About Book Marks
Courtney Eathorne
Recent Reviews
Jeanna Kadlec
Rave Booklist The ideals of the evangelical \'American dream\' defined Kadlec’s evangelical experience, and in this book Kadlec blends memoir and cultural criticism to call out the hypocrisy of it all. Brilliant and well-read, Kadlec braved the emotional tides of religious trauma, divorce, and coming out as queer all before her thirtieth birthday. Giving a voice to past and present evangelicals who know that there is so much more than a rural zip code that informs the size of religion’s role in day-to-day life, Kadlec also invites readers to hold a mirror to the evangelical-political hydra that threatens to overthrow true American freedom.
Amber Tamblyn
Rave Booklist From her poetry to her essays, Tamblyn’s luminous writing shines as brightly as her powerful acting. In this anthology, Tamblyn and a brilliant crew of fellow writers meditate on the power of intuition ... The contributors are unmatched in talent, from essayists Jia Tolentino and Samantha Irby and political lights Ayanna Pressley and Huma Abedin to actors America Ferrera and Amy Poehler, poets Mindy Nettifee and Ada Limón, and even Tamblyn’s own mother, Bonnie. Readers will leave with a newfound appreciation for intuition, the electric magic that guides their creativity, relationships, and dreams. A gifted polymath, Tamblyn boldly dissects life’s greatest mysteries to make readers feel less alone in their bodies and minds.
Constance Wu
Rave Booklist \"...readers will leave the book tasting the bread Wu baked at her first job, and feeling the backstage excitement at a high-school theater audition. The author paints the characters and sites of her adulthood just as dexterously ... Generously sharing experiences of love, family, harassment, discrimination, and growth, Wu writes about others and her past self with the utmost respect. Her memoir is a gorgeously relatable portrait of a life guided by passion and art.\
Lucy Ives
Rave Booklist This pastiche novel boldly explores what drives the creative mind: genius, vanity, grief, love, and mental chaos. Ives is a brilliant, one-of-a-kind maestro, leading this complex orchestra with great aplomb. Inhabiting the voices of two fictional writers in addition to her own, she showcases a level of research and specificity uncommon in such entertaining fiction.
Bobby Finger
Positive Booklist Cozy, enthralling, and driven by complex, endearing women, The Old Place explores the mysterious act of realizing the worst in oneself and pushing forward anyway.
Betty Gilpin
Rave Booklist Gilpin’s written voice makes for an unforgettable read...She spins entirely original patterns of phrasing and combines wickedly clear imagery with novel cultural references to convey unique human experiences—she’ll make any noun a verb, and vice versa...Yet her writing is universal, never relying on the audience to know some obscure, niche thing...The book is riotously funny and braver than brave.
Nona Willis Aronowitz
Rave Booklist [Aronowitz] entwines her own experiences with a meticulous analysis of society and culture to explore the larger systems (white supremacy, capitalism, the patriarchy) and smaller trends (revenge porn, hookup apps, secretly misogynist activism) that encourage intimacy to fail. The result is an exquisitely researched, joyfully conversational take on sexual oppression and sexual revolutions throughout history, as well as a deeply heartfelt memoir. She references books, movies, and elections that changed sexual history—how they affected her personally and how they effected change in politics or culture. Aronowitz’s endearing commitment to journal keeping offers readers exactly what she was thinking and feeling while navigating nonmonogamy, hot affairs, divorce, casual sex, betrayal, grief, and existential disbelief, often all at once, over the last decade. This genuine and generous emotional offering is sure to make readers feel seen and heard, too.
Moses McKenzie
Positive Booklist Sayon’s world turns upside down, and is so rich to inhabit. His family and conflicts are alive and dynamic on every page, a testament to Bristol-based debut novelist McKenzie’s electrifying sense of voice.
Leila Mottley
Rave Booklist Kiara is an unforgettable dynamo, and her story brings critical human depth to conversations about police sexual violence. Mottley, an activist and the 2018 Oakland Youth Poet Laureate, lends her deft hand for poetics to the prose of this stunning debut novel.
Bud Smith
Positive Booklist \"...hard to put down thanks to Bonnie and Clyde–caliber action and fascinating explorations of two deeply struggling young minds.\
Sara Kruzan
Rave Booklist Courageous and unforgettable ... Kruzan encountered a new set of social, emotional, and logistical challenges when reentering society. Now she’s an advocate for young people who face similar struggles, a fighter who fights with a hopeful, loving spirit. That spirit is captured on every page of this memoir that’s as brave and brilliant as its author.
Chelsea Bieker
Rave Booklist Bieker flexes a gift for the short form in her searing first collection. Each story draws readers in, moving them to love Bieker’s crusty characters before ending just in time to satisfy ... engrossing ... The volume is turned way up on the corruption of these characters’ relationships and the severity of their missteps; such big, loud behavior creates ample space to observe their pulsing humanity. Readers will get lost in this riot of a collection, like a sun-bleached fever dream.
