Not that Lake Como. The other one. In 2004, residents of the small New Jersey shore town of South Belmar voted to rename their borough after the better-known location in Italy. In Adriana Trigiani's delightfully charming romantic dramedy, The View from Lake Como, 33-year-old Giuseppina "Jess" Capodimonte Baratta, an "unhappy woman," can't wait to leave.  

Jess is recently divorced (to the chagrin of family and community) from her hometown husband, living in her parents' damp basement, and drafting marble installations for her beloved 73-year-old Uncle Louie's ancestral business. She's been accessing online advice from Thera-Me in an effort to keep from "dying inside a day at a time." When Uncle Louie dies unexpectedly, leaving Jess his business, an IRS bookkeeping investigation, and a plane ticket to Italy, she dashes to Carrara, where Michelangelo mined his marble, to learn the trade from the ground up, free to sculpt a new life.

Jess's romance with Italy begins with an attic room overlooking a picture-postcard piazza and a mentor: her landlady's alluring son, Angelo Strazza, the "best gilder in Tuscany." Their relationship develops during travelogue excursions to Angelo's studio, Michelangelo's quarry, the original Lake Como, entrancing Pisa and Milan, and a truffle hunt in Siena. Jess's discovery of a secret lineage culminates in a bombshell family reunion.

Trigiani (All the Stars in the Heavens) has written a love letter to Italy and families seasoned with food, romance, self-empowerment, and Aunt Lil's zeppole recipe. --Robert Allen Papinchak, freelance book critic

Discover: Adriana Trigiani's delightfully charming The View from Lake Como is a love letter to Italy and family seasoned with food, romance, and self-empowerment.

Esther Chehebar's juicy adult debut novel, Sisters of Fortune, provides an intimate glimpse into a community of Syrian Jewish immigrants in modern-day Brooklyn, through the intertwined lives (and fates) of the three Cohen sisters.

Chehebar's narrative opens as Fortune, the conventional middle sister, is preparing for her wedding to a perfectly nice Jewish guy. Named after her acerbic grandmother, Fortune has always been the obedient, capable daughter--but even she's starting to crack under the pressure of her future mother-in-law's expectations. Nina, the rebellious(ish) eldest daughter, moved to Manhattan for college but is back home at age 26, caught between her desire for freedom and her dependency (emotional and financial) on her family. And beautiful baby sister Lucy, nearly done with high school, has landed herself a charming, wealthy older bachelor. But will he pop the question? And if he does, is she ready to settle down? As Nina starts a new job in Bushwick and Fortune begins questioning her too-smooth path toward the altar, all three sisters wrestle with the gap between their personal longings and the stifling-yet-comforting traditions of their community, which Chehebar explores with wry humor and compassion.

Chehebar (I Share My Name) deftly shifts among the three sisters' perspectives, and although the sisters don't have many heart-to-hearts, they are watching each other's backs. Their bond--strengthened by religion, genetics, and years of shared history--matters more than their disagreements. But whether they're making knafeh in their mother's kitchen or searching for true love, they can count on each other for support as they experiment, make mistakes, and try again. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams

Discover: Esther Chehebar's juicy novel explores the intertwined lives of three Syrian Jewish sisters in Brooklyn as they search for love and try to forge their own paths within a traditional community.

A bizarre case of mistaken identity upends the quiet, solitary world of James Goodhand's charming protagonist in Reports of His Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated, a contemporary British drama brimming with humor and heart. With a title inspired by a Mark Twain quotation, Goodhand's tender novel is a testament to the power of small acts of kindness to have significant, lasting impact on young lives.

Shy and awkward septuagenarian narrator Ray Thorns shines in situations where he can assist others, such as his 39 years as caretaker at a fancy boarding school to help struggling students find their way. Since then, he's led a content but isolated existence, dwelling mostly in the past and reminiscing about Junie, the woman he almost married 50 years ago.

Goodhand (The Day Tripper) has an eye for the absurd in his engaging narrative. When Ray's neighbor dies suddenly, the authorities assume it was Ray who died. He half-heartedly tries to set the record straight, but it's really quite a relief to be thought of as dead. Matters get more complicated and more comical when Ray's estranged brother, Denny, and Denny's ne'er-do-well son, Steven, start poking around Ray's South London house.

Being presumed dead is full of surprises, revealing not only Ray's legacy from his humble caretaking years but also bringing him closer to those he thought he had lost. What he ultimately decides to do, even as he overhears plans for his own funeral, forms the plot of this profoundly moving novel. --Shahina Piyarali

Discover: This engaging British drama, narrated by an septuagenarian whose life takes an interesting turn when he is mistakenly presumed dead, brims with humor.

