MacMillan

James Beard Award winner Alexander Smalls (Between Harlem and Heaven) is supremely talented. An opera singer, the cofounder of Harlem’s jazz bar Minton’s and steakhouse The Cecil, and a renowned host of fantastic dinner parties, Smalls marries two of his greatest passions—food and music—in his latest book, Meals, Music, and Muses. More than a cookbook, it takes readers on a journey through the South, and Smalls shares childhood memories of the Low Country as well as the music that is such a part of the region. Smalls has made it his life’s work to champion the artistic contributions of African Americans, and this is a poetic celebration of just that.

The legendary Willie Mays, known for both his Hall of Fame baseball career and his charitable work and generosity in spending time with young players, has given us yet another gift with this wonderful memoir. In 24 chapters (to correspond with his uniform number), the baseball legend shares stories from his life as talks about his philosophy on sports. As a huge Giants fan, I have heard for many years about the joy of listening to Mays tell tales about his career and share his advice about life and have always wished I could sit in on one of those conversations. This book is certainly the next best thing.

Phuc Tran: Ubergeek. From discovering punk rock egalitarianism to relating The Iliad to girls’ high school sports, Tran is always ready to dive into whatever comes next. He puts it all down to a desperate need to fit in, as a Vietnamese refugee in small-town Pennsylvania, but you can tell that he’s always going to be the one in the deep end of the pool, regardless. He’s a Latin teacher, a tattooist, a TEDx grammar star, and now a touching memoirist. 

In this new autobiography, the incomparable Jennifer Boylan defines the chapters of her life by the dogs she has owned. She writes of them and herself with overwhelming tenderness, hilariously wry skepticism, and brutally frank honesty. I loved meeting all of her dogs, and through them getting to know the different versions of herself she has experienced. If you’ve never read Boylan before, this is a wonderful introduction, and who doesn’t love a good dog?

It is evident that Moore is a storyteller at heart. Her memoir weaves together her family’s flight during the First Liberian Civil War, her childhood immigrant experience in America, and the escape narrative that bridges the two. Beginning with her fifth birthday in Monrovia, continuing through her coming of age in Texas and her return to Liberia as an adult, Moore has written a story and a history that needs to be told. More importantly, it is one that needs to be felt, and Moore’s intimate, lyrical, and harrowing account is heart grabbing from the first page and lodges bone deep to the very end.

It’s all in the title: Susan Choi takes the unreliable narrator to the next level in this book, challenging the reader to suspend all judgment and hang on for the ride. Trust Exercise examines perspective and character in a whole new way, leaving the reader to wonder at the end just what, exactly, they’ve been through. As in life, more questions are generated than answers. A great book to awaken your mind to the possibilities of fiction!

In a future where security is run by sophisticated AIs, one robot just wants to be left alone to watch soap operas. Murderbot (a name they gave their self) has to work very hard to keep humans unaware of their own agency to avoid being wiped back to factory settings. Also, someone is trying to kill the people in their charge. I loved this fresh take on the future of AI. - Ivy

People who've been traumatized by a crime are victims, too. Finding ways to comfort them is also part of my job. I adored this gentle, intricately plotted novel! Told in vignettes, this unusual whodunnit follows Detective Kaga as he solves small domestic mysteries with kindness and grace, while gaining more insight into the life of the murder victim and those around her. - Ksenia

It's hard to talk about this book without drawing comparisons to Daniel Wallace's Big Fish, and that's a great thing! The story travels back and forth through time in telling the multigenerational story of a family and their land in Alabama. This history is being passed from one generation to the next in this hodgepodge storytelling that captivates as much as it obfuscates. - Clara