“People do not change, they are merely revealed.” – Anne Enright, The Gathering
American Fantasy by Emma Straub ★
fiction / romance / comedy.
When the American Fantasy cruise ship sets sail for a four-day themed voyage, aboard are all five members of a famous, nineties-era boy band and three thousand screaming women who have worshipped them since childhood.
Feeling slightly out of place amid this crowd is Annie, newly divorced, turning fifty with an empty nest, and here on a lark to appease her sister. Yet when the lights come up and the idols of her youth begin to sing, something is unlocked. Call it memory. Call it nostalgia. Call it the chemical reaction of hormones, hope, and sexual reawakening. Between the slushy alcoholic drinks, the familiar music, and the throngs of middle-aged women acting like lovesick teenagers, Annie finally reconnects to a long-submerged part of herself. By the time she meets one of the band members—not just a celebrity but someone in need of a friend—she has accessed a new sense of possibility.
In a smart and incisive book packed with laugh-out-loud reflections on fame, aging, marriage, and middle age, Emma Straub delivers a richly textured story that shows us real passion is never truly lost, that what we love makes us who we are, and that deep meaning can sometimes be found in a sea of screaming fans.
“A sharply clever and big-hearted story… Perfect for fans of nostalgic pop culture and imaginative, character-driven fiction.” – Leandra Beabout, Reader’s Digest
“A funny and poignant work about the pull of nostalgia and the appeal of second chances…American Fantasy is another Straub delight, a work whose light tone masks deeper meanings…[a] gift of a book.” – BookPage
“[As] wickedly funny as it is achingly earnest… Straub has a blast with the shipboard absurdity, but she grants every character—including the men being watched from a thousand angles—a layered inner life. A fizzy escapist thrill ride with real insights on the isolation of celebrity, the community of fandom, and the liberation of middle age.” – Charley Burlock, Oprah Daily
“A delightfully nostalgic novel about how the things we loved in the past have the power to shape our future.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
Attention: Writing on Life, Art, and the World by Anne Enright
nonfiction / essays / memoir / writing.
For thirty years Anne Enright―one of our greatest living novelists (Times)―has been paying attention: casting her lucid and distinctive gaze across the world, literature, and her own life, and gifting us with her precise insights. These essays, collated from across Enright’s career, take us from Galway to Honduras, from keen-eyed memoir to urgent political writing. Enright writes about the free voices and controlled bodies of women in society: She interprets Sophocles’ Antigone through the lens of the Mother and Baby Homes in Galway, writes on Ireland’s successful 2018 referendum on abortion rights, and offers new perspectives on writers including Alice Munro, Toni Morrison, James Joyce, Helen Garner, and Angela Carter.
This stunning collection unites Enright’s cultural criticism, literary, and autobiographical writing for the first time. True to the themes that saturate her award-winning fiction, Attention explores the intersection between the personal and political, the subtleties of bodily autonomy, complex family dynamics, and the challenges of intimacy in crystalline, urgent prose. Here we see Enright grappling with and answering these questions in nonfiction. It is a defining collection from one of our most distinguished literary voices.
“Enright’s exhilarating mixture of analysis and autobiography compels continuous assent… Enlivened throughout by a personal element. Enright is not in the business of being lordly or detached, and she entertainingly draws on aspects of her own experience.” – Patricia Craig, The Times
“Witheringly funny… Deeply engaging… Creative imagination and analytic capacity do not always pair well. The accomplished author of fiction and the successful essayist are not necessarily interchangeable positions. In this important and substantive volume, however, Enright has put her writer’s gifts at the service of a genuine, sustained ‘ecstasy of attention’.” – Michael Cronin, The Irish Times
“A unique insight into the mind of one of our most acclaimed living writers… Every essay in this book is a treasure. Enright is by turns caustic, passionate, irreverent, and self-deprecating. Attention is, unsurprisingly, excellent but collectively these essays show us another side to a great writer and allow us to feel as if we’ve got to know her a little better.” – Sean Kelly, Irish Examiner
The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer
fiction / fantasy / romance / mystery.
Rainy March is a proud, third-generation Book Witch, sworn to defend works of fiction from all foes real and imaginary. With her magical umbrella and feline familiar, she jumps in and out of novels to fix malicious alterations and rogue heroes like a modern-day magical Nancy Drew.
