Books

By: Katherine May (Author), Hardcover, 2020

THE RUNAWAY NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 

“Katherine May opens up exactly what I and so many need to hear but haven't known how to name.” —Krista Tippett, On Being

“Every bit as beautiful and healing as the season itself. . . . This is truly a beautiful book.” —Elizabeth Gilbert  

"Proves that there is grace in letting go, stepping back and giving yourself time to repair in the dark...May is a clear-eyed observer and her language is steady, honest and accurate—capturing the sense, the beauty and the latent power of our resting landscapes." —Wall Street Journal

From the author of the New York Times bestseller Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age, this is an intimate, revelatory exploration of the ways we can care for and repair ourselves when life knocks us down.

Sometimes you slip through the cracks: unforeseen circumstances like an abrupt illness, the death of a loved one, a break up, or a job loss can derail a life. These periods of dislocation can be lonely and unexpected. For May, her husband fell ill, her son stopped attending school, and her own medical issues led her to leave a demanding job. Wintering explores how she not only endured this painful time, but embraced the singular opportunities it offered.

A moving personal narrative shot through with lessons from literature, mythology, and the natural world, May's story offers instruction on the transformative power of rest and retreat. Illumination emerges from many sources: solstice celebrations and dormice hibernation, C.S. Lewis and Sylvia Plath, swimming in icy waters and sailing arctic seas.

Ultimately Wintering invites us to change how we relate to our own fallow times. May models an active acceptance of sadness and finds nourishment in deep retreat, joy in the hushed beauty of winter, and encouragement in understanding life as cyclical, not linear. A secular mystic, May forms a guiding philosophy for transforming the hardships that arise before the ushering in of a new season.

By: Erin Baldwin (Author), 2024, Hardcover

"A masterclass of a sapphic rom-com. Filled with hate-to-love perfection, swoony moments, and off-the-charts chemistry." -Rachael Lippincott, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Five Feet Apart and She Gets the Girl

All's fair in love and Color War.

Juliette doesn't hate Priya Pendley.

At least, not in the way teen movies say she should hate the hot popular girl. They don't do cat fights, love triangles, or betrayal. To survive their intertwined small town lives, they’ve agreed to a truce. They complete group projects without fighting, never gossip to mutual friends, and stand on opposite sides of photos so it’s easy to crop each other out.

Priya seems to have everything during the school year—social media stardom, the handsome track captain boyfriend, and millions of adoring fans—and Juliette is at peace with that. Because Juliette has the summer, and the one place she never feels like “too much”: Fogridge Sleepaway Camp.

But her hopes for a few Priya-free weeks are shattered when her rival shows up at Fogridge on move-in day... as her cabinmate, no less. Juliette is determined to enjoy her final summer, even if it means (gag) tolerating her childhood rival, but everything that can go wrong, does.

If Juliette can’t find something to like about her situation—and about Priya—she risks hating the only home she’s ever had, right before she says goodbye to it forever.

By: Jessi Zabarsky (Author), 2020, Paperback, Graphic Novel

Love -- loss -- witches -- this YA fantasy graphic novel has it all! This thoughtful, emotional story will entrance you with its moving story and organic artwork.

Lelek is a witch.

That's all Sanja knows when she meets Lelek in the marketplace. But Lelek is hiding something -- and as her life begins to intersect with Sanja's, all that she's kept to herself starts to come to light.

Secrets, friendship, and magic all come together as Lelek gets closer and closer to uncovering the truth about her past. . . .

Witchlight is a wonderful queer adventure filled with friendship, family, falling in love, and dealing with the hardest bits of your past all along the way.

Zine / pamphlet. Published by Microcosm! One of the hardest things about parenting is having conversations with your kids about sticky or loaded topics. You know, like sex. Or drugs. Or money, religion, or politics. Or when tragic shit happens. It's especially hard when the topic of discussion hits really close to home. Or if you tend to be either conflict averse or hot headed, or just plain unconfident having difficult conversations even with fellow adults. But you need to have these talks in order to create a sense of safety for your kid when life goes sideways. Whether you're trying to make sure your kid gets positive messages around gender even though you aren't an expert, process horrific news, or deal with an intolerant relative who you can't personally stand, Dr. Faith and Bonnie bring you their trademark common sense, experience, and realness in guiding you through having these necessary tough conversations and building a closer, trusting relationship with your offspring.

Zine / pamphlet. Published by Microcosm! One of the hardest things about parenting is having conversations with your kids about sticky or loaded topics. You know, like sex. Or drugs. Or money, religion, or politics. Or when tragic shit happens. It's especially hard when the topic of discussion hits really close to home. Or if you tend to be either conflict averse or hot headed, or just plain unconfident having difficult conversations even with fellow adults. But you need to have these talks in order to create a sense of safety for your kid when life goes sideways. Whether you're trying to make sure your kid gets positive messages around gender even though you aren't an expert, process horrific news, or deal with an intolerant relative who you can't personally stand, Dr. Faith and Bonnie bring you their trademark common sense, experience, and realness in guiding you through having these necessary tough conversations and building a closer, trusting relationship with your offspring.

