“For to know a man’s library is, in some measure, to know his mind.” – Geraldine Brooks, March
The Age of Choice: A History of Freedom in Modern Life by Sophia Rosenfeld
nonfiction / history / psychology.
Choice touches virtually every aspect of our lives, from what to buy and where to live to whom to love, what profession to practice, and even what to believe. But the option to choose in such matters was not something we always possessed or even aspired to. At the same time, we have been warned by everybody from marketing gurus to psychologists about the negative consequences stemming from our current obsession with choice. It turns out that not only are we not very good at realizing our personal desires, we are also overwhelmed with too many possibilities and anxious about what best to select. There are social costs too. How did all this happen? The Age of Choice tells the long history of the invention of choice as the defining feature of modern freedom.
Taking readers from the seventeenth century to today, Sophia Rosenfeld describes how the early modern world witnessed the simultaneous rise of shopping as an activity and religious freedom as a matter of being able to pick one’s convictions. Similarly, she traces the history of choice in romantic life, politics, and the ideals of human rights. Throughout, she pays particular attention to the lives of women, those often with the fewest choices, who have frequently been the drivers of this change. She concludes with an exploration of how reproductive rights have become a symbolic flashpoint in our contemporary struggles over the association of liberty with choice.
Drawing on a wealth of sources ranging from novels and restaurant menus to the latest scientific findings about choice in psychology and economics, The Age of Choice urges us to rethink the meaning of choice and its promise and limitations in modern life.
“…immensely informative and engaging…” – Glenn C. Altschuler, Ph.D., Psychology Today
“At a time when we are awash with options—indeed, drowning in them—Rosenfeld’s analysis of how our modern idea of ‘freedom’ became bound up in the idea of personal choice feels especially timely, touching on everything from politics to romance.” – Sophia M. Stewart, The Millions
“When and why did choice come to be treated as a proxy for freedom, and how has it changed lives in the process?… This first-rate study of choice and freedom will appeal to most history lovers.” – David Keymer, Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
Bibliophobia: A Memoir by Sarah Chihaya ★
nonfiction / memoir / books / psychology.
Books can seduce you. They can, Sarah Chihaya believes, annihilate, reveal, and provoke you. And anyone incurably obsessed with books understands this kind of unsettling literary encounter. Sarah calls books that have this effect “Life Ruiners”.
Her Life Ruiner, Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, became a talisman for her in high school when its electrifying treatment of race exposed Sarah’s deepest feelings about being Japanese American in a predominantly white suburb of Cleveland. But Sarah had always lived through her books, seeking escape, self-definition, and rules for living. She built her life around reading, wrote criticism, and taught literature at an Ivy League University. Then she was hospitalized for a nervous breakdown, and the world became an unreadable blank page. In the aftermath, she was faced with a question. Could we ever truly rewrite the stories that govern our lives?
Bibliophobia is an alternately searing and darkly humorous story of breakdown and survival told through books. Delving into texts such as Anne of Green Gables, Possession, A Tale for the Time Being, The Last Samurai, Chihaya interrogates her cultural identity, her relationship with depression, and the intoxicating, sometimes painful, ways books push back on those who love them.
“[A] must read for any reader determined to understand why we turn to literature in both the best and worst of times.” – Emily Firetog, Literary Hub
“[A] revelatory meditation on the unsettling resonances between life and literature.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“Vulnerable yet acerbic, this moving interrogation of the stories that helped Chihaya survive in a predominantly white environment validates the real and raw ways in which books shape people’s internal and external identities in personal, political, psychological, and social ways.” – Emily Bowles, Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
“Bibliophobia will strike a feeling of familiarity in some readers. It may encourage rereading or reading anew, and taking a closer look into how literature can sustain or derail us. It also feels like a force that may become, for some, its own brand of Life Ruiner.” – Sara Verstynen, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune ★
fiction / fantasy / science fiction / romance.
In the spring of 1995, Nate Cartwright has lost everything: his parents are dead, his only brother wants nothing to do with him, and he’s been fired from his job as a journalist in Washington, DC.
With nothing left to lose, he returns to his family’s summer cabin outside the small mountain town of Roseland, Oregon, to try and find some sense of direction. The cabin should be empty. It’s not.
Inside is a man named Alex. And with him is an extraordinary ten-year-old girl who calls herself Artemis Darth Vader. Artemis, who isn’t exactly as she appears.
Soon it becomes clear that Nate must make a choice: let himself drown in the memories of his past, or fight for a future he never thought possible. Because the girl is special. And forces are descending upon them who want nothing more than to control her.
“Klune created something special here, and I hope you’ll all go out and grab it!” – Jules, The Novel Approach Reviews
“The characters, in true Klune form, were vibrant and the world is vivid. It is so easy to recommend this book.” – Brady Parkin, The Indie Next List
“Even as the character arcs pack emotional punches and the plot builds with intensity, the story is balanced with the humor and wry character introspection Klune is known for… [it] only solidifies Klune’s reputation for skillful prose and worldbuilding.” – Kristi Chadwick, Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
“…vividly evocative… Nate, Alex, and Artemis are brought to stunning life in snappy sentences that don’t overstay their welcome, and Klune takes the time to flesh out little details that make the characters almost leap off the page… at times tender, at times terrifying, and always told with an eye towards the inherent humanity everyone deserves to be shown.” – Chris Kluwe, Lightspeed
A Century of Fiction in The New Yorker: 1925-2025 edited by Deborah Treisman
fiction / short stories.
