Haydu’s wonderful adult debut (after the middle grade fantasy One Jar of Magic) explores the interwoven lives of two families. After free-spirited Joni Dyer moves from Manhattan to suburban Sommersette, Mass., with her husband and their three-year-old daughter, Mae, she becomes best friends... Continue reading »

Romance author Nash (Can’t Get Enough of the Duke, as Lenora Bell) pivots to thrillers with this arresting page-turner about 18-year-old American singer Bowie Bishop, who goes missing while studying abroad in New Zealand. When U.S. diplomat Lake Harlowe fields a frantic call from Bowie’s mo... Continue reading »

Pueyo (But Not Too Bold) spins a glittering neo-noir that reinvigorates vampire lore, rendering the classic monsters as both decadent and threatening. In an alternate Brazil where vampires, known as guls, hold some degree of political power, quadruple-amputee Ariadne, who lost her limbs in ... Continue reading »

Ong debuts with a riveting queer sports romance that deserves a place in the subgenre’s canon. World champion wrestler Caleb Knight, aka the Ice Prince, known for being cold and ruthless, is pitted against cheerful, hardworking newcomer Asher Ross, aka the Dragon, who hopes to claim Caleb’s title an... Continue reading »

The informative and inspiring graphic nonfiction debut by Ukrainian researcher and podcaster Naiem assumes that most readers outside Ukraine know little of its history. In a framing device, a woman named Vika takes shelter from bomb blasts and finds solidarity with her fellow evacuees. From there, N... Continue reading »

Ondaatje (A Year of Last Things) presents a superb and comprehensive collection of selected works, or “condensary of time,” that crystallizes for devotees and new readers alike the poet’s lifelong devotion to place. “From now on I will drink my landscapes,” he writes, “here, pour me a cup o... Continue reading »

In this tour de force from Brotherton (A Bright and Blinding Sun) and Lee (A Single Light), four friends’ lives change irrevocably when America becomes embroiled in WWII. In 1930s Mobile, Ala., preacher’s son Jimmy Propfield shares an idyllic upbringing with childhood sweetheart Cl... Continue reading »

When Paul Kutchinsky, heir to a London jewelry dynasty, risked his fortune to create a massive bejeweled egg, the price of failure was his business, marriage, and legacy, according to this spellbinding debut investigation by his eldest daughter, journalist Serena Kutchinsky. The author’s great-great... Continue reading »

Emergency medicine doctor Alker (Goodnight Grandma Angel) explores in this witty yet indispensable guide 99 of the “most terrifying, interesting, and unfortunate ways to die.” Drawing on her experience as a “board-certified death escapologist,” Alker assumes the role of a medical translator... Continue reading »

This impressive collection celebrates the life and thought of late progressive Christian author Rachel Held Evans (A Year of Biblical Womanhood). Arranged thematically, the entries critique the evangelical Christianity in which Evans was raised, including the tendency of some believers to v... Continue reading »

A teen magician contemplates vengeance in this empowering series opener from Burton (the Sing Me to Sleep duology). Most Virdei citizens believe the country is ruled by Virdeian-born men, and that all the republic’s magic users, or aikkari, have been conscripted into military service. In truth, some... Continue reading »