‹ Reviewer Book Marks

Genevieve Kingston

Rave Book Reporter Gwen’s memoir is achingly specific, full of honest and at times painful recollections of moments in her young life ... A powerful testament to a mother’s legacy and the importance of living a full and meaningful life, however long it may last.

Naomi Klein

Rave Bookreporter \"Klein excels at identifying patterns and calmly and rationally exploring and explaining them. Although the topics she writes about are frightening for those who fear for a future defined by climate disaster, extreme inequality and war, the ways in which she draws connections, backed up with compelling and well-researched and -reasoned evidence, is, in an odd way, reassuring. It provides confirmation that readers who have noticed some of these phenomena are not crazy.\

Emma Cline

Rave Book Reporter Emma Cline manages to evince a startling degree of interiority, even though her narrative uses a third person voice. Alex is observant and introspective, but she doesn’t dwell on any kind of outlandish backstory that has brought her to the desperate place where she finds herself.

Martin Riker

Rave Book Reporter A brilliant and important book that I will continue to think about for many years to come.

Parini Shroff

Positive Book Reporter \"The Bandit Queens is a difficult novel to categorize. It has elements of mystery and suspense but does not easily slot into those genres. It also contains plenty of humor, much of it fairly dark. Even the humor comments obliquely on gender issues ... Rather than trying to force the book into a particular type, readers would be better served to simply immerse themselves in the story and follow the unexpected journey of Geeta and her friends wherever it may lead.\

Sabrina Imbler

Rave Book Reporter I was eager to get my own hands on Sabrina Imbler’s memoir...to see what all the excitement was about. I am here to vouch that all the fuss was totally justified ... How Far the Light Reaches...would be worth reading for their nature writing alone. But, as the subtitle suggests, this is also a memoir, although probably not like any other memoir you’ve encountered. Each elegantly crafted essay focuses on a single type of sea creature whose story is interwoven thematically with elements of Imbler’s own.

Sam Lipsyte

Positive Book Reporter Lipsyte\'s novels are always funny in a dense, almost exhausting way. His characters are fast-talking and smart. Reading his prose, especially his dialogue, feels like listening in on a conversation between some of the smartest, funniest people you know after they\'ve had perhaps a bit too much to drink.

Jasmine Guillory

Rave Book Reporter Intoxicating ... Drunk on Love is a promising series launch that could be described using adjectives that might also classify wine: bold, spicy and juicy, to name a few. The Napa Valley setting might inspire readers to plan a long weekend getaway --- and as usual, Guillory’s novel is full of mouthwatering descriptions of food. The abundance of well-developed, intriguing secondary characters also bodes well for a new series of happily ever afters.

Allie Rowbottom

Positive Bookreporter ... rich with other realms for discussion and consideration, including the #MeToo movement and its aftermath, the toxic nature of influencer culture, and the perils and promise of technology. It is also a portrait of a woman who is fundamentally lonely, even though, at her peak, millions of people follow her every move. The book is both horrifying and hopeful, the kind of well-crafted novel of ideas that readers won\'t easily forget.

Meg Howrey

Rave Book Reporter I\'ve always been in awe of people who can convincingly, even eloquently, write criticism or fiction about other art forms, such as visual art, music or dance. In her latest novel, They\'re Going to Love You, former dancer Meg Howrey demonstrates that she\'s more than capable of writing with knowledge and emotion about both the movements of dance and (to me at least) the bafflingly opaque process of choreography, all within the context of a heartbreaking story of family love, betrayal and loss.

N. K. Jemisin

Rave Bookreporter ... powerful, eminently satisfying ... Whether or not you read speculative fiction or fantasy, Jemisin\'s Great Cities duology is well worth exploring. Her writing is lively, brash and frequently very funny, and the way she writes about New York City is nothing short of marvelous. Her avatar characters are both entirely human --- flawed, messy, vulnerable and emotional --- and powerful in inventive and magnificent ways ... Like much great speculative fiction, the book offers both overt and oblique commentary on social and political issues (including some that were factors in the recent midterm elections) in ways that prompt readers to consider those concerns through a different lens. Although in some ways I\'m still mourning the fact that there won\'t be a third Great Cities novel to anticipate, The World We Make is a thoroughly satisfactory conclusion. It impeccably rounds out the narrative while still keeping this reader excited to discover whatever Jemisin will dream up next.

Claire Keegan

Rave Bookreporter an exquisite work of short fiction. The novella, like a short story, uses its prose sparingly, with each word given maximum importance and selected with precision and care. Although clues in the novella place it chronologically in the 1980s, Keegan\'s narrative restraint and the story\'s rural setting give the work a timeless quality. And, in fact, the novella\'s themes --- of generosity, selfless love, being surprised by joy --- almost certainly will ensure that it will continue to attract both popular and critical acclaim.

Ross Gay

Rave Bookreporter He writes movingly, even urgently, about contributing to a shared project, whether building a communal orchard or sharing seeds, plants and gardening know-how with others in a community. There is also a generosity of spirit ... These essays are intellectually rigorous, informed by other writers and thinkers, as well as by musicians and athletes, and by Gay\'s family and friends. But it\'s also possible (and delightful) to see his poetic tendencies peeking through. His prose is constantly engaging with the ins and outs of language, trying to find just the right word to express a particular idea, and often circling back again and again to qualify, clarify or refine his meaning ... Gay is also playful in his use of footnotes --- in an essay on masculinity and its relation to sports culture, whole parallel narratives play out in a series of footnotes --- and the kind of wordplay that delights poets and readers alike.

Elizabeth McCracken

Rave Book Reporter Novel or memoir? At the end of the day, this distinction is the least important part of this beautiful, timeless book about the heroes we lose and what still remains.

Stacey D'Erasmo

Rave Bookreporter ... a powerful interrogation of how individuals justify their actions, an exploration of the ways in which we claim the moral high ground, whether or not we can do so honestly ... As a character and as a narrator, Suzanne is both fascinating and often deeply unlikable, but her observations and realizations --- despite the lack of self-awareness at their core --- will resonate with readers both for their substance and for their irony ... Filled with incisive observations of the human and natural worlds alike, The Complicities is a beautifully novelistic exploration of profound ethical questions.

Laura Warrell

Positive Bookreporter Heartbreak and longing take different forms in Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm, but sometimes the stories can take on a sort of sameness. Nevertheless, Warrell is a talented writer, and just like a skillful jazz musician, she manages to infuse each of her portraits with something new and novel --- a sort of variation on a theme, if you will. Her writing is fluid and easy, even when it’s about physical or emotional violence. The moments of grace her characters encounter feel like the satisfaction of striking the one perfect chord of resolution after a long period of restlessness and tension.

Maggie O'Farrell

Rave Book Reporter Richly imagined, suspenseful, feminist ... O’Farrell’s storytelling is masterful. Most scenes are told from Lucrezia’s perspective, and they build a complex and nuanced picture not only of this bright and sensitive young woman but also of those who surround her ... Unforgettable.

Ashley Winstead

Positive Book Reporter This is not a light or easy read; it raises many questions about sexual consent and agency as it depicts a powerful organization hellbent on maintaining that power...But it\'s also suspenseful and propulsive, as Shay begins getting closer and closer to the truth --- and gradually starts to recall the self she’s kept painfully buried for far too long...It’s clear that Ashley Winstead is a talented writer, regardless of the genre, and I eagerly will seek out whatever she comes up with next.

Tess Gunty

Rave Book Reporter ... takes place over the course of just a few days, culminating in an explosive act of violence that the narrative hints at from the beginning but is so intense that Gunty chooses to illustrate it --- literally, with black-and-white drawings that require readers to fill in the horrific blanks for themselves. For this kind of violence --- whether against people or animals, physical or emotional --- lurks behind closed doors all over Vacca Vale, and as shocking as the culminating violence might be, it’s not exactly surprising ... But Vacca Vale is still a complicated place, with hard-won sites of beauty and grace. Gunty effectively demonstrates how its residents square their disillusion with their hometown with their overwhelming desire to have a home at all, with their combination of skepticism and hope that the proposed developments might actually change their lives for the better. The Rabbit Hutch is at times funny, disturbing, bizarre and quietly beautiful. It closes with a moment that reminds readers that human connection and kindness can thrive despite the circumstances.

Katie Hafner

Positive Bookreporter n some ways, Izzy is one of the novel\'s most interesting characters. Although she doesn’t arrive until the second half of the story, her empathy and kindness --- compelled in part by her religious faith --- transforms her into a catalyst for Ethan’s eventual healing ... by turns heartbreaking and wittily observant, and readers will warm to this odd, endearing character Hafner has created.

