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| | The recent revelation of thriller writer Freida McFadden's true identity has me contemplating the value of anonymity. In a culture as fame-hungry as the one precipitating from reality television and social media, I'm charmed by authors who manage to nudge work into the spotlight while remaining hidden themselves. Chuck Tingle wears a cheeky pink bag over his head at public appearances. Thomas Pynchon is nearly as renowned for being withdrawn as he is for his fiction. Elena Ferrante, too, of course--despite an alleged unmasking a decade ago, the details of that case left me with enough doubts that I prefer to carry on as if it never happened. And now debut author Liadan Ní Chuinn follows in their footsteps.
McFadden, a doctor, stated that she chose a pseudonym out of concern that literary fame could impact her medical practice. Eventually, though, her pen name's secrecy overshadowed its utility. Alas, despite my own misgivings about one more of life's little mysteries being solved, I do think it's fitting that fans of her psychological thrillers would eventually get to find out whodunit.
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 | | Body Weather: Notes on Chronic Illness in the Anthropocene | | | Lorraine Boissoneault |
| | | In this forthright memoir in essays, a science journalist draws eloquent parallels between her chronic illnesses and aspects of climate breakdown.
» Read the full review | | |
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| | John of John | | | Douglas Stuart |
| | | In a modern masterpiece with the weight of Scripture, Douglas Stuart contrasts the freedom of the big city with the harshness of a gay young man's religious island home.
» Read the full review | | |
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| | Patient, Female | | | Julie Schumacher |
| | | This funny, moving, and brilliantly written collection of short stories follows women at all stages of life as they navigate the gamut of human experience.
» Read the full review | | |
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| | Until We Meet Again | | | Lily Kim Qian |
| | | A painful yet cathartic YA graphic memoir debut about a Chinese Canadian girl growing up with a schizophrenic mother.
» Read the full review | | |
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| | | | | | Secular saint Monica Lewinsky comes to the aid of a woman in need of healing after a long-ago affair in this nuanced and incisively funny academic satire.
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| | | | Francine Prose vividly imagines a real-life encounter between two 19th-century literary giants.
» Full review | |
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| | | | Prestige Drama, a novel by Séamas O'Reilly, tells the stories of Derry, Northern Ireland, residents and a Hollywood actress who comes to town to shoot a series based on a tragedy during the Troubles.
» Full review | |
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| | | | Elizabeth Strout's masterful novel stars a hero who grapples with what it means to say what one thinks, and what if the better course is to keep it to oneself.
» Full review | |
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| | | | A samurai's daughter and a white college student living centuries apart are brought together by a blood-soaked nightmare house in rural Japan in this ghostly, gory ride.
» Full review | |
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| | | | An engrossing tale of fathers and sons set in a small Minnesota town, Liar's Creek infuses a missing-persons case with an emotional family drama.
» Full review | |
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| | | | In this gritty historical mystery, the heir to an earldom investigates the murders of his nephew's friends.
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| | | | When their exes start dating, Thea and Alex form a fake friendship that sparks with playful banter and the hint of something more in this funny, delightful romance.
» Full review | |
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| | | | A 75-year-long game of Capture the Flag between rivaling halves of a town reveals human kindness and menace in this epically fun middle-grade graphic novel.
» Full review | |
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| | | | A toddler makes a game out of the word "hold" in this joyous slice-of-life picture book.
» Full review | |
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| | | | The natural rhythms of the living world surprise and reassure in this beguilingly illustrated, out-of-the-ordinary picture book, translated from Spanish.
» Full review | |
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| | | | This clear-sighted and endearing middle-grade novel features a tween who finally gets to attend space camp, only to learn that "wherever you go, there you are."
» Full review | |
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| | | _Desiree_Adams.jpeg) Booker Prize-winning author Douglas Stuart discusses his third novel, John of John, about a young man seeking to reconcile his sexuality and artistic goals with his family's expectations and a devout upbringing on Scotland's Isle of Harris. Find out how he sought to balance intimacy and secrecy, community and isolation, all before the Internet arrived in a place where "time moves slowly... and memory is long."... (continued)
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| | | |  Australian author David Malouf, who "successfully merged his passion for literature, language and imagination with his connection to home to become one of Australia's most celebrated writers," died April 22 at age 92, the Guardian reported. Malouf "wrote of characters who transcended time and place. His novels explored ideas of identity and post-colonialism, but also broader themes--life and death, liberty and conflict, virtue and vice... (continued)
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Comments on a review? Please contact Dave Wheeler for adult books and Siân Gaetano for children's and YA titles.
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