Poor Xiomara Sanchez, the 29-year-old protagonist of My Train Leaves at Three, Natalie Guerrero's sincere debut novel. "When I was a kid, I thought I'd be rich and famous by now," she reflects at the novel's opening. She'd have a stage career, enough money to "airlift [her] mother out of [their] tiny apartment in Washington Heights," and financially help older sister, Nena. Instead, this Afro Latina is still in that apartment, "singing and waiting tables" at a "kitschy '50s-themed restaurant" along with "every other Broadway wannabe." Even worse, Nena is dead, collapsed while walking down the street. Xiomara and her mother have been left to their grief, with Xiomara scrounging up rent money by working at that restaurant and at a print shop with a lecherous boss. Her dream of seeing her name on a marquee seems unattainable.

Guerrero sets up her narrative with breezy confidence. That continues after a childhood friend, who is a Broadway success, tells Xiomara about an open call for a new musical, for which "hot Broadway director" Manny Santos is looking for an unknown. Xiomara forces herself to audition. She and Manny end up in a torrid romance while Xiomara shrugs off the overtures of Santi, a print shop colleague. Greater character depth would have made this a stronger novel, but it's still a trenchant depiction of unsavory, powerful men who take advantage of vulnerable women. It's also a reminder of the importance of not letting scoundrels dissuade a person from pursuing a dream. This is an astute slice of working-class life from a talented writer. --Michael Magras, freelance book reviewer

Discover: Natalie Guerrero's My Train Leaves at Three is the story of an Afro Latina in New York City whose abandoned her dreams of Broadway stardom are rekindled by a director with designs on her.

Francesca Giannone's sweeping yet intimate debut novel, The Letter Carrier--a bestseller in her native Italy--explores jealousy, love, and belonging through the lives of a family and a village in southern Italy.

When Carlo Greco brings his wife, Anna, back to his hometown of Lizzanello in 1934, the locals aren't sure what to make of a woman who reads voraciously, doesn't go to church, and refuses to join in the local gossip. When Anna becomes the town's first female letter carrier, even Carlo is appalled at her boldness. But Anna's unusual approach to life proves a boon for the townspeople: she passes letters between lovers and friends, teaches villagers to read, and tries to give her niece, Lorenza, a sense of the wider world. However, some resent Anna's independent ways, and the clash between their entrenched opinions and Anna's fresh perspective reverberates down through the decades.

Giannone brings her setting to life through sensory details--bitter coffee with grappa, the fresh pesto Anna makes by pounding her own basil--and keenly observed interpersonal dynamics. Carlo and his brother, Antonio, enjoy a close bond, but they both fail to notice key details about each other. Agata, Antonio's wife, is jealous of Anna even as she holds strong opinions about how a woman should act. And Anna herself, though unmoved by others' opinions, nevertheless feels her outsider status keenly, even after years in Lizzanello. Giannone's bittersweet narrative is a testament to the power of connections made and missed, and a sensitive portrait of a woman bravely writing her own story. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams

Discover: Francesca Giannone's bittersweet novel explores love, jealousy, and missed connections through the life of a female letter carrier in southern Italy.

A close-knit but completely unstrung family is at the volcanic core of Rachel Joyce's dastardly, dark, and traumatic escapade, The Homemade God. The Kemps--76-year-old artist, patriarch, and widower, Vic, and his four adult children--Netta, Susan, Gustav, and Iris--are sweltering from more than just the historic 2015 European heat wave and its incessant, intolerable "water shortages and wild fires."

Vic gathers them at the Singing Wok in central London and announces he has decided to marry "the love of [his] life," 27-year-old Bella-Mae Gonzales, whom he met online six weeks ago. He intends to live in eternal bliss with her on his island estate on Lake Orta, Italy, where he'll work on his "big new painting."

His children are understandably suspicious and certain that the enigmatic Bella-Mae is a grifter after Vic's money. She serves him herbal teas that lead to "drastic weight loss." She's invisible on the Internet, and her face is hidden by a veil in the photo that Vic sends. Bella "calls herself an artist," but Vic's children "can't find any evidence of her paintings." Their concerns prove tragic after Vic drowns in the misty lake.

Joyce cleverly doles out specifics about Vic's suspicious death (including a detailed autopsy) that cloud the novel with the thin veil of a domestic thriller, but family dynamics dominate. During a calamitous summer that "divided each of them from their old lives so irreparably," the children sift through clues to discover the unvarnished mystery of Bella-Mae. Art, loss, grief, and sibling sturm und drang bump up against long-ago lies and deeply hidden secrets until novel's "awe-inspiring and unstoppable" conclusion. --Robert Allen Papinchak, freelance book critic

Discover: More than boilerplate sibling rivalry ignites intrigues in Rachel Joyce's explosively charged novel, The Homemade God.

Metropolitan Police constable Philomena McCarthy makes her second appearance in The White Crow, the arresting follow-up to When You Are Mine. Philomena is on patrol at 3 a.m. when she finds a five-year-old girl in the street, barefoot and in her pajamas. The girl, Daisy, says she "couldn't wake Mummy," and Philomena spots blood on her pajamas. Philomena takes Daisy home and discovers a woman in the kitchen tied to a chair. As the constable feared, "Mummy" is dead.

