Category: New Books

Florence Darrow is misanthropic low-level publishing employee who dreams of being a famous writer. After she is fired from her job, she is surprised to receive an offer to be Maud Dixon’s assistant. The reclusive author published a highly acclaimed bestselling novel and Florence would love to work by her side and learn from her. But ‘Maud Dixon’ is really Helen Wilcox, and only Helen’s editor and now Florence know that. Florence accepts the job and moves into Helen’s secluded home, where Helen is desperately trying to finish her second novel. Shortly after, Helen flies them to Morocco to do more research for her book. But then there is a horrible car accident, and Florence wakes up in the hospital with no memory of what happened, or where Helen is… I loved this book! It moves at a whiplash pace, and it’s funny and suspenseful at the same time.

Jamie and Zoe are strangers who recently awoke with no memory of who they are or how they got there. And oh yeah—they now have superpowers! Jamie uses his powers for evil, erasing people’s minds to pull what he considers victimless crimes: bank robberies. Zoe spends her days catching criminals instead. When something happens while they’re both at a support group for people with memory loss leads, they realize their fates are linked. Together, they seek the truth of their pasts and the origin of their powers, while becoming besties along the way. We Could Be Heroes is a refreshing take on superpower origin stories, full of adventure, laughs, and heart. I enjoyed reading a happy, kind hero story for a change.

Let me say up front: This is a dark, often violent collection, but it’s also a brilliant, compelling collection. I wouldn’t be telling you about it if it wasn’t incredible. Goldberg expands on the stories of characters from his Gangsterland novels to create taut, funny, unforgettable tales about family, crimes, and human connection. And don’t worry, you don’t have to have read the novels to read these stories. You just have to be ready to have your mind blown. This is perfect for fans of Donald Ray Pollock, William Boyle, and Harry Crews.

The Rib King takes place in two parts in the early 20th century. The first part is set in the prestigious home of a once-affluent white family. As the African American staff try to come up with ways to stretch what little they have to work with, there is fighting over recent changes to the staff. August Sitwell has worked for the Barclays since he was a young orphan, but his feelings about his employment and the world are starting to change. And the second section is set ten years later, after a horrific crime at the home, and follows one of the former maids, Jennie, as she attempts to grow her own beauty care business, but keeps finding her dealings overshadowed by her time at the home. I cannot decide which section I enjoyed more! It was such an exciting juxtaposition. The further I got in the second section, the more I saw the genius of the first as well. It’s such a powerful novel that I immediately read it again because I didn’t want to lose that feeling it gave my brain. 

This is a touching space opera romance! Prince Kiem is a wild child-turned-adult and an embarrassment to the royal family. So the Emperor decides to marry him off to the widower of a prince on the Empire’s newest vassal planet to keep the peace. Count Jainan doesn’t want to marry any more than Kiem, but they see it as their duty. But soon Kiem learns that Jainan’s husband’s death may not have been an accident. And despite the fact that feelings start to grow between them, Jainan is a suspect. Is Kiem putting himself in danger by marrying Jainan, or can he help him solve his previous husband’s death and save the empire? This is an exciting and tender book about responsibility, love, and grief.

This book is like if the Coen Brothers wrote and directed episodes of Northern Exposure. It’s a crime novel about who owns the past. A young anthropologist who gets caught up a bungled theft, after she accidentally sees the priceless items. The inept thieves are a pair of esoteric brothers, well known to the local police. But their inability to carry out the job correctly means a cleaner has to come to town, and he’s ten times scarier than anyone else. This is a thrill but also one of the funniest books I have read in years. It has several intense chase scenes, fantastic dialogue, and a lot of smart discussion about who owns history.

Remy is a Chorister aboard a nuclear submarine, one of many of an order of monks who have been circling the globe since the annihilation of the world above. The monks are in possession of the last nuclear missile and are waiting for a sign from God to launch it. But when the chaplain gives Remy the key to the missile before he dies, it’s because he no longer thinks they should launch it—and he only trusts Remy to keep it from happening. But the caplain’s power-mad replacement is hellbent on releasing the last bomb and ending everything, and even resorts to using Remy’s best friend as a pawn to try and get what he wants. Can Remy save what is left of the world and keep the key out the hands of the new caplain? I thought this was perfectly paced and it seemed entirely plausible.

