Books

Who hasn’t wondered what it would be like to soar high in the sky, perhaps flapping alongside surprised birds or soaring through fluffy clouds? In the endearing The Fantastic Floating Mr. Finnegan, translated from German by Tammi Reichel, Swiss duo Rebecca Gugger and Simon Röthlisberger (partners in creativity and in life) contemplate that possibility via

Emil Wilson’s first graphic novel, The Nightingales, is based on the true story of his father’s invitation to a co-worker, dying of AIDS in 1985, to move in to the family home. The fictionalized version of the story, presented as if from the pages of a sketchbook, follows Wilson’s sister, Lou, as she builds a

In 2023, Marlon James—Booker Prize-winning novelist, dynamic screenwriter and lifelong visual artist—needed a change of course. One year earlier, Riverhead had published Moon Witch, Spider King, his fifth novel and the second installment of his Dark Star Trilogy, a fantasy series inspired by ancient African history and mythology. James wanted to take a detour before

What are your bookstore rituals? For example, where do you go first in a store? I always go to the mystery section first. I love mystery novels. I’m always excited to see if my favorite mystery novelists have a new book out. I also go to the YA section every time I visit a bookstore

Emily St. John Mandel is a rare and exciting hybrid in modern literature: a writer who crafts the ambitious plots of a science fiction or fantasy novelist and infuses them with the intimate understanding of the human condition boasted of by contemporary literary stylists. Her books are daring in their structures and aims. With Exit

In order to truly appreciate The Art of Fairy Tales, you must start with its author, Joanna Ebenstein, the founder and creative director of Morbid Anatomy, a Brooklyn, New York-based organization that explores the intersections of art, medicine, death and culture. That sensibility ensures that The Art of Fairy Tales goes much darker and deeper

In B.K. Borison’s Grim Tidings, a grim reaper walks into a bar (I promise this isn’t the start of a bad joke) and finds herself going toe-to-toe with the skeptical guardian angel barkeep who refuses to believe she’s changed her soul-stealing ways.  Darcy is sick and tired of being the harbinger of death. Frankly, it’s

The term “fascism” is often loosely thrown about, an error which the authors of End Times Fascism: And the Fight for the Living World are determined to sidestep right from the beginning. They lay out a definition courtesy of historian Robert Paxton: Fascism is a “form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community

Caroline Chambers is an expert at putting delicious, fun and easy dinners on the table. For the mother of four young boys, speediness in crafting a meal is imperative. She struck a chord with her 2024 bestseller, What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking. Her new installment, What to Cook When You Don’t

There is something about Greek mythology that is endlessly captivating. The stories of the gods, demigods and their trials have been told many times, and yet I still find myself drawn to these tales. One of my favorite retellings is Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini. Angelini’s take on Greek mythology seamlessly blends with my favorite romance

God’s Country The temptation to compare William Kent Krueger’s Cork O’Connor novels to the Leaphorn/Chee novels of the late, great Tony Hillerman is strong, not least because they appeal to the same sort of reader: one who appreciates wilderness adventure overlaid with the history and spirituality of the Native Americans who peopled those lands long

Kaylee Archer hits the ground running with The Wolf Queen’s Curse, the second installment of her Witch of the Wolves series. The story opens right after the literally fiery conclusion of book one, the day after surviving members of the Albion Pack fled the burning remains of their home, Trevelyan.  The pack is in survival

Every new vampire novel is a reason to celebrate, and Kim Bohyun’s Mothersucker, translated from Korean by Archana Madhavan, is a punchy, gory and meaningful addition to the genre.   Mothersucker is violent from the outset: A mother is brutally attacked by her daughter’s boyfriend in her own home, and forced to watch as the young

In the opening chapter of The Case for Quitting: The Surprising Benefits of Opting Out, Lindsay Crouse uses her own life as a case study in determination. “It’s not a memoir,” she explains, brimming with energy over a long, cheery video call. “But I am trying to write with a certain degree of personal authority

It is not surprising that Alice Hoffman, author of Practical Magic (1995) and its sequels, would tackle another book about witches. It’s also not surprising that Hoffman, whose warm and inviting prose has seduced readers since 1977, would find new variations on her perennial theme: witchcraft as a larger exploration of female power and freedom. 

