The Book BinLooking to get lost in a good book? Take your pick: spooky legends of the Pacific Northwest, a powerful new novel from Ocean Vuong, or a deep dive into the bloody history of the axe. The Book Bin has some recommendations to add to your list this season.
Pacific Northwest Legends & Lore
by Ira Wesley Kitmacher & Illustrated by Jason McLean
Just as the title promises, this book dives deep into the legends and lore of the Pacific Northwest. Inside you’ll find cryptids like Bigfoot, Dogman, and Gumberoo, along with legendary curses like the Jake Bird Hex, Maltby’s Thirteen Steps to Hell, and the Oakville Blobs. Expect encounters with everything from Skinwalkers and Wendigo to sea serpents, chupacabras, and more. Alongside Ira Wesley Kitmacher’s storytelling are illustrations by Jason McLean and real-life pictures. If you’re craving a spooky thrill, this book delivers.
The Emperor of Gladness
by Ocean Vuong
New York Times best-selling author Ocean Vuong returns with a heart-wrenching novel about friendship, chosen family, and the stories that sustain us. Following the cycles of history, memory, and time, The Emperor of Gladness shows the profound ways in which love, labor, and loneliness shape American life. While we are very excited to recommend this book, we do want to give a warning that this book is emotionally heavy with sensitive topics. Queer books save lives.
Whack Job – A History of Axe Murder
by Rachel McCarthy James
In Whack Job, Rachel McCarthy James examines the axe’s role in human history from prehistoric survival and cutting wood, to war, executions and pop culture. She discusses how the axe has its own form of technology, and goes on to visit topics such as the first axe murder from half a million years ago to King Henry VIII’s favorite method of execution, Lizzie Borden, and more. This book is for not only history buffs but true crime fans as well.
— Hayley, The Book Bin
This story originally ran in Press Play Salem issue 25 (Fall 2025)
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Carlee Wright