Mecca Jamilah Sullivan

Positive Bookreporter ... doesn’t offer Malaya any sort of fairy tale ending, nor does it preach a gospel of self-acceptance at any cost. In contrast, Sullivan constructs a more complicated narrative. In the wake of a personal loss, Malaya comes to see how much she has to gain and recognizes that no matter what anyone looks like, they have the right to live fully in the world and experience it free of shame. Only when Malaya adopts this viewpoint does she start to emerge from the cocoon she’s built around herself and into a bigger, more beautiful life.

Ashley Hutson

Positive Bookreporter ... bizarre, surreal and heartbreaking all at the same time, especially as Bonnie’s artificial reality starts to break down. It’s easy to imagine, given the novel’s premise, that her story is farcical or jokey, but it’s really not. Instead, it’s a fascinating and at times painful exploration of grief, an absurd and tragic vision of what life looks like when someone desperate to erase one’s self from one’s own life is given an unexpected outlet in which to do so.

Toya Wolfe

Rave Bookreporter ... clearly written by an author who has a deep knowledge of, and affection for, the communities that once called these high-rises home. Wolfe pulls no punches when it comes to describing the violence and drug use that plagued the complex. She certainly finds fault with a bureaucracy that built this community but then utterly failed to provide the kind of support that could have alleviated these issues ... But Wolfe also offers glimpses of Fe Fe’s future (the novel is narrated by an adult Fe Fe looking back on that pivotal summer) in interesting ways. She urges readers to reflect on the positives --- that is, the remarkable people who called these buildings home and survived the trauma they unfortunately encountered there. As Fe Fe movingly reminds her brother, they are the real \'Chicago landmarks.\'

Sandra Newman

Mixed Bookreporter [Newman] wants to pay homage to these literary foremothers, and in many ways she does. But it’s undeniable that today’s understanding of biological sex and gender is far different and more sophisticated than the assumptions under which Newman’s literary forebears were operating. She makes some difficult and controversial choices about where transgender people fit in this world she has created. Although perhaps she should be commended for not erasing them from her narrative entirely, the way that she addresses gender feels somewhat outdated and at odds with contemporary discourse ... That said, The Men is sure to get people talking, and not only for how Newman handles gender categories. This is also a novel, implicitly or explicitly, about plagues, climate and how power is reified by those in charge.

Emily Henry

Positive Bookreporter Emily Henry, whose first two books were absolutely wonderful fresh takes on the romantic comedy genre, continues her stellar track record here. There’s so much to enjoy in this novel --- from the fantastically rich relationship between the two sisters, to the verbal barbs (and increasing sparks) exchanged between Nora and Charlie, to the clever ways in which the book continually upends expectations in ways that are still profoundly romantic and eminently satisfying ... I’m not telling you to run out right now and pick up a copy of Book Lovers. I’m just recommending that you save it for whatever kind of summer trip you might have planned, whether to a quaint small town or a rugged island. It just might be the perfect companion.

Kim Stanley Robinson

Rave Bookreporter ... a fascinating combination of memoir, travelogue, scientific overview, history and much more. Robinson cleverly breaks up his book (which is over 500 pages) into short chapters, interspersing these various strands with one another ... This handsome volume is also generously illustrated, primarily with Robinson’s own color photographs (though it is a shame that the matte paper the pictures are printed on fails to show them to their best advantage) ... Through all of these wide-ranging considerations, Robinson’s personal knowledge of this place and his curiosity to learn more are palpable ... Robinson’s personal love story with the Sierra is a significant one, but it’s just one of countless stories of this place --- stories with human and non-human characters, stories in which the mountains, although perhaps not quite everlasting, still outlast almost everything else we know of.

Monica Ali

Positive Bookreporter If, like me, it\'s been far too long since you’ve spent time with Monica Ali’s writing, Love Marriage offers the perfect chance to get reacquainted.

Jessi Klein

Positive Bookreporter ... feels like a reunion with the kind of friend who can comfortably pick up a conversation even if it’s been ages since you talked ... It should be underscored that Klein’s essays, although frequently touching on dark topics, are just as funny as those in her first collection ... Klein’s essays transform her particular circumstances into reflections with universal appeal.

Michelle Huneven

Positive Bookreporter If you’ve ever been part of a small group or committee of any type, you’re almost certain to find moments of recognition and humor in the process Huneven outlines in her book. And did I mention there are recipes? ... about much more than congregational politics. It’s about coming to terms with generational shifts in outlook and approach, trusting systems to work and accepting what happens if they fail, and reaching a certain point in one’s life and wondering what that life might look like had you made different choices. Since this is ostensibly a \'memoir\' written by a food writer, it’s also filled with delicious descriptions of food, many of the recipes for which are appended at the end of the book. Search is an unusual and, in many ways, a surprising novel --- and it’s one that readers will want to seek out.

Beth O'Leary

Positive Bookreporter [O\'Leary\'s] most ambitious project yet ... The No-Show is a clever combination of mystery and romantic comedy that will keep readers engaged from first page to last. The already talented Beth O’Leary has outdone herself with her fourth novel, and readers definitely will want to show up for whatever she has planned next.

Sascha Rothchild

Rave Bookreporter ... constantly compels us to reconsider what they thought they already knew ... Rothchild is a screenwriter, so perhaps it’s no surprise that Blood Sugar propels forward at a pace worthy of any bingeworthy television show. Ruby’s morally ambiguous justifications for her own behavior will haunt us well after we’ve eagerly devoured this chilling but propulsive thriller.

Melissa Chadburn

Positive Bookreporter At times, Melissa Chadburn’s debut novel is almost painfully difficult to read. It’s not because the language is obscure or complex, and it’s not because the imagery is confusing or the sentence structure too dense. Rather, at certain points, the sheer weight of the violence, disappointment and heartbreak that Chadburn writes about becomes nearly too much to bear, especially once readers realize that much of what she chronicles is based on real-life tragedies ... richly textured ... may sound unrelentingly bleak, with its graphic and upsetting descriptions of rape, child abuse and blatant abuses of power wielded primarily by men against women and girls who are marginalized by virtue of their gender, race and/or immigration status. But, as the relationship between Marina and Alex demonstrates most poignantly, it’s also a celebration of the ways in which love and loyalty can persist and grow despite the desolation and violence that surrounds it.

Grant Ginder

Positive Bookreporter ... packed with numerous well-developed and convincingly entertaining supporting characters, especially Nancy’s beleaguered campaign staff. It’s also a mystery of sorts; readers discover what drove Greta to make such a seemingly irrational life choice ... observant, full of funny occurrences and dialogue, especially as Nancy’s desperation to get elected pushes her, and everyone around her, into truly extreme situations. As bizarre and (hopefully) unrealistic as these circumstances become, Grant Ginder’s novel also raises genuine questions about the lengths to which politicians might go in order to win their campaign, as well as the toll taken on a politician’s family.

Rosie Walsh

Rave Bookreporter The way that Walsh constructs her novel is bound to keep readers guessing, even if they figure out some of the secrets and surprises before Leo does. Walsh is especially adept at linguistic trickery (such as using pronouns instead of names) to manufacture surprises down the line. Short chapters and constantly changing viewpoints will keep readers hooked as much as the suspense does, and they will want to stick around to find out what happens next for Emma and Leo. In addition to being a propulsive suspense novel, The Love of My Life explores important questions about trust, betrayal, mental illness, trauma, and when (if ever) it’s acceptable to hold things back from one’s spouse. Walsh doesn’t tie up every loose end—one character, in particular, remains something of a cipher—but readers nevertheless will come away from the book both satisfied and reassured about the power of forgiveness and the resilience of love.

Lauren Kate

Positive Bookreporter By Any Other Name is one of those romance novels that is completely sweet and, although predictable, pleasingly so. Lanie is a likable character whom readers will, for obvious reasons, adore. Some may find the romance plot too slow to get off the ground, with little to no time to see Lanie partner up with the new man in her life. But the book is, in a way, as much about self-discovery and reckoning with the past as it is about romantic love.

Lucy Foley

Rave Bookreporter The Paris Apartment is cleverly and intricately plotted, told from several different points of view and occasionally moving forward and backward chronologically. This gives readers just enough clues to allow them to try to solve the mystery while continually pulling the rug out from under them so they remain off-balanced and surprised. The book takes a classic formula but makes it feel fresh and modern using contemporary storytelling techniques, ensuring that readers will come away from it eagerly awaiting Foley’s next fiendishly clever puzzle of a mystery.

