Confessions of a Bookseller

by Shaun Bythell

Sin Eater

by Megan Campisi

Sin Eater takes a little-known historical role and expands it in this imaginative novel set in an alternate Elizabethan England. For stealing a loaf of bread, teenage orphan May is forced to become a sin eater—shackled with a metal collar proclaiming her status to all she meets and with a black "S" tattooed on her tongue. Shunned by society, sin eaters must only speak to the dying, who tell them their sins. Each sin corresponds with a food item—raisins for adultery, mustard seeds for lies, etc. By eating the "sins," the sin eater takes them on as their own, releasing the dead person's soul. At first distraught from the isolation and contempt her new lot in life brings, May gradually realizes that it isn't without its benefits. One of those benefits is access to the court of Queen Bethany (a thinly veiled Queen Elizabeth I), where courtesans are being murdered and accusations of witchcraft are flying. Fans of Uprooted, Spinning Silver, and Godshot will find similar themes in this fast-paced, high-stakes adventure.

Walking to the End of the World

by Beth Jusino

Braiding Sweetgrass

by Robin Wall Kimmerer

The House in the Cerulean Sea

T.J. Klune

The House in the Cerulean Sea is a heart-swelling wave of sweetness and hope. Mild-mannered government caseworker Linus Baker is sent on a secret assignment to an island orphanage he's never even heard of. The astonishing inhabitants he gets to know there will change his life and make him reassess everything he thought he knew. This book will leave you believing in the good in everyone—even those society has given up on—and contemplating how huge changes have to start somewhere.

Across That Bridge: A Vision for Change and the Future of America

by John Lewis

Mexican Gothic

by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

How about some chills to cool you off this summer? Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia fulfills the eerie haunted house genre perfectly. After society girl Noemí receives a strange letter from her newlywed cousin Catalina, she treks to a remote mining town in the Mexican hills to investigate her cousin's sanity. A decrepit Victorian mansion in the foggy woods, strange rumors about the odd family within, and the ever-present whiff of danger make for a very fun page-turner that will keep readers guessing.

The Street

by Ann Petry

You Matter

by Christian Robinson

Home Baked: My Mom, Marijuana, and the Stoning of San Francisco

by Alia Volz

When an advance copy of Home Baked arrived at the store, I took it home hoping merely to escape into the iconic 1970s San Francisco setting. I never anticipated that this memoir would give me an in-depth education on both the history of the era and the politics surrounding marijuana. Home Baked tells the story of the underground, and extremely illegal at the time, first known pot brownie business, Sticky Fingers. The author’s mother, Meridy, known to many simply as “The Brownie Lady,” and her friends expanded the operation through the swinging ‘70s and into the AIDS epidemic of the ‘80s and ‘90s, when marijuana went from a recreational drug to one that could mean life or death to many of their friends suffering from the disease. This book is about so much more than a homespun "magic brownie" business and the people whose lives it touched. It’s the story of a 20th century family, a movement, and an era. Whether you’re a square like me or an experienced pothead, I "highly" recommend Home Baked!