Edited by The New Yorker‘s fiction editor, Deborah Treisman, a celebratory selection from one hundred years of short stories in the magazine which has been the most influential and important showcase for the form and has launched dozens of stellar careers in fiction.
There is simply no A–Z like the alphabet of fiction writers who have appeared in the pages of The New Yorker in the last hundred years. The book boasts inarguable classics like Salinger’s “A Perfect Day for Bananafish,” Annie Proulx’s “Brokeback Mountain,” and Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” alongside stunners to be rediscovered. Some stories defined a moment or a now-lost world (Isaac Bashevis Singer’s “The Cafeteria”); others showed us a whole new way fiction could sound and feel (“The Red Girl,” by Jamaica Kincaid).
With this vivid selection, Treisman showcases how our fiction has changed over time, and reminds us that past literary fashions continue to ripple outward in the fiction we love today. What does a Donald Barthelme mean to the craft of short fiction now? What will a Yiyun Li mean to the next generation of readers and writers? This exquisite tour of the form as practiced at its highest level will leap directly into the hearts of readers of all ages, all stripes, and is a beautiful tribute to the magazine’s influence on our literary culture over the last century.
“[The] centenary is the anniversary that really matters, and Deborah Treisman, Knopf, and, hats off you dear old thing, The New Yorker have done a magnificent job commemorating it.” – Steve Donoghue, Open Letters Review
A Century of Poetry in The New Yorker: 1925-2025 edited by Kevin Young
nonfiction / poetry.
Edited by the magazine’s poetry editor, Kevin Young, a celebratory selection from one hundred years of influential, entertaining, and taste-making verse in The New Yorker.
Seamus Heaney, Dorothy Parker, Louise Bogan, Louise Glück, Randall Jarrell, Langston Hughes, Derek Walcott, Sylvia Plath, W. S. Merwin, Czesław Miłosz, Tracy K. Smith, Mark Strand, E. E. Cummings, Sharon Olds, Franz Wright, John Ashbery, Sandra Cisneros, Amanda Gorman, Maggie Smith, Kaveh Akbar: these stellar names make up just a fraction of the wonderfulness that is present in this essential anthology.
The book is organized into sections honoring times of day (“Morning Bell,” “Lunch Break,” “After-Work Drinks,” “Night Shift”), allowing poets from different eras to talk back to one another in the same space, intertwined with chronological groupings from the decades as they march by: the frothy 1920s and 1930s (“despite the depression,” Young notes), the more serious ’40s and ’50s (introducing us to the early greats of our contemporary poetry, like Elizabeth Bishop, W. S. Merwin, and Adrienne Rich), the political ’60s and ’70s, the lyrical ’80s and ’90s, and then the 2000s’ with their explosion of greater diversity in the magazine, greater depth and breadth. Inevitably, we see the high points when poems spoke directly into, about, or against the crises of their times—the war poetry of W. H. Auden and Karl Shapiro; the remarkable outpouring of verse after 9/11 (who can forget Adam Zagajewski’s “Try to Praise the Mutilated World”?); and more recently, stunning poems in response to the cataclysmic events of COVID and the murder of George Floyd.
The magazine’s poetic influence resides not just in this historical and cultural relevance but in sheer human connection, exemplified by the passing verses that became what Young calls “refrigerator poems”: the ones you tear out and affix to the fridge to read again and again over months and years. Our love for that singular Billy Collins or Ada Limón poem—or lines by a new writer you’ve never heard of but will hear much more from in the future—is what has made The New Yorker a great organ for poetry, a mouthpiece for our changing culture and way of life, even a mirror of our collective soul.
“Relive 100 years of New Yorker poetry, from writers past and present, highlighting the game-changing words from some of the best poets to ever pick up a pen.” – Isabelle McConville, B&N Reads
Cleavage: Men, Women, and the Space Between Us by Jenny Finney Boylan ★
nonfiction / memoir / history / sociology.
Jennifer Finney Boylan’s She’s Not There was the first bestselling work written by a transgender American. Since its publication twenty years ago, she has become the go-to person for insight into the impact of gender on our lives, from the food we eat to the dreams we dream, both for ourselves and for our children. But Cleavage is more than a deep dive into gender identity; it’s also a look at the difference between coming out as trans in 2000—when many people reacted to Boylan’s transition with love—and the present era of blowback and fear.
How does gender affect our sense of self? Our body image? The passage of time? The friends we lose—and keep? Boylan considers her womanhood, reflects on the boys and men who shaped her, and reconceives of herself as a writer, activist, parent, and spouse. With heart-wrenching honesty, she illustrates the feeling of liminality that followed her to adulthood, but demonstrates the redemptive power of love through it all.
With Boylan’s trademark humor and poignancy, Cleavage is a sharp, witty, and captivating look at the triumphs and losses of a life lived in two genders. Cleavage provides hope for a future in which we all have the freedom to live joyfully as men, as women, and in the space between us.
“…insightful, readable and clever.” – McKayla Coyle, Literary Hub
“…luminous… While her tone ranges from sprightly to quirky to serious, the content of Boylan’s stories is always erudite, enlightening, and thought-provoking. Love is never far from her consciousness. She concludes that with a little luck, love might prevail, and readers will hope so, too.” – Michael Cart, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“…witty and wise… Readers will be equal parts entertained and edified.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“Boylan has a unique perspective, having navigated the world in two genders, and she augments her own experience with a big-picture examination of what it means to be who you are.” – New York Times
Deep End by Ali Hazelwood ★
fiction / romance.