Book Witches live by a strict code: Real people belong in the real world; fictional characters belong in works of fiction. Do not eat, drink, or sleep inside a fictional world, lest you become part of the story. Falling in love with a fictional character? Don’t even think about it.
Which is why Rainy has been forbidden from seeing the Duke of Chicago, the dashing British detective who stars in her favorite mystery series. If she’s ever caught with him again, she’ll be expelled from her book coven—and forced to give up the magical gifts that are as much a part of her as her own name.
But when her beloved grandfather disappears and a priceless book is stolen, there’s only one person she trusts to help her solve the case: the Duke. Their quest takes them through the worlds of Alice in Wonderland, King Arthur, and other classics that will reveal hidden enemies and long-buried family secrets.
“Shaffer delightfully reminds readers of the power of stories and books.” – Jennifer Mills, Library Journal
“Catnip for anyone who ever wished they could walk around in their favorite book.” – Kirkus Reviews
“Meg Shaffer pulls off the impossible: crafting an interesting, hilarious, high-stakes cozy mystery fantasy in a world that addresses the meta of reality. I couldn’t get enough of this novel.” – Mylee J. Miller, SFF Insiders
The Dead Can’t Make a Living by Ed Lin
fiction / mystery.
Jing-nan, the owner of the most popular food stand in Taipei’s world-famous Shilin night market, is hauling trash after a successful evening of hawking Taiwanese delicacies to tourists when he finds a corpse propped up against the dumpsters. The dead man turns out to be Juan Ramos, a Philippine national who came to Taiwan for a job at a massive ZHD food processing plant.
Jing-nan is haunted by Ramos’s story, and by the heartbreak of his family, who arrive in Taipei looking for answers. ZHD has a history of safety violations, and activists have a hunch Ramos’s death might be part of a cover-up. Meanwhile, Jingnan’s gangster uncle, Big Eye, has his own mysterious, probably illegal, reasons for being concerned about what’s going on in ZHD. He pressures Jing-nan into a daring and risky mission: going undercover as a migrant laborer to get a job at the food processing plant and reporting back about the conditions inside. Jing-nan hopes to find out the truth for the Ramos family, and to save other immigrant lives—but first he has to survive the spy operation.
This rollicking crime novel is a scorching, timely examination of our global dependence on undocumented immigrants.
“Cheeky humor and a team of investigators you’ll want to hang with.” – Kirkus Reviews
“Good guy Jing-nan delivers a clear-eyed, compassionate portrayal of overseas worker abuse in this gritty offering to the rising swell of cozy-adjacent crime fiction. This fifth adventure is another series bar-raiser, delivering well-crafted underworld adventures with humor and sensual immersion in everyday Taipei.” – Christine Tran, Booklist
“Lin seamlessly weaves complex details about Taiwanese history and political tensions into the action, paying special attention to social and financial abuses perpetrated against undocumented workers. Chuckle-worthy jokes (‘A night-market food stand [now] represented the totality of what my entire ancestral line had accomplished. Hey, some dynasties have done less’) are a bonus. This entertains.” – Publishers Weekly
The Ending Writes Itself by Evelyn Clarke ★
fiction / mystery / suspense.
Arthur Fletch, one of the world’s bestselling novelists, is a reclusive genius known for his iconic protagonists and fiendish twists. When six struggling authors are invited to spend a weekend on his private Scottish island, they arrive to discover a shocking secret: Arthur Fletch is dead… and his last book is unfinished.
Desperate to publish the novel, Fletch’s agent and editor have summoned these writers in the hope that one of them will imagine a worthy ending for this final book. To sweeten the deal, they are offering an irresistible prize: in addition to ghost-writing the last chapter––for a mind-boggling sum––they will also help the lucky writer successfully re-launch their own career, guaranteeing future bestsellers. The catch: the writers have just seventy-two hours to finish Fletch’s magnum opus.
It’s the perfect plot. All it needs is a killer ending.
