We’re excited to share some favorite books from Consortium publishers in this year’s gift guide! We hope you find the perfect pick for a cherished customer, patron, loved one, or yourself . . .
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A stirring polemic written by a leading voice in the Palestine solidarity movement.
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A NYT best-selling memoir for book-ish dog lovers.
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This year’s International Booker Prize winner about the lives of Muslim women in southern India.
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Male friendship and toxic loneliness are explored in this Indie Next-selected novel about a road trip gone wrong, and “unlike a lot of so-called psychological thrillers, it is psychologically thrilling,” per critic Molly Young.
| |  The Mean Ones
by Tatiana Schlote-Bonne
Creature Publishing • 9781951971304
“A new favorite of the year, no question,” says Tiffany G. of Books Are Magic: Midsommar meets The Final Girl Support Group in this fast-paced horror novel about a woman who survived cult killings as a child and now strives to be “normal.”
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A fiction finalist for this year’s National Book Award by “one of our great artists of catastrophe” (Laura van den Berg), this is a tale of adventure and endurance set in the waning days of the American whaling industry.
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A translated lit finalist for this year’s National Book Award and a staff favorite for Consortium’s own Julie Schaper, this captivating work of historical fiction finds an amnesiac soldier recovering from the Great War and questioning the truth of his identity, love, and family.
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A provocative and zany romp through the art scene and female wrestling world of 1970s New York, this novel is inspired by the late Drexler’s experiences in both the ring and the Pop Art movement.
| |  Kitchen Hymns
by Pádraig Ó Tuama
Copper Canyon Press • 9781556597107
From the host of On Being’s popular Poetry Unbound podcast, these poems are finely honed melodies of survival—shaped with both humor and anger, force and conviction.
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This runaway bestseller is now available in a collector’s edition with a new introduction by Carmen Maria Machado. The gift-worthy hardcover features foil-stamped detailing and hot pink endpapers.
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To mark its tenth anniversary, André Alexis’s award-winning novel is available as both a slightly revised paperback and a special edition hardcover, featuring a new foreword by Eileen Myles and afterword by Alexis.
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“I can’t remember the last time I read anything so vibrant, confrontational, and new,” says James C. (Leviathan Books) about this Indie Next pick by philosopher, artist, and trans elder Vivian Blaxell. “The reason I keep slogging away as a bookseller after decades in the trade is because of books like Worthy of the Event.”
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Brian Jones, longtime educator and New York Public Library’s director of the Center for Educators and Schools, explores how the study of Black history challenges our understanding of race, nation, and the stories we tell about who we are.
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“In Pathemata, Nelson returns to a more poetic form than her last several books,” says Rachel W. of Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library. “Here, Nelson explores dueling horrors—an unresolved yet painful mouth injury, the descent of the pandemic, and a kind of loneliness brought on by the pandemic.”
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From penicillin to steel to semiconductors, Potter examines how production processes get more efficient over time, and makes a powerful argument for efficiency as an underrated driver of progress. The Wall Street Journal calls it “a master class.”
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COMICS AND GRAPHIC NOVELS
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This near-future dystopian graphic novel—thrice starred, by Library Journal, Booklist, and Foreword—is about technology, authoritarian government, and the lengths that one will go to in the fight for freedom.
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Consortium’s resident manga expert Mary Burns describes it best: “This title is a formative text for so many manga lovers, both as symbol of what manga could be for a generation of readers and as a part of the evolving sub-field of Manga and Anime Studies in the West.”
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Named one of the New York Public Library’s top 50 best new comics and graphic novels for 2025, this gorgeous graphic novel “immerses readers in sun-drenched, claustrophobic beauty in this compassionate saga about a young woman’s awakening in the 1970s,” according to Publishers Weekly’s starred review.
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|  Sunday
by Marcelo Tolentino
Blue Dot Kids Press • 9798989858811
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In this second volume of the critically acclaimed early reader series, our darling little grump Mousse takes a vacation and becomes jealous of Barnacle’s new friend. (P.S.— more Mousse is coming next year!)
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|  Blue Sky Morning
by Jihyun Kim, trans. Polly Lawson
Floris Books • 9781782509080
From the celebrated creator of The Depth of the Lake and the Height of the Sky, this lovely picture book is an ode to the beauty of an ordinary day, and it’s garnered a whopping four starred reviews.
| |  Prisons Must Fall
by Mariame Kaba and Jane Ball, illus. Olly Costello
Haymarket Books • 9798888904411
From Mariame Kaba, NYT-bestselling author of We Do This ‘Til We Free Us, and social worker Jane Ball comes a powerful book showing the harm that prisons cause and exploring alternatives, gorgeously illustrated by Olly Costello.
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|  Giant
by Judith McQuoid
Little Island Books • 9781915071637
“I loved this fictionalized story of a young C.S. Lewis and his childhood friend,” says Jessica S. (Dog-Eared Books) of this middle-grade novel. “A beautiful story of friendship, class and coming-of-age.”
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In a hilarious spin on insect books, this illustrated survival guide for lice—by lice—helps kids understand the miracle of life everywhere.
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HOLIDAY PICKS, STOCKING STUFFERS, AND WINTER MISCELLANY
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The latest volume in New Vessel’s Very Christmas series is a literary celebration of Christmas south of the equator, featuring works by Machado de Assis, Clarice Lispector, Paulo Coelho, Bruna Dantas Lobato, and more.
| |  Lucky’s Grove
by H. Russell Wakefield, illus. Seth
Biblioasis • 9781771966733
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In this delightfully dreadful ode to European holiday folklore, a little boy named Felix awaits a visit from the Krampus. “Love to see a good Krampus book for kids!” says Brenna A. of Joseph-Beth Booksellers. “The illustrations are great as well!”
| |  White Winter
by Milena Lukesova, illus. Jan Kudlacek
Albatros Media • 9788000076201
Perfect for cozy read-alouds, this whimsical tale finds a young boy discovering the quiet magic of a snowy landscape. This is the first entry in Poetic Vintage Tales, a picture book series from Albatros Media.
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Each card in this 52-card activity deck presents the beginning of a story and invites us to imagine the rest, making these the perfect prompts for a daily writing exercise or a fun activity with friends.
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Printed on unbound cards and accompanied by a nice poster, this art deck is a sampling of 75 artworks from the vast treasures of the Harvard Art Museums.
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