Support your local press! Reading is cool again (if it ever was uncool??) and young Brooklynites have taken it upon themselves to start up small presses out of their apartments to bring you everything from joke books by rappers to cosmic life lessons. Here's 10 books to consider when shopping for the lit lover in your life.
1. Joke Book by Victor "Kool A.D." Vasquez
The former Das Racist rapper has whipped up a collection of hilarious tweet-like aphorisms in Joke Book, a chap book published by the Brooklyn-based press Sorry House. Amid jokes like "Whenever you go to McDonald's, whether you know it or not, part of you is saying 'fuck it,'" can be found in the social commentary that his defunct rap trio was known for. Buy Joke Book HERE. 
2. Mall Witch by Ben Fama
Ben Fama's poetry, laid thick with pop-culture and fashion references (The Rodarte sample sale was shit / Now I'm just laying here on my sofa), gets compiled into its first full-length collection, Mall Witch. Released on Fama's own indie-press, WONDER ("artists' books, ephemera, pamphlets, and glossies"), the poems combine references from our hyper-digital age with the cadence and style of old-school New York School poets before him. Buy Mall Witch HERE.
Ben Fama's poetry, laid thick with pop-culture and fashion references (The Rodarte sample sale was shit / Now I'm just laying here on my sofa), gets compiled into its first full-length collection, Mall Witch. Released on Fama's own indie-press, WONDER ("artists' books, ephemera, pamphlets, and glossies"), the poems combine references from our hyper-digital age with the cadence and style of old-school New York School poets before him. Buy Mall Witch HERE.
3. Even Though I Don't Miss You by Chelsea Martin
We've all gone through bad break-ups and Chelsea Martin's Even Though I Don't Miss You, published by Short Flight/Long Drive Press, is the perfect pocket-sized book to keep close and get you through them -- or to share with a friend when you no longer need it. Buy HERE.
We've all gone through bad break-ups and Chelsea Martin's Even Though I Don't Miss You, published by Short Flight/Long Drive Press, is the perfect pocket-sized book to keep close and get you through them -- or to share with a friend when you no longer need it. Buy HERE.
4. Sad Girls Issue 3 by Various
Sad Girls zine, which features "work by girls who make things and have a lot of feelings," is perfect for the friend that's always canceling your plans to watch Ghost World with her cat. Their third issue is beautifully designed and boasts pages of wonderfully twee watercolor drawings. Buy Sad Girls zine from their Etsy page, HERE.
Sad Girls zine, which features "work by girls who make things and have a lot of feelings," is perfect for the friend that's always canceling your plans to watch Ghost World with her cat. Their third issue is beautifully designed and boasts pages of wonderfully twee watercolor drawings. Buy Sad Girls zine from their Etsy page, HERE.
5. 2014 Unsolicited Advice Planner by Adam Kurtz
Every January 1st brings high hopes of actually sticking with your goals for the new year for longer than a few weeks. Helpfully, Adam Kurtz, the prince of everything D.I.Y, has made a planner that will help you stick to those resolutions for longer than three days. Amid your penciled-in reminders to go to the gym or finally sign up for those French classes, you'll find Kurtz's fun drawings, jokes, poems, and motivational tips to help get you through another year. Buy HERE.
Every January 1st brings high hopes of actually sticking with your goals for the new year for longer than a few weeks. Helpfully, Adam Kurtz, the prince of everything D.I.Y, has made a planner that will help you stick to those resolutions for longer than three days. Amid your penciled-in reminders to go to the gym or finally sign up for those French classes, you'll find Kurtz's fun drawings, jokes, poems, and motivational tips to help get you through another year. Buy HERE.
6. Your Illustrated Guide to Becoming One With The Universe by Yumi Sakugawa
Yumi Sakugawa, the illustrator behind the charming viral comic, I Think I Am In Friend Love With You, has come out with a 9-lesson illustrated guide whose tips include everything from how to have tea and cake with your demons to how to remember to breathe in and out. Buy HERE.
Yumi Sakugawa, the illustrator behind the charming viral comic, I Think I Am In Friend Love With You, has come out with a 9-lesson illustrated guide whose tips include everything from how to have tea and cake with your demons to how to remember to breathe in and out. Buy HERE.
7. Hill William by Scott McClanahan
Indie publishing house Tyrant Books killed it in 2013, producing notable -- and, in the case of Marie Calloway's What Purpose Did I Serve In Your Life, controversial -- titles that are must-reads for any literary-minded early adopters. Hill William, a new novel by Scott McClanahan, is no exception. It places you in the middle of middle of Nowhere, West Virginia and, possibly for the first time, gives you a reason to stay and enjoy it. Buy HERE.
Indie publishing house Tyrant Books killed it in 2013, producing notable -- and, in the case of Marie Calloway's What Purpose Did I Serve In Your Life, controversial -- titles that are must-reads for any literary-minded early adopters. Hill William, a new novel by Scott McClanahan, is no exception. It places you in the middle of middle of Nowhere, West Virginia and, possibly for the first time, gives you a reason to stay and enjoy it. Buy HERE.
8. Baby Babe by Ana Carrete
Author Ana Carrete's debut poetry collection -- published by Civil Coping Mechanisms -- is preoccupied with Macaulay Culkin, pizza, and Britney Spears. But beyond the hilarious pop culture references are Carrete's careful observations of innocence, youth, and femininity with lines like "i'm all the disney witches / i bake apple pies and poison / everything i bake / i steal your voice and hide it / in a seashell / do you like pizza / i'll hide it in a seashell too." Buy Baby Baby HERE.
Author Ana Carrete's debut poetry collection -- published by Civil Coping Mechanisms -- is preoccupied with Macaulay Culkin, pizza, and Britney Spears. But beyond the hilarious pop culture references are Carrete's careful observations of innocence, youth, and femininity with lines like "i'm all the disney witches / i bake apple pies and poison / everything i bake / i steal your voice and hide it / in a seashell / do you like pizza / i'll hide it in a seashell too." Buy Baby Baby HERE.
9. I Will Never Be Beautiful Enough To Make Us Beautiful Together by Mira Gonzalez
In another title from Sorry House, Mira Gonzalaz offers up a reminiscence of her bad days and worse nights in L.A., ultimately creating a work that beautifully combines self-deprecation, hookup humor and a quiet sense of sadness.
In another title from Sorry House, Mira Gonzalaz offers up a reminiscence of her bad days and worse nights in L.A., ultimately creating a work that beautifully combines self-deprecation, hookup humor and a quiet sense of sadness.
10. Rontel by Sam Pink
Rontel, a story of a man and his cat aimlessly drifting through Chicago, is straight-up hilarious. So much so that Tao Lin, reigning "enfant terrible" of the young New York literary scene and author of Taipei, felt inspired to leave this Amazon review of the Lazy Fascist title: "I earnestly thought 'this is the funniest book I have ever read' or 'Rontel is the funniest book I have ever read' probably ~200x while and after reading Rontel. I said '~300x' somewhere else but ~200x seems more accurate." Buy Rontel HERE.
Rontel, a story of a man and his cat aimlessly drifting through Chicago, is straight-up hilarious. So much so that Tao Lin, reigning "enfant terrible" of the young New York literary scene and author of Taipei, felt inspired to leave this Amazon review of the Lazy Fascist title: "I earnestly thought 'this is the funniest book I have ever read' or 'Rontel is the funniest book I have ever read' probably ~200x while and after reading Rontel. I said '~300x' somewhere else but ~200x seems more accurate." Buy Rontel HERE.