“What a ride! Oh, the way I soaked up every single minute of this book!” – Caitlin Winkler, The Gloss
“A quirky cast of wordsmiths vies for a life-altering prize in this deviously plotted satire of the publishing industry from Clarke, a pseudonym for Cat Clarke (The Lost and the Found) and V.E. Schwab (The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue)… nothing short of dazzling.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“[A] wild, knowledgeable meta-mystery, part locked-room extravaganza, part mystery novel labyrinth, and part publishing satire… Listen to me and get this book. It’s fantastic.” –Olivia Rutigliano, CrimeReads
“Fans of Agatha Christie’s locked-room mysteries and modern tales like Knives Out will fall for The Ending Writes Itself, which masterfully blends classic mystery elements with genre-bending tropes. Crafted with razor-sharp wit and a meta twist, this satirical take on the publishing world ensures readers will hang on every word, right up to its breathtaking finale.” – Elise Dumpleton, The Nerd Daily
The Escape Game by Marissa Meyer & Tamara Moss
fiction / young adult / mystery / suspense.
It’s all fun and games until someone ends up dead.
Six months ago, season four of The Escape Game ended in horror when contestant Alicia Angelos was found murdered on set.
Now season five is underway, and new contestants are ready to put their skills to the test solving the show’s trickiest escape rooms. There’s Adi, the cryptographer; Carter, the math whiz; Beck, the wannabe game master; and… Sierra Angelos, the girl who got away with her sister’s murder. Or so everyone believes.
But Sierra’s not just here to win. She’s here for justice.
When the contestants begin uncovering clues that hint at the identity of Alicia’s true killer, it becomes clear that the stakes aren’t high just in this competition—they’re deadly. If these teens want to win—and survive—the game, they must solve the biggest mystery of all: who killed Alicia Angelos?
“Exhilarating, nonstop fun.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
“…Meyer and Moss take readers on a thrilling hunt uncovering conspiracy, murder, and secrets… The escape rooms are clever, and the murder neatly ties loose ends together… Get ready for excitement…” – Emily Walker, School Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
“Complex puzzles, room maps, and contestant interviews punctuate high-octane sequences and ramp up tension throughout this inventive whodunit.” – Publishers Weekly
The Girls Trip by Ally Condie
fiction / suspense / mystery.
Hope, Ash, and Caro met at an online book club. Over the past two years, they’ve been there for each other in every way—except in person. When each of their lives reach a crossroads, they decide to meet in real life at the gorgeous Sonnet Resort at Eden National Park.
Hope, an actress, has become entirely too famous and needs to get away from it all. Ash, a successful online entrepreneur, isn’t sure what has happened to her marriage. Caro, a doctor, has lost a patient and doesn’t know if she wants to carry on or start all over. And none of them are telling each other the full story…
“Condie’s latest is a page-turner with twists that will surprise even the most seasoned of suspense readers.” – Linsey Milillo, Library Journal
“There’s plenty of action, so strap in for a ride.” – Kirkus Reviews
“…the mystery is intriguing, and the depiction of female friendship is powerful. Readers will enjoy this quick, action-packed story about secrets, lies, and murder.” – Stephanie Howes, Booklist
Intimate Audrey: An Authorized Biography by Sean Hepburn Ferrer & Wendy Holden
nonfiction / biography / film.
To those who appreciate her work and legacy, Audrey Hepburn was many things. She was a child survivor of the Second World War. She was a fashion icon who made the little black dress the symbol of elegance that it is today. She played a runaway princess, an eccentric socialite, and a nun struggling with her faith. But perhaps her greatest contribution to the world was as a selfless humanitarian in the final years of her life, proving that fear and trauma can be transmuted into kindness and art.
For Sean Hepburn Ferrer, Audrey was also his mother. In Intimate Audrey, he candidly recounts how the shy “girl from across the landing” became the star we remember and love today. Featuring never-before-seen photographs and excerpts from her personal letters, this book is an intimate portrait of Audrey: as an icon, as a mother, and as an altruist who drew on her own experience of hunger and suffering to advocate fiercely for children in war-torn and famine-stricken countries.
Audrey shines in this moving portrait of a mother by her son; a lyrical ode to a visionary woman who continues to defy all expectations decades after her death.
