“My reading list grows exponentially. Every time I read a book, it’ll mention three other books I feel I have to read. It’s like a particularly relentless series of pop-up ads.” – A.J. Jacobs, The Year of Living Biblically
Bad Men by Julie Mae Cohen
fiction / suspense / mystery / romance.
Saffy Huntley-Oliver is an intelligent and glamorous socialite; she also happens to be a proficient serial killer. For the past fifteen years, she’s hunted down and dispatched rapists, murderers, domestic abusers—bad men all. But leading a double life has left her lonely—dating’s tough when your boyfriend might turn out to be your next victim. Saffy thinks she’s finally found a truly good man in Jonathan Desrosiers, a true-crime podcaster who’s amassed legions of die-hard fans for cracking cold cases and bringing justice to victims.
When a decapitated body shows up on Jon’s doorstep the morning after his wife leaves him, he becomes the chief suspect for a murder he insists he didn’t commit. Saffy’s crush becomes an obsession as she orchestrates a meet-cute and volunteers to help Jon clear his name, using every trick up her sleeve to find the real killer and get her man—no matter the cost.
Darkly comic and addictively readable, Bad Men is a wild romp of a feminist thriller that asks if even a serial killer can have a happily ever after.
“Silence of the Lambs meets Sex and the City in this lively, amusing tale… will doubtless be a summer hit.” – Adam LeBor, Financial Times
“Relationship fiction author Cohen’s first feminist thriller is unique, featuring a protagonist readers will love to hate and a story with plenty of twists… it’s Saffy, a character you won’t want to leave nor soon forget, who makes the book a bloody good read.” – Stephanie Howes, Booklist
“…unputdownable… your jaw is tested to see how far it can drop from all the plot twists, questionable morals, and gasp-worthy cliff-hangers. Bad Men is a romance novel for crime lovers; a deliciously bloodthirsty story of feminine rage and vigilantism which ultimately decides that hot or cold, revenge is a dish best served by a woman.” – Aurelia Orr, Readings
Black Meme: The History of the Images That Make Us by Legacy Russell
nonfiction / history / sociology / culture / technology.
In Black Meme, Legacy Russell, award-winning author of the groundbreaking Glitch Feminism, explores the “meme” as mapped to Black visual culture from 1900 to the present, mining both archival and contemporary media.
Russell argues that without the contributions of Black people, digital culture would not exist in its current form. These meditations include the circulation of lynching postcards; why a mother allowed Jet magazine to publish a picture of her dead son, Emmett Till; and how the televised broadcast of protesters in Selma changed the debate on civil rights.
Questions of the media representation of Blackness come to the fore as Russell considers how a citizen-recorded footage of the LAPD beating Rodney King became the first viral video. And the Anita Hill hearings shed light on the media’s creation of the Black icon. The ownership of Black imagery and death is considered in the story of Tamara Lanier’s fight to reclaim the daguerreotypes of her enslaved ancestors from Harvard. Meanwhile the live broadcast on Facebook of the murder of Philando Castile by the police after he was stopped for a broken taillight forces us to bear witness to the persistent legacy of the Black meme.
Through imagery, memory and technology Black Meme shows us how images of Blackness have always been central to our understanding of the modern world.
“[An] innovative analysis… This is sure to stir debate.” – Publishers Weekly
“[A] keen study of resistance…” – Jordan Casteel, Interview
“[Russell]’s at her most compelling when she strives for a sort of technological-determinist, materialist treatment… Russell insightfully discusses online success in terms of efficiency, not just cultural or monetary value, positing important new questions about what blackness might do… [her] effort is valiant, and a meaningful stake in the ground for further research into the realities of how blackness circulates in spheres of financial and cultural exchange, not just whether it is valued or not when it appears.” – Aria Dean, 4Columns
Black Shield Maiden by Willow Smith & Jess Jendel
fiction / fantasy / historical fiction.
Lore, legend, and history tell us of the Vikings: warrior kings on epic journeys of conquest and plunder. But the stories we know are not the only stories to tell. There is another story, one that has been lost to the mists of time: the saga of the dark queen.
This saga begins with Yafeu, a defiant yet fiercely compassionate young warrior who is stolen from her home in the flourishing Ghānaian empire and taken to a distant kingdom in the North. There she is thrust into a strange, cold world of savage shield maidens, tyrannical rulers, and mysterious gods.
And there she also finds something unexpected: a kindred spirit. She comes to serve Freydis, a shy princess who couldn’t be more different from the confident and self-possessed Yafeu.
But they both want the same thing: to forge their own fate. Yafeu inspires Freydis to dream of a future greater than the one that the king and queen have forced upon her. And with the princess at her side, Yafeu learns to navigate this new world and grows increasingly determined to become one of the legendary shield maidens—to fight not only for her freedom but for the freedom of others.
Yafeu may have lost her home, but she still knows who she is, and she’s not afraid to be the flame that burns a city to the ground so a new world can rise from the ashes. She will alter the course of history—and become the revolutionary heroine of her own myth.
“The Woman King meets Vikings…” – Isabelle McConville, Barnes & Noble
“[A] sprawling historical epic spanning continents and cultures… Yafeu and Freydis have a unique voice and perspective, and readers will enjoy learning about their cultures… Recommended for fans of underrepresented fantasy settings, like the works of Nnedi Okorafor or R. F. Kuang.” – Ashley Rayner, Booklist
Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne
fiction / fantasy / romance / mystery.
