ben’s staff picks
Ben (he/him) started working at Lost City Books in 2021 and has been grateful for every day he gets to spend with cool people and cool books. Ben reads to escape and imagine freedom in all forms. While he mostly reads science fiction, fantasy, and weird speculative things and will talk ad nauseam about them, he would love to discuss cookbooks, historical dramas, or his area of self-proclaimed expertise - vintage gay erotica. He relishes any chance to compare recipes, hear about leftist theory, or swap fav smut stories.
THE LAST WATCH by J.S. Dewes
A far-flung future epic… Give it 50-isg pages and you’ll be hooked. Effectively exiled military members are posted at the edge (literally) of the universe. And it is starting to SHRINK
STRINGERS by Chris Panatier
From a new-ish press focusing on experimental/bizarre spec-fic/sci-fi - and this one is bizarre indeed. Basically all consciousness is a universally shared form of matter. So when a regular loser has the secret of the universe buried in his skull, chaos ensues. Weird, grotesque, and full of random bug sex.
ELDER RACE by Adrian Tchaikovsky
A surprise and a delight! Perfect blend of sci-fi and fantasy elements. I am consistently blown away by basically everything this author puts out. Tchaikovsky has a unique and titillating way of demonstrating the pulsing vein of humanity and the humane through time.
THE SPARROW by Mary Doria Russell
This is one of my favorite books of all time. Basically, what happens when the Vatican is the institution that discovers and confirms alien life? What does God look like when you’re hurtling away from Earth? I dare you to read the back and not be hooked.
START HERE by Sohla El-Walley
I am very picky with my cookbooks. This is not an Instagram, coffee-table-book cash grab. Sorry to all my other loves at Bon Appetit, but this book is a true culinary deep-dive - proving once again that Sohla is one of the GOATs of this generations’ crop of food writers. A literal masterclass in book form.
THE BLACKTONGUE THIEF by Christopher Buenthal
Full of wit, double entendres, filthy humor, and unseeable twists, this swashbuckling adventure is perfect for fans of DnD, Joe Abercrombie, and The Witcher. Feels like Alt-stand up comedy in medieval Europe written by lionhearted anti heroes.