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David: Hi Stacey! Thank you for taking the time today to talk with me and Politics and Prose about your debut novel, Kitten. How do you feel as the release date is inching closer?

Stacey : Yeah, I don’t know! It’s crazy, I have good days, where everything feels in control and I’m excited, or not even excited, I feel neutral, which is the best feeling. And then other days, I’m completely spiraling over what I could be doing more, and realizing that, the closer we get to publishing, it’s hard to prepare myself for what I don’t know. I’m in a weird fugue state most days.

David: Are you looking forward to anything in particular? Do you have book talks scheduled?

Stacey: Yeah! I’m launching in the UK first, which I feel is pretty unique for a US led publication, but I’ll be launching with my friends and family, and I’m throwing myself into those, I got a batch of temporary tattoos, I’m thinking about how to decorate a nice cake – I’m excited for those moments where all my friends and people I care about will be together in one room, it almost feels like a wedding.

David: I love that. I have the copy with me right now, and I have to say, this is already one of my favorite new releases of the year. For those who don’t know, Kitten is about Katie, a 22-year-old woman who recently graduated, her life is at a plateau. Silver, her boyfriend’s cat, comes into her life, and Silver becomes Katie’s newest amour, if you will.

Stacey: Yeah!

David: This book was like catnip for me. I feel as though you capture the antics and feelings of a twenty-something post-grad; feeling directionless and fearing change. I would say it was relatable and comforting in a lot of ways. And I also found myself quite frustrated with some of Katie’s decisions.

Stacey: I know....

David: Can you speak to the process of writing and fleshing out her character? What was it like writing a character like Katie?

Stacey: First of all, thank you for your kind words. It is always a bomb hearing people reading and receiving it before the publishing date. And Katie is not the most lovable character, I suppose. I wasn’t expecting her to be so divisive, but I think she is because she makes a lot of misguided and indefensible choices. I think when she first came to me, it was a voice, and it was a naive character who saw the world in a slightly skewed way from everyone else. That voice really appealed to me. I first came across it and was most inspired when I read The Idiot by Elif Bautman, where the main character’s perspective is so interesting. The way she observes the world through this very childish, but almost ‘knowing’ perspective, everything is a bit more sparkling and humorous. So, I wanted Katie to have that voice, but in a different way, a little bit darker, a bit more unhinged, for lack of a better word. As the story progressed, I was thinking about the themes I wanted to explore and about how far I wanted to take things. It was a push and pull between, ‘Do I make her weirder and stranger? Do I reel it back?’ There were iterations of the draft where Katie was doing weirder and more indefensible things.

David: Really?

Stacey: Yeah, laughs, ultimately, I had to strike a balance between what was necessary for the plot and for a character, and then what was maybe gratuitous for the sake of being weird.

David: I think you captured that balance between staying grounded and being weird in the final version.

The theme of obsession manifested in several ways throughout the book, including Katie’s relationship with Silver. Can you talk about how and why you depicted obsession in this particular way?

Stacey: Yeah, I think obsession is always an interesting device in fiction. That is why it has popped up from the beginning. In Homer’s [epics], the characters are obsessed with Helen, and it led characters to do things they wouldn’t normally do. It’s an interesting vehicle into someone’s psyche, and to your point, sometimes people can really enact their obsessions and chase the object of their affection. I think Katie is such a passive character, her obsession blooms more so mentally. It almost usurps her natural thinking patterns and colors the way she sees the world. So, as she becomes more obsessed with Silver, it’s her mental state that is becoming co-opted under this obsession, and she starts seeing the world through the eyes of a cat. She’s losing herself a bit, but it all stems from the central obsession she has with her mom. Silver, the cat, is a vehicle for Katie to almost mimic or replay this obsessive fear and hangup that she has with her mother’s estrangement.

David: Absolutely. I’m so glad you brought that up, because this is also a story about complicated relationships. A huge through line in the book is Katie’s strained relationship with her mom. I personally found Katie’s relationship with her mom relatable in many ways. I’m curious, generally, what part of your personal life did you draw inspiration from for this novel, if any at all?

Stacey: I don’t know, it’s always hard, because writers don’t even always know themselves what has ended up on the page. I guess most of the personal experiences I’ve had that ended up on the page were the experience of being in your early twenties, feeling lost, and this desire to abort everything and not necessarily to be a child, but to not grow up either. I’ve felt that a lot, moving through my whole life, not just in my early twenties. Even as a child, I had this feeling I was happier than adults were, and I always felt as though, laughs, time was running out! I would be better suited as a child! I don’t know why, but I did. I think that particular fascination with childhood, and with the freedoms and safety that childhood offers, is something I brought into the book.