Across London, Detective Chief Inspector Brendan Keegan is trying to disarm a bomb strapped to a man who is also bound to a chair, but in a jewelry store. The store has been robbed, and the man is the owner. He's also the dead woman's husband and Daisy's father. The robbery and home invasion indicate organized crime, which is a problem for Philomena. Her father and uncles are the infamous McCarthy brothers, "who the tabloids refer to as 'colorful local identities' or 'ex-cons.'  " They become primary suspects, and Philomena finds she's not above suspicion. Worse, she could become a target.

Robotham (Good Girl, Bad Girl; Life or Death) is one of 21st-century crime fiction's finest writers, comparable to Michael Connelly. His characters, even those who live in morally gray areas, are multilayered and riveting. This is especially true of the young witness, Daisy. In his acknowledgments, Robotham writes that he intended Philomena to be a stand-alone character in When You Are Mine but brought her back because he fell in love with her. After reading The White Crow, readers will be on the same page. --Elyse Dinh-McCrillis, reviewer and freelance editor at The Edit Ninja

Discover: In this well-plotted thriller, constable Philomena McCarthy must help solve a case involving a robbery and murder, even if her father and uncles might be involved.

Big Little Lies meets Insecure in Elise Bryant's frantically funny mystery The Game Is Afoot. It marks the second time that amateur sleuth Mavis Miller--who, when it's convenient, defaults to "code-switching, nice accommodating Black person"--finds herself up against not only a criminal element but a force almost as formidable: entitled Southern California moms.

It's soccer Saturday and narrator Mavis is cheering on her daughter when Coach Cole collapses, clutches his chest, and dies. Two days later, detectives question Mavis about what she saw on Saturday--it seems that Coach Cole didn't die of a heart attack as Mavis had assumed. The detectives also want to speak with Mavis's ex-husband, Saturday's snack parent, who brought Capri-Suns: the coach drank from a pouch that was later found to contain sodium nitrite residue. Mavis knows she should be looking for work--she has recently "rage-quit" her job at a nonprofit--but she decides to throw her energies into finding Coach Cole's killer instead.

The Game Is Afoot offers a decent mystery and a truly delicious send-up of the self-care industry and modern parenting (the kids get not goody bags but "enrichment bags"). There's lots of fun stuff here about Mavis's effort to deal with the stressors in her life--she's sorely tempted by the "woo-woo nonsense" pushed by the wellness-embracing moms in her midst. Some of Mavis's stress originates from the oft-referenced events of this novel's predecessor, It's Elementary, which readers would do well to tackle to get the most from this pleaser. --Nell Beram, author and freelance writer

Discover: In Elise Bryant's frantically funny second mystery, amateur sleuth Mavis Miller navigates the wellness-pushing moms in her midst while trying to learn who poisoned her daughter's soccer coach.

Nineteen thrillers into his justifiably celebrated Detective Inspector Tom Thorne series (Bloodline; Their Little Secret), Mark Billingham is still showing up with his A game. What the Night Brings, another hard-charging, no-mercy police procedural, is written with verve, plotted with ingenuity, and spiked with the author's signature relief-valve humor.

The novel opens with Thorne, who works for the Met Police's Major Investigation Team, at the home of the murderous Nick Cresswell; Thorne is overseeing the man's arrest. Meanwhile, four uniformed officers stationed outside are poisoned with some doughnuts left in a box on a squad car along with an unsigned note that reads, "Thanks for everything you do!" Given the recent uptick in serious crimes committed by Met officers, it's not hard for Thorne's team to believe that the antagonist was acting on a grudge against the police. And yet signs point to an inside job: Otherwise, how would the killer have known that the cops would be outside Cresswell's place for the arrest?

The high stakes and low officer morale lend themselves to Billingham's customary bravura dialogue and character work; as Thorne and his colleagues go about their police business, they have heady and heated discussions about their jobs--"the Job," as they call it. While Billingham reserves space for wisecracks and editorials from the ornery Thorne, an unrepentant music snob ("Why was 'easy listening' always so bloody difficult?"), What the Night Brings harbors a degree of despair that feels new to the series. Given its long-standing pitilessness, that's saying something. --Nell Beram, author and freelance writer

Discover: A cop killer antagonizes the Met Police's Major Investigation Team in the ultra-dark, ultra-good 19th thriller in the DI Tom Thorne series.

"Romantasy" feels like a publishing buzzword in the age of BookTok and Bookstagram, encompassing a seemingly endless stream of tropes and debut novels that, although enjoyable, don't always live up to the hype. That's not the case with The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy by beloved fan fiction author Brigette Knightley, who arrives on the traditional publishing scene like a cool breeze on a humid day.