“This is an amazing book. Wonderfully readable – you keep turning the pages, delighting in being in the company of this charming, beautiful and generous person. Truly inspiring.” – Catherine Larner, more about books
Inheritance by Jane Park
fiction.
Anne Kim is a lawyer in New York, her success built on forgetting the past. When her father dies, she returns to Edmonton for the funeral and is shocked to discover he was from North Korea and left his brother behind.
As she reads the undelivered letters her father wrote to his brother about life in Canada, she is transported back to her childhood in the 1980s and 90s. She recalls the struggles her parents faced as immigrants who ran a grocery store in a rural prairie town. Anne and her brother, Charles, felt the weight of their father’s expectations: Anne was driven to excel and overachieve, whereas Charles rebelled, determined to pursue his own dreams. His rebellion created a rift that culminated in a devastating act, irrevocably shattering their family and leaving Anne overwhelmed by an inescapable guilt.
Inheritance explores the immigrant experience, the sacrifices made by both parents and children, and how trauma transfers to the next generation. As Anne journeys to the past, she emerges to finally define life on her own terms, and her story will resonate long after the final page.
“[A] fascinating dive into memory and intergenerational trauma.” – BookBrowse
“[A] gorgeous debut novel… meticulously examines the complicated dynamics of a fractured family, of suffocating traditions and splintering rejections, while leading cautiously toward accepting honesty and the possibility of healing.” – Terry Hong, Shelf Awareness, STARRED REVIEW
London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and Family’s Search for Truth by Patrick Radden Keefe ★
nonfiction / history / true crime / mystery.
In the early morning of November 29th, 2019, surveillance cameras at the headquarters of MI6, Britain’s spy agency, captured video of a young man pacing back and forth on a high balcony of Riverwalk, a luxury tower on the bank of the river Thames. At 2:24 a.m., he jumped into the river.
In a quiet London neighborhood several miles away, Rachelle Brettler was worried about her son. Zac had told her that he had gone to stay with a friend, but then he did not come home. Days later, a police car pulled up and two officers relayed the dreadful news: her son was dead.
In their unbearable grief, Rachelle and her husband, Matthew, struggled to understand what had happened to Zac. He had his troubles, but in no way seemed suicidal. As they would soon discover, however, there was a lot they did not know about their son. Only after his death did they learn that he had adopted a fictitious alter-ego: Zac Ismailov, son of a Russian oligarch and heir to a great fortune. Under this guise, Zac had become entangled with a slippery London businessman named Akbar Shamji, and a murderous gangster known as “Indian Dave.” As the Brettlers set about investigating their son’s death, they were pulled into a different and more dangerous London than the one they’d always known, and came to believe that something much more nefarious than a suicide had claimed Zac’s life. But to their immense frustration, Scotland Yard seemed unable—or unwilling—to bring the perpetrators to justice.
In a bravura feat of reporting and writing, Patrick Radden Keefe chronicles the Brettlers’ quest, peeling back layers of mystery and exposing the seedy truths behind the glamorous London of posh mansions and private nightclubs, a city in which everything is for sale, and aspirational fantasies are underwritten by dirty money and corruption. London Falling is a mesmerizing investigation of an inexplicable death and a powerful narrative driven by suspense and staggering revelations. But it is also an intimate and deeply poignant inquiry into the nature of parental love and the challenges of being a parent today, a portrait of a family trying to solve the riddle not just of how their son died, but of who he really was in life.
“[A] blockbuster feat of reportage… I sprinted through this addictive book in three days and gasped more than once at the true story’s twists and turns.” – Adam Morgan, Esquire
“…gripping… Despite the murky material, Keefe arrives at an artful and clarifying explanation. It’s a remarkable new turn for the celebrated author.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“[A] tour de force of staggering yet sensitive reportage… [Keefe is] a go-to author of riveting narrative nonfiction…” – Annie Bostrom, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“[A] meticulously researched propulsive thriller… an irresistible web of mystery… With empathetic insight, Keefe deftly sifts through facts and fictions to distill Zac’s young life, enthrallingly seeking the unknowable truth of his tragic death.” – Terry Hong, Shelf Awareness
Love by the Book by Jessica George
fiction.