Things aren’t going well for Sophie. Her husband has unceremoniously kicked her out: While she was in the shower, he announced his desire to be done with her. But, embarrassingly, he’s now her landlord. The sad, cold flat she returns to each night is his investment property. Work is OK, she supposes. Sophie is an

Killing people is just like any other job, really. You wake up in the morning, you put on a pair of boots and get on with it (“it” being a whole host of things ordinary people would find terribly unsavory). Also like any other job, some people are better at assassination than others. And some

Corporate life might feel like hell, but it’s nothing compared with the real thing. Brie spends her days at Curated Care fixing broken fax machines, haranguing her colleague Debra to send the weekly sales report on time, and trying to ignore how distractingly handsome her new boss, Luke, is. All simple, until Brie walks in

In these fantasy romances, couples fall in love during that most enduring of tropes: the quest. Originally published here.

Andrea L. Rogers, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and author of the Caldecott Award-winning picture book Cooch Helped, illuminates the injustices perpetrated upon her Native people through the goings-on of 12-year-old Cynthia, the daughter of an interracial couple, in her historical middle grade novel. In the summer of 1968, Cynthia and her family move

Language takes flight with the help of talented translators in The Butterfly Season, Tarantula and White Elephant. Originally published here.

Looking to dive into the past? Check out the fifteen 2026 releases you shouldn’t miss. Originally published here.

In Chloe Benjamin’s exquisitely imagined and emotionally rich Under Story, a woman moves to Antarctica in search of a fresh start and finds far more than she expected. It’s an extreme choice. The icebound landmass where McMurdo Station is situated sees “less rain than the Sahara” and is so remote that airplane travel is restricted

Ah, the park on a sunny day, where one encounters an embarrassment of riches: fresh air, beautiful trees, colorful flowers, chirpy birds and wild animals. Also enjoying the scenery are other people, sometimes too many, who might speak too loudly, speed-skate on the walking paths or have barking dogs that scare away birds. How can

In her thoughtful and deeply unsettling The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State, Pulitzer Prize-winning Harvard historian and New Yorker staff writer Jill Lepore (We the People) examines our headlong race toward a technology-driven form of governance that she argues is rapidly supplanting liberal democracy, and that may, in its full flowering, deprive us

K.S. Shay’s Portrait of a Witch Undone is an unforgettable fantasy set in the marshes of the North Shore of Massachusetts, following the adventures of coven outcast Maeve Ryan. Ever since a spell went wildly wrong for Maeve and her best friend and ritual partner, Ash, their coven has been plagued by visits from the

Young scholar Edmund is done with his life in service to the Many-Armed God. While he loves his studies and the time he’s allowed to research and write, he can no longer ignore his temple’s darker side, especially its discrimination against women. Tasked with transporting an ancient sword and some books to the city of

Readers looking for a whimsical love story will be delighted by Sylvie Cathrall’s The Art of Charming a Changeling, which is full of both bashful yearning and nerdy fairy art history. It’s a gauzy, moss-covered romantic fantasy for anyone who ever had a Kinuko Y. Craft poster on their wall as a kid. IYKYK. Perhaps

A blend of memoir, history and biography, Wilbert L. Cooper’s The Black Shield: An American Memoir of Family and Power is an exploration of paradox. Cooper’s parents were Black police officers who used their guns and power “as symbols of our freedom in a country that will not stop killing or incarcerating Black folks.” As

[S] Don’t Upstage the Body The fourth novel from Naomi Stephens, Don’t Upstage the Body is a witty Christian mystery that follows the Halfpennys, a family of actors who make their living as professional mourners. Their gig at reclusive Lord Basil Montfort’s service takes an especially dramatic turn when Hippolyta Halfpenny discovers another body than