Lan Samantha Chang

Positive Bookreporter If you’ve ever read Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, you might recognize some of the outlines of this plot. But even those who haven’t brushed up on their Russian literature in a while will find plenty to appreciate in Chang’s remix of this classic novel ... The setting and characters offer plenty of space in which Chang can explore the multiple pressures brought to bear on the children of Asian immigrants growing up in a small Midwestern town ... It is also suffused with humor, much of it ironic, and delicious descriptions of Chinese food. Mouthwatering in more ways than one, The Family Chao is a literary mystery that readers can sink their teeth into.\

Weike Wang

Positive Bookreporter Weike Wang treats her protagonist with both humor and respect. She never puts a label on Joan’s personality, nor does she make her an object of fun or show how the romantic interest of a neighbor or colleague transforms her. Instead, Joan should be met on her own terms, and readers will need to do a significant amount of reading between the lines to fully understand and appreciate this complex, fascinating character and her motivations.

Jabari Asim

Positive Bookreporter Asim vividly illustrates...a narrative that is both redemptive and heartbreaking ... The novel is also populated by several memorable secondary characters ... Asim’s account of these people’s lives shows that they possess not only grief and pain, but also deep reserves of strength, the capability for revenge, and a powerful hope for the future.

Sara Freeman

Positive Bookreporter ... a slim novel, but its structure encourages slow and reflective reading. Broken up into brief sections, often just a sentence or two, the text is set on the page like a series of short vignettes or reflections, surrounded by white space that encourages pauses for contemplation. The book is deeply sad, recounting as it does the dramatic and painful end of one family. But it’s also strangely hopeful and beautiful, as Mara makes the brave decision to move forward on her own, into a future that is far from certain but ready for her to make her own.

Gina Apostol

Positive Bookreporter The book, which is largely about how democracy is both desirable and fragile, is as relevant as ever in 2022 ... might be about revolution, but it is deeply introspective and inward-looking ... The political underpinnings of Biblioepsy may still be relevant, but at times the book’s literary style shows its age, full of self-referential commentary and metafictional techniques in vogue in the late 20th century. The prose, though, is still fresh and at times very funny.

Rachel Kapelke-Dale

Rave Bookreporter ... sure to satisfy readers who enjoy stories about the competitive backstage world of professional ballet, as well as anyone interested in probing the complexities of women’s friendships ... Kapelke-Dale, who trained seriously as a ballet dancer, incorporates convincing details about the professional lives of her characters ... Touching on #MeToo, women’s reproductive choices and other timely topics, The Ballerinas is a taut, suspenseful literary novel that will resonate not only with balletomanes but with any readers who enjoy tracing the evolution of characters and relationships over time.

Siri Hustvedt

Positive Bookreporter Considering the intellectual vigor with which Hustvedt approaches most of her writing, it’s refreshing to catch these glimpses into her childhood and family dynamics. That’s not to say that these more memoir-like pieces are lacking in rigor, as she grapples with issues of death, remembrance, ritual and parenthood. But readers who come to Hustvedt’s writing for her more academic considerations of neuroscience, philosophy, visual art and literary theory will also find much to appreciate here ... Perhaps the least successful essays --- or at least the ones that already seem dated, even though they were published just last year --- are two that were written during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. They aren’t bad, or even particularly unsuccessful; they just stick out as being relics of another time, in contrast with Hustvedt’s other, more enduringly relevant works.

Claire-Louise Bennett

Rave Bookreporter Checkout 19 is a stunningly crafted work...invariably perceptive and frequently very funny, which makes parts of it (particularly a scene of sexual assault near the end) especially shocking. In some ways, the book reads like a collection of short fiction, given that each chapter is written in a slightly different style and has a pleasingly cohesive focus and structure ... In one of the novel’s most striking sections, the narrator—having imagined a whole life story for the Russian man she observes doing his grocery shopping while she sits, bored, at her cashier’s station—is handed a copy of Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil by that same customer ... this is just one of those novels you have to read for yourself.

Julie Murphy

Rave Book Reporter Murphy does a superb job of blending details from Disney’s classic version of Cinderella with a more modern, independent heroine. It’s no surprise that Cindy is a complex, winning character, as Murphy bestows her with much of the same blend of pluck and vulnerability that has made her previous protagonists so beloved. Disney princess fans will love picking up on the subtle ways that Murphy pays homage to the original while also changing things up.

Jasmine Guillory

Positive Bookreporter A subplot about Ben’s newly discovered biological sister can feel like a bit of an afterthought, though it does lead him to revisit some of his childhood demons. But his story prompts more insights into these characters who are unafraid to be honest with each other about the benefits of therapy. Longtime fans will love settling back into this familiar world, especially when they get glimpses of beloved characters from previous titles. Just like opening one of Guillory’s novels feels like taking a trip to a more rose-colored version of the world, encountering these characters feels like reuniting with old friends.

Simon Rich

Rave Bookreporter When I reviewed Simon Rich’s previous book...I called it \'just the fictional antidote people need right now.\' Little did I know that this statement could be even more aptly applied to his latest collection ... There are laugh-out-loud moments...but there are also moments of quietly witty introspection or reflection. Rich plays with genre and with expectations, and he mixes short sketch-like pieces...with longer, more developed narratives. The only question for readers is if you swallow this collection whole, or bite off bits and pieces to savor every time you need a little levity.

Grady Hendrix

Positive Bookreporter At times, Hendrix’s intricately plotted narrative can feel a bit too dense, as if readers are being dropped into the 10th installment of a movie franchise that everyone else already knows inside and out. Lynette and her fellow final girls are memorable and distinct, but their various backstories...can be hard to keep track of. That said, if and when readers abandon the expectation that they’ll ever know as much about these characters as Lynette (and, by extension, Hendrix) does, they’re in for a thrill ride that’s equal parts terrifying and satisfying, as the final girls refuse to be victimized anymore.

Victor Jestin

Positive Bookreporter This slim but memorable novel of teenage boredom and discontent is the ideal accompaniment to the hottest days of summer, whether you’re reading it while basking on a beach somewhere or comfortably relaxing in air conditioning ... Jestin (who himself is in his mid-20s) effectively captures that moment in a young person’s life when they might feel ready to separate from their family of origin but still have not found their identity or claimed their place in the adult world. Drifting from place to place, making missteps, expressing vulnerability, and finally achieving at least one of his goals (only to be supremely underwhelmed by the experience), Leo’s late-summer day --- dead body aside --- perfectly encapsulates what being a teenager feels like sometimes.

Jesse McCarthy

Positive Bookreporter His essays demonstrate a curiosity and breadth of interests and knowledge that make them invigorating to read, tackling issues from R&B music to the writings of Toni Morrison, and demonstrating a rigorous commitment to expanding and experimenting with what’s possible in the essay form ... It is perhaps not surprising, then, that McCarthy’s latest book is equally ambitious in its scope and allusive in nature, offering references to everything from European cinema and architecture to the NBA, all couched in a rather unusual quest narrative that’s really a coming-of-age novel at its heart ... an unusual novel, and readers who come to it expecting a traditional quest narrative or a clear-cut denouement probably would be better served elsewhere. Reading it should be approached like an open-ended airline ticket. Readers can anticipate long and rich conversations, unexpected destinations, and perhaps a fair amount of wandering in the company of McCarthy’s protagonist. The journey is one in which both the past and the future become unstable and uncertain, making the book best enjoyed by sinking into the ruminative prose and savoring the ride.

Clint Smith

Rave Bookreporter I\'m so glad that many people are eager to read this vitally important work. For me, aside from the value of uncovering, acknowledging and narrating the stories of slavery and tracing its impacts, it is a powerful testament to the value of making history public, whether in plaques that identify long-buried (literally and figuratively) sites in the shameful history of our country, or in the invaluable work of skillful tour guides, bravely telling the truth even when it makes tourists uncomfortable. It will encourage any reader to contend more deeply with our country’s history --- and maybe even set out on their own journeys of discovery and reckoning.

Aminatta Forna

Rave Bookreporter Aminatta Forna is one of those writers who I wish was more well known in the United States ... one can hope that readers will come away from these rich and rewarding pieces with a new understanding of an important literary voice—and a greater appreciation of the complexities of the world in which we live ... Perhaps those who already are familiar with Forna\'s longer work will enjoy this book most and will see in it evidence of research and family history that underpin her memoir and fiction efforts. But for many other readers, The Window Seat, with its promise of a glimpse into many different places and ways of life, will give them their first taste of this thoughtful, insightful author and will want to seek out more of her work.

