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| | As part of my job, I grab books well before their publication. I read many right away, but some float around for years, from my desk to my bag, onto an end table, over to a bookshelf, out to the couch, and back to a shelf, all before I actually take a real look. Either I read something six months before it comes out or 10 years after the fact. But it's all part of a rhythm.
A colleague of mine recommends reading a mystery after finishing a particularly potent story, when you feel like nothing else can hold a candle. That's also when I'll reach for one of those books that have followed me around for years and years. Or, I'll pull out a classic, some gem that's really stood the test of time. As a result, I've developed a reliable fondness for Michael Bennett's riveting Hana Westerman thrillers, Katherine Heiny's breathtaking short stories, and Edith Wharton's spellbinding novels. Although, I must admit, that the palate cleanser is often just as satiating as the main course.
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 | | Talking with Boys | | | Tayyba Kanwal |
| | | Tayyba Kanwal's superb debut collection features 15 interwoven stories with peripatetic global characters searching for new ways to inhabit their stagnant lives.
» Read the full review | | |
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| | What a Small Cat Needs | | | Natalia Shaloshvili, trans. by Lena Traer |
| | | Natalia Shaloshvili's inviting picture book whimsically captures a small cat's many needs--milk, a flower patch, a window--but what she needs most is that special someone with a big heart.
» Read the full review | | |
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| | Carthage: A New History | | | Eve MacDonald |
| | | This superb, nuanced history of the ancient civilization of Carthage relies less on Roman accounts and more on DNA and archeological evidence to center Carthaginian people, culture, and impact.
» Read the full review | | |
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| | When the Museum Is Closed | | | Emi Yagi, trans. by Yuki Tejima |
| | | Emi Yagi's sophomore novel is another surreal delight, centering on meetings between the goddess of love and beauty and her part-time conversationalist.
» Read the full review | | |
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| | | | | | This twisty thriller full of Russian spies, U.S. government agents, and amateurs who can't help but stumble into the action brings nonstop laughs.
» Full review | |
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| | | | A return to an isolated cabin sets a woman dangerously off balance in Hemlock, an otherworldly exploration of addiction, sexuality, and family history.
» Full review | |
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| | | | This propulsive debut novel from a former reality television contestant and industry insider celebrates and skewers the genre.
» Full review | |
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| | | | In this suspense-fueled drama, a same-sex couple living in Ohio undergo a terrible ordeal that tests their marriage as well as one partner's sense of belonging in the U.S.
» Full review | |
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| | | | Former Reykjavík police detective Konrád continues to fail at retirement in this skillfully plotted and soulful crime novel centered on his search for a murdered woman's adult child.
» Full review | |
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| | | | This witty, empathetic second installment in a cozy mystery series about an organization that deals in death follows a sister determined to save her twin from his scheduled demise.
» Full review | |
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| | | | Between its first fiery hookup and its final declaration of love, Marissa Marr's Greta Gets the Girl offers passionate bedroom scenes as well as romantic, honest communication.
» Full review | |
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| | | | This detailed biography of legendary singer, songwriter, and performer Dolly Parton traces her life from her impoverished Tennessee roots to fame, fortune, and philanthropy.
» Full review | |
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| | | | Historian Susan Wise Bauer offers a fast-paced survey of sickness and humanity's search for its causes and cures.
» Full review | |
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| | | | A runaway assumes the identity of a missing teen, then realizes his perfect new family may have had something to do with the disappearance in this frightening, suspenseful queer YA thriller.
» Full review | |
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| | | | This contemporary YA novel is a sharply comedic take on high school mean girl drama from a modern, queer perspective.
» Full review | |
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| | | | This melodic, transportive middle-grade novel-in-verse adeptly depicts the harrowing experience of Chinese Americans in 1880s California.
» Full review | |
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| | |  Grant Faulkner is the co-founder of Memoir Nation, the Flash Fiction Institute, and 100 Word Story, and an executive producer on the upcoming TV show, America's Next Great Author. His "flash novel," something out there in the distance, is a linked series of short-short stories that weave their way through photos by Gail Butensky. Find out which other fragmented work he's obsessed with and which novel made him cry more than any other book. (continued)
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| | | |  Prolific author Fern Michaels, "a mother of five in suburban New Jersey who responded to her husband's request to get a job by taking up writing, only to blossom into a bestselling author of more than 200 romances and thrillers," died last November at age 92, the New York Times reported. She sold an estimated 150 million books, according to Kensington, her longtime publisher, and was best known for the Sisterhood series, a collection of 36 romantic thrillers. (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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