Curated cleverness for chaotic good nerdy queerdos

Catalog

Books, games, and the stuff that goes with them — curated by the Rainbow Crow community and the team behind it. At the top of this page are our main picks this week. Find the full curated catalog below. Scroll down, browse around, find something you like, then come talk about it with us!

204items
11/22/63

11/22/63

Books

Stephen King

A time-traveling teacher tries to stop the Kennedy assassination — and learns the past does not want to be changed.

fictionsci-fitime-travel
1984

1984

Books

George Orwell

Surveillance, doublethink, and a state that controls the past by controlling the present. The dystopia everyone quotes and few outrun.

fictiondystopianclassics
1984: The Graphic Novel

1984: The Graphic Novel

Graphic Novels

adapted from George Orwell, art by Fido Nesti

Orwell’s surveillance-state classic, rendered in stark, oppressive graphic form.

fictiondystopianclassics
A Chorus Rises

A Chorus Rises

Books

Bethany C. Morrow

The companion to A Song Below Water, told from the siren cast as the villain of the last book’s story.

fictionfantasyurban-fantasy
A Clockwork Orange

A Clockwork Orange

Books

Anthony Burgess

Ultraviolence, invented slang, and a state that would rather erase your free will than let you keep choosing evil.

fictiondystopianclassics
A Psalm for the Wild-Built

A Psalm for the Wild-Built

Books

Becky Chambers

A tea monk and a robot walk into the wilderness. Hopepunk that actually earns the hope.

fictionsci-fisolarpunk
A Psalm of Storms and Silence

A Psalm of Storms and Silence

Books

Roseanne A. Brown

The conclusion to A Song of Wraiths and Ruin — gods, rebellion, and a kingdom on the edge.

fictionfantasyya
A Song Below Water

A Song Below Water

Books

Bethany C. Morrow

Sirens hiding in plain sight in modern Portland, and the Black girl learning to stop hiding hers.

fictionfantasyurban-fantasy

A Song of Ice and Fire Campaign Guide

RPGs

David Chart · Green Ronin

Deeper setting material for running full campaigns in the Song of Ice and Fire world.

Wishlistfictionfantasylicensed

A Song of Ice and Fire Chronicle Starter

RPGs

Mark Simmons · Green Ronin

A starter sourcebook for running political, low-magic intrigue in Westeros.

Wishlistfictionfantasylicensed
A Song of Wraiths and Ruin

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin

Books

Roseanne A. Brown

A crown prince and a girl seeking vengeance, both hunting the same magical prize, in a West African-inspired fantasy capital.

fictionfantasyya
Abaddon’s Gate

Abaddon’s Gate

Books

James S.A. Corey

A massive alien ring opens beyond Uranus. The Expanse, book three.

fictionsci-fispace-opera
Acceptance

Acceptance

Books

Jeff VanderMeer

The Southern Reach trilogy closes, and Area X’s origins finally start to surface — sideways, as ever.

fictionsci-fihorror
Advanced Race Guide (Pathfinder, 1st Edition)

Advanced Race Guide (Pathfinder, 1st Edition)

RPGs

Jason Bulmahn · Paizo

Deep-dive sourcebook for building and playing dozens of fantasy ancestries in 1E Pathfinder.

Wishlistfictionfantasyd20
Adventurer Conqueror King System

Adventurer Conqueror King System

RPGs

Alexander Macris · Autarch

Old-school fantasy that keeps going after the dungeon — build a keep, rule a domain, become the thing later adventurers raid.

Wishlistfictionosrfantasy
Against the Double Blackmail

Against the Double Blackmail

Books

Slavoj Žižek

Refugees, terror, and the false choices Europe was offered in responding to both.

non-fictionpoliticstheory
Alien RPG

Alien RPG

RPGs

Free League Publishing

You already know the vibe. Free League’s take on the Alien universe is tense, deadly, and beautifully produced.

Wishlistsci-fi-horrorlicensedsurvival
American Gods

American Gods

Books

Neil Gaiman

Old gods, forgotten and starving, gather for a storm against the new gods of media and technology. A road trip through the myths America actually believes in.

fictionfantasymythology
Animal Farm

Animal Farm

Books

George Orwell

A barnyard revolution curdles into the exact tyranny it replaced. Fable-length, still sharp.

fictiondystopianclassics
Annihilation

Annihilation

Books

Jeff VanderMeer

Four women enter Area X. Something about the border, and about them, is not what it seems. Book one of the Southern Reach trilogy.

fictionsci-fihorror
Are You My Mother?: A Comic Drama

Are You My Mother?: A Comic Drama

Graphic Novels

Alison Bechdel

A cartoonist examines her complicated bond with her mother through psychoanalytic theory and Virginia Woolf.

non-fictionmemoirqueer
Ark Nova

Ark Nova

Board Games

Mathias Wigge · Feuerland / Capstone Games

Plan and build a modern, scientifically managed zoo. Deep, dense, and beloved by heavy-game fans.

Wishlistheavyconservation
Authority

Authority

Books

Jeff VanderMeer

The bureaucracy trying to understand Area X turns out to be just as strange as the zone itself. Southern Reach, book two.

fictionsci-fihorror
Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game

Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game

RPGs

Magpie Games

Bending, balance, and coming-of-age drama in the world of Avatar. Built for found-family ensemble stories.

Crow Favoritepbtaanime-inspiredfound-family
Azul

Azul

Board Games

Michael Kiesling · Plan B Games

Tile-drafting as tranquil as it is tactical. Beautiful on the table, easy to teach.

Crow Favoriteabstracttile-draftinggateway
Babylon’s Ashes

Babylon’s Ashes

Books

James S.A. Corey

The Belt rises in open rebellion. The Expanse, book six.

fictionsci-fispace-opera
Basic Role-Playing System

Basic Role-Playing System

RPGs

Chaosium

The percentile-based engine underneath Call of Cthulhu, RuneQuest, and a dozen other classics — the toolkit itself.

