Someone once told me those were the two worst things anyone could be. That someone was right. Where do I start?Being an introvert in a world that glorifies cool isn’t easy. But when Issa Rae, the creator of the Shorty Award–winning hit series “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl,” is that introvert—whether she’s navigating love, work, friendships, or “rapping”—it sure is entertaining. Now, in this debut collection of essays written in her witty and self-deprecating voice, Rae covers everything from cybersexing in the early days of the Internet to deflecting unsolicited comments on weight gain, from navigating the perils of eating out alone and public displays of affection to learning to accept yourself—natural hair and all.A reflection on her own unique experiences as a cyber pioneer yet universally appealing, The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl is a book no one—awkward or cool, black, white, or other—will want to miss.

    Greenstreet's highly original CASE SENSITIVE posits a female central character who writes chapbooks that become the sections in this book. What happens in the book I want to read? Greenstreet asked herself. And how would it sound? Everything the character is reading, remembering, and dreaming turns up in what she writes, duly referenced with notes. Using natural language charged with concision and precise syntax, Greenstreet has created a memorable and lasting first collection. A poem intrigue of the highest order. Greenstreet has made a brilliant beginning with this first book--Kathleen Fraser. A beautiful dwelling of ideas. CASE SENSITIVE suggests that there need be no divide between the associative connections of poetry and the extended thinking of the essay. This is a book full of luminous footnotes, details, and attentive readings. CASE SENSITIVE strings together a series of moments to create something resonate, large, and inclusive--Juliana Spahr.

    With We Are Never Meeting in Real Life., "bitches gotta eat" blogger and comedian Samantha Irby turns the serio-comic essay into an art form. Whether talking about how her difficult childhood has led to a problem in making "adult" budgets, explaining why she should be the new Bachelorette--she's "35-ish, but could easily pass for 60-something"--detailing a disastrous pilgrimage-slash-romantic-vacation to Nashville to scatter her estranged father's ashes, sharing awkward sexual encounters, or dispensing advice on how to navigate friendships with former drinking buddies who are now suburban moms--hang in there for the Costco loot--she's as deft at poking fun at the ghosts of her past self as she is at capturing powerful emotional truths.Chapter titles:My Bachelorette application --A blues for Fred --The miracle porker --Do you guys pay your fucking bills or what? --You don't have to be grateful for sex --A Christmas carol --Happy birthday --A case for remaining indoors --A total attack of the heart --A civil union --Mavis --Fuck it, bitch. Stay fat --Nashville hot chicken --I'm in love and it's boring --A bomb, probably --The real housewife of Kalamazoo --Thirteen questions to ask before getting married --Yo, I need a job --Feelings are a mistake --We are never meeting in real life

    Poetry by noted author Jim Harrison.

    These poems bear witness to survival in the face of brutality, while also elegizing two brothers haunted by shame, two lovers hounded by death, and an America wounded by war and numbered by religion. Brown summons myth, fable, and fairytale not to merely revise the Bible—more so to write the kind of lyric poetry we find at the source of redemption—for the profane and for the sacred.

    Poems that range in style from starkly concrete to limber break down the barriers that prevent understanding of what it means to be racialized. Shraya paints the face of everyday racism with words, rendering it visible, tangible, and undeniable.

    Ondaatje is said to care more about the relationship between art and nature than any other poet since the Romantics.

    Deliberate. Menace. Executioner. Those were just a few words to describe the DeLano Trevino. For the majority of his life, he had been deemed the quiet one. Light on his toes, but swift with his trigger finger; no target was ever left untouched. No enemy ever left breathing. That was until he made the mistake of letting his best friend’s killer roam freely. Six years have gone by since he left the grimy streets of California. After the brutal killing of his best friend, Lano uprooted to the Midwest. Over the years, his rank in the streets solidified him as one of the most ruthless men to grace Kansas City. To most, especially the women, his entire persona yelled dangerous, but not to all. Attracted to what she knew wasn’t good for her, Anika was smitten with Lano from day one. His hood charm turned her own in ways no other man had ever done. Their friendship blossomed into a full-blown relationship with ease and was rocky at first, but there was no turning back now. She was invested, respected as his woman, and held as much weight in the streets as he did. That was until Samia, Lano’s ex and his best friend’s sister, pops back into their life. When a trip to his hometown ends with bullets flying leaving Lano shot, all bets are off. The notion of making peace with his past was terminated immediately. With a thirst so strong for revenge, treachery overshadowed any rational thoughts Lano has when it comes to protecting the ones he loves. If it was a war his enemies were seeking, they had better come prepared with guns blazing. DeLano wasn’t laying down for a soul. He was snatching the lives of whoever during his deadly ambush and sending them straight to their maker.

