Porter Square Books

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Fiercely independent bookstore in Cambridge and Boston, MA

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I used to get mad that I had to look at sci-fi and speculative fiction for some of the ways I think the world/work/relationships should be, but it turns out that’s actually just … the point. you get to see what other people imagine as possibilities and maybe you’re the one who can make it real.

Reading literature is a collaboration. Reader & text combine their individual resources to create something. Following that line, you could also think of reading as community building, an active & intentional togetherness. Which is why novels like these can also teach us about building a society.

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I’m all in on Ducks, Newburyport. -Very- highly recommend.

And if you're in need of a novel that fully explores the ANXIETY of living in the nation produced by all these different forces then strap in to Ducks, Newburyport www.portersquarebooks.com/book/9781771...

Ducks, Newburyport (Paperback) | Porter Square Bookswww.portersquarebooks.com WINNER OF THE 2019 GOLDSMITHS PRIZE - SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2019 BOOKER PRIZE - A NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF 2019 - A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2019 - A TIME MUST-READ BOOK OF 2019 "This book has its...

Refocusing on the good old U S of A, if you'd like to read a novel that highlights & explores just how ABSURD white supremacy actually is when really think about what it claims, I recommend The Trees by Percival Everett www.portersquarebooks.com/book/9781644...

The Trees: A Novel (Paperback) | Porter Square Bookswww.portersquarebooks.com Shortlisted for the 2022 Booker PrizeWinner of the 2022 Anisfield-Wolf Book AwardFinalist for the 2022 PEN/Jean Stein Book AwardFinalist for the 2023 Dublin Literary AwardLonglisted for the 2022 PEN/F...

And if you're using this VERY muggy Saturday after July 4 to consider the construction/creation of nationhood (through a novel, at least) we recommend Kintu! www.portersquarebooks.com/book/9781945...

Kintu (Anniversary Edition) (Paperback) | Porter Square Bookswww.portersquarebooks.com This 10-year anniversary edition celebrates a classic of Ugandanliterature.First published in Kenya in 2014 to critical and popular acclaim, Kintu is a modern classic, a multilayered narrative that re...

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Porter Square Books isn't the biggest book store in the world, but their stock is just so...tastefully curated. You're guaranteed to find something you like there. 🐴👍

Along those lines, if you're spending today thinking about our relationship to the narrative of history (who isn't amirite?) AND you'd like to support a very cool small press from Maine, you should check out The Case of Cem www.portersquarebooks.com/book/9789533...

The Case of Cem (Paperback) | Porter Square Bookswww.portersquarebooks.com It’s 1481, and as seen from the centers of power in Rome and Venice, the cultures of Europe are under threat from the expansion of the Ottoman Empire. When the exalted Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror dies...

And if you're using this VERY muggy Saturday after July 4 to consider the construction/creation of nationhood (through a novel, at least) we recommend Kintu! www.portersquarebooks.com/book/9781945...

In case you're interested in a powerful American novel about volatile political times that is equal parts anger & hope, big picture & small moments, stylistic pyrotechnics & good old fashioned truth-telling, let me again bring I Hotel to your attention www.portersquarebooks.com/book/9781566...

I Hotel (Paperback) | Porter Square Bookswww.portersquarebooks.com Dazzling and ambitious, this multivoiced fusion of prose, playwriting, graphic art, and philosophy spins an epic tale of America's struggle for civil rights as it played out in San Francisco near the ...

I suppose you CAN celebrate independence day weekend in Boston without visiting an independent bookstore but I don't know why you would.

Boy howdy do I! In ascending order of bizarre-ness: In a Lonely Place: www.portersquarebooks.com/book/9781681... Target in the Night: www.portersquarebooks.com/book/9781941... The Red Handler: www.portersquarebooks.com/book/9781948...

Do you have any recommendations for really bizarre or unique mysteries?

In a Lonely Place (Paperback) | Porter Square Bookswww.portersquarebooks.com A classic California noir with a feminist twist, this prescient 1947 novel exposed misogyny in post-World War II American society, making it far ahead of its time.Los Angeles in the late 1940s is a ci...

Really enjoyed Those Beyond the Wall by Micaiah Johnson. Feel like it might have the same vibe www.portersquarebooks.com/book/9780593...

I could take one. I’ve been reading and loving Benjanun Sriduangkaew of late.

Those Beyond the Wall: A Novel (Hardcover) | Porter Square Bookswww.portersquarebooks.com A searing sci-fi thriller about a woman reckoning with her past to solve a series of sudden and inexplicable deaths in the face of a coming apocalypse—from the Compton Crook Award–winning author of Th...

We've got a little time on this Holiday-that-now-feels-very-weird-in-the-context-of-contemporary-events-so-maybe-something-else-to-think-about-for-a-minute-might-be-nice Eve. Who needs a book recommendation?

We're doing the whole 20% off a section in the store because we're turning 20 this fall thing in July. For this month the sections in the store on sale will be... .... ... ... Graphica! Both for adults & younger readers! Hooray sequential art!