Wishlistfictiongenericpercentile
Becoming Abolitionists

Becoming Abolitionists

Books

Derecka Purnell

A civil rights lawyer’s personal and political journey from believing in police reform to organizing for abolition.

non-fictionpoliticsmemoir
Beyond the Gender Binary

Beyond the Gender Binary

Books

ALOK

A short, sharp essay dismantling the gender binary and imagining past it.

non-fictionqueeressay
Black Sun

Black Sun

Books

Rebecca Roanhorse

A pre-Columbian-inspired fantasy of prophecy, politics, and a god who might be returning to a world that isn’t ready.

fictionfantasyindigenous-futurism
Blades in the Dark

Blades in the Dark

RPGs

John Harper · Evil Hat Productions

Run a criminal crew in a haunted industrial city. The game that launched an entire design lineage (Forged in the Dark).

forged-in-the-darkheistgothic
Blindness

Blindness

Books

José Saramago

A sudden epidemic of blindness strips a city down to its rawest instincts, for better and much worse.

fictionliterarydystopian
Braiding Sweetgrass

Braiding Sweetgrass

Books

Robin Wall Kimmerer

A botanist and Potawatomi woman braids Indigenous knowledge and scientific inquiry into an argument for reciprocity with the living world.

non-fictionsciencenature
Brass: Birmingham

Brass: Birmingham

Board Games

Martin Wallace, Gavan Brown, Matt Tolman · Roxley

Build canals, then railways, then an industrial empire. Widely rated among the best heavy games ever made.

Wishlisteconomicheavyindustrial-revolution
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

Books

Bill Martin Jr. & Eric Carle

A rhythmic, repeating parade of colorful animals — one of the best first read-alouds there is.

fictionchildrenspicture-book
BTTM FDRS

BTTM FDRS

Graphic Novels

Ezra Claytan Daniels / Ben Passmore

A fashion designer moves into a gentrifying neighborhood’s cheapest apartment — and finds the building itself has a horrifying appetite.

fictionhorrorsatire
Caliban’s War

Caliban’s War

Books

James S.A. Corey

The protomolecule crisis spreads to Venus, and the crew of the Rocinante gets pulled deeper in. The Expanse, book two.

fictionsci-fispace-opera
Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition)

Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition)

RPGs

Chaosium

Investigate cosmic horrors you were never meant to understand. The granddaddy of horror RPGs, still sharp.

Wishlisthorrorinvestigationclassics
Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?

Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?

Graphic Novels

Roz Chast

A cartoonist’s wry, aching memoir of caring for her aging parents through their final years.

non-fictionmemoirhumor
Caps for Sale

Caps for Sale

Books

Esphyr Slobodkina

A peddler naps under a tree and wakes to find monkeys have stolen every cap he owns. A classic of the picture-book shelf.

fictionchildrenspicture-book
Cascadia

Cascadia

Board Games

Randy Flynn · Flatout Games / AEG

Puzzle the Pacific Northwest together: habitats, wildlife, and very satisfying hexagons.

Crow Favoritetile-layingnaturegateway
Castles & Crusades: Monsters & Treasures

Castles & Crusades: Monsters & Treasures

RPGs

Davis Chenault · Troll Lord Games

A monster-and-loot companion built for Castles & Crusades’ easy, old-school-flavored ruleset.

Wishlistfictionosrfantasy
Cemetery Boys

Cemetery Boys

Books

Aiden Thomas

A trans boy determined to prove himself as a brujo accidentally summons the wrong ghost — and falls for him instead.

fictionyafantasy
Ceremony

Ceremony

Books

Leslie Marmon Silko

A mixed-ancestry WWII veteran returns to the Laguna Pueblo reservation and finds healing only through his people’s oldest stories. A cornerstone of Native American literature.

fictionliteraryindigenous
Cibola Burn

Cibola Burn

Books

James S.A. Corey

Humanity’s first colony on a world beyond the ring gate, and the fight over who gets to claim it. The Expanse, book four.

fictionsci-fispace-opera
Cities in Dust (Wasteland #1)

Cities in Dust (Wasteland #1)

Graphic Novels

Antony Johnston

A post-apocalyptic desert world, generations after ’The Big Wet,’ where survival means never trusting the ground beneath you.

fictionpost-apocsci-fi
City of Saints and Madmen

City of Saints and Madmen

Books

Jeff VanderMeer

A city built from interlocking stories, footnotes, and mysteries — the foundational text of the Ambergris cycle.

fictionfantasyweird-fiction

Conan the Barbarian

Graphic Novels

various, orig. Robert E. Howard

The sword-and-sorcery original — Conan’s brutal, wandering adventures across the Hyborian Age.

fictionfantasysword-and-sorcery
Coyote & Crow

Coyote & Crow

RPGs

Connor Alexander

An Indigenous-futurist world where colonization never happened. Original IP, built and owned by Native creators.

indigenous-futurismoriginal-settingown-voices
Crazy Brave: A Memoir

Crazy Brave: A Memoir

Books

Joy Harjo

The U.S. Poet Laureate’s memoir of coming into her own voice, her Muscogee heritage, and her survival.

non-fictionmemoirindigenous
Cyberpunk 2020

Cyberpunk 2020

RPGs

Mike Pondsmith · R. Talsorian Games

The dystopian megacorp noir that the whole genre keeps circling back to. Style over survival, always.

