海角大神

Deep Cuts,聽by Holly Brickley

In the year 2000, an aspiring music writer meets a future indie rock star. Their witty banter about songs sounds like Nora Ephron for Pitchfork readers. Can this woman and man just be friends? Holly Brickley鈥檚 lyrical debut novel should rocket up the (bookseller) charts.

Wild Dark Shore,聽by Charlotte McConaghy

Charlotte McConaghy delivers a captivating story about a tight-knit family tending the lighthouse on a remote subantarctic island. When a woman washes ashore during a tempest, wounded and unconscious, the family鈥檚 fragile equilibrium cracks. Multiple perspective shifts, foggy motives, and rising tides propel the plot, but it鈥檚 the beauty of the natural world that thunders loudest.

The Dream Hotel,聽by Laila Lalami

In Laila Lalami鈥檚 unnerving speculative novel, archivist Sara Hussein is detained for having a problematic 鈥渞isk score鈥� due to violent dreams. Baffled, desperate, and increasingly enraged, Sara builds alliances, battles hopelessness, and strains to demonstrate her innocence in the face of institutional suspicion and weaponized data. Privacy never sounded so good. (Read the author Q&A.)听

The Antidote,聽by Karen Russell

In Karen Russell鈥檚 extraordinary new novel, each Dust Bowl-hammered denizen of Uz, Nebraska, is searching: for clues to a mother鈥檚 murder, for signs of a son never known, for reasons a solitary farm escaped a storm鈥檚 swipe. Russell brings heft and intelligence to her characters 鈥� and a critical eye to the erasure, burden, and joys of memory.

The Paris Express,聽by Emma Donoghue

Emma Donoghue recounts a thrilling train ride involving a spectrum of 1890s society. Her luxurious prose and intimate storytelling propel readers along, drawing them into the interconnectedness of humanity.聽

Kate & Frida,聽by Kim Fay

Kim Fay鈥檚 second delightful epistolary novel after 鈥淟ove & Saffron鈥� pairs effervescent 20-something pen pals, Kate and Frida, whose letters travel from Seattle to Paris and beyond. Along with the desire to become writers, they share a passion for books and food. Their embrace of joy, especially in dark times, sends a message of hope.

One Good Thing,聽by Georgia Hunter

Best friends Esti and Lili find their families targeted by Italian leader Benito Mussolini鈥檚 racial laws when Germany invades and occupies northern Italy. Georgia Hunter鈥檚 novel is a sweeping, emotional tale. Through resistance, dangers, and separation, the characters prove their steadfastness.

Raising Hare: A Memoir,聽by Chloe Dalton

鈥淩aising Hare鈥� is a welcome addition to a growing shelf of books about the solace of forging unexpected connections with wild creatures. During the pandemic lockdown, Chloe Dalton rescues a newborn hare abandoned in a grassy field. The book chronicles the transformative, interspecies trust that grows between Dalton and the hare. (Read the full review.)听

Yoko: A Biography,聽by David Sheff

David Sheff was the last journalist to interview Yoko Ono and John Lennon before Lennon鈥檚 1980 murder, and he and Ono subsequently became friends. His engaging and intimate biography provides a full picture of the woman unfairly accused of breaking up the Beatles, highlighting her long, provocative career as an avant-garde artist.

Taking Manhattan,聽by Russell Shorto

Bestselling historian Russell Shorto tells the fascinating story of the Dutch鈥檚 handover of Manhattan Island to the English in 1664. His vivid account emphasizes New York鈥檚 roots in pluralism and a capitalist ethos while also tracing the roles of slavery and the dispossession of Native Americans in the city鈥檚 founding.