The novel's enemies-to-lovers plot line delivers on the trope. Aurienne Fairhrim and Osric Mordaunt belong to diametrically opposed magical orders. She's an altruistic healer and researcher fighting a deadly disease that's ravaging impoverished children, and he's a droll assassin whose magic (known as seith) is deteriorating. Aurienne is Osric's only hope for aid, but the desperately needed cure he seeks involves "the Old Ways," an interest Aurienne wrote off as more folktale than science. Osric bribes Aurienne into helping him by way of a large donation to her order's inoculation efforts. As they verbally spar across the countryside in search of the right combination of moon stages and ley lines, they're caught in an unspooling web of nefarious influence and shadowy plots that put them--and their hearts--at risk.

Knightley boasts a spectacular vocabulary and succeeds at inhabiting a distinct style without crossing into overwriting. Brimming with humor and simmering with tension as Aurienne and Osric realize that "hate could feel strangely like something else," this slow-burning first installment in a planned duology is poised to make a pivotal mark on romantasy. --Kristen Coates, editor and freelance reviewer

Discover: This debut romantasy by a beloved fan fiction author delivers on its promise and premise, giving readers witty wordplay between two enemies whose hatred slowly softens into something else.

Nadine Gonzalez's bubbly ninth novel, Only Lovers in the Building, mixes up a delightful cocktail of romance tropes--served on a rooftop bar in Miami.

After being discredited at a work retreat, corporate lawyer Lily Lyon walks out on her job and decides to spend the summer reading by the pool of the dreamy Art Deco apartment building that is her Airbnb. She isn't counting on Ben Romero, literary translator/bartender, whose intellect is matched by his good looks. Lily and Ben discover a shared passion for romance novels, and they form a two-person book club and spend hours dissecting their favorite tropes. But when Ben's agent convinces them to take their witty banter on the air with a podcast, they wonder if their chemistry could coalesce into something more.

Gonzalez turns up the heat between Ben and Lily, using their spark-filled literary discussions on and off the podcast to shed new light on their deepening relationship. Although neither is initially looking for anything serious, their connection prompts Lily to examine her personal and professional struggles, especially as the summer's end draws near. A quirky cast of fellow apartment dwellers provides a fun counterbalance to the central romantic plot, while Ben and Lily's quick-witted, flirtatious podcast dialogues will leave readers blushing with pleasure. Readers will root for a happy ending to match the pair's beloved romance novels, but the fun lies in the journey--and the delectably dirty martinis served along the way. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams

Discover: Nadine Gonzalez's frothy romantic comedy serves up a delightful meta-cocktail of love as two romance-novel geeks co-host a podcast and fall in love.

There's nothing quite like the power of using simple imagery to explore a complex topic. And when one hopes to spur readers to action with their art, it's even more important to strike the right balance between illustrations and text. Holler, a graphic memoir, is a well-crafted, emotional work that does just that. Combining individual stories into a collective narrative, artist and activist Denali Sai Nalamalapu uses a limited color palette to recount a yearslong fight against a destructive oil pipeline in Appalachia.

Against a backdrop of green and white, Nalamalapu rotates through spotlight colors to guide readers' eyes in chapters that introduce ordinary people using whatever skills and decisions are at their disposal to protect their land. There's a photographer who takes long hikes with her dog to document potential impacts of the pipeline; a high school science teacher who places her car in the path of construction and chains herself to the vehicle; and a single mother who lives at the intersection of "a myriad of social injustices, including classism, racism, greed, and environmental injustice."

Although the fight against the pipeline is ultimately unsuccessful, this straightforward memoir is both a historical record of a movement and a call to action as Nalamalapu asks readers to imagine what the world could look like if "more people turned their love of the land into action." Not every battle will be won, but Holler's heart lies in that which outlasts temporary disappointments: the power of community. "You lost hope in existing systems. But you found it in something bigger... in people building the future they deserve together." --Kristen Coates, editor and freelance reviewer

Discover: This emotional graphic memoir from an artist and activist showcases the power of community to protect nature from a destructive pipeline in Appalachia.

Japanese artist Shintarō Kago (Dementia 21), who publishes as just Kago, displays his penchant for guru--as in grotesque--manga in Brain Damage, a disturbing, can't-turn-away collection of four-shorts. Zack Davisson, notable translator of classic manga fare (Shigeru Mizuki; Satoshi Kon) provides smooth English access.

"Labyrinth Quartet" captures four imprisoned, strangely look-alike women wading through savagely dismembered body parts while attempting to escape a knife-wielding, masked murderer. Experts work to methodically curtail--or escape--the increasingly violent, cannibalistic impulses of the institutionalized undead in "Curse Room." In "Family Portrait," sudden inexplicable local disappearances are linked to a deviant grandfather who is quickly succumbing to dementia. As vehicles become fatal autonomous death traps in "Blood Harvest," a lone young woman might hold the only viable antidote--in her own body.