David Keenan
Rave Booklist In this absolutely unique novel, Scottish author Keenan defies all conventions of contemporary fiction ... Every facet of a father-daughter relationship is explored. Keenan’s meandering novel will shock and delight, confuse and inspire, all in a manner that truly elevates the form.
Ladee Hubbard
Rave Booklist Hubbard returns with this brilliantly rendered collection of short stories ... Every character is dynamic, every world easy to slide into. The collection examines class and race at the turn of the century and how the politics of the era oppressed working Americans. As it does in her novels, Hubbard’s deft hand for urgent fiction shines in every piece.
Coco Mellors
Positive Booklist Mellors’ debut novel is deeply engrossing and easily lovable, perfect for fans of Sally Rooney and Lauren Groff.
Julia May Jonas
Rave Booklist Deeply engrossing ... Jonas’ novel is an enthralling, self-aware, and, at times, hilarious critique of academic privilege, while the narrator’s journey is a thoughtful allegory for how the old guard is responding to a new world. This tale is a joy to read as it lambastes resistance to change, while still allowing for victories and compassion for the characters it roasts.
Lea Ypi
Rave Booklist ... vivid ... Ypi’s prose is colored by the innocence of her youth as she delivers a beautifully straightforward analysis of the world around her. This is also a gripping portrait of all ill societies struggling with socialism and capitalism. Ypi’s experiences and perspective are invaluable, especially for politically minded readers dreaming up the future.
Renee Branum
Rave Booklist Written in sweeping prose rife with allegory (many unbelievable real-life falls told here), Branum’s first novel is an honest, beautiful tale of fierce sibling love.
Megan Milks
Rave Booklist In these unforgettable stories, Milks’ gift for specificity and poignant body horror are on full display. The tales highlight the weird and wonderful dysphoria and dysmorphia that can accompany youth ... Milks bends genre and gender, weaves woes of sexuality and identity into stories about the mundane, and delivers a satisfying arc every time ... Milks is a powerhouse, churning out multiple titles in 2021 ... The gore and guts and unbelievable antics are perfect reading for this dystopian era, and Milks is an exquisite writer for this time.
Emily Ratajkowski
Positive Booklist Throughout her writing has a sweetness and even an innocence. Ratajkowski leaves readers sure that she remains in awe of her body and excited about all that the future holds.
Domenico Starnone, Tr. Jhumpa Lahiri
Rave Booklist A sweeping examination of aging, love, and success, Trust allows readers to define the boundaries of the novel’s marriage and families for themselves. This is the third of Starnone’s novels that Lahiri has translated over the last six years, and her deft hand seamlessly reveals Starnone’s masterful narrative at every turn.
Anne Elizabeth Moore
Rave Booklist Moore infuses this memoir with keenly researched insights about the historical forces that created Detroit’s (and America’s) housing crisis, creating a heartfelt, funny, thought-provoking meditation on the multifaceted fallacy of the American Dream.
Kalani Pickhart
Rave Booklist Sweeping ... Love stories and...grief breathe life into Pickhart’s meticulously researched depictions of Ukraine’s struggle. The action unfolds at breakneck pace, making for an unforgettable reading experience and a critical lesson in ongoing global history.
Christine Pride and Jo Piazza
Rave Booklist Coauthors Pride and Piazza explore how the sanctity of childhood friendship can be questioned and corrupted well into adulthood, and how violent racial injustice is ubiquitous in American life. We Are Not Like Them is spellbinding from cover to cover.
Gabrielle Union
Rave Booklist ... e wise, intimate personal stories, welcoming readers back into her life and family with all the candor and wit of her first memoir ... She also gives advice about finding success in the entertainment industry. The respect with which she writes about the people in her life is a true testament to her character. Always smart, inviting, and generous with emotion, Union’s second exquisite memoir reads like a conversation with your most enlightened, thoughtful friend.
Jo Hamya
Positive Booklist ... sharp ... Hamya’s debut, a tight story of privilege and neoliberalism, rakes the muck of a wealth-hoarding society.
Jessica Hopper
Rave Booklist ... Hopper lays bare a storied career and a true gift for music journalism ... Hopper is an artist whose curiosity about creativity has produced a stunning body of work, both in breadth and skill, and this is her lyrical, observant magnum opus.
Daniel Sherrell
Rave Booklist ... eerie and gorgeous ... This book will validate the fears, grief, and nostalgia that readers of any generation feel about the future of our planet. There is much collective comfort to be found while naming the specifics of such an overwhelming topic, and Sherrell offers that comfort generously on every page.
Mona Awad
Rave Booklist A brilliant noir comedy about art and illness ... Awad’s characters are deliciously over the top and impossible to forget, as is the author’s gift for morbid humor. The real magic of this novel lies in Awad’s ability to draw the Shakespearean irony out of contemporary tragedy ... Endlessly thought-provoking and not to be missed.
