UPDATE: We’ve extended the deadline of this until July 7th, mainly because we’re super busy and haven’t had time to check out all the entries (and also because Jessie is set to have a baby on THURSDAY.)

Hey folks! We are holding a contest to decide what our next $20 Superpack will be! For those who don’t know, the Superpacks are themed packs of zines, books, pins, stickers, patches, and/or posters valued at $25 and marked down to $20. Past Superpacks have included the Anytime Gardening Superpack, the Feminist Power Superpack, and the ever-popular Bicycle! Bicycle! Superpack.

What you need to do to enter this contest is root around on our site and come up with $25 worth of whatever (zines, books, etc, any combination of), figure out an awesome theme for it, email Jessie (jessie@microcosmpublishing.com) with your list of stuff and the name of the Superpack, and the winner will get that very pack!

Contest ends July 7th and Jessie will announce the winner shortly thereafter! Ready, set, go!

CAT’S CLAW HERBAL

In this zine, Heron the herbalist’s the love of plants is shared through personal stories, drawings, and introductions to some favorites. Cat’s Claw Herbal also includes easy to understand DIY instructions on how to make your own herbal salves. This zine is great for people who are already into plants or those who are newly interested in making their own salves and natural medicine. Order here.

SIMPLE HISTORY ZINE SERIES: THE COLD WAR

In the latest installment of the Simple History zine series, author J. Gerlach takes a look at the Cold War. An era of nukes and paranoia, witch-hunting and gun-running, the Cold War was a complicated and oft-times terrifying time in our world’s history. Says Gerlach in the introduction, “The Cold War is a popular topic of debate for historians because of the large number of ‘what-ifs’ and the immensity of the consequences should a bluff be called, or an itchy trigger finger released. There seems to have been opportunities, both for an honorable end to the conflict, and for complete world destruction.” From the post-war “reconstruction” of Asia and Europe to the Bay of Pigs and Perestroika, Gerlach’s book comprises a wide cross-section of the important events of the last 70 years and gives its objective facts in a clear-minded, engaging, accessible fashion. Order here.

XEROGRAPHY DEBT #31

Davida Gypsy Breier’s review zine, Xerography Debt might be best summarized as an obsession for all involved. Now on its 31st issue, Xerography Debt is “the review zine with personal tendencies,” allowing its hand-picked cast of contributors to essay both the zines they love and where those zines find them in their lives. Al Burian gets a job in a vegan cafe to stay connected to his punk cultural roots, Joe Biel reports on the “pre-natal death of the e-book,” and Jeff Somers ruminates on the idea of a zine community and his ever-changing reasons for continuing to publish zines. And let us not forget the large volume of zine reviews in here. Rather than spending time and ink bashing things or being forced to write about something they don’t care about, the reviewers hand-select what they want to write about the result is much more interesting. In an age of blogs and tweets, Xerography Debt is a beautiful, earnest anachronism, a publication that seems to come from a different era, but is firmly entrenched in the now. And they want to review your zines in future issues: Davida Gypsy Breier / PO Box 11064 / Baltimore, MD 21212 Order here.

We just did a mega restocking of our pins (aka buttons, badges). After many, many hours of sitting up late at night hand-cranking these puppies out, we have a mountain of ’em to show for our efforts. See what’s back in stock here. And here are some glamor shots of a few select pins…

Our sincere thanks to Denise from Argentina for her awesome name suggestion! Henceforth our little kitty friend will be “Salvadora” after Salvadora Onrubia, who was an Argentinian anarcho-feminist and poet. (Her nickname will be “Salvie” since it’ll be easier for the little munchkins on the farm to say!)

We’ve also decided to award Britty from Michigan with a “People’s Choice Award” for “Inky” since it got so many “likes” on Facebook. The runner-ups were “Assata,” “Nixon” (which we’re going to save for the next rescue goat we take in!) “Sharpie,” “Lunchbox,” and “Pixel.” Other notable mentions: “Katniss” (of “Hunger Games” fame) and “Kimberly” (after the pink Power Ranger!).