Talia Hibbert

Positive Bookreporter Act Your Age, Eve Brown might lack some of the tension and conflict involved in Hibbert’s two previous novels [...] but their love story is no less satisfying as a result. With her portrayal of a Black British woman and a neuroatypical man, Hibbert continues to demonstrate that love stories can happen anywhere, and that a wide range of characters deserve to star in their own love stories. Hibbert also introduces readers to the charming town of Skybriar, which (as rumor has it) will be the focus of her next series of romance books, loose retellings of Jane Austen novels. Readers are bound to fall in love with several unconventional Skybriar denizens, and they’ll look forward to their opportunity for a return trip.

Trish Doller

Rave Bookreporter Float Plan is simultaneously an alluring travelogue (I challenge anyone to come away from this book without a list of a half-dozen dream vacation destinations) and a moving account of traveling through grief to something on the other side. Unlike many romance novels, Doller doesn’t need to inject artificial conflict into her plot to create drama. The inherent, movingly authentic conflict is between her character’s past and future selves, and if her new beginning has room for someone new by her side. Whether readers take Float Plan on vacation or read it at home, it will buoy their spirits and inspire them to take big chances as they chart their own course.

Amy Stewart

Positive Bookreporter There is plenty of intrigue and danger to be found here, of course (it is a war story after all), but there is also more than a little humor, much of it bird-related ... Certainly many stories of World War I have already been told, but Dear Miss Kopp helps bring to light much more of the women’s experience of war, both as part of the military complex and on the home front ... a thoroughly engaging chronicle of a variety of women’s experiences during the First World War, and it also helps set the stage for what the Kopp sisters will get up to after the war. Readers will be eager to see how their wartime experiences inform the choices they make next.

Mameve Medwed

Mixed Bookreporter Minus Me is an odd and at times infuriating book that I can envision sparking vigorous debate at a book club. Annie’s approach to her diagnosis might be read by some as hopelessly romantic and by others as simultaneously passive and patronizing. Similarly, the novel’s resolution --- which I won’t spoil here --- is likely to be fairly divisive.

Fiona Mozley

Rave Bookreporter Since reading [her] accomplished debut, I’ve been eager to discover what this talented young writer would do next. The answer? Something completely different but no less sensational ... Part of the delight of the novel is having the feeling of dropping in on these characters for a few intense hours, followed by gaps of a few months that yield great change, or none at all ... How these themes manifest themselves continually surprise the reader but give the novel a sense of unity and structure that extends beyond its geographic setting ... It also is worth noting that, despite the seriousness of its themes, Hot Stew is a very funny book. Mozley’s sly observations and clear affection for many of her characters combine to create a novel that is nothing less than a joy to read.

Peter Swanson

Positive Bookreporter ... a lot like a Hitchcockian thriller ... a vivid and cinematic atmosphere that amplifies Abigail’s steadily mounting dread. Dedicated thriller fans likely will pick up on some of the clues before they’re revealed, but almost certainly will be surprised by one or more of the many twists and turns that Swanson employs. If you’re headed to a wooded cabin or a beach resort this spring or summer, Every Vow You Break would be a perfect companion. Just be prepared to check the locks and windows while you’re there!

Ali Benjamin

Positive Bookreporter An unnamed narrator is making his or her way to Starkfield, Massachusetts, and offering roadside assistance and a ride to a haggard, haunted Ethan Frome. At Ethan’s empty house, the narrator sees a seemingly younger Ethan with his wife and daughter, begging the question of what happened to this apparently happy family ... Beyond being a fascinating example of adaptation and an effective character study, The Smash-Up offers up so much material for potential discussion. Gender politics, the gig economy, personal and professional responsibility, and the intersections between class, politics and violence --- all are touched on in this thoughtful and suspenseful novel. Whether or not it will lead anyone to read or reread Wharton’s original, The Smash-Up is in vivid and vibrant conversation with both the source material and our own times.

Alexandra Andrews

Positive Bookreporter Astute mystery readers will surely anticipate one or two of the surprises, but hardly all of them. Who is Maud Dixon has as many hairpin turns as the dangerous Rue Badr that plays such a central role to the plot ... Set aside some time for this one, because once you crack it open, you won’t want to put it down until every last question is answered.

Madeleine Henry

Positive Bookreporter ... is sure to inspire vigorous discussion of the choices made by several characters, and Sophie and Jake’s love story will resonate with readers whether or not they grasp all of Sophie’s hypotheses. Madeleine Henry has embarked on an unusual project with her planned group of novels exploring a common question, and readers will be eager to see how she tackles the idea of \'self-compassion\' in her next book.

Susan Conley

Positive Bookreporter ... the tensions she describes in the lives of longtime Mainers on the verge of change certainly seemed to resonate with my novice observations ... Landslide offers no real solutions—either for these larger systemic issues or for the Archer family’s woes—but Conley does offer a fond and thoughtful exploration of the questions, and a loving portrait of a flawed family trying their best to muddle through, both individually and together.

Leesa Cross-Smith

Positive Bookreporter ... a cozy novel, one that embodies the concept of \'hygge\' that Tallie strives to create in her own home. It’s full of soft couches and comfort food, easy conversations and growing friendships. But it’s also a challenging novel, especially once Emmett’s history is revealed. This tragic story is linked to bigger issues, such as racism and class privilege; those elements, along with the ethical concerns raised by both Emmett and Tallie’s actions, make the novel rich for discussion ... a timely, thoughtful bit of hope in tough times.

Nadia Owusu

Positive Bookreporter [I] was struck by her thoughtful reflections on her own singular life and the life of her family, as well as by the confidence and skill of her voice ... In addition to colorism, Owusu addresses the ways in which contemporary Africans attempt to distance themselves from African Americans descended from enslaved peoples, and she contends with how her view of her own Blackness changed once she moved to the United States, where she has spent her entire adult life ... once readers grow familiar with Owusu’s voice and with the people and events she describes, the shape and pattern of her narrative become clear. She poignantly demonstrates that the stories we tell one another about our lives matter.

Ashley Audrain

Rave Bookreporter Film and TV rights to Ashley Audrain’s debut, The Push, have already been snatched up, and after reading this tense, thought-provoking novel about motherhood, I am convinced it would make for an excellent movie or limited series ... Audrain doesn’t offer easy answers for why the women in Blythe’s family seem to suffer from and perpetuate a persistent empathy deficit. The book will encourage deep discussions about the legacy of neglect, as well as debate about whether maternal impulses are innate or learned ... The Push is the kind of novel you might read in one sitting, but then you’ll want to spend the next week talking about it. It’s safe to say that it lives up to all the hype.

Michelle Gallen

Positive Bookreporter ... hardly a knee-slapper, though there are certainly instances of genuine laugh-out-loud humor and cringeworthy moments of recognition. It is both funny and sad, which makes it all the more worthwhile to read ... not much overt plot ... extremely raunchy (which is where much of the humor arises) and includes, um, vivid descriptions of many bodily processes. Readers won’t always feel comfortable but will not forget this character any time soon.

Danielle Evans

Rave Bookreporter ... a narrative that skillfully walks the line between satire and reality (a line that is all too blurry in 2020!) ... Throughout, these considerations of our country’s history are intertwined with the more personal history of the characters Evans so sensitively draws ... Evans’ stories are emotionally authentic and perceptive, extraordinarily accomplished in their approach to characterization and theme, and refreshingly free of gimmicks. The pieces collected here feel both perfectly of the moment and classic, the kinds of stories that students will be studying and cherishing decades from now in order to understand not only the work of a skillful practitioner of the craft but also this particular moment in our nation’s history.

Meg Cabot

Positive Bookreporter Although this is a series continuation of sorts, No Offemse more than adequately stands on its own ... As in No Judgement the real attraction of this cozy yet steamy romance are the quirky secondary characters. From the soon-to-retire children’s librarian of John’s youth to the benefactress of the new library to the lonely teenager who is both Molly’s favorite patron and her most frustrating, these characters continue to enrich and expand Cabot’s well-developed milieu ... Although No Offense might seem to be a sweet and sunny romance, it doesn’t shy away from hard topics, which include financial insecurity, irresponsible parenting and racial profiling. At the end of the day, though, it offers readers a feel-good story with a heartwarming romance at its center --- and a most unusual dance number to cap it all off. Before this summer is over, you will want to pay a visit to the Florida Keys with Meg Cabot as your guide.

Heidi Pitlor

Rave Bookreporter ... has so many rich layers for readers to fold back and appreciate. Writers will find themselves chuckling at many of Pitlor’s observations about the realities of their craft; parents will recognize themselves in Allie’s blend of fierce love and outright exhaustion; and many readers with an eye for politics and social movements will appreciate Allie’s growing confusion and disorientation about finding her place --- and a place for her son --- in this increasingly alienating country. Allie’s bittersweet story offers a nuanced portrait of a woman coming to terms with all different sorts of imperfections --- and learning to relish moments of grace whenever she can find them.