Kago works in crisp, black-and-white line drawings, always contained within sharply delineated, exacting panels, never breaking through boundaries, as if exerting the last single measure of control over the graphic gore and horror mangling and destroying his characters. Backgrounds, scenery, clothing, expressions are often enhanced in meticulous detail--even more intricately precise when depicting gaping wounds (dislodged eyeballs, spilt innards) and missing appendages (headless corpses)--heightening the already visually shocking realism throughout. His ending commentary, presented with exquisite illustrations, adds narrative provenance, mixed with an entertainingly healthy dose of self-deprecation: "manga artists can only draw a few variations of female faces" or "it drags in the middle." Enthralled readers, however, likely won't agree with any such criticism. --Terry Hong

Discover: Japanese manga creator Kago showcases four shockingly grotesque, frighteningly realistic short stories in his graphic collection Brain Damage.

The Argentinian cartoonist Joaquín Salvador Lavado Tejón (1932-2020), who published as Quino, introduced the brilliantly insightful, refreshingly unfiltered six-year-old Mafalda in 1964. Quino ended his internationally renowned black-and-white comic strip, available in 26 languages, in 1973. Now Elsewhere Editions, the children's imprint of Archipelago Books, is releasing Mafalda: Book One--with four additional volumes planned, all translated by lauded Frank Wynne--and the delightfully precocious Mafalda deserves prominent space on anyone's shelves.

Mafalda is self-admittedly "only little," although she's already worrying about college. Her mother cooks too much soup. Her suit-wearing father is a phytophile. Her relentlessly probing questions either cause Papa a nervous attack--"I need you to explain the war in Vietnam"--or leave him utterly defeated--"Papa? Can you explain why humanity is a disaster?"

And then there are Mafalda's friends: Manolito, son of the neighborhood grocery store owner, who pays attention to "commercial possibilities" and role-plays John D. Rockefeller. Felipe excels at avoiding homework and knows to flee Mafalda as necessary. Susanita, who's already declared her future maternal goals, remains indifferent to Mafalda's insistence that "a woman can be more than a mother, she can contribute to society, do important things."

Originally created for a failed advertising campaign, Mafalda has aged well, perfectly situated between youthful innocence and impressive sophistication. Quino draws plenty of visual humor throughout, particularly engaging in capturing the children's vibrant expressions and their constant in-motion energy with minimal pen strokes. Most notably, Mafalda's quick-witted, bitingly sharp observations, created more than a half a century ago, prove even more relevant amid contemporary chaos. Once again, Mafalda and friends are ready for their well-deserved close-ups. --Terry Hong

Discover: Argentinian cartoonist Quino's insightfully precocious, perennially six-year-old Mafalda will challenge, educate, and, most of all, delight a new generation of English-language audiences.

Japanese manga creator Wataru Nadatani, Harvey Award-nominated for their Cat + Gamer series, introduces Cat + Crazy, for more adorable ailurophiliac adventures. Zack Davisson returns as enjoyably enabling translator for Nadatani's sophomore series.

"Normal high school girl" Yamada Koharu narrates, but the protagonist is fellow classmate Fuji Kensuke, who seems to walk the same morning route as Yamada, although he never heads directly to school. Yamada's curiosity leads her to follow one day: she's convinced he's a peeping tom, but "the evidence doesn't lie." Unable to have a cat of his own due to severe allergies in the family, Fuji obsessively observes and befriends stray cats ever since Tamako, the only kitty who allows human affection, saved then nine-year-old Fuji's life: "I would have died, lost and alone," he confesses to Yamada. When Tamako goes missing, Neko-ya Jin--a mystical, masterful "cat whisperer"--rallies the feline troops to save one of their own. Fuji and Yamada witness the spectacular rescue, prompting Fuji to become Neko-ya's disciple, as long as he can pass the trials and challenges to be "truly worthy to walk the path of cats."

Nadatani--who readily confesses, "This comic is about my favorite thing in the world... cats"--is an empathic, entertaining storyteller. Their black-and-white, finely line-drawn panels often bleed beyond the page, underscoring their excited energy and exaggerated emotions of devotion and determination. While the main characters seem undeniably young, their adoring, tenacious dedication to feline health and happiness is joyfully contagious for readers of all ages. Kitty-inclusive families are sure to discover useful, inspiring insights here. --Terry Hong

Discover: Wataru Nadatani's second ailurophiliac series, Cat + Crazy, delightfully follows their Harvey Award-nominated Cat + Gamer volumes.

Paul Auster's (1947-2024) iconic trilogy originally was published between 1985 and 1987. In 1994, Paul Karasik, former editor of Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly's RAW magazine, adapted City of Glass into a highly successful graphic novel, with art by Eisner Award-winner David Mazzucchelli. Three decades later, Karasik returns to finish, partnering with Italian comics artist Lorenzo Mattotti for Ghosts, while singly creating The Locked Room. Book designer extraordinaire Chip Kidd devises a first-glance showcase of all three collaborators' stupendous work on this completed edition's dazzling cover.

Perplexing quests link the three titles into a labyrinthine puzzle ultimately examining writing, authorship, and identity. In City of Glass, a thriller writer gets embroiled in a potential murder, chasing a target who splits in two. In Ghosts, "White wants Blue to follow a man named Black," but at fatal personal cost. In The Locked Room, someone slips into the life of his missing childhood friend and becomes obsessed with finding that elusive friend regardless of threats.