Salvadora is doing well and seems to be adjusting to her new home. For some reason sheep are totally fascinated by cats – kittens especially – so she is getting lots of love from us and her new adoptive sheep dads. She’s also mega into climbing hay bales! Thanks to everyone who participated in the contest. This was really fun for us so we’ll probably hit you guys up for names again next time we take in another critter! <3 Jessie, Salvadora, and the Microcosm Gang!

This stress management skills zine from the Icarus Project is a helpful/healthy primer, a new best friend, and a solid watchdog when the world seems to be folding in around you. Chapters include such topics as “Allow yourself to feel,” “Removing Yourself from the Situation,” “Distract Yourself from Self-Mutilating Activities,” “You CAN Change the Way You Feel,” and the massively useful “Coping with Overwhelming Emotions.” This friendly, accessible 30-pager is a great tool for folks experiencing any kinds of stress-related injuries (which is pretty much all of us, right?), whether they be panic attacks, anxiety, depression, etc. Available here.

The weather is beautiful and you’re just aching to transplant those vegetable starters and add a layer of mulch. Well, what’s better than reading about DIY gardening? Going to a book reading of Homesweet Homegrown with the author, Robyn Jasko!

Tour stops include:

• June 16-17: Seattle
• June 18-19: Portland, OR
• June 21-22: Seattle
• June 24: Denver
• June 25: Boulder
• June 26-27: Austin
• June 28-29: Asheville
• July 7: Philadelphia

Learn more at http://homesweet-homegrown.com!

The sequel to Raleigh Briggs’ DIY powerhouse Make Your Place, Make It Last: Prolonging + Preserving What We Love is about keeping the things you own in good working order. It’s about repairing instead of tossing out, about maintaining and preserving in an age when our landfills threaten to overtake our cities. Keep an eye out for a one-off zine featuring one of Raleigh’s chapters (Fix Your Clothes) coming soon! Note: This book is available for pre-sale now! Check it out right here!

Once in a while it occurs to me that I ought to be a better person. Better in the selfless, I’m-going-out-for-coffee-can-I-get-you-anything kind of way. Better like my grandmother, who never forgets a birthday for any of her children, or her children’s children, or the steps, the halfs, or the otherwise affiliated but geographically estranged. My grandmother always bought me books for my birthday. I loathed getting books when I was younger, books which were always a few hundred pages beyond my yet undisciplined attention span, usually featuring protagonists who were a little too world-wise for a grade-schooler to appreciate. And, anyway, I was a materialistic brat of a tweenager– I wanted lip-gloss and nail polish and body lotion that would make my arms glittery.

As an adult, all I ever want to give anyone is a book. For a birthday, a funeral, a holiday, for an ‘I’m sorry’ or a ‘thank you,’ for a long train ride, or to strangers I meet briefly and with no expectation of seeing again. Like my grandmother, I usually give my favorite books, which is, I am aware, completely inconsiderate of the literary sensitivities of the recipients of these books, but it is something they will endure as I did, because eventually you will find yourself thinking of this person (be they a kind stranger or a far-from-home friend), and in the book you will find their company.

On the night of April 23rd tens of thousands of people will swell into the streets of their cities and neighborhoods to give 20 copies of a specially-printed, not-for-resale edition of a book of their choosing to 20 strangers. Launched internationally in 2011, World Book Night debuts in the United States this year, joining the U.K. and Ireland to celebrate the power of books, spread literacy awareness and bring individuals together on a date that famously marks Cervante’s death and Shakespeare’s birth. It is my instinct that this night will unwittingly inspire some new friendships, that insights usually reserved for classrooms will be exchanged without pretention or hesitation and that there will be much to be thankful for in April. It’s like Trick-or-Treat with books. Thanksgiving in spring. A birthday present for Shakespeare. It’s good-doing that’s really, really fun. 