I think with her mother, Katie’s mom came to me as this fictional creation. Originally, it wasn’t necessarily about the mom at all; it was about Katie and Silver. Then, I realized obviously, it can’t just be about Katie and Silver, there is a whole gaping heart at the center of this book which is her mother wound. So, her character (the mother) was something I built with the drafting.

David: I also found it interesting her mom remains unnamed throughout the entire book. Was that an intentional choice?

Stacey: Not really, but I guess she doesn’t need to have a name, in the way we never think about our parents as their first names, laughs. She’s thinking about her mom, she’s the mother of Katie, which is kind of the point because she doesn’t really get her own arc; it’s thwarted. That is why she is the way that she is with Katie.

David: That makes a lot of sense. One passage in the novel that resonated heavily with me was the conversation with Katie and Isabelle in the beach town. It felt like a moment Katie was able to let loose and pour out emotions she was holding back. Were there any passages or scenes of the book you enjoyed writing the most? And, were there any parts or scenes more difficult to write?

Stacey: I think my favorite passages to write were definitely the ones about Silver. They were so fun, I loved chasing that nugget of romanticization. I felt I was trying to look at Silver through the lens of someone you loved or were obsessed with, in the sense that every single detail becomes beautiful and significant. You know, so the color of her fur, the shape of the back of her ear. It was just so fun to study this fictional cat and lend her all my affection and tenderness. Describing her characteristics was so much fun to write; I loved writing about Silver.

And then, I think the harder parts for me to write, I guess it wasn’t one scene in particular. Most of all I’ve struggled with being a very interior writer. Kitten is a very interior book, and that voice comes to me more easily than to say, dialogue. I think nailing dialogue in general was very difficult.

David: I really enjoyed reading about Silver. I’m curious, do you have a cat? Do you have any history interacting with cats?

Stacey: I love cats. I don’t have a cat of my own, I had a childhood cat, who still lives with my parents back in California, I just dote on her, I obsess over her. It’s funny though, because I don’t have a cat at my apartment in London, I would ask my friends for stories of their cats and what they did that day. I’d get stories like, “My cat was drooling on me,” and I’d immediately write that down, laughs. I felt like I was stealing my friend’s cat’s personality.

David: Okay so, have any of your friends’ cats also licked their eyeballs? [Kitten reference, iykyk]

Both laugh.

Stacey: No, that’s why I think Silver is a cat, but she’s also not a cat. She’s her own character; she’s a magic cat.

Both continue giggling. <3

David: I love that. Speaking of Silver, what drew me to the novel initially was the cover. The cat is in the lover’s eye. I loved the font and design, and I did read your Substack interview with the book designer, Cassie Vu. It was so fascinating learning what goes into designing a book cover. I was curious; I think I recall you said you had a mood board sent to Cassie. How much of that mood board was present in the final cover?

Stacey: Cassie had a vision, and by some luck and possibly seeing the mood board, and our tastes being quite similar, it just ended up as something I would have put on my mood board anyway! So, I’m not sure how much influence I actually had, but I love it and think it’s special.

David: What would you say you learned about yourself while, and after, writing Kitten?

Stacey: That is a good question. I guess my biggest takeaway was simply that I could do it. You know, I’ve started so many writing projects in my life and I’ve abandoned a lot of them. With Kitten, it’s like the first project or novel, well I guess it’s my debut so that’s redundant...

Both laugh.

But, it was meaningful to me. My first draft of Kitten was horrible and so unrecognizable from the book that you have read. It was about 60,000 words; I didn’t care. I just wanted more than anything to finish a book. Then, I did 20 revisions, and every time just seeing I always had more in me, each revision was illuminating. I think that is what makes writing projects a lot easier, knowing, ‘I can do it,’ and discovering my voice. The first draft was a lot more moody and relentlessly dark. The final draft, I wouldn’t say it’s a dark novel at all; I would describe it as having sad elements but is overall hopeful, playful, and has its silly moments. That was the book I wanted to write, and not a book that was completely and utterly serious.

David: There’s been a warm reception online from readers so far. Have you been looking at these reviews? Or do you find yourself not wanting to engage?

Stacey: This is such a relevant question; I don’t look at them. Laughs. The times, even in the beginning when there were five reviews on Goodreads, it was so difficult. Even the nice reviews, there was something alienating about reading those. I don’t think it makes me a better writer. I think it makes me feel, well, it’s an indescribable feeling honestly. It’s different because social media, which I am on, sometimes you stumble upon reviews or people will tag you. And I’m so grateful when people tag me in nice reviews, because if I’m tagged, I do read those. I don’t know. It’s hard to be an author on social media even though it’s required of you, and even though I happily engage on social media, or begrudgingly engage, laughs, I think I’m still trying to find a balance. I really need to before the publishing date.