Microcosm-published! paperback book. Woke Parenting: Raising Intersectional Feminist, Empathic, Engaged, and Generally Non-Shitty Kids While Still Having a Life How do you raise your kids to be feminist, anti-racist, gender-inclusive, self-compassionate, and with strong respect for boundaries and consent in a society that offers mixed messages on all these things—especially when none of this was part of your own upbringing? How can you prepare the next generation to find joy and stability and also cope with economic instability, police brutality, political polarization, militant nationalism, and environmental disaster? Parents and therapists Dr. Faith Harper and Bonnie Scott have written a parenting guide for the 21st century. Drawing from their own experiences raising diverse, politically-active young people, this book will help you raise a new generation of civil rights leaders and activists who will change the world for the better.

By: Jennifer Rehor (Author), Julia Schiffman (Author), 

Based on original research from nearly 1,600 women from the kink community, this book takes you on a journey into the motivations, meanings, and benefits of kink, in these women’s own words.

Women and Kink presents a diverse range of personal and intimate stories about life, love, relationships, kink, sex, self-discovery, growth, resilience, community, and more. The book offers insight into the breadth of the kink community, with chapters discussing different aspects of kink and forms of engagement, both individually and within relationships. Filled throughout with personal vignettes and examples, the authors provide commentary, reflection questions, and thought-provoking considerations to readers who are looking to explore a new area of their life.

By exploring personal stories of love, alternative sexualities, and reasons for participating in the "unconventional," the book supports and empowers each reader to build a relationship and life that best suits their needs. It is also an illuminating resource for sex therapists, counselors, and other mental health professionals interested in developing a kink-affirmative practice.

By: Christine Gautreaux (Author) & Shannon Mitchell (Author), 2022, Paperback

Women Connected in Wisdom: A Book of Stories and Resources Rooted in the Eight Dimensions of Wellness is a weaving together of stories, experiences, and resources from a diverse group of women with a depth of knowledge. This volume is a celebration of our different life experiences, racial backgrounds, and generations of wisdom. What we have in common is a shared desire for an equitable and thriving community of collaboration versus competition.

This book was born out of the Women Connected in Wisdom Podcast co-hosted by Shannon Mitchell and Christine Gautreaux. It's a podcast rooted in the eight dimensions of wellness where we get together every week to talk about how to be well in business and life.

How do we take care of ourselves and our communities in the midst of this chaotic world?

This book is for people who are looking for tools and ideas imparted through inspiring, authentic stories to help maintain wellness in all eight dimensions for themselves and their communities. Women Connected in Wisdom takes concepts and personal experiences and offers techniques to put into action #wisdominaction

Written by a distinguished network of 18 experts who are intentional about maintaining wellness and thriving in their work and the world. These authors are delighted to share purposeful resources and personal stories to help others do the same.

Contributing Authors: Sacil Armstrong, Dr. Melissa Bird, Dr. Sheila K. Collins, Verna Darnel, Courtney Dorsey, Felecia Frayall, Christine Gautreaux, Chartisia Griffin, Shannon Ivey, Melody LeBaron, Shannon Mitchell, Dr. Cynthia Phelps, Tracy Reese, Carolyn Renée, SatiMa Ra, Laurel Anne Stark, JoVantreis Tolliver Russell, Shamika Wallace

By: Matilda Bickers (Editor), peech breshears (Editor), Janice Luna (Editor), Molly Smith (Foreword), 2023, Paperback

Fiercely intelligent, fantastically transgressive, Working It is an intimate portrait of the lives of sex workers. A polyphonic story of triumph, survival, and solidarity this collection showcases the vastly different experiences and interests of those who have traded sex; among them a brothel worker in Australia, First Nation survivors of the Canadian child welfare system, and an afro-latina single parent raising a radicalized child. Packed with first-person essays, interviews, poetry, drawings, mixed-media collage, and photographs Working It honors the complexity of lived experience. Sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes hardboiled, these dazzling pieces will go straight to the heart.

By: Poppy Z. Brite (Author), 1995, Paperback

“Big talent gives off thermonuclear vibes. I can feel them . . . this is the voice we’re going to be hearing for a long time.”—Harlan Ellison 

In an old car rocking down a North Carolina highway with the radio on so loud you can’t hear the music. . . Behind a dusty Georgia carny show. . . In a mausoleum in Baton Rouge, or in an alley in Calcutta. . . Here wanderers come to rest, the lost and lonely press their bodies up against each other, the heat rises, flesh yields, bones are bared, blood spills. This is the landscape of today’s most brilliant young horror writer, Poppy Z. Brite.

Now, in a collection that sings like cutting edge rock ’n’ roll and shows the deft touch of a master storyteller, Poppy Z. Brite weaves her unique spell of the sensual, the frightening, and the forbidden. . .