Scarlett Vandermeer is swimming upstream. A Junior at Stanford and a student-athlete who specializes in platform diving, Scarlett prefers to keep her head down, concentrating on getting into med school and on recovering from the injury that almost ended her career. She has no time for relationships—at least, that’s what she tells herself.
Swim captain, world champion, all-around aquatics golden boy, Lukas Blomqvist thrives on discipline. It’s how he wins gold medals and breaks records: complete focus, with every stroke. On the surface, Lukas and Scarlett have nothing in common. Until a well-guarded secret slips out, and everything changes.
So they start an arrangement. And as the pressure leading to the Olympics heats up, so does their relationship. It was supposed to be just a temporary, mutually satisfying fling. But when staying away from Lukas becomes impossible, Scarlett realizes that her heart might be treading into dangerous water…
“…addictive, well-rounded, and fun… it’s one of my favorite Ali Hazelwood books to date… sexy, fun, and a stellar example of just how messy, yet perfect, real life can be.” – Garri Chaverst, The Everygirl
“…Hazelwood’s latest is proof of the depth and maturity that has emerged in her writing over the years, and it highlights her embrace of sexier, more emotional elements than were present in her original STEMinist rom-coms.” – Kirkus Reviews
“The chemistry between Scarlett and Lukas is volcanic thanks to Hazelwood’s crisp prose and molten-hot sex scenes. The author’s fans will eat this up.” – Publishers Weekly
“Hazelwood’s shift towards even more emotionally charged and erotically intense storytelling will have you hooked from start to finish. The exploration of intimacy, emotional healing, and self-worth has never been stronger, proving just how far Hazelwood has come as a writer… Make no mistake, Deep End is Hazelwood’s spiciest book yet… if you’re craving an intense, passionate, and deeply emotional romance, Deep End is a masterpiece.” – Aurora Dominguez, BookTrib.
Dengue Boy by Michael Nieva; translated by Rahul Bery
fiction / science fiction / fantasy / horror.
The protagonist of this story has no understanding of the words “winter”, “cold”, or “snow” because he has never experienced the phenomena they describe. We find ourselves in Victorica, a province of La Pampa, Argentina, some time after 2197 – the year in which the last of the Antarctic icecaps melted and an unprecedented climate catastrophe ensued, radically transforming the landscape of the region into a Caribbean Pampas. It is here that the Dengue Child grows up, a mutant mix of child and mosquito, the result of crazy experimenting driven by ultra-capitalistic corporations racing against each other to own viruses and their cures, destroying even their very own children’s existence to cash in on the stock exchange.
Another of the surprising effects of the thaw is the appearance of powerful telepathic pebbles from the bowels of the earth that seem to encapsulate the world’s original wisdom, and which are the subject of lucrative smuggling. Meanwhile, the wealthy of the region chose to cruise around on ships where they can experience ice-skating and hand carve ice from valuable remains of glaciers. In their ultra-air conditioned homes, their kids play Indians vs Christians, a brutal video game set in the historical 19th century.
The future according to Michel Nieva looks frenetic and shocking. His is one of the most exciting literary voices emerging from Argentina, packing punches in a deeply intelligent, informed, and humorful prose which takes root in Latin American storytelling and sci-fi tradition.
“Delightfully gonzo and hilariously surreal, this novel turns nightmarish visions into vital art. It’s a sui generis showstopper.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“[A] dystopian fever dream that’s equal parts poetic and profane, beautiful and splattered with gore… Dengue Boy is a trip. It’s a cry of rage against the inhumanity of corporate greed, a mourning for the destruction of our climate, a warning of the dangers we’re unlocking from the thawing ground, and a heartbreaking loss of hope for the future of mankind. It’s a pessimistic and transformative experience that is powerful, challenging, rewarding, and difficult to sit with.” – John Keogh, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“It could easily be a dreary read, but Nieva has somehow created something closer to a romp… [a] surreal journey, punctuating horrors both workaday and fantastical with an irresistible humor.” – Chloe Joe, Bustle
Dream Girl Drama by Tessa Bailey
fiction / romance / comedy.
When professional hockey player Sig Gauthier’s car breaks down and his phone dies, he treks into a posh private country club to call a tow truck, where he encounters the alluring Chloe Clifford, the manic pixie dream girl who captivates him immediately with her sense of adventure and penchant for stealing champagne.
Sparks fly during a moonlight kiss and the enamored pair can’t wait to see each other again, but when Sig finally arrives to meet his dad’s new girlfriend over dinner, Chloe is confusingly also there. Turns out the girlfriend is Chloe’s mother. Oh, and they’re engaged.
Sig’s dream girl is his future stepsister.
Though the pair is now wary of being involved romantically, Chloe, a sheltered harp prodigy, yearns to escape her controlling mother. Sig promises to teach her the ins and outs of independence in Boston—but not inside his bedroom. They both know there can never be more than friendship between a famous hockey player and his high-society, soon-to-be stepsister. But keeping their relationship platonic grows harder amid the developing family drama, especially knowing they were meant for so much more…
“This love-at-first-glance romance between a gruff cinnamon-roll hero and a naive dream girl is swoon-worthy. The tension between the characters is palpable, and readers will be on a knife’s edge waiting for it to break.” – Heather Miller Cover, Library Journal
“…irresistible… the chemistry between these soon to be stepsiblings is explosive and ignoring it proves impossible… This is a winner.” – Publishers Weekly
“…sensually hot and sweetly heartfelt… rewards readers with an ingeniously inventive cast that not only includes some memorable secondary characters, including a fierce and fabulous harp mentor, but also a perfectly matched pair of protagonists, whose combustible sexual chemistry provides the fuel for several incendiary love scenes.” – John Charles, Booklist
Fearless and Free: A Memoir by Josephine Baker; translated by Anam Zafar & Sophie Lewis
nonfiction / memoir / history / music.