Denise Mina

Rave Bookreporter Mina has written both compelling series and well-constructed stand-alone mysteries. The Less Dead is a terrific example of the latter. Although some readers may come away surprised by its lack of tidy conclusions and resolutions, the ambiguity --- as well as the complexity of the characters and the setting --- results in a novel that feels more authentic as a result.

Lisa Rogak

Rave Bookreporter For me, this book is more than a passing walk down memory lane—especially the entertaining chapter during which Rogak describes what a typical day of Jeopardy! taping looks like ... Who is Alex Trebek? offers an entertaining overview of both Trebek’s remarkably successful career and his singular personality ...Unlike your average celebrity tell-all biography, this lack of juicy gossip doesn’t seem to detract from fans’ hopes and expectations for Trebek. They might be amused by details of his unhealthy breakfast habits or an anecdote about his accidental ingestion of more than one hash brownie in an unfortunate episode. But Rogak depicts Trebek as exactly the man most viewers imagine, or hope, he would be—generous, curious about the world, genuinely enjoying the work he does and taking it seriously ... readers will come away from Who is Alex Trebek? with a fierce desire for Trebek to be able to leave the show the way he has always done things: on his own terms.

Aimee Bender

Positive Bookreporter The Butterfly Lampshade appears to pick up some of the themes of her earlier work, while losing none of the wonderful weirdness of all of her fiction ... Woven through with unexpected images and unexplained phenomena, Bender’s novel is a moving meditation on choosing a positive future while acknowledging the circumstances of one’s past.

Arlene Heyman

Positive Bookreporter In a narrative that travels backward and forward in time, readers have assurances that most things will turn out well for Lottie ... Heyman...includes not only graphic descriptions of...assault but also bold and sometimes humorous accounts of more mundane or joyful sexual encounters. Additionally, it’s worth noting here that Heyman’s detailed and frank descriptions extend to what might be for many readers upsetting depictions of Lottie’s lab research, which involves euthanizing rats ... Her respect and affection for her protagonist is clear ... Readers will delight in this portrait of a woman who was both a product of and a challenge to her times.

Abbi Waxman

Positive Bookreporter Told in short passages that alternate perspectives between Jessica and Emily, I Was Told It Would Get Easier offers a healthy dose of dramatic irony, as readers recognize—even if the mother-daughter pair don’t—the places where they have things in common, the things they could tell one another but don’t. At times, their story veers perilously close to farce, but it always comes back to a place of tenderness and emotional authenticity, as Jessica and Emily learn to speak up about what each of them wants for—and to honor what the other wants as well.

Brit Bennett

Rave Bookreporter ... every bit as thoughtfully and skillfully written as its predecessor ... Bennett thoughtfully addresses questions of identity and performance --- of race, gender and identity itself --- and wrenchingly interrogates how the impulsive choices Desiree and Stella make in their youth not only divide them but also shape their entire futures ... The sisters’ journey is by turns triumphant, painful, joyful and strange --- and readers will come away deeply affected by what their parallel stories reveal about human identity and race in America.

Bill Buford

Positive Bookreporter Buford\'s impetuousness comes off as charmingly enthusiastic ... Some of the history starts to read a little like inside baseball, but his premise will prompt at least some readers (and diners) to consider potential connections ... Buford paints Lyon as a city that is undoubtedly rich in culinary history but also far from perfect, with areas that are crime-ridden, noisy and dirty --- hardly the picture-perfect vision of a French landscape. Likewise, he illustrates just how difficult rising through the ranks of restaurant kitchens can be, even for classically trained young chefs --- especially when those chefs are women or non-white ... Much of the humor here comes from anecdotes about Buford’s surprisingly resilient young family.

Lydia Millet

Rave Bookreporter ... the supremely talented Lydia Millet once again shows her ability to turn on a dime, to create a situation that is laugh-out-loud funny and --- in a split second --- shift it into something that is dark and deadly serious ... That turn happens countless times throughout the book. As a result, thanks to Millet’s whip-smart writing, you may never look at your summer vacation house the same way again ... punctuated by scenes of dark violence and apocalyptic horror, but also by moments of great clarity and wonder.

Ivy Pochoda

Positive Bookreporter ... thoughtful, carefully wrought ... In the course of the novel, Pochoda offers glimpses into the lives of nearly a half dozen of \'these women,\' shedding light on the common threads that unite the experiences of women as seemingly diverse as a performance artist, a stripper and a cop investigating a series of homicides ... The mystery unfolds gradually and satisfyingly, rewarding careful readers with clues and relying on coincidences that feel convincing, never forced. The novel’s haunting conclusion --- linked to a real-life disaster that struck the neighborhood in 2014 --- will remain with readers for a long time. But even more than the suspense plot, what will stick with them are the fully realized characters Pochoda crafts, giving dignity and voice to those too often discounted.

Olivia Laing

Positive Bookreporter In recent years, Olivia Laing has become well-regarded for her books that combine criticism with her own life experiences. Her new collection is less cohesive than those book-length explorations, but it nevertheless touches on many of these same themes ... Throughout this book, issues of sexuality, gender, addiction and the specter of AIDS arise repeatedly. Certainly names and even anecdotes about specific figures come up more than once, which is perhaps an inevitable characteristic of a collection like this, in which pieces were never really meant to be read side-by-side or even in quick succession. However, Funny Weather is eminently well-suited to dipping into, perhaps guided by the topics and figures outlined in its thorough index, since readers are likely to discover something interesting regardless of where in the collection they land. I know that as I read, Laing prompted me to look up the work of visual artists about whom she writes and with whose work I was less familiar. Her writing effectively piques curiosity and encourages further engagement with her subjects.

Amity Gaige

Positive Bookreporter ... [Gaige] continues to build on some of the themes she has explored in her prior work, all while giving readers a timely narrative about the personal repercussions of the Trump era ... full of genuinely nail-biting descriptions of storms at sea ... also infused with tender descriptions of the narrators’ children and their evocative surroundings ... what will stick with me are Gaige’s astute observations on balancing personal identity with one’s role in a family, of negotiating marriage and parenthood, of contending with the demons of one’s past or setting them aside in order to simply get through the day ... At a time when many readers might be ready to jettison their own circumstances and set sail (at least in their imaginations), Sea Wife comes along at just the right moment.

Sue Monk Kidd

Positive Publishers Weekly a richly imagined first-person narrative ... Historic and biblical details are balanced by lively dialogue and debates between characters about matters of faith and action. Ana’s ambition and strong sense of justice make her a sympathetic character for modern readers, even if her rebellion against her parents may seem somewhat anachronistic for a woman of her time ... In addition to providing a woman-centered version of New Testament events, Kidd’s novel is also a vibrant portrait of a woman striving to preserve and celebrate women’s stories—her own and countless others.

Josie Silver

Positive Bookreporter ... could contain a commentary about the temptations and dangers of substance abuse. Or it might be something more magical or mystical than that; readers will have to decide for themselves about the nature of Lydia’s sleeping and waking lives. Above all, though, Josie Silver’s novel is a powerful exploration of the crippling weight of grief, and a portrait of an imperfect young woman who’s trying to find her way back to herself the best way she can ... Readers who first encountered Silver’s work in her debut novel, One Day In December, which was a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick, will enjoy delving into this equally romantic and significantly more somber novel. And those who are experiencing Silver’s writing for the first time are in for a treat as well, as they follow Lydia on a journey through devastation into something resembling a new beginning.

Sara Sligar

Mixed Bookreporter Sligar’s first thriller is cleverly constructed, as she intersperses Kate’s present-day investigation with snippets of archival materials, including letters, receipts and passages from Miranda’s journals. Readers will begin to feel something like archivists or detectives themselves as they help to piece together the fragments of the deceased artist’s life ... This narrative structure is an effective way to convey the story, which unfolds suspensefully. Unfortunately, neither Kate’s mysterious backstory nor the true circumstances of Miranda’s death quite live up to the buildup that the author creates. Sligar capably illustrates the challenges that creative women contend with, but also seems intent on tying both plotlines into the current #MeToo discourse. Although the stories she tells do resonate in some ways with these very real concerns, ultimately the narrative falls short of any sort of overarching thematic clarity ... Overall, however, Take Me Apart is a promising debut that will leave readers eager to see how Sligar continues to grow as a writer.

Andrea Bartz

Positive Bookreporter ... blows the airbrushed façade off feminist capitalism in a particularly stark way. As secrets come to light and betrayals start to pile up (along with the bodies), Bartz’s novel questions if powerful women like Eleanor can rise to the top without stomping on quite a few stilettoed toes along the way. At times, the pace gets a bit bogged down with minutiae, contributing to questions of means, motive and opportunity. But even if the mystery plot gets a tad draggy, the interpersonal dynamics among friends, sisters and lovers remain explosive and endlessly fascinating.