I don’t know about you, but I have found myself sinking deeper and deeper into fantasy reads as this pandemic goes on. So much of my reading these days is not based in reality—and it’s awesome!

This is a fantastic standalone debut about witches and curses, which (witch?) are two great tastes that taste great together. Tamsin is a powerful witch who has been exiled by the Coven and cursed with the inability to love on her own. If she wants to feel love, she has to steal the emotion from others. Wren is a source: she is made of magic, but unable to perform magic herself. Sources are required to be turned over to the Coven to be raised and trained, but Wren’s father defied orders and hid her away. Now Wren’s father is sick and Wren wants to make a deal with Tamsin: if Tamsin exposes the witch who made her father ill, Wren will give her all the love she has for her father, which should last her a long time.

But just because they’re going to exchange love doesn’t mean they have to like one another. And they don’t. But as Tamsin and Wren embark on a dangerous adventure to find the culprit behind Wren’s father’s illness, time has a way of magically changing things. This is an excellent queer YA fantasy and I hope Tooley changes her mind about it being a standalone!

Backlist bump: Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

Issacson is well-known for his in-depth, award winning biographies of people such as Steve Jobs and Leonardo Da Vinci. He now turns his attention to Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna and her colleagues, who are working to develop gene editing. In this thoroughly researched account, we learn not just about Doudna and her work, but what gene editing is, what its use means for science, and the moral issues surrounding human’s ability to change the code in our genes. Such future work could make humankind less susceptible to viruses and more. It’s mind-boggling how far science has advanced. If you love fast-paced science books about fascinating subjects that really make you think, this is the book for you! (And remember it at the holidays this year when you need a good history book to give as a gift for your dad, grandma, etc.)

Backlist bump: Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson

It seems hard to believe that I have been enjoying this delightful series for seven books now, but here we are. If you are a fan of cozy mysteries, I highly recommend picking up this series. It’s about Lana Lee, a young woman who runs her family’s Chinese restaurant in Cleveland, something she didn’t think would happen when she was younger. The first book starts with her return home and the murder of the restaurant’s landlord. Lana works to clear her name and find the culprit so that the handsome detective investigating the case will stop thinking she’s guilty.

Through the series, Lana and Detective Adam investigate suspicious deaths that happen around them. In this last book, Lana and Adam must figure out who has murdered Lana’s cooking instructor to get Lana’s name off the list of suspects. If you like your crime novels with little blood, sex, or violence, and enjoy witty banter and flat-out charm, pick this series up today! (And look at that cover! Book covers with images of skulls made from other things are my kryptonite.)

Backlist bump: Death by Dumpling: A Noodle Shop Mystery by Vivien Chien

Megan, a writer working on a book about children’s literature, has been anticipating the birth of her first child. But from the very beginning, it is not quite what she was expecting. She is sore and tired all the time, and worried that she doesn’t feel an attachment with her new daughter.

This worry only grows when Megan comes home from the hospital and her husband leaves almost immediately for a business trip. But help arrives in the form of a kind upstairs neighbor, who offers to help out with the baby. But the weird thing is that the neighbor is living in a part of the house that didn’t used to exist and the neighbor herself is children’s book writer Margaret Wise Brown—who has been dead for quite some time. (Yes, the Margaret Wise Brown, author of many books including Goodnight Moon.)

But tired and despondent as she is, Megan is grateful for the assistance, until it turns out that Margaret has unfinished business and Megan and the baby are pulled further and further into her plans. As events turn more chaotic and dangerous, Megan must decide how to free herself and her baby from the situation.

This is a great, intense story of the unrealistic expectations women are fed around giving birth and having children, and the need for further understanding and compassion around postpartum depression. (Also, this is a bit ghoulish, but did you know Margaret Wise Brown died from complications from doing a high kick while she was still recovering from surgery? I learned that in high school and it still haunts me.)

Backlist bump: The Need by Helen Phillips

This is the fifth book in the IQ series now, which seems impossible. I wanted to point it out because it’s a great series (which is being made into a television series by Snoop Dogg!)

The main character is Isaiah Quintabe, also known as IQ, a resident of one of LA’s toughest neighborhoods who uses his Sherlock Holmes-like abilities of observation and deduction to help solve cases that are written off or ignored by the police. His past cases include the death threats against a rap mogul, dangerous loan sharks and stalkers, a missing mother, and arms dealers.