After stealing the spotlight as a teenaged Broadway performer during the height of the Harlem Renaissance, Josephine then took Paris by storm, dazzling audiences across the Roaring Twenties. In her famous banana skirt, she enraptured royalty and countless fans—Ernest Hemingway and Pablo Picasso among them. She strolled the streets of Paris with her pet cheetah wearing a diamond collar. With her signature flapper bob and enthralling dance moves, she was one of the most recognizable women in the world.
When World War II broke out, Josephine became a decorated spy for the French Résistance. Her celebrity worked as her cover, as she hid spies in her entourage and secret messages in her costumes as she traveled. She later joined the Civil Rights movement in the US, boycotting segregated concert venues, and speaking at the March on Washington alongside Martin Luther King Jr.
First published in France in 1949, her memoir will now finally be published in English. At last we can hear Josephine in her own voice: charming, passionate, and brave. Her words are thrilling and intimate, like she’s talking with her friends over after-show drinks in her dressing room. Through her own telling, we come to know a woman who danced to the top of the world and left her unforgettable mark on it.
“[It] reads like Baker herself, exuberant, slyly humorous, and imbued with an all-encompassing warmth and compassion.” – Lesley Williams, Booklist
“This dialogue with Baker revels in her poetic and often humorous way of speaking.” – Sarah Wolberg, Library Journal
“A freewheeling account of the boundary-smashing entertainer’s first four decades… Baker’s charmingly scattershot reminiscences flag the need for a full-scale biography of this remarkable woman.” – Kirkus Reviews
A Forty Year Kiss by Nickolas Butler
fiction / romance.
Charlie and Vivian parted ways after just four years of marriage. Too many problems, too many struggles, even though the love didn’t quite die. When Charlie returns to Wisconsin forty years later, he’s not sure what he’ll find. He is sure of one thing — he must try to reconnect with Vivian to pick up the broken pieces of their past. But forty years is a long time. It’s forty years of other relationships, forty years of building new lives, and forty years of long-held regrets, mistakes, and painful secrets.
A brave and triumphant exploration of redemption and sunset triumph, A Forty Year Kiss is a once-in-a-lifetime love story, written with dazzling lyricism and remarkable clarity of spirit, from a celebrated author at the top of his game. It’s a literary valentine that promises to be a love story for the ages.
“This charming and empathetic portrayal of the Midwest and its denizens explores late-in-life romance, the pangs of regret, and the possibility of renewal no matter how much time has passed.” – Stephanie Turza, Booklist
“The novel is beautiful and full of complex characters. It is a love story, not only between Charlie and Vivian but also between the novel and the Midwest, as the characters journey between Eau Claire, Chippewa Falls, and Spooner, WI, along with Minneapolis and Chicago. Fans of Butler and of romance will be delighted with this novel.” – Sarah Michaelis, Library Journal
Gliff by Ali Smith ★
fiction / science fiction.
An uncertain near-future. A story of new boundaries drawn between people daily. A not-very brave new world.
Add two children. And a horse.
From a Scottish word meaning a transient moment, a shock, a faint glimpse, Gliff explores how and why we endeavour to make a mark on the world. In a time when western industry wants to reduce us to algorithms and data—something easily categorizable and predictable—Smith shows us why our humanity, our individual complexities, matter more than ever.
“Ali Smith’s miraculous Gliff is at once a pitch-black take on the authoritarian future and a tender, hilarious and ultimately uplifting portrait of two young siblings as they battle to escape it. Full of jokes and wordplay, kindness and connection… A ray of hope after a year like this one.” – Paul Murray, The Irish Times
“…chilling… Orwellian… It’s a vivid portrait of a decaying civilization—one snuffed out not with a bang but with a bleak, bureaucratic whimper.” – Liam Hess, Vogue
“Smith’s playful new dystopia follows two children as they navigate a heavily surveilled world in which tech is omnipresent, and oppressive… Part of the joy of Gliff is that, while it is set in a dark future, there are moments of genuine humor.” – The New Yorker
“…ingenious… the lush narrative doubles as an anthem of resistance, in this case against tyranny and the destruction of the environment. Inspired references to Charles Dickens and Virginia Woolf add to Smith’s literary tapestry. The results are extraordinary.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
Harriet Tubman: Military Scout and Tenacious Visionary by Jean Marie Wiesen & Rita Daniels
nonfiction / biography / history.
For all Harriet Tubman’s accomplishments and the myriad books written about her, many gaps, errors, and misconceptions of her legendary life persist. One such fallacy is that Sarah H. (Hopkins) Bradford is to blame for omitted information in Harriet Tubman: The Moses of Her People and that she ended her second book too soon. But according to the Tubman family, it was Harriet’s physical disability, the result of a head injury she incurred as a child, that left her unable to complete the necessary lengthy interview process with Sarah and properly flesh out the work.
