“If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.” – Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood
Abandoning a Cat: A Personal Story by Haruki Murakami; translated by Philip Gabriel ★
nonfiction / memoir.
Originally published in The New Yorker in 2019, and now presented in a full, unabridged form, Abandoning a Cat is a poignant, self-reflective work by Haruki Murakami.
Here he writes about his father, the son of a priest who might have become a priest himself had a clerical error not sent him into the second world war. Murakami’s father wrote accomplished haiku and eventually became a teacher. As Haruki grew older — as he became an adult and then a writer, he and his father found they had little in common. They were later estranged for twenty years, only reconciling on his father’s deathbed.
This haunting personal essay is a reflection on what it means to be a father and what it means to be a son — on what it means to be loved and to be abandoned — and also on a particular moment of Japanese history, through the aftermath of the second world war on into the present. Murakami fans may find common themes from beloved novels such as Kafka on the Shore and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle — but will also be surprised by the raw honesty of this beautiful autobiographical piece.
“A gentle meditation on the fragility of being.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
“This elegant meditation on abandonment, love, and memory from bestseller Murakami unfolds like scenes from a home movie… Murakami seamlessly blends the lyrical and the plainspoken in this koan-like memoir.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“…irresistible… touching… [a] haunting, contemplative, elliptical homage, assisted by the cats that ‘quietly lent their support of this project.’” – Terry Hong, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“…so odd, so vulnerable, so personal that it burrowed into my psyche and changed the way I view a favorite author forever… quietly devastating [and] all the more powerful for the restraint and epistemological humility with which Murakami presents it… Rumors were that Murakami was especially close to finally winning the Nobel this year. One trusts this little book will tip the scales of fickle judgment ever more inexorably in his favor.” – Priscilla Gilman, Boston Globe
All the Queen’s Men: Power, Ambition, and the Making of Elizabeth I by Sophie Shorland
nonfiction / biography / history.
The throne of England hung in the balance, and every prince in Europe wanted to claim it. When Elizabeth I was crowned in 1558 she became the most eligible woman in Europe. All saw the same prize: marry Elizabeth, rule England. Ambassadors flooded her court, armed with portraits, jewels and marriage proposals from princes, archdukes and kings. Sweden promised mountains of silver. Spain offered imperial protection. Austria pledged powerful alliances. Even Ivan the Terrible—already twice married—sent envoys bearing gifts and threats in equal measure.
For nearly five decades, Elizabeth kept them all waiting. She contrived to play each suitor against the other to her own end. A persistent Erik XIV wrote love letters for a decade, convinced he could win her hand. She strung along the charming French Duke of Alençon, exchanging rings before wriggling free with an alliance secured. Meanwhile, Robert Dudley, never far from Elizabeth’s side, became the favorite who made foreign ambassadors tremble with envy.
Written with historian Sophie Shorland’s unique eye, acerbic wit, and vivid prose, Shorland draws on ambassadorial dispatches, secret intelligence reports and Elizabeth’s own letters. All the Queen’s Men reveals how Elizabeth I turned the competition for her hand into foreign policy—using courtship as diplomacy, flirtation as statecraft, and her perpetually single status as the key to England’s survival in the tangled web of world politics.
“[A] deeply researched, delightfully dishy new look at the queen and how she used the prospect of matrimony as a political tool throughout her reign.” – Town & Country
Code and Codex by Yoon Ha Lee
fiction / science fiction / fantasy.
In the stars-spanning Censorate, languages other than the Republic’s own lingua rubra, which has reality-altering properties, are forbidden. Nevertheless, there are discrepancies. The Censorate’s star forces are called the Athenaeum Navy, and each of its ships is referred to as a codex. Instead of port and starboard, its soldiers refer to verso and recto. The unholy “stigmata” gouged into the ships’ hulls might, to a foreign scholar, bear a resemblance to verboten texts in other languages.
The Censorate is ruled by its Peacock, Aurelia, feared for the power of panopticon: she can look through anyone’s eyes. Moreover, Aurelia’s mastery of lingua rubra lets her force anyone who can understand her to follow her orders. Valentina, sold to Aurelia’s family as a child to be Aurelia’s oath-sister and companion, is its Swan, responsible for extracting useful information from foreign texts, then destroying them as well as entire languages through arcane arts. Valentina is assisted in her work by lower-ranking linguists and AI assistants who accept temporary contamination by foreign languages as a necessity of their work.