Both laugh.

David: Is there anything you want to add before I let you go?

Stacey: I’d love to chat about some work that inspired the creation of this book. I mentioned Elif Bautman’s The Idiot as an inspiration for the voice. I was also really inspired by Hot Milk by Deborah Levy. If you haven’t read it, it has one of the most sinister but tightly wound mother daughter relationships ever. I loved how psychologically penetrating it was. I also love Banana Yoshimoto as an author; I think her works always have a touch of magic and lightness I find hard to describe. They have this otherworldly sense even though they are set in the real world, and I wanted to infuse that sheen of otherworldly-ness to Kitten.

David: I just want to congratulate you, you’re so close to the publishing date for this novel! I can’t wait for this to come out and for people to read it. Thank you so much again, Stacey, for taking the time to speak with me.

Pre-order Kitten HERE

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Follow Stacey Yu on Substack HERE

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Lily loved…

Mega Milk by Megan Milks

Mega Milk by Megan Milks is a juicy collection of personal essays about names, whiteness, gender, and yes, milk. If you want essays strictly on veganism, this is not your book. But if you want a fair and scrupulous look into the dairy industry, the bizarre animality of human sexuality, and what it means to be queer and from the American heartland, this book is for you. Udderly fascinating!

Elizabeth loved…

The Weight by Melissa Mendes

This graphic novel packs a serious punch. Taking place in mid-century rural America, it follows Edie from birth to adulthood as she deals with trauma and violence from those closest to her. The art is stunning and sparse, keeping you fully engaged without ever feeling like you can't take it all in. The abuse Edie experiences is interspersed with scenes of incredible love and support from her grandparents. While a heavy read, it's unputdownable and well worth your time.

Seth loved…

The Sickness Unto Death

Move over Stoicism. It’s Kierkegaard Summer.

Dani loved…

Simple Passion by Annie Ernaux

Fans of Olivia Rodrigo’s new album You Seem Pretty Sad For a Girl So In Love should read! Ernaux hauntingly documents her two-year affair with a foreign unnamed lover, interrogating the psychology of desire and documents an all-consuming relationship to readers. Everything the narrator loves or sees or does, is for her lover. Writing about what it means to live for someone else instead of yourself, Ernaux documents the terrifyingly precise feeling of losing yourself in someone else.

Elizabeth loved…

Small Scale Sinners by Mahreen Sohail

This is an incredibly well-done short story collection that would be a great read for both someone new to the format as well as someone who is a seasoned short story reader. Each story immediately draws you in and keeps you hooked. They’re all stories ultimately about displacement and identity, about existing in the world as a woman, and about dealing with conflict and crisis. Each brought something new and thought provoking.

Plus, Rushad stops by to talk history books and how they provide backstory to everything happening in our lives.

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Messy Gays

Nevada by Imogen Binnie

Black Wave by Michelle Tea

Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor

You Exist Too Much by Zania Arafat

Underrated

How It Works Out by Myriam Lacroix

Time is a Thing the Body Moves Through by T Fleischmann

Cantoras by Caro de Robertis

My Body Unspooling by Leo Fox

Tear-jerkers

Edinburgh by Alexander Chee

The Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhadar

Fellow Travelers by Thomas Mallon

The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwake Emezi

Feel Good

Villa Coco by Andrew Sean Greer

On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden

Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin

When the Museum is Closed by Emi Yagi

Important History

A Black Queer History of the United States by C. Riley Snorton & Darius Bost

Thank You For Calling The Lesbian Line by Elizabeth Lovatt

The Einstein of Sex by Daniel Brook

Before We Were Trans by Kit Heyam

The Rainbow Scare (horror)

Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez

Jawbone by Monica Ojeda

The Unworthy by Agustina Bazterrica

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw

Worth-it Classics

Ruby Fruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown

Close to the Knives: A Memior of Disintegration by David Wojnarowicz

The City and the Pillar by Gore Vidal

Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison

FULL PRIDE BOOKLIST HERE :)

Elizabeth loved…

Daughters of the Bamboo Grove by Barbara Demick

Demick does an incredible job of bringing the realities of the One Child Policy to light through the story of a set of twins separated early in life by Family Planning in China’s Hunan province in the early 2000’s. One twin is raised by a religious family in Texas and the other remains with her family in China. While the story is grounded by these two girls, the author lays out the full reality of the One Child Policy and all the horrific ramifications it has had on families, women, and adopted children.

Published: May 20th, 2025

Elsa loved…

Chernobyl Prayer by Svetlana Alexievich

In her award-winning, polyphonic journalistic style, Alexievich records the experiences of those who were victims of, and lived in proximity to, the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster. The aftermath of the disaster is heart-breaking to read about: the devastation of families, slow radiation poisoning, and the incompetence of the Soviet Goverment to effectively address and respond to the disaster. This is a difficult book to read, but easily the most important book written on Chernobyl.