In his fifth book, IQ will have to decide if he wants to break cover to help a man on the hunt for the state’s most prolific serial killer, while his partner, Dodson, has some difficult decisions to make. Some series you can read out of order, but I highly recommend starting at the beginning with this one, because a lot of plot hinges on past events. But don’t worry, it’s worth it. IQ is the great contemporary Sherlock the 21st century needs.

Backlist bump: IQ by Joe Ide

This is a beautiful, contemplative story by Nobel Pirize winner Tokarczuk, author of Flights and Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, with unbelievably outstanding illustrations by Concejo.

The story is about a man who is sad and unhappy and so he goes to the doctor, who tells him he has lost his soul. The doctor explains the nature of souls and tells the man he needs to slow his life down. The story is set in the middle of the book, with the illustrations leading up to the story in black-and-white, and the images after the story bursting with color. It’s a gorgeous book about taking time to appreciate what you have and what is around you. Remember this one when it’s time to give a graduation gift!

Backlist bump: The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil by Stephen Collins

This is the third book in a series, but because I love this series so much, I wanted to make sure that I either 1) let you know the third one was coming out or 2) introduced you to this excellent series! It’s set in an alternate Edwardian England, where magic is real and witches exist.

In the first book, we meet Miles Singer, a magic-marked human who has been hiding out as a doctor in a veteran’s hospital after the war. Er, for reasons. He has been successful in keeping his identity—and his abilities— a secret until a dying patient is brought in and reveals Miles’s identity. Now Miles must figure out who the patient was and how he knew the truth. Luckily, a handsome stranger is willing to give Miles help with his investigation.

The next books revolve around related characters from the first book, and all are excellent. If you love an alternative history fantasy series, I cannot recommend this one enough!

Backlist bump: Witchmark (The Kingston Cycle, 1) by C. L. Polk

And speaking of witches: this is a fascinating, brutal collection of essays about the terrors visited upon the (almost entirely) women who have been accused of witchcraft over the centuries. Nuernberger divides each chapter into the story of a specific victim from history and examines the hypocrisies, horrors, and ignorance that led to each of their demise, along with stories of women in her own life and her observations of the world. Make no mistake, it is hard to read sometimes, but Nuernberger has done an engrossing job discussing their deaths as tied to the beauty and terror of nature. This book will not be for everyone, but I am glad I read it.

(CW for graphic descriptions of the torture and death of people accused of witchcraft.)

Backlist bump: Witches of America by Alex Mar

And this is the book I mentioned on All the Books as wanting to read. I took the time over the weekend to fit it in, and I thought it was great!

It’s a Paper Moon-esque story set in Pinochet-era Chile, and follows seven-year-old M. She is extremely intelligent and precocious and is fascinated by her father’s work. D is a traveling salesman who sells tools, and M convinces him to write her excuse notes for school and instead take her with him on his sales calls. This works to D’s advantage, because people are less likely to say no or yell at him in front of a little kid. M also uses this to her advantage to extort toys from her dad.

Their arrangement works so well that he even lends her out to another salesman to help with his visits, and M is raking in the loot. But everything changes when their friendship with a photographer named E leads to tragedy. It’s a really bittersweet story of a girl’s love for her dad and the things in life that even the most intelligent children don’t understand when they are young.

(CW for violence and death, homophobic language and racist remarks, and children smoking cigarettes.)

Backlist bump: Crooked Heart by Lissa Evans

My goal this year (and every year, it seems) is to read more nonfiction. I have not been very successful, but I did get to read this story of the United States and Russia and their race to the moon. I learned a lot about the men behind the first rockets into space that we didn’t learn in school—like how one of the engineers was a former Nazi officer—and their bitter rivalry. Outer space itself in general kind of weirds me out if I think about it for too long, but reading about the science and politics and dirty secrets surrounding mankind trying to visit it was just my speed.

