Staff Picks

The staff of Greenlight Bookstore (and our sister store Yours Truly, Brooklyn) read widely and passionately, and love to recommend books they've especially enjoyed!  You can peruse and purchase current staff picks from the list below.

 

Love, Rosie By Cecelia Ahern Cover Image
$9.99
ISBN: 9780786891085
Availability: Available In Store Now (while supplies last)
Published: Hachette Books - December 1st, 2006

Ashli: It's a tale as old as time... but told in a totally new way. No face-to-face dialogue, no in-person interactions. Love, Rosie tells the the love story of two best friends told through their letters, emails, group chat messages, texts, etc. etc. If you love friends to lovers, British accents (use your imagination), and an infuriating dose of miscommunication and missed opportunities, then read this book (AND WATCH THE MOVIE!)


Hawk Mountain: A Novel By Conner Habib Cover Image
$17.95
ISBN: 9781324064862
Availability: Available In Store Now (while supplies last)
Published: W. W. Norton & Company - August 1st, 2023

Mandy & Maritza: Beautiful writing anchors a harrowing plot in Hawk Mountain, a literary horror novel that follows a young father whose childhood bully forces his way back into his life, all while befriending his six year-old and shaking traumatic memories loose. Our favorite book of last year-- thank you to A.L. for the recommendation.


Betty: A novel By Tiffany McDaniel Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9781984897947
Availability: Available In Store Now (while supplies last)
Published: Vintage - July 13th, 2021

Janele: “A girl comes of age against the knife.”

A lyrically devastating exploration of family and grief. It will cut your heart open in tragically beautiful ways.


Junky: The Definitive Text of Junk By William S. Burroughs Cover Image
$16.00
ISBN: 9780802120427
Availability: Available In Store Now (while supplies last)
Published: Grove Press - November 13th, 2012

Jen: American beatnik generation writer, Burroughs, first published work, before best-seller Naked Lunch. If you’re into or know that friend who reads novels that are semi-autobiographical depicting gritty or taboo New York experiences. A great recommendation for transgressive literature or cynical antagonist narrative fans !


Mr. Tiger Goes Wild By Peter Brown Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9780316200639
Availability: Available In Store Now (while supplies last)
Published: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers - September 3rd, 2013

Jessica: My kid's first chosen Halloween costume was a tiger with a top hat, after this awesome book -- because it is fun to go from fancy to feral and back again. Bonus: it's a great read-aloud, with the potential for snooty accents and lots of interactive roaring!!


The Adult By Bronwyn Fischer Cover Image
$27.00
ISBN: 9781643752723
Availability: Available In Store Now (while supplies last)
Published: Algonquin Books - May 23rd, 2023

Kyle: This is my favorite debut of 2023 (calling it now). The Adult is a queer coming of age that brims over the lip with longing, desire, and the exhaustion of experiencing what it means to become yourself. The prose is captivating and playful, it tap dances around itself but never misses its chance to prick you with its bittersweet point. Fischer can and will be compared to many contemporary fiction writers, but with a debut like this she stands in a league of her own.


My Nemesis By Charmaine Craig Cover Image
$26.00
ISBN: 9780802160713
Availability: Available In Store Now (while supplies last)
Published: Grove Press - February 7th, 2023

Alexis: I love this book. A stunning depiction of the tragic yet everyday evils of self obsession, intellectual superiority and white feminism. This book, which places the reader inside the mind of a nasty b*tch of a narrator, was so searing yet somehow empathetic. The narrator has many despicable qualities but the most terrifying is how easily her train of thought could turn to exactly the kind of thing I may find myself thinking. It's a psychological thriller about female rivalry and somehow also the writings of Camus? A quick and very fun read.


Watch Over Me By Nina LaCour Cover Image
$10.99
ISBN: 9780593108994
Availability: Available In Store Now (while supplies last)
Published: Rocky Pond Books - January 18th, 2022

Oliver: A hauntingly beautiful story about grief, trauma, and healing. With lyrical prose and a powerful understanding of the ghosts that can follow us throughout life, this is the perfect novel to get swept up in.


The Saint of Bright Doors By Vajra Chandrasekera Cover Image
$27.99
ISBN: 9781250847386
Availability: Available In Store Now (while supplies last)
Published: Tordotcom - July 11th, 2023

Jessica: If you have any interest in:

* magic including seeing invisible beings, defying gravity, and doorways to other realms

* non-Western fantasy landscapes

* queer coming of age / coming to the city stories

* family drama on a continental scale

* witty and gorgeous prose

* also high-stakes heists, avant garde theater, romantic tensions, and experiments in urban infrastructure... just go ahead and read this book, and then we can be friends.


Hopscotch: A Novel By Julio Cortázar Cover Image
$19.00
ISBN: 9780394752846
Availability: Available In Store Now (while supplies last)
Published: Pantheon - February 12th, 1987

David: Cortázar's masterpiece. A scouring of the undefinable. Part eloquent ramble, part literary bebop. Translated with immeasurable grace by Gregory Rabassa.


Games and Rituals: Stories By Katherine Heiny Cover Image
$28.00
ISBN: 9780525659518
Availability: Available In Store Now (while supplies last)
Published: Knopf - April 18th, 2023

Dante: If you are looking to take a respite from often "overlooked" historical fiction, convoluted, dense, story plots that make you turn back a couple pages multiple times, speculative narratives that are too close to real life, AS. WE. KNOW.IT... then I invite you to give Katherine Heiny's short story collection Games and Rituals a peek. It highlights people maneuvering through having an elderly father mistake his hearing aid for a peanut, discovering a credit card charge that puts their marriage into a tailspin, finding unrequited love with a co-worker and its aftermath, and...I'll let you discover the rest.