Published: May 5th, 2026

David loved…

Teddy Bears Never Die by Yeeun Cho

This was one of the most unique horror novels I’ve read recently. Teddy Bears Never Die follows Hwayoung, a young girl, as she teams up with a possessed teddy bear seeking revenge for the mysterious death of her mother. Even with such a zany, camp premise, the story was still tinged with dark and, oftentimes, gruesome themes that kept me on my toes until the very end.

Published: May 26th, 2026

Sayan loved…

Babylon, South Dakota by Tom Lin

In an insignificant town remarkable only for its Air Force base, surveyors show up on farmers' doorsteps, and the military installs missile silos in their fields. On the Hsiu-Lee farm, fearing the worst, the young daughter baptizes the farm animals, even inventing a few new chapters of Christian doctrine in the process (three flicks of water for mules, for instance, who are particularly steeped in the devil's work). Meanwhile, a soldier who worked on the silo project comes by to confess: every other farm received a nuclear missile, but at the bottom of the silo on the Hsiu-Lee farm there's something far more dangerous. This is a story of the worlds we create and those we preserve.

Published: May 26th, 2026

Elizabeth loved…

Women Without Men by Shahrnush Parsipur

If a book is a bit weird, a bit magical, and a bit dark, I’m in. I really enjoyed this quick but nuanced story of a handful of Iranian women in the 1950s all dealing with the myriad ways the men in their lives and in the government keep them subservient. While the violence against women is treated very casually, this adds to the sense of oppression these women experience. This book feels particularly relevant today in Iran and around the world.

Published: January 10th, 2012

Phil loved…

The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins (50th Anniversary Edition)

It’s amazing that this book was written 50 years ago. It’s still essential reading for anyone interested in any aspect of science. It was revolutionary in 1976 when it was published, and it has now become standard reading for any science undergraduate. The basic principles Dawkins outlines here are foundational to evolutionary biology, and this new edition also contains an epilogue that picks up on and discusses criticisms; overall, it pairs very well with Axelrod’s The Evolution of Cooperation.

Published: June 1st, 2026

Elsa loved…

(Th)ings and (Th)oughts by Alla Gorbunova

In this bubbly collection of short fiction, Alla Gorbunova portrays the absurdity of living in the modern world. The realities of Gorbunova's subjects are dismantled in a linguistically playful manner that will have you smiling to yourself and rolling your eyes. Similar to Gogol's Diary of a Madman or Kharms's Today I Wrote Nothing, this is a great book to tote around and read a few pages of here and there as you go about your day.

Published: November 4th, 2025

Ellie loved…

GIRLS: Generation Z and the Commodification of Everything by Freya India

As a woman in Gen Z, this book was a validation of the anxieties we’ve all felt coming-of-age in the era of the internet and social media. India details the rise of filtering, hook-up culture, beauty standards, AI chatbots, online porn, and above all else, the struggle to form human connection. Ending with a hopeful message, India outlines how girls are rejecting the norms that dominate life in the 2020s: deleting dating apps, dissolving facial fillers, getting rid of smartphones. A must-read for anyone who wants to understand Gen Z.

Published: May 5th, 2026

There are so many books released each year, it can be difficult to keep up. As a result, far too many incredible releases fly under the radar. I sat down with our book-buyer, Anton, to discuss some of his favorite older releases that deserve more attention this summer.

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D: There are so many books that don’t get enough love immediately when they are released.

A: Or, they were noticed and popular when they came out, but the buzz dies down overtime.

A: For example, Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon. This is one of my favorite books; I’ve sold it to so many people. Vastly different kinds of people, like seventy-year-olds, thirty-year olds - they all loved it. I’ve told you to read it Dani.

It takes place in the Peloponnesian War and it’s about these two purposeless dudes. They are out-of-work-potters who like to drink and write poetry. They also love theater and make the morally questionable decision of staging a play with Athenian prisoners. Its main conceit is that it’s told in the modern Irish vernacular, even though it takes place during the Peloponnesian War. Somehow it works and it’s incredibly funny, while at the same time it also does not shy away from the subject of war and treatment of prisoners.

D: Oh, that’s kind of incredible.

A: Right, so it’s really fun, they curse and say things like “absolute bollix.” It’s a really great summer read, and you learn quite a bit of history as well.

A: My other good summer read, which I also sell to absolutely everyone, is Skye Falling by Mia McKenzie.

D: I loved this book.

A: It came out in hardcover, kind of disappeared, but then in paperback it was very well received and was a Lambda finalist. It’s very funny and sweet, but not too sweet and cloying. (It is an honest, true-to-life inspection of relationships, but McKenzie doesn’t veer into the overly depressing or too fluffy.

