The book: TBA
Alta Journal’s California Book Club
The book: The Other Americans by Laila Lalami
Our reviewer says: "In a narrative that succeeds as mystery and love story, family and character study, Lalami captures the complex ways humans can be strangers not just outside their “tribes” but within them, as well as to themselves." Read more.
The book: Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange
Our reviewer says: "Orange follows up his PEN/Hemingway-winning There There with a stirring portrait of the fractured but resilient Bear Shield-Red Feather family in the wake of the Oakland powwow shooting that closed out the previous book.... This devastating narrative confirms Orange’s essential place in the canon of Native American literature." Read more.
The book: After Annie by Anna Quindlen
Our reviewer says: "A 30-something mother of four dies unexpectedly in the affecting latest from Quindlen.... It’s another acute portrait of family life from a virtuoso of the form." Read more.
The book: Those Who Saw the Sun by Jaha Nailah Avery
Our reviewer says: "debut author Avery interviews 10 Black elders from various locations in the American South to develop this powerful collection of firsthand historical accounts of growing up during the Jim Crow era.... [A] vital, nuanced depiction of a fraught period in American history via myriad perspectives." Read more.
The book: Piglet by Lottie Hazell
Our reviewer says: "Hazell debuts with the delicious narrative of a disastrous wedding.... When the big date finally arrives, Piglet finally resists the old-fashioned notions of the perfect bride. It’s an appealing cautionary tale." Read more.
The book: Acts of Forgiveness by Maura Cheeks
Our reviewer says: "In Cheeks’s engrossing debut, a Black family faces financial hardships and debates the merits of a new reparations program.... Cheeks seamlessly threads the themes of resentment, forgiveness, and legacy through the multilayered narrative." Read more.
The book: TBA
Good Morning America Book Club
The book: Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera
Our reviewer says: "YA author Tintera makes her adult debut with the outstanding story of a young woman haunted by rumors that she killed her best friend.... Readers will be hard-pressed not to wolf down this intelligent page-turner in a single sitting." Read more.
Jewish Book Council Book Club (Fiction)
The book: The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
Our reviewer says: "National Book Award winner McBride tells a vibrant tale of Chicken Hill, a working-class neighborhood of Jewish, Black, and European immigrant families in Pottstown, Pennsylvania.... This endlessly rich saga highlights the different ways in which people look out for one another." Read more.
Jewish Book Council Book Club (Nonfiction)
The book: Time's Echo by Jeremy Eichler
Our reviewer says: "Eichler contends in his masterful debut that the classical compositions of Arnold Schoenberg, Benjamin Britten, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Richard Strauss 'possess a unique and often underappreciated power' to connect us to the 'shocking and unassimilable past' of the Holocaust." Read more.
The book: The Many Lives of Mama Love by Lara Love Hardin
Our reviewer says: "A suburban mom weathers addiction, jail, and parole in this roller-coaster debut memoir.... This redemption story feels well earned." Read more.
The book: TBA
The book: The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
Our reviewer says: "Debut novelist Kuang creates an ambitious fantasy reimagining of Asian history populated by martial artists, philosopher-generals, and gods.... This is a strong and dramatic launch to Kuang’s career." Read more.
The book: A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum
Our reviewer says: "Rum’s pleasing debut employs two timelines to recount the story of a Palestinian family living in America.... Though the execution is sometimes shaky, there’s enough to make it worthwhile for fans of stories about family secrets." Read more.
The book: Heartburn by Nora Ephron
The book: Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
Our reviewer says: "Poet Akbar explores the allure of martyrdom in this electrifying story of a Midwestern poet struggling with addiction and grief.... This wondrous novel will linger in readers’ minds long after the final page." Read more.
The book: Barracoon by Zora Neale Hurston
Our reviewer says: "This previously unpublished manuscript from Hurston (1891–1960) is a remarkable account of the life of Kossola, also known as Cudjo Lewis, the last survivor of the last American slave ship.... [A]n invaluable addition to American social, cultural, and political history." Read more.
The book: The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee
Our reviewer says: "Featuring historical signposts and memorable, well-developed characters, this captivating novel explores intersectionality, conveys the effects of restrictions placed on women and people of color, and celebrates the strengths and talents of marginalized people struggling to break society’s barriers in any age." Read more.
The book: Finding Margaret Fuller by Allison Pataki
Our reviewer says: "Pataki’s star-studded and gripping account is full of lush details about the life of an overlooked contributor to Transcendentalism and women’s rights. This is one to savor." Read more.
The book: The Great Divide by Cristina Henríquez and The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
Our reviewer says: "The enthralling latest from Henríquez tells the stories of migrant laborers, locals, and others affected by the Panama Canal project in 1907.... Henríquez’s pitch-perfect novel has the feel of a classic." Read more.
The book: Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalez
Our reviewer says: "Gonzalez (Olga Dies Dreaming) takes inspiration from the mysterious 1985 death of Cuban American artist Ana Mendieta for this astute account of an art history student who researches the circumstances of a similar tragedy.... This is incandescent." Read more.
The book: The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
Our reviewer says: "This astonishing first novel has at its core a lively, wry first-person narrator called the Captain, and his two school friends Bon and Man, as they navigate the fall of Saigon and the establishment of the Communist regime in Vietnam in 1975.... Nguyen’s novel enlivens debate about history and human nature." Read more.
The book: The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi
Our reviewer says: "Bestseller Chokshi makes her adult debut with a lush and haunting modern fairy tale about the nature of friendship and love.... [E]qual parts dizzying, dazzling, and foreboding." Read more.
The book: Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino
Our reviewer says: "The triumphant latest from Bertino offers a wryly comic critique of social conventions from the perspective of a woman who also happens to be an alien from another planet.... The results are divine." Read more.