Hopefully, this collection provides connection and a loud chuckle at the inner workings of the person next to you on the bus, train, Uber, pool, round trip or one way flight, in line waiting to buy overly priced macadamia nuts at the neighborhood market.


Staff Pick Badge
The Dangers of Smoking in Bed: Stories By Mariana Enriquez, Megan McDowell (Translated by) Cover Image
By Mariana Enriquez, Megan McDowell (Translated by)
$17.00
ISBN: 9780593134092
Availability: Available In Store Now (while supplies last)
Published: Hogarth - February 1st, 2022

Mandy: 12 gothic fantasies about death, sex, and the occult. Let us say no more.


Staff Pick Badge
Punch Me Up To The Gods: A Memoir By Brian Broome Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9780358695257
Availability: Available In Store Now (while supplies last)
Published: Mariner Books - May 3rd, 2022

Autumn: This memoir is poetic, graceful, and gorgeous and simultaneously raw, heart-wrenching, and brutal. Brian Broome has so generously shared with us his very honest and evocative journey to allowing himself the permission to exist in his own skin and take up space in this world. I will never be able to recommend this book highly enough.


Staff Pick Badge
Why We Swim By Bonnie Tsui Cover Image
$16.95
ISBN: 9781643751375
Availability: Available In Store Now (while supplies last)
Published: Algonquin Books - April 13th, 2021

Maritza: I will forever love Why We Swim because it was among the first books I was able to commit to after the pandemic settled in. The book is a balm: multi-genre nonfiction that explores what allows and compels us to swim, featuring case studies of specific communities relationships with the water. A restorative, quietly delightful mix of reporting and memoir that pairs well with Lulu Miller's Why Fish Don't Exist.


Staff Pick Badge
The Wolf Suit By Sid Sharp Cover Image
$19.99
ISBN: 9781773217208
Availability: Available In Store Now (while supplies last)
Published: Annick Press - October 25th, 2022

Micah: Not only is this book visually amazing, but the story is so relatable and creatively told. It is all about a sheep doing their own thing in their little cottage, until the sheep has to go out into the presumably mean forest and endure what lies ahead. I will stop there because I don't want to spoil the story, but The Wolf Suit is definitely an enjoyable read and I like to think, in its own way, a tale of the typical New York experience. And while it's listed as a children's graphic novel, I think everyone can appreciate this one!


Socialist Reconstruction: A Better Future for the United States By Party for Socialism and Liberation Cover Image
$18.95
ISBN: 9780991030392
Availability: Available In Store Now (while supplies last)
Published: Liberation Media - September 2nd, 2022

Bria: If we get started now, we could have this sh*t fixed before I'm 40, lets go. But really, a clear and concise answer to the question, "but, like, what could socialism in the U.S. really look like?"


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Last Resort: A Novel By Andrew Lipstein Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9781250863034
Availability: Available In Store Now (while supplies last)
Published: Picador - January 17th, 2023

Matt: I felt micro-targeted by this debut novel -- a hilarious publishing industry satire with a Larry David-esque plot and super local setting (there's even a scene set in this very bookstore!). Highly recommended for fans of Fake Accounts, Early Work, and The New Me.


Staff Pick Badge
Carry On (Simon Snow Trilogy #1) By Rainbow Rowell Cover Image
$11.99
ISBN: 9781250135025
Availability: Available In Store Now (while supplies last)
Published: Wednesday Books - May 9th, 2017

Ashli: If you ever read Harry Potter and thought This would be much better if Harry and Draco got together... put down your AO3 or Wattpad fanfic and pick up this book!


Staff Pick Badge
Miss Major Speaks: Conversations with a Black Trans Revolutionary By Toshio Meronek, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy Cover Image
$19.95
ISBN: 9781839763342
Availability: Available In Store Now (while supplies last)
Published: Verso - May 16th, 2023

K.: Celebrate Pride all year by honoring the legendary living transgender elder, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy. This book is a required must-read for any & every queer here today. Miss Major Speaks speaks for itself.


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The Darkness Outside Us By Eliot Schrefer Cover Image
$15.99
ISBN: 9780062888235
Availability: Available In Store Now (while supplies last)
Published: Katherine Tegen Books - May 10th, 2022

Megan: I missed my subway stop twice reading this book! Part suspenseful mystery, part romance, this book transported me to a spaceship where everything is going wrong, nothing is what it seems, and there's nowhere to escape.


Staff Pick Badge
Blacksad: They All Fall Down · Part One By Juan Díaz Canales, Juanjo Guarnido (Illustrator), Diana Schutz (Translated by), Brandon Kander (Translated by) Cover Image
By Juan Díaz Canales, Juanjo Guarnido (Illustrator), Diana Schutz (Translated by), Brandon Kander (Translated by)
$19.99
ISBN: 9781506730578
Availability: Available In Store Now (while supplies last)
Published: Dark Horse Books - August 23rd, 2022

Mustafa: What if Raymond Chandler were hired by Walt Disney to write a Graphic Novel, what might it look like? It might look something like Blacksad, an anthropomorphic Film Noir styled, action packed, visually stunning masterclass in storytelling. I discovered this Graphic Novel series almost 10 years ago since then each new edition has never failed to entertain and inspire me. I hope you’ll feel the same.


Staff Pick Badge
The Great Gatsby: The Only Authorized Edition By F. Scott Fitzgerald Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9780743273565
Availability: Available In Store Now (while supplies last)
Published: Scribner - September 30th, 2004

A perennial favorite and one of the sources of our name, Fitzgerald's masterpiece is always a staff pick at Greenlight Bookstore.