Katherine Ashenburg
Positive Booklist Cathartic to read ... This portrait of a contemporary woman is a striking analysis of journalism, adultery, divorce, parenting teenagers, and caring for elderly parents; perfect for fans of Emma Straub.
Hermione Hoby
Rave Booklist Luca\'s...inevitable crash back to Earth is rife with consequences that won’t fully unravel for years to come. In her second book, a delicious meditation on morality, nostalgia, and art, Hoby...searingly renders Luca’s many worlds and lambasts insincere compassion with nuance.
Ailsa McFarlane
Rave Booklist ... [a] haunting and tight debut ... twisted and implicated in violence. The story is gripping from start to finish, ripe with an ever-present sense of mystery and dripping with the boldness of youth.
Emma Brodie
Positive Booklist Set in the grooving 1970s music world, this sprawling novel follows Jane and Jesse through the epic highs and lows of their careers. Moving from New York to Los Angeles to Greece to the Grammys, then always back home to the island, Brodie’s debut is a furious page-turner, meditating on the glittering beast of fame.
Gabriel Krauze
Positive Booklist In this cutting debut, Krauze introduces readers to the London of his young adulthood, a London of loyalty and violence, of gang allegiance, stabbings, gunshot wounds, and illegal drug trafficking ... The book is written in an authentic London street vernacular, creating a wholly engrossing experience of Gabriel’s life. Krauze has penned a requiem for his younger self, and for young people everywhere caught between worlds of differing morality and beliefs.
Ellena Savage
Rave Booklist ... [an] electric collection ... Savage’s writing is a gulp of fresh air; it’s pithy and self-aware, and still so rich with life’s sweetness.
Jessica Anya Blau
Positive Booklist Set in suburban Baltimore in the 1970s, Blau’s latest is a charming and poignant tale of desire, image, Americana, and chosen family.
Anna Sale
Positive Booklist Infusing it all with memoir, Sale is generous when divulging her tricky chats of yore, and always quick to acknowledge the privilege that has allowed her—a cis, heterosexual, married, white parent—to have some difficult conversations but not others. This book is a road map to navigating these sorts of conversations with friends and family, and even includes specific phrasing to try; it also offers a sense of solidarity. Simply bearing witness to the struggles of strangers is sure to leave readers feeling less alone.
Melanie Challenger
Rave Booklist In this fascinating and cutting-edge meditation on humanity, British author Challenger presents readers with the truth of their animal lives. Drawing on generations of research in evolution, genetics, and philosophy, Challenger analyzes the human tendency to believe our experiences amount to more than animal entropy ... The book is humbling and serves up ample reminders of humans’ role in the world as animals among other animals. It’s timely as well, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic ... Every chapter is more riveting than the last, a truly remarkable read.
Lucy Ives
Positive Booklist The stories all meander into something unexpected before exploding in truth and keen observations of human nature ... The pieces vary in form and self-awareness; Ives’ cultural criticism is often a character, sometimes even the narrator, in these tales. High-art culture, late capitalism, and early marriage are some of the most commonly skewered themes. Ives has the rare ability to boomerang reality totally out of whack before calling it home in an even purer form.
Randa Jarrar
Positive Booklist In this cutting and triumphant memoir-in-essays, Jarrar lays bare her continuing fight for validation and love in a world unused to celebrating people that look and think like her ... The memoir itself traverses the globe from Texas to Connecticut to the Middle East to Berlin, with Jarrar’s grit and intelligence leaping off every page. The entire book is a symphony for the pushed-out and the unheard.
Tracy Clark-Flory
Rave Booklist Clark-Flory writes of this dissonance fearlessly. She throws herself completely into the world of porn sets, sex shops, strip clubs, and BDSM dungeons in search of deeper truths about society’s oldest obsession. Amid her theoretical research, Clark-Flory comes of age before readers’ eyes. Subtly chronological, this memoir-in-essays follows Clark-Flory through destructive hookups, faked orgasms, job insecurity, the loss of her mother, marriage, childbirth, and parenting. It is a wonder to witness an essay about Magic Mike Live (the Vegas strip show response to the 2012 film) become an existential exploration of mortality. The book is so brilliantly niche that it becomes completely universal.
Ladee Hubbard
Rave Booklist The inimitable Hubbard...delivers a dazzling tour-de-force in this richly painted, perfectly timed meditation on privilege and fury.
Caitlin Horrocks
Positive Booklist This dazzling collection of short stories will be pinging around the minds of readers long after the back cover is closed ... Each story is as engrossing as if it were a full-length novel, and just as sad to leave. Perfect for fans of George Saunders and Karen Russell.
Madeleine Watts
Rave Booklist Watts uses this connection throughout the story to convey the narrator’s hope and skepticism that a fruitful and contented life is possible. The powerful metaphors, relatable negotiation for a satisfying livelihood, and ethereal setting make Watts’ debut a can’t-miss.