All Reyna and Kianthe want is to open a bookshop that serves tea. Worn wooden floors, plants on every table, firelight drifting between the rafters… all complemented by love and good company. Thing is, Reyna works as one of the Queen’s private guards, and Kianthe is the most powerful mage in existence. Leaving their lives isn’t so easy.
But after an assassin takes Reyna hostage, she decides she’s thoroughly done risking her life for a self-centered queen. Meanwhile, Kianthe has been waiting for a chance to flee responsibility–all the better that her girlfriend is on board. Together, they settle in Tawney, a town nestled in the icy tundra near dragon country, and open the shop of their dreams.
What follows is a cozy tale of mishaps, mysteries, and a murderous queen throwing the realm’s biggest temper tantrum. In a story brimming with hurt/comfort and quiet fireside conversations, these two women will discover just what they mean to each other… and the world.
“Fans of retired adventurer Viv’s relationship with Tandri from Travis Baldree’s Legends & Lattes should take a look.” – Sarah Rice, Booklist
“…Kianthe and Reyna’s relationship, along with Thorne’s frank and sensitive depictions of anxiety, lends a grounding depth and richness. Readers of Travis Baldree and TJ Klune will feel right at home with this cozy sapphic romantasy.” – Publishers Weekly
“This book is so cozy, readers will want to snuggle under a heap of blankets with a delicious cup of tea… Lots of humor with a serious amount of heart.” – Laura Eckert, Library Reads
Chop Fry Watch Learn: Fu Pei-Mei and the Making of Modern Chinese Food by Michelle T. King
nonfiction / biography / history / food.
In 1949, a young Chinese housewife arrived in Taiwan and transformed herself from a novice to a natural in the kitchen. She launched a career as a cookbook author and television cooking instructor that would last four decades. Years later, in America, flipping through her mother’s copies of Fu Pei-mei’s Chinese cookbooks, historian Michelle T. King discovered more than the recipes to meals of her childhood. She found, in Fu’s story and in her food, a vivid portal to another time, when a generation of middle-class, female home cooks navigated the tremendous postwar transformations taking place across the world.
In Chop Fry Watch Learn, King weaves together stories from her own family and contemporary oral history to present a remarkable argument for how understanding the story of Fu’s life enables us to see Chinese food as both an inheritance of tradition and a truly modern creation, influenced by the historical phenomena of the postwar era. These include a dramatic increase in the number of women working outside the home, a new proliferation of mass media, the arrival of innovative kitchen tools, and the shifting diplomatic fortunes of China and Taiwan. King reveals how and why, for audiences in Taiwan and around the world, Fu became the ultimate culinary touchstone: the figure against whom all other cooking authorities were measured.
And Fu’s legacy continues. Her cookbooks have become beloved emblems of cultural memory, passed from parent to child, wherever diasporic Chinese have landed. Informed by the voices of fans across generations, King illuminates the story of Chinese food from the inside: at home, around the family dinner table. The result is a revelatory work, a rich banquet of past and present tastes that will resonate deeply for all of us looking for our histories in the kitchen.
“[A] delicious debut… This tasty ode to an undersung chef satisfies.” – Publishers Weekly
“…well-researched… An appealing story of a determined home cook who taught generations how to prepare authentic Chinese food.” – Kirkus Reviews
“University of North Carolina professor King does a remarkably thorough job of documenting Fu’s life, showing how Fu defied restrictive traditional women’s roles to achieve resounding success. An appealing biography for gastronomes and students of feminist history alike.” – Mark Knoblauch, BookPage
Early Sobrieties by Michael Deagler
fiction.
Don’t worry about what Dennis Monk did when he was drinking. He’s sober now, ready to rejoin the world of leases and paychecks, reciprocal friendships and healthy romances—if only the world would agree to take him back. When his working-stiff parents kick him out of their suburban home, mere months into his frangible sobriety, the 26-year-old spends his first dry summer couch surfing through South Philadelphia, struggling to find a place for himself in the throng of adulthood.
Monk’s haphazard pilgrimage leads him through a city in flux: growing, gentrifying, haunted by its history and its unrealized potential. Everyone he knew from college seems to be doing better than him—and most of them aren’t even doing that well. His run-ins with former classmates, estranged drinking buddies, and prospective lovers challenge his version of events past and present, revealing that recovery is not the happy ending he’d expected, only a fraught next chapter.
Like a sober, millennial Jesus’ Son, Michael Deagler’s debut novel is the poignant confession of a recovering addict adrift in the fragmenting landscape of America’s middle class. Shot through with humor, hubris, and hard-earned insight, Early Sobrieties charts the limbos that exist between our better and worst selves, offering a portrait of a stifled generation collectively slouching towards grace.
“…sharp and self-aware, with deep insight packed into no-fuss prose: a quarter-life-crisis tale for the ages.” – Arianna Rebolini, Bustle
“[A] pitch-perfect debut novel… This is a standout.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“[A] moving, comic meditation on the impossibility of imposing narrative structure on our lives — which, despite our best efforts, tend to be baggy things, marred by loose ends, tedious repetitions and harrowing codas… a wise and piercing book…” – Charlie Lee, New York Times
Free and Equal: A Manifesto for a Just Society by Daniel Chandler
nonfiction / politics / economics / philosophy.
Taking Rawls’s humane and egalitarian liberalism as his starting point, Chandler builds a powerful case for a new progressive agenda that would fundamentally reshape our societies for the better. He shows how we can protect free speech and transcend the culture wars; get money out of politics; and create an economy where everyone has the chance to fulfill their potential, where prosperity is widely shared, and which operates within the limits of our finite planet.