Backlist bump: Hidden Figures: Young Readers’ Edition by Margot Lee Shetterly

This is a cute debut young adult novel about two Vietnamese-American teens whose families own competing restaurants. Bao Nguyen and Linh Mai both work hard for their parents, even if their parents won’t admit it. The two have always steered clear of one another, but after an accidental meeting, they are beginning to wonder what caused the rift between their families. And there’s something else—they’re totally into one another. How will their parents react to their children being involved with someone from a competing pho restaurant, when they aren’t generous with their affection and understanding on a regular day? (Fun fact: Loan Le also works in publishing and is the editor of Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan, one of my favorite novels of the year.)

Backlist bump: When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

I just realized all my picks today are young adult books, but I can’t help it because these are the ones I liked best! I loved the adult edition of Dreyer’s English and I think it’s genius to have one for budding writers. It makes so much sense to help young writers as they’re starting out, and Dreyer is the King of Grammar, so he’s the perfect person to teach them! He’s also hella witty and funny. I am all for more Dreyer’s English everything: Dreyer’s English bath bombs, Dreyer’s English air fresheners, Dreyer’s English pet shampoo, Dreyer’s English breakfast cereal—bring it on.

Backlist bump: STET! Dreyer’s English: A Game for Language Lovers, Grammar Geeks, and Bibliophiles by Benjamin Dreyer

I often feel like everyone seems to know the stories of all the Greek gods and goddesses except for me. As if the day this information was taught, I must have been home sick from school. So I often have to have it pointed out to me when a book is a retelling of Ovid’s Metamorphoses or a contemporary Iphis and Ianthe story.

That said, I so love reading books with Greek gods and goddesses, and while I wish I knew a bit more about the source material, it didn’t stop me from loving this award-nominated novel about the women from the Trojan War, including the three goddesses who started the war, the Trojan citizens, Penelope, and the Amazon princess who fought Achilles. And it’s told from the perspective of Calliope, the goddess of poetry. (Which is a fact I know because I looked it up. Seriously, how does everyone else already know this stuff?)

Even without knowing the source material, I found this a compelling and intense book. There was a lot to take in, and a lot of voices are heard from—not all of them without faults—but I found it utterly fascinating.

(Content warning for mentions of slavery, murder, death, sexual assault, violence, slavery.)

Backlist bump: Circe by Madeline Miller

Cicely Tyson is 96 years old now, which is a lot of living, and she lays it all bare here in this fascinating memoir of one of entertainment’s most talented performers and one of humanity’s most amazing people.

Here are just a few of Tyson’s incredible accomplishments:

She has received four honorary degrees, a Screen Actor Guild Award, a Tony Award, multiple Emmy Awards, a Black Reel Awards, an honorary Academy Award, and the the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which given to her by President Barack Obama in 2016. These are only the tip of the accolade iceberg. And at 96 years old, she is still acting: she is presently making appearances on How To Get Away with Murder. (Which I really need to watch.)

But even though her honors and awards could probably fill a book on their own, this is also the story about a daughter of immigrants who started modeling at a young age and who became the first African American to star in a television drama. Tyson (with help from Michelle Burford) talks about her illustrious career, her faith, her struggles, and all the things in between, with candor and love. I learned so much, not just about Tyson, but also important industry history, and now I also want to watch so many of her performances.

(Content warning for discussions of violence, racism and racialized language, and chemical use.)

Backlist bump: Becoming by Michelle Obama

And this was a fun read! As someone who hosts a podcast but has no idea how to go about doing it myself, it was really interesting to see all the different aspects to brainstorming, performing, and producing your own. And it’s a how-to guide written my favorite way: with delightful self-deprecating humor! The McElroys have hosted several podcasts, including The Adventure Zone, and they take turns breaking down the different things you’re going to need if you want to a) start a podcast b) make that podcast a success and possibly c) make money off the podcast. (Which I am sad to report is very rare, considering there are almost one million podcasts out there now.)

I was thoroughly charmed the whole way through and now I feel like I have the tools if I ever decide to start my “Stephen Tobolowsky/Kurt Fuller/Xander Berkley Appreciation Show” podcast. Although I could have used more info on what to do if you are still terrified of recording and get the flop sweats, even after recording almost 300 episodes of your show. Er, asking for a friend.