Nadia Terranova, Trans. by Ann Goldstein
Rave Booklist To say this is beautifully translated doesn’t even scratch the surface; Goldstein, who has also translated Elena Ferrante’s novels, finds poetry in Terranova’s every line. Together, these two artists have birthed an aching, translingual masterpiece.
Ed. by Zoë Bossiere and Dinty W. Moore
Positive Booklist These micro essays explore a diversity of perspectives ... Every essay proves that length is no indicator of depth, and that, over twenty years in, Brevity is relevant and necessary.
Felicia Luna Lemus
Rave Booklist In this totally unique micro-memoir, Lemus returns for an unforgettable meditation on her experiences ... It is episodic and sparse, each page a thought or two about the state of her marriage and her memory during one particularly difficult year ... Lemus bears an unmatched precision of the craft. This succinct mic drop of a personal story begs to be read over and over again.
Julián Herbert
Positive Booklist ... cathartic ... Explosive, visceral, and impossible to forget.
Lindy West
Rave Booklist Queen of keenly observed, hilariously rendered cultural criticism, West (The Witches Are Coming, 2019) offers this delicious distraction from reality ... Infused with West’s commentary, which is colored by her rewatching during the COVID-19 lockdown, what emerges is a cathartic, joyful exploration of entertainment ... In true West form, she reads like your smartest, funniest, and warmest friend. A perfect blend of substance, escapism, and laughter—a gift from West to the rest of us.
Alicia Elliott
Rave Booklist Having experienced explicit racism, inadequate access to healthy food, and disadvantages in education, Elliott here entwines her personal history with thoughtful, well-researched cultural criticism ... Elliott’s intelligence and inquisitive reflection are humbling; her book should be required reading.
Anne Helen Petersen
Positive Booklist Attempting to decenter the white, middle-class experience of young adulthood, this book explores how millennials of all backgrounds and income brackets suffer because of the gig economy they inherited ... Petersen is generous in divulging personal experiences and hopeful even at her most enraged. This galvanizing read reminds readers that what seems impossible is absolutely not, especially for a generation with so little to lose.
Megan Hunter
Positive Booklist ... a gripping journey inside the mind of a woman betrayed that will leave readers wondering just how far they would go for revenge or forgiveness.
Yaffa S Santos
Positive Booklist Included throughout the story are the actual Dominican-French fusion recipes that Lumi and Julien create. This sweet and spicy tale will bring out the romantic epicurean in all who pull it off the shelves.
Jason Diamond
Rave Booklist ... fascinating ... Diamond presents readers with a new way of viewing this ubiquitous environment ... Diamond is clear that no matter the intentions of early suburban founders, too often, minority groups were deliberately kept out. Looking at the culture of the suburbs from the 1980s to the present, Diamond shows how much of our country’s worst violence takes place in suburban areas (school shootings, police brutality), and how the suburbs are seen as stifling to creativity despite the array of music, film, literature, and art that has been produced by suburbanites. Diamond points out that by pigeonholing the suburbs as devoid of energy, Americans could be missing out on the vast potential of the people who live there. As to whether or not suburban areas will have to evolve in order to attract younger generations in droves, there is some evidence that suburban nostalgia is comforting enough to soothe a high-strung, internet-raised population. A humble and curious must-read.
Debra Jo Immergut
Rave Booklist The events are commentated by email correspondence between neuroscience experts discussing Abigail’s case, which greatly heightens the intensity of her unraveling—it’s clear early on that Abigail’s story made history. Immergut...delivers a furious page-turner.
Sarah Gerard
Positive Booklist In this smart, dark riot of a novel...Nina moves in and out of relationships with unavailable men at lightning speed. It’s a great distraction from the lack of traction in her writing career ... Her cast of ex-boyfriends is a treat to read for its abject messiness ... Nina’s search for love, fulfillment, and demonstrative success becomes a scathing critique of modern hustle culture and the privilege of making art.
Gabriella Burnham
Positive Booklist With her searing debut novel, dual Brazilian-American citizen Burnham tells a nuanced and thought-provoking story of privilege, desire, and female kinship.
Leigh Stein
Positive Booklist The book is timely and playful, offering a juicy glimpse into the pathos and ethos of the wellness industry and the influencers who make it all appear so shiny and bright. Perfect for fans of Such a Fun Age...by Kiley Reid and The Assistants...by Camille Perri.
Leah Hampton
Rave Booklist In this gripping collection of short stories, writer and college instructor Hampton brings the complex people and sweeping landscapes of the Blue Ridge mountains to life ... Hampton writes with awe and admiration of the scenery of Kentucky and North Carolina, and with radical empathy for its inhabitants.
Anna Dorn
Positive Booklist The author is careful to never judge Prue, leaving readers wondering whether the story constitutes satire or is simply a precautionary tale. A memorable meditation on narcissism and fame.