But this isn’t enough for Aurelia. She wants to control and deploy the Censorate’s thousand-year traitor and prisoner, the Basilisk, a man with a gaze so lethal that he destroyed its fleet of old through camera feeds. Unfortunately for her, the Basilisk gave himself a form of aphasia that makes him immune to her commands.
“…tremendous…” – Natalie Zutter, Literary Hub
“There’s a fairy tale–like quality to Lee’s prose, adding a sense of whimsy to the portrayal of tyranny. Incorporating complex mathematical and linguistic concepts throughout, this Calvino-esque science fantasy proves intricate and fascinating.” – Publishers Weekly
“…I absolutely loved Code and Codex… there is an obvious meta-textual story being told about the weight of empire and tyranny, but there is also an unabashed love of words and how they can be arranged in ways most people would simply never consider… The world-building in this book is absolutely sublime… Yoon Ha Lee has crafted something thornily transcendent, an embrace of letters and literacy that cannot be fully comprehended in a single reading. This is a book that rewards the patient excavation of meaning, a statue chiseled piece by agonizing piece from building blocks we all have access to, and it is absolutely worth the time spent uncovering its manifold depths.” – Chris Kluwe, Lightspeed
A Court of Splintered Harmony by Sarah J. Maas ★
fiction / fantasy / romance.
What was broken will be remade.
Deep in the heart of the continent, Koschei the Deathless is stirring. Though he’s been bound to a mountain lake for millennia, the insidious threat of his return now spreads across the Fae territories, attracting powerful allies hell-bent on reclaiming what was once theirs: the human lands.
The Night Court will not stand idly by while innocents are attacked. But with Prythian still piecing itself together in the wake of the devastating Hybern War, the task of uniting is proving more difficult by the day.
To make matters worse, those who rule and protect the Night Court are reeling from recent betrayals and revealed truths. The rifts dividing them seem insurmountable.
But to defeat Koschei’s creeping shadow, they must find a way back to each other and resurrect their former alliances. To survive, they must find a way to repair the splintered harmony all around them.
“Your prayers have finally been answered.” – Chelsey Sanchez, Harper’s Bazaar
“Romance, danger, and intrigue await in the breathtaking sixth book in the #1 bestselling Court of Thorns and Roses series.” – Zoe Epstein, Bookclubs
Frank Capra by Sam Wasson
fiction / biography / history / film.
Frank Capra, the director of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, It Happened One Night, and, supremely, It’s a Wonderful Life remains one of the great chroniclers of the American heart, how we love, lead, dream, hope, and fight for our individuality. But Frank Capra was a more complex artist than is usually reckoned and a more complicated man than anyone knows. As his most famous collaborator Jimmy Stewart put it, “the best Frank Capra story is the story of his own life. It’s got more highs and lows than a roller coaster. It’s heartwarming. It’s kind of hard to believe, really. And it could only happen in America.”
Like many great American stories, this story begins in Ellis Island where a penniless family of Sicilian immigrants arrives in 1903. Frank Capra’s life goes on to take in the explosive growth of Southern California and the film industry, the depths of the Depression, the enormity of the Second World War, and America’s uneasy post-war as an empire riven by a loss of unity. It is a life as shot through with both “moonbeams” and melancholy as that of his greatest creation, George Bailey. Capra is both the exemplar of American ideals, as in his truly vital work for Roosevelt’s war effort, and of American failings, as in his informing during the McCarthy period.
This extraordinary book, making full use for the first time of Capra’s own archives, including deeply personal writings from his later years, has brought this seminal artist into urgent life. At the same time, in its epic richness, it offers a dazzling portrait of both a lost America and an enduring one.
“Wasson captures the magic of the director in a new way.” – Alta
“…inspires wonder at his irresistible vision of America and his immigrant journey.” – Anthony Lane, The New Yorker
“If you’ve never read Wasson, now’s a good time to start… captivating… Capra’s life was as exciting, suspenseful, and as full of plot twists as his films… as always, the writing is superb. Wasson is a real craftsman, not only a biographer but also a storyteller, using facts as a jumping-off point to paint a full picture of Capra’s personal and professional lives. For fans of film history or biographies in general, this is a winner.” – David Pitt, Booklist
The Hollow by Michael Connelly
fiction / mystery / suspense.
