Starred Review

Mutual Interest

by Olivia Wolfgang-Smith

Readers of well-crafted historical fiction such as Trust by Hernan Diaz will be drawn in by Olivia Wolfgang-Smith's sure-footed Mutual Interest, which is set in turn-of-the century Manhattan, in the aftermath of the Gilded Age, with occasional excursions to Hollywood, Calif., and Utica, N.Y. Wolfgang-Smith (Glassworks) is nothing short of virtuosic in her wry and witty world-building, which immediately immerses readers into a rough-and-tumble capitalist quagmire where the stakes are incredibly

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Rachel Carson and the Power of Queer Love

by Lida Maxwell

For most people, Rachel Carson is synonymous with her Silent Spring exposé of unregulated chemicals destroying the sustainability of American agriculture. In Rachel Carson and the Power of Queer Love, Boston University professor Lida Maxwell examines letters Carson exchanged with her intimate friend Dorothy Freeman and argues that Carson's environmentalism was inextricably intertwined with queer frameworks of love.

Maxwell draws on writers from many disciplines, including Black and queer studies, to

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All the Blues in the Sky

by Renée Watson

Coretta Scott King Award winner and Newbery Award honoree Renée Watson (Piecing Me Together) uses poetry and lyrical prose to sculpt All the Blues in the Sky, a deeply affecting window into healing that skillfully manages to be both heartbreaking yet full of hope.

A month ago, on 13-year-old Sage's birthday, her best friend was killed by a drunk driver. Since then, Sage struggles to understand why "sometimes no one sees death coming," especially when it suddenly and senselessly comes for a best friend

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Tartufo

by Kira Jane Buxton

A tiny Italian village facing destitution catches a whiff of hope in the vivacious, feel-good comedy Tartufo by Kira Jane Buxton (Hollow Kingdom, Feral Creatures).

The village of Lazzarini Boscarino has seen better days. Tourists only come into town if they're lost, and all the bars and restaurants have closed save Bar Celebrità, which "could perhaps use one of the potent espressos made by its bartender." The village's first female mayor, Delizia--who narrowly won the election against "a donkey of legal

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This Beautiful, Ridiculous City

by Kay Sohini

A probing, curious mind interrogates a fascination with New York City in Kay Sohini's gorgeously detailed debut graphic memoir, This Beautiful, Ridiculous City. Sohini, who holds a Ph.D. in English from Stony Brook University, explores her life to see how and why she became infatuated with New York, a city with which her "attachment can never be explained in the realm of the logical." She begins with an image that's repeated two more times later in the book: a plane sitting on the tarmac at JFK airport in

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Truth, Lies, and the Questions in Between

by L.M. Elliott

A conservative teenager serves as a congressional page and begins to open her mind to different worldviews in this astounding historical novel jam-packed with the real-life events and issues that crowded headlines in 1973.

When 17-year-old Patty spends a year serving as one of the first female pages in the U.S. Senate, her personal social, sexual, and political awakenings coincide with some of the biggest upheavals in U.S. history, including the Watergate hearings, the battle to pass the Equal Rights Amendment,

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The Interpreter

by Olivia Abtahi, illus. by Monica Arnaldo

Olivia Abtahi (Perfectly Parvin) and Monica Arnaldo's first picture book collaboration, The Interpreter, is an earnest and endearing depiction of a child who becomes overwhelmed while serving as translator for her Spanish-speaking parents.

While some kids have only one job--"to be a kid"--Cecilia has two: in addition to school and soccer, she acts as interpreter for her Spanish-speaking parents. Cecilia goes with her caretakers to all sorts of "grown-up places" and assists with appointments, making small talk

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Learn more about Shelf Awareness.

Shelf Discovery

Remember

by Dac Trung Tran

Dac Trung Tran dramatically transforms a mother's note to her son into an all-day adventure of discovery and play that ends with the comforting promise of a warm, hug-filled reunion.

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Heaven and Hell

by Jón Kalman Stefánsson, trans. by Philip Roughton

Icelandic novelist Jón Kalman Stefánsson's evocative first volume in a trilogy raises profound questions about death, life, and uncertainty on short fishing expedition.

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Gliff

by Ali Smith

Ali Smith's Gliff projects an uncanny near future where everything feels foreign yet eerily familiar, offering an inventive resistance to the creep of big tech and data harvesting so common today.

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At the Fount of Creation

by Tobi Ogundiran

The second installment of Tobi Ogundiran's fantasy duology ratchets up the action and thoughtfully questions the foundations of the first novella as it probes whether the orisha are worth saving.

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Shattered: A Memoir

by Hanif Kureishi

Acclaimed British Pakistani novelist and screenwriter Hanif Kureishi shares reflections and humorous observations from his hospital bed as he adjusts to his new life with tetraplegia.

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The Mailman

by Andrew Welsh-Huggins

A former postal inspector turned freelance courier proves to be an intelligent action hero in this solid, exciting series launch.

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Let Us March On

by Shara Moon

Shara Moon's compelling debut novel highlights the story of Lizzie McDuffie, who worked as a maid and civil rights activist in Franklin Delano Roosevelt's White House

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Poisoned Pen Press: A Long Time Gone (Ben Packard #3) by Joshua Moehling

Media Heat

Thursday, February 6, 2025

Fresh Air: Brittany Newell, author of Soft Core: A Novel (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $28, 9780374613891).

Wednesday, February 5, 2025

NPR's Morning Edition: Lara Marlowe and Lieutenant Yulia Mykytenko, author and subject of How Good It Is I Have No Fear of Dying: Lieutenant Yulia Mykytenko's Fight for Ukraine (Melville House, $29.99, 9781685891879).

NPR's All Things Considered: Pádraig Ó. Tuama, author of 44 Poems on Being with Each Other: A Poetry Unbound Collection (W.W. Norton, $27.99, 9781324086161).

Tuesday, February 4, 2025

CBS Mornings: Alton Brown, author of Food for Thought: Essays and Ruminations (Gallery Books, $28.99, 9781668064214).

Also on CBS Mornings: Nicole Avant, author of Think You'll Be Happy: Moving Through Grief with Grit, Grace, and Gratitude (HarperOne, $28.99, 9780063304413).

Good Morning America: Frank Caprio, author of Compassion in the Court: Life-Changing Stories from America's Nicest Judge (BenBella Books, $26.95, 9781637746035).

The View: Bill Gates, author of Source Code: My Beginnings (Knopf, $30, 9780593801581).

Thursday, January 30, 2025

Fresh Air: Ricky Riccardi, author of Stomp Off, Let's Go: The Early Years of Louis Armstrong (Oxford University Press, $34.99, 9780197614488).

Wednesday, January 29, 2025

Late Night with Seth Meyers: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, author of True Gretch--Young Adult Edition: Lessons for Anyone Who Wants to Make a Difference (Atheneum, $18.99, 9781665983761).
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