Starred Review

Mother Doll

by Katya Apekina

With her debut novel, The Deeper the Water the Uglier the Fish, Katya Apekina proved willing to stretch beyond readers' expectations. Mother Doll displays a similar defiance of norms as it deftly tangles with history and memory and generational trauma. Apekina's confidence is evident from the book's first line: "It was ironic that Zhenia and Ben would come home from spending time with people who had kids and be so giddy with relief and self-righteousness over their decision not to have any that it would make

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Island Rule

by Katie M. Flynn

Some short story collections are treats to be consumed like little chocolates, with delight and frivolity. Other collections, rich like a multi-course meal at a Michelin-starred restaurant, are meant to be devoured. Island Rule by Katie M. Flynn (The Companions) is the latter. In these 12 interconnected stories, Flynn's deft hand brings readers backward and forward in time, all the while weaving her characters into an impressive tapestry and fully fleshing out a world of monsters--real and imagined alike.

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Home

by Isabelle Simler, trans. by Vineet Lal

A poetic tour of 27 exquisitely detailed animal habitats awaits readers in French writer and illustrator Isabelle Simler's picture book Home, translated by Vineet Lal.

Simler (Sweet Dreamers) depicts the adaptability and creativity of the animal kingdom through illustrations of astounding, unusual, and breathtaking dwellings; each spread is accompanied by a poem that comments on the beauty and purpose of the habitats. Foam-nest tree frog eggs nestle securely "in our ball of foam,/ whipped up like Chantilly

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Your Absence Is Darkness

by Jón Kalman Stefánsson, trans. by Philip Roughton

Icelandic author Jón Kalman Stefánsson is relatively unknown in the United States, despite years of international success, including a Booker Prize nomination for Fish Have No Feet. With Your Absence Is Darkness now available in English (via translator Philip Roughton), Stefánsson offers a weighty yet light-saturated novel sure to leave a lasting impression. It is poetic and elegant, employing an unexpected structure that layers short sections in the way a sound engineer combines individual

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Women of Good Fortune

by Sophie Wan

Sophie Wan's Women of Good Fortune recalls the extravagant wedding fanfare of Crazy Rich Asians and the minute-by-minute scheming of Ocean's Eleven in an elaborate heist novel featuring a reluctant bride turned reluctant thief as she plans to rob her own wedding.

According to her mother, Lulu is a "leftover woman," unmarried in her late 20s and with no relationship in sight. But when a short romance turns into an unexpected engagement to one of the richest bachelors in Shanghai, Lulu finds herself caught up

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Where Sleeping Girls Lie

by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé's Where Sleeping Girls Lie is an outstanding slow-burn YA mystery featuring a Black Muslim teen who uncovers secrets at her prestigious boarding school after her roommate goes missing.

Sade Hussein is starting her junior year of high school at Alfred Nobel Academy, an elite boarding school in England. Sade, who has been homeschooled her entire life, is eager and nervous to be around other students her age. When she meets her new roommate,

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Ariel Crashes a Train

by Olivia A. Cole

Ariel Crashes a Train, inspired by author and journalist Olivia A. Cole's own struggles with undiagnosed OCD in 2020, uses poetry to compassionately explore the complicated reality of living with intrusive thoughts.

Seventeen-year-old white Ariel struggles with the "crocodile" in her mind: swampy, violent thoughts about the damage a "too big," too-queer girl could inflict. Her sister, Mandy, is away for the summer and, without her confidant, Ariel's counting rituals don't feel like enough to protect the world

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Welcome

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Learn more about Shelf Awareness.

Shelf Discovery

A Year of Last Things

by Michael Ondaatje

A wistful and wondrous assemblage of poetry and prose by a writer of formidable literary talents, this collection includes a tribute to his late dog and a return to his Sri Lankan boarding school.

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Doris

by Lo Cole

Lo Cole's engaging and astute Doris tells the story of an elephant who stands out but is uncomfortable with attention.

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The Divorcées

by Rowan Beaird

In this sparkling, lushly imagined first novel set on a "divorce ranch" outside 1950s Reno, Nev., women yearning for simple freedoms forge bonds that offer new hope and new dangers.

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Wild Houses

by Colin Barrett

Accomplished short story writer Colin Barrett's first novel is an engaging story of the machinations of a group of small-time criminals in small-town Ireland.

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The Underground Library

by Jennifer Ryan

Jennifer Ryan's heartwarming fifth novel centers on a London library that moves underground during the Blitz and the brave, kind women who keep it going.

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Tiny Wonders

by Sally Soweol Han

This enchanting, timeless, and endlessly optimistic picture book shows how one girl, channeling her grandmother's wisdom, teaches her fellow citizens to stop and smell the dandelions.

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Death and Fromage

by Ian Moore

In this follow-up to the equally farcical and funny mystery Death and Croissants, a cheesemaker is dead after the wrong goat cheese somehow ends up in a Michelin-starred chef's signature dessert.

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G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers: Kill Her Twice by Stacey Lee

Media Heat

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Sherri Shepherd Show: Melanie Brown, author of Brutally Honest (Quadrille Publishing, $14.99, 9781837831562).

Tamron Hall: Rebecca Quin, author of Becky Lynch: The Man: Not Your Average Average Girl (Gallery, $28.99, 9781982157258).

The View: Coleman Hughes, author of The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America (Thesis, $30, 9780593332450).

Jennifer Hudson Show: Jenn Drummond, author of BreakProof: 7 Strategies to Build Resilience and Achieve Your Life Goals (Mango, $29.99, 9781684814350).

Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Fareed Zakaria, author of Age of Revolutions: Progress and Backlash from 1600 to the Present (W.W. Norton, $29.99, 9780393239232).

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Good Morning America: Kathryn M. Ireland, author of A Life in Design: Celebrating 30 Years of Interiors (CICO Books, $50, 9781800652774).

Monday, March 25, 2024

CBS Mornings: former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, author of Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism (Simon & Schuster, $32, 9781668021538). He also appeared on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

The View: Melanie Brown, author of Brutally Honest (Quadrille Publishing, $14.99, 9781837831562).

Thursday, March 21, 2024

CBS Mornings: Mia Armstrong, author of I Am a Masterpiece! (Random House Books for Young Readers, $19.99, 9780593567975).

The View: Gisele Bündchen, author of Nourish: Simple Recipes to Empower Your Body and Feed Your Soul (Clarkson Potter, $35, 9780593580486).

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Fresh Air: Catherine Coldstream, author of Cloistered: My Years as a Nun (St. Martin's Press, $30, 9781250323514).
 
The View: José Andrés, author of Zaytinya: Delicious Mediterranean Dishes from Greece, Turkey, and Lebanon (Ecco, $45, 9780063327900).
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