Wishlistfictioncyberpunkvintage
Darius the Great Is Not Okay

Darius the Great Is Not Okay

Books

Adib Khorram

A Persian-American teen visits Iran for the first time, wrestling with depression, identity, and an unlikely new friendship.

fictionyacontemporary
Daughters of Nri

Daughters of Nri

Books

Reni K. Amayo

West African-inspired fantasy of two sisters, torn apart at birth, whose reunion could save or shatter their kingdom.

fictionfantasy
Decoding Andean Mythology

Decoding Andean Mythology

Books

Margarita Marín-Dale

An exploration of Andean myth and cosmology and what it reveals about pre-Columbian worldviews.

non-fictionfolklore
Descent: Journeys in the Dark (Second Edition)

Descent: Journeys in the Dark (Second Edition)

Board Games

Kevin Wilson · Fantasy Flight Games

Fight the Overlord and level up your heroes across a full fantasy dungeon campaign. Deeper and heavier than HeroQuest.

Wishlistdungeon-crawlcampaignheavy
Desert of Desolation

Desert of Desolation

RPGs

Tracy Hickman · TSR

Classic AD&D adventure compilation — pyramids, curses, and desert peril from one of the genre’s formative designers.

Wishlistfictionfantasyd20
Designer Evolution

Designer Evolution

Books

Simon Young

A transhumanist manifesto arguing humanity should take its own evolution into its own hands.

non-fictionsciencetheory

Dice Goblin Corner

Accessories

Assorted

Sets, singles, and the big jar of mystery d20s. Click-clack responsibly.

Crow Favoritedicerpg-table
Dictionary of Celtic Mythology

Dictionary of Celtic Mythology

Books

James MacKillop

A reference dictionary of Celtic mythological figures, places, and stories across Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

non-fictionfolklorereference
Dominion (Second Edition)

Dominion (Second Edition)

Board Games

Donald X. Vaccarino · Rio Grande Games

The game that invented deckbuilding. A 2009 Spiel des Jahres winner and still the genre’s cleanest entry point.

Crow Favoritedeckbuilderclassicsgateway
Dread Nation

Dread Nation

Books

Justina Ireland

The dead rose at Gettysburg. A Black girl trained to fight zombies navigates a Reconstruction-era America that still won’t see her as free.

fictionfantasyhorror
Dune

Dune

Books

Frank Herbert

Desert planet, spice, prophecy, empire. The science fiction novel most other science fiction novels are still arguing with.

fictionsci-ficlassics
Dune: Imperium

Dune: Imperium

Board Games

Paul Dennen · Dire Wolf

Deckbuilding meets worker-placement in the world of Dune. Sharp, tense, and endlessly replayable.

Crow Favoritedeckbuilderworker-placementsci-fi
Dungeon World

Dungeon World

RPGs

Sage LaTorra & Adam Koebel

Classic dungeon fantasy, told through Powered-by-the-Apocalypse rules. The gateway drug into PbtA design.

Crow Favoritepbtafantasygateway
Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition)

Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition)

RPGs

Wizards of the Coast

The one everyone knows. Still a great first table, and worth playing given the enormous popularity and support materials.

Crow Favoritefantasymainstreamgateway

Dungeons & Dragons Basic Rules

RPGs

Tom Moldvay · TSR

The red-box-era Basic Set that introduced a generation to the hobby. Simple, clean, foundational.

Wishlistfictionosrfantasy
Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia

Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia

RPGs

Aaron Allston · TSR

The classic-era D&D ruleset compiled into one dense, beloved volume — a cornerstone of OSR nostalgia.

Wishlistfictionosrfantasy
Eclipse Phase (Second Edition)

Eclipse Phase (Second Edition)

RPGs

Rob Boyle · Posthuman Studios

Post-singularity horror-sf: swap bodies, question what’s left of you, and investigate the conspiracy that ended the old solar system.

Wishlistfictionsci-fi-horrortranshumanist
Emergent Strategy

Emergent Strategy

Books

adrienne maree brown · AK Press

Shaping change, changing worlds. Movement strategy learned from octopi, mycelium, and Octavia Butler.

non-fictionorganizingpolitics
Everdell

Everdell

Board Games

James A. Wilson · Starling Games

Build a harmonious woodland city of critters, one gorgeous card at a time.

Crow Favoriteworker-placementnaturegorgeous-components
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City

Books

Matthew Desmond

A Pulitzer-winning ethnography following eight Milwaukee families through eviction — how housing precarity drives poverty, not the other way around.

non-fictionpoliticssociology
Exile and Pride

Exile and Pride

Books

Eli Clare

A landmark memoir-essay collection on disability, queerness, class, and the body — foundational disability justice writing.

non-fictionmemoirqueer
Exploring the World of the Druids

Exploring the World of the Druids

Books

Miranda J. Green

A scholarly look at what’s actually known — and what’s myth — about the historical Druids.

non-fictionfolklorehistory
Fabula Ultima

Fabula Ultima

RPGs

Emanuele Galletto · Need Games

Classic JRPG energy — think Final Fantasy — built into a full tabletop system. A modern indie darling.

Wishlistjrpg-inspiredanimeindie
Fat and Queer

Fat and Queer

Books

Miguel M. Morales (ed.)

An anthology centering fat queer and trans bodies and lives, in essay, poetry, and memoir.

non-fictionmemoirqueer
Felix Ever After

Felix Ever After

Books

Kacen Callender

A Black trans teen navigates first love, identity, and a cruel act of transphobia aimed straight at him.

fictionyaromance
Fiend Folio (AD&D, 1st Edition)

Fiend Folio (AD&D, 1st Edition)

RPGs

Don Turnbull · TSR

The monster book that gave 1st-edition AD&D some of its weirdest, most memorable creatures.

Wishlistfictionfantasyd20
Forgotten Realms: Adventures

Forgotten Realms: Adventures

RPGs

Jeff Grubb · TSR

AD&D 2E-era sourcebook for the Forgotten Realms — a snapshot of the setting before decades of further lore piled on.