Nina Renata Aron
Rave Booklist ... candid and heart-wrenching ... Aron revisits old wounds with clarity and care. Her compassion for victims of addiction never wavers, and her presentation of the addicted people in her life is dynamic and fair. A beautiful, nuanced portrait of living alongside addiction.
Michael Arceneaux
Rave Booklist Journalist and cultural critic Arceneaux...offers another unflinchingly smart and wickedly funny collection of essays ... Arceneaux’s writing is meticulously researched, gut-bustingly funny, and rich with niche cultural references ready to surprise and delight his audiences at every turn.
Lulu Miller
Rave Booklist The book that emerges from her research reads like a podcast episode, blending investigative journalism, biography, and a dash of memoir. The questions posed by Miller’s dive into Jordan’s life are profound and open-ended ... Gripping, and sure to be on readers’ minds long after the final pages.
Linda Sarsour
Rave Booklist In this unforgettable memoir, Women’s March co-organizer Sarsour paints a vivid portrait of her life as an activist ... An incredible, galvanizing story of the power of participation.
Nicolas Mathieu, Trans. by William Rodarmor
Positive Booklist ... sultry, sweaty ... Subtly tragic and deeply human, Rodarmor’s translation is sure to please English language readers of Mathieu’s Prix Goncourt–winning novel.
Djaimilia Pereira de Almeida, trans. by Eric M B Becker
Positive Booklist This semi-autobiographical and unforgettable novel is a look back at the significant lifetime of one woman’s hair ... The most profound aspect of this anecdotal history is its newness; Mila’s story and the story of Angolan colonization are utterly contemporary. Translator Becker treats de Almeida’s work with the utmost care and opens with an explanation of how he parsed common trends in Portuguese language from this particular author’s style. The book is a tight but kaleidoscopic view of an ongoing cultural conversation about identity, inherited trauma, and intersectionality.
Chelsea Bieker
Positive Booklist Bieker’s debut novel is a vivid and cutting exploration of unconditional female love. It observes how mothers shape daughters, biological or otherwise, and how daughters must ultimately learn to mother themselves.
Amanda Leduc
Rave Booklist She dives deep into how popular stories define cultural norms, blending cultural analysis with her own personal narratives from a life spent trying to make sense of how the world perceives her. Leduc is thoughtful and her research is vast. She has woven together a poignant and informative account of how the stories we tell shape our collective understanding of one another.
Hilary Leichter
Positive Booklist ...[a] fever dream of a novel ... This book is a potent and ethereal look at late capitalism for the young professional. Perfect for fans of Severance...by Ling Ma.
Amy Bonnaffons
Positive Booklist [A] tight and lyrical debut novel ... Bonnaffons has a deft hand for dialogue and character development, which grounds the fantastical nature of her novel in the sharp truths of real-life love and desire. Perfect for fans of Melissa Broder’s The Pisces.
Kate Wisel
Positive Booklist It’s Girls without all the privilege and a fictionalized version of Lisa Taddeo’s Three Women (2019), if the three women were friends. Bringing to life some of the smaller situations that have colored the #MeToo movement, this is fierce and emphatic.
Jeannie Vanasco
Rave Booklist ... sets the canon of #MeToo-era creative nonfiction on fire ... This is a slow-burning, reverberating meditation on the nuances of morality, masculinity, and punishment ... messy, thoughtful, and illuminating ... With this publication, Vanasco investigates whether understanding one’s abuser can break the cycle of abuse. Inimitable.
Mona Eltahawy
Rave Booklist Feminist activist Eltahawy...returns with a sharp manifesto for fighting the patriarchy ... Brilliant and electrifying.
Jennifer Croft
Positive Booklist A heartbreaking, vanguard, and mixed-media coming-of-age memoir.
Annaleese Jochems
Positive Booklist ... engrossing ... Dark and twisty despite its sun-soaked backdrop, this is perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty.
Madeline Stevens
Positive Booklist In what could be described as The Nanny Diaries meets Single White Female, Stevens’ debut introduces readers to the sometimes glittering, sometimes gritty underbelly of New York City childcare ... [Ella\'s and Lonnie\'s] kinship is doomed from the start, only growing more suspenseful and unhinged as the story unfolds; every turn of the page will leave readers wondering which woman will snap first. Perfect for fans of Stephanie Danler’s Sweetbitter (2016).
Chavisa Woods
Rave Booklist Woods...unshakable memoir is a list of 100 incidents of sexism that she’s experienced in her three decades of life. The chronologically arranged accounts are plain and profound, allowing the actions to speak for themselves, and range in length from a paragraph to a few pages ... Incredibly, a rich portrait of Woods’ life as an artist and a lover prevails through all of the horror. Even focusing on sexism, she claims her identity as so much more than a survivor. In the haunting conclusion, Woods reminds readers that there is no such thing as reverse sexism in a world where women are so systematically oppressed, citing gender comparison statistics about rape and homicide. Brilliant and simple, this is sure to advance understanding of a topic of intense national reckoning.In the haunting conclusion, Woods reminds readers that there is no such thing as reverse sexism in a world where women are so systematically oppressed, citing gender comparison statistics about rape and homicide. Brilliant and simple, this is sure to advance understanding of a topic of intense national reckoning.