D: There are still stakes. I really enjoyed the narrator of this one.

A: The narrator is very relatable; I think she crawls out of a window one time to avoid having a social interaction.

D: She sure does.

A: So, Skye is this person who at one point in her life, broke, sold her eggs. When the book starts, she’s around forty and meets her child conceived via egg donation, who is around middle school age. She has a crush on this child’s aunt; it is kind of messy but in the best way. It’s queer, Philly-based, and the city is as much a character as people. There’s really nothing bad to say about this book. It’s great -- there’s good voice, good plot, good characters, it’s not depressing, and it is delightful.

A: This next one is an oldie; it’s called To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis. She’s an OG sci-fi writer; she’s won a lot of Nebula and Hugo awards. Her main thing, if you will, is time travel. She does a lot of time travel books. So, this is one of them, but it’s the best one because it’s so funny.

There’s a whole bunch of people in this book’s universe who are part of this academic department and can time travel. So, this historian slash time traveler guy is tasked with traveling to 1940’s England in search of a hideous Victorian vase.

D: A vase?

A: The scholars are trying to restore a Cathedral that was destroyed by Nazi’s, and this vase is deemed Very Important.

D: Right.

A: It quickly becomes clear that this is a time travel book where someone messes up the timeline, and they must travel to a bunch of different timelines to correct it.

D: Sick.

A: Of course that affects other timelines, and more things need to be fixed. It’s a train wreck. It’s very funny, the plot moves quickly, and there is a bulldog who is just the best character. I think it came out in the 90’s, so it’s really backlist, but it is delightful.

D: I’ve heard such good things about it from you and Nicole.

A: This next book is so far under the radar, it feels like no one knows about it. And I just want everyone to know about it. From Jeanne Thorton, it’s called Summer Fun. It’s about this young trans woman who lives in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico (great town name). And basically, she’s obsessed with this band called The Get Happies, which is a stand in for The Beach Boys – and is particularly obsessed with the band’s resident genius, named B.

D: Brian Wilson….

A: You can map it on that. And the story is that the band stopped making music at one point, so their expected album, called Summer Fun, was never released. So, the main character writes letters to this B person. It’s so counterculture Queer, and unlike anything I’ve read before. So good. Also, there is a bit of a plot twist which makes it incredible.

D: I mean, you’ve thought about it and remember it long after having finished it.

A: It came out around five years ago now. Every Queer author in the world (hyperbole) has blurb-ed it in the beginning.

D: Michelle Tea? Torrey Peters?

A: Casey Plett, Rachel Lyon, Andrea Lawlor, Torrey Peters before she wrote Detransition, Baby. I feel like lots of people don’t know about it. And they should, it’s incredible; one of the coolest books.

A: My one lonely non-fiction pick is Helen Czerski, The Blue Machine. It’s about how the ocean works. This is not Intro to the Ocean 101, though, so you have to at least want to know more about the ocean. She is fascinating because she’s a physicist and oceanographer but her main study, at least at one point, was bubbles.

D: Like, how they form?

A: How they form, the waves, the foam, it’s really fascinating. It’s a little bit more of a technical read, in terms of what she describes. She talks about the surface of the water and how it’s constructed, and what it does. It’s a bit hyper-specific, but very well done.

D: My sibling the environmental science major would be super into this pick.

A: It’s so well done, and you don’t feel like you don’t know what the hell is going on, despite how scientific she is. It’s more than just, “hey, this is ocean,” but it’s still accessible. She’s very good at explaining the concepts. I read it on the beach, so my copy was completely drenched and destroyed. I really recommend this summer pick if you want to learn about something cool -- there’s heavy payoff with this book.

You can learn more about these books here: Anton’s Summer Backlist Booklist

Lily loved…

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

Yesteryear is a star. This can’t-put-down novel follows a trad-wife in dual timelines, her rise in internet fame and where she is now: trapped in an uncertain time and house and family that are not her own but seem eerily familiar.... If you are also extremely online you will recognize an amalgamation of influencers, including in the main character. Our antihero serves as a strong vehicle for an epic mystery--I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that brilliant twist!

Published: April 7th, 2026

Kyra loved…

What Am I, A Deer? by Polly Barton

Prolific Japanese translator and sometimes-essayist Polly Barton has come out with her very own novel, and it's the best thing of 2026. This radiant debut follows a young UK expat working at a gaming company in Frankfurt, where she translates between English and Japanese, and indulges in an obsessive crush on an unknown coworker, referred to solely as "the umbrella man." Our narrator's thoughts are scattered yet natural, almost essay-like, and certainly never boring. She delves into childhood memories, the behaviors of her coworkers, the meme economy. It's an exploration of compulsory heterosexuality, neurodivergence, and perhaps more than anything, a love letter to karaoke.