Remy is lucky. Her debut novel, based on her three best friends, became an instant bestseller when it was released, and her agent and publisher are clamoring for a follow-up. But just as Remy’s creative inspiration seems to leave her, so too do her friends: one moves to New York, one gets pregnant, and one gets back together with her (awful) boyfriend. After an ill-advised one-night stand complicates matters further, Remy is left deeply alone―and unable to find her next book idea.
Simone is successful. A Kindergarten teacher with a passion for kids, and a well-paying side hustle that affords her all the material comforts she desires, she doesn’t have time for a robust social life. All Simone needs is her close-knit family―but after the true nature of her work is revealed, they cut her off, and she realizes for the first time just how isolated she is.
When Simone and Remy bump into each other (literally) in a bookstore, it isn’t exactly soulmates at first sight. Simone is guarded and prickly, Remy is insecure and heartbroken, and each woman is harboring a secret. And yet they might just be the missing piece the other has been searching for―if only they can let each other in.
Can Simone help Remy make one of the most important decisions of her life―and can Remy help Simone recover all that she’s lost? In Jessica George’s heartwarming, funny, and soulful second novel, she explores the restorative nature of female friendship and the life-changing power of platonic love.
“A beautiful and all-too-rare look at the importance of platonic love.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
“George writes with a lightness that belies the depth of her focus as she carefully and candidly tackles serious issues. Her moments of humor, juxtaposed with intimate dialogue, shape this beautiful platonic love story that will have readers crying through stifled giggles. Acing the Alison Bechdel test, George’s novel is healing for body, mind, and soul.” – Enobong Tommelleo, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“This is a classic romance novel with a twist: The couple is completely platonic. As two women learn to lean on each other while navigating the ups and downs of their 30s, George makes the case that friendship is the most important relationship of all.” – New York Times
My Dear You: Stories by Rachel Khong ★
fiction / short stories.
The characters in My Dear You find themselves facing extraordinary choices in scenarios that range from the everyday to the absurd: The U.S. government injects all citizens with a drug that makes them see everyone else as members of their own race and gender. God does away with humans in favor of something much better. A woman adopts a cat who conjures the ghosts of her ex-loves. A factory worker decides to befriend a sex doll she is tasked with selling.
These stories go deep beneath the surface, touching on the particular awkwardness of dating in your thirties and asking: What does it mean to be an Asian woman in America? Or an American? Or a human? Along the way, the characters stop to consider interventions from the supernatural, the earthly, the robotic, and the immortal.
Playful, profane, and yet enveloped with profound compassion for life, however you define it, My Dear You takes on dating, marriage, and the pressures of having or not having children; intimacy, memory, race, and capitalism; living, dying, and being dead. At their very core, they are tales of love in its many forms: being in love when you’re not supposed to be, or not being in love but wishing you were; failing at dating apps or finding yourself in weird but wonderful lifelong friendships; struggling in heaven to remember your loved ones.
Ranging from the sinister to the tender, these witty and expertly paced stories will have you laughing out loud one minute and reaching for your best friend the next.
“…this collection is wonderful. The stories are a little quirky and comic, but also sharp and insightful.” – Rachel León, Chicago Review of Books
“Uses the flexibility of the short-story form to wonderful and whimsical advantage.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
“Each surprising, intricate, and emotionally resonant tale underscores a storytelling talent that’s all Khong’s own.” – Annie Bostrom, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“Rachel Khong, who wrote Real Americans, is back with a short story collection, each one funny and playful—and grappling with love, intimacy, and what it means to be human. The ten stories in the collection are all distinct and delightful (a favorite was the titular one, about a woman eaten by a crocodile while on her honeymoon in Australia and now in heaven), and will surely stick with you past the final page.” – Town & Country
The New Perimenopause: An Evidence-Based Guide to Surviving the Zone of Chaos and Feeling Like Yourself Again by Mary Claire Haver, MD
nonfiction / science / health / self-help.
I’m just not feeling like myself! This is the battle cry of the perimenopausal woman.
Though menstrual cycle changes and the emotional rollercoaster that accompanies them are the hallmarks of the transition to menopause, many women with regular periods as young as 35 can also start to feel irregular, with symptoms that include anxiety, fatigue, joint pain, brain fog, sexual symptoms, and volatile moods. This array of symptoms can be hugely disruptive—all the more so when a doctor dismisses a woman’s complaints as all in her head or prescribes unnecessary and potentially harmful treatment.