Harriet Tubman: Military Scout and Tenacious Visionary sets out to rectify these omissions and many others. As recognition and tributes to Tubman’s remarkable contributions to American history and civil liberty continues to grow, the time is right for a new biography with the involvement of her family, who have been the caretakers and stewards of her legacy for generations.
Just who was this remarkable woman? We might know the outlines of her story, but the deep research of Jean Marie Wiesen and rich family memory of Rita Daniels combine to form a nuanced and vibrant portrait of a historic figure we all thought we knew. Uncovering Harriet’s ancestral roots in Ghana and exploring her time on the underground railroad, as a military scout, suffragette, and more, Harriet Tubman is an inspiring and illuminating narrative about a key figure in our history.
“Written in a simple, straightforward manner with short chapters, this book is an excellent choice for both adults and teens wanting to learn more about this courageous woman.” – Lucy Roehrig, Booklist
“…comprehensive… Character traits and sensibilities, like Tubman’s famed curative skills as an herbalist, are placed within a powerful context, linked not only to an abridged American narrative, but also to a family’s African roots and her descendants’ ongoing work… grants both authoritative history and authentic humanity to a story frequently segmented for political expediency or specialized study, leaving readers with a fuller understanding of Tubman’s unique bravery, fortitude, and leadership.” – Kirkus Reviews
Isola by Allegra Goodman ★
fiction / historical fiction.
Heir to a fortune, Marguerite is destined for a life of prosperity and gentility. Then she is orphaned, and her guardian—an enigmatic and volatile man—spends her inheritance and insists she accompany him on an expedition to New France. Isolated and afraid, Marguerite befriends her guardian’s servant and the two develop an intense attraction. But when their relationship is discovered, they are brutally punished and abandoned on a small island with no hope for rescue.
Once a child of privilege who dressed in gowns and laced pearls in her hair, Marguerite finds herself at the mercy of nature. As the weather turns, blanketing the island in ice, she discovers a faith she’d never before needed.
Inspired by the real life of a sixteenth-century heroine, Isola is the timeless story of a woman fighting for survival.
“It is an extraordinary book that reads like a thriller, written with the care of the most delicate psychological and historical fiction.” – Chloe Schama, Vogue
“[A] lushly painted, surprisingly feminist historical fiction… It’s a perfect read for cozying up by a roaring fire — and feeling thankful you’re not the sixteenth-century heroine the story is based on.” – Lizz Schumer, People
“Goodman’s sweeping page turner is at once historical and modern, intimate and epic, personal and powerful.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
“Based on a scantly documented true story, Goodman’s lush and enthralling castaway tale of betrayal and love, suffering and strength is magnificent in its beauty, mystery, fury, and redemption.” – Donna Seaman, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
A Killing Cold by Kate Alice Marshall
fiction / suspense / mystery.
A whirlwind romance.
When Theodora Scott met Connor—wealthy, charming, and a member of the powerful Dalton family—she fell in love in an instant. Six months later, he’s brought her to Idlewood, his family’s isolated winter retreat, to win over his skeptical relatives.
Stay away from Connor Dalton.
Theo has tried to ignore the threatening messages on her phone, but she can’t ignore the footprints in the snow outside the cabin window or the strange sense of familiarity she has about this place. Then, in a disused cabin, Theo finds something impossible: a photo of herself as a child. A photo taken at Idlewood.
I’ve been here before.
Theo has almost no recollection of her earliest years, but now she begins to piece together the fragments of her memories. Someone here has a shocking secret that they will do anything to keep hidden, and Theo is in terrible danger. Because the Daltons do not lose, and discovering what happened at Idlewood may cost Theo everything.
“Fans of Riley Sager will enjoy this.” – Publishers Weekly
“Marshall’s chilling new novel pushes all the right buttons when it comes to inexorable suspense and psychological frights.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
“As the secrets this family has been holding onto for years start to come out, this drama goes in a dark, suspenseful direction. Just when you think you know where this is headed, it becomes full of twists and turns. Yes please!” – Paige N., Library Reads
The Lamb by Lucy Rose
fiction / horror.
Margot and Mama have lived by the forest ever since Margot can remember.
When Margot is not at school, they spend quiet days together in their cottage, waiting for strangers to knock on their door. Strays, Mama calls them. People who have strayed too far from the road. Mama loves the strays. She feeds them wine, keeps them warm. Then she satisfies her burning appetite by picking apart their bodies.
But Mama’s want is stronger than her hunger sometimes, and when a beautiful, white-toothed stray named Eden turns up in the heart of a snowstorm, Margot must confront the shifting dynamics of her family, untangle her own desires, and make her bid for freedom.
With this gothic coming-of-age tale, debut novelist Lucy Rose explores how women swallow their anger, desire, and animal instincts—and wrings the relationship between mother and daughter until blood drips from it.
“A gruesome yet illuminating coming-of-age story that will keep readers awake night after night.” – Kirkus Reviews
“[A] potent and grotesque tale… Rose’s portrayal of the cannibalism feels at once vividly real and metaphorical, satisfying both as horror and as a portrait of the dark side of feminine rage. This modern folktale hits hard.” – Publishers Weekly
“Rose’s debut is a brutal meditation on motherhood, feminine rage, and what it takes to survive. It’s equal parts scathing and sentimental, and fans of Rachel Yoder’s Nightbitch and Kristi DeMeester’s Such a Pretty Smile will be perversely delighted by Margot’s bloody coming-of-age.” – Raychel Bennet, Booklist
Last Twilight in Paris by Pam Jenoff ★
fiction / historical fiction / mystery.
