Gretchen's Picks

Gretchen joined the Snowbound crew in the summer of 2020, and has a very handsome dog named Rosie Cotton.

Do you judge a book by its cover?
ALWAYS! I dare you to find one book on this page with a bad cover. It's not possible.
Dogear or bookmark?
Now I am become death, the destroyer of books--dogear all the way.

Monogamist or polygamist reader?
I consider myself a read-onist--the more the merrier.

What's your most terrifying book experience?
When I'm reading in bed and drop my book on my face.

Do you eat while reading?
If tequila and wine count, yes.

Your mission as a bookseller?
To share some freaky books with some fellow freaks!

Staff Pick Badge
Big Swiss: A Novel By Jen Beagin Cover Image
$27.00
ISBN: 9781982153083
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Scribner - February 7th, 2023

A manic black comedy absolutely bursting at the seams with outlandish & horny energy. Great pick for fans of The Last Taxi Driver and Touch of Jen. I can already tell this will be one of my top reads of 2023. Fantastic!


Staff Pick Badge
The Employees: A workplace novel of the 22nd century By Olga Ravn, Martin Aitken (Translated by) Cover Image
By Olga Ravn, Martin Aitken (Translated by)
$14.95
ISBN: 9780811234825
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: New Directions - February 7th, 2023

Beautiful, smart, & disconcerting--The Employees oozes with unexpected humanity. Shortlisted for the Booker Prize, this is literary sci-fi that transcends the genre. Gorgeous!


Staff Pick Badge
A Touch of Jen By Beth Morgan Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9780316704274
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Back Bay Books - February 21st, 2023

An instagram-fueled obsessive fantasy turns two millennials into monsters. Sharp & funny, Morgan slowly ensnare you in a web of psychedelic horror... this book features some of the most delightfully unlikeable characters I've read. Repulsive, deviant, & wonderful!!


Staff Pick Badge
Disorientation: A Novel By Elaine Hsieh Chou Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9780593298374
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Penguin Books - March 21st, 2023

A zany satire of academia, racial politics, and just about everything else. Funny, scathing, & full of surprises; you'll love to read this heroine's "coming of consciousness." -Gretchen


Bad Cree: A Novel By Jessica Johns Cover Image
$27.00
ISBN: 9780385548694
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Doubleday - January 10th, 2023

Grief, family, and love provide a perfect backdrop for the horrors within Johns' Bad Cree. This mesmerizing debut novel is full of creeping suspense and thrills that make it nearly impossible to put down. Bonus points for an almost exclusively female cast!


Some New Kind of Kick: A Memoir By Kid Congo Powers, Chris Campion (With) Cover Image
$29.00
ISBN: 9780306828027
Availability: Not in-store, but we'd be happy to order one for you.
Published: Hachette Books - October 18th, 2022

Staff Pick Badge
It Came from the Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror By Joe Vallese (Editor), Carmen Maria Machado (Contribution by), Bruce Owens Grimm (Contribution by) Cover Image
By Joe Vallese (Editor), Carmen Maria Machado (Contribution by), Bruce Owens Grimm (Contribution by)
$25.95
ISBN: 9781952177798
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Feminist Press - October 4th, 2022

This exploration into the queerness of horror is absolutely fantastic--and just as off-kilter as the genre deserves. Devastating, beautiful, funny, and smart; this is a must-read for horror fans!


Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk By Legs McNeil, Gillian McCain Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9780802125361
Availability: Not in-store, but we'd be happy to order one for you.
Published: Grove Press - August 9th, 2016

Staff Pick Badge
Lapvona: A Novel By Ottessa Moshfegh Cover Image
$27.00
ISBN: 9780593300268
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Penguin Press - June 21st, 2022

Are you a fan of filth & depravity? Please, please, please read this sadistic and fevered black comedy. Best Moshfegh yet. Holy shit!!!


Staff Pick Badge
The Houseguest: And Other Stories By Amparo Dávila, Matthew Gleeson (Translated by), Audrey Harris (Translated by) Cover Image
By Amparo Dávila, Matthew Gleeson (Translated by), Audrey Harris (Translated by)
$14.95
ISBN: 9780811228213
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: New Directions - November 27th, 2018

This book is a must for fans of classic darkness à la Poe, Kafka, & the like. Dávila is a master of fear, obsession, paranoia, & terror. Deeply unsettling. Five stars.


Staff Pick Badge
The Blacktongue Thief By Christopher Buehlman Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9781250799975
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Tor Books - May 10th, 2022

This is a perfect fantasy read. It checks all the boxes without being cliche. Great adventure, characters, and a surprising amount of humor. 10/10.


Sedating Elaine: A novel By Dawn Winter Cover Image
$27.00
ISBN: 9780593320549
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Knopf - April 12th, 2022

Staff Pick Badge
What Is Otherwise Infinite: Poems By Bianca Stone Cover Image
$16.95
ISBN: 9781951142971
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Tin House Books - January 18th, 2022

This collection of poems is beautiful and devastating. Every line--even the most sparse--feels striking and weighty. Definitely worth a read.


Shit Cassandra Saw: Stories By Gwen E. Kirby Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9780143136620
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Penguin Books - January 11th, 2022

Staff Pick Badge
Slug and Other Stories By Megan Milks Cover Image
$17.95
ISBN: 9781952177842
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Feminist Press - November 9th, 2021

Absolutely disgusting! Bizarro body horror & hyper-sexuality; this book is truly nasty, and I loved every second of it!


Staff Pick Badge
This Thing Between Us: A Novel By Gus Moreno Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9780374539238
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: MCD x FSG Originals - October 12th, 2021

This book--woah. Beautiful. Awful.
A man processes the sudden loss of his wife... darkness & cosmic horror slowly unspool. I've never read anything quite like this. A truly stunning read. Transcendent.


Staff Pick Badge
The Trees: A Novel By Percival Everett Cover Image
$16.00
ISBN: 9781644450642
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Graywolf Press - September 21st, 2021

Damn. Not sure I've ever read anything quite like this. So heavy, so sharp; an incredible revenge fantasy full of blood-soaked humor. A totally unforgettable read.


Staff Pick Badge
I Hold a Wolf by the Ears: Stories By Laura van den Berg Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9781250798664
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Picador - July 27th, 2021

Wow!! I loved this one. What a beautiful collection of short stories. All tinted with dreamy, bizarre, and unsettling hues. Good read for fans of Her Body and Other Parties.


Staff Pick Badge
The Ghost Variations: One Hundred Stories By Kevin Brockmeier Cover Image
$27.00
ISBN: 9781524748838
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Pantheon - March 9th, 2021

Not necessarily scary, but haunting. Ghost Variations traverses the many ways one can be haunted, with ease--leaping from chilling to sweet, and devastating to beautiful.


Staff Pick Badge
Ring Shout By P. Djèlí Clark Cover Image
$19.99
ISBN: 9781250767028
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Tordotcom - October 13th, 2020

Staff Pick Badge
The Last Taxi Driver By Lee Durkee Cover Image
$16.95
ISBN: 9781951142681
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Tin House Books - April 6th, 2021

This book is INSANE!! In the best possible way. Lee Durkee has written a book that is both hilarious and heart-wrenching. You need to read this book, and then tell your friends to read this book. It's that good.