Wishlistfictionfantasyd20
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic

Graphic Novels

Alison Bechdel

A cartoonist’s memoir of her closeted father, her own coming out, and the funeral home they called ’the fun home.’

non-fictionmemoirqueer
Ghost World

Ghost World

Graphic Novels

Daniel Clowes

Two acerbic teenage girls drift apart in the last summer before adulthood catches up with them.

fictionliterarycoming-of-age
Gideon the Ninth

Gideon the Ninth

Books

Tamsyn Muir

Lesbian necromancers in space, sword-fighting their way through a haunted gothic palace. Exactly as fun as that sounds.

fictionsci-fifantasy
Gloomhaven

Gloomhaven

Board Games

Isaac Childres · Cephalofair Games

A sprawling campaign box of tactical combat and branching story. The one that started the modern legacy-box wave.

Wishlistcampaigndungeon-crawllegacy
Grass

Grass

Graphic Novels

Keum Suk Gendry-Kim (trans. Janet Hong)

A survivor’s account of Japanese wartime sexual slavery during WWII — heavy, unflinching, and important.

CWnon-fictionhistorymemoir
Gutter Child

Gutter Child

Books

Jael Richardson

A dystopia built on generational debt — a girl born owing a system that was never built to let her pay it off.

fictiondystopianya
Harleen

Harleen

Graphic Novels

Stjepan Šejić (DC Comics)

A psychiatrist named Harleen Quinzel falls for her most dangerous patient. A painterly, character-driven origin for Harley Quinn.

fictionsuperheropsychological
Heart: The City Beneath

Heart: The City Beneath

RPGs

Grant Howitt & Christopher Taylor · Rowan, Rook and Decard

Descend into a living, hungry city that wants to change you. Gorgeous, strange, and merciless.

Wishlistforged-in-the-darkhorrordungeon-crawl
HeroQuest

HeroQuest

Board Games

Stephen Baker · Avalon Hill / Hasbro

The dungeon crawl that introduced a generation to tabletop fantasy. One GM, a party of heroes, a board full of monsters.

Crow Favoritedungeon-crawlfamilyclassics

Highlander

Graphic Novels

various

Travel through time in this sword-clashing adventure spanning over a hundred years from the 1860s to the beginning of the first movie. In the thirty years since its release, Highlander has inspired a cult following and numerous spinoffs with its epic clashes between powerful immortals. Now, The American Dream follows Scottish swordsman Connor MacLeod as he navigates through the American Civil War and 1950s Manhattan toward The Gathering in 1986.

fictionfantasyaction
Hijab Butch Blues

Hijab Butch Blues

Books

Lamya H.

A queer, Muslim memoir that reads the Quran’s stories alongside a life spent between identities that weren’t supposed to fit together.

non-fictionmemoirqueer
House Made of Dawn

House Made of Dawn

Books

N. Scott Momaday

A young Pueblo man returns from WWII fractured between worlds. Won the Pulitzer and helped launch the Native American Renaissance.

fictionliteraryindigenous
How the Irish Became White

How the Irish Became White

Books

Noel Ignatiev

A history of how Irish immigrants were assimilated into American whiteness — and what they gave up and gained doing it.

non-fictionhistorypolitics
Irish Fairy and Folk Tales

Irish Fairy and Folk Tales

Books

W.B. Yeats

Yeats’ own collection of Irish fairy lore, banshees, and folk belief, gathered at the turn of the 20th century.

non-fictionfolklore

Irish Words for Nature

Books

Manchán Magan, illus. Steve Doogan

A board book introducing young readers to Irish words for animals, birds, fish, and insects — language and nature together from the very start.

non-fictionchildrenslanguage

Jump!

Books

Tatsuhide Matsuoka

Read sideways so the animals leap up the page — a frog, a kitten, a fish, and finally a little girl all jump along. A beloved interactive board book for babies and toddlers.

fictionchildrenspicture-book
Kids on Bikes

Kids on Bikes

RPGs

Jonathan Gilmour & Doug Levandowski · Renegade Game Studios

Stranger Things energy: small-town kids, big mysteries, rules light enough for a first-ever RPG session.

Crow Favoriterules-lightmysteryall-ages
Kingdomino

Kingdomino

Board Games

Bruno Cathala · Blue Orange

Build a tiny kingdom in twenty minutes. A perfect first "real" board game for a family table.

Crow Favoritetile-layingfamilyquick-play
Legendborn

Legendborn

Books

Tracy Deonn

A grieving Black teen discovers a secret society re-fighting the Arthurian legends underneath her college campus.

fictionfantasyya
Leviathan Wakes

Leviathan Wakes

Books

James S.A. Corey

A detective, a doomed ice hauler, and a protomolecule that changes everything. Book one of The Expanse.

fictionsci-fispace-opera
Like A Thief In Broad Daylight

Like A Thief In Broad Daylight

Books

Slavoj Žižek

On power, automation, and freedom in an era when both capital and revolution have gotten stranger.

non-fictionpoliticstheory
Lords of Waterdeep

Lords of Waterdeep

Board Games

Peter Lee & Rodney Thompson · Wizards of the Coast

Deploy agents and hire adventurers to expand your control over the city of Waterdeep. One of the cleanest worker-placement gateways around.

Crow Favoriteworker-placementgatewaydungeons-and-dragons

Magic: The Gathering

CCGs

Wizards of the Coast

Commander nights, draft chaos, and a singles binder. Casual-first — bring your jank.

