Short story virtuoso Hempel's first collection since 2006 consists of 15 characteristically bold, disconcerting, knockout stories. The title story, which fits on a single page, offers no plot, names, dates, or setting—just snippets of dialogue, a proverb, and a gesture to capture a moment of... Continue reading »

In this sweeping, ambitious debut, journalist Shulman offers a group biography of a family indelibly marked by the Spanish Civil War. He begins with the family’s patriarch, Leopoldo Panero, a noted poet who abandoned the left-wing Republicans to defect to the right-wing Nationalists during the war, ... Continue reading »

A quiet Willems book traces a child’s path to her musical vocation as the consequence of a string of events and contributions: “Because a man named Ludwig wrote beautiful music—/ a man named Franz was inspired to create his own.” For the love of Schubert, present-day musicians form an orchestra. The... Continue reading »

While shame is at least a small part of everyone’s life, it can be a source of empowerment for change, writes psychotherapist Burgo in this approachable book. Instead of minimizing feelings of shame and self-hatred, he argues, readers should embrace these emotions. Burgo believes that people can be ... Continue reading »

This multi-story romp is a dungeon crawl with staff management commentary, which is as ridiculous as it sounds and funnier than it should be. Greasy, a yellow anthropomorphized dog with punk hair, wakes up extremely hung over in the bedroom of a medusa/cephalopod warlock, apparently after having had... Continue reading »