This is a book brimming with hope and possibility—a galvanizing alternative to the cynicism that pervades our politics. Free and Equal has the potential to offer a touchstone for a modern, egalitarian liberalism for many years to come, cementing Rawls’s place in political discourse, and firmly establishing Chandler as a vital new voice for our time.
“Daniel Chandler offers a powerfully argued case for renovating democracy’s tattered social contract.” – Jonathan Derbyshire, Financial Times
“[A] refreshing and useful contribution to envisioning a better world…. a model for what politically engaged philosophy should look like.” – Nick French, Catalyst
“[An] exemplary demonstration of how public reasoning can be done in ways that resist the urge to pick a side… A welcome respite from the knee-jerk moralism that dominates the op-ed pages and social media.” – William Davies, The New Statesman
How It Works Out by Myriam LaCroix
fiction.
When Myriam and Allison fall in love at a show in a run-down punk house, their relationship begins to unfold through a series of hypotheticals:
What if they became mothers by finding a baby in an alley? What if the only cure for Myriam’s depression was Allison’s flesh? What if they were B-list celebrities, famous for writing a book about building healthy lesbian relationships? How much darker—or sexier—would their dynamic be if one were a power-hungry CEO, and the other her lowly employee?
From the fantasies of early romance to the slow encroaching of violence that unravels the fantasy, each reality builds to complete a brilliant, painfully funny portrait of love’s many promises and perils.
Equal parts sexy and profane, unsentimental, and gut-wrenching, How It Works Out is a genre-bending, arresting, uncanny exploration of queerness, love, and our drive for connection, in any and all possible worlds.
“…mesmerizing… As kaleidoscopic as the queer experience, this is an introduction to a writer of great imagination.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
“LaCroix’s provocative first novel traces a lesbian couple’s disintegrating relationship across a series of alternate realities… LaCroix’s experiments with a multiverse structure and body horror generate potent symbols for the struggles of queer relationships, as does her biting wit… Readers won’t soon forget LaCroix’s singular voice.” – Publishers Weekly
The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth by Zoë Schlanger ★
nonfiction / science / nature.
It takes tremendous biological creativity to be a plant. To survive and thrive while rooted in a single spot, plants have adapted ingenious methods of survival. In recent years, scientists have learned about their ability to communicate, recognize their kin and behave socially, hear sounds, morph their bodies to blend into their surroundings, store useful memories that inform their life cycle, and trick animals into behaving to their benefit, to name just a few remarkable talents.
The Light Eaters is a deep immersion into the drama of green life and the complexity of this wild and awe-inspiring world that challenges our very understanding of agency, consciousness, and intelligence. In looking closely, we see that plants, rather than imitate human intelligence, have perhaps formed a parallel system. What is intelligent life if not a vine that grows leaves to blend into the shrub on which it climbs, a flower that shapes its bloom to fit exactly the beak of its pollinator, a pea seedling that can hear water flowing and make its way toward it? Zoë Schlanger takes us across the globe, digging into her own memories and into the soil with the scientists who have spent their waking days studying these amazing entities up close.
What can we learn about life on Earth from the living things that thrive, adapt, consume, and accommodate simultaneously? More important, what do we owe these life forms once we come to understand their rich and varied abilities? Examining the latest epiphanies in botanical research, Schlanger spotlights the intellectual struggles among the researchers conceiving a wholly new view of their subject, offering a glimpse of a field in turmoil as plant scientists debate the tenets of ongoing discoveries and how they influence our understanding of what a plant is.
We need plants to survive. But what do they need us for—if at all? An eye-opening and informative look at the ecosystem we live in, this book challenges us to rethink the role of plants—and our own place—in the natural world.
“[A] fascinating journey through contemporary botanical research.” – Amy Brady, Orion
“A delightful work of popular science. You may never look at your houseplants or garden in quite the same way again.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
“[An] astounding exploration of the remarkable abilities of plants and fungi… There are mind-bending revelations on every page, and Schlanger combines robust intellectual curiosity with delicate lyricism… Science writing doesn’t get better than this.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“Just as books by Peter Wohlleben and Suzanne Simard have deepened our understanding of trees, the discoveries Schlanger shares in this involving, vibrant, and affecting dispatch from the vanguard of plant research profoundly expands our appreciation for plants, their essential role in the great web of life, and how recognition of plant intelligence can help us reverse environmental decimation.” – Donna Seaman, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
Long Island by Colm Tóibín ★
fiction / historical fiction.
Eilis Lacey is Irish, married to Tony Fiorello, a plumber and one of four Italian American brothers, all of whom live in neighboring houses on a cul-de-sac in Lindenhurst, Long Island, with their wives and children and Tony’s parents, a huge extended family that lives and works, eats and plays together. It is the spring of 1976 and Eilis, now in her forties with two teenage children, has no one to rely on in this still-new country. Though her ties to Ireland remain stronger than those that hold her to her new land and home, she has not returned in decades.
One day, when Tony is at his job and Eilis is in her home office doing her accounting, an Irishman comes to the door asking for her by name. He tells her that his wife is pregnant with Tony’s child and that when the baby is born, he will not raise it but instead deposit it on Eilis’s doorstep. It is what Eilis does—and what she refuses to do—in response to this stunning news that makes Tóibín’s novel so riveting.
Long Island is about longings unfulfilled, even unrecognized. The silences in Eilis’ life are thunderous and dangerous, and there’s no one more deft than Tóibín at giving them language. This is a gorgeous story of a woman alone in a marriage and the deepest bonds she rekindles on her return to the place and people she left behind, to ways of living and loving she thought she’d lost.