London, 1953. Louise is still adjusting to her postwar role as a housewife when she discovers a necklace in a box at a secondhand shop. The box is marked with the name of a department store in Paris, and she is certain she has seen the necklace before, when she worked with the Red Cross in Nazi-occupied Europe —and that it holds the key to the mysterious death of her friend Franny during the war.
Following the trail of clues to Paris, Louise seeks help from her former boss Ian, with whom she shares a romantic history. The necklace leads them to discover the dark history of Lévitan—a once-glamorous department store that served as a Nazi prison, and Helaine, a woman who was imprisoned there, torn apart from her husband when the Germans invaded France.
Louise races to find the connection between the necklace, the department store and Franny’s death. But nothing is as it seems, and there are forces determined to keep the truth buried forever. Inspired by the true story of Lévitan, Last Twilight in Paris is both a gripping mystery and an unforgettable story about sacrifice, resistance and the power of love to transcend in even the darkest hours.
“This is one you do not want to miss.” – Red Carpet Crash
“The stakes are high in Jenoff’s factually grounded tale, creating a breathtaking novel of love, loss, and inner fortitude.” – Leah Strauss, Booklist
“Jenoff offers a piercing depiction of Jewish life in Paris under German occupation, and keeps the pages turning with an intriguing mystery. Fans of WWII fiction will be riveted.” – Publishers Weekly
“Last Twilight in Paris is another incredible historical fiction novel by Pam Jenoff… Captivating, moving, and fast-paced!” – Kathy Morrison, The Indie Next List
Lion by Sonya Walger
fiction.
Lion is the story of a father and a daughter. The father is the unlikeliest of fathers. He is a charismatic bon vivant, a polo player, race-car driver, cocaine addict, ex-con, pilot, and skydiver. He is like a minor god who comes down to earth in a grand manner, falling in all the ways there are to fall. Lion moves back and forth between present-day Los Angeles, where the daughter lives and works as an actress, and the past of her peripatetic childhood in England, Argentina, and Peru. “It is hard to compete with adrenalin when you are a child,” she writes, now a mother herself to young children whose settled upbringing prompts her to consider her unconventional youth and the source of its chaos.
Sonya Walger’s stunning autobiographical debut is an emotionally acute palimpsest of a novel, full of drama and incident, love and tragedy. The legend of the father’s life and her distinctive and imaginatively charged telling of it make for an engrossing and unforgettable family saga.
“[A] piercing autobiographical novel… Throughout, the dual themes of shame and overwhelming love are beautifully expressed, and the portrait of the father’s tragic arc is at once sweeping and precise… It’s a revelation.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“A haunted story of a charismatic and deeply flawed man—and the people left in his wake.” – Kirkus Reviews
“Sonya Walger’s Lion is the kind of book that will appeal to various readers for entirely different reasons… a moving depiction of the impressionistic emotional lessons of childhood and an investigation of the fundamental question of what makes a good parent. Or, more precisely, why is it that we venerate the figures who hold themselves most aloof?” – Chloe Schama, Vogue
Listen To Your Sister by Neena Viel
fiction / horror / suspense / mystery.
Twenty-five year old Calla Williams is struggling since becoming guardian to her brother, Jamie. Calla is overwhelmed and tired of being the one who makes sacrifices to keep the family together. Jamie, full of good-natured sixteen-year-old recklessness, is usually off fighting for what matters to him or getting into mischief, often at the same time. Dre, their brother, promised he would help raise Jamie–but now the ink is dry on the paperwork and in classic middle-child fashion, he’s off doing his own thing. And through it all, The Nightmare never stops haunting Calla: recurring images of her brothers dying that she is powerless to stop.
When Jamie’s actions at a protest spiral out of control, the siblings must go on the run. Taking refuge in a remote cabin that looks like it belongs on a slasher movie poster rather than an AirBNB, the siblings now face a new threat where their lives–and reality–hang in the balance. Their sister always warned them about her nightmares. They really should have listened.
“A relentless descent into familial fears made manifest, both haunting and terribly familiar.” – Kirkus Reviews
“…intense… [a] fever dream of a novel… Viel’s inventive take on haunted-house tropes thoughtfully examines the undue burdens placed on Black women to keep their families together. Fans of Jordan Peele’s films will want to check this out.” – Kaitlin Conner, Booklist
“Unique and compelling, Viel’s impressive debut turns real and relatable trauma into a terrifying and immerse supernatural horror story that is clearly underpinned with love.” – Becky Spratford, Library Journal
Memorial Days: A Memoir by Geraldine Brooks ★
nonfiction / memoir / philosophy.
Many cultural and religious traditions expect those who are grieving to step away from the world. In contemporary life, we are more often met with red tape and to-do lists. This is exactly what happened to Geraldine Brooks when her partner of more than three decades, Tony Horwitz – just sixty years old and, to her knowledge, vigorous and healthy – collapsed and died on a Washington, D. C. sidewalk.
After spending their early years together in conflict zones as foreign correspondents, Geraldine and Tony settled down to raise two boys on Martha’s Vineyard. The life they built was one of meaningful work, good humor, and tenderness, as they spent their days writing and their evenings cooking family dinners or watching the sun set with friends at the beach. But all of this ended abruptly when, on Memorial Day 2019, Geraldine received the phone call we all dread. The demands were immediate and many. Without space to grieve, the sudden loss became a yawning gulf.