When Harry Bosch was eleven years old, his mother was murdered and he became a ward of the state, housed in MacLaren Children’s Center, a notorious facility where abuse was rampant. Decades after its closure, a lawsuit has resulted in a massive settlement for former residents. But when Bosch’s half-brother, defense attorney Mickey Haller, brings him word that Harry is entitled to part of it, Bosch says he doesn’t want the money. He wants justice.
The news awakens his memories of a place he had hoped never to revisit, and of a boy nicknamed Chops, a fellow ward who wound up dead. Bosch is certain that Chops was killed in a hidden space under the stairs―the kids knew it as “the hollow”―and his murder covered up. Now he is determined to reopen the investigation and learn the truth, even if the killer is long gone.
As Bosch digs into the files, he picks up the trail of a predator who not only survived, but went on to a life of vicious crime―possibly including one of the city’s most notorious unsolved cases. Forced to face a history that both scarred him and launched him on his mission as a cop, Bosch must bring down a sadistic criminal and finally put to rest the demons of his past.
“Connelly’s newest novel may just be one of his most powerful yet.” – Molly Odintz, CrimeReads
“The older and wiser Connelly’s storied hero gets, the more like himself he behaves. That’s downright inspiring.” – Kirkus Reviews
“The staff at the center will remind readers of the sadists of Dickens’ boarding schools, giving a visceral feel to Bosch’s determination to avenge his friend’s murder. Bosch fans will rejoice at this knockout return.” – Connie Fletcher, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
In My Own Time: A Memoir by Christopher Lloyd
nonfiction / memoir / film / television / theater.
Whether appearing as a disembodied head in Wednesday or taking on the title role in a stage production of King Lear, Christopher Lloyd has become known for portraying larger-than-life characters with a singular intensity and imagination. Now, for the first time, Christopher shares stories from his life that he has rarely spoken about before.
In My Own Time begins with Christopher’s childhood at Waveny, the sprawling Connecticut estate. Raised primarily by governesses and wandering the grounds, he became a quiet observer of the people and relationships around him, including the complicated dynamic between his creative mother and his stern father.
With New York already a familiar part of his world, Christopher immersed himself in the demanding life of the theater. On stage he developed the intensity, imagination, and fearlessness that would come to define his work. From there, Christopher’s career expanded across television and film, where audiences came to know him as the intense and unpredictable Taber in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the eccentric and beloved Reverend Jim Ignatowski on Taxi, and the wild-eyed genius Doc Brown in the Back to the Future trilogy―performances that helped define some of the most enduring films and television of their time.
Christopher Lloyd offers a rare and deeply personal reflection on a life spent both onstage and on screen, told with charm, dry wit, and honesty. In sharing the stories behind his work, his struggles, and the people and places that shaped him, In My Own Time reveals the thoughtful and deeply observant man behind the iconic characters.
“…disarmingly wry… The actor is candid about his social and professional struggles in Hollywood as well as his years of substance abuse… his gratitude for a career he loves comes across as utterly heartfelt.” – Joanne Kaufman, Wall Street Journal
“Witty and understated, a cut above the typical Hollywood memoir.” – Kirkus Reviews
“[A] thoughtful look-back full of self-deprecating humor… A compelling story of a talented and creative artist and the unique personality behind the performer.” – Carolyn Mulac, Booklist
Mortal Things by Marie Lu
fiction / young adult / fantasy / romance.
Rose Lin Fairchild didn’t believe in gods, but one chose her anyway.
Rose despises Raven, the god of Death. His mysterious commands. His mercurial moods. His closed heart. But most of all, she loathes that she was forced to become his Harbinger, a human mercenary tasked to fulfill their god’s every want and whim. Still, she would do it again, because being a Harbinger is the only thing keeping her best friend alive.
When a murder rocks the world of the gods, Rose is suddenly thrust into the immortal realm’s spotlight as Raven’s heir. This is her chance to free her friend once and for all. But in order for her to ascend, she must first prove herself to the other gods―and the one person standing in her way is a fellow Harbinger.