Quan Barry

Positive Bookreporter ... infused with period details, many of which are incorporated in funny and inventive ways ... although it is often laugh-out-loud funny, it also touches on pretty significant questions. What’s surprising and somewhat ironic given the plural narration is that We Ride Upon Sticks is largely about personal identity in terms of race, gender, sexuality and class privilege. Many of these issues might have gone largely unexamined or unacknowledged in the late 1980s vs. the early 2000s, which provides added richness both to Barry’s 1980s setting and its implicit commentary on all of these matters ... The final chapter brings the characters into adulthood and resolves many unanswered questions in a particularly satisfying closing scene.

Mi-ae Seo, Trans. by Yewon Jung

Positive Bookreporter It’s easy to imagine this suspenseful, multilayered novel being adapted into a pretty sinister film ... this book is written in a matter-of-fact style, its restraint somehow making the events it describes even more chilling. Mi-ae Seo’s bio reveals that she’s currently penning a sequel; readers will be very curious to imagine into what dark places this story might go next.

Kathleen Kent

Positive Bookreporter ...a great follow-up to The Dime ... the network of drug dealers and informants can be difficult to follow ... a suspenseful mystery right up until the end—and an effective exploration of trauma and its ongoing repercussions, not only for survivors but also for those who care about, and for, them ... Kent leaves one significant mystery open at the end, which will make readers eager to spend more time with Betty on her hard-fought journey.

Margarita Montimore

Positive Bookreporter Any potential hiccups in the time-travel plot are addressed adeptly --- and satisfyingly --- in later sections. At times, the question of Oona’s professional and financial success does seem like a bit of an easy way out. She keeps a folder in which she records stock splits and selloffs so that her past self can benefit from future knowledge (hint: invest in Apple in the 1980s), and has become fabulously wealthy as a result. I suppose this is one realistic outcome of the kind of time-hopping existence that Montimore has created, but one imagines it could have been interesting in its own right to see how Oona would cope with shifting workplace demands of different eras if she had to work rather than just mind her stock portfolio ... a bold debut novel by a writer who’s not afraid to try something risky right out of the gate. I, for one, can’t wait to see what her future will look like.

Lily King

Positive Bookreporter [King\'s] attention to detail in matters of setting is indicative of the care with which she treats the book as a whole ... full of moments of keen observation, of wry remarks about the challenges of writing and the awkwardness of early love. It’s also, at times, remarkably funny, filled with subtle and sometimes surprising one-liners that balance out what could have been a fairly bleak plot and instead sets the stage for something resembling a happy ending. This is the kind of novel that will be adored not only by Bostonians or \'creative types\'; it offers insights and reassurances for anyone who has found themselves on the cusp of impending change, terrified of how a new beginning might also portend the loss of an old and beloved self.

Crissy Van Meter

Positive Bookreporter ... flash-forward chapters are some of the most emotionally affecting, as Evie is compelled to wrestle with the question of whether or not being raised where she was, by the kind of parents she had, has made it impossible for her to truly open herself up to another person. ... Throughout, Van Meter’s beautifully written descriptions of Winter Island help ground Evie’s story in a specific place and will inspire thoughtful considerations of the intersections of setting and character.

Clare Pooley

Positive Bookreporter It\'s not always easy or comfortable to tell one’s true story, as Pooley believably relates in her novel...In so doing, Pooley adds a bit of a realistic edge and bite to what easily could have become a too-simple treacly tale ... a feel-good novel that still prompts thought and self-reflection --- and might even inspire some readers to embark on a truth-telling odyssey of their own.

Kate Weinberg

Positive Bookreporter Weinberg manages to take these real-world components and combine them into a rich narrative that’s thoroughly her own...a novel that is simultaneously a striking character study and a refreshingly modern-day homage to the work of Agatha Christie ... accelerates as it goes, with the revelations barreling at a steady pace, especially toward the novel’s final third. It’s fortunate that they do, too, because otherwise the somewhat heavy-handed foreshadowing in the opening chapters would quickly grow frustrating. But Weinberg does eventually come through with the payoff she’s been promising, rewarding readers not only with a satisfying mystery but also with a portrait of a young woman forced to reevaluate her assumptions --- about friendship, literary brilliance and love.

Amy Stewart

Positive Bookreporter ... readers can rejoice, because Constance (and her sisters, Norma and Fleurette) are back, and in her typically thorough style, Stewart has managed to give them a new plot line that is not only consistent with their characters but also a well-researched glimpse into a lesser-known aspect of First World War history ... Beulah’s story offers a dark mirror to the Kopp sisters’ own, as her history reveals how the intersections of gender and class drastically reduced a young woman’s ability to overcome the accident of her birth, not to mention her own missteps. At the same time, Stewart continues to round out her portrayal of Constance, Norma and Fleurette, crafting them into bold and remarkable characters with whom readers will be delighted to spend even more time.

Michael Robotham

Rave Bookreporter Thriller writer Michael Robotham...launches a new series that promises both suspenseful narratives and astute psychological insights ... Although the murder case at the center of Good Girl, Bad Girl is solved in a thrilling and satisfying conclusion, Robotham certainly doesn’t tie up all the complicated and tangled threads of Cyrus and Evie’s psyches in this series opener. Readers will be eager to see where this intriguing pair will go next. Their dynamic is, to some extent, reminiscent of the relationship between Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist in Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series, with each potentially needing something from the other in order to fix their own broken places.

Jaclyn Moriarty

Positive Bookreporter ... packs in all those elements I’ve loved in her fiction for children, layered with emotional and narrative complexity befitting a novel for adults ... a heartbreaking, hopeful, very funny and, yes, possibly magical novel about what to do with the surprises --- both good and bad --- that the world hands us.

Cambria Brockman

Positive Bookreporter Brockman effectively illustrates those heady, nerve-wracking first days of collegiate freedom ... might be a darker, more sinister version of college than most of us (hopefully) experienced. Nevertheless, Brockman uses her suspenseful novel to shed light on the insularity of the college experience, especially at a small, rural school like Hawthorne. She also vividly illustrates the lengths to which many (if not all) college students go in order to reinvent themselves as they make a fresh start in a new environment.

Abbi Waxman

Positive Bookreporter It\'s clear that the biggest fans of The Bookish Life of Nina Hill will be Nina’s fellow book lovers, who will greatly enjoy seeing the variety of literary references with which Abbi Waxman sprinkles its pages. But her thoroughly enjoyable romantic comedy will also appeal to anyone who appreciates a quirky love story. Sure, the novel might have a fairy-tale ending, but Nina herself (not to mention a fairly well-developed cast of supporting characters) has a bit of an edge ... It’s easy to imagine The Bookish Life of Nina Hill being tucked inside beach bags and overnight bags this summer, as bibliophiles follow Nina’s example and find adventures both within the pages of a book and outside in the big wide world.

Jo Baker

Rave Bookreporter What Jo Baker does in The Body Lies is truly masterful. For at least the first two-thirds of the novel, she manages to cast doubt on the narrator’s credibility, thereby encouraging the reader to participate in exactly the kind of dynamic that the narrator herself encounters, in which she, simply by virtue of being a women, is doubted, discounted and second-guessed at every turn. The book’s form...is also well-thought-out and helps enrich what already would have been an exciting psychological thriller.

Uzma Jalaluddin

Positive Bookreporter Ayesha At Last is one of a recent string of contemporary reimaginings of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. This one, set in Toronto’s Muslim community and cleverly straddling the worlds of religious faith and contemporary romance, is particularly well crafted and can easily stand up on its own ... [a] talented modern-day writer.

Courtney Maum

Positive Bookreporter Someone with a far greater knowledge of Surrealist and Dadaist art and literature than I have would likely have great fun with Courtney Maum’s new novel, Costalegre, since they’d more easily be able to connect the dots between the fictional characters she has created and their historical antecedents. The good news, however, is that whether or not you’re already familiar with the basis of the book, there’s plenty of historical background, lush and evocative setting, and emotional resonance to satisfy any reader ... the Mexican setting is strictly Maum’s imagination at work, creating a verdant yet somehow threatening setting that helps isolate her characters and raise their emotional stakes ... a fascinating novel, not only because of its exploration of a particular artistic and historic moment, but also as a portrait of a young woman desperately trying to find herself in relation to others but encountering disillusion at every turn. Lara’s observations, musings, dreams and sketches give readers a glimpse of her inner life that, one realizes, offers far more insight into this character than Lara’s mother ever even cared to have.