“Every page of Brite’s work stresses the beautiful and heartbreaking strangeness of the world.”—Fangoria 

By: Nina Lacour (Author), 2023, Paperback

FROM BESTSELLING AND PRINTZ-AWARD WINNING AUTHOR NINA LACOUR, PERFECT FOR READERS OF WRITERS AND LOVERS

“A study of complex, modern love…Expertly illuminates the trauma that Sara and Emilie are both wrestling with, as well as their hope and healing…Lingers like a perfectly mixed cocktail.” ―San Francisco Chronicle

“A Carol for our times.” ―Harper’s Bazaar

Sara Foster runs away from home at sixteen, leaving behind the girl she once was, capable of trust and intimacy. Years later, in Los Angeles, she is a sought-after bartender, renowned as much for her brilliant cocktails as for the mystery that clings to her. Across the city, Emilie Dubois is in a holding pattern, yearning for the beauty and community her Creole grandparents cultivated but unable to commit. On a whim, she takes a job arranging flowers at the glamorous restaurant Yerba Buena.

The morning Emilie and Sara first meet at Yerba Buena, their connection is immediate. But soon Sara's old life catches up to her, upending everything she thought she wanted, just as Emilie has finally gained her own sense of purpose. Will their love be more powerful than their pasts?

At once exquisite and expansive, astonishing in its humanity and heart, Yerba Buena is a testament to the healing qualities of a shared meal, a perfectly crafted drink, a space we claim for ourselves. Nina LaCour’s adult debut novel is a love story for our time.

By: Taeeun Yoo (Author), 2012, Hardcover, Picture Book

With simple instructions and bright, clear illustrations, award-winning artist Taeeun Yoo invites children to enjoy yoga by assuming playful animal poses. And she sparks their imagination further by encouraging them to pretend to be the animal - to flutter like a butterfly, hiss like a snake, roar like a lion and more. Yoga is great for kids because it promotes flexibility and focus - and it's relaxing good fun! The charming pictures of children and animals and the lyrical text make this gentle introduction to yoga a book to be treasured.

By: Emily Garside (Author), 2024, Paperback

From the show's modest beginnings to its massive Emmy sweep, You Are My Happy Ending tells the story of how Schitt’s Creek became the surprise hit that changed the way we think about LGBTQ relationships.

Cultural analyst Emily Garside shows how this series fused classic romcom and sitcom tropes to create a world with a queer love story at its core, starting with Daniel Levy, the co-creator who plays David. She examines the show’s Canadian identity and its diverse incorporation of references from literature (Brideshead Revisited) to cinema (Hitchcock’s The Birds), as well as numerous romantic comedy texts. Schitt’s Creek is an homage to all these elements of the past literary and cinematic canon while also creating an important contemporary narrative of its own. Most importantly, Garside delves into the references to queer icons and culture—from Cabaret to drag.

How did this supposedly light comedy embrace an activist perspective? And how does it use (and subvert) its romantic-comedy genre in order to make that activism even more powerful? Combining a fan's affection with a scholar's insight, Garside explains how this “little show that could” is the product of a long history of queer activism, breaking down barriers and marking a turning point in future representation of LGBTQ stories.

By: Andrea Gibson (Author), 2021, Paperback

2023 Feathered Quill Book Awards Gold Medal Winner
2022 Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY) Gold Medal Winner
2022 Over the Rainbow Short List
2021 Goodreads Choice Awards - Best Poetry Book Finalist
2021 Bookshop's Indie Press Highlights

You Better Be Lightning by Andrea Gibson is a queer, political, and feminist collection guided by self-reflection. 

The poems range from close examination of the deeply personal to the vastness of the world, exploring the expansiveness of the human experience from love to illness, from space to climate change, and so much more in between.

One of the most celebrated poets and performers of the last two decades, Andrea Gibson's trademark honesty and vulnerability are on full display in You Better BeLightning, welcoming and inviting readers to be just as they are.

By: Tea Franco (Author), 2024, Paperback

Frida Kahlo resurrects as a social media influencer, a girl feeds all of her food to a bloom of angry ladybugs, a skunk funeral makes a young woman contemplate her life and more in Téa Franco's You Could Be That Kind of Girl. Through a series of coming-of-age stories, this collection explores family dynamics, race, and sexuality, creating an intersectional portrait of the female experience navigating the patriarchal expectations they face from before they are born to long after they die. The characters that populate Franco's collection have unique perspectives, often centering pop culture, and their stories show their strengths and their flaws as they attempt, and often fail, to decode the ever-changing rules they've been assigned.

Téa Franco is a writer based in Indianapolis. She has fiction, poetry, and non-fiction published in Barrelhouse Magazine, Barren Magazine, Foglifter Press, and others. She co-edited Kiss Your Darlings: A Taylor Swift Anthology and teaches creative writing workshops. She is currently working on her first novel and received a travel grant from the Central Indiana Community Foundation to conduct research in Puerto Rico, where her family is from.