Matt C. Staff Picks


 

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The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of Their Lost World Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9780062490438
Availability: On hand at one or more locations, see product page for details
Published: William Morrow Paperbacks - April 30th, 2019

A must-read for anyone with a predilection for the prehistoric! I think the best part about this book is how accessible it is. Brusatte's writing comes off almost conversational, and it never gets bogged down with forgettable technobabble. Perfect for newcomers or seasoned vets, this is my favorite book I've read on the subject.

-- Matt


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Freshwater Cover Image
$24.00
ISBN: 9780802127358
Availability: Not In Stock - Usually ships in 3-5 Days
Published: Grove Press - February 13th, 2018

This was unlike anything I've read before. The narrators in FRESHWATER are the voices (or "gods") inside Ada's head. And they talk about her like a virus talks about the next set of cells it's about to invade. Or like a parasite stalking an unknowing host... where eventually, some sort of symbiosis has to occur.

Emezi compliments this sense of unease with a lyrical narrative and a story that's as hypnotically beautiful as it is hauntingly tragic. Highest praise!


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The Cabin at the End of the World: A Novel Cover Image
$26.99
Email or call for price.
ISBN: 9780062679109
Published: William Morrow - June 26th, 2018

This book sucked me in, shook my nerves, stabbed my heart and melted my frickin' mind! Relentlessly gripping with layered originality, it's a home invasion nightmare unlike any other. A story grounded in domestic relatability, but with terror that creeps in and unleashes itself on unexpected levels. My #1 pick for 2018, no question!

-- Matt


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Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781627389877
Availability: Not In Stock - Usually ships in 3-5 Days
Published: Archie Comics - August 16th, 2016

From the mastermind behind TV's Riverdale!! Aguirre-Sacasa has also crafted some of the best horror comics out there and Chilling Tales of Sabrina is Satanically-spot-on! It features the Archie Comics characters you know and love, filtered through a macabre yet tongue-in-cheek lense. RATING: 5/5 upside down pentagrams

-- Matt


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Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich Cover Image
By Norman Ohler, Shaun Whiteside (Translated by)
$15.99
ISBN: 9781328915344
Availability: On hand at one or more locations, see product page for details
Published: Mariner Books - March 6th, 2018

This was INSANE! It turns out the Nazis were basically doped-up on meth, coke and all sorts of other "miracle drugs" the whole time. And then there was Hitler --a droopy, drooling, paranoid lump in the end. Crazy-good must-read!

-- Matt


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People Who Eat Darkness: The True Story of a Young Woman Who Vanished from the Streets of Tokyo--and the Evil That Swallowed Her Up Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9780374230593
Availability: Not In Stock - Usually ships in 3-5 Days
Published: FSG Originals - May 22nd, 2012

This was like an episode of Law & Order SVU that gets more twisted and horrifying as the story unfolds. Unforgivable crimes, bizarre mind-games, curious testimonials, questionable authorities... It's a dark book about dark people.

-- Matt


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Binti Cover Image
$9.99
ISBN: 9780765385253
Availability: On hand at one or more locations, see product page for details
Published: Tordotcom - September 22nd, 2015

So many cool ideas packed into such a tiny book! This first of three novels is basically a gateway drug into Okorafor's Afro-futuristic world of Binti. Imaginative and easy-to-digest sci-fi goodness.

-- Matt


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Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right Cover Image
$17.95
ISBN: 9780307947901
Availability: On hand at one or more locations, see product page for details
Published: Anchor - January 24th, 2017

INFURIATING, but an essential read.

-- Matt


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The Dreamers: A Novel Cover Image
$27.00
Email or call for price.
ISBN: 9780812994162
Published: Random House - January 15th, 2019

Much like Walker's first novel, THE DREAMERS is about a strange and somewhat apocalyptic phenomena affecting a small town and its inhabitants. This gives us grounded and believable characters, while the sleeping “sickness” brings the fear and danger of the impossible-unknown. There are moments of joy, revelation, and tragedy. And in the end, we’re left with a beautiful, but haunting exploration of what people want from, and perceive to be, reality. Not a dystopian novel, but a great alternative to those craving comfort in doom.

-- Matt


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The Girl With All the Gifts Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9780316334754
Availability: On hand at one or more locations, see product page for details
Published: Orbit - April 28th, 2015

Technically, it’s a zombie horror story, complete with peril and gore. But it’s a story that carries such unexpected substance and emotional weight that it broke my stupid heart on numerous occasions. The characters are complex, fleshed out and uniquely motivated. There's tense action, and wholly original revelations all throughout the book. M.R. Carey took a genre that's overcrowded with repetitive tropes or Walking-Dead-wannabes, and created something that's equal parts chilling and heart-breaking.

-- Matt


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On the Beach (Vintage International) Cover Image
$16.95
Email or call for price.
ISBN: 9780307473998
Published: Vintage - February 9th, 2010

"The human race was to be wiped out and the world made clean again for wiser occupants without undue delay." Beautifully bleak premise. And paced in a way that while the oncoming doom is ever present, it isn't always the focus. The characters are the focus. And they cope and live their lives the way they best know how. Some drink, some work, some deny. And when the inevitable end finally comes, Shute orchestrates a brutal, but true closing to their stories and convictions.

-- Matt


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Revolutionary Suicide: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) Cover Image
By Huey P. Newton, Fredrika Newton (Introduction by), Ho Che Anderson (Illustrator)
$18.00
ISBN: 9780143105329
Availability: On hand at one or more locations, see product page for details
Published: Penguin Classics - September 29th, 2009

The Black Panther Party organized a community centered around respect and perseverance. Food was provided for children. Safety was provided for families. They policed the police, ensuring officers operated under the legal guidelines and nothing more. They wanted equality for all, not just whites, not just Blacks, but for all. They were a movement of positivity and progressive ideas, fueled by generations of unjust oppression. Huey's words are immaculate, and universal to anyone with a sense of what's right. He speaks from experience and with wisdom. He's seen the world in its ugliest, lowest form, yet he continues to fight in the hope that proper change can one day come.

-- Matt
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