As graphic artists, Karasik, Mattotti, and Mazzucchelli each have distinctive, affecting styles, all producing in black-and-white. Mazzucchelli's presentation of City of Glass is most noir-esque, enhancing the looming mystery with literal mazes and diagrams to be solved. His map of the story's Manhattan, overlaid with a walking figure, becomes a clever time capsule. Mattotti chooses a more illustrated book format, pairing meticulous line drawings with blocks of text. Karasik's The Locked Room favors shades of gray, memorably disorienting readers in the final pages, necessitating physical book flips in all directions to understand (or not). Together, the trio transforms canonic prose into visual masterpiece. --Terry Hong

Discover: Three powerhouse comics masters complete the stupendous graphic adaptation of the late Paul Auster's The New York Trilogy, three decades after its initial, partial debut.

I Found Myself... The Last Dreams invites readers into the "private world" of Egypt's most revered literary figure, the Nobel Prize-winning author Naguib Mahfouz. Mahfouz published a first volume of his dreams while convalescing from a near-fatal stabbing in 1994. This second volume, published posthumously in Arabic, has been translated by the renowned American-born British Libyan writer Hisham Matar.

Mahfouz accompanies these intriguing vignettes with evocative images of old Cairo, Mahfouz's "city-protagonist," created by artist Diana Matar. Her photographs capture the interplay of light, shadow, and motion as they retrace the meandering walks Mahfouz indulged in before the assassination attempt--walks that fueled his imagination. After 1994, he became reclusive but still roamed in his dreams through his beloved city, visiting favorite cafés and figures from his past.

In a collage of fragmented scenes depicting missed connections, thwarted love, and family drama, Mahfouz contends with his "aging self," imagines himself a soccer star, and returns to his childhood homes. The enigmatic, ever present B, his long-ago sweetheart, brings solace yet also "desperate regrets." Mahfouz's dreams are "oddly prophetic in how they depict national unrest and unfulfilled democratic yearnings," observes translator Matar, noting that they represent a premonition of Egypt's "post-Tahrir Square" future.

The topic nearest to Mahfouz's heart was "freedom. Freedom from colonization, freedom from the absolute rule of a king, and basic human freedom in the context of society and the family." As people across the globe continue to experience the ravages of war, the prize Mahfouz valued most is still unattainable for many. --Shahina Piyarali

One of the deadliest prison riots in U.S. history--and the deeply disordered New Mexico carceral system that enabled it--is examined in all its wide-eyed horror in High Desert Blood by Andrew Brininstool. In the early hours of February 2, 1980, inmates at the Penitentiary of New Mexico (also known by its nickname, Old Main), overpowered guards and took over the command center, initiating 36 hours of "death squads" who went after informants in the protective custody cell block. Brininstool's local roots in Santa Fe infuse the narrative as he introduces the story of Gary and Jeff Williams (Brininstool's father grew up around Jeff), two brothers whose low-level criminality landed them in a "position of butchery" at Old Main.

The details of the riot's unfolding--and the sad fates of the Williams brothers--are not for the delicate; the cruelty and brutality Brininstool chronicles can dim one's faith in humanity. However, his 12 years' worth of research and interviews with former inmates and prison officers, as well as their families, shine a necessary light on the abusive and degrading treatment of prisoners that enabled the rage-fueled frenzy. In raising the specter of the 1980 riot for a new generation, Brininstool honors the victims who could never tell their stories while also calling for meaningful prison reform in the U.S. High Desert Blood is a beautifully written yet chilling work of true crime that lingers beyond the last page. -- Peggy Kurkowski, book reviewer in Denver

Discover: The horror and tragedy of the worst prison riot in U.S. history, and the doleful tale of two brothers caught up in the chaos, is the focus of this powerful account.

Maris Kreizman's second book, the conversational essay collection I Want to Burn This Place Down, expresses righteous anger against broken systems--neoliberalism, health care, policing, and more--that perpetuate injustice.

These 10 defiant essays arise from disillusionment. "The more I learn, the more mortified I am by the myths I once accepted as irrefutable facts," Kreizman confesses. She'd always assumed hard work would bring success; instead, she endured low-paying publishing jobs and has health insurance only thanks to the good luck of meeting her husband. She thought her Type 1 diabetes wouldn't define her; in fact, chronic illness leaves her feeling out of control, and climate change exacerbates her condition.

Personal and political matters intertwine here. Growing up in 1980s New Jersey, Kreizman and her twin older brothers loved watching TV shows and movies in which the police were unfailingly the good guys. Corruption and cruelty have shattered her confidence in the police--while, ironically, both brothers became cops. As a teenager, she hailed Bill Clinton as a savior; now, she decries how his corporation-favoring policies and record of unpunished sexual harassment set a precedent for all politicians.