Joe Moran
Positive Booklist In this elegant and winding book-length love letter, English lecturer Moran professes his undying adoration for the structural atom of literature: the sentence ... The book is expansive, diving into myriad topics related to sentence composition and efficacy, and Moran’s infatuation endures through it all. Writers and linguists have much to gain from Moran’s manic and probing research, but it’s Moran’s enthusiasm for the vitality of language that will engage any and all readers.
Carrie Goldberg
Rave Booklist ... galvanizing ... The book is full of information about current cyber privacy laws (like those targeting revenge porn) that is certain to help readers better understand their own rights in an evolving legal landscape. Engrossing and unique, this is an important addition to the canon of #MeToo-era social science tomes.
Susan Steinberg
Positive Booklist ... [a] hypnotic story that could be described as a noir Gossip Girl novel written in verse ... teens more jaded than those of E. Lockhart’s We Were Liars (2014), and with more secrets than those of Nicholas Sparks’ A Walk to Remember (1999) ... With simple, lyrical language, Steinberg presents a mystery of privilege and youth that deftly captures the unadulterated fear quaking deep behind a teenager’s invincible front.
Cecelia Watson
Positive Booklist Given her enigmatic, esoteric subject, historian Watson has crafted an impeccably readable meditation on the semicolon ... Unlike a manual of style...this book’s examples portion isn’t long. Watson instead enforces a thesis stating that devoted adhesion to the rules of Standard Written English is a privilege afforded to very few. She reminds readers that there is an entire world of storytelling and communication that has nothing to do with how a sentence is spliced. It puts punctuation in perspective, which will be of particular significance to grammar sticklers, the readers most likely to pull this one from the shelf.
Sarah Rose Etter
Positive Booklist Penned in succinct, poetic prose, Etter’s surreal debut is exactly as grotesque and horrifying as young adulthood.
Lorene Cary
Positive Booklist Between stories of her grandmother’s antics (bedpans, bee stings, breakfasts in bed, a parade of \'incompetent\' nurses), Cary shares her larger family history, placing the aging woman in her house in the context of her matriarchy and descendants. Cary is candid about the stress of how long her grandmother held on ... With admiration, triumph, and love, Cary captures the universal experience of close family loss.
Samra Habib
Positive Booklist In this unforgettable memoir, journalist and activist Habib creates space and representation for the next generation of queer Muslim voices ... The memoir reads like a love letter to Habib’s younger self: she begs readers to embrace radical, unavoidable, beautiful change in themselves and those around them, and to know that it will always lead them closer to their truest selves.
Elaine Welteroth
Rave Booklist With lyrical prose resonant of Jacqueline Woodson’s, Welteroth shows what it truly means to be a leader: to elevate others and challenge systems of oppression, without ever sacrificing a job well done ... Welteroth is proof that “living the dream” is an ever-changing, ever-satisfying journey to behold.
Mona Awad
Positive Booklist ...a wicked tale ... Awad’s (13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl, 2016) latest is sharp and utterly bonkers; think Heathers gone to grad school.
Molly Dektar
Rave Booklist Dektar’s deft construction of the Ash Family’s world and their environmentalist values brings a meaningful new story to the canon of cult narratives. Perfect for fans of Philip Roth’s American Pastoral (1997) and the film Martha, Marcy, May, Marlene.
Mary Norris
Positive Booklist \"The book is a delicious intersection of personal essays, etymology, and travel writing. Norris’ full Greek immersion pushed her out of her comfort zone and taught her much more than the history of the comma.\
Jane Alison
Positive Booklist In this wholly original analysis of style, novelist Alison (Nine Island, 2016) explores the forms and shapes that narrative can take, pushing the bounds of storytelling beyond the infamous pyramid of climax ... Her observations of the sensory aspects of literature are indulgent and delectable, and sure to elevate the experience of readers and writers alike.
Erin McGraw
Positive Booklist Poignant and sweeping ... paints a beautiful and multifaceted portrait of domestic life in modern America. In stories ranging in length from three to eight pages, McGraw explores marriage, parenting, loss, and addiction with care and a keen ability to shade character ... The stories find humanity in every situation, no matter how unsympathetic. Readers will find themselves understanding adulterers and murderers, not for their destructive choices but for the greater sum of their lives—an impressive feat, considering the brevity of the format. Standouts from the collection include a story about a white girl cast as a Puerto Rican in a high-school production of West Side Story and a vignette about a wedding-dress designer seeing an influx of single brides commissioning gowns. Perfect for fans of Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere and Julie Buntin’s Marlena .