In The New Perimenopause, Dr. Mary Claire Haver—the trailblazing voice behind the movement to revolutionize health care for women—sets things straight. She explains that the numerous and varied symptoms of perimenopause occur in direct response to normal endocrine changes; this is the hormonal “zone of chaos.”
A comprehensive, authoritative book of science-backed information and lived experience, The New Perimenopause includes:
• Clear, science-backed explanations of what’s going on in your body, from changes in your menstrual cycle to energy levels, mood, sleep, and sexual issues.
• How and why dealing with these changes now is preventative medicine for your later years.
• Checklists, questions for your doctor, and how to insist on good care.
• The very latest research on the benefits and side effects of progesterone therapy to help ease your hormonal transition.
Whether you have symptoms or not, The New Perimenopause helps remove the mystery around this time of change, putting women in control of their health going forward.
“…offers science-backed and empowering solutions to help you feel heard and supported.” – B&N Reads
Piper at the Gates of Dusk by Patrick Ness
fiction / young adult / science fiction / fantasy.
It’s been twenty years since the monstrous war that almost tore New World apart, and there’s a new generation on the planet. Todd and Viola’s sons Ben and Max have known only peace growing up on the family farm outside a bustling human settlement. They dream of the usual things, like school and adventure, until the nightmares begin…
A sudden sickness has infected the young people of New World with Noise in the form of their worst thoughts about themselves. Some suspect the Spackle, the indigenous people with whom humans have a very uneasy truce. Others wonder about a connection to a mysterious object looming in the sky. And then, one by one, the children of New World begin to disappear.
Ben, with his mother’s logical mind, and Max, with his father’s courageous heart, become caught up in separate quests for answers, journeys that will test their beliefs in their parents, each other, and in their very existence on the planet.
Patrick Ness makes a masterful return to New World in this timely work of science fiction, one that looks at the interplay of fear, power, and propaganda, and at the stories we tell ourselves.
“An absorbing, deeply human tale of finding common ground in the perpetual struggle to do the next right thing.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
“…gripping… Witty, propulsive first-person narration alternates between the sibs’ perspectives as they navigate issues of morality, mortality, identity, and disinformation.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“[A] spectacular return to the world of his Chaos Walking trilogy… told at the same breakneck pace as its predecessors, the story will appeal to returning readers and new fans alike, who will be desperate to follow Max and Ben to the end of the world to get answers on why the young people of New World begin to disappear, whom the brothers can trust, and what it all means.” – Sam Ponke, Booklist
Rites of the Starling by Devney Perry
fiction / fantasy / romance.
Calandra’s five kingdoms are on the verge of destruction. The crux migration is coming. And in the wake of a devastating attack, I’ve been separated from the man who owns my heart.
I’m lost. Terrified. Homesick. Hunted by monsters, driven to exhaustion, and kidnapped by a powerful priest, the only thing keeping me going is the little girl counting on me to keep her safe.
It’s my turn to become the Guardian.
Our lives change one fateful night. A night of death. A night of monsters. A night of truths. That night, I learn the real meaning of fear―and the depth of my own strength.
Everyone wants me to be something I’m not―a queen, a spy, a sacrifice. But what if I embrace my crown? What if the secrets I uncover save our realm?
What if my sacrifice means salvation for the man I love?
For too long, I’ve feared the monsters we make.
It’s time to discover the monster within.
This Land Is Your Land: A Road Tour Through U.S. History by Beverly Gage ★
nonfiction / history / travel.
Ride along with Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Beverly Gage as she travels the country to see the museums, historic sites, roadside attractions, reenactments, and souvenir shops where Americans learn—and fight—about our history. From the birth of the nation in Philadelphia to Disneyland and the California dream, This Land Is Your Land offers a guided tour of thirteen places and thirteen key moments that define America’s greatest successes and challenges.
The year 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, a document that proclaimed the liberty and equality of all human beings, but produced a country that often failed to agree upon—or live up to—those ideals. This Land Is Your Land is for everyone who wants to find that history—to experience it and confront it, to celebrate it and condemn it—in the places where it happened.
