Kate Fagan. Atria, $27.99 (304p) ISBN 978-1-6680-7621-7
Sportswriter Fagan (What Made Maddy Run) makes her fiction debut with the electrifying story of a bestselling author’s secrets. Many have read The Very Last, but few know the identity of its pseudonymous author, Cate Kay. The narrative, framed as Kay’s unpublished memoir, gradually... Continue reading »
Asia Mackay. Bantam, $30 (352p) ISBN 978-0-593-87558-2
Artist Hazel Matthews and wealthy heir Nathaniel Foxton “Fox” Cabot, the married protagonists of Mackay’s wildly entertaining latest (after The Nursery), have spent the last few years traveling across Europe, murdering men who prey on women. Their exploits have earned them the Interpol nick... Continue reading »
Annabel Campbell. Orbit, $19.99 trade paper (512p) ISBN 978-0-316-58082-3
This magnificent debut from Campbell brings together a classic magical school setting with political unrest and expansive worldbuilding. Naila, a foundling in the mage-governed city of Amoria, knows she has magic, but despite years of study, she has yet to achieve even the simplest spell. She must r... Continue reading »
Jillian Meadows. Avon, $17.99 trade paper (384p) ISBN 978-0-06-341616-1
Meadows (Wreck My Plans) wows with a contemporary that’s funny, sexy, sweet, and deliciously nerdy all at the same time. Entomologist Millie Oaks is up for a major promotion at the Wilhelmina Natural Science Museum. She did well in her first interview, despite getting rattled by the grumpy ... Continue reading »
Olivier Schrauwen. Fantagraphics, $39.99 trade paper (474p) ISBN 978-1-68396-967-9
A bored everyman does battle with the colossal enemy that is a dull Sunday in this epic mock-Proustian graphic novel from Belgian artist Schrauwen (Portrait of a Drunk). The narrative chronicles “one exemplary, lame day” in the life of Schrauwen’s real cousin, Thibault, who wakes up with va... Continue reading »
Farnoosh Fathi. New York Review Books, $16 trade paper (128p) ISBN 978-1-68137-859-6
The fantastical and strange second collection from Fathi (Great Guns) evokes André Breton’s surrealism and the linguistic playfulness of Gertrude Stein in lines such as “Now each wave curtsies, the bather has anal/ and a suit of medieval holes for the dolphin’s spurs” and the “bride slip ‘n... Continue reading »
Marcus Brotherton and Tosca Lee. Revell, $26.99 (400p) ISBN 978-0-8007-4275-1
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 »
Aran Shetterly. Amistad, $28.99 (336p) ISBN 978-0-06-285821-4
In this brilliant investigative deep dive, historian Shetterly (The Americano) revisits the 1979 slaying of five radical Black activists by the KKK during an anti-Klan protest in Greensboro, N.C. The Klansmen who fired on the protest were acquitted—they alleged self-defense, though survivin... Continue reading »
Michael Mina. Voracious, $40 (288p) ISBN 978-0-316-42978-8
Restaurateur Mina (Michael Mina: The Cookbook) presents an exciting celebration of his Egyptian heritage. Traditional dishes—including ta’ameya (fried fava bean patties), ma’amoul (date-filled cookies), and koshari (lentils, chickpeas, pasta, and rice served together in a tomato sauce with ... Continue reading »
Catherine Nixey. Mariner, $32.50 (384p) ISBN 978-0-358-65291-5
In the early days of Christianity, there were many different versions of Christ, according to this scintillating history from journalist Nixey (The Darkening Age). Studying texts that emerged in the centuries after Jesus’s death, Nixey dissects ancient Greco-Roman writings that depict Chris... Continue reading »
Kim Bussing. Random House, $17.99 (304p) ISBN 978-0-593-70803-3
Instead of waking up in the cellar of her deceased royal librarian father’s home, 12-year-old Ella, who has a glass leg, finds herself in the home of a traveling merchant fallen on hard times. Out of kindness, she takes his place in meeting Neesa, the mysterious beast of the woods. Now imprisoned in... Continue reading »