“A moving portrait of rueful middle age and the failure to connect.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
“Tóibín writes with unparalleled fluidity and grace. Each character is intricately drawn with psychological acuity, emerging as fully, almost achingly human. Tóibín is a philosopher of the soul. He understands the complex emotions, the dreams, fear, doubt, and hope that drive human activity.” – Bill Kelly, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“[A] brilliant, compelling and utterly human story that begs to be read and reflected upon as the reader questions, judges and perhaps even curses the choices of his characters… In Long Island, Tóibín succeeds at writing characters who live real lives, human lives, our lives and a story that transcends Brooklyn, Long Island, Ireland and decades.” – David Moscrop, The Globe and Mail
“[A] quietly devastating sequel to Brooklyn… Tóibín is brilliant at tallying the weight of what goes unsaid between people (‘They could do everything except say out loud what it was they were thinking’), and at using quotidian situations to illuminate longing as a universal and often-inescapable aspect of the human condition. Tóibín’s mastery is on full display here.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
Magic Pill: The Extraordinary Benefits and Disturbing Risks of the New Weight-Loss Drugs by Johann Hari
nonfiction / science / health / psychology.
In January 2023, Johann Hari started to inject himself once a week with Ozempic, one of the new drugs that produces significant weight loss. He wasn’t alone—some predictions suggest that in a few years, a quarter of the U.S. population will be taking these drugs. While around 80 percent of diets fail, someone taking one of the new drugs will lose up to a quarter of their body weight in six months. To the drugs’ defenders, here is a moment of liberation from a condition that massively increases your chances of diabetes, cancer, and an early death.
Still, Hari was wildly conflicted. Can these drugs really be as good as they sound? Are they a magic solution—or a magic trick? Finding the answer to this high-stakes question led him on a journey from Iceland to Minneapolis to Tokyo, and to interview the leading experts in the world on these questions. He found that along with the drug’s massive benefits come twelve significant potential risks.
He also found that these drugs radically challenge what we think we know about shame, willpower, and healing. What do they reveal about the nature of obesity itself? What psychological issues begin to emerge when our eating patterns are suddenly disrupted? Are the drugs a liberation or a further symptom of our deeply dysfunctional relationship with food?
These drugs are about to change our world, for better and for worse. Everybody needs to understand how they work—scientifically, emotionally, and culturally. Magic Pill is an essential guide to the revolution that has already begun, and which one leading expert argues will be as transformative as the invention of the smartphone.
“A revelatory look at the new drugs transforming weight loss as we know it…” – Panio Gianopoulos, Next Big Idea Club
“…informative, lively, and careful… A terrific read for anyone curious about or considering using these remarkable medications.” – Tony Miksanek, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“Light-bulb moments include his realisation that no one actually knows how the new GLP-1 antagonists work to suppress appetite, making their side effects much less predictable than one might imagine… Hari is excellent on the booming ultra-processed food industry and the science of addiction that drives it… Magic Pill is a wonderfully accessible exploration of one of the most complex problems of our age.” – Paul Nuki, The Telegraph
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley ★
fiction / science fiction / romance / suspense / mystery / fantasy.
In the near future, a civil servant is offered the salary of her dreams and is, shortly afterward, told what project she’ll be working on. A recently established government ministry is gathering “expats” from across history to establish whether time travel is feasible—for the body, but also for the fabric of space-time.
She is tasked with working as a “bridge”: living with, assisting, and monitoring the expat known as “1847” or Commander Graham Gore. As far as history is concerned, Commander Gore died on Sir John Franklin’s doomed 1845 expedition to the Arctic, so he’s a little disoriented to be living with an unmarried woman who regularly shows her calves, surrounded by outlandish concepts such as “washing machines,” “Spotify,” and “the collapse of the British Empire.” But with an appetite for discovery, a seven-a-day cigarette habit, and the support of a charming and chaotic cast of fellow expats, he soon adjusts.
Over the next year, what the bridge initially thought would be, at best, a horrifically uncomfortable roommate dynamic, evolves into something much deeper. By the time the true shape of the Ministry’s project comes to light, the bridge has fallen haphazardly, fervently in love, with consequences she never could have imagined. Forced to confront the choices that brought them together, the bridge must finally reckon with how—and whether she believes—what she does next can change the future.
An exquisitely original and feverishly fun fusion of genres and ideas, The Ministry of Time asks: What does it mean to defy history, when history is living in your house? Kaliane Bradley’s answer is a blazing, unforgettable testament to what we owe each other in a changing world.
“This is a lightning strike of a story that will appeal to fans of time travel, spy novels, romance, and bittersweet, satirical office drama alike. The result is part Kate and Leopold and part Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow.” – Rachel Conrad, Polygon
“[A] gripping, gleefully delicious debut novel… taut, artfully unspooled, and vividly written… This rip-roaring romp pivots between past and present and posits the future-altering power of love, hope, and forgiveness.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
“The Ministry of Time is a rare story that mashes up favorite time-worn tropes — from Star Trek to spy thrillers to Victorian romances — in a crucible of colonialism and the pitfalls of diversity in a near-future London. Oh, and it’s sexy as hell.” – Amanda Qassar, Indie Next
“[This] utterly winning book is a result of violating not so much the laws of physics as the boundaries of genre. Imagine if The Time Traveler’s Wife had an affair with A Gentleman in Moscow… Readers, I envy you: There’s a smart, witty novel in your future.” – Ron Charles, Washington Post
The Novices of Lerna by Ángel Bonomin; translated by Jordan Landsman
fiction / short stories.
