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Starred Review

Sheer

by Vanessa Lawrence

In her gripping and sharply observed second novel, arts and fashion journalist Vanessa Lawrence (Ellipses) offers an insider's view of the power dynamics within the beauty industry through a brilliant but flawed protagonist whose secrets threaten to destroy her career.

The novel begins when Maxine "Max" Thomas learns that the board of Reveal, the successful cosmetics company she founded, is planning to remove her after an explosive allegation. Holing up in her luxury NYC apartment over the next few days, Max

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The Moon Without Stars

by Chanel Miller

The Moon Without Stars by Newbery Honoree Chanel Miller (Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All) is an exemplary work of middle-grade realism that is both immediately relatable and intensely kind, accessible to any child reader no matter their (perceived) place in their social hierarchy. 

Twelve-year-old Luna and Scott have been friends since they were little. They eat lunch together at the redwood tree, silently building their complementing talents of writing (Luna) and art (Scott). Luna, whose father is white and

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A Long Game: Notes on Writing Fiction

by Elizabeth McCracken

Perhaps the greatest gift of A Long Game is Elizabeth McCracken's assumption that readers of this book are writers, students in her class, and she is here to encourage them. But, in fact, even for those who simply enjoy reading, this book is a gem and makes an ideal gift for all readers (and secret writers).

"I believe in modes of thinking, not rules," McCracken (Thunderstruck) writes in one of the book's 280 numbered sections. "Occasionally a student will beg me for a rule. 'Just one,' the student will say.

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The Heir Apparent

by Rebecca Armitage

In her debut novel, The Heir Apparent, Rebecca Armitage delivers a reimagined British royal family, one full of secrets.

Lexi loves her life in Tasmania: she has excellent friends and is in her second year of her medical residency. She is also third in line to the throne of the United Kingdom. When her father and brother die together in a skiing accident, she is thrust back into the world she fled after her mother's tragic death. With a scheming uncle, her brother's social-climbing widow, and her grandmother--the

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Fustuk

by Robert Mgrdich Apelian

Robert Mgrdich Apelian makes his debut with the tantalizing YA graphic novel Fustuk, a sumptuous fantasy likely to be devoured by readers.

"I never knew my father, but I have dreams of him.... like memories that don't belong to me." Unlike his older sister, Noori, and older brother, Garaked, 19-year-old Katah was too young to know their father, a chef whose food was so good it "won the heart of a div" (a creature from Persian myth). Additionally, Katah is the only child who didn't inherit his father's skills;

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Shelf Discovery

The Future Saints

by Ashley Winstead

Ashley Winstead's gritty, glamorous seventh novel follows the changing fortunes of a rock band struggling to stay together after their manager's death.

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Departure(s)

by Julian Barnes

In Departure(s), Julian Barnes writes about an author named Julian Barnes who, at 77, has an incurable form of blood cancer and shares memories of college friends who have reappeared after 40 years.

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Befriending Betsy: A Memoir

by Betsy Pauly, Jen Braaksma

This posthumous memoir-in-essays spins funny stories from volunteer cat and dog rescue work and ponders the special, unexpected friendships such work fosters with animals and people alike.

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Winter: The Story of a Season

by Val McDermid

Val McDermid offers seductive, lighthearted reflections on her favorite time for thought and memory in this cozy, contemplative handbook written in lyrical prose as crisp as the winter season. 

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First Do No Harm

by S.J. Rozan

Among the sturdiest and drollest books in the Lydia Chin/Bill Smith series, First Do No Harm finds the private investigators looking into a murder rap against a Manhattan hospital's morgue assistant.

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The Aquatics

by Osvalde Lewat, trans. by Maren Baudet-Lackner

Cameroonian documentary filmmaker Osvalde Lewat's brisk, crisp debut novel tackles disturbing subjects in its excoriating focus on grief, friendship, and injustice.

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W. W. Norton & Company: Evelyn in Transit by Dave Guterson
Shelf Awareness

Media Heat

Monday, January 26, 2026

CBS Mornings: Spencer Pratt, author of The Guy You Loved to Hate: Confessions from a Reality TV Villain (Gallery, $30, 9781668211762).

Tamron Hall: Chris Appleton, author of Your Roots Don't Define You: Transform Your Life. Create Your Comeback. (Hanover Square Press, $30, 9781335001429).

Also on Tamron Hall: Sarah Vacchiano, author of Soft Launch: A Coming-of-Adulthood Novel (Little A, $16.99, 9781662536885).

Fresh Air: Heather Ann Thompson, author of Fear and Fury: The Reagan Eighties, the Bernie Goetz Shootings, and the Rebirth of White Rage (Pantheon, $35, 9780593702093).

Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Governor Josh Shapiro, author of Where We Keep the Light: Stories from a Life of Service (Harper, $30, 9780063463905). 

Thursday, January 22, 2026

Today: Jennifer Breheny Wallace, author of Mattering: The Secret to a Life of Deep Connection and Purpose (Portfolio, $30, 9780593850596).

Fresh Air: Quiara Alegria Hudes, author of The White Hot (One World, $26, 9780593732335).

CBS Mornings: Shadé Zahrai, co-author of Big Trust: Rewire Self-Doubt, Find Your Confidence, and Fuel Success (HarperOne, $29.99, 9780063378155).

The View: Dr. Tara Narula, author of The Healing Power of Resilience: A New Prescription for Health and Well-Being (S&S/Simon Element, $30, 9781982198848).

Wednesday, January 21, 2026

Here & Now: Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney on An Unlikely Story, his bookstore in Plainville, Mass., and other investments he's made to build community in his hometown.

Drew Barrymore Show: Chris Appleton, author of Your Roots Don't Define You: Transform Your Life. Create Your Comeback. (Hanover Square Press, $30, 9781335001429).

Tamron Hall: Kenan Thompson, co-author of Unfunny Bunny (Feiwel & Friends, $19.99, 9781250364814).

Kelly Clarkson Show: Brad Meltzer, author of The Viper: A Zig & Nola Novel (Morrow, $32, 9780062892430).

Tuesday, January 20, 2026

Good Morning America: Dr. Tara Narula, author of The Healing Power of Resilience: A New Prescription for Health and Well-Being (S&S/Simon Element, $30, 9781982198848).

Tamron Hall: Kwame Alexander, author of Say Yes: Find Your Passion, Unleash Your Potential, and Transform Your Life (Andrews McMeel, $16.99, 9781524899820).

Fresh Air: Rachel Eliza Griffiths, author of The Flower Bearers (Random House, $28, 9780593730218).

NPR's Marketplace: Dorothy A. Brown, author of Getting to Reparations: How Building a Different America Requires a Reckoning with Our Past (Crown, $30, 9780593593615). 

Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Senator Bernie Sanders, author of Fight Oligarchy (Crown, $14.99, 9798217089161).

Tonight Show: Jennette McCurdy, author of Half His Age: A Novel (Ballantine, $30, 9780593723739).

Thursday, January 15, 2026

Fresh Air: Julian Barnes, author of Departure(s): A Novel (Knopf, $27, 9780593804506).

CBS Mornings: Oona Metz, author of Unhitched: The Essential Divorce Guide for Women (Gallery, $20, 9781668075388).

Today: Martha Stewart, author of Entertaining (Clarkson Potter, $50, 9798217034871).

The View: Kenan Thompson, co-author of Unfunny Bunny (Feiwel & Friends, $19.99, 9781250364814).
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