Crow Favoritetcgcommandercasual-night
Mama Day

Mama Day

Books

Gloria Naylor

A conjure woman on a Georgia sea island, and the niece pulled back home by a magic she doesn’t believe in yet.

fictionliterarymagical-realism
Mating in Captivity

Mating in Captivity

Books

Esther Perel

A therapist’s argument that domesticity and desire pull against each other — and what long-term couples can do about it.

non-fictionpsychology
Mausritter

Mausritter

RPGs

Isaac Williams · Losing Games

Sword-and-whiskers adventure. You are a mouse, the world is enormous, and an owl is a dragon.

Wishlistosrrules-lightall-ages

Monsterhearts 2

RPGs

Avery Alder · Buried Without Ceremony

Teen monsters, messy desire, and the horror of growing up. A foundational queer indie RPG.

Wishlistpbtateen-dramahorror
Mörk Borg

Mörk Borg

RPGs

Pelle Nilsson & Johan Nohr · Free League

A doom-metal picture book of an RPG. The world is ending, your character probably won’t survive, and it will look gorgeous the whole way down.

fictionosrhorror
Mothership

Mothership

RPGs

Sean McCoy · Tuesday Knight Games

Sci-fi horror on a derelict spacecraft. Rules-light, brutal, and built for short, tense sessions.

sci-fi-horrorrules-lightone-shot
Munchkin

Munchkin

Board Games

Steve Jackson · Steve Jackson Games

Kill monsters, grab loot, backstab your friends. No roleplaying required — just pure chaotic dungeon-crawl parody.

Crow Favoritecard-gamefamilycasual-night
My Favorite Thing is Monsters

My Favorite Thing is Monsters

Graphic Novels

Emil Ferris

A ten-year-old horror-obsessed girl in 1960s Chicago investigates her neighbor’s murder, sketchbook in hand. A dazzling, singular graphic novel.

fictionhorrorliterary
My Grandmother’s Hands

My Grandmother’s Hands

Books

Resmaa Menakem

A therapist’s argument that racialized trauma lives in the body, and that healing has to start there too.

non-fictionpsychologymemoir
Nemesis Games

Nemesis Games

Books

James S.A. Corey

The Rocinante’s crew splits up right as the solar system’s fragile peace shatters. The Expanse, book five.

fictionsci-fispace-opera

Netrunner (Null Signal Games)

CCGs

Null Signal Games

The community-run continuation of the greatest asymmetric card game ever made. Corps vs. runners.

lcgcyberpunkcommunity-run
Ninjas and Superspies

Ninjas and Superspies

RPGs

Erick Wujcik · Palladium Books

Palladium’s martial-arts-and-espionage toolkit — build a whole dojo’s worth of fighting styles.

Wishlistfictionactionmartial-arts
Nonbinary: Memoirs of Gender and Identity

Nonbinary: Memoirs of Gender and Identity

Books

Micah Rajunov (ed.)

An anthology of nonbinary writers on gender outside the binary, in their own words.

non-fictionmemoirqueer
One Deck Dungeon

One Deck Dungeon

Board Games

Chris Cieslik · Asmadi Games

Level up your hero and descend deeper into a dungeon packed entirely into one deck of cards.

Crow Favoritedice-draftingdungeon-crawlsmall-box
Orientalism

Orientalism

Books

Edward W. Said

The foundational critique of how the West constructed ’the East’ as an object of study and domination.

non-fictionpoliticstheory
Over Nine Waves: A Book of Irish Legends

Over Nine Waves: A Book of Irish Legends

Books

Marie Heaney

A retelling of Ireland’s central mythic cycles — the Fianna, the Ulster Cycle, the old gods — gathered into one accessible volume.

non-fictionfolklore
Pandemic Legacy: Season 1

Pandemic Legacy: Season 1

Board Games

Rob Daviau & Matt Leacock · Z-Man Games

A year of outbreaks told across twelve sessions that permanently change the board. Consistently rated among the best co-ops ever.

Wishlistco-oplegacycampaign
PARKS

PARKS

Board Games

Henry Audubon · Keymaster Games

A love letter to the National Parks, illustrated in a rotating series of gorgeous art styles.

Wishlistnaturehikinggorgeous-components
Pathfinder (Second Edition)

Pathfinder (Second Edition)

RPGs

Paizo

D&D’s sharper-edged cousin: tighter math, deeper character building, tactical combat that rewards system mastery.

Wishlistfantasyheavytactical
Pharaoh

Pharaoh

RPGs

Tracy Hickman · TSR

An Egyptian-flavored AD&D module — tombs, traps, and ancient royal secrets.

Wishlistfictionfantasyd20
Player’s Handbook (D&D 4th Edition)

Player’s Handbook (D&D 4th Edition)

RPGs

Wizards of the Coast

The tactical-combat era of D&D — powers, grids, and set-piece battles built like a board game.

Wishlistfictionfantasyd20
Poe: Stories and Poems: A Graphic Novel Adaptation

Poe: Stories and Poems: A Graphic Novel Adaptation

Graphic Novels

Gareth Hinds (Candlewick Press)

A gorgeously illustrated adaptation of Poe’s best-known stories and poems — The Tell-Tale Heart, The Raven, and more.

fictionhorrorclassics
Poverty Scholarship

Poverty Scholarship

Books

Lisa "Tiny" Gray-Garcia

Poor-people-led theory, art, and testimony on homelessness and survival, written from lived experience rather than about it.

non-fictionpoliticsmemoir
Poverty, by America

Poverty, by America

Books

Matthew Desmond

An argument that American poverty persists because others of us benefit from it — and what would change if we stopped.

non-fictionpoliticssociology
Promethea, Book 1

Promethea, Book 1

Graphic Novels

Alan Moore

A college student becomes host to an ancient imagination-goddess in this occult-drenched superhero epic.

fictionfantasysuperhero
Promethea, Book 2

Promethea, Book 2

Graphic Novels

Alan Moore

The Promethea saga deepens — magic, myth, and metafiction collide.

fictionfantasysuperhero
Raybearer

Raybearer

Books

Jordan Ifueko

Bound by magic to kill the prince she’s sworn to protect — a West African-inspired YA fantasy of found family and impossible loyalty.

fictionfantasyya
Rifts

Rifts

RPGs

Kevin Siembieda · Palladium Books

Dimensional rifts tore the world open and everything came through — dragons next to power armor next to demons. Utter, glorious chaos.