The Novices of Lerna introduces the enigmatic fictions of Ángel Bonomini to English readers for the first time. Shot through with wry humor and tender absurdity, these meditations on identity, surveillance, and isolation remain eerily prescient.
The collection’s central novella follows Ramón Beltra, an unambitious scholar who receives a mysterious invitation to a lucrative six-month fellowship at the University of Lerna in Switzerland. After he reluctantly complies with the unusual qualifying paperwork requiring several pages of detailed measurements and photographs of his entire body, Beltra soon finds himself in the deserted university town of Lerna, together with twenty-three other “novices” subject to the same undisclosed project—all of them doppelgangers of Beltra himself. At first, Beltra is the only one to bristle at the school’s dizzying array of rules and regulations, but this all changes with the onset of an uncontrollable epidemic, and the fellows begin dying off one by one…
An overlooked master of Argentine fantastic literature, Ángel Bonomini garnered praise among peers and contemporaries like Jorge Luis Borges and Adolfo Bioy Casares, before slipping mysteriously into obscurity. Born in Buenos Aires in 1929, Bonomini was forty-three years old in 1972 when he published The Novices of Lerna, the first of four books of short stories he released before his death at age sixty-four.
“A beguiling blend of the cerebral and the visceral.” – Kirkus Reviews
“…imaginative and varied stories that hold a mirror up to realism and meditate on the limits of subjectivity… a thrilling and comic read. But the opposite side of that comedy is a sort of existential horror that questions the basis of things like isolation and identity and thus in turn, pushes literature into realms that study the question of The Real.” – Matthew Zarenkiewicz, The Rumpus
“In Bonomini’s hands, the question ‘why am I me, and why not you’ (to borrow a line from Peter Handke) becomes vital and fresh. Two solutions are proposed and intertwined. One is concrete, parochial, rooted in identifiable facts of personal identity. The other is ineffable, a confidence in spite of life’s mutability that evades articulation… These may not be lucid declarations, but if one is to believe Bonomini—and he is convincing—they are the seeds of being alive.” – Willem Marz, Necessary Fiction
Perfect Little Monsters by Cindy R.X. He
fiction / young adult / mystery / suspense.
Ella Moore was the most popular girl in school… and also the most hated. When she’s murdered at her own party, there are too many suspects to count. And too many people who think she deserved it.
The police’s prime suspect is the new girl, Dawn Foster. Dawn was the last to hand Ella a drink on the night she died. Plus, all of Ella’s friends with a motive for wanting Ella dead are more than willing to throw Dawn under the bus, if it means keeping the heat off themselves.
But Dawn refuses to go down without a fight. She’s determined to clear her name. As she delves deeper into the past, she discovers that Ella and her friends had major enemies, and someone is out for revenge. Dawn must uncover the truth before the police arrest the wrong suspect… and before the next person dies.
“In her debut, He leads readers through a twisty, tense plot… Quick reveals and suspense drive the propulsive, Hitchcockian plot to an ending sure to leave teen mystery fans amazed at He’s careful structuring of the story.” – Jen Johnson, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“Debut author He adds grit to a plot built on familiar high school mystery elements via the intertwining narratives, which dispense information in lightning-quick intervals that will keep readers on their toes all the way to the shocking conclusion.” – Publishers Weekly
The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean
fiction / mystery / suspense.
It’s been twenty years since Detective Chelsey Calhoun’s sister vanished when they were teenagers, and ever since she’s been searching: for signs, for closure, for other missing girls. But happy endings are rare in Chelsey’s line of work.
Then a glimmer: local teenager Ellie Black, who disappeared without a trace two years earlier, has been found alive in the woods of Washington State.
But something is not right with Ellie. She won’t say where she’s been, or who she’s protecting, and it’s up to Chelsey to find the answers. She needs to get to the bottom of what happened to Ellie: for herself, and for the memory of her sister, but mostly for the next girl who could be taken—and who, unlike Ellie, might never return.
The debut thriller from New York Times bestselling author Emiko Jean, The Return of Ellie Black is both a feminist tour de force about the embers of hope that burn in the aftermath of tragedy and a twisty page-turner that will shock and surprise you right up until the final page.
“The complex plot and well-drawn characters will keep readers engaged until they arrive at the surprising conclusion.” – Barbara Bibel, Booklist
“[An] impressive crime novel. An unexpected ending and a cadre of heroic female characters make Jean a crime writer to watch.” – Kirkus Reviews
“…atmospheric and surprise-packed… Jean deftly alternates Chelsey and Ellie’s perspectives from one cliffhanger to the next, keeping the pages flying. With shocking twists and style to spare, this confirms Jean as a writer worth seeking out.” – Publishers Weekly
Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy
fiction.
Following the loss of her husband and son, Helen Cartwright returns to the village of her childhood after living abroad for six decades. Her only wish is to die quickly and without fuss. She retreats into her home on Westminster Crescent, becoming a creature of routine and habit: “Each day was an impersonation of the one before with only a slight shuffle—as though even for death there is a queue.”
Then, one cold winter night, a chance encounter with a mouse sets Helen on a surprising journey.
Sipsworth is a reminder that there can be second chances. No matter what we have planned for ourselves, sometimes life has plans of its own. With profound compassion, Simon Van Booy illuminates not only a deep friendship forged between two lonely creatures, but the reverberations of goodness that ripple out from that unique bond.