This year’s deadline for becoming a giver has passed, but for those of you who were able to become givers this year, we invite you to share your stories of the events of the night of the 23rd with us. Learn more about World Book Night , or to visit their blog. Do you have your own blog? We’d love to share your posts about WBN on microcosmpublishing.com. You can also view their Facebook Page, where other givers will be sharing their stories, as well.

Homesweet Homegrown author Robyn Jasko (also of growindie.com) and illustrator Jennifer Biggs are currently Kickstarting their upcoming BY-TRAIN BOOK TOUR! That’s right: They’re doing an AMTRAK TOUR and we were so stoked to hear about their upcoming adventure we just had to do an interview! Here Robyn talks growing season, tour plans, and more!

Q: So what’s this we hear about you guys deciding to Kickstart your upcoming tour? Tell us a little about that …

A: Yes, it’s true! We are spreading the word out about our new gardening and homesteading book called Homesweet Homegrown: How to Grow, Make and Store Food No Matter Where You Live. To fund the tour, we launched a Kickstarter campaign and are selling signed copies, organic/non-gmo garden seed collections, and lots of other schwag.

Check it out here.

There’s also a fun little video we made featuring myself, Classy Poppy, and illustrator Jennifer Biggs that shows off the book, and some of our homesteading shenanigans.

As for rewards, we are offering signed copies and super easy to grow seed collections for just $35. Or, for $65, you get a book and 20 packets of organic/non-gmo seeds—which is enough to grow a ton of food!

Q: One of our favorite things about this tour is you’re doing it via TRAIN. Why go Amtrak?

A: There are so many reasons we wanted to take the train—we are big fans of public transportation and cutting down on fuel fuels/emissions, so the train was an obvious choice. Plus, there’s a drink cart! We hope to be hanging out there, talking about the book to whoever will listen and proselytizing our mission of homegrown foods as we trek through the US.

Q: Considering the material you’re working from, this definitely doesn’t sound like your boring ol’ traditional read-a-chapter-in-a-bookstore-then-sign-books kinda book tour. What sorts of things do you plan to do?

A: Exactly, instead, we’ll probably be canning/pickling/and planting up a storm, or making a few projects from our Make section, like newspaper pots and easy homemade seed tape. Or, maybe we’ll make one of our 30 vegan recipes from the book that show you how to get the most out of your garden or CSA share.

Our plan is to hit up urban garden centers, indie shops, and bookstores to reach as many farmer/foodies and DIYers as possible. Through the Kickstarter we even have an option to come help you start a garden! So, you never know what we might be up to … but it most likely will be a good time.

Q: It’s spring and a lot of us are growing stuff at the moment. (Many of us being excited beginners.) If you had one tip to give the new gardener/future farmer/homesteading urbanist, what would it be?

A: You can grow anywhere—even if it’s just a little windowsill basil plant or a rooftop tomato plant, that’s one less thing you have to buy at the supermarket, so give it a try! It’s not that hard, I promise.

Q: Finally, what kinds of things are you growing this season?

A: So many things—I have been obsessed with garlic lately, and we have 32 pounds growing in the test garden right now. We’ve also been really into ancient grains, and are experimenting with quinoa and amaranth—in addition to all the usual cucumbers, heirloom tomatoes, basil, potatoes, cabbage, zucchini, beans, corn, oh it goes on. Maybe I should have listed what we aren’t growing this year. (Probably peanut plants—although who knows?)

See the Homesweet Homegrown book tour kickstarter right here.

We are in LOVE with MJ Robinson’s new comic Rebel Rebel. This well-drawn mini looks at gender roles and is a good companion to Julia Eff’s Every Thug is a Lady: Adventures Without Gender. What if gender roles were flipped? What makes a “man” a man and a “woman” a woman? Do girls have long hair because they’re “girls”? Is facial hair manly or feminine? How does the world around us cramp our gender-free/personal-idea-of-gender style? MJ’s comic is a total shake-up of existing “rules” and roles and the result is a pleasant mindblower and a great gift for that special someone in your life with rigid views of what a “man” and a “woman” must be. Order Rebel Rebel right here.