Wild seas and alien wonder: Get carried away with January鈥檚 best books
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The Waters,聽by Bonnie Jo Campbell
Bonnie Jo Campbell is one of the chief practitioners of Midwestern Gothic, and the National Book Award finalist鈥檚 first novel in a dozen years is reason to rejoice. 鈥淭he Waters鈥� is an indelible portrait of rural Michigan and the women tough enough to live there, with writing so evocative it practically sprouts in your hands. Lush, brackish, and bracing, 鈥淭he Waters鈥� is not so much read as steeped in.
Wild and Distant Seas,聽by Tara Karr Roberts
Why We Wrote This
Good stories transport. Great stories inspire. In our 10 picks for this month, characters face situations such as war and exile, offering insights into the strength of the human character.
This inventive historical novel is spun from a minor female character in 鈥淢oby-Dick.鈥� Melville鈥檚 narrator, Ishmael, and his sidekick, Queequeg, are served chowder in Mrs. Hussey鈥檚 inn before they sail off on the Pequod with Captain Ahab. Ishmael鈥檚 short stay has lasting ramifications on the lives of the innkeeper and her female descendants.
The Curse of Pietro Houdini,聽by Derek B. Miller
Sheltering in a hilltop abbey southeast of Rome, a maverick and a 14-year-old orphan hatch a plan to save the abbey鈥檚 priceless paintings from the Nazis. Even as the pair endure war鈥檚 horrors, they refuse to abandon their crusade. Derek B. Miller delivers an irresistible story of defiance.聽
My Friends,聽by Hisham Matar
A teenager leaves his cherished family in Libya to pursue higher education at the University of Edinburgh. Protesting against the Qaddafi regime results in exile from his homeland. Hisham Matar provides insights into life under revolution and in exile.聽
叠别补耻迟测濒补苍诲,听by Marie-Helene Bertino
Adina, a human-looking alien growing up in 1980s Philadelphia, adores astronomer Carl Sagan. 鈥淗e is looking for us!鈥� she enthuses to her otherworldly superiors in a one of many life-on-Earth dispatches. Adina navigates human childhood while her single mom, unaware of her daughter鈥檚 true identity, struggles to keep them afloat.聽
The Wharton Plot,聽by Mariah Fredericks
In this mystery set in early 20th-century New York City, Edith Wharton, the arch, imperious novelist of 鈥淭he House of Mirth鈥� takes center stage. When an American writer gets shot, Edith agrees to shepherd his finished manuscript to publication. Censorship, corruption, and class privilege brush up against jealousy and regret in Mariah Fredericks鈥� pitch-perfect tale.
The Survivors of the Clotilda,聽by Hannah Durkin
Historian Hannah Durkin鈥檚 gripping account uncovers the stories of the 110 enslaved people kidnapped from what is now modern-day Nigeria and forced onto the last slave ship to transport captives to America. The Clotilda landed in Alabama months before the start of the Civil War; Durkin, with a focus on its female survivors, compellingly reconstructs their lives post-emancipation.
Our Enemies Will Vanish,聽by Yaroslav Trofimov
Yaroslav Trofimov, the Ukrainian-born chief foreign affairs correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, spent the early days of the war in Ukraine watching as ordinary citizens turned what looked like a certain defeat into a stalemate that inspired the world. Told with empathy and sensitivity, the story is both heartbreaking and inspiring.
The MAGA Diaries,聽by Tina Nguyen聽
Political journalist Tina Nguyen uses her own coming-of-age story to explain how conservatives play the long game by providing intellectual training and professional guidance to young people. Her chronicle is entertaining yet unsettling.
Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here,聽by Jonathan Blitzer
Jonathan Blitzer traces the roots of the immigration crisis back to what he terms America鈥檚 misguided Cold War-era interventions in El Salvador and Guatemala. The author鈥檚 powerful, compassionate account highlights individual stories, creating an epic portrayal of migration鈥檚 human stakes.