Literary and pop culture references shine. "The Show Must Go On," for instance, recalls her adolescent amateur dramatics and love of musicals. Kreizman also explores the lure of wealth (an ancestor founded the now-bankrupt department store Barneys) and the danger of dieting fads. The essays are as chatty as blog posts--sometimes cursory, but generally satisfying doses of waspish catharsis. --Rebecca Foster, freelance reviewer, proofreader, and blogger at Bookish Beck

Discover: Maris Kreizman's conversational essays express disillusionment and defiance about the broken systems that perpetuate injustice in the U.S.

In A Return to Self: Excursions in Exile, a memoir-infused travelogue that muses on "the demands of belonging," acclaimed British American writer Aatish Taseer relishes in the freedoms of the untethered life. Starting in Istanbul and journeying through Uzbekistan, Spain, Morocco, Iraq, and more, the essays in this collection find Taseer recalibrating his national identity after his unceremonious eviction from India, his family's ancestral home.

Taseer (The Twice-Born) is a New York-based writer for T: The New York Times Style Magazine. Born in England and raised in New Delhi, he struggled as a gay man with the burden of fitting in. The astonishing saga of why the nationalist Indian government revoked his citizenship is just the beginning of Taseer's remarkable story, one he embraces with "the simple joy of being out in the world, free of the pressures of belonging." Losing his home was staggeringly disorientating, but it freed Taseer from a bond he didn't realize was suffocating him.

On his travels, Taseer interrogates the building blocks of nationalism amid cultural perceptions of what people consider "native" and "alien" to their homelands, using food, perfume, and flowers as channels of discovery. A pilgrimage in Buddhist Mongolia offers reconciliation between painful episodes in Taseer's past and the joyful resurgence of his "natural curiosities"--in his own words, "a return to self."

Taseer is a gifted storyteller who absorbs his surroundings and invites readers to experience the distinctive nature of the places he has visited, complete with the sense of perspective that is an essential traveling companion. --Shahina Piyarali

Discover: British American writer Aatish Taseer relishes in the freedom of the untethered life after being exiled from his homeland in this collection of travel essays.

In the breathtaking Island Storm, Caldecott Medalist Brian Floca (Locomotive; Hawk Rising) and Hans Christian Andersen Award winner Sydney Smith (I Talk Like a River; My Baba's Garden; Small in the City) tell the story of two siblings on an island who head to the shore to see a storm agitate the sea.

When they arrive, they take in the massive, billowing waves. A repeated refrain in the book underscores their adventurous spirit: "And then we ask, is this enough, or do we try for more? You pull on me, I pull on you, and we decide to go on." As the storm intensifies, the children flirt with danger. They take in their surroundings, now "eerie and empty." When a loud "BOOM!" breaks the silence, they "RUN!" through the rain, scared of losing their way. An adult, likely their parent, greets them: "Home to relief, and to love." But also "to trouble, too!" Though the children are met with a tight hug, there's an unspoken acknowledgment of the risks they took.

On one level, this is a simple adventure tale: two children outrun a storm. But it's one that holds many layers of meaning--this brush with danger is a test of resilience and captures the children's unwavering bond. Illustrator Sydney Smith depicts the storm's kinetic energy--its force and beauty--building tension through a striking watercolor and gouache palette: massive dark clouds loom over the island, later juxtaposed with clear blue skies as the storm recedes. A masterful blend of poetic language and dynamic illustration, this story delivers both an edge-of-your-seat adventure and a moving meditation on perseverance and the storms siblings weather together. --Julie Danielson

Discover: With its rhythmic prose and stunning illustrations, this story of two siblings braving a storm is an exhilarating adventure that beautifully explores the quiet power of perseverance.

Adult author Paul Tremblay (The Beast You Are; The Cabin at the End of the World) makes his middle-grade debut with the eerie, uncanny Another.

Twelve-year-old Casey Wilson and his family are adjusting to life during the first years of the Covid-19 pandemic. When the old-fashioned rotary phone his mother found at the antiques store begins to ring, Casey's mom answers and agrees to a visitor. A man arrives with "a large, lumpy" burlap bag covered in dust, which opens to reveal a boy. Or rather something "shaped like a boy": it is "like a living mannequin," with "pinkish-gray" skin and a face that has only the "outlines of facial features." The boy's name is Morel, the man says, and he's Casey's "new friend." Casey is sure it's all a joke, but his parents agree to take Morel and then tell "the boys to have fun but to not make too much noise." Days pass; as Morel becomes more defined and human-like, Casey's parents fall into a haze. Soon, Casey's own mind gets fuzzy. The boy must figure out what the man wants and what Morel is before the distortion becomes reality.

Another is filled with an uneasy, growing dread. Casey's increasing alarm is contrasted with his parents' continued calm, and his lack of control heightens tension in a way that will certainly be accessible (and likely terrifying) to young readers. Black-and-white illustrations by Sam Wolfe Connelly build tone and add important texture to the plot. Tremblay honors middle-grade readers in his first work for children by speaking directly to their intelligence and telling a downright scary story. --Kyla Paterno, freelance reviewer

Discover: Twelve-year-old Casey is given a living mannequin as a friend in this uncanny and eerie middle-grade horror novel.

