Alta Journal’s California Book Club
The book: Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel
Our reviewer says: “The smashing debut novel from Bullwinkel takes the measure of eight teenage girls as they compete at a boxing tournament in Reno, Nev.” Read more.
The book: Back After This by Linda Holmes
Barnes & Noble Book Club and Reese’s Book Club
The book: Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall
Our reviewer says: “English writer Hall serves up twist after twist in her canny U.S. debut, a story of grief, love, and murder set in the Dorset countryside.” Read more.
The book: James by Percival Everett
Our reviewer says: “As in his classic novel Erasure, Everett portrays in this ingenious retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn a Black man who’s mastered the art of minstrelsy to get what he needs from gullible white people.” Read more.
The book: The Strange Case of Jane O. by Karen Thompson Walker
Our reviewer says: “The mesmerizing latest from Walker is a fantastical tale of a mother’s mysterious visions and memory lapses… the narrative opens up an alluring vision of how personal history and memory intertwine.” Read more.
The book: Harlem Rhapsody by Victoria Christopher Murray
Our reviewer says: “Murray delivers a winning portrait of Harlem Renaissance figure Jessie Redmon Faust…. Historical fiction fans will want to snatch this up.” 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: Jane and Dan at the End of the World by Colleen Oakley
Our reviewer says: “Oakley explores midlife dissatisfaction in this disappointing tale of a married couple’s date night gone wrong.” Read more.
Good Morning America Book Club
The book: Count My Lies by Sophie Stava
Our reviewer says: “In Stava’s devilishly plotted if somewhat far-fetched debut, a seemingly chance encounter with a wealthy man in a Brooklyn park transforms a young woman’s life.” Read more.
Good Morning America YA Book Club
The book: The Otherwhere Post by Emily J. Taylor.
Our reviewer says: “A teen endeavors to exonerate her father in this pulse-pounding fantasy from Taylor…. Inventive worldbuilding adds dimension, while witty banter and reluctant romance among intersectionally diverse, emotionally complex characters inject levity and depth.” Read more.
Jewish Book Council Book Club (fiction)
The book: We Would Never by Tova Mirvis
Our reviewer says: “Mirvis skillfully transforms what could have been a standard whodunit into a penetrating study of a family whose all-consuming love for each other turns sinister.” Read more.
Jewish Book Council Book Club (nonfiction)
The book: 10/7: 100 Human Stories by Lee Yaron
The book: Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson
Our reviewer says: “Trapped in an interminable war with the Parshendi, the kingdom of Alethkar is further handicapped by quarreling aristocrats and the racial divisions between the elite lighteyes and downtrodden darkeyes.” Read more.
The book: Finding Me: A Memoir by Viola Davis
Our reviewer says: “Tony and Oscar–winning actor Davis gives a master class in triumphing over poverty and despair in her soul-baring debut.” Read more.
The book: Saving Time by Amanda Nguyen
The book: Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Our reviewer says: “Bestseller Adjei-Brenyah sets his breathtaking and pulse-pounding debut novel in a dystopian alternate U.S. where people incarcerated in an expansive private prison system have the option to fight for their freedom in gladiator-style death matches.” Read more.
The book: Go with the Flow by Lily Williams and Karen Schneemann
Our reviewer says: “In a graphic novel about periods that is charming if a bit risk averse, Williams and Schneemann suggest that the best antidote to high school humiliation is friendship.” Read more.
The book: The Tell by Amy Griffin
The book: The Women by Kristin Hannah
Our reviewer says: “Hannah’s emotionally charged page-turner centers on a young nurse whose life is changed by the Vietnam War…Fans of women’s historicals will enjoy this magnetic wartime story.” Read more.
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.” Read more.
The book: The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami
Our reviewer says: “Lalami delivers a stirring dystopian tale of dwindling privacy and freedom in the digital age…. This surreal story feels all too plausible.” Read more.
The book: A Place of Our Own by June Thomas
The book: Crush by Ada Calhoun
Our reviewer says: “Calhoun’s disappointing debut novel concerns a married writer’s newfound crush on a man she hasn’t seen in decades.” Read more.
The book: They Were Her Property by Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers
The book: Homeseeking by Karissa Chen
Our reviewer says: “In this sweeping and heart-rending debut, Chen brings to life more than 60 years of Chinese history through the tale of childhood sweethearts separated by war and reunited decades later in America.” Read more.
The book: A Harvest of Hearts by Andrea Eames
Our reviewer says: “Beautiful sorceresses magically harvest the hearts of complacent townsfolk in this clever but clunky fantasy from Eames…. The result is a modern fantasy with the deep moral core of an old fable.” Read more.
The book: Loca by Alejandro Heredia
Our reviewer says: “Heredia debuts with a potent narrative of two friends in the Bronx attempting to break free of the bonds, internal and external, that hold them back.” Read more.