“Simon Van Booy performs a special type of alchemy by taking the simplest of tales — a woman approaching the end of her life discovering a small mouse in her house — and turning it into an astonishingly moving story of love and resilience.” – Luisa Smith, Indie Next
“Van Booy’s enchanting latest depicts the surprisingly touching relationship between an elderly widow and a mouse… Material that could easily feel saccharine or twee is fresh and often funny, thanks to the author’s artful prose and unsparing characterization of the cantankerous Helen… Van Booy takes the familiar trope of an aging person’s unexpected renewal and makes it feel new.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“Simon Van Booy’s Sipsworth is a delightfully funny, poignant, surprising novel… Sweet but not saccharine, tender, loving, and funny, this story of unlikely friendship and late-life new beginnings will charm any reader who has ever loved or lost.” – Julia Kastner, Shelf Awareness
The Skunks by Fiona Warnick
fiction.
Dear Skunks, I wrote. Then I got stuck. What was there to say about the skunks? Of course there was the smell—the spraying. Everyone’s mind jumped to the spraying. I often forgot about the spraying entirely, which was nice because it made me feel that I wasn’t like other people.
From the outside, Isabel doesn’t seem to have much going on. It’s the summer after college graduation and she’s moved back to her hometown, where she spends her days house-sitting, babysitting, working the front desk at a yoga studio, and hanging out with her childhood friend Ellie. But on the inside, Isabel’s mind is always running, always analyzing, and right now, she’s trying hard to not let her thoughts give weight to boys. So when Isabel spots three baby skunks in the yard, their presence is not only a strangely thrilling break from the expected, it feels like a fortuitous sign from the universe. Skunks. That’s what she should be thinking about.
As the summer unfolds, Isabel becomes increasingly preoccupied with the skunks, while also navigating her various jobs and an ambiguous relationship with Eli, the son of the couple she’s house-sitting for. In her own life and in the imagined inner lives of the skunks, Isabel ponders the nature of existence, love vs. infatuation, and the many small moments that make us animal, make us human. The Skunks is an unforgettable coming-of-age story about the complexities of crushes, desire, friendship, and modern life.
“…Warnick’s book is a breath of fresh air. It is a loving laugh toward the mistakes we make in our early 20s and how each moment is equally a grand, romantic moment as well as laughably not of consequence.” – Adam Vitcavage, Debutiful
“…charming and quirky… delights readers with imaginative musings on the lives of juvenile skunks that Isabel has discovered are living under her summer residence. These thoughts enrich Isabel’s coming-of-age story and add gentle humor to an overall positive and joyful story.” – Faye A. Chadwell, Library Journal
“Isabel’s generosity in openly sharing her inner and outer selves until the two are inseparable creates an intriguing narrative that will inspire readers to rediscover their own fondness for the strangely ordinary parts of life.” – Lillian Liao, Booklist
Summers at the Saint by Mary Kay Andrews
fiction / romance / mystery.
Welcome to the St. Cecelia, a landmark hotel on the coast of Georgia, where traditions run deep and scandals run even deeper…
Everyone refers to the St. Cecelia as “the Saint.” If you grew up coming here, you were “a Saint.” If you came from the wrong side of the river, you were “an Ain’t.” Traci Eddings was one of those outsiders whose family wasn’t rich enough or connected enough to vacation here. But she could work here. One fateful summer she did, and married the boss’s son. Now, she’s the widowed owner of the hotel, determined to see it return to its glory days, even as staff shortages and financial troubles threaten to ruin it. Plus, her greedy and unscrupulous brother-in-law wants to make sure she fails. Enlisting a motley crew of recently hired summer help—including the daughter of her estranged best friend—Traci has one summer season to turn it around. But new information about a long-ago drowning at the hotel threatens to come to light, and the tragic death of one of their own brings Traci to the brink of despair.
Traci Eddings has her back against the pink-painted wall of this beloved institution. And it will take all the wits and guts she has to see wrongs put to right, to see guilty parties put in their place, and maybe even to find a new romance along the way. Told with Mary Kay Andrew’s warmth, humor, knack for twists, and eye for delicious detail about human nature, Summers at the Saint is a beach read with depth and heart.
“Best seller Andrews offers up another fun, heart-warming, and intriguing summer read.” – Joy Gunn, Library Journal
“While the cover screams ‘beach read,’ Mary Kay Andrews fans know there’s more to the story. An emotional ride through grief, friendships, secrets, two murder mysteries, new love, and doing whatever it takes to protect home.” – Alecia Castro, Indie Next
“[A] mesmerizing mix of mystery and romance… Andrews’s expert exploration of complex family dynamics, hidden secrets, and class divisions in a small resort town add authenticity to the gripping mystery and swoony romance. [The author’s] fans and newcomers alike will be riveted.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
This Summer Will Be Different by Carley Fortune
fiction / romance.
Lucy is the tourist vacationing at a beach house on Prince Edward Island. Felix is the local who shows her a very good time. The only problem: Lucy doesn’t know he’s her best friend’s younger brother. Lucy and Felix’s chemistry is unreal, but the list of reasons why they need to stay away from each other is long, and they vow to never repeat that electric night again.
It’s easier said than done.
Each year, Lucy escapes to PEI for a big breath of coastal air, fresh oysters and crisp vinho verde with her best friend, Bridget. Every visit begins with a long walk on the beach, beneath soaring red cliffs and a golden sun. And every visit, Lucy promises herself she won’t wind up in Felix’s bed. Again.