Evil-ish is a diverting and inventive graphic novel that explores what it means to find your place in the world while being your authentic self.

Hawthorne Vandecast, who works as a potion barista, longs to join the "bloodthirsty" Brigade of Shade, an evil organization created to "delve into the untapped potential of grand magic." When the Brigade holds open calls, Hawthorne is convinced their sheer vibe of badassery will get them accepted. Instead, Hawthorne is laughed off the stage while Maple, a flowery and kind shop regular Hawthorne detests, steals the spotlight with a demonstration of her grand magic. Maple, who simply likes Hawthorne, offers help and the duo sneak into the castle to appeal the decision. While petitioning the Lady Wrath, Hawthorne accidentally kills the Brigade leader and is ushered into Lady Wrath's old position. But boss Hawthorne quickly learns that looks can deceive and that both Brigades of Shade and bubbly young women may hide surprising truths behind well-designed facades.  

In this debut graphic novel, Tarrell enhances their panels with visual tropes of fantasy, mimicking illuminated script illustrations or depicting bubbling brews spilling over the lines onto the page. Every character and background is a mix of the fantastical and the common, such as a potion shop that looks a lot like a coffee shop. Tarrell's protagonist gains friendship, uses humor, and is forced into honesty in a way that doesn't just explore the divide between good and evil but also invites readers to consider what they want versus what they need. A great read for any fantasy fan and those who love D&D. --Michelle Anya Anjirbag, freelance reviewer

Discover: Kennedy Tarrell's debut is a delightful, warm story about surprising friendships and dreams coming true in unexpected ways.

An 18-year-old science prodigy is recruited by rebels fighting against an oppressive empire in E.K. Johnston's imaginative, slow-burning YA science-fiction novel Sky on Fire, a sequel to Aetherbound.  

In the spacefaring Stavenger Empire, people work magic by drawing upon a mysterious force known as the ӕther, which gives "power to all those who felt its connection humming in their blood." Scientist Morgan Enni is considered remarkable for being born "without a connection." Despite having no link to it, Morgan researches æther and her current study suggests the power on which the empire relies is likely to burn away. However, no one at her university will take her seriously. Determined to prove her hypothesis, Morgan journeys into space on a research expedition. There, Morgan's work catches the attention of a group of rebels who try to recruit her to their cause. Morgan, however, worries that joining the rebels will expose her own family's secret, "buried deep in the past and kept in their very name."

Sky on Fire builds upon the events of Aetherbound but focuses on new characters and conflicts, allowing for this novel to stand confidently alone. Details of the rebellion are kept vague, but Morgan's personal development keeps readers invested. Johnston (Titan of the Stars) has created a heroine characterized by "brain power and raw ambition," whose move from relative isolation to developing "new" and "surprising" relationships is entrancing. The elaborate world-building and detailed descriptions of futuristic technology will likely appeal to dedicated sci-fi readers. Fans of space operas like Star Wars and Firefly as well as found family narratives should enjoy Sky on Fire and its enterprising heroine. --Alanna Felton, freelance reviewer

Discover: A scientist on a research expedition into space is recruited by a rebellion in this enthralling YA sci-fi sequel.

In author/illustrator Fiona Ross's No More Mr. Mice Guy--a rollicking twist on The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde--a mischievous mouse with insatiable cravings causes chaos.

"Late at night, if you hear a knock at the door, it's best not to answer." A "Jekyll Speedy Deliveries" van drops a package at Grandma and Squeak's door. Grandma, a purple-haired, older white adult, opens the gift: "You've won another competition, Squeak!" The prize, however, is a violently green, "wobbly jelly dessert" stuffed with eyeballs, bones, and worms. Grandma throws it away. But Squeak, a bipedal blue mouse in a red polka-dot bowtie, is unable to resist jumping into the garbage to taste his "icky, sticky, slimy prize." Squeak "grunt[s] and growl[s]... burp[s] and slurp[s]" and grows until he becomes "a massive, messy monster mouse."

Ross (Chilly Milly Moo) strategically reinforces the Squeak/Hyde dichotomy through the color and form of her creepy yet charming illustrations. Grandma and Squeak's surroundings are light-filled, while Hyde's wild rampages are depicted in black and fluorescent green. Panels are used to reflect Squeak's change from mouse to monster: though characters and elements regularly break out of their borders, orderly, rectangular frames surround Grandma and Squeak while Hyde's borders are inconsistent and jagged. Ross includes visual humor on every page, such as monstrous Hyde's oversize tongue lolling during transformation or fluorescent green slime covering every surface, including Squeak's nose. This story is a perfect read-aloud for spooky season, but little readers are likely to giggle at Squeak's hilarious cycles of mayhem and slimy burps year-round. --Cristina Iannarino, children's book buyer, Books on the Square, Providence, R.I.

Discover: Massive messy mischief ensues when a slimy prize turns a meek mouse named Squeak into a hungry monster named Hyde.