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Rifts: Ultimate Edition

Rifts: Ultimate Edition

RPGs

Kevin Siembieda · Palladium Books

The updated core rulebook for Rifts’ dimension-spanning, anything-goes post-apocalypse.

Wishlistfictionpost-apocsci-fantasy
Ring Shout

Ring Shout

Books

P. Djèlí Clark

Three Black women hunt literal demons wearing the Ku Klux Klan’s hoods in 1920s Georgia. Dark fantasy with real teeth.

fictionfantasyhorror
Root

Root

Board Games

Cole Wehrle · Leder Games

A game of woodland might and right. Adorable animals, ruthless asymmetric politics.

Crow Favoriteasymmetricwoodlandwar-game-but-cute
Root: The Roleplaying Game

Root: The Roleplaying Game

RPGs

Magpie Games

The world of the Root board game, expanded into a full campaign of woodland factions and found family.

Wishlistpbtawoodlandpolitics
Sagrada

Sagrada

Board Games

Adrian Adamescu & Daryl Andrews · Floodgate Games

Draft dice to build a stained-glass window. A quiet, gorgeous puzzle of a game.

Crow Favoriteabstractdice-draftinggateway
Scythe

Scythe

Board Games

Jamey Stegmaier · Stonemaier Games

Alt-1920s Europa, mechs and farmland alike. Gorgeous, sprawling, and surprisingly not that mean.

Wishlistarea-controlalt-historygorgeous-components
Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness

Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness

Graphic Novels

Kristen Radtke

A graphic essay on the history and shape of American loneliness, woven through with the author’s own life.

non-fictionessaymemoir
Selected Poems: Rogha Dánta

Selected Poems: Rogha Dánta

Books

Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill

Bilingual Irish/English poetry drawing deeply on myth, the otherworld, and the Irish language itself.

non-fictionpoetryfolklore
Shadowrun

Shadowrun

RPGs

Catalyst Game Labs

Cyberpunk and high fantasy collide: megacorps, street samurai, and elves running the shadows of a neon-soaked future.

Wishlistfictioncyberpunkfantasy
She Who Became the Sun

She Who Became the Sun

Books

Shelley Parker-Chan

A peasant girl steals her dead brother’s identity and his fate: greatness. A queer reimagining of the rise of the Ming Dynasty.

fictionfantasyhistorical-fantasy
Skull and Sidecar

Skull and Sidecar

Books

Kristen Hall-Geisler

A contemporary novel of family secrets, motorcycles, and figuring out who you are when the map you were given turns out to be wrong.

fictioncontemporary
Sleepaway

Sleepaway

RPGs

Jay Dragon · Possum Creek Games

A one-shot horror RPG set at a summer camp where something is very wrong. Sharp, quick, unforgettable.

Wishlisthorrorone-shotqueer-creators
Sleeping Gods

Sleeping Gods

Board Games

Ryan Laukat · Red Raven Games

A sprawling nautical adventure atlas, hand-illustrated cover to cover. Read it like a storybook, play it like a campaign.

Wishlistadventureexplorationcampaign
Some Girls Do

Some Girls Do

Books

Jennifer Dugan

A closeted beauty queen and an out-and-proud track star fall for each other despite everything working against it.

fictionyaromance
Spent: A Comic Novel

Spent: A Comic Novel

Graphic Novels

Alison Bechdel

Bechdel writes herself into fiction alongside characters from Dykes to Watch Out For, decades later, in small-town Vermont.

fictionsatirequeer

Spill: Scenes of Black Feminist Fugitivity

Books

Alexis Pauline Gumbs

A poetic, genre-defying meditation built from the archive of Black feminist thinker Hortense Spillers.

non-fictiontheoryqueer
Spirit Island

Spirit Island

Board Games

R. Eric Reuss · Greater Than Games

Cooperative settler-destruction. You are the island’s spirits, and the colonizers are not welcome.

Wishlistco-opanti-colonialheavy
Splendor

Splendor

Board Games

Marc André · Space Cowboys

Renaissance merchants race to grab gems and please nobility. Simple rules, real depth, plays fast.

Crow Favoriteengine-buildercard-draftinggateway
Star Trek Roleplaying Game: Player’s Guide

Star Trek Roleplaying Game: Player’s Guide

RPGs

Christian Moore · Last Unicorn Games

Explore strange new worlds under a d6 system built specifically for Trek-flavored diplomacy and away missions.

Wishlistfictionsci-filicensed
Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game

Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game

RPGs

Greg Costikyan · West End Games

The original Star Wars RPG, back when the galaxy far away only had three movies to draw from. A formative piece of tabletop history.

Wishlistfictionsci-filicensed
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin

Graphic Novels

Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, Tom Waltz, Esau & Isaac Escorza

The last surviving Turtle, decades after losing his brothers, wages one final war on the empire that took them.

fictionactionsci-fi
Terraforming Mars

Terraforming Mars

Board Games

Jacob Fryxelius · FryxGames

Corporations race to make Mars habitable. A modern heavy-game classic.

