RandomHouse

Autumn Light is not so much a long-time expatriate reflecting on his chosen home, as a rumination on life. Iyer tells a story not finished but set: the joys of spouse and children poignantly framed against memories of the dead, and the ache of loving those leaving us. Japan’s relationship with aging and death—as well as love, marriage, and parenthood—is different from what we see in the West, but Iyer writes an affecting picture of the universalities of being an aging human. -Jocelyn

This is the kind of science fiction that invites you to flex your imagination and think in creative swoops you weren’t yet capable of. Chiang isn’t tied down by genre. These stories swing from a Scheherazade-style storytelling to Asimov-esque self-reflective automata to Silicon Valley relationship turmoil. I don’t know if Chiang has answers about free will or the order of the universe, but these stories—no matter how wild or mundane—bring us closer to understanding our own existence. - Clara

After She’s Gone, named the Best Swedish Crime Novel of the year by the Swedish Crime Writers Academy, is captivating. Famed psychological profiler Hanne Lagerlind-Schön is found alone, hurt, and confused in Sweden’s rural woods, with little access to her recent memories, and realizes her partner is nowhere to be found. When the murderer that Hanna and the missing detective were investigating starts to threaten the entire town, the urgency grows. Only one person, a local boy with a desperate secret of his own, can help Hanna, and as the inexplicable relationship between the two grows, so does the race against time. This is a wonderful page-turner.  

When Vanessa Williams won Miss America, it opened a door in protagonist Vanessa Martin’s heart. Until then, she didn’t believe a girl like her—a dark-skinned girl—could win a beauty contest. Suddenly, Vanessa is competing in a school pageant and her Miss America dreams feel that much closer. Raw and full of heart, this book will have you rooting for Vanessa to go all the way to the crown. - Ivy

Nicola Yoon’s incredible award-winning novel starts with the complexity of the universe and continues with two teens—an immigrant and the child of immigrants, both American—on a single day in New York City. A love story and a story of choices, this book is more real and consequential than most you will ever read. Natasha and Daniel and all the lives they intersect made my breath catch and my mind soar, and made me feel like a piece of the greater wonder. - Jocelyn

Julia Phillips is an author to watch. She beautifully transports us to a region of the world, the Kamchatka Peninsula in Northern Russia, that I had never heard of and now can’t stop thinking about. The stories of the women there—their family dynamics, their hopes and fears, the economic and cultural divide of various communities—are not only about this place but ultimately about the universal struggle women have in determining how to live with the expectations placed on them as women. A remarkable debut. - Casey

Switching between the two halves of a longtime on-again, off-again romance, Rooney offers us an intimate study of her two well-drawn protagonists. Totally absorbing, this powerful book is perfect for traveling or a quiet afternoon at home. You will be fully transported into Rooney’s masterful novel, which explores the dynamics and complexities of relationships. - Emma

Set in an alternative 1980s London in which extremely humanlike robots are available for purchase, this is the tale of Charlie, his love interest Miranda, and his robot-slash-friend Adam. As usual, McEwan’s writing is fantastic—smart, wry, and filled with a creeping menace that keeps you turning the pages in a rush. He tells the story with so many observant and insightful details, his “alternative” world feels like real life—and might actually be real life in the not-very-distant future. The book’s blend of the fantastical, the real, and the just plain weird is perfect for hardcore sci-fi fans as well as readers of literary fiction. - Rico

Regina Porter’s novel moves through time and characters with such agility and craft that it’s deliciously hard to believe it’s a debut. Playful in form and inspiration, at its center is the compelling narrative of two interweaving families, from the 1950s to the first year of Obama’s presidency, whose story also tells the greater American experience with an exacting, compassionate touch. - Melinda

This is a delightful, moving read for fans of Ann Patchett, Celeste Ng, or Alice McDermott. As the story weaves in and out of a narrative that covers 40 years, the reader gets an intimate view of a Chicago couple and their four daughters and of what happens when a family secret resurfaces. There is such realness in each character that it is impossible not to find yourself simultaneously exasperated and in love with each family member. The novel explores the complex ties of parenting and sisterhood, and how love can be a weight as well as salvation. This is a wonderful, amazing debut. - S.M.C.