Published: April 14th, 2026

Allison loved…

For the Love of the Grind by Sara Hall

I love a running memoir! But something about Sara Hall’s is different. The grind to which she speaks includes her distance running career, of course, but also that of motherhood, mental health, and the sometimes slog of just being a person. Sara’s success as a runner did not come easy but through the trials of life, she reminds us why we run, exactly, and why we really do love the grind. This is a running memoir that you should not miss because we knew that Sara was a spectacular runner, but now we know that Sara is an overall spectacular human.

Published: April 21st, 2026

Mari loved…

Everyday Movement by Gigi L. Leung

This timely novel follows two young women as they work, live, and protest the end of Democracy in their country. Sound familiar? This story may take place during the 2019 protests in Hong Kong, but it has particular relevance for the moment Americans currently find themselves in. It was eerie to read this novel and feel like Leung was writing the American present moment. She does a beautiful job of jumping into the minds of characters who give different perspectives on what it means to be politically active against a government hell-bent on suppression. For some, it may feel easy to keep your head down, but there are ways you can show up every day. This book reminds us not only of the importance of resistance, but how young people, students in particular, have always led the way.

Published: February 10th, 2026

Lily loved…

Whidbey by T Kira Madden

Author T Kira Madden was once on a ferry to Whidbey Island, off the coast of Washington State. There, a stranger told her she looked sad, and in reply she told him about her life, which included childhood abuse. The stranger offered to kill her abuser, and Madden politely declined. Her novel is about what might have happened if she'd said yes. It's neither a biography nor a revenge story but is rather about women and the man that hurt them, about Madden's bestselling memoir, Long Live the Tribe of Motherless Girls, and the lifelong effects of trauma. Radically empathetic, painfully real, and beautifully composed, Whidbey is one to remember.

Published: March 10th, 2026

Dani loved…

The Book of I by David Greig

This novel is short, efficient, and packs a punch. With three main characters — a beekeeper, a monk, and a Viking — in 825 CE Scotland on the Isle of I, Book of I is full of captivating Shakspearian-esque humor and sharp dialogue. Serving as a discourse on the futility of faith and the certainty of one’s mortality, the novel follows the three unlikely companions stuck together on the isle as they navigate guilt, redemption, and what it means to truly live.

Published: September 9th, 2025

Mari loved…

Permafrost by Eva Baltasar

The ice is melting, cracking, showing fissures, and beneath is our narrator—a young woman who wants to die. However, this novel skirts that bleak notion, and instead becomes a candid, beautiful argument against nihilism. Baltasar's voice and writing, filtered through Julia Sanches' translation, is poignant, intimate, and original. I'm already itching to pick up another one of her publications. Both frank and poetic, this book proves suicidal ideation doesn't have to be a downer. Who could've thought!

Published: April 21st, 2021

Mari loved…

The House of Madelaine by Elaine Kraf

If Shirley Jackson wrote Alice in Wonderland, it would go something like this... A woman enters a house and can't leave. Inside she finds people connected to her: the principal at the school she works at, her friend's mother, the man of her dreams, but as she explores this enigmatic space, it's unclear whether this is a dream, an upside-down world, or if the narrator who shares a name with our author has lost her mind. What results is a cross between fever dream and fairy-tale that address issues of female agency, control, and what it truly means to be mad.

Published: July 22nd, 2025

Jacques Pépin Complete Techniques 50th Anniversary Edition by Jacques Pépin

Jacques Pepin isn't just one of the great chefs of the age. He's an innovator who changed the way we eat and a superb teacher who partnered with Julia Child to bring the homely, healthy pleasure of preparing and serving fine meals in our own homes. This beautifully-rendered and organized cookbook shows him at his very best - clear, simple, and fully illustrated explanations of the full range of culinary techniques, from the most basic, like properly poaching an egg or steaming vegetables, to the most advanced, like fileting a salmon, braising veal shanks, or baking a classic tarte tatin, the wonderful French upside-down apple tart. Anyone who'd like to delight their friends, their families, and themselves at table ought to treat themselves to this excellent book.

Published: April 7th, 2026

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Elsa (left) most likely to not finish the book in time for book club.

Kai (middle) most likely to recommend Giovanni’s Room to everyone (and she’s correct in doing so).

Sheridan (right) most likely to talk about Michigan.

Kate (far left) most likely to give the best advice.

Sebastian (left middle) most likely to have the highest screen time.

Leah (right middle) most likely to recommend a good K-drama.

Carolyn (far right) most likely to know exactly who to call to fix a problem.

Kia (far left) most likely to tease Brad (the boss).