Both locations will be closed tomorrow July 4 for the holiday so be sure to stop in today for the book you're going to sneak read at the BBQ today!

Applications are now open for our 2025 Writers in Residence! Deadline to apply is August 31. All the details here: www.portersquarebooks.com/porter-squar...

Porter Square Books Writers in Residence Program | Porter Square Bookswww.portersquarebooks.com Porter Square Books will once again be hosting Writers in Residence in 2025. The residency will be housed at Porter Square Books: Cambridge Edition. Applications will be open July 1-August 31, 2024. T...

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TOMORROW at 7pm EST, Rachel Zimmerman will be in conversation with Alysia Abbott to talk about Rachel Zimmerman's memoir, US, AFTER: A MEMOIR OF LOVE AND SUICIDE, at @portersqbooks.bsky.social! Make sure to RSVP here! buff.ly/3W05ein

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Starting to read SLIPPING today for the below-mentioned little book club. Can’t wait to see where it goes!

Wouldja look at that! Two copies of Slipping just landed on our shelves! You could pick up a copy tomorrow morning in you wanted to join our little online book club. We'll start posting questions on July 11! www.portersquarebooks.com/book/9781949...

Slipping (Paperback) | Porter Square Bookswww.portersquarebooks.com There are shards of magic to be found on every page of this novel." --Omar El Akkad, author of American WarA struggling journalist named Seif is introduced to a former exile with an encyclopedic knowl...

Wake up! Wake up! Get up, it's the first of the month! (So check out a fresh batch of staff picks! www.portersquarebooks.com/staff_picks )

Staff Picks | Porter Square Bookswww.portersquarebooks.com

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what you all need to know about this is that the 12-year-old in question left the bookstore saying “THAT WAS AMAZING” and dancing down the street

Me Recommending a Book to a 12-Year-Old Who Loves Science and Just Said Their Favorite Book is Dune: I would recommend The Martian by-- Said 12-Year-Old: I've read it. I loved it. Me Out Loud: Oh cool, give me a few minutes to look around for you. Me In My Brain: Fuck. OK. OK. Rally. RALLY!

Still thinking about historical fiction from the recommendation yesterday & just need to make sure all of you know about The Corner that Held Them by Sylvia Townsend Warner www.portersquarebooks.com/book/9781681...

The Corner That Held Them (Paperback) | Porter Square Bookswww.portersquarebooks.com A unique novel about life in a 14th-century convent by one of England's most original authors. Sylvia Townsend Warner’s The Corner That Held Them is a historical novel like no other, one that immerses...

Friday is now today! If you've got a submission in progress that you don't think you'll be able to finish in the next few hours you can send me an email at josh@portersquarebooks. We've already got some great submissions! Can't wait to share them!

Submissions for our Renee Gladman symposium are due this Friday! If you need an excuse to get out of work so you can finish yours we'll be happy to pose as a relative/doctor/CIA handler/mystical deliverer of a dark prophecy www.portersquarebooks.com/submit-essay...

Submit an Essay for the Renee Gladman Symposium | Porter Square Bookswww.portersquarebooks.com Any and all Renee Gladman fans, from other authors, to professional scholars and critics, to passionate amateurs are invited to submit an essay for presentation at the Renee Gladman Symposium on Thurs...

You know what, just go ahead and preorder Opacities. I know you've been waiting for something to bring you back to the headspace of Tone & you're going to have to wait a bit longer, but that headspace in on the way. www.portersquarebooks.com/book/9781593...

Opacities: On Writing and the Writing Life (Paperback) | Porter Square Bookswww.portersquarebooks.com Opacities is a book about writing, publishing, and friendship.

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Don't forget to RSVP for Rachel Zimmerman's book launch event with Alysia Abbott, at @portersqbooks.bsky.social at 7pm EST on July 1st! Make sure to RSVP here! buff.ly/4cjDmLQ

Slightly cheating, because this is an anniversary edition, but Kintu does absolutely everything you want from historical fiction & does it really well, in really interesting ways, that can challenge many of our assumptions about national narratives. www.portersquarebooks.com/book/9781945...

Best new historical fiction recs?

Josh in the back office doing shipping, special order processing, & online order follow up, so super exciting stuff. I could PROBABLY tear myself away to give a recommendation or two. You know, for the people.

Friday is now tomorrow! Form will close in the evening (maybe 7). If you've got something in progress & might not make it, send an email to [email protected] with a pitch. We've already got some great submissions, but I want to validate anyone who has been working on/thinking about Gladman!

+1000

I feel strongly about but also a little vulnerable about this topic, because I came up in the 2000s writing movie reviews, and film bros were unbearably attached to authoritative voice—which I think can be a block when it comes to writing/watching/experiencing more varied art. So:

The Joy of Reading Books You Don't Entirely Understand - Reactorreactormag.com It really should be acceptable and normal to say “I don’t entirely understand what I just read, but I loved it.”

It's 8:37 one Thursday morning and do you know why I dog-eared this page? That line is pretty good. So is that one. Was this from when I was paying a lot of attention to how authors use color? Or place names? I must have had a reason.