Étienne Beauchard is notorious for his sly wit and charming good looks. Rose can’t stand that he is the one assigned to test her abilities, but as their initial hostility evolves into an intense attraction, they find that the gods’ secrets go deeper than they ever expected. Something is wrong in the immortal world, something that threatens to break their bond and engulf them all in war.
As Rose and Étienne fight to uncover the truth and trust each other with their hearts, they realize that everything hinges on the same question: How far would you go to save the person you love?
“A richly crafted fantasy that explores the sacrifices one is willing to make for love.” – Kirkus Reviews
“This is a story about how all our tiny decisions have ripple effects across the universe, the divinity of mortality, and what we’re willing to give up to save those we love. With an unforeseen twist and an ending that requires a sequel, this will surely leave readers clamoring for more.” – Jessie Maimone, Bulletin for the Center for Children’s Books
“…Lu puts her polished YA chops on full display with a tightly-woven narrative that had me on the edge of my seat…” – Will Swardstrom, FanFiAddict
Savage Lake by Nick Medina
fiction / horror / mystery / suspense.
Nell Marin swore she would never return to the place where part of her died.
The passing of her estranged father, however, leaves her with no choice but to take her teenage son, Oscar, back to the run-down family cabin on Torchlight Lake, where horrific memories linger. The two will fix the place up, sell it, and ensure Nell never has to return to that dreaded lake again.
But when the roads—which pass through Native land—are barricaded by the local Tribe, the quick trip turns into weeks. Oscar, a horror movie buff, knows this is exactly how it starts. As the long summer days drag on, unsettling things begin to occur: screams ring out over the water and a mysterious figure watches the cabin from the trees at night. Most disturbing of all, his mother is becoming less and less herself.
As the strange events lead Oscar to uncover the secrets Nell has shielded him from, he is forced to confront a reality that is far more frightening than movie monsters. He must uncover answers to the questions that stole so much from his mother… before the horror that traumatized Nell drags him under as well.
“Nick Medina writes gripping horror-thrillers braided with Native American folklore, and Savage Lake might be his best yet… Terrifying.” – Olivia Rutigliano, CrimeReads
“Nick Medina is becoming a can’t-miss voice in indigenous horror…” – SheReads
“A magnetic and compelling genre-bender.” – Paula Woods, People
Tyrant Lizard Queen: The Love, Life, and Terror of Earth’s Greatest Carnivore by Riley Black
nonfiction / science / nature / animals / history.
Tyrannosaurus rex is a prehistoric celebrity. Exceeding 40 feet in length and weighing over 9 tons, the largest individuals of this dinosaurian species were intimidating predators capable of crushing bone and consuming more than a hundred pounds of flesh in a bite. But the last of the tyrant dinosaurs had a life beyond ripping and tearing. More than 66 million years ago, T. rex courted each other, nested, watched over their offspring, slept, drank, and explored ancient floodplains inhabited by a fantastic cast of impressive dinosaurs like the huge long-neck Alamosaurus and burly, three-horned Torosaurus. For the first time, the life story of this impressive, sensitive predator is told as if you were there to watch it unfold.
In her latest prehistoric nature walk, bestselling and award-winning author Riley Black follows the life of plucky T. rex Snaggletooth from the time she hatches through her tumultuous adulthood. The prehistoric forest Snag emerges into is full of danger, and yet, as Riley bases Snaggletooth’s life on the latest scientific discoveries, the carnivorous dinosaur survives to play, court, fight, sleep, nest, and more as she grows up in Cretaceous North America. She tussles with rival tyrannosaurs, hunts for delectable prey, and finds soft moments of connection in the forest. Even the most die-hard dinosaur fan will come away with a new perspective and appreciation for the Tyrant Lizard Queen.
“Tyrant Lizard Queen brings Earth’s greatest carnivore to life in a way that defies the stereotype of T. rex as a mere flesh ripper.” – Aaron Tremper, Science News
“[A] creative blend of natural history and informed speculation… Combining evocative storytelling with meticulous science, Black offers a captivating and intimate portrait of Earth’s most famous carnivore. Dinosaur enthusiasts and general readers alike will find much to savor.” – Publishers Weekly
“Black’s work is distinctive in that she does not treat dinosaurs as mere fossils. She infuses these creatures with personalities of a sort, including instincts and rivalries, yet without abandoning research that supports those choices… a paleontological biography that makes deep time feel personal.” – George Kendall, Booklist
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