Olivia (left middle) most likely to ask everyone for their zodiac signs.

Hope (right middle) most likely to be over caffeinated.

Mica (far right) most likely to randomly make weird noises.

Casey (left) most likely to have to raid the first aid kit during a shift while in the middle recommending a book to a customer.

Z (right) most likely to bring their book on a bathroom break.

Susan (left) most likely to staff pick books about lesbian vampires.

Kyra (middle) most likely to pick a book because of its cover.

Sarah (right) most likely to wear purple every day.

Amber (left) most likely to give you a full ranked list of romance novels when you ask for one recommendation.

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Grant (right) most likely to say “sounds great!” when things are in fact not great.

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Ramzi (right) most likely to be running late (and we love him anyway!)

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Lily (middle) most likely to read a book because she finds out it’s gay.

Georgia (right) most likely to find mistakes in history books.

Alice (far left) most likely to most likely to audiobook + read physical copy at the same time.

Khadijah (left middle) most likely to be currently reading a book but is enticed to start another... and another.

David (right middle) most likely to take the longest to finish a book.

Ioanna (far right) most likely to save the day by recommending novellas.

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Allen (middle) most likely to have his adorable daughter say hello on Zoom meetings.

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Dani (left) most likely to trip over nothing.

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Mishy (right) most likely to talk about Lord of the Rings.

Chris (left) most likely to give you a hilarious one-liner and walk away.

Leah (right) most likely to bring in baked goods (homemade marshmallows?! she’s incredible).

Molly (left) most likely to fix a problem with inventory no one else can.

Suzanne (middle) most likely to read a book you wouldn’t expect her to read.

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Madison, most likely to brighten your day!

Hank (left) & Seth (right) most likely to discuss Hegel together.

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A special thanks and shout-out to ALL the staff, including those who didn’t wish to be posted/pictured here. This bookstore wouldn’t be what it is without your continuous dedication and hard work.

And thank YOU, dear readers, for keeping indie stores alive. Bookstores across the country couldn’t do it without the deep support of our local community. Happy Independent Bookstore Day from Politics and Prose! Thank you for celebrating with us!

DANI: Okay, so, you were telling me the other day that you participate in a traveling book club with your friends? Elizabeth, this is beyond cool, how did it all get started?

ELIZABETH: So, we are this group of nine women that started reading books together. We met through a book club that meets online via Discord. We buddy read a lot of things together and have started various projects – we did a project previously of reading all the Booker Prize Winners written by women, and now we are doing a women-in-translation project round.

I was watching reels in 2024 and one came across my feed of a woman who was doing this traveling annotation project with her friends, where they each would take their favorite book, read it, annotate it, and send it on to the next person who would read it, annotate it, and send it on to the next person and so on – eventually coming back to the first person. Then they would have a copy of their favorite book annotated by a bunch of friends. I thought it sounded fun!

DANI: Immediately in love with this. How did you get it off the ground?

ELIZABETH: So, I sent the reel to my Discord group, and everyone was immediately on board. We changed the rules, so to speak, and chose books that none of us have read, which is hard to do with a group of people who read a lot. Basically, we all took a short book off our shelves and used that as our first book. We organized it so all nine books are moving simultaneously through the group, though they don’t all move at the same speed. Basically, we have a spreadsheet with the order you’re mailing your book in, so the first person sends it to the next person, who then does their thing, and so on, until it reaches the last person who sends it back to the original sender! Then you get this book back with all these different scribbles, annotations, jokes in the margins, and occasionally tracking a theme, but for the most part, it’s just kind of fun.

We’ve now started round two of this project, and some people read a few books and picked one to send, but for the most part we picked a short book we each had sat unread on our shelves.

DANI: This is incredible, you met them online, does everyone live scattered across the US?

ELIZABETH: We’re scattered across the US, Canada, and the UK.

DANI: Woah!

ELIZABETH: Yeah, so we’re a group that formed out of a group – a Patreon book group called Fiction Matters, run by Sara Hildreth, who is a lovely human. There is a huge Discord channel for that book club, and we do a lot of buddy reads, and this group sort of formed of people buddy reading and getting along within that larger book group. And we’ve now met in person a few times, which is so fun. We went to Montreal in 2024, and we read Insurrecto by Gina Apostal to do an in-person book club.

DANI: Incredible choice.

ELIZABETH: We unofficially call ourselves the Insurrecto’s because of that first in-person group meeting. And in 2025, we met in Vancouver and chose one of our women in translation novels to talk about: Bad Girls by Camila Sosa Villada. It’s a magical realism novel about trans sex workers in Argentina who live in community with each other and deal with the difficulties of life together. It’s a dark read but well worth your time.