Gage shows that Americans can face their past and still love their country. Toss the book in the back seat—or listen on audio with the windows down—and join the journey.
“…Gage writes with clarity and moral conviction; her mix of curiosity, empathy, and civic faith feels both steadying and necessary… earnest and gracefully written…” – Kirkus Reviews
“The narrative dances gracefully between Gage’s recapping of the events themselves and her wry commentary on the sometimes silly, sometimes moving, but always weirdly American ways they have come to be memorialized… a marvelous deep dive into the American psyche.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“[A] companionable tour through 13 places and events in America’s past… perfectly timed… What comes through in her book is how complicated and just plain weird a lot of American history is… The places that Gage visits are often marked by contradiction, which she highlights to powerful effect… As a guide, she is necessarily inviting; as a historian, she knows that none of the attempts to fulfill the Declaration’s promise of freedom and equality has ever come easily.” – Jennifer Szalai, New York Times
“This travelogue shows that you can learn just as much about America from Disneyland and Atlanta’s World of Coca-Cola as from revolutionary war battlegrounds… Gage’s eclectic destinations are complemented by her versatile tone, and she shifts smoothly from tongue-in-cheek commentary on America’s weirder locations to sobering contemplation at sites of historical trauma, like plantations. Whether you have a soft spot for the USA in spite of turbulent times, or you’re someone who appreciates a nuanced take, This Land Is Your Land is a unique, worthwhile, and heartfelt history.” – Apple Books Review
Transcription by Ben Lerner ★
fiction.
The narrator of Ben Lerner’s new novel has traveled to Providence, Rhode Island, where he is to conduct what will be the final published interview with Thomas, his ninety-year-old mentor and the father of his college friend Max. Thomas is a giant in the arts who seems to hail “from the future and the past simultaneously” and who “reenchants the air” when he speaks. But the narrator drops his smartphone in the hotel sink. He arrives at Thomas’s house with no recording device, a fact he is mysteriously unable to confess.
What unfolds from this dreamlike circumstance is the unforgettable story of the triangle formed by Thomas, Max, and the narrator, and an exploration of fathers and sons, male friendship and rivalry, and the challenges of parenting in a burning world. One of the first great novels about the early days of COVID, it is also a brilliant meditation on those technologies that enrich or impoverish our connection to one another, that store or obliterate memory. Full of startling insight, but written with the intensity of a séance, Lerner shows us how the air is full of messages, full of ghosts. Ultimately Transcription demonstrates what only a work of fiction can record.
“Lerner has been hailed by The New York Times as ‘the best writer of his generation,’ and his fourth novel lives up to the hyperbole… Lerner’s tale suggests that beauty might be only the beginning of error.” – Michael Autrey, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“It’s every journalist’s worst nightmare, and yet, Lerner’s book still comes as a delightful exploration of mentorship, fatherhood, and a career in the arts, as well as a testament to our growing reliance on technology as a store of cultural memory.” – Sophie Lee, Cultured
“…some of the most vivid, offbeat, and affecting writing Lerner has delivered… surprisingly potent given its length, interested in the ways that we manufacture our identities and how technology speeds the process along. A tart meditation on narrative and integrity.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
“With his remarkable fourth novel, Transcription, Lerner offers an… unusual fictional take on our supposedly frictionless world, one that dramatically destabilizes its material (nothing in this book is entirely identical with itself) rather than cataloguing and containing it… Lerner’s voice is one that interrupts itself, repeats history, and reorders the world. He shows that he’s rehearsed. There are silicates glittering in the asphalt.” – Hannah Gold, Harper’s
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke ★
fiction / historical fiction / mystery / suspense.
My name was Natalie Heller Mills, and I was perfect at being alive.
Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle. Her charming farmhouse is rustic, her husband a handsome cowboy, her six children each more delightful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers behind the scenes, her kitchen hiding industrial-grade fridges and ovens, her husband the heir to a political dynasty? What Natalie’s followers—all 8 million of them—don’t know won’t hurt them. And The Angry Women? The privileged, Ivy League, coastal elite haters who call her an antifeminist iconoclast? They’re sick with jealousy. Because Natalie isn’t simply living the good life, she’s living the ideal—and just so happens to be building an empire from it.