Crow Favoriteengine-buildersci-fiheavy
The Black Flamingo

The Black Flamingo

Books

Dean Atta

A mixed-race, queer teen finds himself through drag in this verse novel about claiming space to be fully seen.

fictionyaqueer
The City We Became

The City We Became

Books

N.K. Jemisin

New York City comes alive as six human avatars to fight an eldritch enemy that wants the city dead before it’s born.

fictionfantasyurban-fantasy
The Complete Persepolis

The Complete Persepolis

Graphic Novels

Marjane Satrapi

A girl’s coming-of-age during and after the Iranian Revolution, told in stark, unforgettable black and white.

non-fictionmemoirpolitics
The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine

The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine

Board Games

Thomas Sing · Kosmos

A cooperative trick-taking game with zero table talk allowed. Deceptively brilliant.

Crow Favoritetrick-takingco-opsmall-box
The Disordered Cosmos

The Disordered Cosmos

Books

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein

A particle physicist weaves dark matter, the history of Black astronomy, and her own life into a case for a more just science.

non-fictionsciencememoir
The Dispossessed

The Dispossessed

Books

Ursula K. Le Guin

An ambiguous utopia. The anarchist moon Anarres, the capitalist world Urras, and the physicist caught between.

fictionsci-fianarchism
The Encyclopaedia of Celtic Wisdom

The Encyclopaedia of Celtic Wisdom

Books

Caitlín Matthews

A reference guide through Celtic mythology, symbolism, and spiritual tradition.

non-fictionfolklorespirituality
The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For

The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For

Graphic Novels

Alison Bechdel

Decades of Bechdel’s beloved, cult-favorite comic strip chronicling a circle of lesbian friends, collected in one volume.

fictionsatirequeer
The Fifth Season

The Fifth Season

Books

N.K. Jemisin

A world of catastrophic, apocalypse-cycle geology, and the people with the power to cause or calm it. Opens the Broken Earth trilogy.

fictionfantasysci-fi
The Foundation Trilogy

The Foundation Trilogy

Books

Isaac Asimov

The collapse of a galactic empire, predicted centuries in advance by mathematics — and the secret plan to shorten the coming dark age.

fictionsci-ficlassics
The Giver (Graphic Novel)

The Giver (Graphic Novel)

Graphic Novels

adapted from Lois Lowry, art by P. Craig Russell

A boy is chosen to inherit a community’s suppressed memories — and discovers exactly what "perfect" cost everyone else.

fictiondystopianya
The Grouchy Ladybug

The Grouchy Ladybug

Books

Eric Carle

A ladybug picks fights all day long with animals much bigger than she is. A gentle lesson about manners, Carle-style.

fictionchildrenspicture-book
The Jakarta Method

The Jakarta Method

Books

Vincent Bevins

How a U.S.-backed anticommunist purge in Indonesia became a template exported across the Cold War world.

non-fictionhistorypolitics
The Left Hand of Darkness

The Left Hand of Darkness

Books

Ursula K. Le Guin

An envoy is sent to a world where people have no fixed gender. A foundational work of feminist and queer science fiction.

fictionsci-ficlassics
The Many Deaths of Laila Starr

The Many Deaths of Laila Starr

Graphic Novels

Ram V / Filipe Andrade

Death herself is fired and reincarnated as a mortal girl, tasked with watching over the man destined to make humanity immortal.

fictionfantasyliterary
The Nickel Boys

The Nickel Boys

Books

Colson Whitehead

Two Black boys survive a brutal Jim-Crow-era reform school in this Pulitzer-winning novel.

fictionhistorical-fictionliterary
The Odyssey

The Odyssey

Graphic Novels

Gareth Hinds (Candlewick Press)

Homer’s epic homeward voyage, adapted into sweeping, cinematic comics pages.

fictionmythologyclassics
The Priory of the Orange Tree

The Priory of the Orange Tree

Books

Samantha Shannon

A doorstop of a standalone fantasy: dragons, queens, and a world that mistook its protector for its enemy.

fictionfantasy
The Prophets

The Prophets

Books

Robert Jones Jr.

A tender, devastating love story between two enslaved men on a Deep South plantation.

fictionhistorical-fictionqueer
The Secret to Superhuman Strength

The Secret to Superhuman Strength

Graphic Novels

Alison Bechdel

A memoir of the author’s lifelong string of fitness obsessions — and what she was really chasing the whole time.

non-fictionmemoirqueer
The Shipping News

The Shipping News

Books

Annie Proulx

A hapless man rebuilds his life in a windswept Newfoundland fishing town. Pulitzer and National Book Award winner.

fictionliteraryclassics

The Spacious Tarot

Accessories

Carrie Mallon & Annie Ruygt

A human-free tarot of open landscapes — room to bring your own meaning to every card.

Wishlisttarotindielandscape-art
The Stand

The Stand

Books

Stephen King

A weaponized flu wipes out 99% of humanity, and the survivors sort themselves into the armies of good and evil.

fictionhorrorpost-apoc
The Strange Bird: A Borne Story

The Strange Bird: A Borne Story

Books

Jeff VanderMeer

A bioengineered bird flees a ruined city in this Borne-universe novella of strange, ecological horror.

fictionsci-fiweird-fiction
The Trinity of Fundamentals

The Trinity of Fundamentals

Books

Wisam Rafeedie

A political memoir written from inside a Palestinian resistance movement.

non-fictionpoliticsmemoir
The Very Hungry Caterpillar

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Books

Eric Carle

A tiny caterpillar eats his way through the week and turns into something beautiful. Essential first-library material.

fictionchildrenspicture-book
The Walking Dead, Vol. 10: What We Become

The Walking Dead, Vol. 10: What We Become

Graphic Novels

Robert Kirkman

Rick’s group keeps surviving the dead — and each other — in this long-running zombie-apocalypse series.

fictionhorrorpost-apoc
The Walking Dead, Vol. 11: Fear the Hunters

The Walking Dead, Vol. 11: Fear the Hunters

Graphic Novels

Robert Kirkman

The group encounters the most horrifying survivors they’ve faced yet — other people.

fictionhorrorpost-apoc
The Walking Dead, Vol. 14: No Way Out

The Walking Dead, Vol. 14: No Way Out

Graphic Novels

Robert Kirkman

The walled community faces a herd it might not survive.

fictionhorrorpost-apoc
The Warmth of Other Suns

The Warmth of Other Suns

Books

Isabel Wilkerson

The sweeping, intimate history of the Great Migration, told through three families who left the Jim Crow South.

non-fictionhistory
The Wheel of Time Roleplaying Game

The Wheel of Time Roleplaying Game

RPGs

Charles M. Ryan · Wizards of the Coast

d20-era adaptation of Robert Jordan’s epic — channel the One Power, dodge the Dark One’s reach. Highly sought after collector’s item at this point.

