Alta Journal’s California Book Club
The book: Gold Fame Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins
Our reviewer says: “The book is packed with persuasive detail, luminous writing, and a grasp of the history (popular, political, natural, and imagined) needed to tell a story that is original yet familiar, strange yet all too believable.” Read more.
The book: Mỹ Documents by Kevin Nguyen
Our reviewer says: “Nguyen draws on the legacy of the U.S. government’s internment of Japanese Americans during WWII for this intelligent and chilling novel…. This poignant narrative is an emotional roller coaster.” Read more.
The book: How Women Made Music: A Revolutionary History from NPR Music, ed. Alison Fensterstock with Ann Powers
Our reviewer says: “Fensterstock, a contributor to NPR’s Turning the Tables draws from it and more than 50 years of the station’s coverage in a rich and resonant collection of essays, interview excerpts, and ephemera…. It’s a buoyant, welcome ode to some of the most influential songstresses of the 20th and 21st centuries.” Read more.
The book: My Friends by Fredrik Backman
The book: The Man the Moment Demands: Master the 10 Characteristics of the Comprehensive Man by Jason Wilson
The book: Twist by Colum McCann
Our reviewer says: “National Book Award winner McCann offers an intriguing story of a journalist sent to report on the complex work of repairing the underwater cables that carry the world’s information…. Readers will be dazzled.” Read more.
The book: Didn't You Used to Be Queenie B? by Terri-Lynn DeFino
Our reviewer says: “DeFino’s charming latest delves into the broken lives of two talented chefs who meet in a soup kitchen.... It’s an immersive tour through the highs and lows of a chef’s life.” Read more.
The book: The Fantasies of Future Things by Doug Jones
Our reviewer says: “In Jones’s resonant if underdeveloped debut, two young Black men uneasily take part in a real estate scheme to raze houses for the 1996 summer Olympics…. Jones is a writer worth keeping tabs on.” Read more.
The book: Immaculate Conception by Ling Ling Huang
Our reviewer says: “Huang’s provocative if uneven sophomore outing blends speculative elements with a story of friendship and jealousy between two artists from opposing backgrounds…. This bracing novel gives readers plenty to chew on.” Read more.
Good Morning America Book Club
The book: The Original Daughter by Jemimah Wei
Good Morning America YA Book Club
The book: Audre & Bash are Just Friends by Tia Williams
Jewish Book Council Book Club (fiction)
The book: Mrs. Lilienblum’s Cloud Factory by Iddo Gefen, trans. Daniella Zamir
Jewish Book Council Book Club (nonfiction)
The book: Chutzpah Girls: 100 Tales of Daring Jewish Women by Julie Silverstein and Tami Schlossberg Pruwer
The books: Matriarch by Tina Knowles (Apr. 22) and Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong (May 13)
Our reviewer says: “Poet Vuong follows up his acclaimed first novel with a searching and beautiful story of a troubled young man.... This downbeat tale soars to astonishing heights.” Read more.
The book: Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising by Timothy Zahn
The book: Blood at the Root by LaDarrion Williams
Our reviewer says: “Trauma triggers a Black boy’s dormant ancestral magic in debut author Williams’s exuberant contemporary fantasy series opener…. Williams delivers a serpentine, high-intensity celebration of Black culture, history, and power.” Read more.
The book: Consider Yourself Kissed by Jessica Stanley
Our reviewer says: “Stanley serves up a charming and intelligent story of a 20-something Australian copywriter and aspiring novelist who builds a new life in London.” Read more.
The book: Africa Is Not A Country by Dipo Faloyin
Our reviewer says: “Vice senior editor Faloyin debuts with a spirited critique of Western misrepresentations of Africa…. The result is an exuberant and informative introduction to one of the world’s most diverse continents.” Read more.
The book: The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen
Our reviewer says: “Nguyen’s poignant debut captures the perspectives of, and essence of the bond between, a parent and child, proving that language—and love—can transcend words.” Read more.
The book: Miss Austen by Gill Hornby
Our reviewer says: “The third novel from Hornby strikes gold in the much-mined terrain of Jane Austen–inspired fiction…. Echoing Austen’s sardonic wit and crisp prose without falling into pastiche, Hornby succeeds with a vivid homage to the Austens and their world.” Read more.
The book: Tell Me How You Really Feel by Betty Cayouette
The book: The Names by Florence Knapp
Our reviewer says: “Knapp’s intriguing and nuanced debut comprises three alternate story lines for a British family…. Readers won’t be able to stop talking about this intelligent exploration of a single choice’s long tail of repercussions.” Read more.
The book: Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry
Our reviewer says: “What begins as a charming if standard rom-com evolves into a hauntingly beautiful meditation on what makes a life well lived in the latest showstopper from Henry.” Read more.
The book: Pomegranate by Helen Elaine Lee
Our reviewer says: “Lee returns after more than 20 years with the powerful story of a woman’s reentry to society after being released from prison…. It’s irresistible.” Read more.
The book: Tilt by Emma Pattee
Our reviewer says: “In Pattee’s nail-biting debut, a pregnant woman navigates the aftermath of a major earthquake in Portland, Ore.… Pattee’s depiction of a post-earthquake Portland feels bracingly realistic, and her depictions of marriage and impending motherhood are achingly raw.” Read more.
The book: Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley
Our reviewer says: “This jaunty crime novel, set in L.A. in 1948, introduces Ezekiel ‘Easy'’ Rawlins, a recently laid-off mechanic who is young, Black and—but for the need to meet the mortgage on his new house—a most reluctant sleuth.” Read more.
The book: The Book Censor’s Library by Bothayna Al-Essa
Our reviewer says: “Kuwaiti author Al-Essa riffs on Kafka with this canny story of a book censor who transforms into a reader…. This allegory brims with intelligence.” Read more.
The book: The Manor of Dreams by Christina Li
Our reviewer says: “In this richly imagined adult debut from YA author Li, the death of a Hollywood star brings together two Chinese American families…. Fans of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic ought to take note of this beautiful and haunting novel.” Read more.
The book: Audition by Katie Kitamura
Our reviewer says: “Kitamura serves up a taut and alluring novel about a mysterious relationship between a middle-aged woman and a young man…. Readers won’t be able to put this down.” Read more.
