up, and told in an intimate, chatty tone that brings us with them every step of the way. The author is modest about his part in it all, and only lets us see glimpses of his own feelings – but he was and is, with Rosi’s own indomitable strength at his side, the book’s unsung hero.”
– Rosalind Brackenbury, Author

 “A loving husband takes us along on a journey through his wife’s debilitating stroke and miraculous healing”.
– Peyton Evans, Writer 


About the Author: Jeffrey was born in London in 1955. He graduated with a BA Honours Degree in 1978, the year that he met Rosi. In March of 1997 Jeff and Rosi moved to Chicago for Rosi’s work before a life changing move to Key West, Florida in 2000. Jeff and Rosi now split their time between homes in Key West and Asheville, North Carolina.

PRE-ORDER NOW

CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION ON THE VALENTINE’S DAY EVENT

February Staff Pick: The Reformatory

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due (S&S/Saga Press), picked by Bookseller Lori

The Reformatory is a novelized account of the Dozier School and all of the horrors perpetrated against its residents. Set in the time of the Jim Crow south, a 12-year-old boy sentenced to the school finds that his ability to see and speak to ghosts takes him on a dark journey to the true violent history of the school.

A horror masterpiece that will stay with you long after you finish the book.

~ Lori

Ed note: Like horror? Check out this round up of Black Horror.

Black Horror: What Are You Scared Of?

Our Black History Month display features a wide range of books showcasing the diversity of experiences of Black Americans, but riffing off of Lori’s featured staff pick this month, here are some titles to terrify you:

All The Sinners Bleed by S. A. Cosby – This was Lori’s October featured staff pick. Read her review.

Lone Women by Victor LaValle – Out in paper, Feb. 6.

Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror, edited by Jordan Peele – If you’re new to the genre, anthologies are a great way to try out a new bunch of authors.

You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron – A creepy, fun YA take on a camp slasher.

The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown – Horror in space.

The Black Guy Dies First by Robin R. Means Coleman & Mark H. Harris – Nonfiction on Black Horror at the movies.

Sweet & Spicy Reads for Valentine’s Day

Here are a handful of new and favorite Romance books for Valentine’s Day. We have many more in store, ask a bookseller for their favorites!

Enchanted to Meet You by Meg Cabot

Bride by Ali Hazelwood (Feb. 6)

Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail by Ashley Herring Blake

A River of Golden Bones by A.K. Mulford

Second Chances in New Port Stephen by TJ Alexander

Funny Story by Emily Henry (April 23)

Rise Above the Story by Karena Kilcoyne

“Prepare to be captivated, moved, and ultimately uplifted by a tale that reminds us that we are stronger than we think.” 
—Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, author and OPI co-founder

“[Karena] shows us how to liberate ourselves from the grip of those experiences that all too often limit our chances to live life to the fullest. This book is . . . truly a gift of love.” 
—Mike Love, lead singer and lyricist of The Beach Boys

“When you open Rise Above the Story, be prepared for a demanding journey. And be open to a fresh and joyful destination.” 
—Richard Celeste, former governor of Ohio and author of In the Heart of It All



What do we do when the pain of the past is too much to bear? When trauma and shame overwhelm us? When we feel empty and worthless despite our success and daily triumphs?

We rise above our story.

Before Karena Kilcoyne was a successful criminal defense attorney, trauma defined her early life. Her mother tried to give her away at birth. Her father went to a federal penitentiary when she was 12, leaving the family poverty-stricken and Karena to care for her siblings and her mentally unstable mother. After her mother died, she adopted her 9-year-old brother and graduated from law school at the age of 24. She fought for the freedom of others while imprisoning herself in self-doubt, depression, and anxiety. Existing only in survival mode, she repeatedly recounted the stories she’d written about herself: that she would never be enough, that she could never be happy.

In Rise Above the Story, Karena shares with raw vulnerability how she rose above her stories of abandonment, worthlessness, and shame. She’ll help you let go of your own past by embracing every beautiful, imperfect piece of yourself—no matter what your story looks like. She’ll teach you how to:

  • Acknowledge your story. Identify the story that’s limiting your life. 
  • Release your story. Discover how your story took over your life by unearthing your repressed fear and shame.
  • Rise above your story. Explore how your hardships can serve you and learn how to finally love yourself unconditionally.

Rising above your story will empower you to live the life of your dreams. Karena’s beautifully simple, yet powerful, formula offers emotional freedom and unfettered joy when you’re ready to embrace the vibrant, worthy, and lovable person you truly are.

Your past doesn’t define you—you do. It’s time to rise above your story and live the authentic life you deserve.

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK • The New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice• A newly sober, orphaned son of Iranian immigrants, guided by the voices of artists, poets, and kings, embarks on a remarkable search for a family secret that leads him to a terminally ill painter living out her final days in the Brooklyn Museum. Electrifying, funny, and wholly original, Martyr! heralds the arrival of an essential new voice in contemporary fiction.

“Kaveh Akbar is one of my favorite writers. Ever.” —Tommy Orange, Pulitzer Prize–nominated author of There There

“The best novel you’ll ever read about the joy of language, addiction, displacement, martyrdom, belonging, homesickness.” —Lauren Groff, best-selling author of Matrix and Fates and Furies

I Sing To Use the Waiting by Zachary Pace

I Sing to Use the Waiting is a vital and affecting reflection on how popular culture can shape personal identity. With remarkable grace, candor, and a poet’s ear for prose, Zachary Pace recounts the women singers — from Cat Power to Madonna, Kim Gordon to Rihanna — who shaped them as a young person coming-of-age in rural New York, first discovering their own queer voice.

Structured like a mixtape, Pace juxtaposes their coming out with the music that informed them along the way. They recount how listening to themselves sing along as a child to a Disney theme song they recorded on a boom box in 1995, was when they first realized there was an effeminate inflection to their voice. As childhood friendships splinter, Pace discusses the relationship between Whitney Houston and Robyn Crawford. Cat Power’s song “My Daddy Was a Musician” spurs a discussion of Pace’s own musician father, and their gradual estrangement.

Resonant and compelling, I Sing to Use the Waiting is a deeply personal rumination on how queer stories are abundant yet often suppressed, and how music may act as a comforting balm carrying us through difficult periods and decisions.