Wishlistfictionfantasylicensed

The Zine Rack

Accessories

Local makers · rotating

Rotating rack of local and small-press zines: comics, poetry, punk history, mutual aid how-tos. Make one and we’ll stock it.

Crow Favoritezinesdiylocal
There There

There There

Books

Tommy Orange

Twelve Native characters converge on the Big Oakland Powwow in this kaleidoscopic, National Book Critics Circle-winning debut.

fictionliteraryindigenous
Thirsty Sword Lesbians

Thirsty Sword Lesbians

RPGs

April Kit Walsh · Evil Hat Productions

Duel your rival, fall for them mid-fight. A Powered-by-the-Apocalypse game of swords, feelings, and defiance.

pbtaromanceswashbuckling
Tiny Epic Galaxies

Tiny Epic Galaxies

Board Games

Scott Almes · Gamelyn Games

Roll dice and colonize planets in a galaxy-spanning 4X game that fits in a small box and a short session.

Crow Favoritedice-draftingsci-fismall-box
Transgender History

Transgender History

Books

Susan Stryker

A foundational overview of transgender history and politics in the United States.

non-fictionhistoryqueer
Trophy Dark

Trophy Dark

RPGs

Jesse Ross · The Gauntlet

Descend into a cursed, treasure-filled forest. Every roll pulls you deeper into ruin. Short, sharp, and beloved.

Wishlisthorrorone-shotrules-light
Undoing Monogamy

Undoing Monogamy

Books

Angela Willey

A critique of how monogamy gets naturalized through biology and science — and what gets left out of that story.

non-fictionsciencequeer
Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals

Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals

Books

Alexis Pauline Gumbs

What whales, dolphins, and manatees can teach us about survival, care, and collective liberation.

non-fictiontheoryqueer
Unmatched: Battle of Legends, Volume One

Unmatched: Battle of Legends, Volume One

Board Games

Rob Daviau, JR Honeycutt, Justin D. Jacobson · Restoration Games

King Arthur vs. Medusa vs. Sinbad vs. Alice in Wonderland. Fast, tactical, endlessly mixable.

Crow Favoriteskirmishasymmetricgateway
V for Vendetta

V for Vendetta

Graphic Novels

Alan Moore

A masked anarchist wages a one-man war against a fascist future Britain. A cornerstone of political comics.

fictiondystopianpolitics
Vampire: The Masquerade (5th Edition)

Vampire: The Masquerade (5th Edition)

RPGs

Renegade Game Studios / Paradox

Personal horror and vampire politics in the modern nights. A World of Darkness cornerstone.

Wishlistgothic-punkpoliticsclassics
Wanderhome

Wanderhome

RPGs

Jay Dragon · Possum Creek Games · Steve Jackson Games

A pastoral fantasy RPG about traveling animal-folk, the seasons, and finding home. No GM, no dice.

gm-lesscozypastoral

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Rulebook

RPGs

Green Ronin

Grim, low-fantasy survival in the Warhammer world — your character is disposable and the setting wants you to know it.

Wishlistfictionfantasypercentile
Watchmen

Watchmen

Graphic Novels

Alan Moore

Superheroes, aged and compromised, in a Cold War world that never needed saving as much as it thinks it does. The book that broke the genre open.

fictionsuperherodeconstruction
Waterlily

Waterlily

Books

Ella Cara Deloria

A Dakota Sioux ethnologist’s novel following one woman through the everyday and the extraordinary of Sioux life.

fictionhistorical-fictionindigenous
We Do This ’til We Free Us

We Do This ’til We Free Us

Books

Mariame Kaba

Essays and interviews on abolition, transformative justice, and organizing for a world without prisons and police.

non-fictionpoliticsorganizing
We Don’t Know Ourselves

We Don’t Know Ourselves

Books

Fintan O’Toole

A personal-and-national history of modern Ireland, told alongside the author’s own life.

non-fictionhistorymemoir
Wendy, Master of Art

Wendy, Master of Art

Graphic Novels

Walter Scott

A struggling art-school painter navigates ego, ambition, and bad decisions in this sharp, funny series.

fictionsatirecoming-of-age
Wingspan

Wingspan

Board Games

Elizabeth Hargrave · Stonemaier Games

The bird game. A gorgeous engine-builder about attracting birds to your wildlife preserve.

Crow Favoriteengine-buildernature1-5 players
Writings on Irish Folklore, Legend and Myth

Writings on Irish Folklore, Legend and Myth

Books

W.B. Yeats

A wider collection of Yeats’ folklore writing and mythic scholarship.

non-fictionfolklore
Wyrmspan

Wyrmspan

Board Games

Connie Vogelmann · Stonemaier Games

Wingspan’s dragon cousin. Same satisfying engine, now with a cavernous sanctuary to fill.

Crow Favoriteengine-builderdragons1-5 players
Zorba the Greek

Zorba the Greek

Books

Nikos Kazantzakis

A buttoned-up intellectual and a force-of-nature laborer test each other’s philosophies on a Cretan hillside.

fictionliteraryclassics