Backlist bump: The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins by Clint McElroy, Griffin McElroy, Justin McElroy, Travis McElroy, and Carey Pietsch

Last year, I read a fantastic book about the first women to run a military hospital, and now this year, I read another excellent book about two more trailblazing women in the medical field. It’s the story of Elizabeth Blackwell, who defied societal conventions and studied medicine in the mid-19th century, becoming the first woman in America to receive an M.D. Later she was joined by her younger sister, Emily, who also became a physician, and together they founded the New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children, the first hospital staffed entirely by women. Nimura does an excellent job setting the scene with her subjects as she explores the sisters’ early years and careers, as well as their complicated relationship with each other. (You can also read about Elizabeth Blackwell in Women in White Coats: How the First Women Doctors Changed the World of Medicine by Olivia Campbell, which is out March 2.)

Backlist bump: No Man’s Land: The Trailblazing Women Who Ran Britain’s Most Extraordinary Military Hospital During World War I by Wendy Moore (Not quite backlist yet, but it’s a really great book and will be out in paperback in April.)

And this is a powerful novel about Frankie Green, a young man in Jamaica who is trying to make a better life for himself and his family. But Frankie’s father has been shot in gang violence, and with the mounting medical bills threatening to crush them, Frankie sees no other way to help than to join his uncle’s gang. But he finds himself in a situation he never thought he would be in, and Frankie realizes he should get out as soon as he can—but is it too late to leave? Frankie Green is faced with impossible decisions and a longing for a different life, and readers’ hearts will break for him.

Backlist bump: Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

I have long been fascinated by Wallis Simpson, the woman who won over the King of England, causing one of the biggest scandals in England’s history. They fell in love, but because Simpson was a soon-to-be divorced American, it wasn’t possible for them to wed, meaning King Edward VIII would have to look elsewhere for his queen. But instead, he abdicated on December 10, 1936, leaving his position as ruler of England and following his heart. Many books have been written about Simpson, but this is a more in-depth look at the whole time period, including their romance, the King’s politics and the attempt on his life, his detractors who wanted him gone for various reasons, and the ensuing scandal over the abdication.

Backlist bump: The American Duchess: The Real Wallis Simpson by Anna Pasternak

This powerful debut is about love and loss, set in a fraught political climate. For years, Tomás Orilla has been in love with Isabel, the daughter of his mother’s friend. The year is now 1976 and Tomás is a medical student. He has moved back to Buenos Aires in the hopes of being with Isabel for good. But their work to fight an increasingly oppressive and violent regime leads to tragedy for them.

Now, ten years later, Tomás is living in America and trying to figure out what he wants from his marriage when he is summoned back to Buenos Aires. There he will have to face the ghosts of his past, and come to terms with his guilt and pain over what happened a decade before, in order to move on with his life.

This is a beautiful, heart-wrenching book, based in part on true events from Loedel’s life. I try not to use the adjective ‘haunting’ very often, but it definitely applies here.

(Content warning for physical violence, illness, infidelity, sexual assault, and murder.)

Backlist bump: Swimming in the Dark: A Novel by Tomasz Jedrowski (Not technically backlist yet, but since 2020 felt like five years long, I’m totally picking it.

And here is another tremendous, heartbreaking book! A young writer in Australia takes a part-time job as an emergency dispatch operator for 911. As the weeks go by, the negative effects of listening to people’s cries for help start to seep into her life, and she becomes more reckless with her own life.

Also chronicled is the adventures of her great-great-great-great grandfather, the British explorer John Oxley, who traveled around Australia two centuries earlier believing there to be an ‘inland sea’.

This is a stark look at violence, desperation, climate change, and PTSD, but it’s also incredibly original and a beautiful exploration of second-hand trauma interwoven with the climate crisis.

(Content warning straight across the board, because I read this a long time ago and cannot remember all the specifics. It is pretty bleak, so be prepared.)

Backlist bump: The Hunter by Julia Leigh

I am a huge fan of Kevin Barry. I don’t think his work gets nearly enough attention in the US. His last book, the novel, Night Boat to Tangier, was one of my favorites of 2019. His work is always a little funny and a little unusual. This new collection is more of his magic in smaller bites. It’s eleven stories based in Ireland, full of love and life, grief and hope. With some sex and magic sprinkled here and there. It’s a perfect collection for people who like to savor short stories and read them a little bit at a time. (I also highly recommend his novel Beatlebone, which involves John Lennon and a shapreshifter in Ireland in 1978.)

Backlist bump: Night Boat to Tangier by Kevin Barry