In Schwarz’s superb sophomore novel (after The Possible World), an American family’s young boy goes missing in Thailand and resurfaces decades later. During the Vietnam War, Robert Preston works as a spy for the U.S. government and moves his family to Bangkok in 1972 under the pretense that... Continue reading »

Bruce (You Let Me In) takes a mesmerizing look at the murderous career of the real-life 19th-century serial killer Belle Gunness. In 1877, the 17-year-old Gunness is impregnated by a neighbor, Anders, in Selbu, Norway. After she demands marriage, Anders attacks her, causing a miscarriage. M... Continue reading »

This electrifying collection of 15 horror shorts from Files (Spectral Evidence) seeks out the hidden pockets of terror in everyday life. In “Bulb,” a woman encounters an eldritch creature in the wiring of her condo, while in “Always after Three” a couple are tormented by strange music and s... Continue reading »

Madden-Mills’s emotional second Game Changers romance (after Not My Romeo) adds impressive depth to the bad boy, good girl trope. Giselle Riley is suffering through a bad date when Devon Walsh—Giselle’s college crush, playboy star football player of the Nashville Tigers, and, as it happens,... Continue reading »

Despite the specificity of the period setting, the purity of the fury powering this acid-etched graphic novel from Ungerer (The Underground Sketchbook) feels both timeless and of the moment. A 1966 countercultural classic now in long-overdue rerelease recounts a “most, most wonderful party”... Continue reading »

The powerful eighth book from Gizzi (The Archeophonics) reckons with a sense of futility. The first of four sections, “Lyric,” makes up more than half of the book, its short lines appearing to float on the page. In the opening poem, “Speech Acts for a Dying World,” the speaker declares that... Continue reading »

Jennings (The Major’s Daughter) introduces readers to the rough and tumble town of Joplin, Mo., in this fun inspirational adventure set in 1898. Undercover Pinkerton agent Calista York is hired to find Lila, the daughter of a Chicago gangster with connections to Calista’s boss. Lila was las... Continue reading »

Kross, the director of the University of Michigan’s Emotion & Self Control Laboratory, debuts with an eye-opening look at managing “the silent conversations people have with themselves.” He begins with an anecdote from 2011: after Kross received a threatening letter, he spent sleepless nights armed ... Continue reading »

Chef and restaurateur Keller delivers an inspirational and elaborate take on the culinary collaboration between his Michelin-starred restaurants the French Laundry, of Yountville, Calif., and Per Se, of New York City. United by a culinary credo that puts guests first and uses only the finest ingredi... Continue reading »

In this impressive debut, Buddhist chaplain Han offers an illuminating analysis of the intersection of race and privilege within American Buddhist communities. Along with Han’s accounts of her marginalization as a young Asian American Buddhist, she profiles 89 fellow Buddhists, providing a nuanced p... Continue reading »

When Bhagat leaves his village in India to seek his fortune as the rajah’s musician, his mother gives him one rupee, a chain with seven tiny gold rings, and some invaluable advice: “Remember, Bhagat, you are a fine singer. But you are an even finer thinker.” A city innkeeper agrees to accept one gol... Continue reading »