Koe (Delayed Rays of a Star) draws on Chinese mythology for this brilliant story of two sisters who were born as snakes in 815 China and live as women in contemporary New York City and Singapore. At the novel’s outset, Emerald is on a date with Giovanni, her billionaire sugar daddy, in Manh... Continue reading »

Boyd’s latest (after The Romantic) is an electric espionage thriller that calls to mind the best of John le Carré and Len Deighton. As a child, Gabriel Dax was caught in a house fire that killed his mother, and insomnia-inducing nightmares of the tragedy have followed him into adulthood. By... Continue reading »

Veteran comics writer Simone’s triumphant debut novel, the title character of which was created by pulp novelist Robert E. Howard and later appeared in Marvel comics, quickly immerses readers in a lush fantasy world. At 10, Sonja is the sole survivor of a brutal attack on her village in the land of ... Continue reading »

Fake dating and international intrigue enliven Smith’s addictive sequel to The Spy and I. Fireworks designer Andee Paxton has always been told by her mother that her father is Hollywood star Keith Huxley-Beck. But after reading in the tabloids that Huxley-Beck has fathered a child who could... Continue reading »

Through elegant yellow and black illustrations, Harms’s powerful English-language debut traces the ecosystems that pollinators inhabit—and exposes the dangers that threaten their existence. A series of overlapping geometric panels shows a single bee’s voyage from a small flower petal to a thriving h... Continue reading »

Lee’s exhilarating seventh collection (after The Undressing) continues his journey into the sacred. With quicksilver agility, the poet moves between the role of son, father, lover, disciple, and teacher: “Have I said anything you didn’t already know?” A rigorous insistence on apophatic ways... 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 »

Art not only has the potential to change the world, but “it has, over and over again,” according to this captivating debut. Surveying politically motivated art that has had a real-world impact, Massie-Blomfield, an arts director and theater producer, argues that art is inherently political because r... Continue reading »

Foodie influencer Gelen debuts with an eclectic and endlessly appealing collection of recipes for any occasion. Taking inspiration from her experiences working in professional kitchens, she puts a new spin on dozens of classics. For example, she gives chicken nuggets an upgrade with a coconut-panko ... Continue reading »

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 »

Limited culinary options create a path for exploration in this playful tale. Situated on a white snowbank against a deep blue sea, a penguin community eats cold fish at every meal (“For dessert? Cold fish. Your birthday? More cold fish”). When penguin Umami finds her birthday meal to be a fish too f... Continue reading »