If Lucy can’t help being drawn to Felix, at least she’s always kept her heart out of it.
When Bridget suddenly flees Toronto a week before her wedding, Lucy drops everything to follow her to the island. Her mission is to help Bridget through her crisis and resist the one man she’s never been able to. But Felix’s sparkling eyes and flirty quips have been replaced with something new, and Lucy’s beginning to wonder just how safe her heart truly is.
“Fortune’s latest is an absolute delight. This sexy novel is filled with friendship, family, love, and heartbreak.” – Crystal Vela, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“The leads have undeniable magnetism, and Fortune avoids the pitfalls of a typical Hallmark ending, instead delivering a truly satisfying happily ever after. Romance fans will devour this.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“The PEI setting is a beautiful backdrop for Lucy and Felix’s secret hookups and Lucy’s journey of self-discovery as she learns how to stand on her own two feet as a business owner, friend, and daughter. In addition to frequent (and welcome) Anne of Green Gables references, there are oysters galore and many sandy, windy scenes that transport readers straight to the island. A steamy, romantic summer read with a charming setting.” – Kirkus Reviews
Women and Children First by Alina Grabowski
fiction / mystery.
Nashquitten, MA, is a decaying coastal enclave that not even tourist season can revive, full of locals who have run the town’s industries for generations. When a young woman dies at a house party, the circumstances around her death suspiciously unclear, the tight-knit community is shaken. As a mother grieves her daughter, a teacher her student, a best friend her confidante, the events around the tragedy become a lightning rod: blame is cast, secrets are buried deeper. Some are left to pick up the pieces, while others turn their backs, and all the while, a truth about that dreadful night begins to emerge.
Told through the eyes of ten local women, Grabowski’s Women and Children First is an exquisite portrait of grief and a powerful reminder of life’s interconnectedness. Touching on womanhood, class, and sexuality, ambition, disappointment, and tragedy, this novel is a stunning rendering of love and loss, and a bracing lesson from a phenomenal new literary talent that no one walks this earth alone.
“[A] craftily constructed and deeply moving debut… Grabowski so deftly depicts the web of relations in this oppressively tight-knit community that it becomes evident how life changes for one character reverberate even for those who would seem outside her sphere of influence.” – Margaret Quamme, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“While a young woman’s violent death sounds like the setup for a murder mystery story, in Grabowki’s deft hands, it becomes something richer and more surprising: an opportunity to capture the people left in her wake at their most honest, flawed, and insightful. Once you get into these women’s heads, they will never get out of yours.” – Charley Burlock, Oprah Daily
“Alina Grabowski’s Women and Children First is a novel built from interlocking stories, each chapter told from the perspective of a different woman living in a down-at-the-heels coastal New England town. In less capable hands, such rapid shifts might have a disorienting effect, but the book spins an entrancing web, the stories channeling the spirit of Mary Gaitskill and subtly building to reveal more and more about the town’s inhabitants. They include… the mother of a local teen who has died an untimely death. The cause of that death is the nominal mystery of Women and Children First, but the book is more about the secrets we keep and the lies we tell to remain hidden from one another.” – Chloe Schama, Vogue
The Year of Living Constitutionally: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Constitution’s Original Meaning by A.J. Jacobs
nonfiction / memoir / comedy / history / politics.
A.J. Jacobs learned the hard way that donning a tricorne hat and marching around Manhattan with a 1700s musket will earn you a lot of strange looks. In the wake of several controversial rulings by the Supreme Court and the on-going debate about how the Constitution should be interpreted, Jacobs set out to understand what it means to live by the Constitution.
In The Year of Living Constitutionally, A.J. Jacobs tries to get inside the minds of the Founding Fathers by living as closely as possible to the original meaning of the Constitution. He asserts his right to free speech by writing his opinions on parchment with a quill and handing them out to strangers in Times Square. He consents to quartering a soldier, as is his Third Amendment right. He turns his home into a traditional 1790s household by lighting candles instead of using electricity, boiling mutton, and—because women were not allowed to sign contracts— feebly attempting to take over his wife’s day job, which involves a lot of contract negotiations.
The book blends unforgettable adventures—delivering a handwritten petition to Congress, applying for a Letter of Marque to become a legal pirate for the government, and battling redcoats as part of a Revolutionary War reenactment group—with dozens of interviews from constitutional experts from both sides. Jacobs dives deep into originalism and living constitutionalism, the two rival ways of interpreting the document.
Much like he did with the Bible in The Year of Living Biblically, Jacobs provides a crash course on our Constitution as he experiences the benefits and perils of living like it’s the 1790s. He relishes, for instance, the slow thinking of the era, free from social media alerts. But also discovers the progress we’ve made since 1789 when married women couldn’t own property.
Now more than ever, Americans need to understand the meaning and value of the Constitution. As politicians and Supreme Court Justices wage a high-stakes battle over how literally we should interpret the Constitution, A.J. Jacobs provides an entertaining yet illuminating look into how this storied document fits into our democracy today.
“If you’re looking for a read that’s as hilarious as it is heartfelt, grab the newest from a man who knows how to commit to the bit. Laugh-out-loud funny and (somewhat) concerning, A.J. Jacobs takes us deep into the Constitution.” – Isabelle McConville, Barnes & Noble
“Jacobs’s well-researched romp carefully reckons with the Constitution’s ethical blind spots while staying consistently entertaining. U.S. history buffs will have fun with this one.” – Publishers Weekly
“Funny but not snarky, inventive but not obnoxious, learned but not pedantic, this book will make readers think about the nation’s founding document more deeply than ever.” – Anthony Aycock, Booklist
You Never Know: A Memoir by Tom Selleck with Ellis Hennican
nonfiction / memoir / television / film.