Reading in community, and about community, has been so incredible. I get introduced to books I wouldn’t otherwise know about and have a group of people that I trust to tell me what’s worth skipping and what’s worth the commitment.

With the traveling books, it has made me a more thoughtful reader because I can see what others are noticing and how they track details or themes through a book.

DANI: Okay Kyra, what is special about this debut novel? Who would the audience be for this book/ who would enjoy it?

KYRA: Okay, the book is Slow Guillotine, and it’s about three starving artists in New York. We’ve got an unnamed bookseller/bookstore receiver, we’ve got a culinary student named Precious whose real passion in life is making three second videos and putting them on the internet. And we’ve got Felix who is a gallery assistant and aspiring visual artist who has a pet snake named Girlfriend, also an important character.

The unnamed narrator and Precious live in this apartment that doesn’t have gas, there are all these issues with the apartment building, and they are always getting these comic sans print outs from their faceless landlord who’s, you know, announcing all the different changes or issues going on in their unit or building.

It’s kind of just them surviving in the city, finding furniture on the streets, eating culinary school leftovers -- it’s a lovely found-family kind of book. It’s about friendship and is deeply heartwarming.

It’s the kind of book you read, and it just fills you up rather than burning you. Which a lot of great books also do, but it’s not a painful book in that sense.

DANI: Can you tell us a bit about the setting of the book?

KYRA: One thing I really love about this debut is that it perfectly captures working in a bookstore. You can tell this is someone who has worked in a bookstore, and I related to a lot of the humor. I really think it’s bookseller fiction.

The book is set in the 2010’s, and I think a novel that takes place 10 years ago is a different kind of nostalgia, one I can really get behind.

DANI: What character did you enjoy reading the most?

KYRA: Precious is my favorite character. I picture -- and this can be interpreted in many ways, it doesn’t have to be that Precious actually looks like him or anything -- but I’m picturing like a young Jason Segel? Not in look, but in energy? Like a teddy bear or gentle giant type of character, because, well he’s a culinary student who, to pay his tuition, works as a clown. And then he makes his short videos; those are his real passion.

He wants to go to culinary school to support his real passion, the videos, but in order to go to culinary school he has to be a birthday clown. It sounds absurd, but it’s delightful. It’s pulled off in such a way that you really believe everything that is happening in the book. In some ways, it’s bleak. It’s about struggling and poverty and truly being a starving artist, but it’s so heartwarming and they go on adventures, the characters have such a good friendship.

It’s a very moving, worthwhile book.

Slow Guillotine by Teo Rivera-Dundas

Kyra loved...

Slow Guillotine: A Novel by Teo Rivera-Dundas

I am so deeply smitten with this book. It’s a work of meta-fiction, chronicled by an unnamed narrator - a bookstore receiver, writing the book as we read it (and reading books as they write it - so many books!). Other cast members: Precious, a culinary student scraping by on birthday clown wages, creating absurd short videos when he can. Felix, a gallery assistant and visual artist with a pet snake named Girlfriend. A crappy apartment, constantly under construction by a faceless, Comic Sans-wielding landlord (yes, the apartment is a character). The story is just that, three artists surviving in the city with their salvaged furniture, stolen books, and culinary school leftovers.

Pub Date: March 1st, 2026

Dani loved...

Seasons of Glass and Iron: Stories by Amal El-Mohtar

El-Mohtar’s fantastical world-bending prose hooks me every time. The title story, “Seasons of Glass and Iron,” lays the groundwork for her overarching literary style, one based in folklore and storytelling tradition while other pieces, like, “Qahr,” dedicated to Bisan Owda, a 29-year-old journalist surviving the genocide in Gaza, highlight El-Mohtar’s lyrical strength. The author’s love of humanity is etched into the fabric of this collection where she cements herself as a literary powerhouse. Amal El-Mohtar, I’ll read anything you write.

Pub Date: March 24th, 2026

Laurie loved...

When the Forest Breathes: Renewal and Resilience in the Natural World by Suzanne Simard

Simard follows Finding the Mother Tree with a passionate foray into forest ecology, detailing experiments that have revealed the complex yet elegant ways forests naturally thrive--and showing why current industrial practices are unsustainable. Though rewilding a clearcut may sound like a simple matter of planting a vast number of trees, these trees will likely die without an appropriate overstory and a healthy forest floor--both of which are destroyed by clear-cutting--while the industry standard of monocultures creates “killer forests,” ecosystems that can foster wildfires so wide ranging and hot that they replace soil with ash, and roots and fungi with “zombie fires.” But by adhering to time-honored Indigenous practices of biodiversity, layers of upper and understories, and attention to inter-species cooperation, forests have a better chance to survive fires and climate change--and may continue to regenerate indefinitely.

Pub Date: March 31st, 2026