Amy Feltman
Positive Booklist ...[a] gentle and sweeping love story ... From Willa and Hesper, readers may see how relationships between twentysomethings, even when brief, have the potential to inspire unimaginable self-discovery. Set immediately before and after the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Feltman’s novel is as titillating and tense as the experience of young adult love itself.
Benjamin Dreyer
Positive Booklist User-friendly ... While the manual is invaluable for the author-to-be, it’s also an advantageous read for anyone looking to avoid sounding like an idiot in any official document, regardless of whether they have a background in or penchant for writing ... peppered with Dreyer’s playful anecdotal footnotes and acerbic wit, making for a riotous read when readers wouldn’t necessarily expect one ... A remarkably fun book about a dastardly dry subject, this will surely aid in committing the rules of the written word to memory, once and for all.
Ed. by America Ferrera
Rave Booklist ...beautifully woven ... Each piece gifts readers with intimate glimpses of contributors’ private lives, rife with admiration for immigrant parents and pride in cultural backgrounds, along with the frustration and anguish that come with feeling like an outsider in their own country ... This essential collection is a love letter to all who call America home.
Niviaq Korneliussen Trans. by Anna Halager
Positive Booklist All of the rich identity crises are set against the biting culture of the characters’ Greenland, a conservative, bottle-up-your-feelings kind of place. Sharp, witty, and cathartic, like releasing a long-held breath.
Lane Moore
Positive Booklist In this scrappy collection of personal essays, Moore opens up her psyche and personal life ... Moore is spare with the details of her childhood, emphasizing the weight of her trauma rather than the specifics of it. She explains how to survive the holidays, how to screen a mate, and how to accept love as someone who grew up without it. The essays are whip-smart, pithy, and full of an honest, conversational charm that sets Moore apart.
Wendy Guerra Trans. by Achy Obejas
Positive Booklist Lyrical and breathless ... a riveting look into the lives of artists attempting free expression in censored regimes. The story ends with the inclusion of Cleo’s weaponized poems, beautiful, heartbreaking testaments to her dissent.
Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore
Rave Booklist At the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis, Boston nightclub queen Alexa and her friends navigate the pitfalls of 1990s romance together, stumbling as one united front through acne, bad dates, bad trips, and the risks of sex work. Between the all-nighters fueled by ketamine, cocaine, and ecstasy, Alexa works to make peace with her past ... As stupefying and white-hot as the drugs coursing through Alexa’s veins, Sycamore’s latest is a love letter to and a formal complaint about the glitter and horror of the 1990s.
Ellie Kemper
Positive Booklist Her essays, light and apolitical, do differentiate Kemper from the often hopelessly simple and optimistic characters she plays, but at her core, Kemper herself is darn sunny and sweet. Despite a couple meltdowns over lentils hidden in restaurant food, and Manhattan germs threatening to attack her newborn, Kemper solidifies her upbeat and humble persona with her first book.
Justine Bateman
Rave Booklist \"In this collection of razor-sharp essays, prolific actor and producer Bateman meditates on the fear, trauma, and access of fame ...Rarely has anyone written so honestly about the experience of being famous. In the interest of better understanding the figures we claim to know and love, Bateman’s book is a must-read. \
Leah Dieterich
Positive Booklist ...[an] ethereal and heady memoir ... Dieterich never explicitly names herself as the narrator, allowing for distance between herself as the author and herself as the woman aroused ... Poignant and extremely hard to shake.
Andrea Kleine
Positive Booklist The novel slides between the time of the incident and the present, following Hope, who as an adult playwright lives in the shadow of her trauma. After the abduction, Eden and Hope drifted apart, their relationship unable to withstand the weight of the tragedy. As the story progresses, Hope pursues contact with the sister she has fetishized and obsessed over since the night their childhoods were cut short. Dark, eloquent, and bold, Kleine’s...latest is a fierce tale of survival and sisterhood.
Courtenay Hameister
Positive Booklist There is a tremendous amount of pain (wax) and a tremendous amount of courage (sitting on a futon at a sex club) ... Inspiring, poignant, and laugh-out-loud funny.
Tsitsi Dangarembga
Rave Booklist Tambudzai now floats between temporary living situations before landing a job working for Green Jacaranda Safaris, an ecotourism company aimed at getting money from the hands of wealthy European visitors looking to witness the grittier realities of African life ... Set in the immediate aftermath of Zimbabwe’s hard-won independence, Dangarembga’s third novel is an urgent and unforgettable tale of the dangers of capitalism and colonialism in the developing world.
Sophie Lucido Johnson
Positive Booklist Online In her debut collection of essays and comics, writer and art-school-instructor Johnson pulls back the curtain on the logistics of functional polyamory. With candor and wit, she shares the romantic, sexual, and platonic experiences of her young adult life as a way of exploring her path to maintaining multiple romantic partners ... Johnson’s accessible, personal, and artistic exploration of polyamory is sure to spark conversation about the many manifestations of love.