Julia Phillips

Rave BookReporter [Philips\'s] empathic, expansive storytelling has given me a glimpse into the world of more than a dozen fascinating characters, many of whom have spent their entire lives in this remote part of the world ... The chapters read in many ways like linked short stories; each one is beautifully realized in its own right, and many have been previously published as stand-alone pieces of short fiction. But the stories are also unified, not only by virtue of geography and recurring characters, but through thematic unities as well ... Julia Phillips is a deservedly confident writer and a beautifully skillful storyteller. It can’t be overlooked that even in this very literary and accomplished novel, she is still building an effective mystery plot --- and readers will be sure to look ahead eagerly to what this talented young author will do next.

Erika Swyler

Rave Book Reporter ... beautiful, horrifying ... full of tenderly written, emotionally wrenching passages --- moments that will stop readers in their tracks to remember, or cry, or simply marvel --- and is an exquisite example of science fiction’s capacity not only to make readers think but also to feel.

Jennifer Cody Epstein

Positive BookReporter The portions of the novel set during the 1930s can be difficult to read, in large part because they trace Ilse’s growing affinity for the Nazi party ... Epstein does a wonderful job of tracing the route ordinary Germans took on their way to committing or condoning atrocities. She also shows, chillingly, how the road to the Holocaust started in small acts of seemingly insignificant aggression or intimidation toward Jews and half-Jews like Renate ... Epstein effectively and heartbreakingly explores questions of loyalty, betrayal, and the limits of forgiveness and friendship in her third novel, poignantly illustrating how the mistakes and tragedies of the past continue to reverberate --- within families and throughout societies --- for years and decades to come.

Olga Tokarczuk, Trans. by Antonia Lloyd-Jones

Rave Bookreporter [An] unconventional murder mystery—which many readers will find a more accessible work than Flights ... full of concrete, at times delightful and at other times disturbing, details and images, that ground the book in reality, even though it occasionally verges on the language of myth or fable. It’s also surprisingly funny in spots ... Lloyd-Jones’ translation is skillful and fluid ... energetic talent.

Jacqueline Winspear

Positive Book Reporter Jacqueline Winspear’s latest novel is romantic and emotionally intense in several different ways, as Maisie grapples with her unexpected role as mother, as well as a sudden shift in her friendship with Priscilla. It also offers an intense portrayal of how ordinary British residents attempted to manage their ordinary lives amid extraordinary and traumatic circumstances. Maisie solves the crime (naturally), but just as compelling is her own personal journey, which leaves her poised to begin yet another new chapter of her eventful life.

Jennifer DuBois

Positive BookReporter Considering the scope of Jennifer duBois’ third novel, The Spectators it’s especially impressive that she manages to elicit as much emotional and empathetic connection as she does ... Semi’s portions of the novel --- which trace the evolution of the gay community from that post-Stonewall heyday into the bleak horrors of the AIDS crisis --- are the more visceral and emotional ones in the book ... Cel’s portions have emotional heft, too --- not just the school shootings and their aftermath but also her interrogation of who she is and why she ended up in this place. However, her attempts to uncover the man behind the \'Mattie M.\' mystique are less compelling than her own journey ... In addition to thoughtful portraits of her central characters, duBois peoples The Spectators with numerous well-drawn secondary characters, all of whom help ground the narrative and provide personal insights to round out her broad history.

Susan Choi

Rave Bookreporter \"In the hands of a lesser author (who likely wouldn’t even attempt such a feat, but that may be beside the point), Susan Choi’s Trust Exercise would come off as a writerly exercise, a puzzle to be presented and then solved. But the novel—while undoubtedly a stunning exploration of the capacities of narrative form and point of view in fiction—also manages to be a well-written, propulsive story, one that is timely, provocative and at times painful to read in this era of #metoo ... Throughout, the book unpacks the problematic dynamic of older, powerful, charismatic men who use their positions of influence (and the imprimatur of their so-called art) to demean the young people who rely on, trust and even idolize them. It also brilliantly embodies the conundrum of the fiction writer who draws from life and questions whether we can ever really trust what we see, let alone what we remember. Trust Exercise is a novel that can be equally appreciated by book groups, which undoubtedly will respond to its characters and themes, and by students of writing, who will return to it again and again as a stunning example of a writer stretching and perfecting her craft.\

Erin Somers

Positive Bookreporter \"Stay Up with Hugo Best is a novel perfectly timed to the #MeToo movement, and one that sadly will remain relevant for years to come.\

Sadie Jones

Positive Bookreporter ... one of those books that impels readers to constantly revise their expectations, as they are repeatedly pressed to redefine what’s going on in the story and why. Jones has previously shown herself to be a master of subverting readers’ assumptions, and she does so again here, with a novel that is simultaneously a family tragedy, a portrait of a marriage that’s suddenly in crisis, and a biting commentary on the evil that lurks inside attics and behind the veneers of mansions.

Andrea Rothman

Positive Bookreporter \"Written by a trained research scientist whose own work mirrors the research conducted by her characters, it is the rare work of fiction that doesn’t dumb down scientific topics for readers and examines the drama inherent in scientific research and discovery ... As a postdoc, Rothman herself studied the neurobiology of olfactory processes, and the scientific details she includes here are numerous, plausible and grounded in actual research. She trusts her readers to stick with her through her admirably clear explanations of genetic processes, and the reward is a fully realized portrayal of a working research lab. Above all, she effectively conveys the drama and loneliness that are inherent in the process of scientific discovery...\

Irina Reyn

Positive Bookreporter \"... the opening of Irina Reyn’s new novel, Mother Country, offers a vivid reminder that Brooklyn is still a huge and complicated borough ... For American readers, Mother Country will provide an education into the complex relationship between Ukraine and Russia, and even between Ukrainians of different origins and loyalties. But it’s not solely a political novel. Reyn also interrogates what it means to be a mother, and how that definition and identity change—sometimes painfully so—over time.\

T. Kira Madden

Positive Bookreporter \"Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls reads in large part like a series of well-crafted autobiographical essays ... But Madden does skillfully weave together her chapters, returning to themes and details at different points in the narrative to provide a strong sense of cohesion to her book. It is not always easy to read; Madden’s utter frankness about her own and her family’s struggles must have required epic strength not only to confront and process but also to write about and publish.\

Tim Johnston

Positive Bookreporter \"Tim Johnston’s prose style helps reinforce the melding of the past with the present that takes place throughout The Current ... This fluidity of time and character helps reinforce the notion that this small town has never really moved past the tragedy that shook it a decade previously, that in some ways it’s always still unfolding. Beautifully written and full of both long-held grief and urgent suspense, The Current is a perfect novel to keep by your bedside on these long winter nights.\

Yangsze Choo

Positive Bookreporter \"Choo sympathetically outlines the prospects (or lack thereof) for young Chinese women like Ji Lin living in Malaysia at that time. In addition to these well-researched details, she infuses her novel with folklore and superstition, as well as more than a little bit of magic ... [Several of the book\'s] elements combine with the Sherlockian murder mystery structure to create an unusual and surprising blend of mystery and magic, one that takes readers into historical realms both real and imagined.\

Jessica Barry

Positive Book Reporter Barry’s novel effectively utilizes emotional investment, along with well-paced action, shifting perspectives and rising tension, to pique readers’ curiosity about what happened to Allison before --- and what will happen next. Few readers will anticipate the book’s surprise twist (though more than a few may quibble with how it plays out), and the big conspiracy that underpins the plot is all too plausible. Despite the emotional potential of the narrative, Maggie and Allison at times seem detached from the reader’s emotional response, too driven by their own purpose and drive to give the reader something more visceral to latch on to ... certainly satisfied my hankering for a survival novel --- and it also will keep many a thriller fan up late at night, too.

