MacMillan

In Mordew, Nathan, a young boy living in the slums of a great city besieged by tidal waves and fire birds, has the potential to topple the world order. This archetypal city is ruled over by the Master, a superhuman magician feeding on the body of God kept hidden in his catacombs. This book has the most interesting and macabre fantasy world I’ve read in a long time. Instantly fascinating and absorbing! I’m very excited for the rest of this trilogy. 

—Brooks

Some books linger with you after you read them, shifting the way you view the world and making you feel as though you’ve come through the experience changed. Starling’s latest has done just that, haunting, if you will. She’s woven a story of beauty and horror, ghosts and corrupt magicians, that is as much Jane Eyre as it is House on Haunted Hill and I dare say as well crafted as either. Just take care not to read too long in the dark…

—Jax

Jennifer Marie Brissett writes with her own voice into some of the greatest perennial and modern traditions of speculative fiction, drawing upon Afro-futurism, dystopia, space opera, and cyber punk to build a dazzling world fighting against oppression and the sins of the past. Destroyer of Light is an epic adventure to determine the fate of humanity on an alien world. Brissett’s indelible characters, their revelations, and turning points, will hook through to the last echo of action and fated drama. —Jocelyn

When anxiety strikes and your therapist is booked, your yoga mat is missing, and a walk around the block is not going to do it, escape to the bathroom for some cocoon-like comfort and a good giggle. A Bathroom Book is a funny, illustrated, and functional meditation guide, perfect for anyone who enjoys the distraction of a deep thought with a hint of sarcasm. —Jenny

Kaveh Akbar’s honest resonance is unmatched by any poet I have read in this decade. With an unflinching spirituality, Akbar takes us on a journey through discomfort, through holiness, through beauty in its ugliest forms. Often returning to the body, and always drawing upon his experience as a Muslim American, Akbar paints images so sharp they could cut skin. This collection of poetry is breathtaking, harrowing, and utterly necessary. 

—Holly

This is a remarkable debut collection of five short stories and the title novella. The stories are brilliant, with themes of race, home, and family. The novella features Da’Naisha, a direct descendent of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings. In a time when violent white supremacists are in ascendance, society disintegrates. Da’Naisha leads a band of refugees to a final stand at fabled Monticello, home of her ancestors. A moving, cautionary tale that speaks to the dangers of our present time. —Trey

Franzen’s new novel opens on a precarious moment in the life of the Hildebrandt family. Two days before Christmas in 1971, the parents, Russ and Marion, have grown widely apart and are exploring other options. Meanwhile, their three older children are navigating personal and spiritual difficulties that may help define them as people and possibly ruin their lives. The novel represents a turn for Franzen, away from the eviscerating social critique of The Corrections and Freedom and toward a deeply compassionate realism. The novel’s depth of character, powerful exploration of morality, and astounding scope suggest it’s time to stop comparing him to his contemporaries and start comparing him to Proust and Tolstoy.—Rico

In this smart romp of a novel, Oscar and Keila, heads of the Alvarado family, begin another drought year with the talk of divorce as secrets threaten to undo their long marriage. This shocking news reverberates through the lives of their three adult daughters, disrupting what has always been and forcing them to act on their own truths. What follows is a year of revelation in this delicious, heartfelt family drama, lush with relationship and atmosphere, and fervent hopes for rain. 

—Melinda

Canadian Miriam Toews, author of Women Talking and A Complicated Kindness, returns to her storytelling roots, celebrating the unique bonds and challenges of women’s relationships. She traces the journey of brave 9-year-old Sviv, who is in the care of her angst-ridden mother and her larger-than-life grandmother, and their unconventional ways of raising her. Toews uses humor and compassion to show us the way through this hard-scrabble world. Publishers Weekly, in a starred review says, “Fierce and funny, this gives undeniable testimony to the life force of family.” This book is a gift right when we need it the most.

—Casey

How lucky we are to have the first two books in Vanessa Riley’s Regency romance series now available in one volume. Steeped in the requisite desire and tension, The Bittersweet Bride and The Bashful Bride center the stories of Black women in Regency England and the challenges they face while searching for (or resisting!) the love they deserve. Riley effortlessly weaves historical context through the world of Theodosia Cecil and Ester Croome as she brings their stories to vibrant, swoon-worthy life.

—Melinda