Three years later, she booked a flight to a remote island off the coast of Australia with the intention of finally giving herself the time to mourn. In a shack on a pristine, rugged coast she often went days without seeing another person. There, she pondered the various ways in which cultures grieve and what rituals of her own might help to rebuild a life around the void of Tony’s death.
A spare and profoundly moving memoir that joins the classics of the genre, Memorial Days is a portrait of a larger-than-life man and a timeless love between souls that exquisitely captures the joy, agony, and mystery of life.
“…beautifully written… This book will stay with me for some time.” – Daniel Jordan, The Indie Next List
“Exploring what it means to truly grieve and melding it with the personal experience of a celebrated writer, this is a moving account of what it is to love, to lose and to heal.” – Isabelle McConville, B&N Reads
“Reflecting on mourning rituals in various traditions, while chronicling the dramatic, lonesome, and restorative beauty and spirit of the island, Brooks, with arresting precision, sensitivity, and candor, takes deep soundings of her grief and evolving perceptions and feelings in a generous and resonant remembrance.” – Donna Seaman, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“…moving and lyrical… Brooks concludes by imploring readers to spend time processing their trauma, crediting the experience with her resolution to make ‘the life I have as vivid and consequential as I can.’ Brooks’s spare yet forceful prose and admirable determination to stare pain in the face go a long way toward achieving that goal. Readers reckoning with the loss of a loved one will find wisdom in these pages.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
Mutual Interest by Olivia Wolfgang-Smith ★
fiction / historical fiction.
At the turn of the 20th century, Vivian Lesperance is determined to flee her origins in Utica, New York, and avoid repeating her parents’ dull, limited life. When she meets Oscar Schmidt, a middle manager at a soap company, Vivian finds a partner she can guide to build the life she wants-not least because, more interested in men himself, Oscar will leave Vivian to tend to her own romances with women.
But Vivian’s plans require capital, so the two pair up with Squire Clancey, scion of an old American fortune. Together they found Clancey & Schmidt, a preeminent manufacturer of soap, perfume, and candles. When Oscar and Squire fall in love, the trio form a new kind of partnership.
Vivian reaches the pinnacle of her power building Clancey & Schmidt into an empire of personal care products while operating behind the image of both men. But exposure threatens, and all three partners are made aware of how much they have to lose.
“…stunning… Wolfgang-Smith’s sharp, sardonic narration brilliantly brings to life both the Gilded Age and her unforgettable protagonists. It’s a virtuosic performance.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“Wolfgang-Smith approaches historical fiction as a costume ball, affecting a fizzy, omniscient narration: At the book’s most fun, it’s Edith Wharton or Henry James, with more camp and a winking tone… a memorable tale uniquely told.” – Kirkus Reviews
“…Wolfgang-Smith’s historical fiction feels timeless yet speaks perfectly to the present. Mutual Interest feels new and unexpected in the best way.” – David Vogel, The Indie Next List
“Wolfgang-Smith’s remarkable skill with story and language brings readers into queer life in the early days of the twentieth century. Even side characters have deep histories… Wolfgang-Smith’s memorable protagonists and rich description are captivating.” – Laura Chanoux, Booklist
On the Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Kathmandu and the Making of a Travel Writer by Rick Steves
nonfiction / memoir / travel.
I
n the 1970s, the ultimate trip for any backpacker was the storied “Hippie Trail” from Istanbul to Kathmandu. A 23-year-old Rick Steves made the trek, and like a travel writer in training, he documented everything along the way: jumping off a moving train, making friends in Tehran, getting lost in Lahore, getting high for the first time in Herat, battling leeches in Pokhara, and much more. The experience ignited his love of travel and forever broadened his perspective on the world.
This book contains edited selections from Rick’s journal and travel photos with a 45-years-later preface and postscript reflecting on how the journey changed his life. Stow away with Rick Steves on the adventure of a lifetime through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Nepal.
You know Rick Steves. Now discover the adventure that made him the travel writer he is today.
“[An] inspiring read, full of the joy of adventure and discovery…” – Lulu Garcia-Navarro, New York Times
“A pleasure for travel buffs, especially those who once plied the Hippie Trail—or wish they had.” – Kirkus Reviews
“Steves’s journal offers a window into time, before travel through the greater Middle East became vastly more complicated. Recommended for Steves’s fans and armchair travelers.” – Barrie Olmstead, Library Journal
Reading the Waves: A Memoir by the Author of The Chronology of Water by Lydia Yuknavitch
nonfiction / memoir.
“I believe our bodies are carriers of experience,” Lidia Yuknavitch writes in her provocative memoir Reading the Waves. “I mean to ask if there is a way to read my own past differently, using what I have learned from literature: how stories repeat and reverberate and release us from the tyranny of our mistakes, our traumas, and our confusions.”
Drawing on her background — her father’s abuse, her complicated dynamic with her disabled mother, the death of her child, her sexual relationships with men and women — and her creative life as an author and teacher, Yuknavitch has come to understand that by using the power of literature and storytelling to reframe her memories, she can loosen the bonds that have enslaved her emotional growth. Armed with this insight, she allows herself to look with the eye of an artist at the wounds she suffered and come to understand the transformational power this has to restore her soul.