John Lanchester

Positive Bookreporter \"... The Wall offers a distinctly bureaucratic, but no less terrifying, vision of a future Britain after environmental catastrophe ... It would be easy to dismiss The Wall as a sort of post-apocalyptic thought experiment, a “what-if” that is unlikely ever to happen. But some of its elements sidle awfully close to arguments and apprehensions that already characterize our present-day discourse ... Chilling reminders... about all that’s at stake in the face of climate change are, in the end, just as horrifying as the scenes of bloody conflict that punctuate the book—and they are what make The Wall essential reading for anyone who cares about the planet’s future.\

Katherine Arden

Positive Bookreporter \"... this trilogy has been among my favorite books of recent years. So it was with a mixture of anticipation and sadness that I opened the concluding volume, The Winter of the Witch ... Arden clearly has real knowledge of and affection for Russian history, culture and folklore ... Arden’s magical elements... help raise the stakes of this battle even higher, making for a truly exciting and satisfying ending to this epic trilogy.\

Joann Chaney

Positive Bookreporter \"Chaney’s novel is a propulsive read, but it also takes its time and lets readers get to know its characters ... Astute thriller fans may figure out the book’s central secret long before the detectives solve the case, but there are so many twists and turns here that nearly every reader will find himself or herself taken aback at some point. Suspenseful and surprising, As Long as We Both Shall Live has more switchbacks than a steep mountainside trail.\

Heather Rose

Positive Bookreporter \"The Museum of Modern Love interrogates what it is that drives artists to create—and the power of their creations on those who allow themselves to truly look at them. For, in the end, that’s also one of the subjects here: the fact that one of the most remarkable things about Abramović’s work in \'The Artist Is Present\' is the shared gaze, the idea that if we truly look around—at art, at one another—we may begin to see things anew.\

Sarah St Vincent

Positive Bookreporter \"Sarah St.Vincent, who comes from a background in human rights law enforcement and advocacy, skillfully interweaves [several humanitarian] issues into her novel. She successfully shines a light on the horrific violence that is often perpetuated in the most secret places ... Although the book exposes the absolute worst of human nature, it also offers glimpses of redemption and forgiveness ... Ways to Hide in Winter is one of those novels that should be discussed among readers, as its stark juxtaposition of political and domestic violence offers so much space for catharsis and debate alike.\

Caroline Hulse

Positive Bookreporter \"Caroline Hulse’s The Adults... [is] a wry and often hilarious novel about a thoroughly imperfect blended family ... The Adults is a perfect Christmas novel to pack for holiday family travels as a reminder that, no matter how imperfect our family situations might be, it definitely could be worse.\

Ibi Zoboi

Positive BookPage Pride is not a connect-the-dots retelling, and that’s what makes it so compelling. Zoboi utilizes Pride and Prejudice’s dramatic potential to set the stage, but Zuri and Darius’ story stands on its own. Likewise, Zoboi’s treatment of race, class and gentrification will effectively open some readers’ eyes while also resonating deeply with those who see these issues playing out in their own lives.

Jasmine Guillory

Positive Bookreporter \"As she did in The Wedding Date, Guillory does a great job of populating her novel with an interesting, diverse cast of supporting characters, from Nik’s best friends to Carlos’ sister and cousin. She also writes with wry but genuine fondness about Los Angeles. Here the stakes might not seem as high as they did in her prior book, nor the conflicts as insurmountable. But readers shouldn’t fear—there’s still plenty of tension, of both the dramatic and sexual kinds, to be had here.\

Edward Carey

Rave Bookreporter \"[Little is] full of wonderfully imagined fictional characters, from the vindictive widow to the feral boy who lands on their doorstep to the widow’s son who breaks Little’s heart only to heal it again. The novel is almost Dickensian in its scope and its ability to portray the grotesqueness of human lives. Furthermore, it’s whimsically illustrated by Carey’s own pencil sketches ... Readers will find themselves captivated by this new perspective on the Revolutionary period in France and the remarkable story of one of its most fascinating characters.\

Oyinkan Braithwaite

Positive Bookreporter \"My Sister, the Serial Killer is a darkly comic novel, one with a narrator whose complicated emotions simmer just below the surface of her completely deadpan delivery. Oyinkan Braithwaite lays out her debut in short chapters and exquisitely drawn scenes, offering just enough of a glimpse into the young women’s present states and past histories to piece together at least some of their motivations ... At the end of the day, My Sister, the Serial Killer is at its heart an entertaining novel, by turns funny and suspenseful, while also demonstrating its author’s skillful hand at character development, in the way Korede narrates both her own story and that of her sister.\

Maeve Higgins

Positive The Book Reporter As the title suggests, many of the pieces in this collection are directly or indirectly concerned with the surprising moments of culture shock one finds when moving to another country, even one as ostensibly similar as the United States is to Ireland. In one essay, Higgins admits her discomfort with the American style of small talk, which she finds too intense and high-stakes relative to the comfortable, often funny exchanges between two Irish strangers on a train ... They are funny, to be sure, but like the best comedy, nearly everything Higgins writes is tinged with just the slightest hint of melancholy, anger or self-doubt, which will endear her to readers and make them eager to seek out her variety of work in other mediums --- and maybe even her Instagram Stories.

Jonathan Santlofer

Rave Bookreporter The portions of the book dealing with Santlofer’s tentative relationship with his adult daughter, Doria, are particularly poignant ... The Widower\'s Notebook is vital reading, a beautiful testament to Joy’s life, and a much-needed window into how one man grapples with the most acute kind of loss.

Liz Nugent

Positive 20 Something Reads In the opening pages, readers see Judge Andrew Fitzsimmons and his wife, Lydia, killing a young woman, Annie Doyle, burying the body behind their manor home...the motivations of which, soon become clear ... Lying in wait is one of those novels that keeps readers in a permanent state of imbalance. Just when you think you have things figured out, Nugent throws everything off-kilter again.

Margaret Atwood

Rave Bookreporter.com ...in Stone Mattress, Atwood brings together nine stories that illustrate her exploring new themes even as she revisits familiar ones ... Like the tales of old, the stories collected here remove readers from the everyday, often introducing elements of surprise and wonder into their narratives ... Atwood's collection opens, for example, with a set of three loosely linked stories, all illustrating the advance of age and the lingering regrets of youth ...would serve as an excellent introduction to Atwood's work for readers new to her fiction, or at least to her short fiction.

Alice Hoffman

Rave Bookreporter.com ...The Red Garden, which is a collection of linked short stories that tell the history of fictional Blackwell, Massachusetts, from its founding in 1750 to the late 20th century ...will see how these myths grow out of history, and how people's stories shape place as much as geography or historical events do ... Alice Hoffman is often known as a magical realist, and her work in The Red Garden is no exception ... The emotional heft of The Red Garden can sneak up on you, as Hoffman conveys awful incidents, intense passions and haunting images in the simplest, most matter-of-fact prose.

Colson Whitehead

Rave Bookreporter.com Now, in a post-plague world, where the new capital of the reconstruction is in Buffalo, New York, and the landscape is dotted with refugee camps bearing names like Happy Acres and Bubbling Brooks, Mark Spitz is unique in the magnitude of his cynicism ... The narrative of Whitehead's novel similarly moves back and forth freely between Mark Spitz's past (including harrowing scenes from the first terrifying days and the so-called Last Night of the plague apocalypse) and his present, which, as it turns out, is as tenuous as he always imagined it to be ... In Zone One, Whitehead uses his subject matter to comment –– subtly or overtly –– not only on the thematic import of zombies, but even, perhaps, on the meaning of our contemporary culture's fascination with them ... prompts a renewed thoughtfulness toward our own actions, the many mindless daily acts that, for better or for worse, form the pattern of our days.

Celeste Ng

Rave Bookreporter.com ...when a novel as good as Celeste Ng's debut, Everything I Never Told You, comes along and explores the intricacies and history of a family in crisis, you just might find yourself thinking about the complexities of family in a new way ... Ng writes perceptively and honestly about the love James and Marilyn share, as well as Marilyn's very real trepidations about being involved with an 'Oriental' man... Each member of the family struggles with a secret he or she is unable to share with the others... As Lydia's fate becomes painfully clear to all of them, Ng's narrative travels back to the early days of her parents' courtship, as well as to a period when Marilyn herself disappeared for a time ...Ng shows us how a family so desperately wanting to avoid hurting each other actually end up suffering terribly as a result.

Kristin Hannah

Positive Bookreporter.com In The Nightingale, Hannah once again explores the domestic side of war. This time, though, she turns her attention farther back in the past — to World War II — and to the courage and strength of French women trying to keep their lives together in the face of Nazi occupation ... Hannah has written poignantly about sisters in novels like True Colors, and she again explores the complicated bond between them... Readers unfamiliar with the role France played in World War II may be surprised to read of the atrocities great and small perpetuated by the Nazi occupiers on the French people ... The novel is suspenseful and romantic at the same time, and offers readers a very personal portrait of life in wartime and of the kind of bravery harbored by even seemingly ordinary people.

Rachel Khong

Positive Bookreporter.com ...it shows in her [Khong's] fiction, which is compassionate, thoughtful and observant –– pretty much the opposite of self-centered ... Throughout, Goodbye, Vitamin explores the contrast between the acute heartache of a romantic relationship’s end and the chronic heartache of losing a loved one to dementia ...interspersed with these small moments of joy, often when Ruth recognizes some moment of shared humanity with acquaintances or strangers, or as she allows herself to view her father and her family as simultaneously imperfect and indescribably precious.

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November 5, 2024