Amy Bonnaffons
Rave Booklist In her first collection, Bonnaffons dazzles and cuts with 10 hilarious and cathartic short stories ... The author employs a modern magical realism, absurd, nihilistic, and playful all at once.... Resonant of Alissa Nutting’s novels and George Saunders’ Pastoralia (2000), Bonnaffon’s first collection presents a powerful and fresh new voice.
Jordy Rosenberg
Rave Booklist This eighteenth-century, anti-imperialist, anticapitalist love story tells the tale of notorious transgender thief Jack Sheppard...A rare manuscript of Sheppard’s memoirs is discovered in the present day by university professor Dr. Voth, also trans, whom readers get to know through the novel’s lengthy footnotes ... As the antique manuscript unfolds, things grow increasingly difficult for partners in crime Jack and Bess. The deadly plague encroaches on their English hovel, as do heartless mercantilism and a brutal police force ... Irreverent, erudite, and not to be missed.
Alice Bolin
Rave Booklist \"In her searing new essay collection, Bolin probes the generations-old obsession with young, tragic heroines ... Smart, thorough, and urgent, Bolin’s essays are a force to be reckoned with.\
Clemantine Wamariya and Elizabeth Weil
Positive Booklist In her prose as in her life, Wamariya is brave, intelligent, and generous. Sliding easily between past and present, this memoir is a soulful, searing story about how families survive.
Lucas Mann
Rave Booklist Online In this one-of-a-kind essay collection, Mann explores the fruitful if fraught relationship between love and reality television. Mann is a reality TV junkie, embedded deeply in the fandom of countless franchises ... Though his essays are academic, they are also readable and heartfelt; each one includes commentary written directly to his wife, recounting episodes watched and emotions shared. Mann recounts the ways in which reality television not only reflects the culture of its viewers but also nestles its way into their hearts.
Elaine Castillo
Rave Booklist \"Though Hero’s new life as an immigrant adjusting to America is complicated, the mundane routines and soulful cast of characters she encounters allow her many-times-broken heart to expand and eventually love. Castillo’s direct and urgent voice propels the sprawling epic with impressive skill. This unforgettable family saga is not to be missed.\
Peggy Orenstein
Positive Booklist Online The power of her work comes from her incessant curiosity and her general unwillingness to provide a singular answer to life’s biggest questions. How should a white mother navigate parenting a child of color? Must parents disclose their decision to utilize an ovum donor to their child and extended family? Orenstein’s refusal to draw conclusions breaks down barriers between the different sides of an argument and invites those with opposing viewpoints to see eye to eye.'
Kim Fu
Rave Booklist In addition to recounting the nightmarish debacle, Fu’s sharp book is a study of the five girls later in life ... Readers will delight in the complicated, brash, ugly, and sincere presentation of Fu’s characters.
Vandana Singh
Rave Booklist Singh’s dexterous hand for speculative science fiction is on full display in this lyrical and humanist collection. In each story, keen and ruthless female protagonists work to make sense of a world that has been defeated by the violence of nature ... Singh, both a physicist and wordsmith, is developing an exciting new subgenre all her own, and Ambiguity Machines is an enjoyable introduction to her voice.
Jeannie Vanasco
Rave Booklist She writes vividly of the exposed-nerve pain of losing a parent at such a tumultuous age ... The language cuts quick to the heart of Vanasco’s hurt; readers will immediately fall into the rhythm of her unrelenting inner dialogue. The greatest strength of this work is the author’s self-awareness; she admits that writing a memoir about her experience with grief might be further contributing to her personal turmoil. Vanasco’s candor, curiosity, and commitment to human understanding are not to be missed.
Karl Geary
Positive Booklist “Fast paced and highly engrossing, Geary’s debut perfectly balances dreary romance with sharp teen angst.”
Chavisa Woods
Rave Booklist This fiery collection of fiction does justice to growing up during the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Woods’ latest startles and sings. The eight stories vary in tone and in clip but will not soon be forgotten ... Woods’ writing is deep and dynamic. Her characters are complex and never sink into the ease of generalizations. She spares no experience in her representation of modern America; it is a rare work of literary fiction that fully showcases the rich and diverse American populace. The stories establish instant, distinct voices, much like Roxane Gay’s recent Difficult Women, and fans of Miranda July’s fiction will relish the wily creativity of Woods’ plots. This book is tight, intelligent, and important, and sure to secure Woods a seat in the pantheon of critical twenty-first-century voices.
Daniel Magariel
Rave Booklist Scenes of paternal neglect under the Southwestern sky call to mind certain chunks of Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch. Told from the younger son’s point of view, Magariel’s debut is a stunning discussion of parent-child loyalty, masculinity, and how the only person we can truly save is ourselves.