    Unsure of where to go or what to do, she decided to stay and figure it out with her love. Wren is the one for her and the only person who makes it all so confusing but make perfect sense at the same time. For Brasi and Lu to have been in love for years, it feels as if they’re struggling to stay there. With both of them thinking it would be easier to maintain a relationship, not only their love is put to the test, but so is their sanity. How much fight can one person have in them? Both of them have fought through one thing after the other, and are in desperate need of some relief. Anger, lies, love, jealousy, and a host of other emotions are now tossed into the mix. Will what they share remain strong enough to pull them through, or will they throw in the towel and move on to something easier and a lot less aching to their heart?

    With her best friend, Hiro, and her boyfriend, Yohan, both along for the ride, will she be able to keep her focus, or will blurred relationships cause her to be in over her head? Hiro Smith’s main focus has always been basketball and his best friend. However, when the dynamics with him and Akela begin to change, he’s left questioning their friendship. When he crosses paths with the alluring Zuri, he’s forced to figure out feelings he had no idea existed. Hades, fresh out of prison, and Loyalty are adjusting as new parents. The two think they have it all figured out until his street life, her career goals, and parenthood become hard to balance. Will they be able to keep their heads above water, or will the stress of it all cause them to make illogical decisions? Every relationship isn’t meant to last, and sometimes friendships are just that; a bond that shouldn’t be taken further. Find out in this standalone if love can be misguiding or if it leads them exactly where they need to be.

     Hennessey and Keice are facing a very tough time in their relationship due to all the drama his ex-girlfriend, Camille has caused. With Camille getting killed in the middle of revealing a disturbing secret, will Keice be able to deal with Hennessey again? Or, will she just let it go and move on? With Jessica going through a tough phase in her life, will she try her best to get the kids and show everyone that she can be a wonderful guardian? Or, will she focus more on getting her life back on the right track instead? Desmond is simply trying to let go of the street life and focus on him, his son and his relationship with Jessica. However, temptation may just lead him back to his old ways. Will these couples stand the test of time? Or, will they find it easier to go their separate ways and leave the drama of their past behind them? Find out in A Hood Nigga Fetish 2. A Must Read!

    A beloved and gifted artist, Ashbery takes his place beside Whitman, Dickinson, Stevens, and Hart Crane in the canon of great American poets. With Quick Question, a new collection of poems published in time for his 85th birthday, John Ashbery proves that his creative power has only grown stronger with age.

    They illuminate the gritty idiosyncrasies of immigrant life in urban barrios spanning Los Angeles to Chicago to Harlem. Rodríguez lends powerful voices to those struggling to keep the gas on, to find work, and to keep love.  Populated by a vibrant cast of characters, ranging from the drugged, to the eccentric, to the heartbroken, Rodríguez’s poems protest capitalism, violence, and exploitation while reveling in the potential of compassion.

    There’s nothing normal about this love story. Packed inside of this novella is a fairytale romance that will leave you questioning your own reality. Are you brave enough to step outside of the box and into the world of Crimson Trails… where everything about the residents’ lives is ordered and arranged – including marriage? If so, take this journey with Maarz Henry and Haylo Dixon where one letter and one picture have enough power to change both of their lives forever. *This is a novella 17,500 words in length*

    It’s the summer of 2019, and Professor Pi Suleman is a Black man from Memphis with a lot to endure—not only as a Black man in Trump’s America but in his hard-earned career as an adjunct professor. Pi is constantly forced to bite his tongue in the face of one of his tenured colleague’s prejudices and microaggressions. At the same time, he’s being blackmailed by a powerful professor who threatens to claim he has assaulted her, when in fact the truth is just the opposite, trapping him in a he-said-she-said with a white woman that, in this society, Pi knows he will never win. When he meets Gemma Buckingham, a sophisticated entrepreneur who has just moved to Memphis from London to escape a deep heartbreak, things begin to look up. Though Gemma and Pi hail from separate cultures, their differences fuel a fiery and passionate connection that just may consume them both. But Pi’s whirlwind romance is interrupted when his absentee father, a celebrated writer, passes away and Pi is called to Los Angeles to both collect his inheritance and learn about the man who never acknowledged him. With the complicated legacy of his famous father to make sense of, Gemma’s visa expiration date looming, and the threats of his colleague becoming increasingly intense, Pi must figure out who he is and what kind of man he will become in his father’s shadow. In The Son of Mr. Suleman, Eric Jerome Dickey takes readers on a powerful journey exploring racism, colorism, life as a mixed-race person, sexual assault, microaggressions, truth and lies, cultural differences, politics, family legacies, perceptions, the impact of enslavement and Jim Crow, code-switching, the power of death, and the weight of love. It is an extraordinary story, page-turning and intense, and a book only Dickey could write.