Frank, funny and open-hearted, You Never Know is an intimate memoir from one of the most beloved actors of our time, the highly personal story of a remarkable life and thoroughly accidental career. In his own voice and uniquely unpretentious style, the famed actor brings readers on his uncharted but serendipitous journey to the top in Hollywood, his temptations and distractions, his misfires and mistakes and, over time, his well-earned success. Along the way, he clears up an armload of misconceptions and shares dozens of never-told stories from all corners of his personal and professional life. His rambunctious California childhood. His clueless arrival as a good-looking college jock in Hollywood (from The Dating Game to the Fox New Talent Program to co-starring with Mae West and escorting her to black-tie social functions). What it was like to emerge as a mega-star in his mid-thirties and remain so for decades to come, an actor whose authenticity and ease in front of the camera connected with audiences worldwide while embodying and also redefining the clichés of onscreen manhood.
In You Never Know, Selleck recounts his personal friendships with a vivid army of A-listers, everyone from Frank Sinatra to Carol Burnett to Sam Elliott, paying special tribute to his mentor James Garner of The Rockford Files, who believed, like Selleck, that TV protagonists are far more interesting when they have rough edges. He also more than tips his hat to the American western and the scruffy band of actors, directors and other ruffians who helped define that classic genre, where Selleck has repeatedly found a happy home. Magnum fans will be fascinated to learn how Selleck put his career on the line to make Thomas Magnum a more imperfect hero and explains why he walked away from a show that could easily have gone on for years longer.
Hollywood is never easy, even for stars who make it look that way. In You Never Know, Selleck explains how he’s struggled to balance his personal and professional lives, frequently adjusting his career to protect his family’s privacy and normalcy. His journey offers a truly fresh perspective on a changing industry and a changing world. Beneath all the charm and talent and self-deprecating humor, Selleck’s memoir reveals an American icon who has reached remarkable heights by always insisting on being himself.
“…witty, charming, and honest. A celebrity memoir worth reading.” – Kirkus Reviews
“…Selleck’s earnestness and self-deprecating folksy style will satisfy celebrity watchers, especially Magnum, P.I. and Blue Bloods fans.” – Rosellen “Rosy” Brewer, Library Journal
You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian
fiction / romance / historical fiction / sports.
The 1960 baseball season is shaping up to be the worst year of Eddie O’Leary’s life. He can’t manage to hit the ball, his new teammates hate him, he’s living out of a suitcase, and he’s homesick. When the team’s owner orders him to give a bunch of interviews to some snobby reporter, he’s ready to call it quits. He can barely manage to behave himself for the length of a game, let alone an entire season. But he’s already on thin ice, so he has no choice but to agree.
Mark Bailey is not a sports reporter. He writes for the arts page, and these days he’s barely even managing to do that much. He’s had a rough year and just wants to be left alone in his too-empty apartment, mourning a partner he’d never been able to be public about. The last thing he needs is to spend a season writing about New York’s obnoxious new shortstop in a stunt to get the struggling newspaper more readers.
Isolated together within the crush of an anonymous city, these two lonely souls orbit each other as they slowly give in to the inevitable gravity of their attraction. But Mark has vowed that he’ll never be someone’s secret ever again, and Eddie can’t be out as a professional athlete. It’s just them against the world, and they’ll both have to decide if that’s enough.
“Elegant character development and strong, witty writing make this one a home run.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
“Sebastian’s latest is full of grumpy/sunshine goodness, with an absolutely delicious slow-burn romance.” – Rebecca Moe, Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
“[A] home run of a romance that gracefully pivots from moments of sweet romantic yearning to sizzling sensual heat with perfect aplomb. Readers are so lucky to have books by the ridiculously talented Sebastian, who makes writing superbly satisfying love stories with wry wit and endless empathy seem effortless.” – John Charles, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
The Z Word by Lindsay King-Miller ★
fiction / horror / comedy / romance.
Chaotic bisexual Wendy is trying to find her place in the queer community of San Lazaro, Arizona, after a bad breakup—which is particularly difficult because her ex is hooking up with some of her friends. And when the people around them start turning into violent, terrifying mindless husks, well, that makes things harder. Especially since the infection seems to be spreading.
Now, Wendy and her friends and frenemies—drag queen Logan, silver fox Beau, sword lesbian Aurelia and her wife Sam, mysterious pizza delivery stoner Sunshine, and, oh yeah, Wendy’s ex-girlfriend Leah—have to team up to stay alive, save Pride, and track the zombie outbreak to its shocking source. Hopefully without killing each other first.
The Z Word is a propulsive, funny, emotional horror debut about a found family coming together to fight corporate greed, political corruption, gay drama, and zombies.
“This cinematic romp has something for nearly every reader; humor, gore, heat, action, and mystery all swirl in the San Lazaro desert.” – Erin Downey Howerton, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“King-Miller’s fiction debut expertly balances social commentary with fun in a novel that will have readers cheering for her queer heroes and questioning their own brand loyalties.” – Becky Spratford, Library Journal
“With an endearingly messy protagonist and wonderfully complicated relationship dynamics among the entirely queer cast, King-Miller skillfully explores real issues facing the LGBTQ community while cleverly pairing the beats of a romance novel with the visceral gut punches of survival horror.” – Publishers Weekly
-
-
-
-
-