Until one morning she wakes up in a life that isn’t hers. Her home, her husband, her children—they’re all familiar, but something’s off. Her kitchen is warmed by a sputtering fire rather than electricity, her children are dirty and strange, and her soft-handed husband is suddenly a competent farmer. Just yesterday Natalie was curating photos of homemade jam for her Instagram, and now she’s expected to haul firewood and handwash clothes until her fingers bleed. Has she become the unwitting star of a ruthless reality show? Could it really be time travel? Is she being tested by God? By Satan? When Natalie suffers a brutal injury in the woods, she realizes two things: This is not her beautiful life, and she must escape by any means possible.
A gripping, electrifying novel that is as darkly funny as it is frightening, Yesteryear is a gimlet-eyed look at tradition, fame, faith, and the grand performance of womanhood.
“Yesteryear is a thoughtful look behind the curtain at carefully curated social media influencers. Like Natalie’s staff, I didn’t care for her ‘perfect life’ but I couldn’t quit reading this story. Hard to believe this is a debut!” – Angela Sides, The Indie Next List, #1 PICK APRIL 2026
“A remarkable debut—both a book for the moment and one that will endure.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
“…provocative… Whether you love her or love to hate her, Natalie Heller Mills is a character you won’t easily forget… Part mystery, part contemporary fiction, this genre-bending novel has as many twists and turns as the rural dirt roads of its setting—we couldn’t stop trying (and failing) to guess the ending.” – Book of the Month
“The canniest fictional dissection of femininity and the panopticon of social media arrives this spring in Yesteryear, a rollicking satirical debut from Caro Claire Burke.” – Chloe Schama, Vogue
“Telling the story in two braided strands—in the present and in Natalie’s deeply foreboding, darkly off-kilter pioneer days—Burke captures much of the zeitgeist in Natalie’s increasingly delusional, overall disturbing state of mind in both time periods—and in other characters’ collisions with it. The seductive topic, unreliable narrator, and surprisingly creepy vibes are sure to draw readers in and keep them guessing.” – Annie Bostrom, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
Your Behavior Will Be Monitored by Justin Feinstein
fiction / science fiction / comedy.
Megacorporation UniView is poised to cement their reputation as “the most trusted name in AI.” After pioneering the world’s first widely adopted AI bots, they are barreling toward an audacious new launch. That is, if they can pull it off in time.
Enter Noah. A down-and-out copywriter reeling from a midlife crisis, he isn’t the typical hire for a groundbreaking tech company full of brilliant engineers and run by a cutthroat CEO. But Lex, UniView’s Head of HR and one of their greatest successes, makes no mistakes―her algorithm ensures it.
UniView’s latest venture―a bot named Quinn that creates revolutionary personalized advertising―needs expert training. Noah needs to teach Quinn―which is a much better student than he ever could have hoped for―the finer points of consumer motivation and the art of writing a catchy tagline.
But when corporate competitors force UniView to accelerate its timeline to market, guardrails around the AI loosen just as Quinn seems to be learning a bit too much.
Addictively readable and ridiculously entertaining, Your Behavior Will Be Monitored is a page-turning, hilarious romp through the promise and perils of an AI-driven future that we probably deserve.
“Feinstein’s debut is a compelling and timely exploration of AI regulation… Feinstein deftly captures near-future anxieties and aspirations about generative AI, revealing that empathy and humanity are not always uniquely human, but perhaps should be. Woven with sharp humor, clever advertising satire, and hopepunk optimism, this novel is both thought-provoking and unexpectedly heartening.” – Meagan Shay, Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
“…creepy and comedic… Steeped in satire, this chaotic corporate unraveling is made all the more zany by its epistolary construction, piecing together emails, data readouts, chats, and transcripts. This inventive structure succinctly captures the precariousness of digital-age communications while hammering out a timely warning about generative AI. Feinstein is off to an impressive start.” – Publishers Weekly
“…Feinstein’s debut is an entertaining look at what might happen if AI developed enough sentience to understand the ethics of what it does and how it might take matters into its own hands.” – Regina Schroeder, Booklist
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