By turns candid and lyrical, stoic and forgiving, blunt and evocative, Reading the Waves reframes memory to show how crucial this process can be to gaining a deeper understanding of ourselves.
“…remarkable… At the outset, the author decides to approach her own past like a favorite book, hoping this approach might ‘loosen’ those memories’ grip on her psyche today. The eclectic results won’t just move those who already follow the creator, but will inspire readers to revisit their own lives with as much care and creativity.” – Grace Wehniainen, Bustle
“[A] bracing, daring memoir… In many ways a book-length ode to the power of craft, Yuknavitch continues on with the legacy she’s creating: the need for brutal honesty to pave the way for a brighter path.” – Julia Hass, Literary Hub
“At turns emotional and darkly hilarious… this memoir is rich ground and a magnificent narrative about memory, trauma, and healing. Fans of genre-bending or lyrical memoir will enjoy this multilayered meditation leveraging Yuknavitch’s creativity, thoughtfulness, and sense of wonder.” – Leah von Essen, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
Source Code: My Beginnings by Bill Gates ★
nonfiction / memoir / history / technology / business.
The business triumphs of Bill Gates are widely known: the twenty-year-old who dropped out of Harvard to start a software company that became an industry giant and changed the way the world works and lives; the billionaire many times over who turned his attention to philanthropic pursuits to address climate change, global health, and U.S. education.
Source Code is not about Microsoft or the Gates Foundation or the future of technology. It’s the human, personal story of how Bill Gates became who he is today: his childhood, his early passions and pursuits. It’s the story of his principled grandmother and ambitious parents, his first deep friendships and the sudden death of his best friend; of his struggles to fit in and his discovery of a world of coding and computers in the dawn of a new era; of embarking in his early teens on a path that took him from midnight escapades at a nearby computer center to his college dorm room, where he sparked a revolution that would change the world.
Bill Gates tells this, his own story, for the first time: wise, warm, revealing, it’s a fascinating portrait of an American life.
“[A] surprisingly candid memoir of the Microsoft mogul’s early years… reading this book feels like watching someone take a well-known black-and-white sketch, fill in the details, and paint it in vivid color.” – Todd Bishop, GeekWire
“[An] interesting — and surprising — portrait of the beginnings of the larger-than-life personality that quite literally changed the world.” – Isabelle McConville, B&N Reads
“[An] easy and enjoyable read: not only an interesting peek into the complicated mind of Gates, a brilliant tech pioneer, but also a fun trip back to the beginning for PC enthusiasts.” – Wendy Sheehan Donnell, PC Mag
“If you are interested in how Gates became such a historic, influential businessman, then Source Code, an inside view from a hyper-focused young man with a brilliant mind, provides solid insights and fascinating tidbits… Perhaps his driven mind is best summed up in one of the book’s small asides. ‘I loved how the computer forced me to think. It was completely unforgiving in the face of mental sloppiness,’ he writes. ‘It demanded that I be logically consistent and pay attention to details.’” – Martin Chilton, The Independent
Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito ★
fiction / historical fiction / horror / comedy.
Grim Wolds, England: Winifred Notty arrives at Ensor House prepared to play the perfect governess—she’ll dutifully tutor her charges, Drusilla and Andrew, tell them bedtime stories, and only joke about eating children. But long, listless days spent within the estate’s dreary confines come with an intimate knowledge of the perversions and pathetic preoccupations of the Pounds family—Mr. Pounds can’t keep his eyes off Winifred’s chest, and Mrs. Pounds takes a sickly pleasure in punishing Winifred for her husband’s wandering gaze. Compounded with her disdain for the entitled Pounds children, Winifred finds herself struggling at every turn to stifle the violent compulsions of her past. French tutoring and needlework are one way to pass the time, as is admiring the ugly portraits in the gallery… and creeping across the moonlit lawns…
Patience. Winifred must have patience, for Christmas is coming, and she has very special gifts planned for the dear souls of Ensor House. Brimming with sardonic wit and culminating in a shocking conclusion, Victorian Psycho plunges readers into the chilling mind of an iconic new literary psychopath.
“This book will be the bloody belle of the 2025 literary ball…” – Charley Burlock, Oprah Daily
“If Patrick Bateman were a 19th-Century English Governess… Victorian Psycho, the second novel by Virginia Feito, lives up to its literary namesakes, delivering unrelenting gore and shock in the vein of those earlier novels by Bret Easton Ellis and Robert Bloch.” – Jac Jemc, New York Times
“Despite her inclinations to bite, pet, and stab, [Winifred] really is just a girl. A dead-eyed, gnashing psychopath, sure, but still just a girl. Juxtaposed to this hidden danger is her undeniable wit. It makes every repulsive detail read as eloquent. The results are conflicting and addictive, for the satirical commentary never dims on even the goriest exploits. Jane Austen would probably gasp in her grave for such a comparison, but the similarities are there with the remarks on societal stations, the humor, and the precise delivery. It’s wicked historical literature at its most morbid.” – Fangoria
“I don’t read a lot of historical fiction, but the protagonist of this book—the living embodiment of #nofilter—was just so compelling, I couldn’t stop reading. This woman’s deeds are truly heinous, and the book pulls no punches in describing them. At the same time, I couldn’t help rooting for her because, deep down, I felt the source of her ire deserved everything he got. Bonkers as this book is, it provided some fantastic commentary on womanhood and sexuality and desire and, hell, I wanted this woman to get everything she desired.” – Steph Auteri, Feminist Book Club
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